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. JoeJ.
    Nov 13, 2006
    4
    Bugs, bugs, and more bugs. NWN2 seems to have it share of bugs, and then some. From problems with the ruleset, to misfiring or unfiring cutscenes, to the atrocious camera, NWN2 has a little bit of everything it shouldn't have. The new OC's story is better than the original NWN's oc, but still leaves a lot to be desired. I was greatly irritated at how many times during Bugs, bugs, and more bugs. NWN2 seems to have it share of bugs, and then some. From problems with the ruleset, to misfiring or unfiring cutscenes, to the atrocious camera, NWN2 has a little bit of everything it shouldn't have. The new OC's story is better than the original NWN's oc, but still leaves a lot to be desired. I was greatly irritated at how many times during playing through the OC that I was forced to revert to a previous save, due to bugs. The multiplayer aspect of the game is all but dead, as with the way modules are handled now has all but killed the persistent world. I'm saddened by what I can only see as the death of a franchise. Good job Obsidian! You're now 2 for 2.… Expand
  2. PeterB.
    Nov 14, 2006
    3
    As an attempt to build upon and improve the original NWN, this game fails in more ways than one. From the linear official campaign to the numerous and needless changes to the user interface (why move the default binding for the hilight key to z from TAB when every NWN player is used to it being TAB) and the show stopping (literally, it stops the game for everyone during conversations) As an attempt to build upon and improve the original NWN, this game fails in more ways than one. From the linear official campaign to the numerous and needless changes to the user interface (why move the default binding for the hilight key to z from TAB when every NWN player is used to it being TAB) and the show stopping (literally, it stops the game for everyone during conversations) multiplayer misfeatures. The graphics engine is moderatly good at best and a resource hog at worst. Rewriting so much has also removed support for Linux and MacOS X - there is not even a server for Linux. On a positive not, they did implement more of the D&D 3.5 ruleset.… Expand
  3. Dudeduke
    Nov 14, 2006
    6
    It's got great game content wrapped in a shockingly bad graphics interface for this day and age. Plus it is SO slow on my overclocked Core2 Duo @ 3600 w/ ATI x1950 XTX and 2 GB of memory I just want to cry...
  4. B.W.
    Nov 16, 2006
    3
    The positive for this game are the story and writing. There's a truckload of negatives: counter-intuitive user interface, horrible party AI, poor camera work, numerous bugs and crashes, recycled graphics and sounds. I loved the Baldur's Gate series, but this game should have never been released in such shoddy shape.
  5. AndrewJ.
    Nov 19, 2006
    9
    Good fun dnd game. Interesting tactical fights. No major bugs for me. Toolset seems very powerful so I can't wait to see what gets made.
  6. KirbyS.
    Nov 23, 2006
    4
    The game looks really nice and has a reasonably good storyline, but the controls/camera have killed it for me. It's almost a chore to play the game because of the crappy controls. I bought NWN2 a week ago and I've only played one session...I can't bring myself to fight with the camera again.
  7. PeterA.
    Nov 27, 2006
    4
    Currently, the game does not function fully, even with the 1.03 BETA patch that has been released. The original NWN is easier to use (GUI), has better framerates, and more variety, with the exception being character portraits. I have both on my current system (AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Proc, Dual Nvidia SLI enabled GeForce 7800 GT, and 3Gig of 3200 DDR2 RAM), and I know which one runs Currently, the game does not function fully, even with the 1.03 BETA patch that has been released. The original NWN is easier to use (GUI), has better framerates, and more variety, with the exception being character portraits. I have both on my current system (AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Proc, Dual Nvidia SLI enabled GeForce 7800 GT, and 3Gig of 3200 DDR2 RAM), and I know which one runs better. Sure, NWN2 has some nice graphics to look at, but you can't interact with them, you are limited to following a pre-set path like KOTOR or KOTOR2. NWN was similar, could really only go certain places, but the spaces were much larger, NWN2 feels cramped, except in city areas. Although even there it sucks that you can't go into most houses like you could in NWN. Persistent worlds would help this game, but from what I have heard, that route is SOL, because with the graphics hog this game has, and the need to download huge 100MB plus files each time a world is first visited or designer-altered, dial ups would need the patience of a saint to do it. Seems more likely they want to force feed us DDO. Hence the free trial disc which contains the entire game and seven days. Thanks WoTC. Likely the WoTC made sure that NWN2 would not be as good a multiplayer as DDO, both to prevent customer loss and competition, and to make certain that the game didn't outperform DDO. I have tried DDO, and it does run better than NWN2, but the game is very limited in level scope and character creation when last I was on, which is why I stopped playing it. The limitations and expense outweighed anything good it had. Things that should work don't, such as adding spells to an NPC wizards spellbook. Trying to add actions to the action bar for latter rounds, or just the round you are on, can be frustrating and hard on your mouse, requiring multiple clicks and pause/unpause to achieve a desired result, and that includes targeting while moving. So if you want realtime gaming, don't try this one, because in some parts, pause is the only way you can play it, that and nursemaiding the NPC AI. The skills for the most part have little gameplay effect except in a few narrowly controlled (storyline) parts. Only the necessary thief skills offer any real use. Crafting is a joke, altering magic items is easier, and cheaper. I believe it costs more to create some potions than it does to purchase them from a friendly merchant. When was the last time in NWN you set a trap and an enemy walked into it? In NWN2, monsters can see the thief even when hidden and silent, everytime, regardless of the level of the thiefs skill. So scouting is useless, the game sees you and starts the cutscene, even if all you wanted to do was waste them all with a few rounds of fireball before they knew what hit them. You lose all your buffs too when that happens, even the ones that should last HOURS of game time. Picking pockets can be useful, until the game tells you the mark is empty, and profitable when you lift 45000 gp worth of rings in one shot, or 25 bars of adamantine ore. Realism? Not even possible using the 3.5 edition D&D rules the game is purported to be following. Merchants run out of gold to purchase your goods, ruining your ability to make money to create some of the more expensive magical artifacts, as long as you have the recipes, which so far seem to be very repetitive in drops, and I have yet to see anything world shattering like a rod of lordly might, a rod of the python, or a staff of power(although there is one you can loot that I have found. But it's a watered down version of the 3.5 D&D version). Just standard stat adjusting fair like elven cloaks and boots, and spell-to-staff stuff like lightning or fireball. Even a Gem of Brightness (boring, I want a ring of elemental command, sword of dancing, helm of brilliance). Spells don't look as they should when casting. Ice Storm looks more like an Ice Ball, Magic Missile doesn't fire off all at once, even though there is a Missile Storm spell that does shoot multiple missiles, for some reason Magic Missile does not. Spell Buffs for AoE don't show on companions even when you know they should. Circle of Protection from alignment comes to mind. It pops on when you wonder near the center target NPC, but if you cast it on yourself, you don't see it on the NPC when they stand close. Trying to use NPC abilities like talk to animals fails except where the storyline is advanced, so unlike NWN where you could talk to just about all the animals, in NWN2, forget it. Also, the moment you try to get the NPC to do anything of importance, the game warps you to their location and you are now the one doing it. Try winning a bard contest if you aren't a bard. And the bard NPC you have in the party is of no help unless you have influence with him, so you have to get him to do his job by kissing his butt in a big way. So I leave him at the inn, he's so useful. But sometimes the game MAKES you take them, which bites. Maybe I want to be a loaner, hmmm.? You really can't ROLE PLAY the way you want to if the game makes you play a certain way. The AI is more factually referred to as FR, as in functionally retarded. NPCs charge through discovered traps to hit an enemy, cast area spells near party members indiscriminantly, don't always take the crows path to reach a target, activate personal abilities to the detriment of the group as a whole (most notable the druid shapechanger). And if you play in Hardcore D&D, the bard will stun you as well as enemies, even though his abilities might state enemies only; the firebug sorceress will kill you with fireballs and walls of fire before the enemy does; the cleric and druid only cast heal spells when commanded to, and even if you fill up the action bar on NPC's, they will delete those actions in favor of their own unless you turn them into puppets, making the game that much more work. In NWN, all I did was tell the NPC when to use melee or ranged, and how far to follow, and whether to use skills or spells. And it worked! This new way of doing things is too much, and broken. Familiars get lost when zoning, even if they aren't killed or conjured away. Game does not take into account how many doors away from monsters you might be. Some areas of the game you cannot rest in, so you have to leave and return, if it will let you. Why? If I want to risk a random monster encounter, than I should be able to. Oh wait, no random monsters, so I guess they just want to make sure you can't rest. Why are the levels limited to 20, a sequel to NWN should take into account the fact that you could hit epic levels in HoTU. Not here though, got to leave something for an expansion to trick you to buy, right? Why not keep all the original prestige classes and add the new ones as well? Oh yeah, wrote a new game, not upgraded the old one. Upgrading is hard work, half-a$$ing a new one is easy. In essence, it seems they attempted to re-invent the wheel, and doing that ruined the flavor of the game. As it plays out, it's no sequel, it's a stand alone like ToEE. The name was used to make bucks, pure and simple. It gets a 4 because you can play it if you have patience and a robust system like I do, but nothing more because the game is not a sequel, it's factually a step back from the original, a really big Man on the Moon step back. This is not a sequel, sequels are usually at LEAST as good as the original, and for the most part BETTER.… Expand
  8. ErikT.
    Nov 27, 2006
    4
    Shouldn't have been released at this stage. Serious, serious flaws hampers gameplay so much it's very difficult to become immersed in what could have been a great sequel to one of the most loved RPGs in PC history.
  9. LordHoggington
    Mar 26, 2021
    2
    Boring, generic, uninspired, tedious, and worst of all, NOT satisfying in any way. Being old is no excuse. NWN 1 was 10X better.

