Reviews

Jeez, you do live up to your name.

 

_ I should have also got Icewind Dale+exp. and Etherlords but they were corrupt

 

I had to restart it around 6 times. All my save games kept getting currupted by the "are you sure you want to quit" bug. The only way I did finish it is because at one time, one of my save games didn't get corrupted, at around lvl 35. But before I could finish the game, I had to reload from that point maybe even 8 times. They just kept getting currepted.

 

I only came across 2 bugs in Arcanum, and I've played it through 3 times. Both of those were to my advantage too, although I can't righly remember what they were at the moment....

 

the dark helm is very usefull

 

Jinxed, I came across the "Are you sure you want to quit" bug once, and it disappeared pretty quickly. I didn't get any corrupted save games either.

*Dances the Lordly Dance of Taunting*

 

I had the exact opposite experience as Jar. I think I had every bug that everyone has ever reported having. And they all happened one right after the other. First I had the Game Won't Install bug. Then I had the game installs but kicks me after the load-up screen. Finally I squashed that, and was able to actually play the game, where I was hit by every single bug ever reported. It was like a curse, this game. Things would be going fine, then I would read about some new bug that someone else had, and BOOM I'd have it too.

I swear, I've jumped through more hoops to get this game working than any game I've ever (or will ever) have. Despite all that, I played through the game a couple of times, and enjoyed it. It's gathering dust now, though. This game is good, but it's no Fallout. I don't imagine I'll be playing it again, whereas I play Fallout at least a couple of times a year.

I have it, and so far it's good. Keep in mind that I'm only just past the Tutorial level and I've never played any of the previous Warcraft games. I'm not even a fan of RTS games at all, but still think this one's good.

I'm sure Jinxed will leave a post re: Warcraft 3 before this thread dies. I think he loves that game. Judging by the way he defends it in IRC, I'd say he probably has sex with the CD it came on.

Just kidding¹.




¹???

 

the dark helm isn't a bug. :roll:


<EDIT> what in the... i posted this somewhere else, i think...

 

I want to get Warcraft 3. Now I know I don't want it from Jinxed.

 

Neverwinter Nights

Neverwinter Nights

I. The Making of Neverwinter Nights


The Saga of the Bhaalspawn

The year was 1998, three years after the release of Interplay’s post-apocalyptic Fallout. The roleplaying (RPG) genre had seen better days. With weak plots and bad design, good RPGs had become a thing of the past; the computer game industry focusing on the more lucrative first-person shooter (FPS), adventure, and real-time strategy (RTS) genres – Quake II, Myst II and Starcraft come to mind.

On 24 December 1998, BioWare and Interplay unleashed a game that would take the world of gaming by the storm – Baldur’s Gate. It captured the imagination of not only casual gamers, but also veteran pen-and-paper role-players with its faithful adaptation of Dungeon and Dragons Second Edition rules. An epic, involving storyline with memorable characters, valiant battles and fantasy lands brought to life; combined with beautiful hand-painted backdrops, orchestral sound, and an intuitive interface; made for a near-perfect game which instantly became a classic.

In 2000, Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn was released to even greater acclaim, and in 2001 the saga was brought to a close with the expansion, Baldur’s Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. It was the RPG to end all RPGs.


Great Expectations

But there were only so many times one could play the classic and explore every path, challenge every monster. With the story brought to a close with Throne of Bhaal, gamers around the world eagerly waited for what would come next from the indomitable combination of Interplay and BioWare, which had also released the well-received Icewind Dale and cult classic Planescape: Torment.

And they promised to deliver – included with Shadows of Amn was a minute-long trailer of what was to come. This time, it would not just be about epic adventures and stunning eye-candy. In their own words, “With Baldur’s Gate, we sparked a roleplaying renaissance. Now, a multiplayer revolution.�

In other words, Interplay and BioWare were promising a game which would not only adhere to the rules of the latest edition of Dungeons and Dragons to provide a roleplaying experience, but allow players to become the “Dungeon Master� – giving them control over every aspect of the game, creating their own worlds and inhabiting them with denizens of their choosing. Players could then multiplay in these customized worlds. This would potentially eliminate any complaints about linear storylines and boring plots in roleplaying games in the market. Why? Because the stories would be their own.

Not that the single-player aspect would be glossed over. BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk had this to say while the game was in development:

“…In our impression single-player gaming is still alive and very healthy. We are focusing considerable effort to make the single-player version campaign … as memorable as anything we've ever done in the Baldur’s Gateseries of games. We believe that if we have a solid single-player game, we will have access to a much greater audience than if we only focused on the multiplayer game.�

The name of the game was Neverwinter Nights. It would be the most anticipated RPG of its time.


