I have completed the campaign more times than I will admit because I loved it so much. Dialog has been tweaked heavily since the 2006 release. Some things are explained better and some are just weird. Like the encounter with the lizardfolk early in the game has an incoherent, if not simplified resolution now. Lots of the new dialog I encountered seemed inferior to the original voice actors. But what really is making it unplayable on my recent game is the AI target selection. It wants to run off attacking something new before it finishes off what it was already fighting more than I remember and more than I have patience for.

I've tried to enjoy this game countless times for at least a decade now and I finally might just be giving up on it. It seems like a great DnD game, but so hollow at the same time. My experience is limited to the OC, so maybe I should try something else... but I can't get past the broken AI. I went to a bandit camp and clicked on an enemy for my group to attack (after having to select my entire party). They looked at the enemy, then turned around and ran across the camp to a random archer on the other side of camp, aggroing the entire place. Limit the aggro range, go inside the camp headquarters, right-click on an enemy... 2 characters engage, in the middle of the room, and the other decides it needs to exit the room and circle around the hallway before entering the room from the other door..bringing 4 more enemies inside. No blocked doors initially either. I just can't keep trying and it's disappointing to feel like this over a game I see others view as a must play classic.

Masterpiece, enough said.

Years before people when gaga over the companions in Mass Effect 2, this game created equally great characters. This is where the game differs from the criticized NWN1: your companions are not just bland followers. You WILL be tested on your influence with them. But don't worry, they are worth getting to know. And that's without counting MotB, where you can get a technicolour bear god or invisible collection of dead souls to join your party. The OC has it's ups and downs. It does get a little dry at times, but it WILL pick up again. There are plenty of amusing sidequests and a decent variety of enemies to fight. The ending sucks, but MotB fixes it, don't worry. SoZ is an interesting expansion, focusing more on exploration and fighting than characters and plot. Haven't played MoWG yet, I intend to fix that shortly. Gameplay is alright, spells have awesome visuals, even the weaker ones. Skills and feats are great, you really feel you're building a unique character instead of a bland rogue or wizard. And the game's forgiving enough that you don't have to worry about maximizing your potential, any class/alignment can succeed. This game is often overlooked, which is a shame. It has fantastic characters, great music and visuals (character models look dated, but the environments have stood the test of time), a really fun plot with an even better expansion, and lots of replayability. Yes, it has flaws. But those are barely noticeable in the grand scheme of things.

I was fortunate enough the be able to nab the Steam version before Atari pulled it from the storefront. Besides all the bugs, which are typical of Obsidian games anyway, it's a brilliantly well-done game. One of my only complaints is the difference in how the toolset works between NWN and this game -- it seems to reserve a certain amount of space in exterior areas for background work, which is fine, but coming from NWN, it makes it a bit odd not being able to have the whole area walkable as was possible in the first game. Other than that, great job Obsidian, and great job GOG for securing not only the Platinum version, which is what Steam had, but the full gamut. MoW is very hard ti find these days!