    This game is only loved by pseudo-intellectual neckbeards, the type of clowns who listen to bad music just to be different, or pretend crappy tasting beer is an "acquired taste." Game is trash, and it's lauded by those with trash taste.
  10. Steyraus
    Mar 5, 2021
    3
    Boring dry story , clumpsy compat and the game just drags on going no where. I really dont get what people see in this studio..
  11. Mrki93
    Mar 8, 2022
    10
    I write this today as a chelange to those people that gave it 0s. I just finished my third time playing this game. First was back in 2007. I would like those people that said that this is "not a RPG", that it is "cheap rehash of NwN1", that "Obsidian made all crap". Giving a game that for "10-20 hours depending on how quickly you play it holds a very good quality" 0 is saying more aboutI write this today as a chelange to those people that gave it 0s. I just finished my third time playing this game. First was back in 2007. I would like those people that said that this is "not a RPG", that it is "cheap rehash of NwN1", that "Obsidian made all crap". Giving a game that for "10-20 hours depending on how quickly you play it holds a very good quality" 0 is saying more about you than about a game doesn't it? I don't giva a **** if it is a protest vote. I would like to hear again from "Pike", "SamG", "Wombat" who thinks that "NWN1 was near perfect" and others. The game held it's own for 16 years, show me a 0 game that lasts that long. ****… Expand
  12. TsukasaHiiragi
    Aug 20, 2021
    5
    NWN2 has not aged well at all, even back in 2006 it was fairly over-rated but passable for the time even though it was extremely buggy and had some of the worst AI to date that caused no end of frustration for players.