Fallout

However, the collaboration between Interplay and BioWare on this project was not destined to last. In November 2001, half a year before Neverwinter Nights was to be released, BioWare terminated its contract with Interplay to develop the game. BioWare had filed lawsuits against Interplay two months before. In a press release, BioWare stated that Interplay had breached its contract by sublicensing the distribution of BioWare games to third parties without BioWare’s consent. Additionally, BioWare and Parallax – developer of the Descent series – had jointly filed a suit against Interplay and two other companies, alleging that royalties due BioWare and Parallax had not been paid. Infogrammes would now be the publisher of Neverwinter Nights.

War in the heavens, it seemed to gamers. There were doubts that the game would even see the light of day.


Going Gold

BioWare, however, promised gamers that the absence of Interplay would not affect the release of the game. After a few delays, it was announced that the game would ship in summer 2002. Neverwinter Nights finally went gold on 12 June 2002, four days before Blizzard’s second sequel to the RTS hit, Warcraft III.

II. First Looks


Dungeons and Dragons 3E

First things first – Neverwinter Nights revolves around the Third Edition rules of Dungeons and Dragons. It is only the second game to have done this, the first being Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor .

Neverwinter Nights will owe much of its success to its near-seamless adaptation of Dungeons and Dragons. Gamers have fewer restrictions in playing a character of their choice, with a loose multi-classing system and the freedom to choose feats and skills that they like best. The rules themselves are easier to understand, as nearly everything is based on a roll of a twenty-sided dice, or d20, which is generated by the computer. Bonuses for having high attributes are now uniform, unlike the Second Edition that had separate tables for every attribute and class.


The Interface

The first thing you will notice when starting the game is the simple black background, a change from the intricate parchment-like art found in Baldur’s Gate and most other RPGs. Throughout the game I got the impression that the game designers excelled more in polygons than two-dimensional art. The inventory screens are very similar to Diablo’s, with cartoonish, boldly outlined icons representing the various items.

Two of best interface features were the shortcut bar and the radial menus. Most games allow the player to assign shortcuts to the number keys (1-0) on the keyboard. Neverwinter Nights takes it one step further by allowing player to map a total of 36 functions to the keyboard, using a combination of the Function (F1-F12), Control, and Shift keys. Almost anything can be mapped to a key – weapon combinations, spells, potions, even chat messages. No more pausing the game and opening up the inventory just to select that potion, or being irritated because you cannot fit any more items into a quick slot.

The radial menu opens when you right-click on any object in the game. It tells you what you can do with the object. In the case of a chest it would be to “unlock�, “examine�, “bash�, “disable trap�, and so on. Right-clicking on yourself would give you access to special abilities, spells, and the character menu. This is a useful feature, seeing that the radial menu corresponds with the numeric keypad on the keyboard.

Overall, the unobtrusive interface makes most of the game functions very accessible. At the same time, it does not take up much screen space, leaving more room for players to enjoy the game itself. Even first-time role-players will have no trouble getting used to this.

There have been many complaints that Neverwinter looks and plays too much like Blizzard’s bestselling action-RPG, Diablo. Besides the inventory and henchman system, when your character dies you are given the option to respawn on the spot (at the cost of some experience and gold).

But by far the most blatant example of “borrowing� is the “Town Portal� feature from Diablo – or the Recall Stone, as it is called in Neverwinter Nights. Outside of combat, players can teleport back to town at any time to rest or buy supplies. While convenient, it is my opinion that this feature is very inappropriate for a game that claims to bring the excitement of tabletop roleplaying to the desktop.


Creating Your Alter Ego

Creating your character in Neverwinter Nights is relatively hassle-free. While it is very similar to that of Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale, there is a new “Recommended� option that lets the computer choose your attributes, skills and feats for you when you start a new character or level up. Those unfamiliar with Dungeons and Dragons rules will definitely welcome the help.

The biggest change of all affects the most important aspect of creating a character – the attributes. Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale forced the player to “roll� their stats with a random generator. Needless to say, this saw most players spending at least half and hour clicking on the “roll� button to get the highest numbers possible. Neverwinter Nights attribute system is point based rather than random. Players are allocated a set number of points to raise their attributes. However, to raise a single attribute higher than average (over 14) a player has to spend more and more points. This makes for better balance within the game, as players will have to make either an all-rounder character with average stats, or a specialized character focusing on one or two attributes.

