Good game but buggy as hell, and too short to really flesh out all the characters. The expansion has some interesting games ideas but the soul eating mechanic is more interesting as a story device, and annoying in actual practice. Clerics are way too powerful in this game while other classes like Palemaster are hard to use. The crafting is kinda painful bec you have to scrounge for stuff, and you can usually survive with premade items that you find. The castle building minigame feels forced and out of place. In summary, lots of good ideas but not enough game to flesh out/maximize them.

Contrary to what people tell here I found this game pretty slowpaced, sluggish and allways restricting something. Also way too much MMORPG styled and allways painfully reminding the player there is some stupid rule that the game environment sets for no apparent reason baning you from any invention you'd like to do. And what grieved me the most, there was a total lack of anything resembling the good RPG phenomenon: There is allways a treasure behind the waterfall. I mean there was like literally nothing to discover. Everything is plain and stupidly MMORPGish in a great-but-vain-graphics. At first I was so keen on playing this. Great graphics and AD&D again... I've tried it three times. Allways dissapointed. The only thing good for me was a faithfull implementation of the AD&D rules. But in a game, where you don't get to use them much for anything more then combat it's a poor excuse. Go for Temple of Elemental Evil with CO8 mod or earlier Bioware games. If you ask me.

This opinion is based on playing the original campaign on normal mode. Plenty of glitches through out. Events that don't trigger. Characters getting stuck. Useless AI. Items disappearing. Combat is pretty easy through out, until the end where it becomes impossible to move forward without cheats. The game doesn't have any way of grinding either, so there is no going back to an earlier save, to get your level up. Maybe the expansions are better. People say good things about MOB, but it'll be a while before I can muster any enthusiasm. If you do want to play this game, skip the original campaign. If you do play the OC, don't feel like you have to complete the vale+sanctum bit. It's just 2 hours of being annoyed. There is no particular reward for it.

I have this game on dvd, the original and the 2 expansions from Obisidian. Mysteries of Westgate was made by Ossian games and is a seperate expansion actually. Never played that one, now i have it in the gog version, to which i now also have. I have sunk many hours in NWN 2 and find it one of the better crpg's around, also better then the first NWN. I never could get into NWN 1, as that one feels too bleak to me. NWN 2 has a great story and it's also the strongest point, plus i like the companions you got. There is nothing wrong with the original campaign. Maybe not everyone's cup of tea, but i like it. From the companions i like especially Neeshka, Elanee and Qara and good old Khelgar Ironfist. Unfortunately it is true that the game has quite a wild history regarding bugs and it took Obisidian a while to fix it. I remember installing the game from dvd i had to wait a while because of patching. Another good point of this game i find that your portrait covers your char and you don't have to select a portrait of yourself like in NWN 1. The fighting goes in turns and the whole partybased system works well. Keep that in mind people, NWN 2 isn't a fast paced action rpg, but old school crpg. I also like the dialog system. And there is nothing wrong with the camera, since that was changed with MotB. Camera works good. Same with fonts and there is no stutter at all. NWN 2 also support mods and there are plenty some made. Earlier on you could find that on NWNVault, but that one is gone now. Overall NWN 2 is one of the better crpg's around with a good story, good gameplay and plenty of hours to play.

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.