    This game suffers from everything you can expect from a 2006 game ranging from bugs to poor camera angles, and fast forward to 2021 and this game has aged very poorly.
  13. Topfpflanze
    Apr 21, 2021
    5
    The base game is one of the worst ever written. The story is long, but completely linear and of crippling dreariness. The implementation is so weird that you can rarely tell if it's a quirk or you just didn't understand the controls. The characters are executed with personalities to some extent, but this changes little in the game. For casual players it probably makes more sense: the flowThe base game is one of the worst ever written. The story is long, but completely linear and of crippling dreariness. The implementation is so weird that you can rarely tell if it's a quirk or you just didn't understand the controls. The characters are executed with personalities to some extent, but this changes little in the game. For casual players it probably makes more sense: the flow of the game doesn't bother much with AD&D rules, and once you've forgotten the old back-and-forth, new back-and-forth isn't so boring anymore. The downsides of AD&D spells are fully implemented: One and the same spell combined with half a dozen mods results in a confusing collection.… Expand
  14. dlcatalin
    Jul 12, 2020
    6
    It starts alright ... nice graphics, funny dialogue and nice adventures. But in the mid to late game it turns into a pile of bugs and unpleasant rushed unfair unplanned combats. Especially the last 2 end game battles, it's a big difference between making a battle challenging and making it entirely UNFAIR. Mine was so bugged and broken i had to just uninstall the game and watch aIt starts alright ... nice graphics, funny dialogue and nice adventures. But in the mid to late game it turns into a pile of bugs and unpleasant rushed unfair unplanned combats. Especially the last 2 end game battles, it's a big difference between making a battle challenging and making it entirely UNFAIR. Mine was so bugged and broken i had to just uninstall the game and watch a walktrough on Youtube to see how it ended. That Black Gaius boss bugged every time i've met him, he never died, i was doing 0 dmg to him with melee. I had to cheat and use the console to kill him the first time. The second time even that didn't work. And to top it off my party was stuck behind energy walls, half of them where paralyzed and couldn't move. I used like 10 immobility spells on the enemy, ZERO worked. Broken or bugged, frustrating experience.… Expand
  15. Amorph0us
    Jan 7, 2022
    9
    Cannot underrate the second release of these fantastic series. The best part of it is that it uses the 3.5 edition of D&D, maybe the best in the game and too few games used it which is a shame. The worst part is the clunky interface and the poor graphics.
  16. CarolusX2
    Dec 20, 2020
    6
    If you're expecting a game that is as good as Dragon Age Origins (which is extremely similar) or Knights if the Old Republic, then you will be disappointed. However, if you're willing to compromise on certain aspects then you might find this game enjoyable.
    Note, I have not finished the game, it's incredibly long but I've spent more than a week now on it.
    Story: The story starts out in a    If you're expecting a game that is as good as Dragon Age Origins (which is extremely similar) or Knights if the Old Republic, then you will be disappointed. However, if you're willing to compromise on certain aspects then you might find this game enjoyable.
    Note, I have not finished the game, it's incredibly long but I've spent more than a week now on it.