A rather disappointing part of character creation was one that a player will notice the most – the character models. The amount of detail your character has is too little to differentiate him (or her) from any crowd. Players are limited to one body type (unless you really fancy playing a fat character), eight clothing schemes (of which three look like jester’s costumes), and about ten acceptable faces to choose from.


Travelling Companions

Or “henchmen�, as the game puts it. Why not “companions� or “party members� like in Baldur’s Gate II? Well, for starters, you get to choose only one other person to be in your party. The reason why the game calls them “henchmen� – which sounds quite impersonal – is because you do not have control over your partner. Simple commands like “Stand your ground� or “Guard me� can be given, but your henchman has a mind of his or her own, akin to that of Arcanum.

That said you would probably have few complaints about how your henchman acts. If your henchman is a rogue he will automatically disarm traps and unlock chests for you. Clerics heal you whenever you are injured, and wizards blast your opponents with their best spells. Of course, you will not always agree about the choices your henchman makes, but it is not easy to please everyone. Neverwinter Nights “highly recommends that you play the game with a henchman – the game may be too difficult to beat without one.� Players will want to take on a henchman who complements their skills – a brawny fighter to soak up enemy attacks while you cast your wizard spells, or a cleric to heal you while you hack your way through enemy defences.

Neverwinter tries to emulate a little of the companionship in Baldur’s Gate by giving each henchman in the game a personality and a side quest to complete in every chapter. In my opinion however, it should have left well enough alone as the result was shallow and lacking in originality. Consider that your henchman will only reveal a part of his history at a time. You can only “persuade� him to continue his/her story after you level up. Another feature of the henchman system is that after gaining levels you can literally ask your henchman to level up with you! “I would like you to level up. You would be more useful to me with a little more training.� I found this quite comical.

The henchmen histories are admittedly interesting and original. What spoils it, however, are their sidequests. They are all consist of looking for a particular item – a ring maybe, or a chalice. After you find this thingamajig, they will reward you with a magic item. When you move on to the next chapter they will decide to tell you more of their life story, and again ask you to locate a certain thingamajig for them. When you do this, the magic item they gave you earlier will be upgraded. You can even cycle among the henchmen after finding all their quest items, and get all of the magic stuff they can offer. Wash, rinse and repeat in the next chapter. Talk about materialistic friendships.

The way henchmen are treated is laughable. Whenever your henchman dies, he/she respawns back at the temple immediately for free. It is a simple matter of going back and talking to your henchman. Your henchman gives a speech about his or her near-death experience, and you are ready to go. Indeed, this effectively makes your henchman dispensable. It also makes Resurrection or Raise Dead useless, because your henchman respawns for free and naturally, one cannot cast Resurrection on oneself.


There are companions in Neverwinter Nights – the magical kind. The game did a great job in adapting the animal companions (for rangers and druids) and familiars (for wizards and sorcerers). Not only do you actually get to name your companions, but some of the available ones can become indispensable. Fairies will open locks and detect traps for you, bears will pound your enemies into mush, and spiders will poison your enemies into helplessness. At early levels, they will save your hide many times.


Eye-candy

Spell effects in Neverwinter Nights are spectacular. “Magic Missile� has never looked better, and I sometimes cast “Summon Animal Companion� just to look at the effects. “Meteor Swarm� will scare you out of your wits the first time you are hit by it. “Bless� looks awesome – a yellow-hued circle of light explodes around you, shafts of radiance rapidly rising into the air like a waterfall running backwards.

Weapons with special abilities, like elemental or sonic damage, will reflect these properties when you wield them. A scimitar which deals fire damage blazes in flames even in the dark, and a sword which has acid damage capabilities will be coated in fluorescent green, drops of acid dripping from the blade – like Yoda’s lightsaber, if you zoom all the way out. I found myself wielding weaker weapons that glowed just so I could look more stylish.

Players of Neverwinter Nights universally agree that the combat animations in the game are the best in any RPG to date. Your character will nimbly duck a savage slash from an opponent; deftly sidestep a thrust from a sword; and parry an opponent’s attack, sparks flying as steel meets steel. Of course, this is if you avoid the attack… The animations when you dual-wield or fight unarmed are also realistic. Your character will warily circle an opponent before each attack, rather than staying rooted to the spot. My only complaint is that the size of the enemy is not taken into account in combat - you will be able see your character to parry a blow from a dragon’s massive claws with a tiny dagger!

