Neverwinter Nights 2

 PC
User Score
6.7

Mixed or average reviews- based on 674 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 354 out of 674
  2. Mixed: 151 out of 674
  3. Negative: 169 out of 674
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  1. BrapBrap
    Jan 8, 2007
    0
    Copyprotection that cannot read correctly in 2 of my 3 Drives. Update theat cannot work due to bugged copyprotection. Bluescreens & Freezes (Havent had a Bluescreen for years) tons of minor bugs and a COMPLETE FREEZE AFTER WINNING TYRS CHALLENGE. Reinstalling wont work. And a "Customer Service" that is typically Anglosaxon - NONEXISTENT!!! (Sorry all you Anglosaxons out there!)
  2. M.A.
    Jul 2, 2007
    2
    Not a good game. It probably had a lot of potential, but the gameplay is an utter drudge. The AI is painfully buggy, and the game's requirements are absolutely not proportinate compared to the graphics. The original release looked like a beta, and the patches didn't help as much as was needed.
  3. JimmyS.
    Nov 19, 2006
    1
    The OC is full of bugs, it is very linear, it lacks exploration and its general feeling is that you are in a lifeless, empty world made of painted features. I only played for 2 days and had to stop. The game reminded of KOTOR2, use old content add a couple new things (that weren't very creative) then take away several of the fun factors that made the original what it is. If this is The OC is full of bugs, it is very linear, it lacks exploration and its general feeling is that you are in a lifeless, empty world made of painted features. I only played for 2 days and had to stop. The game reminded of KOTOR2, use old content add a couple new things (that weren't very creative) then take away several of the fun factors that made the original what it is. If this is the best Obsidian has to offer they need to find new jobs, they are making Bioware look bad.… Expand
  4. AersS.
    Nov 2, 2006
    10
    Only the (not justified) huge system reqs prevent it from being plain perfect; even so, it's the best game since NWN 1.
  5. LukeM.
    Nov 2, 2006
    10
    Best Game Ever!!!!
  6. Jack
    Nov 25, 2006
    0
    The only reason I'm giving this a 0 is there isn't a negative option. This game makes steaming piles of trash look good. Not only are there significant game stopping bugs, but the entire game plays as if no one at Obsidian even bother to fire it up on a machine.
  7. JamesD.
    Dec 1, 2006
    1
    What a disappointment. I had been looking forward to this game for years, only to find that it is the worst D&D game in the Black Isle/Bioware/Obsidian line to yet be released. Boring gameplay, lackluster graphics, linear design with virtually no side quests or other optional activities, awful AI, flat, cliched NPCs, counterintuitive interface-- I could go on. The other comments have What a disappointment. I had been looking forward to this game for years, only to find that it is the worst D&D game in the Black Isle/Bioware/Obsidian line to yet be released. Boring gameplay, lackluster graphics, linear design with virtually no side quests or other optional activities, awful AI, flat, cliched NPCs, counterintuitive interface-- I could go on. The other comments have elaborated on all the problems with this game. I thought that Obsidian showed promise with KOTOR 2, which, despite its obvious flaws and unfinished feel, was a much better game than this one. Hopefully Bioware will do a better job with Dragon Age and Obsidian did with NWN 2. Until then, I'll keep playing Oblivion.… Expand
  8. EmileZ.
    Dec 2, 2006
    4
    This game is a HUGE disappointment. There is no AI to speak of, the camera angles are a real pain in the butt and the game engine seems unfinished and powerless compared to the previous Neverwinter Nights game. The plot is weak and one-dimensional, compared to Oblivion and Gothic 3.
  9. WulfJ.
    Dec 2, 2006
    0
    I had more fun trying to get a refund for this game than I did playing it. It has next to nothing in common with NwN1. The interface, the toolset, the ai, the inventory, and the overall game play is all so far from the original, I can only assume the game was made to cash in on the community. This is a sad day for Wizards of the West Coast. This is a game that I would expect to find in a I had more fun trying to get a refund for this game than I did playing it. It has next to nothing in common with NwN1. The interface, the toolset, the ai, the inventory, and the overall game play is all so far from the original, I can only assume the game was made to cash in on the community. This is a sad day for Wizards of the West Coast. This is a game that I would expect to find in a bargain bin. Not as a sequal for the best RPG of the last 10 years.… Expand
  10. MarkD.
    Dec 2, 2006
    3
    This game is a huge disapointment, the first thing you notice is the woeful graphics, even with a high end system it chugs along creating a disjointed feel. The charater choice system is really crap the faces/hair and races look awful. I'm giving the story line a bit more time and this appears to be the obly saving grace. My advice is don't buy this game if you liked NWN1.
  11. ChrisJ.
    Jan 8, 2007
    6
    Graphics and effects are pretty good, maybe a 9. D&D based gameplay gives it a 9 in my book. But the storyline is slow to start and pretty bland and predictable, probably a 7. Unfortunately, these make the game sound good, but I come away with it feeling very dissatisfied. The gameplay is extremely linear. Sure, you can change you class & equipment, but you can't "choose your own Graphics and effects are pretty good, maybe a 9. D&D based gameplay gives it a 9 in my book. But the storyline is slow to start and pretty bland and predictable, probably a 7. Unfortunately, these make the game sound good, but I come away with it feeling very dissatisfied. The gameplay is extremely linear. Sure, you can change you class & equipment, but you can't "choose your own adventure", so to speak. Everything is layed out for you from the start to the point where you really have no options available to you. You get tons of equipment, but have to sell 99% of it and choose only the ones that fit your profile. These sorts of things make the game fall short on any sort of replaybility or ability to capture your attention for more than a passing fancy.… Expand
  12. WaltO.
    Feb 10, 2007
    4
    Really, 50% is still an "F". That said: This game fails on so many levels. -The story: trite and predictable. -Gameplay(quests): transparent. -Rules implementation: Abysmal, can't even get Attack of Opp to work correctly, eh? Not to mention Bogus feats and NO Climbing/Swimming/Flying... -Graphics: Kotor with more polygons at best, not optimised at all. -Fun factor/balance: Terrible. Really, 50% is still an "F". That said: This game fails on so many levels. -The story: trite and predictable. -Gameplay(quests): transparent. -Rules implementation: Abysmal, can't even get Attack of Opp to work correctly, eh? Not to mention Bogus feats and NO Climbing/Swimming/Flying... -Graphics: Kotor with more polygons at best, not optimised at all. -Fun factor/balance: Terrible. Even a fighter with great buffs and equipment will be taxed to understand the CR mixture thrown at him. -Cinematics: Terrible, too much, too little PC control, pulled along by the nose and horrible text choices!! You have 4 ways to say yes to a gnome bard joining your group and that is it. 'Nuff said. -Conclusion: Play Baldur's Gate TOSC or TOEE. Vastly superior games in terms of everything that counts to a true DnD fan and not an intellectually nascent Diablo-clone.… Expand
  13. NicholasG.
    Feb 7, 2007
    3
    Quite a disappointing game really. I'm a fan of NWN series (and especially KoTOR series). I don't like the graphics, the storyline is kinda childish, and the action is unnatural (let alone some bugs in quests)... Well, it's unplayable in my opinion. No Bioware, no NWN!
  14. KurtR.
    Jun 20, 2007
    2
    Yet another game that needs patching right out of the box. Unlike some of those other games, this one REALLY needs patching! Not that patching will save this game. The graphics on this game are worse than NWN...unless you like near-cartoon graphics. Get close to the trees in NWN and they look somewhat blurry. Some of the modded trees look absolutely great with almost no blur. Look at an Yet another game that needs patching right out of the box. Unlike some of those other games, this one REALLY needs patching! Not that patching will save this game. The graphics on this game are worse than NWN...unless you like near-cartoon graphics. Get close to the trees in NWN and they look somewhat blurry. Some of the modded trees look absolutely great with almost no blur. Look at an NWN2 tree up close. Do you see the resemblance to a piece of paper? The same for the rest of the graphics. In NWN when chickens are running around I feel as if I am looking at real chickens. In NWN2 I was immediately struck by how cartoonish they look. The only real plus to graphics that I noticed was the lack of "fists of doom". I quit playing this game after a short amount of time. I decided my time would be better spent working on my NWN module. Speaking of modules: Why was I most looking forward to this game? Because I thought the toolset would be better than NWN's and not need so much modding. I was sure wrong! The toolset is......let's just say I have spent hundreds of hours with the NWN toolset. I have spent very little time with the NWN2 toolset and will spend no more. The miniscule amount of modding done as of 6-20-'07 tells the story. NWN2 is a complete waste. I am just glad it was given to me as a gift. I was hesitant to buy it as I had read some early reviews by real gamers. If you have not purchased NWN2. Do not! Unless you want to buy my copy… Expand
  15. ValoD.
    Sep 24, 2007
    0
    It is clear that all Obsidian managed to do with this game was to get some quick cash. In general, it stunk! Graphics: Bad, Sound: Worse, Story: idiotic, Bugs: Lots, Replayability: None,Toolset: Destroyed, Community: Gone There ARE worse games, but for it's hype and lazy/incompetent/bad content in the areas described above acompanied with being an insult to NWN 1 and D&D it deserves It is clear that all Obsidian managed to do with this game was to get some quick cash. In general, it stunk! Graphics: Bad, Sound: Worse, Story: idiotic, Bugs: Lots, Replayability: None,Toolset: Destroyed, Community: Gone There ARE worse games, but for it's hype and lazy/incompetent/bad content in the areas described above acompanied with being an insult to NWN 1 and D&D it deserves a big ZERO! In short: BLEH!… Expand
  16. Pike
    Jun 13, 2008
    0
    The game started off brilliantly. And for a good 10-20 hours depending on how quickly you play it holds a very good quality. But after that bugs started to creep into the game eventually rendering the game unplayable. NWN2 has great potential but I can't see that a game deserves a rating if you can't make it to the half way point. Once Atari get their act together and realise The game started off brilliantly. And for a good 10-20 hours depending on how quickly you play it holds a very good quality. But after that bugs started to creep into the game eventually rendering the game unplayable. NWN2 has great potential but I can't see that a game deserves a rating if you can't make it to the half way point. Once Atari get their act together and realise that part of releasing a game involves making sure it works then maybe it'll be worth playing. Until then, spare yourselves the pain.… Expand
  17. AShadow
    Nov 12, 2006
    1
    A steaming pile of monkey crap, designed to grab your bucks before all the hype dies down. Almost impossible to navigate, system reqs so high you will have to set it at "fingerpaint" levels in order for it to even run, and a no-option storyline so boring you will wonder which 6-year-old's bedtime story it was stolen from, all combine to bring PC RPGs to a new low. It gets 2 points A steaming pile of monkey crap, designed to grab your bucks before all the hype dies down. Almost impossible to navigate, system reqs so high you will have to set it at "fingerpaint" levels in order for it to even run, and a no-option storyline so boring you will wonder which 6-year-old's bedtime story it was stolen from, all combine to bring PC RPGs to a new low. It gets 2 points for effort, then is penalized 1 point for soiling the memory of a great game. Don't let the name fool you, this travesty has nothing to do with the original outstanding game, Neverwinter Nights. Read the boards *before* they get your money...… Expand
  18. GedG.
    Nov 12, 2006
    2
    The makers of this game should be ashamed of themselves. Trokia comparison anyone. The fact that they release the beta piece of rubbish for the mod community to fix blows my mind. I find the amount of bias in reviewing this game from all other
  19. SamG.
    Nov 13, 2006
    0
    A significant portion of the playership find, even on extremely high end systems, the game has major flaws that make it unplayable. Even if your system is listed on the acceptable supported system list you may find yourself one of the unfortunate masses begging for help on the official forums and being ignored by the devs. I say, don't waste your money on this, its seemingly a 50/50 A significant portion of the playership find, even on extremely high end systems, the game has major flaws that make it unplayable. Even if your system is listed on the acceptable supported system list you may find yourself one of the unfortunate masses begging for help on the official forums and being ignored by the devs. I say, don't waste your money on this, its seemingly a 50/50 chance that you'll be able to play it at all. The affected player systems have nothing in common outside of they all use windows. there seems no guideline for which kind of system most easily succumbs to the framerate being stuck at 2-5 fps and after about 10 threads of 10-20 pages each have been yanked by the admins there has yet to be any dev post even so much as saying, 'we're aware of it and trying to find a fix' ..nothing. Be forewarned. If you're determined to get this game, be smart and borrow a buddy's first to make sure it runs right before handing over 50+ dollars on what many of us consider a flawed and shoddily supported game.… Expand
  20. MrS
    Nov 15, 2006
    4
    Must admit that I am a bit disappointed. I enjoyed BG and BG2 immensely, but the first NWN.. well.. it was boring. I'm sad to see that this one is similar to the first. The story just doesn't interest me at all and I find myself making excuses to keep playing (e.g I paid a lot of money for the game). The gameplay is somewhat awkward (camera, inventory etc.). So far the game Must admit that I am a bit disappointed. I enjoyed BG and BG2 immensely, but the first NWN.. well.. it was boring. I'm sad to see that this one is similar to the first. The story just doesn't interest me at all and I find myself making excuses to keep playing (e.g I paid a lot of money for the game). The gameplay is somewhat awkward (camera, inventory etc.). So far the game works ok on my comp so no complaints there. I can set everything to high on my 7800GTX 256mb video card. Apparently the better rig you have, the worse the game runs... strange. Another thing that really annoys me is the constant loading and small areas to explore. I mean after Oblivion and Gothic3 this game seems too restricted. The player can't walk across a swamp even if there's a clear path. You MUST stay on the road. The fighting also seems a bit silly. The participants may miss each other for almost a minute (yes I've witnessed it). Looks stupid when you fight against a giant beetle and can't land a single hit on the HUGE insect. I mean even a moron can hit a regular beetle and kill it with a stick, but D&D hero can't hit a GIANT beetle with a bloody longsword. I know this may be irrelevant to many of you, but at least I am rather annoyed by these things.… Expand
