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Thread: Neverwinter Nights - Thoughts on Game

  1. #1
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    Neverwinter Nights - Thoughts on Game

    Ok done with the game, here is my review / input on it.

    Overall this is great game, fixes many problems of BI's previous games. The story wass pretty good, had a few twists (even if they were a bit predictable). The visuals were excellent I found myself stopping and just looking at the graphics a few times. It is very linear. In addition there is no world map so you can't go back somewhere later so you must finish all your quests then move on to next area. This is better than all that traveleing done in the previous BG series but I'd still like to be able to travel the world at my own discretion.

    The problems I found were more to do wtih the feeling of the game as opposed to the technical parts of it. I loved more of how NWN was made but what let me down was creating the sense of being important in the world, of actually achieving goals. I remember in Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, I felt like I had to set off and do something, when one of my teamates died I had to get them back. I liked controlling my partners and giving them armor and spells. This leads me to my next point. There is only 1 teamate allowed and he or she cant be controlled. This often runs into trouble when you pick a teamatte for a certain reason and you can't allot them points for the skill you need teh most. You also can't equip them wtih stuff, even if you possess a better weapon then they have. They also seem meaningless, not like the characters of BG where they had a personality. It also sucks because in BG series you'd pick a teamate to have a well rounded crew. You'd have a rogue, lockpicker, fighter, mage, ranger, etc. In this game you have one choice. I picked some short thief since I was a fighter and needed trap finding/lockpicking. But the whole game I had no spells.

    Difficulty
    This game is much easier than the previous BG series. I remember reloading in BG TONS of times. Also I remember Umber Hulks in the first game being very difficult, and in this game (although they look much better) they are easy. Much of the spells associated wtih BG series have been dumbed down. I rarely saw many spells used in teh game from enemies. The toughest enemies are the ones taht are impossible until you do something (invincible golems). And sure a certain red dragon had me reload a few times but for most part cake. In fact many times I'd tell my stupid compadre to stand ground (before he ran into a pack of ppl and died again) and I would waste everryone myself.

    Upsides:
    *Great 3D and visuals
    *Control was great (much better than dungeon seige)
    *GREAT backpack space and system
    *Great hotkey control system
    *Yay you can hold down the mouse and walk or use arrow keys!!


    Downsides
    *Was too linear for my taste
    *ONLY 1 PARTNER???
    *Much easier than Baldurs gate series
    *Didnt feel like i was a part of the world like in baldurs gate
    *pathing system is a bit weak (would be excellent if you could click on the map and tell your guy to go there)
    *although sound for most part was good again BG was better adn this time it sounded a bit repetitive.
    *partners wouldnt talk to you randomly, no partners arguing/flirting with each other

    Well this is my review. Other than these problems was an excellent game. Need more good RPGs out there.

    Rated (8-10) ********
    Visionology Interactive Media
    http://www.visim.com

  2. #2
    Senior Member tking's Avatar
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    I'm still hacking my way through it and I agree with your description. I've stopped a few times just to watch the screen, it's that well rendered.

    I think NWN departs from the BG series (I got into 1 & 2 but gave up on the expansion pack) in that most of the design effort was spent on making an online/networking experience. The single player part of the game is a 'must include' part rather than the heart of the thing.

    I'll still finish the single player part before going online because it teaches me the ins and outs of the game so that I can get comfortable with it before I go live. I'm really looking forward to DMing with it though.

    NWN is such a great start that it would be a shame to see it fall short of what it could be. Ideally I would have liked to have seen a virtual Faerun similar to AC/EQ that people can modify and add dungeons to themselves, a kind of decentralized, pervasive world. Maybe that will be the goal of NWN 2.

    T

  3. #3
    Member Asonic's Avatar
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    A friend and i are considering getting this game and i was wondering a few things...

    Mainly he likes games like Monkey Iland and grimfandango etc and to be honest if he dosent like it in the first five minutes he will never play it again, so does it have anything in common with those style games??

    and Ive heard it uses the D&D 3rd edition rules as the main format of the game, does this mean it is a turn based game?

    sorry for being so lame.

    Thanks for your time.

  4. #4
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    To my recollection those two games you mentioned are very cartoony, am I correct?

    This is more....fantasy typical oldschool RPG you know with dungeons...and well...dragons.

    It isnt turn based (thank god) but you can pause the game at any time using the spacebar and during this time you can set up commands in a queue system if doing everything real time is too difficult. So its real time with the option to pause and issue commands.