But what about the things that you look at every time you play the game – the game environment, the rendering of the locations in Neverwinter? This will potentially make or break the game. BioWare is taking a leap forward in choosing to move away from the tried-and-tested fantasy art used so masterfully in the 2D-based BioWare Infinity engine, which featured in Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment; to its new 3D engine, BioWare Aurora, in Neverwinter Nights. Can the 3D-rendered environments in Neverwinter Nights match the intricacy of the hand-painted backgrounds of BioWare’s previous games? The answer is both yes and no.

The world of Neverwinter Nights is undeniably pleasing to the eye. And when I got a chance to explore outside Neverwinter I was awed by the beautiful waterfalls and streams – when walking through a field I could actually see the grass rustling as my character ran through. When the camera is zoomed all the way in you will see detailed textures on the ground. Shadows are well done and nice to look at. Light is also well implemented, and carrying a torch while walking through the woods at night bathes your immediate surroundings in a warm glow.

Yet the fact that the game has been in development for a long time inevitably shows. The number of polygons used to render your character is relatively low by today’s standards.
And while you can see what helmet, armour or weapon your character is wearing when you put them on, robes are A major gripe I have is that robes, when worn in-game, are shown as frilly costumes not unlike what a jester would wear – a far cry from the flowing, stylish garments that fantasy fans are used to.


Sonic Pleasures

The soundtrack is excellent. Not surprising, considering that it shares the same composer as that of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Dungeon Siege, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, and more notably Icewind Dale: - Jeremy Soule. The opening track is both suspenseful and awe-inspiring. Battle music is suitably rousing, and starts and ends seamlessly. The voice acting is nothing less than what you would expect from a Bioware game, with many different voices for your character to choose from. NPC voices are well done, and the famous Lady Aribeth was especially expressive (but a tad melodramatic at times).

III. The Frozen North


The Official Campaign

(From the game manual)

…the once-mighty city of Neverwinter is a hive of plague and terror. Thousands have died from a mysterious plague called the Wailing Death, and thousands more are infected. With the risk of an epidemic spreading across the face of Faerûn, the Lords of Neverwinter have declared quarantine and shut all gates to all travel, trapping sick and healthy alike inside the city walls.

Lady Aribeth de Tylmarande has issued a call to all adventurers within the city, asking them to keep order and help her find a cure. Promises of honour and riches have drawn many to Marybeth’s side, but all for naught. The plague spreads with every passing day, and sweeps through the poorer quarters of the city like a wildfire. Many would-be heroes have fallen, and no cure is in sight.
You begin the game as a fresh graduate of the Neverwinter Academy. Not just any graduate, of course – you have been recognized as having talent beyond your years.

After a few tutorials you are ready to plunge into the adventure. Rumour that a cure for the plague have been going around, and after a while, you find that it is true. Four rare creatures, called the Waterdhavians, have been brought into the Academy, and are essential for making the cure.

The story begins after you talk to Lady Aribeth for the first time. Minions of an unknown force launch a surprise attack on the Academy, and in the aftermath of the ensuing battle, it is discovered that the Waterdhavian creatures have vanished. Naturally, it falls to you to recover the creatures and save Neverwinter from the plague.

Your adventure does not end after you manage to find the cure, however. Neverwinter attempts to provide an adventure of epic proportions. Along the way you will encounter countless enemies, witness acts of courage and betrayal, and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to plunge Faerûn into an eternal darkness.


Not an Epic

The problem with Neverwinter Nights’ story is not so much the story itself, rather, it is in its execution. BioWare seems to be carried away by the epic story that was the Baldur’s Gate saga, and attempts to deliver a sense of “bigness� in Neverwinter to win over the old fans. Unfortunately, this attempt falls far short.

To start with, the plot is too linear, especially for a roleplaying game in this time and age. In most recent roleplaying games (e.g. Baldur’s Gate, Arcanum, Deus Ex, Wizardry 8) the quests and dialogue lines in the game you get are affected by your alignment, class, and choice of companions. Many provided for alternate beginnings and endings, and even in-game romances depending on the choices you made.

Not so in Neverwinter Nights. Your character is practically herded along on a leash. The only choices you ever get to make are to decide which areas in a particular chapter you would like to go to first. Even this gets grating after you realize the pattern laid out for you: in Chapter One you have to recover four creatures from four different city districts. In Chapter Two your main quest is to find two clues from four different country areas (with a side quest to track down four assassins). In Chapter Three you have to recover four ancient artefacts from – yes, you guessed it – four different areas! Your choice of alignment and class hardly affects the story in any way; it only decides your combat tactics and items you can use. Even the most enthusiastic gamer would have a hard time finding a reason to replay the single-player campaign.

