44 replies to this topic

[Lysan Lurraxol]

Having just finished DA, I can actually appreciate NWN2 story more. Yes, the companions are dull and stereotypical, and the story's overly linear, but compared to the incredibly bland and predictable plotline of DA (*Spoilers* There is an ancient evil rising. You are the only one who can stop it. You do. The end), NWn2 at least made an effort at a complicated plot (although the Shadowlord is cliche, he's not the main antagonist, and frankly is something of an afterthought), with a fair amount of twists, large cast of minor characters with bearing on the plot, and actual semi interesting quests and sidequests (the Trial is far better handled than the Landsmeet in terms of player involvement and dramatic tension).

DA follows the standard Bioware formula of visiting 4 places to fetch 4 macguffins, and at each place having to solve some unrelated problem which conveniently occurs just as you arrive, in order to obtain said macguffin. The sidequests are plain awful (Fetch/Kill 4 of these shinies). Nwn2 is nothing spectacular, but to its credit never falls back on such a lazy formula, (The Ammon Jerro quest actually subverts it quite neatly),and is far more inspired than DA. MotB is even better, far more original and well written than its predecessor, and blows DA completely out of the water.

[Cal Jones]

To my surprise I'm enjoying it quite a lot. I must admit NWN1 bored me to tears, but I've not been bored in this. Whilst it doesn't have the character interaction of BGII, it does have some actual characters with personality, and there is sufficient variety in the areas and quests to keep it interesting.

Berelinde - must ask how the Casavir romance expansion is shaping up because I do quite like the guy.

[berelinde]

The Casavir romance has been done for a while. It's part of the NWN2 Romance Pack, at the Vault. But there's a bug-fixed version that I don't know if the Vault has updated. I can give you a DL link, if you like.

I should warn you, if you use it expecting Casavir to become Mr. "All Hands" Communication, he doesn't. But if you're finding that you enjoy his understated interest in your KC, you might like him being a little more talkative.

[theacefes]

NWN2 wasn't too bad....my concern was the bugginess of it, the bad voiceovers, and the quality of the graphics in relation to the hardware they were asking for.

[Cal Jones]

NWN2 wasn't too bad....my concern was the bugginess of it, the bad voiceovers, and the quality of the graphics in relation to the hardware they were asking for.

Yes - that's why I've only just been able to play it. My old PC couldn't run it and since getting the new one I've had a long list of games that I've been working my way through.
The graphics are secondary to me - after all, I did play Ultima Online for 7 years. But the rest has worked fine, so far anyway.

Berelinde - thanks. Will try that on a future playthrough.