  21. JakeS.
    Nov 15, 2006
    2
    If you enjoyed the original Neverwinter Nights, load it up and play again. Do not buy this game. It has been released way before it should have been. It is bug ridden, the maps are linear, the in-game camera makes the game virtually unplayable, and the interface is confusing to say the least. The version I purchased didn't even have a proper manual. I am absolutely flabbergasted at If you enjoyed the original Neverwinter Nights, load it up and play again. Do not buy this game. It has been released way before it should have been. It is bug ridden, the maps are linear, the in-game camera makes the game virtually unplayable, and the interface is confusing to say the least. The version I purchased didn't even have a proper manual. I am absolutely flabbergasted at how anyone who played the original Neverwinter Nights can give this a good score. Overall I'm very very disappointed.… Expand
  22. Wizardobey
    Nov 19, 2006
    2
    K When I play an RPG I like to RP the way I want to RP not the way OBSIDIAN wants me to. Unless you are Lawful Good the story is an extreme letdown and makes no sense, Its written in such a Good/Heroic mindset its difficult to play Neutral and impossible to play Evil! You get little to no choice in you actions you cant even pick the girl you want! Youre stuck with a Neutral Good Druid or K When I play an RPG I like to RP the way I want to RP not the way OBSIDIAN wants me to. Unless you are Lawful Good the story is an extreme letdown and makes no sense, Its written in such a Good/Heroic mindset its difficult to play Neutral and impossible to play Evil! You get little to no choice in you actions you cant even pick the girl you want! Youre stuck with a Neutral Good Druid or for the girls a Lawful Good Paladin which seem forced on you like becoming a stupid squire. You cant be bad! barring one series of quests I will end up with the same outcome all the way to the end battle which means playing it again seems like an instrument of torture, and I was already stuck listing to an instruments of torture going through the first time called Elanee. Saying wait for people to make stuff with the toolset is no excuse and is the biggest copout for OBSIDIAN, especially since they focused so much on single player that they left 1000 bugs and made a mockery of the Toolset, NWN 1 toolset was 100X better. Just too many plot holes, conversation bugs, and obviously forced choices for my liking I dont know why you changed it from a 5 it is by no means a BG 2, HotU, KotOR, Fallout 2 or Planescape all games which I loved.… Expand
  23. AndrewB.
    Nov 19, 2006
    3
    What's changed in NWN2? Graphics, 3.5 D&D rules, and uh, graphics. What amounts to mediocre animation and visuals somehow managed to make this game harder on your computer than TES 4: Oblivion (as some have noted in this thread). And the conversion to 3.5 rules has served to provide an excuse for not including epic levels, which I'm sure will be in one of many expansion packs. I What's changed in NWN2? Graphics, 3.5 D&D rules, and uh, graphics. What amounts to mediocre animation and visuals somehow managed to make this game harder on your computer than TES 4: Oblivion (as some have noted in this thread). And the conversion to 3.5 rules has served to provide an excuse for not including epic levels, which I'm sure will be in one of many expansion packs. I could almost buy that 3.5 epic is too complicated and would have taken a lot of effort, if there was any apparent effort put forth in the rest of the game. Certainly not the plot. A predictable, formulaic story full of two-dimensional D&D stereotypes and villains that are incredibly evil because...um...they're just evil, okay? NWN2 makes a Disney animated VHS-only sequel look original. Nearly all the NPCs are disgustingly cliche (the ale-guzzling dwarf fighter who's narrow-minded and likes to punch people, for example). Your character is from a farm community and, of course, you never knew your parents. The dialogue options, on one hand, don't give you any flexibility in the story, and on the other hand, are incredibly obvious about their alignment: "It was my duty to Neverwinter," or "I just didn't want anyone to get hurt," or "I don't care as long as I get paid for this," or the classic "I think I'll kill you because I'm evil for no reason!" New developments are practically handed to you, and there's no point in the story where you're not sure what you're supposed to do.… Expand
  24. MartinV
    Dec 11, 2006
    1
    It's a very bad game. I don't understand that even in 2006, a game company still creating a so cheap game... Another D&D poor game. Disapointing in all point. Ai, camera, gui...
  25. LauraD.
    Dec 3, 2006
    0
    This game is nothing but a cheap rehash of NwN1. The same lame OC storyline, EVEN THE SAME VOICE SETS! This game was cheaply made, and then titled to sell to the existing community. I feel like I've been tricked. This is not worth buying, there is no area in the game where I am satisfied with how it works.
  26. RonC.
    Dec 4, 2006
    2
    Four years of polishing and fine tunining a great game as NWN was, I was extremely let down and disapointed in the proclaimed sequel. Obsidian/Atari seemed eager to make a quick profit before the end quarter by releasing this beta version at best. I am a gamer, not a beta tester and not a tester paying $50 (not including the 2 vid card upgrades due to faulty information on "supported Four years of polishing and fine tunining a great game as NWN was, I was extremely let down and disapointed in the proclaimed sequel. Obsidian/Atari seemed eager to make a quick profit before the end quarter by releasing this beta version at best. I am a gamer, not a beta tester and not a tester paying $50 (not including the 2 vid card upgrades due to faulty information on "supported cards"). The cameras are terrible, the AI will kill your entire party with aoe spells directed at half dead target / targets when single target spells are mem'd in spell book. UI is bulky and quirky at best. Bottom line, all the good things in 1 are missing in 2, actually this game regresses in many aspects and just plain frustrating to play, highly unsatisfied, and misled by pre-release ratings and interviews with OE.… Expand
  27. JonathanT.
    Dec 6, 2006
    2
    Extremely poor performance from a graphics engine that is less than impressive. Poor character customization choices. Small areas with virtually no exploration and a decidedly linear storyline. In-game GUI is a step backwards from the original... with a clunky right click context menu, and quick bar that lacks the depth of functionality of the original. Not to mention the horrible Extremely poor performance from a graphics engine that is less than impressive. Poor character customization choices. Small areas with virtually no exploration and a decidedly linear storyline. In-game GUI is a step backwards from the original... with a clunky right click context menu, and quick bar that lacks the depth of functionality of the original. Not to mention the horrible implementation of the camera controls. Tool set was completely redone... which may or may not be a good thing... feature and power-wise... too hard to to tell with an interface that is impossibly less than intuitive. Its pretty buggy as well. In fact, its hard to find much to like... It's Forgotten Realms D&D is about all I can think of at present.… Expand
  28. KR
    Feb 22, 2007
    3
    Forget the critics. Unless high resolution "dungeon dressing" is important to you, this game has nothing to offer that 20 or even 40 other games didn't do better. The plot is linear, the terrain (that you can actually go to) is flat, the camera views are difficult to handle, and practically all the fighting can be left on automatic. (Just attack with a fighter, and let the AI handle Forget the critics. Unless high resolution "dungeon dressing" is important to you, this game has nothing to offer that 20 or even 40 other games didn't do better. The plot is linear, the terrain (that you can actually go to) is flat, the camera views are difficult to handle, and practically all the fighting can be left on automatic. (Just attack with a fighter, and let the AI handle spells.) Don't worry about interacting with your environment -- just press "w" and you'll be shown all the things you can interact with. I can't remember one genuine moment of fun or amusement in several hours of play.… Expand
  29. BillW.
    Apr 20, 2007
    3
    Perfect example of a game shipped before being completed. 6 months after release & it's still not done. Maybe Obsidian will fix enough to make it porperly playable by the time they ship the expansion this fall.
  30. Gewthen
    Oct 13, 2009
    2
    Looking at how the game is made and not the content, nor the story, nor the mechanics, the programming effort was very poor. One glaring problem the camera-- or rather how objects in the world don't fade out of the way. For example, you'll be navigating the streets of a city with multi-story buildings. The buildings block your view such that the only usable camera angle is Looking at how the game is made and not the content, nor the story, nor the mechanics, the programming effort was very poor. One glaring problem the camera-- or rather how objects in the world don't fade out of the way. For example, you'll be navigating the streets of a city with multi-story buildings. The buildings block your view such that the only usable camera angle is directly above or 45 degree angle behind your characters. One would think that if the game system isn't going to fade out buildings, then they would swing the camera around to a usable angle. Another issue is that I found that most of the game I was zoomed out most of the way. A good game system would swap out textures with lower resolution and reduce the polygon complexity of the models. However this system does not do that. In most 3D worlds parts of objects facing away from the camera are not rendered, but I get a strong sense that this system does that and so a unnecessary performance hit occurs. Occasionally I find my keyboard shortcuts to cease functioning. Pressing the console hot key fixes the problem, but I would not expect such a problem in any piece of commercial software these days. Also problem is that the pause option does not realy work. If you pause in the beginning of a round, select a spell to be casted, but then change your mind to cast a different spell, the system will replace the current round with a "do nothing event" instead of casting the spell in the current round as expected. The next round the spell will be cast, a whole round behind from where it should be casted. This could lead to a party member dying or a complete party wipe. The lack of side quests is smaller than what I would thought. I played Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 and Neverwinter Nights 1 and so I expected a bit more atmosphere in the game. I remember how in Baldur's gate there were buildings a thief character could break into and steal items. There were consequences for getting caught, not so much in NWN2. Another severe problem is that if you attempt to talk to NPC with characters only than your main character, your main character will meracrously teleport from wherever he is in the current area/level to the NPC. The same sort of thing happens if your main character is a Wizard and so you are trying to keep him behind the melee fighters in a dungeon. If there happens to be a cut-scene or a NPC interaction followed by a fight your character will also teleport in front of your melee wall and will have little time to cast a protective spell before being swarmed. Unless your know about these interactions ahead of time and cast protective spells before the NPC interaction, then your forced to have your main character be of a class that can take little beating (e.g. not a mage or a thief). The Party AI is worthless. Baldur's Gate 1 had better AI. The AI will cause your mages to burn through spells very fast or cast a high lvl spell to kill of a enemy when magic missile will do just fine. The AI will often just run off to the enemy when one of them sees it and even when you tell it to move away from it to avoid engaging the target, they'll run to where you told them to go, and then go back to the enemy. The only way to prevent this behavior is to issue "guard me" or "follow me" in the dropdown menu (high-leve/coarse grain AI) or turn of the AI. A couple of times I ran into a game stopping bug where I was left in an area without a "world transition". A dialogue event was to occur which would lead to a new area, but it never happened. I had to reload from a previous save. For those who like to explore, there is not exploring. In fact, much of the wilderness areas are not walkable for some reason. Every area seems to have a purpose either to the main story line or a side quest starting in some city or town. There are very few areas if any that are not linked to a quest. Most buildings in towns and cities are what the engine calls "environmental objects", which are static object without any interaction. The manual says that all objects in the editor begin as intractable objects (have inventory or a door..etc), but should be made a "environmental object" to increase or maintain a good performance. It seems that the "environmental object" concept was used to avoid having to sold a difficult problem. This mean years after release and with three expansions, there are no excuses for not fixing these problems because nearly all of the issues I'm mentioned are game engine problems that would carry over to any expansion or user-made content. They just don't care, Obsidian does not have the passion in this as Bioware did in all the previous D&D games.… Expand
  31. Zadig
    Nov 11, 2006
    3
    AI - The AI doesn
  32. XeoG.
    Nov 11, 2006
    1
    I only score so low because I expected so much more. I'm sure there is much potential here, if you took away my complaints, (which are dealbreakers) you would have an awesome game. 1) why does it perform so badly for such a mediocre looking game? 2) the interface - why can't i swing the camera around with the mouse? Must i use the arrows keys? In the options you can select I only score so low because I expected so much more. I'm sure there is much potential here, if you took away my complaints, (which are dealbreakers) you would have an awesome game. 1) why does it perform so badly for such a mediocre looking game? 2) the interface - why can't i swing the camera around with the mouse? Must i use the arrows keys? In the options you can select "invert mouse camera" but for god's sake you can't bind a key to it? Did anyone test this game? It seems you have to use the keyboard for camera control! 3) Another problem I have with this game is that I can't make a nice looking character because all the faces are UGLY.… Expand
  33. EricP.
    Nov 12, 2006
    1
    Terrible game. Obsidian not only ruined the NWN legacy, they made a horrendous game that is nearly unplayable. Obsidian not only needs new 3D modelers, but a new director as well.
