Ok, even though I'm only here temporarily for selfish reasons my integrity demands that I make some sort of constructive contribution to justify my presence. With that in mind I have scoured the forum for a game that I have actually played. This was difficult because I don't really like MMOs. But here we have an RPG that I have not only played but actually have some things to say about!
I have the NWN2 Platinum Edition from Steam. This means that I didn't experience as many technical problems as I understand plagued the game on release. It also means that I have not played Mysteries of Westgate. I have included it in the poll for completeness' sake.
This was the first game I played that used DnD rules, although given the number of other RPGs I'd played it wasn't exactly a major shift. It really reinforced in my mind how much influence Dungeons and Dragons had on the budding video game industry. I wonder what Gygax thought about the sheer scale of his contributions to nerd culture.
Anyway, I found the gameplay itself to be competent but largely uninspiring, though this may be a product of having played it a few years late.
The original campaign seemed rather poorly written to me, with sparse characterization and a main plot that consisted largely of railroad that was clearly designed with lawful good in mind. I even played a paladin so it didn't conflict with my alignment but it was still annoying to realize how little choice I actually had. And then there was the trial that should have ended with my character pointing out that he was a paladin and therefore couldn't possibly have committed the crime and which turned out to be pointless anyway because it ends in a duel no matter what. (Seriously, why does Neverwinter bother with court at all if the loser has no reason not to ask for a trial by combat afterward?)
The one scene that I actually thought was pretty good was Shandra's death. Especially when it turned out how easily her heroic sacrifice could have been rendered unnecessary. Dunno what that says about me.
The ending...I don't even want to talk about the ending beyond to say that it's terrible. Just terrible. Moving on.
I really liked Mask of the Betrayer. I liked the characters, the plot, the backstory, the choices...a dramatic improvement all around. Maybe being an atheist in RL has something to do with it, but the Wall of the Faithless strikes me as being pretty much the most evil thing imaginable. I really wanted to tear it down, though I understand why the writers couldn't realistically have made that possible. My one significant complaint is that the limit on party size forces the player to ignore one of their companions. Really, Obsidian, you couldn't have expanded the party limit by one?
I'll admit I didn't get very far in Storm of Zehir. The beginning just didn't grab me, especially in comparison to MotB, which I had just finished. And by that point I had already spent a significant amount of time on NWN2 so I didn't feel I had much reason to keep playing.
And that's all I have to say, I think. Wonder if anyone will ever actually read this.
Ok, even though I'm only here temporarily for selfish reasons my integrity demands that I make some sort of constructive contribution to justify my presence. With that in mind I have scoured the forum for a game that I have actually played. This was difficult because I don't really like MMOs. But here we have an RPG that I have not only played but actually have some things to say about!
I have the NWN2 Platinum Edition from Steam. This means that I didn't experience as many technical problems as I understand plagued the game on release. It also means that I have not played Mysteries of Westgate. I have included it in the poll for completeness' sake.
This was the first game I played that used DnD rules, although given the number of other RPGs I'd played it wasn't exactly a major shift. It really reinforced in my mind how much influence Dungeons and Dragons had on the budding video game industry. I wonder what Gygax thought about the sheer scale of his contributions to nerd culture.
Anyway, I found the gameplay itself to be competent but largely uninspiring, though this may be a product of having played it a few years late.
The original campaign seemed rather poorly written to me, with sparse characterization and a main plot that consisted largely of railroad that was clearly designed with lawful good in mind. I even played a paladin so it didn't conflict with my alignment but it was still annoying to realize how little choice I actually had. And then there was the trial that should have ended with my character pointing out that he was a paladin and therefore couldn't possibly have committed the crime and which turned out to be pointless anyway because it ends in a duel no matter what. (Seriously, why does Neverwinter bother with court at all if the loser has no reason not to ask for a trial by combat afterward?)
The one scene that I actually thought was pretty good was Shandra's death. Especially when it turned out how easily her heroic sacrifice could have been rendered unnecessary. Dunno what that says about me.
The ending...I don't even want to talk about the ending beyond to say that it's terrible. Just terrible. Moving on.
I really liked Mask of the Betrayer. I liked the characters, the plot, the backstory, the choices...a dramatic improvement all around. Maybe being an atheist in RL has something to do with it, but the Wall of the Faithless strikes me as being pretty much the most evil thing imaginable. I really wanted to tear it down, though I understand why the writers couldn't realistically have made that possible. My one significant complaint is that the limit on party size forces the player to ignore one of their companions. Really, Obsidian, you couldn't have expanded the party limit by one?
I'll admit I didn't get very far in Storm of Zehir. The beginning just didn't grab me, especially in comparison to MotB, which I had just finished. And by that point I had already spent a significant amount of time on NWN2 so I didn't feel I had much reason to keep playing.
And that's all I have to say, I think. Wonder if anyone will ever actually read this.