There are many references to the lands of Faerûn and myriad monsters and races that populate it. This is quite normal for an RPG game in the Forgotten Realms setting. But when these fabled places or people appear in the game, they are quite disappointing. Take the Spine of the World – the heart of Icewind Dale, “harsh and unforgiving territory� with “windswept, eternally snow-capped peaks� described so vividly in the popular Icewind Dale books by R.A. Salvatore. When you do enter the area, it looks exactly the same as any other forest in the game. No snow-capped peaks. No mountains. Just the generic 64x64 forest tileset, with “Spine of the World� written on your screen when you save the game.

Baldur’s Gate fans will remember fondly the hard-won battles with liches, powerful mages and seemingly invincible dragons. No matter what level you were, there was no guarantee you would prevail. In Neverwinter the developers have attempted to recreate these battles, but without success. There is a “dumbed-down� feeling I get whenever I went up against one of these infamous monsters – they are nowhere as powerful as they were in Baldur’s Gate. Indeed, liches appear in fours and fives and can be slaughtered without even needing to pause the game. Dragons and Balors rated “Impossible� can be defeated without catching a breath (i.e. reloading the game). And when you consider the fact that an average party consists of only two or three characters (half that of Baldur’s Gate), it is obvious that Neverwinter only provides monsters with mighty reputations, minus the challenge to match.

For the most part Neverwinter plays like Diablo – nearly all the quests involve hacking your way through enemies and coming back to speak to the person who gave you the quest. The main NPCs, the guardians of Neverwinter, seem content to wait comfortably at the temple, or wherever your base of operations may be, until you return from a completed quest. They congratulate you, tell you victory is near, and repeat the process.


The Mundane and Mediocre.

Dungeons and Dragons. Finding treasure and vanquishing foes. Neverwinter made a huge blunder when they adapted Diablo’s concept of (total) random item generation. In other words, whenever a player opens a chest the game will randomly give the player an item according to his/her level. This applies to nearly every chest in the single-player campaign. This means that you find treasure by opening chests, not by defeating enemies.

To make things worse, this randomness extends even to the enemies you defeat, i.e. the items they drop are also generated at random! That double axe-wielding chief thug you are battling is apt to drop a short sword when you finish him off. You will be scratching your head when a goblin you just pummelled into submission has a book titled “The History of Neverwinter� on its corpse (maybe it was studying to become an Elite goblin).

Adding insult to the injury, BioWare must think that players shout joyfully every time they open a chest and get a gold piece. The number of chests placed within the game is staggering (“Chest� is a term I use for chests barrels, desks and cupboards). I do not lie when I say that there are more chests than monsters in Neverwinter Nights. They are everywhere – lying around on the streets, in dungeons, in nymph houses, in druid dwellings, in ancient ruins; heck even dragons keep them. There are only four to five variations of chests in the single-player game. Opening locked chests will take up hours of your total game time. It is also interesting to note that if a nobleman has a total wealth of ten gold pieces and three gems he will find it necessary to have five chests containing an average of two gold pieces each, and three chests with one tiny gem each inside. A container never contains more than one potion or one gem, no matter how big it is. If a roleplaying game could be rated on chests alone I would give Neverwinter a ten out of ten.

Another of my pet peeves is the insane number of journals you will find in the course of the game. Everyone keeps journals! Crazy mages will find the time to sit and jot down their thoughts. Werewolves will take time out to detail their lycanthropic experience. Barbaric orcs will keep updated journals. Even evil beings planning to take over the world will jot down their thoughts for someone else to find.

There is no excuse for this laziness on the developers’ part. Most of the quests lack variety and substance. I only recall one quest that was original – where you played the role of a lawyer in a case of a wrongly accused Uthgardt tribesman.

There is a Divining Pool in the game that allows you to buy back lost quest items. I thought this was a nifty feature. However, I had little use for it during the game, as there is virtually no chance of dropping or missing any of the quest items. A chest containing a quest item will actually have a shaft of light shining down on it to get your attention! The same goes for bookcases with important journals.