  34. Kuseikos
    Nov 12, 2006
    3
    Believe me, you won't find a NWN enthusiast that was more excited than me to get this game. NWN was superb, and while most complained about the OC, that was only a stupid demo: the potentials of the game were immense and we saw them blossom very soon. I was hoping for NWN2 to be an upgraded version of NWN, with the same outstanding potentials, the same multiplayer excellency but Believe me, you won't find a NWN enthusiast that was more excited than me to get this game. NWN was superb, and while most complained about the OC, that was only a stupid demo: the potentials of the game were immense and we saw them blossom very soon. I was hoping for NWN2 to be an upgraded version of NWN, with the same outstanding potentials, the same multiplayer excellency but fantastically improved visuals and a marvellous, breath-taking orchestral soundtrack that would dwarf Oblivion's. I was hoping for the ability to create gorgeous looking characters, slender and agile elves, athletic humans, all with their new, finally decent voicesets (the original voicesets in NWN were mostly useless). I was hoping for an epic game, of immense proportions, with fully 3D rendered realistic environments, a smooth interface, and the exceptional potentials of development that only our outstanding community artists could provide. I yearned for sending my egregiously animated Paladin through various side quests in the original campaign, developing it the way I felt she should have developed, exploring a vast, bold world teeming with life and chances to acquire fame and wealth while wiping the evil forces off the face of Faerun. I was so excited to get this game that I preordered it (may I be damned if I ever preorder another game in my life). I was totally caught by the majestic beauty of Oblivion's graphics, but hey, this is D&D, how can Oblivion be better than D&D? I installed the game with thrills of hope, already figuring the next 5 years of infinite replayability and online fun with the newly, breath-takingly beautiful graphics to revamp the old fashioned NWN. Then, after I run the game, one by one all my hopes were shattered. Horrid models, counterintuitive user interface, disgusting animations that look more dated than the original NWN's, a total disregard of details, poor performance without the graphic bonanza one would expect from that poor performance. A choice of 6 faces for my Paladin, 5 of which look like a transvestite and one like a £2 hooker in West End. Hair? Don't mention it, you can't get a fiery red if you try for your life, and there's no vertex weighting at all. That means that your character's hair does not move in wind. It's like watching a 10 year old game. Only, 10 year old games don't cost that much. The OC sucks hardcore, unless you accept it as a linear plot driven adventure with no room at all for unexpected development. No room at all is a good definition because for reasons still obscure the system resources are devastated by this game's engine and there are none left to create large dungeons and modules. In fact, the original campaign requires a dramatic number of modules. It is as if they thought the improved visuals (which are not improved at all, the original NWN looks better, believe me) were worth sacrificing module size. But PWs are all about their vastity, and this game won't give you a chance to create anything large. Add to this that the new toolset is cumbersome, that you must download a file from the net to be able to join *any* server (even if they don't use any haks), and you'll see how long-lived this crap is going to be. You'll hear a few disconcertingly good reviews about this buggy game. Some roleplayers hate gorgeous visuals because they think that if too much is spent on visuals it means the company cares not for roleplaying. Some among these RPers actually play text-driven adventures. If you want my opinion, they are usually right and text-driven adventures are more exciting than NWN2. But in general, those that are praising this game are either too excited to see its flaws yet, or simply like linear adventure-like stories with lengthy cutscenes, and don't really care about cumbersome user interfaces, pathetic graphics and zero-replayability value. You want a honest opinion of a D&D fan? despite this game implements 3.5 rules, it's the crappiest D&D game ever since Pool of Radiance, and it has the same technical quality of that game. And the same amount of bugs too. I am sorry to say so, because I love NWN and I am a big supporter of BioWare (not of Obsidian, now, really not). I love D&D and I love D&D games. But really, do not waste your money on this title.… Expand
  35. KH
    Nov 12, 2006
    1
    With the high standards set previously by BioWare, Obsidian was facing a difficult challenge in matching the expectations of fans with Neverwinter Nights 2. Unfortunately for Obsidian, Neverwinter Nights 2 is a failure as a sequel as well as a game by itself. The game's many failures seem to stem from what many in the software industry call the second-system effect; the developers With the high standards set previously by BioWare, Obsidian was facing a difficult challenge in matching the expectations of fans with Neverwinter Nights 2. Unfortunately for Obsidian, Neverwinter Nights 2 is a failure as a sequel as well as a game by itself. The game's many failures seem to stem from what many in the software industry call the second-system effect; the developers could not decide when to stop adding features to the game and reimplemented many gameplay components that many feel were perfect in the original Neverwinter Nights. For example, Obsidian decided to remove the limitation to control just one character and allow the player to control and manage up to four individual characters. While this may interest fans who like to try out many character options, the micromanagement of controlling four separate characters becomes burdensome. What's worse, the implementation faired far worse than the similar implementation BioWare used in the Baldur's Gate series of games. When the player is controlling a character other than the player-created main protagonist and attempts to speak with an NPC, the main character is teleported to the NPC's location and begins the conversation himself. This may not sound like a game-breaking glitch, but eliminates the possibility of using charisma-based secondary characters for conversations. As an example of an unnecessary change, Obsidian did away with the wonderful radial menu and replaced it with a standard windows-like context menu. This menu provides no clue to what sub-menus exist within a menu option. The response time is also incredibly slow; when in battle, players are given little option other than to pause the game to access the context menu. This was an incredibly unnecessary change to a system that worked fine before. The game itself feels like an incredibly unfinished senior project from a local community college. The story is poor, the art is lacking, the graphics engine has incredibly bad performance for the overall look of the game, the interface is tacky and reminiscent of late-90's RPGs, the reaction time is poor, game options and configuration are confusing and inconsistent, and the controls are loose and ill-defined. Combine these faults with a bug-ridden game engine, and you have one of the worst games to be released in recent times. Obsidian obviously cared little about creating a game that would be enjoyable; they knew that they could ride the Neverwinter Nights name to ensure good publication reviews and early-adopter purchasers. One can only hope that the community as a whole will provide appropriate feedback to right this wrong.… Expand
  36. AG
    Nov 12, 2006
    2
    This game was such a disappointment. The first thing that turned me off was the graphics, then the fact that they reused music from the 1st one and to top it off, the game overall is buggy. I wouldn't have mind waiting longer for the game if they were going to improve it. After this.... now I'll wait and see what others say before I run out and buy any more of their games. I This game was such a disappointment. The first thing that turned me off was the graphics, then the fact that they reused music from the 1st one and to top it off, the game overall is buggy. I wouldn't have mind waiting longer for the game if they were going to improve it. After this.... now I'll wait and see what others say before I run out and buy any more of their games. I wish I could just return it and get my money back, what a waste.… Expand
  37. Wombat
    Nov 14, 2006
    0
    Near perfect game (NWN1) botched and the on-line community well and truly left out in the cold, NWN2 is not a sequal it is a different game with none of the fun or good aspects of the first do NOT buy this game - at least for a few years
  38. Ruinae
    Nov 15, 2006
    2
    I feel that this game is a tragedy in many respects. And I'm not talking about the plot - I mean about the game itself, and how it is critically flawed. As a builder migrating from the original game, I absolutely -hate- the new toolset. Spending the weeks (even months) of work that's required to create an online world is not worth the grievances caused by the toolset software I feel that this game is a tragedy in many respects. And I'm not talking about the plot - I mean about the game itself, and how it is critically flawed. As a builder migrating from the original game, I absolutely -hate- the new toolset. Spending the weeks (even months) of work that's required to create an online world is not worth the grievances caused by the toolset software (crashes, bugs, bad gui, insane load times). As a gamer coming from a strong RPG and D&D background, I feel that the plot is naive and linear. ex. "Fetch me this doodad, kill some orcs.." etc. Put this bad plot on top of a buggy engine, poor graphical performance, terrible voice acting, and dumb AI - and the OC is frustrating to say the least. If you plan on playing NWN2 multiplayer, you'll be dissapointed there as well... Because for every server you need to download a PWC file. This file contains the data (walkmeshes) that allows you to play on the server. Every time the builder makes changes to his server, you'll need to download the updated file again (this file is usually in the hundreds of megabytes). Not to mention all of the game engine bugs are built into every server... Plus I doubt the the developer (Obsidian) will continue to support it's customers with patches for years to come - like Bioware has with NWN1. My advice to you is to avoid this game at all costs. I wasted my 50$, why should you?… Expand
  39. DirkDiggler
    Nov 16, 2006
    3
    Please take all those positive professional reviews with a pinch of salt. As a 35 yr-old gamer who usually loves his rpgs, this is a real mess. Terrible AI, appalling performance (I hear it was written in .NET...oh dear), linear OC, awful interface issues etc. Multiplayer also seems to be gimped...maybe to avoid taking sales away from D&D online..? Ah well, maybe the NWN community will Please take all those positive professional reviews with a pinch of salt. As a 35 yr-old gamer who usually loves his rpgs, this is a real mess. Terrible AI, appalling performance (I hear it was written in .NET...oh dear), linear OC, awful interface issues etc. Multiplayer also seems to be gimped...maybe to avoid taking sales away from D&D online..? Ah well, maybe the NWN community will fix the problems, but in the meantime I might have another crack at Oblivion.… Expand
  40. Pyscho
    Nov 17, 2006
    2
    Should be called Dungeon Seige 3. Poor perfromance, graphics and game play. Extremly dissappointing.
  41. Bruno
    Nov 21, 2006
    0
    The only difference between Bioware and Obsidian is that bioware made 2 good games, whereas Obsidian made all crap. After Planescape Torment everything that was released was terribly linear with a kiddy plot. SW, NWN1, NWN2 are all the same overhyped junk for people that think that their biggest gaming achievment was finishing diablo 2 for the 10th time.
  42. SA
    Nov 25, 2006
    1
    Check the publishers website, thousands of complaints posted on their forums. They should have just improved the first title in the graphics department as it is very popular to this day. Instead they give us what THEY think we want. NWN2 is EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING.
  43. ZaronM.
    Nov 27, 2006
    1
    Terrible graphics despite the bad eyes by some site reviews saying otherwise (ign got it right). Terrible user interface, terrible linear approach to the game won't allow straying from one path the entire game, far too strict on rules to be enjoyable as a video game, and bad performance caps this off as the turd of the century in rpg's.
  44. JK
    Nov 28, 2006
    2
    Don't listen to the paid off computer magazine reviews. This game is horribly flawed, lazily implemented, as linear a game as I've ever had the misfortune to play, has horrendous bugs, huge graphic engine problems and some of the worst most irritating AI to be invented. It's like they went out of their way to create a complete mess - mission accomplished.
  45. AndrewC.
    Nov 3, 2006
    2
    Hype, as usual, has let a game down. Yes, it's D&D 3.5. But NWN1 did D&D 3.0, and what's more it looked prettier, had a far FAR better camera, the system requirements are much more reasonable...and it gave you a lot more feedback on combat. By the time you've finished fighting the camera, the lack of feedback and the UI (spellcasting in particular is a chore), there's Hype, as usual, has let a game down. Yes, it's D&D 3.5. But NWN1 did D&D 3.0, and what's more it looked prettier, had a far FAR better camera, the system requirements are much more reasonable...and it gave you a lot more feedback on combat. By the time you've finished fighting the camera, the lack of feedback and the UI (spellcasting in particular is a chore), there's very little enjoyment to be had out of NWN2. My strong advice is to buy the NWN1 Diamond edition instead - it's a FAR stronger game.… Expand
  46. JustinB.
    Dec 21, 2006
    3
    Potentially a very good game but was released in an extremely buggy state. The camera angles are counter-intuitive, very poor interface, worst control system for an RPG ever. The only way to play without extreme frustration is to use the point and click control but that doesnt even work too well because there are always walls blocking your view space. You'll spend more time rotating Potentially a very good game but was released in an extremely buggy state. The camera angles are counter-intuitive, very poor interface, worst control system for an RPG ever. The only way to play without extreme frustration is to use the point and click control but that doesnt even work too well because there are always walls blocking your view space. You'll spend more time rotating your view in a fight then actually controlling your characters because the camera just sucks.… Expand
  47. ArchonWhackamole
    Dec 3, 2006
    0
    I cant believe this was released as is...what the heck!? I have a top of the line machine and it still has issues running this sloggy beast.Im going back to playing oblivion now...see ya.
  48. MortenB.
    Dec 9, 2006
    0
    Not one good thing to say about the game. The old NWN is even miles better then this one. Sigh. I experienced 4 in game logical bugs,3 of them I managed to find a workaround the last one I have no clue what to do about, and I am stuck. The last straw were when the last patch version crashed every time, and I am unable to patch the game. DOH! Avoid this game at all cost!