    I'm not sure how close it is to those two games you mentioned since I never played them.
    Visionology Interactive Media
    http://www.visim.com

  5. #5
    Senior Member tking's Avatar
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    Originally posted by Asonic
    ...and Ive heard it uses the D&D 3rd edition rules as the main format of the game, does this mean it is a turn based game?
    Not lame at all, good question.

    NWN plays the combat in real time, at least it looks that way but it isn't really. The characters dodge and weave and attack, making it look like real combat but under all the fancy footwork it is a turn based attack system straight out of D&D. You can press the space bar at any time to stop everything and consider your next move.

    They do a good job of making turn based combat look real though - good choreography.

    T

  6. #6
    Member Asonic's Avatar
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    Thanks guys

    Having seen a review on tv and a magazine article and with your answers I think I will buy it for my self and if he likes it he can play too.

  7. #7
    Ultimate Member AllGamer's Avatar
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    i think the game is extremely boring.

    I had a lot more fun with the Bardust Gate series 1 and 2, plus all of its expansion for both series.

    than with NWN.

    even Morrowind was more fun, but still way boring for my taste.

    but the game i do like hell a lot is LINEAGE 2

    check it out:
    http://www.lineage2.com/eng/download/download.html
    http://beta.lineagecompendium.com/20725.lineage2.php

    make sure to get the Inside the Game mpeg/avi demos.

  8. #8
    Member Tditty's Avatar
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    Hated it , took it back immedietly and got Morrowind. Now thats a good game

  9. #9
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    I can't see why people hated it. Sure, the character interaction that made BG1 and 2 so special is lacking, but this simply means you get to focus more on your character's development.

    As it is, the henchmen now feel like helpers and assistants, rather than equals or even betters. As it was in BG2, my mage spent most of the first few chapters casting a few spells at the start of a fight then running away whilst my tanked-up fighters took on everything. Here, you are the hero, so the focus is on you.

    I think the 3rd Ed. rules are quite nicely translated, and, although a few things had to be left out, it is close enough that I've wanted to go through the manual comparing things to the players handbook, just to see how close or distant things are.

    One thing that hasn't been mentioned is the sense of scale. On the one hand, the bustling cities of Neverwinter and Luskan seem to be about 400 meters across, but some of the dungeons and things really have a good atmosphere. The first time you see the Balor on the bridge (which doesn't resemble a Balrog at all, no, no) you feel that you've really stepped into a world with some things bigger than yourself at stake. It's almost humbling. Only then I went on to kick its **** quite emphatically and felt a bit let down...

    The graphics are, as noted, amazing. But nobody's mentioned the sound. Some of the henchmen are annoying little twerps. Tomi Undergallows springs to mind. (Also, he's pretty much useless, as anyone can either bash or magic open a chest.) But some of the NPC voice acting is quite good, and I thought the music and particularly the ambient noises were wonderful.

    So on the whole I really liked this game, maybe I'm a bit biased because I'm a bit of a roleplayer anyway, but I'd recommend it.

  10. #10
    Ultimate Member AllGamer's Avatar
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    To me it's just a "better" BG or BG2 in a full 3D engine, and not 2D / 3D plane view.

    but nothing impressed me.

    Except for the Multiplayer feature about the infinite worlds and connected through Portals.

    they took this idea from TRON !!
    or say REBOOT !!

    is not original, but at least NWN was the first one to imprement it properly,

    which makes it quite cool.

    but the game itselfs, leaves a lot to desire.

    so no no, is a waste of time for me.

    oh yeah not enough action....

    man even Lord Of The Rings, had way more action in game and on screen than NWN.

    Even BG had more action.

    sighs.....

  11. #11
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    Ahem? Excuse me? My only gripe with NWN is that there is too much action!! It's all about sword swinging and not enough about interaction. BG2 had more text than War and Peace, it was amazing, but NWN seems to have been developed by an ADHD-suffering guy who can't go too long without slashing somebody with a battleaxe!

  12. #12
    Senior Member tking's Avatar
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    Originally posted by HamsterMan
    Ahem? Excuse me? My only gripe with NWN is that there is too much action!! It's all about sword swinging and not enough about interaction. BG2 had more text than War and Peace, it was amazing, but NWN seems to have been developed by an ADHD-suffering guy who can't go too long without slashing somebody with a battleaxe!
    Yep, I agree. I'm disappointed with it from a story perspective and think it's quite astonishing from a technical perspective. I guess they spent all their money on programmers instead of writers.

    I said this about it previously:

    http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthre...hreadid=112012

    T

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