Multiplaying Neverwinter Nights

That said, one must remember that Neverwinter did not exactly promise the next epic story in roleplaying, it promised a “multiplayer revolution�. For the most part it has succeeded; multiplaying in Neverwinter can be a pleasant experience. The game ships with the Aurora Toolset, which gives gamers the power to create dungeons and worlds out of their imaginations.

I have not explored the toolset thoroughly, but after a bit of tinkering around I concluded that while it is relatively simple to create a dungeon crawl populated with treasure and every monster imaginable, it would take many weeks of hard work to design a module with a good layout and an engaging storyline. A casual gamer would find the amount of detail and testing needed to make a good module daunting. Basic knowledge of scripting will definitely come in useful here.

At the time of writing, there were 750 unofficial modules available at BioWare.com (http://nwn.bioware.com/downloads/modules.html). No doubt, this reflects the amount of effort fans are willing to pour into the game. Don’t get your hopes up though – the bulk of them are little more than monster-filled dungeons or deathmatch modules with nice names. It will probably take weeks, months even, for imaginative modules to be created.





IV. Last Words

Roleplaying disappointment…

It may seem unfair to constantly compare Neverwinter Nights to Baldur’s Gate. Nevertheless, it is a fact that most of BioWare’s promises, most of the hype generated, and was riding on the wave success that was Baldur’s Gate. People pre-ordered Neverwinter in droves because they had been expecting a roleplaying game of Baldur’s Gate proportions.

The single player experience in Neverwinter Nights is singularly disappointing. It smacks of repetitiveness and predictability. With the player limited to the control of a single character, one would have to play the single-player campaign many times to experience the different classes available. But with the linearity and shallowness of the plot, even I found it hard to take a character through the game a second time.


Multiplaying Potential

Yet even the most hardened critic will admit that Neverwinter Nights adds a new dimension to CRPGs. While the imaginativeness of traditional tabletop roleplaying is impossible to reproduce, the Aurora Toolset is easily the best dungeon-building toolset on the market.

A point made by a member of the BioWare forums was this: While Neverwinter will never have the depth and scope of what a dedicated team of D&D veterans would be able to think up, it redeems itself by the fact that classic D&D requires a knowledgeable DM and a party of dedicated players who are willing to sacrifice a lot of time and money to play. Neverwinter offers a D&D session with players around the world at any time, from the comfort of your own desktop. Only time will tell if Neverwinter Nights manages to truly revolutionize the multiplaying aspect of roleplaying games.



Rating (Singleplayer):6.5/10

Rating (Multiplayer): 8/10

 

can't believe I actually read it all. Phew. In my opinion you should write more about how the game works for example what's the henchmen AI like? Is the story as extremely linear and weak as in Throne of Bhaall/Icewind Dale -> go there, kill everyone, get item, next area... or does it make you want to go on and uncover the plot.

You wrote that your alignment doesn't affect your conversations. What about your intelligence? This was the worst thing in Baldur's Gate that a 3IN character had the same dialog options as the one with 18IN. Generally you should write more about stats in character creation and in gameplay - are there useless ones or not? Does this game also favour fighters like BG, ID and P:T?

As for the radial menu, judging by the description you gave, it seems similiar to what was already done in Planescape: Torment.

Are useful items from BG2 present in nwn? I mean gem bag, scroll case, potion bag, quivers etc.

 

Magic Bags and BAgs of Holding, as well as more mundane containers, are available.

Pathing is POOO (Persistently Obstructed on Objects)

Henchmen AI is pretty good. They interrupt you when they have skills to offer. They're okay in fights (although occassionally take a while to wade in).

Coversations can be affected by almost anything. The single player campaign is crap and has has no work put into that side of things, but some player modules are doing clever stuff. It requires VB programming in the conversation editor, so some people don't bother.

The game doesn't favour anyone class, although invidual modules may.

The radial menu is idiotic. Tzehoong says he likes it because he "can use keys instead" which should give you an indication. However, if you DID become comfortable witht he radial menu shortcuts, it would be pretty good, I expect.

Tzehoong, did you write that yourself? If so, where the heck do you get the time?

 

I really must get around to playing a D&D game one of these days. I'd have played Planetscape: Torment by now, but I can't find it in stores. Don't think I can order it in either...maybe I'll just have to go into uni and download it direct to CD from a dodgy site . It'll cost me about $10 though, considering how much of my internet allowance it's liable to take up, and if I ever want to be able to surf the net there again. Plus I'll be downloading other stuff as well, like Linux distributions .

 

That wasn't a typo, was it Jar? You know that's what I thought the first time I saw the title: PLANETscape. heh. talk about looks that can be deceiving.