  49. DaveS.
    May 12, 2007
    1
    This game is a perfect example of the recent trend in game development of releasing pre beta material and expecting the public to do all the QA for the product. Yes 6 months later they're still patching the product, but unfortunately this game is so poorly designed that even a 100 patches and 3 or 4 expansion packs are not going to make this game work. Six months ago the thought This game is a perfect example of the recent trend in game development of releasing pre beta material and expecting the public to do all the QA for the product. Yes 6 months later they're still patching the product, but unfortunately this game is so poorly designed that even a 100 patches and 3 or 4 expansion packs are not going to make this game work. Six months ago the thought among many in the NWN community was that after some patching and maybe an expansion pack the game would finally be a worthy successor to NWN. However now the games main problem the difficulty in creating mods for it versus NWN is clear for all to see.NWN main attraction was the ease to which it could be modded. A 1st time user could easily make a playable area with the tool set in a matter of minutes. With the NWN2 tool set even creating a totally blank area that will load as a module is cumbersome. Creating something you might actually want to play and share others is a major undertaking. That is this games primary fault it is too hard to mod and the mods themselves use to many resources ie megs. This makes it very difficult to create the 30-40 hour campaigns that are commonplace for NWN. This is not something that can be patched around this is a core problem with tool set and how areas are built and used by the game. A look at the amount of content being produced by modders will prove my point. The best modders are still making campaigns for NWN while there is hardly anything for NWN2. Suggestion if your going to buy this game at all wait until it done being patched, bundled with all it's upcoming expansion packs and in the $10 close out bin.… Expand
  50. V.R.
    Jul 13, 2007
    1
    I've played through the NWN2 title and as a fan of D&D and the other previous titles in this area (such as Balders and NWN1) I'm sorry to say this ones a major dud!! Actually more of a tragedy because there were such hopes. I tried playing it first time through with my friend and it really wasn't fun. Only one character can talk and interact while the other just stands I've played through the NWN2 title and as a fan of D&D and the other previous titles in this area (such as Balders and NWN1) I'm sorry to say this ones a major dud!! Actually more of a tragedy because there were such hopes. I tried playing it first time through with my friend and it really wasn't fun. Only one character can talk and interact while the other just stands around. You cant look in your inventory or even move you can only stand there. We stopped playing. I played again through solo mode and enjoyed it more, however, the extreme lack of choices and ROLEplaying was apperant. Also I'm not going to get into the bugs and messes cause this would become an essay. But I've read the previous thread above and the high reviews seem to come from solo players that enjoyed the connect the dots orriented campaign. This is where Nwn2 fails though, its a multiplayer game! If it were just another kotor style game I wouldnt really have beef but its not and that is why it has become one of the worst tiles in the D&D gamming family. This game has already recieved a final patch, likely because the dev's are already building its coffin. Anytime trying to figure out how to build an adventure for this game would be time clearly wasted, no ones going to be around to play it.… Expand
  51. DaleM.
    Jul 18, 2007
    2
    I have to admit that I enjoyed NWN 1 a lot better than NWN 2. I don't normally concern myself with graphics, but I must admit that I expected better. The game controls are a little more cumbersome to use than I would like and I sorely miss that radial menu. In addition you have to keep a large number of saves due to a save game problem. Some people (like me) tend to get corrupted I have to admit that I enjoyed NWN 1 a lot better than NWN 2. I don't normally concern myself with graphics, but I must admit that I expected better. The game controls are a little more cumbersome to use than I would like and I sorely miss that radial menu. In addition you have to keep a large number of saves due to a save game problem. Some people (like me) tend to get corrupted saves and must either load a previous save, or attempt to repair the current save game using one of your previous saves. I admit that there are quite a few bugs in the game, but I think that the save game bug alone is more than enough to make me think this game could have used a few more months of beta at least. I know that I , like a lot of people, had high expectations for this game and much to my disappointment it fell far short.… Expand
  52. BiggerNerd
    Jul 21, 2007
    5
    As a hardcore DND and DND video game fan, I was very excited to buy this game. I LOVED the first NWN, and played the hell out of it. Yet it was a big disappointment. Sure, the graphis are nice, and there are lots of options, but the game runs like crap (and my comp is quite up to specs), buggy buggy buggy, and the story was so trite. After about a week I got bored with it and went back to As a hardcore DND and DND video game fan, I was very excited to buy this game. I LOVED the first NWN, and played the hell out of it. Yet it was a big disappointment. Sure, the graphis are nice, and there are lots of options, but the game runs like crap (and my comp is quite up to specs), buggy buggy buggy, and the story was so trite. After about a week I got bored with it and went back to playing BG2 again.… Expand
  53. GeraldS.
    Sep 13, 2007
    0
    What can I say that hasn't been said already? (the negatives, that is--there are no positives I'll willingly repeat). I had a gut feeling this would be a stinker out of the box, and I wasn't disappointed. I thought the OC (that's original campaign for you noobs) was bad in NWN1, but it least it could be (and was) rescued by the community who saw the potential in the What can I say that hasn't been said already? (the negatives, that is--there are no positives I'll willingly repeat). I had a gut feeling this would be a stinker out of the box, and I wasn't disappointed. I thought the OC (that's original campaign for you noobs) was bad in NWN1, but it least it could be (and was) rescued by the community who saw the potential in the Aurora toolset. That's gone! I have been modding for several years and tried my hand at NWN2 toolset; even with my experience in C++ programming I was at a loss as to how they could...uh hmm...'mess up' the good thing they had in the Aurora's simplicity and ease of use. A module could be created that took up kB of space and distributed to the community, but in NWN2 the same file would take MB. This one died on the vine. I played it about two hours (and messed with the toolset another 20 to 30 hours) before uninstalling it, then reinstalling Baldur's Gate II again. Avoid like the plague.… Expand
  54. AnthonyB
    Jul 29, 2008
    5
    GRAPHINCS: I was expecting a lot more from this game. After playing it about a year after release it still suffers greatly from bugs and poor performance. What I mean by poor performance is that the hardware requirements are too high for the graphics you get. Sure it better than NWN1 in terms of graphics but other games out there look a heck of a lot better with less horsepower. This must GRAPHINCS: I was expecting a lot more from this game. After playing it about a year after release it still suffers greatly from bugs and poor performance. What I mean by poor performance is that the hardware requirements are too high for the graphics you get. Sure it better than NWN1 in terms of graphics but other games out there look a heck of a lot better with less horsepower. This must be on the of worst 3D engines for a game today..buggy as hell and not optimized. AI: The AI in NWN2 is inferrior to NWN1. Too many times does the henchman get stuck or refuse to join the battle. Story: Here is where it shines. I liked it better than NWN1 and found the backgrounds of the henchman more interesting. Interface & Camera: Feels very clunky. The camera view is not as good as in NWN1. To many things can get in your way blocking important views during battles ie. trees. Dialogue: OK..this one is mixed. I like that fact that more voice acting was involved but I did find that the cut scenes-dialogue scenes intefered with tactics. You can be in stealth mode but as soon as you hit a an area that calls for dialogue scene your stealth tactics are thrown out the window, and if battle pursues after the cut scene you are at a disadvantage tactically. The only way to play is with straight on battles...using no stealth or magic tactics allowed. I found the same problems in a NWN1 mod of Darkness over Dagerford. Rules: I find that 3.5 is better than 3.0 so I have to give it a nod over NWN1. Overall: a major disappointment. It feels like KOTOR2 all over again. Taking a great game and messing it up.… Expand
  55. JamesK.
    Nov 4, 2009
    6
    Anyone who's played NWN will be disappointed, but that doesn't mean it's a bad game objectively. The camera ruined the entire game for me, you can't do anything without the camera screwing you over.
  56. ChrisQ
    May 23, 2009
    0
    This game is an insult to our community...I will never pre-order again, nor will I believe the hype from the online reviewers reviews for games from this company until "real" people that are unbiased post theirs after playing. I can't describe how disappointed I am with this game.
  57. Methane
    Nov 12, 2006
    0
    Do NOT buy this game. It seems that every large review website gives it anywhere from a 7-10. Go check out BioWare's forums. The complaint thread was 14 pages loger then the pro's thread on the first day. NWN1 was never intended to be a single player game. It was a game designed to be multiplayer and focused on the toolset. The reason it survived for years as a top-rated game, Do NOT buy this game. It seems that every large review website gives it anywhere from a 7-10. Go check out BioWare's forums. The complaint thread was 14 pages loger then the pro's thread on the first day. NWN1 was never intended to be a single player game. It was a game designed to be multiplayer and focused on the toolset. The reason it survived for years as a top-rated game, despite little upgrades on graphics, was because the community was so extremely huge and brought forth HUGE custom content upgrades. People could create their own playable modules online. That factor alone made NWN1 a classic. NWN2 is ALL campaign. For every online game you want to play, you have to download files (manually, from the internet, with no autodownload function). In NWN1, there are 4 modules in the entire campaign. In NWN2, there are 10 (at least). This means no online game can ever be large - ever. They will be restricted to less-then-an-hour watered down scenarios. NWN2 has tons of bugs. Many people say using the toolset is impossible unless you have a huge monitor. Likewise, a lot of people say that NWN2 is a big step backwards. They point out that BG1, over nine years old, has many features that NWN2 lacks. The D&D rule is, "Sometimes, rules can be bent by DMs to improve gameplay." NWN2 sticks *entirely* to D&D rules, ignoring what a lot of people enjoy. Oh, and DMing? If anyone is a DM at all, the most basic functions are left out. Want to give gold? Type it in the Debugger manually. XP or levels? Find some other way to do it then with the interface, because it isn't there. Death penalties? Why, that'll be too hard! Why not just let them respawn 54 times without a single loss of XP? Gold value is nonexistant. You don't travel dungeons to get money, you travel to get items and XP so you don't have to spend the 100k you have on upgrades.… Expand
  58. KH
    Nov 13, 2006
    2
    As a stand alone game this may have been passable, althought the graphics are not good enough for the huge system requirments. Other titles are much better. As a continuation of Neverwinter Nights this game is awful. Its like they took the best things from Neverwinter Nights and removed them then added lots of fancy hard to use graphic controls. The camera is really bad. You cant see toAs a stand alone game this may have been passable, althought the graphics are not good enough for the huge system requirments. Other titles are much better. As a continuation of Neverwinter Nights this game is awful. Its like they took the best things from Neverwinter Nights and removed them then added lots of fancy hard to use graphic controls. The camera is really bad. You cant see to control your characters and the framrate drops so low during large combat it is like watching a slide show. There will never be a large multiplayer following with this game. Dont waqste your money.… Expand
  59. JohnS.
    Nov 16, 2006
    2
    Well, it has the right name, but the game just sucks. here's a 101 reasons why, and I agree with ALL of them: 1: Cant "Duel Wield" from a Quick Slot, or even use a Sword and Shield from a Quick Slot. 2: Very Limited Voice Commands and no real easy access to the Sound sets. Why was pressing "V" so bad that it had to be taken away? 3: Context Sensitive Menu is Limited in comparison to Well, it has the right name, but the game just sucks. here's a 101 reasons why, and I agree with ALL of them: 1: Cant "Duel Wield" from a Quick Slot, or even use a Sword and Shield from a Quick Slot. 2: Very Limited Voice Commands and no real easy access to the Sound sets. Why was pressing "V" so bad that it had to be taken away? 3: Context Sensitive Menu is Limited in comparison to the Radial menu. While the Context Sensitive menu is quicker in some situations, the fact that the Radial menu allowed you access to everything at all times means it got more much more use. 4: Very Poor Area Design, it seems that both interior and exterior world spaces suffer from rudimentary design flaws, such as cluttering up combat heavy spaces with placeables forcing your character to get stuck and die. 5: Combat Animations are appalling, actually... they are so bad they are not even there, no dance of death, no special combat conditions animations such as cleave which leaves combat feeling like whack a mole. 6: Character animations are staggered and unrealistic. 7: Music and Sounds have been recycled to an appalling degree. Roughly 95% of the Sounds from NWN have been reused for NWN2, Including Voice Sets and area music. This would have been a sentimental bonus if NWN2 had any of its own music or voice sets, but instead NWN2 rests upon the laurels of NWN. 8: Characters do not always perform cued actions in combat if already attacking. Casting spells from items or using feats/skills is very hit or miss. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't and you and everyone else dies. 9: Death and re-spawn system Makes the OC a Joke on any Difficulty setting, the only real challenge NWN2 poses is dealing with the game stopping bugs and fighting with the UI. 10: Selecting targets in combat is slow and unresponsive meaning that often times instead of meeting a foe and engaging in combat your character will run past the MOB you were attempting to select because you clicked the ground instead. 11: Moving through doorways with any Camera is extremely awkward. 12: The OC Plot line is dull and cliche, with no real emotional connection to the PC. "Do you know about your mother? No, Oh well Its not my place to tell you, so I wont just yet because its really not my place and its the only character hook we have that we need to reveal much later on so that you feel as if your character and history played some part in the story." 13: Character heads and hair are hideous and there is an extreme lack of selection. FaceGen could have easily been implemented, even for multiplayer. (Taking a Tip from unreal Tournament and having new user content if missing loaded on a map change.) 14: Character Portraits are as ugly as the heads they belong to. The old Portraits allowed players to be unique and creative. 15: Weapons are very basic and look out of place in comparison to the rest of the world, some of them like the Scythe's look as if they have been directly imported from NWN's with no changes made to update them. 16: The DM Client is awkward, clunky and is missing rudimentary functionality. It almost feels as if basic functions of the DM Client have been locked away from the people trying to use it, making it less of a tool, more a proof of concept. 17: Give/Take Level & XP is Missing from the DM Client. 18: Player Lists or a "Who's online" list is missing for both Multiplayer and the DM Client. 19: There is no "sit on the ground" animation, it has been replaced with "Kneel" which will make RPPW's a somewhat awkward task as most RP took place with people outside, sitting on the ground. 20: Chat Box is tiny and text quickly and easily disappears making Role Play very difficult if interacting with someone who can piece more than 2 words together at a time. 21: Chat "Rolls up" from players and disappears far to quickly, once more making in depth RP difficult . 22: Messy and overcomplicated UI for the toolset that makes duel monitors to manage all the menu's not an option but a requirement. 23: Swimming, Climbing and Jumping is absent, there is no real reason as to why these could not have been added. Where is the fun in improved terrain if all you can do is look at it? 24: By the Book adherence to the Rules in 3.5e, like all good DM's Bioware knew when to fudge the rules to make the game a more enjoyable experience. 