Hello NWN fans!
I've been looking for an RPG game with - at least - decent graphics and wide freedom of customization. Also it would be perfect if the game was as open-world as it can be.
Basically I want to embark on a nice (preferably EPIC ;) ) adventure (or even better: free world exploration) with my own crew of characters. I want to customize their appearance (at least pictures representing them), their skills/class and names (that is something I would really like). Of course I want to control all my characters in combat or at least somehow influence their behavior.
Now I am wondering if NWN 1 or 2 can give me that. Can I do all this in-game or maybe by messing up with game files or using mods?
Finally, if not NWN, then maybe there is another game where I could do my thing? RPG, ARPG (sometimes called hack & slash) and MMORPG genres allowed... :)
Thanks for your help!

NWN1 will let you do all of that for a single character, but it's not party-based. You can hire henchmen and give them instructions on how to behave but can't control them directly. I think NWN2 is more party-based but not played it.

The games that probably tick most of your boxes are Icewind Dale 1 & 2 - although the adventures are basically linear.

Get Dragon Age or NWN2. If you're feeling oldschool get either Icewind Dale 1/2 or Baldur's Gate 1/2.

The Storm of Zehir campaign in NWN2 would probably work for you. You can create your own party of 1-4 characters (or recruit NPC's to fill the party spots), and the vast majority of the campaign involves exploring the overworld map. The other official campaigns give you a little flexibility to customize the NPC's you recruit, but their character class and stats are fixed ahead of time. The only character you get to design from scratch is your own in those campaigns.

NWN (both games) have loads of customization options. The second game more options than the first, but both are great in that regard. You have the freedom to mix and match up to four different classes when creating your character. So a 10th level character could choose to have the abilities of a 4th level fighter, a 3rd level rogue, and a 3rd level barbarian (any combo that adds to 10). Regardless of your class selection, you get to pick a special "feat" every three levels. For instance, you can choose a "cleaving attack" feat that gives you an extra attack against a nearby enemy when you land a killing blow, or you could choose "weapon specialization" to increase your damage with your chosen weapon type. The system isn't perfect, and it gives you plenty of room to hang yourself if you choose a silly combination, but it's very free-form and a lot of fun to create different characters.

The game is very moddable, and there are some extremely high-quality user-made adventures. For some of them, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a professional product.

Storm of Zehir has the most open exploration of the games. The map actually has hidden places and special encounters that you can discover by searching near them. Also, in all NWN2 games, you control your whole party, switching from one to the other whenever you want to, and directing them either in or out of battle. This also applies to conversations in Storm of Zehir. You can customise their appearance both on the 3D model, and by selecting 2D portraits for them.

There are also user-made modules that use these features.

Regarding NWN2, there are custom "makeover" editions of the first two Official Campaigns, which add a lot of the party creation freedom from SoZ. The OC's are quite epic, but you might miss the open-world feel. You could look it over. [url=http://nwvault.ign.com/View.php?view=NWN2ModulesEnglish.Detail&id=393]link2