    Story: The story starts out in a cozy little village where you, an adoptive child, learn the ropes of the game in the Harvest Cup. The village is later on invaded by demonic entities that seek something that is hidden within it, which then becomes your task to transport and investigate once you reach the city of Neverwinter. Along the way you meet companions with interesting personalities and are somewhat vital to the story in certain parts. You and your new buddies are meant to find out the truth about the mysterious shards while roaming around Faerun looking for clues and diving into dungeons.

    The story and the individual sidequests are interesting, no doubt about that, if you're into classic heroic medieval RPGs then this wont be of any surprise. However, some of the quests can get extremely tedious after a while, you rarely feel that what you do holds any weight in the universe. The game tries to be a "choices matter" kind of deal with alignments and branching storylines but it falls flat when nothing seemingly have consequences. On my playthrough I chose to be of the Lawful Evil alignment, for funsies because I usually play the good guy,
    The problem is that none of my actions barely phase my good companions who I might add are the only type of alignment in the beginning. If I'm this enormous dickhead, why would a friendly druid, a decent dwarf and a misunderstood but kind Tiefling not just leave me as soon as possible? Why are there no other choices early on? The first evil guy joins in act II which took me days to start. The lack of sidequests and the game railroading you into a "good" character leaves much to be desired in the story department.

    Gameplay: Its turnbased and it has the rule sets of DnD at the time, which I think was 3rd ed. You basically pick a class in the beginning and there's a lot of classes to pick from, not only that but also prestige classes (superior forms of the original ones) and multi classing is available, which makes it easier to create the character you want to be. Most of the game will be spent dungeondelving and few quests have variation, which would be fine because its DnD after all if the combat was fun... The AI is severely broken, they dont follow you into battle a lot of the times and sometimes just stand around doing nothing, while your pc is getting pummeled. Also you tend to face the same enemy over and over again, the dungeons arent exactly small either and I hope you like the color grey and brown a lot.
    Also stealth, which doesnt work. For two reasons, first one is that you control a whole party at a time where usually only one is proficient with stealth yet the game is based around cooperation? The other reason is that like the combat, it simply doesnt work. One of the missions that requires your npc to be stealthy is broken because the guards notice her regardless of how many points in sneak you put into her. And then once you reach the second floor, your party transports with you (which is weird) and it's impossible to continue to sneak because there's a sequence where a bunch if guards notice your main PC even though hes supposed to be back at the door, but he somehow transported to the cutscene?
    Crafting is... Convoluted and tedious, dont bother with it, the loot is usually good enough to outfit your npcs. Graphics: This game was made in 2006 so maybe dont expect wonders, it's no Oblivion in terms of colors or architecture, actually a lot of it is reused which becomes apparent pretty quickly in both Neverwinter and the unending caves. Characters look okay, especially the main cast. Special-effects can sometimes be cool!