25: Color Palette for Character creation is extremely limited and forces players into cookie cutter molds. Why not open up all the color options, or even take a step forward and allow people to enter in the html code for the color they want. 26: No fat Character Models, the original NWN's allowed you to choose fat or thin, young or old. 27: No height slider for characters. Its one of the very few "New" features of NWN2 so why not let people use it? 28: Dialogue at times in the OC is sometimes downright funny, and not intentionally so. "Texan" Swamp farmers and "Irish" Wood elves for example. As well as those Lizard Folk running behind the poor farmer with torches like something out of groucho marks. You expect them to have top hats and Cains or cigars. 29: "Spearhead" dialogue options that don't even present the illusion of choice, but instead force the player down a predetermined path. Whats the point in presenting multiple dialogue options if they all lead to the same response or some outcome? 30: Walkmeshs must be downloaded for each server without even so much as an automatic download feature. 31: NPC AI is horrific, that means the player must Micromanage everything otherwise NPC's will run off and get themselves (and possibly you killed) or stand around and refusing to engage in combat. 32: Automatic NPC "Open lock" or "Disarm Trap" fires inconsistantly. Sometimes the animation and voice will fire but the NPC will not actually unlock the door or disarm the trap. 33: Path finding is a joke, for all the walkmesh "improvements" the NPC path finding is so poor that the only thing you can be sure of is that if left to there own devices NPC's will either run around in circles or get stuck on an object. 34: WSAD Controls are hyper responsive that makes using WSAD Movement or even changing which direction your facing a difficult and finickety task. 35: Spells all look the same, while what few VFX there are look wonderful, spells no longer feel unique. In NWN's every spell had its own VFX (Even if it was just a culmination of several other VFX's added together) you could tell what was being cast purely by how it looked. Now there are so many spells that look exactly the same that you could be looking at the spell effect for 4 or more different spells. 36: Multiplayer Pausing in the OC is heavy handed and often times completely unnecessary. Not every dialogue is going to break the game, sometimes you just want to open up a merchant. 37: Dialogue Pausing will fire in combat, the rest of the world goes on but the other player not involved in the dialogue can not respond to attacks (They can still get hit and die however.) 38: Screen Turning happens at a snails pace, forcing players to use the middle mouse button if they want to turn the camera. 39: Every Camera Option has a major (and aggravating) issue with it. Top Down will become obstructed by walls or get pushed in so that you cant see anything. Free Camera has no real place in an RPG, even RTS games stopped using it. Chase camera has no way to easily turn around without moving forward & Driving Camera has major issues in interiors and especially doorways with becoming obstructed. 40: No First person perspective option, which makes interior ceilings a mute issue as the camera has to be at such a low angle to see them that it is something you only see when you want to take a screenshot, not when your actually playing. 41: Because the Game Forces you down one path "Alignment" and alignment shifts are a mute point. The Only time you get to be evil or attempt to maintain an evil alignment is via very crude and brutal "Kill them all" actions instead of "Talk a little first then kill them all" good response. 42: No real romance options in the OC, that is and always will be one of the guilty little pleasures of Gamers (Male and female alike3.) 43: NPC's only have enough personality to be annoying, there is no means to interact with them or get to know them. 44: Everything Leaves a loot bag. 45: Chat options are jumbled around or missing. The Old Whisper is now speak making the Talk/Listen radius far to small, the new Whisper is now tell, and DM Chat appears to be missing entirely. 46: No Multiplayer "Players" or "Who's online" list which makes it especially difficult to find players as a DM. 47: The OC has very little place for your character to be anything other than an Elven/Human Ranger. While you can choose to play any class or race, the story and gameplay all point to Elven/Human Ranger and make you feel a little out of place, going against the grain being anything else. 48: The overall visual Aesthetic looks exactly the same as NWN's especially in interiors, so much so, that unless you are really in close (with exception to lighting) you could mistake them for the same game. This is a shame as the new Graphics engine gets underplayed and understated more often than not. 49: The Toolset is counterintuitive, especially in light of the previous toolset. Powerful does not have to equate to "Awkward to use." After over a month of working with it, there are still times I have to stop and think about "How" I'm supposed to do something basic. Took 3 weeks to Untrain "Z" as Raise/Lower instead of "Height Lock" as it is now. In fact, its almost as if every command in the tool set now does the exact opposite of what it did in the old tool set. 50: in the OC NPC's are forced onto you, you have no option but to take them along and eventually dump them in the Tavern. 51: No Vertex Weighting, Hair is static, clothing is static. For a New and improved graphics Engine it seems rather limited when it comes to rendering the characters. 52: Load times are horrific, with 2 gigs of Ram and a 3 GHz processor there is still enough time waiting between loads from one area to the next to make a cup of tea. 53: It feels as if the number of clicks to do the most basic and simple of things has increased exponentially. Click, Drag, press Shift while standing on your head and drag your inventory item to Denmark. 54: Context Sensitive menu delay is far to long, even at its lowest settings its unusable in combat situations. 55: Inventory tetris has been replaced with tiny bland Icons that makes finding something in your inventory almost impossible. It all looks the same and some of the icons in no way shape or form look like the item they are attempting to represent. 56: No Exploration in the OC, An Area "Opens up" and appears on your map when what little story there is is forcing you to go there, and even there you can only walk the predetermined path. Even returning to a previous area is fruitless as the NPC's have no life, no spark, nothing to say or add. 57: Resting is still hypersensitive to creature proximity with no relation to the fact that there are 5 walls between you and the creature that you cant rest because of, and because of the way that most of the dungeons are designed, when you need to rest you often have to back track trying every little nook and cranny in the hope that you can find a spot that's "Just right" its as bad as trying to get reception on a cellphone in the 90's... can you hear me now? 58: When you die in multiplayer the MOBS do not respond and instead will hover over your corpses so that when you hit "re-spawn" they will kill you again... and again... and again... and again... and again. It doesn't add to the "Difficulty" but it does make dieing a very aggravating and frustrating experience at times. I would much rather loose some xp than die 40 times in a row due to the 10 archers all aiming for me the instant I re-spawn. 59: Minimap is pretty much useless unless it is to act as a spoiler. 60: No Fog of War except for in interior world spaces, but even then it only applies to unopened doors, as the player can instantly see all the corridors in a dungeon. It must be great to be able to see around corners. (Once more, poor area design) 61: You have to buy and sell items individually. Selling or buying potions one after the other after the other is extremely aggravating. What happened to "How many would you wish to buy/sell" I mean hell... if even Pokemon Emerald can add that basic functionality to merchants why cant NWN2? 62: In game books have no personality, they used to feel like you were reading a scroll, now the book text looks like yet another pop up menu. 63: In game Cut scenes have no volume control, dialogue will be really quiet and then very very loud then quiet again. 64: Cut scene cameras have been poorly placed and do not seem very streamlined or tested, sometimes your looking at the NPC's leg, sometimes the Sky, your characters arm or the back of there head or the screen is cut in half because its partly buried in the ground. 65: There is no feeling of contact in combat, blades pass through MOB's, spells fire and red numbers flash and that's about it, sometimes if your lucky you will get a reaction hit. 66: No ability to be naked, or even semi naked. Characters are in a permanently clothed state... did GTA:SA Scare people that much that now even undies are taboo? 67: You can no longer assign an auto function for an item on the quick slot bar. In NWN's you could select that an item would cast light, or heal or whatever... now you have to go via the Context Sensitive menu which makes using items a pain in the arse. 68: The VFX for Light spells (IE The glowing orbs above the players head) get in the way in any camera mode where the camera is not really far back or high up. 69: No Sneak Animation. 70: Animations do not always fire (Which seems to be a problem carried over from NWN's.) You Will stand over an Object when you should be Kneeling, or "Open" animations will fire after the door is already open etc. 71: +1 Items are still the gawdawful "Copper" color meaning that normal items are still more aesthetically pleasing and look more "real" than items that are 100x there value. This is more a personal dislike and distaste from the original. 72: Not enough random loot in the OC, you Kill X Mob and get Y item way to often, which makes replaying the OC none to thrilling. 73: The "Seamless" transition space for areas is wasted more often than not in the OC and adds unneeded Bulk to user mods which compresses the problems faced by PW creators due to the module size limitations because NWN2 acts like a bloated tick when it comes to areas. 74: The World Map Transition Icon is large, garish, destroys immersion and is often times placed in a position where you have to move the camera behind the transition otherwise all the PC will do is open and close the transition doors that the Map transition is sitting on. 75: No Mounts or Mounted Combat, something that was achieved for NWN's late in its life and was a promised feature of NWN2, so much so that it appears on the presale box. 76: Only 2 Dragons that can only be moderately tinted. 77: Tinting for Buildings and Creatures is extremely limited, often only being the roof or the buildings trim and a great many buildings or placeables cannot be tinted at all. 78: Hair styles are almost the same for every race which does very little for character diversity. 79: More quest bugs than you can shake a stick at, everything from the Game Crashing when attempting to load a cut scene, to quests repeating themselves over and over again even after you have completed them. 80: NPC Death/respawn system sometimes gets stuck and your NPC's will not automatically stand back up after combat, cant be healed and cant be raised... and you cant leave the area you are in to get aid so your left with only the option to reload from a previous save and hope they don't die, and if they do... that they stand back up again. 81: Impossible to open doors have been placed in seemingly "key" areas and where MOB's can still attack you. 82: Game is artificially limited to 20 levels (much like DVD regions) references are made to Epic Level feats in the 2da's and there are even feat Scripts left in from HotU. While this has little effect on the OC it could of had a great deal of effect on Multiplayer. 83: Most of the "New" Content in terms of feats and PrC's seems to be taken directly from The Players Resource Consortium. While I know it all comes from the same fount, it just seems a little odd that things the Community had already added and had become popular and Successful make it into NWN2. So many PrC's and feats to choose from and yet the same ones keep on cropping up. While I know this is because both draw from 3.5e and both listened to the Community's demands... I cant seem to shake the feeling of "Been there done that, that's new? I thought that was always in NWN?" and I half expect to open up the tool set and see the same scripts from PRC in NWN2. 84: Quest Giver NPC's feel as if they are fighting with you in order to give you the quest they are forcing on you. Your trying to go from A-B and NPC X appears out of no where and demands or whines you into doing quest Z and you have to sit through 20 layers of the same repeating dialogue in order for you to mark the next area you have to get to. Sometimes it actually seems it takes longer to get the quest than it does to complete it. While I have no problem with dialogue (What is an RPG without dialogue?) the quest givers just feel stilted and like they are dragging it out for everything its worth to the point that your hitting "1" just to get through the same convoluted tripe once more. Give me with detail, depth and story, don't bore me with reiterating the same point or goal from the same NPC et infinitum to the point that the quest is a dead horse long before it has begun. 85: The US Limited Edition is a Joke, The Rings are Incredibly Cheap. I mean, I was Expecting Cheap, but not Cracker Jack Cheap, and just who's fingers are the rings supposed to fit? To large for a kid, to small for an adult. The Cloth Map is Tiny and Thin and the Concept Art Booklet is all Screenshots or Tiny little Sketches that would have actually been of interest were they not half an inch by half an inch in Size. Compared to the UK version getting The Original NWN With Expansions, we seriously got jipped. Granted that is all the Publishers deal and in a year they will probably sell "NWN Complete" Packaging NWN/SoU/HotU, NWN2 & All premium Modules just before Obsidian releases there first expansion for NWN2. 86: The Run animations for duel wield make the PC's look like Bella Lagousey as Dracula, trying to shield his face from the sun. 87: Cloaks look horrible, not only are they once again paper thin but the way they attach to the PC's shoulders leave you looking directly through the "Loop" at the shoulders if your not wearing armor with huge pauldrons to hide it. 88: There is no feeling of Travel between Areas as the world map is tiny, they feel like exactly what they are, which cheap and Dirty fast travel options between instanced areas. Even Fallout went so far as to give you a little dotted line between point a-b and the option to stop off or have an honest to god, truly random encounter.. not just a planned encounter popping up before you can go to the next predetermined area. 89: NPC's have no Spark of life about them in terms of NPC to NPC interaction. They are extremely scripted, so much so that if and when they do spuraticly spout a line of dialogue its as if they are looking for there blacking marks on the ground and holding up there script. "Hold on guys I think I have a line here.. Ok here it goes. We have now reached the City of Neverwinter, You two pissed me off on the journey... no don't actually bother responding to me or having an actual discussion with me about anything, and I'm not actually going to go anywhere like I said I would but instead stick to the group" In KotOR, NPC's would stop and have conversations with each other depending upon who you had in the party and where you were or what actions your character had just made. NWN2 lacks even that small amount of depth giving you no way to interact with your companions except when the game occasionally allows you to have a dialogue option or two with them... which generally has no effect on them, they do what they were going to do anyway and you either loose or gain influence for agreeing or disagreeing with them. Granted they are a hell of a lot better than the original NWN's but in comparison to even KotOR2 they have a great deal to answer for. Even the abortion of the TES Series that was Oblivion managed to give the NPC's some personality, so Radiant AI was not very advanced but it at least made an attempt. 90: Interior Tile sets are extremely limited, while It is nice that we can fit together different tiles in some sembalance of a master List, that does not excuse the fact that there are crucial... key tilesets missing. Sewers for example. While I understand you only added what you would need for the OC it still leaves the modding Community high and dry on some tileset basics. 91: One of the worst crafting systems ever conceived. Having to Buy "Molds" for everything you want to create... you don't cast anything in a Mould, Weapons and Armor are tempered, not Poured. Has no one at Obsidian ever been to a Blacksmiths Forge or even to your run of the mill Ren fair? Its a quick and Dirty Craft system ripped mostly from KotOR because every RPG apparently has to have one. 92: The OC is totally Monty Haul, Swamp Farmers with +1 Weapons, Low Level Lizard Folk with Flaming/Lighting/Whatever weapons. Oh look, I found another +4 Burning Sword of Doom, toss it onto the pile we have going. 93: The Cityscape of the City of Neverwinter is bland, uninteresting and placeables seem to be tossed around randomly. Why is there a mini Obelisk in the middle of the road? Why do the Docks have a Gazebo? Why are all the doors missing? I mean, I understand not wanting to make an interior for each building you place, but surely a tiny little cell with an NPC to talk to... oh that… Expand
  60. AE
    Nov 28, 2006
    2
    Lame story, Brings High-end systems to their knees for no reason, poor voice acting, not a true Rpg, too linear, too many forced choices. Dumb Ai & Ui. Companions are annoying and you cannot turn them down, only after they join you can leave them at home. Inventory sucks bad, unclear icons for spells and items.
