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.

The basic campaign is actively bad to the point where it's hard to tell if its trying to be a parody or not. Mask of the Betrayer is somewhat more polished but if you replay it it becomes painfully apparent how little your choices actually matter. Storm of Zehir on the other hand is nothing but quality swashbuckling fun that I'd give 5 stars to on its own.

I played NWN2 when it came out, and had good but foggy memories of it (mainly remember playing a good Warlock in Mask of the Betrayer). So when the most recent sale came up, I decided to revisit - also because i've started playing D&D IRL again. The game is less 'practical' to play than its predecessor or the Baldur's Gate games - everyone rushes at the enemy at the same time and the AI isn't always super clever. But it's a fun, sprawling story with some very good story twists and turns, and pleasant NPC party members to converse with (no rivals to Minsc and Boo's throne, though). So, I've invested over twenty hours, and I get hit with a bug where I can't use the cursor to make the party move anymore. No help for it anywhere. And it has corrupted all my saves. A game killer. Apparently, after all this time, it still hasn't been possible to remove all the bugs from the game. I had other bugs as well, but those were easy enough to work around. So, all in all, game itself is very fun and a pretty good translation of D&D 3.5e. And you may get lucky and avoid the nasty bugs. But be forewarned: they are in there and they are plentiful.