Dragoon, to be really honest I played thru the Prelude and Chapter One of the game, and continued Chapter Two onwards with a bunch of friends. We decided not to play with individual henchmen because it would make the party too big. So I'm not really qualified to speak about the Henchmen AI.

I did start a female rogue character, but my savegame got corrupted in Chapter One and I just gave up.

Tomi and Linu are pretty good though, I can say that at least.

I believe I did touch on it when I said "Your character is practically herded along a leash..." :wink:. Anyway I think the tone in the sentences after that is "I hated the plot and won't bother talking about it." Believe me, the plot is really bad.

Well to answer your question, the main campaign does not require you to have any sort of special stat to get all dialogue options. BUT if your INT below 10 is considered idiotsavant standard and you talk like an idiot.

If you know a little about AD&D rules, there is a skill called "Persuade" which basically determines whether you can - well - persuade people. However it is very badly implemented. The only thing you can persuade other people to do is to give you more money for completing quests. which is very lame. Sure, there are times when an NPC will refuse to give you information when you fail your Persuade check, but NWN is so nice it lets you cycle through most dialogue options infinitely, so you can try and try until you make a successful persuade check.

True. It's a little different however.

Pah. In BG2 they were rare items that you held on to and silently thanked the game designers whenever you got one. There are so many Bags of Holding in NWN that you'd think every Tom Dick and Harry had the ability to manipulate dimensions. There are no gem bags/scroll bags/potion bags/ammo belts, however, for this simple reason why Diablo didn't have them: TOWN PORTAL.

the game doesn't really favour any one class.

Wait, did you actually say P:T and BG2 favoured fighters? P:T definitely tilted towards mages. BG2 needed everyone in a party. Try soloing a fighter or a mage and you'll have a VERY hard time.

Anyway, Dragoon. you brought up some points that I didn't think of and will definitely include in my final review. Thanks.

Well, firstly I forgot to mention that I am writing this for my uni's student website (actually I did but I accidentially pasted over it when I did my edit). So it's an assignment, in a way. I did write everything myself though. Took about a week off and on the computer. I decided to post it here first because I valued the input from the people here more. From my observations 90% of the people here at uni play only FPSs. It's insane how long CS has lasted, i tell you. A bit of WC3 though. Mention PS:T and they're like "What version of Playstation is that?"

I beg to differ. What do you mean by "pathfinding"? NWN doesn't let you click on a point in the map to get there automatically, so I would say there is nearly NO pathfinding at all. The little pathfinding that it DOES do, when you click on the chest around the corner is, yes, POOO.

And it's tzehoong, not Tzehoong, Fatman, please. :wink:

Gosh I wish I could change my nick. This is not the one i usually use in forums. can't imagine why I chose it for HOL.


P.S. I am VERY surprised no one has blasted me for this line :

 

I meant pathing as in "its ability to calculate clear paths between your character and the selected destination."

Not when it's the first batter up in team Sentence's innings, it's not.¹














¹For translation, apply at the e-mail address below²




















²For explanation of missing e-mail, apply at e-mail address below³





























³For explanation of missing e-mail, apply at e-mail address above²

 

It's not about soloing this or that character. It's just that if you choose your own character to be a fighter you'll have much easier time surviving especially in the beginning since you can put all your skill points to strength, dexterity and stamina. In P:T you also have to invest in intelligence and wisdom but it was still much easier for me to play a fighter character than a mage. Especially that in all infinity engine games a mage is pretty much defenseless before he "recharges" himself after using up all spells.


[qutoe]Anyway, Dragoon. you brought up some points that I didn't think of and will definitely include in my final review. Thanks.[/quote]

No problem. Occasionaly I happen to do something useful. Mostly accidentally.

 

People who have written negative reviews of NWN have often stated it's shortcomings as it's bad points, hence the bad score...yet the fanboys immediately hit back, saying things like "storyline doesn't matter!" and "whatever, it's got a kick ass editor, you should give it 100%!"

To which I always think - When a storyline stops being important for an RPG, is it still even an RPG?

 

S_F, you haven't really stated your opinion of NWN (other than the radial menu :wink: of course)

It is interesting to note that eleven out of the twelve people who are writing the FAQs for NWN over at GameFAQs are writing FAQs for the first time. Look at DSimpson - he did FAQs for BG, Icewind, PS:T and a whole lot of other RPGs but he isn't touching NWN.

 

I'm sure I have already commented about it somewhere. Oh well ...

