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NWN 2 - worth picking up?


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Saw NWN2 pretty cheap the other day. Is it worth picking up? How similar is it to NWN in terms of editability and mod support? How is the editor? I had a samurai character in NWN that I liked, and I wouldn't mind something similar if I played this.

 

Anyway, opinions welcome. :)

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If you can get it for around 10 bucks, sure - especially if it includes the expansions. It got roundly pasted, but I didn't find it quite as onerous as some. The OC sort of treads the same path as TSL though - really dies at the end due to rushed development or whatever. Not quite on the same glorious level as ME3's ending, but fairly lacklustre.

 

The general consensus amongst Obsidian fans seems to be that Mask of the Betrayer, the first expansion, is the second coming or something. Personally I wasn't that thrilled with it, but as I said if it comes bundled then it's a good deal.

 

As far as modding goes, there's still an active community (and the Nexus just added a site for both games). I never had much to do with it myself, but my understanding is that it never quite scaled the heights of NWN1 modding.

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Well, it's hard to tell someone that they will or won't like a game, but for my part, I really enjoyed NWN2.

 

Story wise, it's nothing groundbreaking, but the party members are fun. *waits for Jae to pop in and mention Sand*

 

It's extremely modable and comes with the toolset. I only ever made a few special items for my characters, but someone with more modding mojo like yourself could do practically anything you want with it.

 

The camera is an issue, but I don't find it as bad as some people do. Once I got used to it, I didn't have any problems.

 

All in all, I'd say if you like the DnD setting and classes, it's worth a shot especially at the prices a game its age will go for these days.

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At this point, NWN 2's unstable nature should be gone, right? I don't know, I'm not really following NWN's mod scene. The thing is, while NWN2's campaign is nothing 'special', it is enjoyable, if you forget that ending. Gameplay-wise, it's a good challenge and the game has some fun skills (which look amazing, by the way). It also uses KotOR 2's influence system in a more effective way. You get to see how KotOR 2 would've turned out regarding the party members.

 

Also, DP, yes, Mask of the Betrayer was awesome. :carms:

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Get ready for about a gigabyte of patches that download and install, one at a time, over the course of what can be several hours, depending on your connection speed.

 

And, as others have mentioned, the camera is just awful.

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Don't recall cameras being an issue, but I installed the OC and Mask of the Betrayer at once. Certainly, once Storm of Zehir came into play I didn't have any issues, but I just chose the "strategy camera", and zoomed right out. There are a lot of patches, so it does take a while to install.

 

The OC itself is fine for the first hour or so, then crushingly dull until you reach Neverwinter, fine for a bit, and then crushingly dull until the end of Act I. It picks up again in Acts II and the start of Act III, and the end is the usual go to the big bad's castle and carve a bloody swatch before spamming spells at the ludicrous final boss type thing. I had fun with it the first time through, never made it through a second playthrough of the OC. Then again, I hated NWN1, so if you enjoy lots of NWN combat, you might like it rather more.

 

Mask of the Betrayer is definitely worth playing, though if you're going to get the most out of it you probably want to play as a Warlock.

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I agree with DI, though I generally didn't have a problem with replay value.

 

MotB is great, though not kind if you like playing spellcasters or characters that depend on critical hits or sneak attacks. I tend to play either fighter or monk and don't have any problems. I'll probably get my Obsidian fanboy status revoked when I admit that I never picked up or played SoZ.

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Thanks for the info guys. I'm still flip flopping on this one. Would you say the gameplay is pretty similar to NWN, or is it fairly different due to the fact it has more party members? In that case is it more like Baldur's Gate?

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It's like NWN, if you either A: don't like casters in your party or B: don't mind them casting sub-optimally (just don't give them spells like meteor swarm). In Mask of the Betrayer this is less of an issue as all but one companion can fight well enough without spells. basically it's like NWN if you want it to be, and more like BG/DA:O if that's your thing.

 

And like Achilles said, think very carefully before playing as an arcane spell caster (or a ranged char) in Mask of the Betrayer, especially if you like your characters ruthless. Anything using a weapon (even divine casters) work fine.

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In Mask of the Betrayer this is less of an issue as all but one companion can fight well enough without spells.
In all fairness, MotB is not completely hopeless for spellcasters. It does become necessary to brush up on your scroll/potion/wand crafting though.

 

The spellcaster (I believe) being referenced here is amazing so long as she crafts like crazy and has a proper load out of her spellbook (i.e. spells from her school of specialization).

 

It also important to learn how to meta-game fast travel/resting (which is why spellcasters struggle in MotB in the first place).

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My point was more that using mages/sorcerers in NWN2 tends to lead to more micro management heavy combat than in NWN1.

 

Also, while MotB isn't hopeless if your character is an arcane caster, I find it is more than a little bothersome keep said caster effective (I still bring the caster companion along, but I don't bother with wands and scrolls).

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