  61. Nate
    Dec 13, 2006
    5
    Good game horrible execution. NWN 1 controls were a little boggy...but NWN2 is far far worse. Over detailed ui with intrusive unneeded borders. K.I.S.S was avoided. And yes it will tear your machine apart. Runs worse than Oblivion at unlimited view distance with modded 4x res textures. And looks worse than Oblivion on the worst settings. Uses a model 'style' similar to Good game horrible execution. NWN 1 controls were a little boggy...but NWN2 is far far worse. Over detailed ui with intrusive unneeded borders. K.I.S.S was avoided. And yes it will tear your machine apart. Runs worse than Oblivion at unlimited view distance with modded 4x res textures. And looks worse than Oblivion on the worst settings. Uses a model 'style' similar to EQ2's clunky ' realistic' models.… Expand
  62. ReneC
    Dec 27, 2008
    6
    No too original. Not too absorbing. Horrendous camera. Clunky interface. So gameplay, which is so important in, well, a game, is badly hampered. The whole thing begins with an overused ploy, an attack that so urgently requires you to do simple and uninteresting things to resist. Done this we move to the typical ladder of monster-vanquishing. Start with Lizardmen, move on to Bandits and No too original. Not too absorbing. Horrendous camera. Clunky interface. So gameplay, which is so important in, well, a game, is badly hampered. The whole thing begins with an overused ploy, an attack that so urgently requires you to do simple and uninteresting things to resist. Done this we move to the typical ladder of monster-vanquishing. Start with Lizardmen, move on to Bandits and most likely would have gone up to Goblins and Orcs very soon. I do not know since I uninstalled the game quite early. The RPG immersion is broken constantly by "world transitions" glowing on the ground and assorted cut-scenes that many times do not quite match what has taken palce. An RPG is not ONLY a humongous dialogue tree, it is also fluidity of the action so we don't have to emerge from the, hopefully, depths of the character. Giving orders and mounting creative attacks or solutions to situations proved an exercise in futility. Too many clicks are needed constantly to herd your companions to make it fun and practical to use them fully during the encounters, and, as was my experience, resorting to other means of solution that are not combat were close to non existent. When there is a chance to speak to an enemy, talking may be a way to solve a situation, but trying to use, for example, pure stealth and a careful disposal of the enemy force from the shadows no to confront them directly, was not, as this course of action met its doom against scripted spawning of antagonists. My fellow dungeon crawlers were not too bright. Even after tinkering with their "Behaviours" the results were not too much more satisfying. Frequently I found them running to help me the longest possible way, activating all traps and getting themselves dispatched before reaching me. Or collecting other creatures on the way to arrive with a tail of pursuers. The central story may be good, I have no idea, but the side quests were unremarkable, common and unattractive. The camera is, along with the interface, one of my greatest sources of irritation. Ceilings, walls, wooden beams, pillars and other structures that in most games are usually transparent, were constantly obstructing my line of vision. With the unkindness of the interface, the whole process of a simple battle was made very difficult. Graphics are nice, sounds are merely OK, the 3-D models are not nice but varied enough. Overall it may please D&D hardcores, and maybe other RPG enthusiasts too, but I think that the game has just too many low points to make it a must of the genre as, let's say, Torment, Baldur's Gate or Fallout all are. What makes this game very promising is the inclusion of the necessary tools to create your own scenarios, for the myriad of Dungeon Masters that want to see their creations turned into a video game.… Expand
  63. khemeher
    Mar 7, 2012
    7
    I'm writing this review in 2012, so this review is more of a retrospective than a new product review. For that reason, I'll keep it short & down to a few key points. To put it simply, NWN2 is both a huge success & a dreadful failure all the same time. That may sound a bit strange, but in order to appreciate this game, you really have to appreciate what the developers were trying toI'm writing this review in 2012, so this review is more of a retrospective than a new product review. For that reason, I'll keep it short & down to a few key points. To put it simply, NWN2 is both a huge success & a dreadful failure all the same time. That may sound a bit strange, but in order to appreciate this game, you really have to appreciate what the developers were trying to accomplish. They were trying to 1) create a true D&D simulation, that captured the table-top RPG experience, and 2) allowed players to appreciate the game alone or in groups; that had 3) a structure both complex enough to contain the diversity of rules for D&D; and 4) was still simple enough in design for players to write their own modules and create their own content at home. If you look at that list, then they succeeded beautifully in that regard.

    Where the game falls down is where the rubber hits the road, so to speak. On paper this game looks great, but when you actually try to play it is where you find all the shortcomings. The character models are ugly. All the models for clothing & armor are likewise uninspired, dully, and ugly. The controls for the game are clunky, poorly considered, and often create a situation where there is literally no good way to both control your character properly & see what's going on. Many times you feel like your characters are playing inside a very tiny dollhouse, and you can't quite see what they're doing. Added to that are the glitches & errors that pop. Some of which are simply annoying, while others will cause a total failure of the game & force you to reroll & restart. All I can advise you there is to save often, so you can back up if you have a crash or a memory file gets corrupted. Inventory management is a real chore. Crafting is needlessly involved & slow.

    So when you judge this game as a D&D simulator it's fantastic. When you judge it as a video game, against such series as Dragon Age or The Elder Scrolls, you find that it falls short of the mark. If you're a hardcore D&D player, and can't get your group together enough to satisfy your needs, then this is just the thing for you. If you just want a video game to bash swords into bad guys for a few hours, then you should turn your attention to other, greener pastures.    … Expand
  64. Terrastro
    Feb 16, 2020
    4
    1. Stupid, childish, boring, predictable and linear as a blackboard plot, in some moments causing an acute negative. Mediocre dialogs with pseudo non-linearity that will not affect anything globally.

    2. With a technically good engine, the developers managed to use it so crookedly and mediocre that there was nowhere else to go. Absolutely empty and poorly detailed locations, there is    1. Stupid, childish, boring, predictable and linear as a blackboard plot, in some moments causing an acute negative. Mediocre dialogs with pseudo non-linearity that will not affect anything globally.

    2. With a technically good engine, the developers managed to use it so crookedly and mediocre that there was nowhere else to go. Absolutely empty and poorly detailed locations, there is almost no interactivity with the environment, and what is available mainly happens according to the plot. Disgusting animations, miserable cutscenes and ridiculous staging in these cutscenes. What else to talk about, even if they could not come up with their own musical accompaniment, they simply took and copied the existing one from the first part.

    3. The combat role-system is made very clumsy and ridiculous, look at these wretched attempts and picking after what was in the first part is simply impossible. It is unclear why they introduced alchemy, which the vast majority of players simply do not use because of its uselessness. Boring and unclear why the introduced micromanagement of the castle, which after a while begins to annoy more and more.

    To summarize: In the second part I was prompted to play NWN1, after passing this masterpiece I decided to go through the second part (although I knew that it was worse in the whole of the first part) and regretted it very much. I look at the ratings of the press and just can’t believe in their objectivity, how could you put more than 6 points to this mediocre craft !! ??    … Expand
  65. DonaldB.
    Nov 6, 2006
    10
    Only the late release and a few bugs keep me from a 10 here. I don't know what Andrew C is talking about with the camera, the controls are just like, and just as responsive as the original NWN. As to there being not enough monsters, or not enough models, well, let's just say that if there's not enough, I haven't seen it and they do an excellent job of killing me Only the late release and a few bugs keep me from a 10 here. I don't know what Andrew C is talking about with the camera, the controls are just like, and just as responsive as the original NWN. As to there being not enough monsters, or not enough models, well, let's just say that if there's not enough, I haven't seen it and they do an excellent job of killing me whenever I don't plan well for a fight. Graphics are phenomenal, the storyline is engaging and long (I'm over 15 hours in and still in Act I), and the back end of the system is solid. On second thought, it's worth a 10. It just so happens to own my soul right now.… Expand
  66. Mactaveous
    Nov 10, 2006
    9
    This is an enjoyable new saga to the nwns world. Great intro cut scene and a very powerful modding program combined with a strong story makes it a must by for all those d&d players out there.
  67. Mat
    Nov 12, 2006
    5
    Needs a lot of work done yet. Would advise not buying this for awhile. "Party AL" is remarkably awful and fairly essential options are missing to manage those party members. Camera is clumsy and giving orders oddly awkward. Overall there's the promise of a good game there but it is very frustrating at the moment (played with patch 1.2)
  68. AWT.
    Nov 12, 2006
    5
    Incomprehensibly terrible game. It is not worth repeating for the twelfth time exactly why. Go read the forum posts and please don't wast your money on this game. By it on ebay for $4.00 and it might be worth that.
  69. CB
    Nov 20, 2006
    9
    Solid entertainment, improves on the first.
  70. AnonymousMC
    Nov 27, 2006
    7
    The game is better then NWN1..marginally better. I'm a big fan of NWN1 and I also like this game but I truly feel they could have pushed this game further in all aspects then it did. There's no climbing, no swimming. Character customization is disappointing. The PC head and hairstyle variety and quality is pitiful especially. The inventory needs work. Why they decided to revampThe game is better then NWN1..marginally better. I'm a big fan of NWN1 and I also like this game but I truly feel they could have pushed this game further in all aspects then it did. There's no climbing, no swimming. Character customization is disappointing. The PC head and hairstyle variety and quality is pitiful especially. The inventory needs work. Why they decided to revamp the interface to make it like WoW is beyond me...the original NWN1 interface was the best. Why reinvent the wheel? They should have just left that intact with a few improvements. I guess they wanted to attract the WoW people over. The campaign itself was enjoyable and a huge imporvement over NWN1's however you can tell things were left unfinished and it was rushed at the end. The end cutscene was so bad with poor quality slides and lame voice over it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It's sad because the rest of the campaign is otherwise fun.
    The toolset is much more powerful then the original which is awesome however the interface leaves something to be desired. It is very initutive at the moment and needs plenty of tweaking.
    Overall, at the moment, the game feels like its still in a beta state. If you're planning on buying it please wait at least another month.    … Expand
  71. [Anonymous]
    Nov 3, 2006
    9
    Though there are a few technical deficiencies, the official campaign is a massive improvement over the first game's. The party companions are always sure to bring plenty of chuckles with their dialogue and character. The toolset and multiplayer mean infinite value for a long time.
  72. JimmusMaximus
    Nov 3, 2006
    8
    Been playing it since yesterday. Here are some of my observations: Good: Gameplay feels like Knights of the Old Republic (also by Obsidian) Bad: Gameplay feels like Knights of the Old Republic, camera angles and controls are a bit funky at times Good: More character options to choose from when creating a character Bad: Not enough faces, and some of the faces are ug-ly! Good: More sounds Been playing it since yesterday. Here are some of my observations: Good: Gameplay feels like Knights of the Old Republic (also by Obsidian) Bad: Gameplay feels like Knights of the Old Republic, camera angles and controls are a bit funky at times Good: More character options to choose from when creating a character Bad: Not enough faces, and some of the faces are ug-ly! Good: More sounds and music Bad: Many of the sounds are ripped right out of Neverwinter Nights 1 - kind of a rip-off Good: Graphics are gorgeous to look at Bad: Requires a high-end system for all options, probably worse than Oblivion Good: Armor, capes and weapons are beautiful Bad: Helmets do NOT show up on henchmen/party NPCs (whose decision was that?!) Good: Interface, commands and hot-keys are intuitive Bad: Many options, like the radial menu from NWN are gone Good: Load times are really fast Bad: Setting some options (like resolution) will require that you reload the game from the main menu because the maps are glitched Good: Spell effects are freakin' awesome!!! Bad: Gets a bit confusing with all the fireworks Verdict: Excellent - The good fortunately outweighs the bad, in my opinion. I was able to tweak my graphics to a smooth-playing configuration that looks pretty good without sacrificing responsiveness. Cannot wait for people to start releasing mods for it.… Expand