"My opinion of NWN" by Sheriff Fatman (aged 10½)
-------------------------------------------------------------

I like it.

The single player campaign was god-awful. It had a formulaic heroic fantasy plot, conversation scripting was basic, and the characters no personality outisde whatever annoying twist the voice actor playing them could provide (eg. if you think Virgil or Magnus was annoying, wait until the "lovable cockney", Tomi, has offered to open a chest for you for the gazillionth time).

So throw away the "honest, it's not just an after thought. Would we lie to you, governer?" single player campaign, and what have you got left? A whole lot.

This is my second experience of 3rd edition AD&D rules. My first was PoR: LoMD, so shall not be mentioned ever again. I like them. Character development is fun and offers a SPECIAL-like breadth of character development paths. I'd rather they got rid of classes altogether, but the loosening of the multi-classing restrictions has reduced the issue to a very minor one. An important aspect of the weakly-classed system's breath of character types is the undermining of player's tendency to pick a archetypal persona. With the new system, they're much more likely to do what Fallout, Arcanum and Morrowind players do - pick a lesser used or more complex stereotype. This adds a lot more flavour to the game.

The real-time plus pause combat works nicely. Even fumbly fingered me doesn't have to pause every fight and can still maintain enough control. Combat is a LOT less boring/insignificant than Arcanum and BG. It doesn't have the tactical side that Fallout had, but I'm fairly happy about that in a game dominated by melee weapons. Spells can still be cleverly used, which is important. Morrowind is about the only other game I have played where combat has a comparable level of fluidity and excitement.

NPC interaction is good. Henchmen have been backgrounded. YOu can only have one, and they are their own people, not slaves to your will. You can't use them as pack mules, either, which is a plus for me; it has forced me to discard my desire to pick up every suit of armour I run across and lug it around the next 10 dangerous passages, just so I can sell it for a few gold. Conversation can be scripted. Some modules being produced have some in depth conversation that takes advantage of this. Most just have shallow stuff created with a wizard.

Graphics are pretty good. Some people have complained about the camera angle (which is a bit too steep) and inability to control the camera perspective comfortably (which is nonsense - I can do it, meaning it must be achievable with fingers prone to random spasm). I like the way the clothes change. Some people have complained that cloaks, gloves and boots don't display. Not me, of course, but I suppose it's valid if you're intent on complaining. Spell effects are well done.

Sound is good. You can turn the music off, which is how I usually measure these things. There are a range of voices and I think you can import your own (I'll be experimenting with that one day). The sound effects are ... um ... audible, which is about how much attention I pay them.

The game plays typically for an RPG (ie. it is characterised by runnning around talking to people, picking up stuff and fighting the odd beastie). The crappy pathing is annoying. There are also occasional problems with item selection from the ground. Conversation is the usual pick-response-from-list jobbie.

The thing that makes the game is the toolset, or more particularly, the use people are putting it to. There are at least a handful of high quality modules out there, a few persistent worlds, a plethora of mediocre modules and some interesting projects have been started to create adaptations for non-D&D rulesets/worlds.

I bought this game for my brother's upcoming birthday, gave it to him yesterday, and today he's had a half-day off work becuase he's so excited.

 

The lesson I've learnt from Neverwinter Nights is this: Don't buy too much into the hype. Companies do and say anything to make their product look revolutionary.

I think I did expect too much from NWN. I expected it to do too many things - tell an epic, involving RPG story, have wonderful eye-blasting graphics, and most of all be able to start a craze of D&D online.

After thinking about it I guess I'm the one who's old-fashioned in the end. The world seems to be moving towards MMORPGs - focusing on an ongoing multiplaying community instead of producing the next single-player classic. And maybe it is the way to go; I've written stories and I know how hard it is to come up with good plots that will satisfy myself.

I don't know :- It's not that I don't like to use my imagination, it's not like I don't like playing with others. It's just I'd rather play a game by myself, enjoy every bit of the story, immerse myself in the setting. I hated waiting around for others when i multiplayed the NWN campaign. Maybe I'm not a true D&D player.

I will never be able to enjoy what NWN has to offer - D&D-like roleplaying with people from all over, in worlds that may or not be good and creative. Call me selfish and individualistic if you want. (not referring to the post above).

I enjoy enjoying games on my own. Me and the pixels on the screen. Maybe boot up IE to rant and philosophize about the game I've just played in forums afterwards.

I just hope Interplay and BioWare don't forget people like me. (FunCom already has).