Initial thoughts on NWN 2.

[robertthebard]

Ok, so I got my PC that can actually run it now, and run it it does. See this post for details on the PC:

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/no...;f=34;t=004575

As we know, I'm not much for single player, using it to learn the controls though, and it's going to be interesting. The main thing that screams at me right now is the NPC/PC dialog option they chose, the almost cutscene-ish way they handled it. As far as general game play issues, I've had an NPC get stuck once, granted, I haven't gotten out of town yet, but other than that, I'm not all that disappointed in the overall mechanics.

The toolset is a horse of a different color, and will take some time for me to figure out, I think. I have to agree with some of the earlier reviews I've read about it not being very intuitive. It's to be a bear to learn, but that's true with just about anything new you try.

Graphically, I found it very pretty, not that that's a main contributor to game play, but with the above linked rig, I'm not having any graphical glitches, and I've got just about everything turned on. All in all, I'm going to have to say that I'm pleased with the game, and puzzled by the toolset, but that issue is one that I will have to work on. After all, the NWN1 toolset was puzzling for a while anyway.

[Memnoch]

I've kind of given up on the toolset for now - I'll get back into it after I graduate from B-school end of May. Too many exams to worry about!

[robertthebard]

Ok, I've gotten through Chapter 1, and my most major beef is the forced NPC's. I also seem to have a problem with both the PC, and the NPC's just standing around doing nothing during major battles, leaving me micro-managing my party. Now for some things, that's ok, but not for basic combat. I set the druid up to be my main ranged combatant, and every time I turned around, she's wild shaped into some animal or another, reducing her effectiveness. I figured out how to fix that, but now she's in and out of the party all the time so that I can take on the next plot advancing NPC. I don't mind NPC driven subquests, it adds some spice, and life to a party, not to mention some history on the NPC's you are adventuring with, but I tend to build a party to fill in the holes, and I can't keep those holes filled if I'm always having to drop one char or another to advance the main plot.

[robertthebard]

Ok, so now that I have managed to finally get all the way through the game, I'll do my review. I'm going to write it in this post, so typos may slip in...

System specs: ASUS M2N4-SLI MB with AMD 64bit dual core processor, 2 gig of RAM, nVidia 7600GT, and a 500w PSU.

Gameplay: I like the quick cast bar for spell casters, to me it simplifies playing those classes, which I couldn't play in NWN's, at least not to their full potential. However, a lot of the "Hotbars" I couldn't get to work. I don't like the system for changing the quick access bars either. It limits me on what I have quick slotted since I have a hard time switching between them. I don't see what was wrong with the "shift key" for one set, and the "control key" for another. The "alt key" could have been used to give access to another set as well, instead of 'pause, shift, roll the wheel, find what I'm looking for, and hope it takes when I unpause' system that's in place now.

NPC interactions are funny as hell, a lot of the time, but when you have the same dialog with the NPC 15 times in "private" convos, it's kind of hard to advance anything. The base NPC system in NWN's was better developed, IMO. Talk to the NPC, do some stuff, level up, and talk again for a different dialog. It doesn't seem to be working that way for me. I will also stand by what I said about "forced" NPC's. "I can't mark the location on your map if I'm not in your party". I don't pick my friends in RL based on what they can do for me, but this is how you are forced to play. Where's the role play in that? To me, that would have been better handled as it was in NWN's. If you don't have this NPC, you don't get this side quest, it should have nothing to do with being unable to advance the story line. It's extremely hard to equip a 10 person party, but that is essentially what you have to do, plus all the other expenses you will run into later in the game. That being said, the influence system is clever.

On the topic of NPC's, pathfinding is every bit as bad in this game as it is in the predecessor. If there's a hard way to get to a point, the chars will find it, including the PC. They also have a tendency to get stuck, sometimes on nothing at all, and it's frustrating to have to either backtrack to get them, or to have to select that char, which ends up backtracking the party, to get them off of a piece of wood in the trail that they couldn't pick their foot up to step over.

The story line is engrossing, and enjoyable, and I have managed to overcome the aforementioned problems to finish it. I don't care for the end of the game, it's cheap, and stolen, for that matter. SoU, anyone? It also fails to export your char for you, and you have no option to do so, that I saw.

Some of the dialog is bugged to hell as well. In the end dialog, talking to Bishop, he acted as if he and the PC had had a romance, when in fact, they did not. This is a scripting bug, and shows some sloppy coding. Dialog lines should not occur if the situation they refer to never occured. Even my limited script knowledge tells me that if x variable isn't set, x dialog doesn't happen. There were a couple of instances that I noticed for sure, both revolving around Bishop. Unless, of course, Bishop thinks that being told to shut up, or lose his tongue is a turn on...

None of these bugs are show stoppers, however, I did encounter one bug that forced a reload, when a cutscene dialog didn't fire. This has happened only twice, and only once did I have to reload to continue play. Overall, I like the game, and have even managed to play some MP. The walkmesh thing is messed up, but understandable, and hopefully they come up with an easier way to handle it. They have taken steps though to simplify the process.

The Toolset:

Whew...It's not as easy to use as the original was, but I'm starting to get a handle on it. I have limited time in it at this time however, and will only jot down some notes on it so far. Loading the module from the toolset doesn't work as well as what was implemented in 1, and area building is a bit more complicated than what I'm used to. The end results are prettier, mostly, or will be once I get a bit more proficient at it. The potential is there. That's about all I have for now, so pick it apart as you see fit.

Edit: most of the post, I pushed the wrong button, and posted about two lines...

[ 05-21-2007, 09:38 AM: Message edited by: robertthebard ]

[Zebodog]

A very clear and well thought out review. [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]

I'm looking forward to the expansion to see what another year of experience can do with this engine.

[robertthebard]

I was hesitant, based on what I'd read, to think about the expansion. However, having played the game, I think I will get it, just to see what improvements there are. Hopefully some of the scripting bugs can be worked out prior to that, however, I currently have several different games running, with several different classes/races/alignments, just to see how things play out.