  73. DominickM.
    Nov 5, 2006
    7
    A lot of the people giving this game negative reviews are comparing it to NWN and somehow trying to say that was a better gaming experience. As a veteran of D&D RPGs, I can tell you that NWN 1 was by far one of the worst entries in the franchise, and a huge step down from BG and BG 2. If you liked NWN 1, then I am not surprised that you do not like this game, but in the same token, A lot of the people giving this game negative reviews are comparing it to NWN and somehow trying to say that was a better gaming experience. As a veteran of D&D RPGs, I can tell you that NWN 1 was by far one of the worst entries in the franchise, and a huge step down from BG and BG 2. If you liked NWN 1, then I am not surprised that you do not like this game, but in the same token, perhaps Diablo 2 or its kin would be a better fit. NWN2 restores to the D&D franchise depth of character, full parties, and story. By no means is this game perfect, but it is by far a step in the right direction, where as NWN 1 was three steps back from BG 2. The biggest complaint on this game is the system requirements. I am running an Athlon X2 4200, 2 GB DDR, and 2 x GeForce 7800 SLI, and I run the game at medium settings at a 1280x960 resolution to get adequate game play. I shudder to think what is required for the HIGH end settings (including enabling shadows and water affects, both of which I had to take off). All in all, it is a good game and a rewarding experience to any D&D veteran. It is not the open ended world of oblivion, but so what, Oblivion held my interest for 3 days - this will hold my interest for 3 years.… Expand
  74. BlakeT.
    Nov 5, 2006
    6
    Disappointing to a NW fan. Perhaps my expectations were way too high. The title plays like it was rushed. They use the same music that was in NW1. The graphics are very poor compared to other games being released right now. I spend more time trying to control the camera than I do actually playing my character. I'm truly confused as to the high system requirements? Poor graphics, few Disappointing to a NW fan. Perhaps my expectations were way too high. The title plays like it was rushed. They use the same music that was in NW1. The graphics are very poor compared to other games being released right now. I spend more time trying to control the camera than I do actually playing my character. I'm truly confused as to the high system requirements? Poor graphics, few graphical choices for characters? Weird. Also, characters in your party seem to lose their way. They get stuck easily behind objects and you have to go back and find them to set them free. Craziness!… Expand
  75. GF.
    Nov 5, 2006
    5
    Not a worthy successor to NWN. Not ready for prime time. What the mag critics above are smoking, I've no idea. Environments, map design, interface, camera controls, and game mechanics are all poor, all unacceptable for this title. Sometimes the environment graphics are so bad, it's mind-boggling: think Knight Online quality, same low-res textures on boxy models of building faces Not a worthy successor to NWN. Not ready for prime time. What the mag critics above are smoking, I've no idea. Environments, map design, interface, camera controls, and game mechanics are all poor, all unacceptable for this title. Sometimes the environment graphics are so bad, it's mind-boggling: think Knight Online quality, same low-res textures on boxy models of building faces that are facades and have nothing inside them. Any review that gives this game a 90-100 simply hasn't played it.… Expand
  76. Itemforty
    Nov 6, 2006
    5
    - The multiplayer system for the default game demands that all players listen to every conversation that advances the plot. This forces all players to freeze completely while the story is being told, even if you are simply selling something to a merchant or changing in game settings. Any spell or ability that needs to be charged, including rest, will be cancelled. - Also in multiplayer, - The multiplayer system for the default game demands that all players listen to every conversation that advances the plot. This forces all players to freeze completely while the story is being told, even if you are simply selling something to a merchant or changing in game settings. Any spell or ability that needs to be charged, including rest, will be cancelled. - Also in multiplayer, if a player walks into a building, all characters load and enter that building. - Some voices and music are taken exactly from NWN1… Expand
  77. JameyM.
    Nov 6, 2006
    9
    A faithful continuation of the NWN franchise, this one blends elements of the first NWN game as well as elements found in the older party-based InfinityEngine games such as Baldur's Gate. Recommended for fans of D&D.
  78. Battleheat
    Nov 10, 2006
    9
    I can't stop playing this game. The graphics are lush and very detailed. Everything is dynamically lit and done very well. The technical flaws keep this from becoming a 10. Sometimes the cut scenes wont focus on a character and my frame rate keeps dipping (on a 3 ghz, 6800 geforce, 1gb ram). Still, inspite of the flaws, I'm really enjoying this game so far its very addictive and I can't stop playing this game. The graphics are lush and very detailed. Everything is dynamically lit and done very well. The technical flaws keep this from becoming a 10. Sometimes the cut scenes wont focus on a character and my frame rate keeps dipping (on a 3 ghz, 6800 geforce, 1gb ram). Still, inspite of the flaws, I'm really enjoying this game so far its very addictive and well done.… Expand
  79. MassimoCusi
    Nov 12, 2006
    5
    A sheer number of bugs and flaws sums up to poorly rendered graphics. While the system requirements are high, the quality of the graphics is appalling compared to what is on the market today. The GUI is cumbersome and feels rather out of date for 2006. The original campaign suffers from strict linearity and lacks the aspects of exploration and freedom that generally define role playing.A sheer number of bugs and flaws sums up to poorly rendered graphics. While the system requirements are high, the quality of the graphics is appalling compared to what is on the market today. The GUI is cumbersome and feels rather out of date for 2006. The original campaign suffers from strict linearity and lacks the aspects of exploration and freedom that generally define role playing.
    A big disappointment, considering the prequel.    … Expand
  80. ArtyN.
    Nov 12, 2006
    4
    This game is poor at best. Counterintuitive, with inexplicably high system requirements but low performance no matter what. D&D deserved a better game. Oh well, so did Neverwinter Nights,actually. The game is rated for pre-teens. I recommend to leave it to them.
  81. MartinC.
    Nov 13, 2006
    5
    This is a rushed grab for the Xmas buck. You'll need a very good system to get anywhere near the screen shot graphics. Sound is basically NWN1. Bugs - more like a termite nest. Give it a few months (maybe 6) for the monster issues to get patched and to see how the the player base reacts. Wait and see!
  82. Alex
    Nov 13, 2006
    4
    Bug-ridden beta of a poor product. Clearly not even a release candidate that people are made to pay for.
  83. Decider
    Nov 14, 2006
    3
    This will be a great game... In about a year. Multiplayer got shot in the head, but the singleplayer got better. Buggy as hell, but what isn't these days? If the community does what they did for NWN1. But it shouldn't be necessary to 'fix' a game simply in order to make it have the functionality of it's prequel. Don't buy it yet... Wait to see what Obsidian This will be a great game... In about a year. Multiplayer got shot in the head, but the singleplayer got better. Buggy as hell, but what isn't these days? If the community does what they did for NWN1. But it shouldn't be necessary to 'fix' a game simply in order to make it have the functionality of it's prequel. Don't buy it yet... Wait to see what Obsidian does with it. Right now, it just isn't a finished product.… Expand
  84. SeanF.
    Nov 15, 2006
    5
    Pros: The OC story is not bad. Better than many lately, and some of the NPC party members are interesting. They did do away with a few nerfed feats like discipline. Cons: OC is very linear. Your basically forced to do what the story script tells you. Performance is substandard unless you have a very high end machine and/ or were very lucky. The HUD and in-game controls are Pros: The OC story is not bad. Better than many lately, and some of the NPC party members are interesting. They did do away with a few nerfed feats like discipline. Cons: OC is very linear. Your basically forced to do what the story script tells you. Performance is substandard unless you have a very high end machine and/ or were very lucky. The HUD and in-game controls are counterintuitive and hopeless unless you like hitting pause every few seconds. The camera particularly so.The graphics are muddy and following action is difficult especially with the clunky controls. Frankly the graphics look like they were lifted wholesale from KOTOR-2 along with the game engine. Multiplayer is almost totally unsupported except for some insinceere lip service from the developers that "Were looking into it." Im no big fan of consparicy theories, but the fact that they refused to release a demo, AND shipped NWN2 with a CD of DnD online tells me that they knew they had a stinker on their hands.… Expand
  85. MorganC.
    Nov 15, 2006
    9
    Don't believe the nay-sayers, this is a great game. The graphics are nice (especially if your system is strong enough to take advantage of them). The difficulty level isn't too easy, it's quite challenging at times. There are lots of new races and abilities added so lots of variety in character choices. I haven't played multiplayer yet but I'll check it out soon.
  86. JohnH.
    Nov 16, 2006
    3
    This game's original campaign storyline is very linear, very little replayability here. Custom modules for any decent size online game will require a HUGE download.This is written in Microsoft NET, so it eat eats up all your systems resources ,if your rig is not at the high end forget about the good grapics .It is glitchy and full of bugs. everything I came to love from NWN1 is gone This game's original campaign storyline is very linear, very little replayability here. Custom modules for any decent size online game will require a HUGE download.This is written in Microsoft NET, so it eat eats up all your systems resources ,if your rig is not at the high end forget about the good grapics .It is glitchy and full of bugs. everything I came to love from NWN1 is gone from NWN2, It looks and feels rushed and I regret buying this trash. I'm going back to NWN1 and this garbage is going where it belongs.… Expand
  87. JoshuaM.
    Nov 18, 2006
    3
    Online play, the lifeblood of the original game, is a joke. The chat bar takes up the entire chat screen so you can't see what others are writing, letters fly above characters heads, and don't get me started on using whisper/shout/talk modes. there is no way to click on portraits to send a whisper like every other mmorpg does in this world. which is insulting since they sent us Online play, the lifeblood of the original game, is a joke. The chat bar takes up the entire chat screen so you can't see what others are writing, letters fly above characters heads, and don't get me started on using whisper/shout/talk modes. there is no way to click on portraits to send a whisper like every other mmorpg does in this world. which is insulting since they sent us a copy of DDO as if to say "hey...we sent you this garbage so you wouldnt play online for free..play this game in stead. its why we gave you crap for online play. to force you to play our pay game." on top of this, the targetting system is garbage, the walk animation looks like you have a bad rash and a bad back, to change duel wield you have to manually go into your inventory and drag the items to your hands, and there are a grand total of five emotes to choose from, as opposed to the original god knows how many. you can no longer change your clothings appearance, as was in the hotu game, so you are stuck with lousy looking armor, with hideous colors. Speaking of armor, the full plate looks like garbage. there is no detail of the breastplate and you feel like you are wearing a wetsuit. I swear. I wanted to go spear fishing when I saw my character in his full plate. The color palet when chosing colors for your characters hair and skin tone is so restrictive that it kills your variety and hampers your originality. In order to play, I have to turn all of my settings to off or low. all those pretty little things that nwn2 offers I cant see. even the dialogue is choppy, and skips words and repeats, because the resources needed to handle this game are beyond my computer. they have effectively alienated about 50% of the users out there as they do not have 3gig processors with 512mb video cards. this is just a taste of the problems i have with the game. im going back to NWN1. the graphics may not be as pretty and maybe i cant use a monk in full plate and keep my unarmed damage bonus, but at least i dont have to spend three hours downloading a file just so i can go onto a server.… Expand
  88. Carcer
    Nov 19, 2006
    3
    Though the game has great potential, it's clearly unfinished and suffers from a large number of bugs, as well as a massive decrease in the UI's functionality as opposed to NWN1, such as the lack of the ability to quickslot text macros, emotes, or voice commands, and the apparently random (and certainly cannot have been playtested) choice to have the multiplayer chat entry box Though the game has great potential, it's clearly unfinished and suffers from a large number of bugs, as well as a massive decrease in the UI's functionality as opposed to NWN1, such as the lack of the ability to quickslot text macros, emotes, or voice commands, and the apparently random (and certainly cannot have been playtested) choice to have the multiplayer chat entry box appear over the top of, and obscure, the chatbox itself. Once these bugs and ludicrous design decisions are fixed, we'll have a game worthy of the reviews critics have given it. As is, I cannot recommend buying the game.… Expand
  89. GEF
    Nov 26, 2006
    0
    Garbage. Absolute, undeniable garbage. You know, a class-action suit against obsidian might be in order. Failure to provide in their product what was stated on their packaging and in their promotions. The utter failure to provide a useable piece of software out of the box. The complete contempt they have shown purchasers on their forums, either by ignoring customers or by curtailing theirGarbage. Absolute, undeniable garbage. You know, a class-action suit against obsidian might be in order. Failure to provide in their product what was stated on their packaging and in their promotions. The utter failure to provide a useable piece of software out of the box. The complete contempt they have shown purchasers on their forums, either by ignoring customers or by curtailing their customers valid complaints. These asses might as well put in big letters on the sales box "VIRUS INCLUDED". If, and that's a stretch, the game does start you can rest assured that you won't play for long. This game/virus reboots or otherwise shuts down machines more often than a great deal of bugs you'd find using a well-known virus. That's not wildly inaccurate. You should research the forums on Bioware if you think all these 0-3 ratings are biased opinions. People with $5000 machines can't get this garbage to run, or be stable or have any kind of performance at all. Even on the lowest settings available. The people who give this p.o.s. anything above a 4 or even 5 don't know NWN very well. NWN1 could sit running static for hours and days and have no issues at all. You could run NWN1 at it's maximum settings on a moderate machine with better than modest performance. NWN1 multiplayer was the standard by which other MMORPG's compared themselves. NWN1's community didn't fix NWN1, they expanded it beyond the original designers imagination. And then obsidian took this incredible genre, the name NWN and all the NWN1's players and shoved a big stick in their ass. For the money paid on this game obsidian should have at least given us the courtesy of a reach-around. Lest we forget, the 1.02 85meg update that for all intents and purposes fixed nothing. Others will disagree and by all rights they can, but after all the update hubbub (the update process consumed a good 6gig during the process) and the scrolling "Patching..." you will still be left with only the shell of a game. I won't try to address the editor or modding as I gave up on NWN2 after playing into it for only a few days. I stopped because my hideously high-level character was unable to progress any further because of yet, you guessed it, another well publicised bug (again, look at the Bioware forums) that makes the game unuseable. Though I don't know the return policy of any other state's stores but my own, I would make the assumption it's not much different. Once you breach the plastic it's yours. Does't matter if all that was inside was a rubber-band and a ball of toe jam, it's yours now. You can see why more and more companies are releasing pieces of fecal matter like this dog, because the consumer gets screwed and the companies bitch at the vendors about software theft and not to take back opened software. They got us. We got taken. Someone should fly a plane into their building. I truely believe that unless something drastic happens these companies will continue to release horrid turds like this one knowing full well that their software doesn't work and then ignore the people who complain about it. You should try to follow some of the problem threads because you'll have the opportunity to watch complete threads being deleted. They know it's broken. They knew that when they shipped it. Hell, they knew it when they sent the master to be copied. Some poor programmer who worked on this dirt-bag probably got canned because he repeatedly told those in charge that it wasn't ready. Happens all the time. But their are other venues for that conversation. As it sits on the shelves it is the biggest piece of shit you will come across this christmas season. You want to give away $50? Send it to a good charity and take the write-off. You want a great game that's D&D? This isn't it. They should take the upper echelon at obsidian out behind the building and put a bullet in their heads. It was those greedy bastards who allowed this to happen. The amount of money they took willingly with full knowledge of it's problems is nothing short of criminal behavior. There are some very eloquent votes in this list, mine may not rank very high in it's evalution but after the expenditure and headache I felt compelled to share this with you. Good, bad or indifferent. But you didn't pay $50 for it, now did you?… Expand