    Audio: VA is sometimes really good, or really bad, not a whole lot in between. The banter between the cast is pretty good but its few and far between. One thing that will get on your nerves though is everytime you select your npcs/pc which happens a lot and having to hear the same recorded lines over and over again. There is one recorded line for each spell, problem is when you're a warlock and use Eldritch blast on repeat. Music was turned down pretty quickly into the game, nothing really memorable there. Overall: Meh.    … Expand
  17. PsychopathicTim
    May 14, 2021
    10
    My favorite game of all time! Warts and all! It's ironic how version 1.0 of the game is the version that is the least broken, at least on all of my play throughs. The game chugged on my old dell latitude laptop, and I still enjoyed it, in spite of how much it bugged out. Now I have a Dell precision laptop with much better stability, and I still love it just as I did back in the day,My favorite game of all time! Warts and all! It's ironic how version 1.0 of the game is the version that is the least broken, at least on all of my play throughs. The game chugged on my old dell latitude laptop, and I still enjoyed it, in spite of how much it bugged out. Now I have a Dell precision laptop with much better stability, and I still love it just as I did back in the day, actually love it even more now! I played this when I was in middle school around 2012- 2013, first introduced to it in summer camp, but see my review of platinum edition as I owned that one before owning the base game by itself.… Expand
  18. letefte
    Feb 4, 2021
    9
    Despite it's many technical issues NWN2 still delivers an interesting take on the rpg formula. Be warned though, the game is from a bygone era and it shows. That being said, it is still a game that is worth getting. Especially if you want to see some of Obsidian's early steps (before Fallout: New Vegas).
  19. krongos
    Sep 28, 2021
    9
    Still love this game. Not perfect, but it was awesome, I didn't experience any issues with camera. Story was quite cool. Ending was meh, but I have head canon, so its fine.
  20. Holo_0f_Yoitsu
    Sep 2, 2022
    4
    I've tried and failed to play the whole game through three times and I end up bored out of my mind every time. It's just so dull. The AI is trash too, it's poorly optimised and the story sends me to sleep. The only positive is the character creation
  21. PenetratorGod
    Aug 20, 2023
    7
    Neverwinter Nights 2 offers a fascinating fantasy story full of exciting tactical combat mechanics and deep characters that you will either love or hate. The game is a bit dated and has a lot of technical issues that haven't been fixed in time, but I think it's still a great role-playing adventure that almost anyone can enjoy today.

    The compelling story keeps you hooked to the game and    Neverwinter Nights 2 offers a fascinating fantasy story full of exciting tactical combat mechanics and deep characters that you will either love or hate. The game is a bit dated and has a lot of technical issues that haven't been fixed in time, but I think it's still a great role-playing adventure that almost anyone can enjoy today.

    The compelling story keeps you hooked to the game and the Forgotten Realms universe with a satisfying experience that lasts an average of 100 hours with additional packs to finish the single player campaign. Multiplayer mode support. The full-featured game toolkit allows you to easily create and share custom mods of your own. One of the most original representatives of Dungeons & Dragons. Good soundtrack and mostly well voiced characters compared to the first game.

    Interactive dialog system provides dynamic and fun character interactions. A character-building system where the possibilities are almost endless. Support for dozens of community-created story-based modes, so the adventure never ends. Frustrating camera angles require constant attention while in battle. Optimization and technical issues. Artificial intelligence is very weak. Difficulty can be unbalanced at times.    … Expand
  22. HydrophobikFish
    Jun 9, 2023
    8
    Really excellent RPG with a classic dnd feel. First three acts are impeccable early-mid level adventuring. Very memorable characters that play off of each other in fun ways, a strong and engaging central mystery set in a well-realized and active region. The best base building in any RPG I have ever played, period. Plot goes a bit more off the rails later on but stays relativelyReally excellent RPG with a classic dnd feel. First three acts are impeccable early-mid level adventuring. Very memorable characters that play off of each other in fun ways, a strong and engaging central mystery set in a well-realized and active region. The best base building in any RPG I have ever played, period. Plot goes a bit more off the rails later on but stays relatively interesting, and back end feels short and unfinished. Overall a very fun game, but much stronger earlier than later.… Expand
  23. Keron_Heruman
    Aug 23, 2023
    8
    Very underrated cRPG. It's beautiful and solid, with D&D 3,5 mechanics and an acceptable quest design. The history is not bad but the comparative with other previous games is very hard (BG I&II, NWN, DA:O...).
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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.
    Read full review
  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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