NWN2 is hard to review. On one hand, the modules included are some of my most memorable DnD video game adventures, however they sometimes fall very short of where they're supposed to go in terms of characterization and plot. The gameplay is equally baffling as NWN1; real time combat, based on a pen and paper system that is entirely turn and round based. The level cap is also absurdly high, and I've always thought 3.5 DnD basically falls apart around or after Level 12, and you'll be pressured to multiclass if you want to kick butt. My biggest gripe is that the camera is just a nightmare, and I'm not even sure how that was allowed to go to retail. However, I thought the original campaign was great, and I really felt for many of my party members, but it all falls apart in the end. I had to use God Mode just to pass the horribly, horribly scripted final boss, and then sheer stupidity awaited me in the ending. However, the game continues into Mask of the Betrayer, which is a truly epic 5/5 story... but you have to play the very long original campaign for it to truly make any sense or have any emotional impact, and still you're ridiculously high level so expect combat to be a slog. I was an Eldritch Knight, which was really cool, but so much time was wasted involved in buffing before each individual combat encounter I couldn't just auto-attack my way through. It's a pretty satisfying tale otherwise, and it's been rightfully compared to Planescape: Torment. Storm of Zehir is a blast, and probably the star of the show for some. It's reminiscent of Pool of Radiance, where your party travels the countryside looking for conquest and mystery. I just couldn't get into Mysteries of Westgate, but I am glad it was included. There's a lot of great storytelling here, but the combat is mostly boring, extremely complicated, and unfun, and there's plenty of both to be had here. Overall, in my opinion, it's a 3/5 package, with some flashes of 5/5 brilliance.

Neverwinter Nights 1 was a failure to me - a technological nightmare with boring story, after games like Planescape: Torment, BG1&2, Icewind Dale etc. Its expansions were good though. Let's say post-Interplay Bioware didn't exactly have my confidence. So I was relieved, back in the day, to learn that this one was made by former Black Isle people in Obsidian Entertainment and not Bioware. As a result, we got an adventuring party with amazing NPC companions, a deep and engaging story and overall a good game. Then they released Mask of the Betrayer, which was even better than the base game. And the game still plays well, there's hardly anything that has aged badly. Sure the visuals are "back then", but the art direction and style are good and inspired.

I played this when it came out and have recently purchased the collection from GOG. It is a great game but it DOES HAVE BUGS. Saying it doesn't is a lie. Right now I have a charcter in my party with over 520 skill points to spend when I go to level him up, he can't spend that many points, making it impossible to level him up... that is a bug. Not game killing, but annoying. So be warned. It is a great game and I do recommend it, but the people saying it doesn't have bugs are wrong. It is better than it used to be, that's for sure, but some problems still exist.

I copy the title of the top review because it is the honest truth: You have an epic LOTR-kind of OC and it is actually refreshing to see such a maniquean presentation. The voice acting is not great, but it adds so much character it´s just ridiculous. It´s very likely you will end up feeling actual sympathy for quite a few companions. After that, you have basically a PS:T sort of experience in the MoTB expansion. Do yourself a favor and don´t go looking for anything about it before playing it. It really is one of the best RPG experiences in the market. Finally, Storm of Zehir and MoW are two good, but not that great, expansions. They are completely worth it, anyway, and both have very good things going for them. SoZ is more of an Icewind Dale experience. MoW is more of a medieval Bladerruner sort of game. Overall, this pack is just a steal. You will play for thousands of hours, throught the next decade. That´s what I did after playing this, hehe. It got me into D&D: BG, BG2, IWD, etc. all I played after playing this one. So thanks Obsidian.

Neverwinter will always be in my heart, as the toolset it provided really set it apart from the rest. The Solo adventure was a bit lacking, but the opportunities offered by the toolset were so mindblowingly gigantic that it didn't matter. I learned code using the game and making modules, I played solo mods, online servers, DnD tabletop like games, etc.. So when the second game was announced, I was both very enthusiat and feared it wouldn't be able to follow the steps of its ancestor. And I was both very happy with the end result and disappointed. I nearly didn't touch the toolset. I'm not real sure if it's because I just did too much modding on the first opus, and couldn't make my mind adaptating to this one, but the fact remains. So I won't really comment on the toolset, apart that it felt lacking to me as far as I remember. But then, I played the solo adventures. And each part is great, and made me fell in love with the genre again. Storm of Zehor, while it's probably the least like by everyone feels to me like the true successor of both NwN and Baldur's gate, for a lot of strange reason. Mostly the atmosphere and ambiance, the musics and feeling. It's really hard to tell, but SoZ is really something else !