  90. GradyE.
    Nov 27, 2006
    4
    There is not one thing in this game that I can say is better than the original aside from the fact that there are more prestige classes. Graphics: Fair. The graphics would be nice if the game performed on anything other than a $5000 machine (I am not kidding). Interfacce: Horrid. Everything that you could do in NWN1 by a single mouse click or two takes at least 2-5 more mouse clicks to do There is not one thing in this game that I can say is better than the original aside from the fact that there are more prestige classes. Graphics: Fair. The graphics would be nice if the game performed on anything other than a $5000 machine (I am not kidding). Interfacce: Horrid. Everything that you could do in NWN1 by a single mouse click or two takes at least 2-5 more mouse clicks to do with minimal options for hot-baring things. Party AI and Pathing: Very bad. NPCs will get stuck on a pebble if it is in their path to get to a target. Spell casters will cast an AoE spell on a single target when all other party members are around to get hit too. Gameplay: Fair. The story is very linear and exploration is not a mainstay as it was with NWN1. I can get over this b/c I really will only play the OC once or twice. However, if the world is not flexible because of an inefficient engine (which I suspect it might be) than that will limit any community expansion of the game. Completeness: Very poor. Very, very buggy from top to bottom. It is a very common occurence to have a script no fire and get "stuck" in the game because you didn't complete something that really was completed. There are also many bugs with classes, feats, and spells. I am very disappointed and my optimisim that it will get better is starting to diminish for every unanswered post in the support forum. The worst part, it ruined the first game for me too.… Expand
  91. JohnEvans
    Nov 27, 2006
    4
    Seriously this is NOT a good game. Do not be deceived by the Fanboi reviews. Check www.1up.com for an honest "professional" game review. At least gamespot gave it 6 for graphics, so kudos to them for that at least. I will try to be honest here, but where to start? Pretty much everyone knows by now that the graphics are not the best in this game, its not just on account of the obvious lag, Seriously this is NOT a good game. Do not be deceived by the Fanboi reviews. Check www.1up.com for an honest "professional" game review. At least gamespot gave it 6 for graphics, so kudos to them for that at least. I will try to be honest here, but where to start? Pretty much everyone knows by now that the graphics are not the best in this game, its not just on account of the obvious lag, poor performance and high specs needed. Graphics are about more than the nuber of Polygons, Shadows, and how many Pixel shaders you support. GRAPHICS Graphics lead to very poor "imersion". Levels are SMALL, tiny, and also animations are very very poor. Your characters will not look very cool while running fighting or doing anything. Customization of look of you char is OK, but not earth shattering. INTERFACE Interface. Very poor, I was getting RSI in the end, right clicking wait for pop-up, drag etc. Camera has numerous faults that others have noted, but I can cope with that at least, you just need to fiddle with it. MULTIPLAYER This game uses Huge walk meshes, that ALL clients MUST download before they can join your world. Upwards of 200-300MB. You will need to find a decent "Paid For" ISP so that each client can download the 100of MB. You are therefore looking at Paying for Terrabytes! of download if you want to host an online world. You have been warned. To host the game you will need to open numerous ports, and know a fair bit about firewalls (ok this does not bug me), but you will likely need XP, or more likely pay for hosting a Windows 2003 server since the server does not support Linux. If you make any small changes to game world, all users will need to re-download those Terabytes. Other online support such as chat is very poorly Supported. Also take note. Online, "If ONE person entersa shop, ALL party members will do so". If ONE person starts a conversation with NPC, the whole party HAS to. This is due to the very small levels (due to insane memory needs), and therefore system can't cope with people in different areas. Toolset is not getting much good feedback from the developer community at the moment. CAMPAIGN This is very linear and is based on very very small levels. MOst levels have very few places you can explore (if any...seriously), and doors, buildings etc are there for scenery. You must "open up" areas on your map before you can go there. Also many doors are super locked on account of the linear scripting not wanting you to go there. There are numerous game breaking bugs that if you take certain choices, will prevnt you from completing the game. Make SURE to patch patch patch before you start this game. SLOWNESS Loading screens are insane, even on the same level. If you go to the shop to buy mats for crafting...load...leave shop...load...walk 20 yard to the "Inn" where your workbench is...load...oops forgot an item...load main area....walk to yards to shop...load. I mean its realy realy bad. Make sure you have a Raptor or other fast disk. pref have 2Gb of RAM. You will also find commands lag, and its very hard to target. Obdsidian have admitted this and suggest you use "Tab" targetting as a work round. If there are 15 monsters you will need to tab though them all. AI Lots of people complain about this, I don't find it as bad as peopel say...simply because there is an option to totaly disable it. You WILL need to do this, or else NPC will do the most stupid things, pull mobs, cast bad spells on you. Also they can de-target and stand there. I micro manage all the fights and control all NPC. Pers I like this since DnD is a pary based game. But if you like to focus on the main charater you have been warned. SOUND This is OK, but be warned a lot of the old sounds have been re-used. I don't mind this so much but some people do PROS The intro scene is very nice. Also the Star Music is good. Some of the cut scenes look OK, and some of the characters are funny (if linear, you can't not have them join your party or it breaks story for example). Shadows can look nice, but this must be disabled on most system unless you want your PC to run real slow, 5fps, some people report overheat and crashed. Dont think that it wont be you...it well could be overheating is chronic in this game, though I have been mostly OK, with only a few 10 minute reboots (including long loading times etc) CONCLUSION Overall this is oviously a flawed release. Unfortnetly I don't think patching will help, since there are flaws right from the early conception of this game (walkmeshes being an example). In my oppinion there is no way that Atari Obsidian can "patch there way out" of this. Also as a bad sign, Atari have removed the development team onto another project, and now the "Live" Team are working on it. With the core developers working on something else it bodes ill, but I don't think even the developers could fix it in a meaningful amount of time. Don't expect to see any good users modules any time soon, and pretty much forget about multiplayer. I'm sorry but this is the truth. I was pretty exited about this release, but I would not say over hyped, I'm 35 and don't realy buy into the hype of games. If if the graphics were dreadful but it was good in other areas I could forgive it seriously. I've played D2, and some Stardock games with terrible graphics, but they all made up for it, sadly NWN2 fails on to broad a front. I would advise you to save you money and not buy this game, but of couse the choice is yours.… Expand
  92. AnonymousMC
    Nov 28, 2006
    5
    Whilst probably not as bad as some would make you feel, it does have that unfinished aftertaste. If you haven't bought it yet, you might want to wait a couple of months and see if the patches sort out the problems.

    There is some potential there, but I thought that Baldur's Gate I did it better (and how old is that?). The 3D view causes more problems than it solves, and    Whilst probably not as bad as some would make you feel, it does have that unfinished aftertaste. If you haven't bought it yet, you might want to wait a couple of months and see if the patches sort out the problems.

    There is some potential there, but I thought that Baldur's Gate I did it better (and how old is that?). The 3D view causes more problems than it solves, and there's very little that you can do to get your companions to behave sensibly. You can either have them do nothing at all, or waste all their spells/potions against the first things that goes "Boo!". Again BG did this better, with a whole choice of scripts you could select from for each character.

    One can only hope that the developers will listen to their critics, rather than basking in the glory of misguided reviews (we can only assume they reviewed pre-release version, and believed the spin that the game was still going to be fixed; but that's why I think it's unprofessional to review pre-release versions).    … Expand
  93. NisseI
    Nov 29, 2006
    9
    This game is several light years ahead of the original Neverwinter Nights and its expansion packs concerning the singleplayer campaign. Granted, it does have its flaws, like for example the camera, AI and the poor performance. These negative factors are however overshadowed by the interesting characters, a good plot which steadily improves during the course of the game, the big variety of This game is several light years ahead of the original Neverwinter Nights and its expansion packs concerning the singleplayer campaign. Granted, it does have its flaws, like for example the camera, AI and the poor performance. These negative factors are however overshadowed by the interesting characters, a good plot which steadily improves during the course of the game, the big variety of different classes and feats you can choose for your characters, the often very well written dialogue with its many choices and the party/henchman based system which leans more in favour of the system in Baldur's Gate than the original Neverwinter Nights much more uninteresting more Diablo-esque system. To summarize my experiences with the game, I most point out that I have had a great amount of fun with the game. And if you desire a more refined gaming experience than that of the rather shallow predecessor, than Neverwinter Nights 2 could very well be worth buying.… Expand
  94. AnonymousMC
    Nov 12, 2007
    1
    I really don't feel it lived up to its name as NWN 2. The graphics are definately a step up, but it lacks polish, and performance is horrible. Spell effects are on the whole unoriginal, uninspiring, and don't really connect with the spell. The user interface is a major step back from the clean, uncluttered, forgiving one of NWN. Trying to quickly navigate a multi level menu I really don't feel it lived up to its name as NWN 2. The graphics are definately a step up, but it lacks polish, and performance is horrible. Spell effects are on the whole unoriginal, uninspiring, and don't really connect with the spell. The user interface is a major step back from the clean, uncluttered, forgiving one of NWN. Trying to quickly navigate a multi level menu where the options are really close together just doesn't work. Unlike the first NWN, its also fairly multiplayer unfriendly. Its only saving grace is that it has a fairly decent story.… Expand
  95. AriochD.
    Nov 12, 2006
    3
    Very disappointed with the game, laggy and buggy with a teen rating. Instead of enjoying the game you spend your time struggling against the bugs and weird camera angle.
  96. KarlL.
    Nov 12, 2006
    4
    I love DD and NWN, but this version is too buggy and the graphics are not very good either. 1. Defensive casting gets deselected all the time. 2. Arcane Trickster but no sneak attacks on ranged or meele touch attacks. WTF? 3. The AI for your companions sucks.
  97. AByrd
    Nov 12, 2006
    4
    Absolutely terrible. Clearly this game was released before completion. It is buggy, has terrible performance and support at Obsidion has been horrendous. Save you money to see if anyone has the balls to correct the issues. If not, it ain't worth owning.
  98. MartinH.
    Nov 13, 2006
    5
    This game should never have been released in the unplayable, buggy state it is in. Atari and Obsidian are just using the gaming community as unpaid QA testers. They have essentially ignored 5 years of community work improving the original NWN, ditched its elegant interface and AI for some horrible thing from KOTR, filled a linear, unengaging single-player campaign with endless cutscenes This game should never have been released in the unplayable, buggy state it is in. Atari and Obsidian are just using the gaming community as unpaid QA testers. They have essentially ignored 5 years of community work improving the original NWN, ditched its elegant interface and AI for some horrible thing from KOTR, filled a linear, unengaging single-player campaign with endless cutscenes to hide the fact there isn't really much to do in it, and what there is to do you don't have a whole lot of choice or control over. Why did Bioware ever give this license up to let it be ruined by these people?… Expand
  99. KennethC.
    Nov 13, 2006
    4
    One of the worst yet for me. Absolutely awful camera implementation.
  100. BryanC.
    Nov 13, 2006
    4
    Incredible letdown. While generally well-written, the story is ridiculously linear and it forces you to do so many things just to advance the plot. Very heavy-handed. Maybe play it when it makes it to the 20-dollar bargain bin. Such a waste. Bleh.
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Awards & Rankings

26
#26 Best PC Game of 2006
6
#6 Most Discussed PC Game of 2006
7
#7 Most Shared PC Game of 2006

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
82

Generally favorable reviews - based on 46 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 46
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 46
  3. Negative: 0 out of 46
  1. Quandary
    80
    So it isn't perfect, particularly not for players who prefer using the mouse, but Neverwinter Nights 2 is nevertheless a hugely enjoyable trip.
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  2. Game Chronicles
    89
    Rich narrative, engaging gameplay, and total attention to role-playing detail.
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  3. Digital Entertainment News
    83
    Neverwinter Nights 2 is a strong single-player adventure thoroughly enjoyable in and of itself. That it will serve as a platform for endless mod gaming only makes it that mich more appealing.
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