I was a bit hesitant after reading the reviews about bugs. I modded the game based on the very helpful Lilura blog (https://lilura1.blogspot.com/p/neverwinter-nights-2-mods.html) and it works like a charm. My character has reached Neverwinter and started doing a few quests there; not sure how advanced in the game I am but probably not much (level 6). Only bugs encountered so far: freeze at times during geographical transfers (reload last save, works fine). Now for the good: - story is well done and well-narrated - NPCs are believable, their personalities and motivations clear and logical - companions are amazing: watching the arguments between them is great fun. Dialogues are witty, characters have depth and their personalities are very well done and diverse. As a leader, you feel challenged by their opposing viewpoints and by the need to manage their conflicting opinions. - sure, graphics are older, but that does not prevent immersion; the mods make them better and honestly, they are quite decent to start with. Night-day cycle is nice to watch. - it seems choices are available to deal with certain situations, no hack & slash, which helps the RPG side of the game - full D&D 3.5 rules, which allow for amazing customization: tons of classes and skills When comparing to my favorites RPG games (Skyrim, Oblivion, and Morrowind), which I really love because of the open world nature, I was shocked to realize how much Neverwinter Nights is superior in many aspects, in spite of the more linear game system: - the complexity of the game system itself is vastly superior; where the Elder Scrolls have limited variables (attributes and skills), NWN 2 has many. - the story is much better than Skyrim's (Morrowind was equally great and Oblivion was ok. Skyrim was definitely inferior to previous Elder Scrolls games). This game just made me realize that storytelling and depth have unfortunately been substituted for graphics and gameplay. Not a sign of progress in my opinion.
I really liked Fallout 3 for the amazing post-apocalyptic atmosphere. But Fallout NV stands above it thanks to a fun and twisted main quest that surprises you. The freedom to choose is immense - seems unlimited - and the characters and dialogues are extremely well-written and engaging. The minutiae and details in some of the dialogues is astounding (did not know game developers had culture ;-). Some of the side quests are quite interesting too, and their are future developments to choices you make that you may or may not discover afterward. I just discovered a heart-breaking consequence of one of my "helpful" actions yesterday; because war, war never changes... Had I not passed by that specific location again, I would never had learned what happened. Yes, it is an old game, but you forget about that pretty quickly because the game mechanics are sound and the game really engaging. I modded the game thanks to EssArrBee's page which is an A to Z manual: http://wiki.step-project.com/User:EssArrBee/FalloutNewVegas. Worked flawlessly and the game runs smoothly. In terms of writing and plot, this has set the bar for what I wish Skyrim - which I love - could have been.
