Neverwinter Nights 2 Complete Edition Pros: - Amazing gameplay - Based on D&D 3.5 rules - Amazing soundtrack - Plenty of races and classes to choose from - Decent graphics [nothing extraordinary] - Amazing story - Tons of voice dialog - Great spell effect Cons: - Default AI sucks * DLCs: - Mask of the Betrayer - Top Notch - Storm of Zehir - Top Notch - Mysteries of Westgate - Top Notch EDIT:* FIY to fix the AI you can download a mod called Companion and Monster AI 2.2 from NeverwinterVault. Feels so much better! Congratz to GOG devs for briging this gem back to life!!

I avoided this game when it first came out because reviews of it were so bad. User reviews I saw from players at the time were likewise as scathing. I kept avoiding it because Obsidian still continues to make buggy games even today, and Neverwinter Nights 2 was their first, or among their first offerings. Lately, I kept seeing it here on gog. Kept remembering how much I liked the first Neverwinter Nights. Kept hearing how there have been patches and the like. Figured I'd give it a try. Big mistake. Even on a modern computer that can easily run modern games, this game staggers, stutters and sputters along like a cantankerous old car. The game is that badly optimized and it's obvious Obsidian didn't know how to fix it, or simply couldn't be bothered to fix it completely. What patches I've found have fixed some things, but this game has way too many problems.

I played through the original game, but it was a bit of a slog. The characters are a grab bag of clichés, and I only liked Sand (who is um, terrific). The overall plot was not too compelling either, and be warned that the gameplay will be easy for any vet. The crafting system is overly complex, tedious, and broken. That said, NWN2 is an enormous improvement over the original NWN and Obsidian should be praised for revising the absurd decision in the first game not to give full party control --a real blight on the Bioware predecessor. Mask of the Betrayer is a masterpiece of good crpg storytelling that destroys hands down both the original IE games and successors like Pillars of Eternity in terms of plot. The characters in your party are terrific (Kaelyn! Gann!) and have well-developed backstory. The atmosphere is infectious. The mechanics of your curse are also good fun even if as a good character it proves to be very easy to handle. I have only played through as good but as evil you can apparently be absolutely malevolent. The only con is that crafting and gameplay difficulty is broken -- any veteran of CPRGs will be cruising through most of the combats. Also I'm sad Ammon Jerro was not a full party member. 7/10 for the original game, 9/10 for Mask of the Betrayer, haven't played Storms of Zehir.

Let's start with the strength of this game: what works in NWN2 is the immersion. I felt really taken by the plot, I cared about the characters, the D&D setting felt believable, even in its clichés. The idea of managing your fortress and your army has been reused in Pillars of Eternity, Dragon Age Inquisition and Pathfinder Kingmaker. Your choices during the game will affect wether your companions will stay loyal to you or not, what factions will you support and how much damage will you inflict upon the NPCs around you. Defending myself during a trial, being diplomatic to lizardfolk, supporting a dragon against fire giants and then convincing said dragon not to eat me, encountering trapped devils and being besieged by vampires were all memorable moments to me. Of course, NWN2 isn't without flaws - the cutscenes are debatable by today's standards, and I would have wished for more choices and consequences, for instance in the matter of divinities. Still, NEverwinter Nights 2 is a game I'm in love with, and I was happy to replay one of the classics of my teenage period on GOG.

The plot writing of Neverwinter Nights 2 (including DLC) is quite good. Although it's a game from 2006, it remains a classic DND game worth reminiscing.