Neverwinter Nights, can anyone recommend?

Recommended Videos

baddude1337

Taffer
Jun 9, 2010
1,856
0
0
SO I've been yearning for a Baldurs Gate style RPG lately, and I came upon Neverwinter Nights. It looks pretty good and you can get the complete edition off of gamersgate for 20 quid which features both plus all the expansions. But I wanted to know if anyone here had played it and could recommend it or can offer a better alternative?
 

dimensional

New member
Jun 13, 2011
1,274
0
0
20 quid seems a bit expensive really but anyway I would say the first neverwinter nights is good BUT it can get boring the story was really weak in the main campaign I found and once I had my pet, a hired henchman and a summoned monster 95% of battles were cake so I stopped playing really I would say its probably better played multiplayer.

The second neverwinter nights I dont have much experience with the characters were much better but I seem to remember a lot of problems with it and so shelved that as well but I am more inclined to try the second one again than the first. If you just like exploration though the first has got you covered its just that too lost all meaning for me when I found no need to search for better stuff as I was destroying everything effortlessly anyway.

I dont know any alternatives to neverwinter but for Baldurs Gate people go on about Planescape which I have been meaning to try and there is the Ultima series some of which is abandonware and so can be tried free, there was also icewind dale I believe or even Fallout 1 and 2 or Arcanum of steamworks and magicka obsura which is quite fun (but again very breakable).
 

Valdus

New member
Apr 7, 2011
343
0
0
I'd recommend the first, though not for the singleplayer. The online servers are just fantastic - there's a huge variety. I've seen mods that make the game survival horror, persistant MMO style worlds, RP servers even sci-fi ones as well. The only reason I stopped playing was because it was taking over my life.

Having said that, I stopped about 2-3 years ago, so the scene might be pretty different. Also for every good server there was a crappy one where the RP'ers where nothing but emo-teens oversexualising everything. Also the pros I listed above are only any good if you plan on playing online - offline play is pretty medicore (though there are some interesting modules out there).
 

Zeckt

New member
Nov 10, 2010
1,085
0
0
I can safely say that the first one had the worst tutorial I have ever seen ever and I kid you not with that, it just would go on forever and had no shame in breaking your immersion from the get go. The vanilla neverwinter is not so good, but the expansion packs make up for it.
 

Starke

New member
Mar 6, 2008
3,877
0
0
If it's just the first... only if you're willing to coop through it. It's a lot of D&D 3e combat, and not much else. The writing is bad, even by Bioware standards.

The expansion packs for the first game are all pretty decent. The first two, are decent romps, the first is low level, while the second is an epic level romp. The third "expansion" is kinda meh, it's a bunch of small, but good, adventures, usually a couple hours each.

Finally, the best part of the original game is the player created content. I think the NWN Vault is still up, and has an absurd amount of this. It ranges from terrible fan fiction quality, to stuff that eclipses, the original game and both expansions.

Now... if that pack includes NWN2, things get interesting...

NWN2 updates to 3.5, it drags a bit once you get to act 3, but it has some really funny and memorable characters. The first expansion nearly hits Planescape Torment levels of quality, though it also boasts some painfully difficult combat, even for D&D veterans. Finally Storm of the Zehir is kinda... meh. It's not bad, but it is a very unstructured game in contrast to, well, everything else in the franchise, with a large overworld map, and freedom to wander around at will, as well as rolling up your entire party, rather than just the PC.

Both games are worth playing, but for vastly different reasons.
 

endtherapture

New member
Nov 14, 2011
3,127
0
0
If you want a Baldur's Gate style RPG you can't do better than Dragon Age Origins.

The first NWN game is more of a D&D dungeon crawler without a party. The second one is like a much more challenging BG2.
 

ThriKreen

New member
May 26, 2006
803
0
0
If you're more into the party play and real time with pause aspect of Baldur's Gate, you're better off with Dragon Age: Origins.

NWN is more oriented towards multiplayer with a DM, or letting you author your own adventure modules. Basically replicating the original D&D tabletop game. You're somewhat forced to control one player (sure you can have NPC companions but it's not the same), and ideally group up with other players to fill the necessary gaps.

I'm a bit biased since I love NWN and what it could do. I'm eagerly looking forward to the mod tools of Neverwinter from Cryptic.
 

demotion1

New member
Mar 22, 2011
102
0
0
1 is a huge game though the base game's storyline is boring. Expantions are neat.
2 i really enjoyed that i have to say. It is smaller than 1.

I am pretty sure you can get them cheaper than 20 quid if you look around.
 

Indecipherable

Senior Member
Mar 21, 2010
590
0
21
Hordes of the Underdark was excellent from NWN1
Mask of the Betrayer was excellent from NWN2

I'm not sure I'd pay more than $5 for NWN1 though. And GOG has it on sale for $10.
 

TheCommanders

ohmygodimonfire
Nov 30, 2011
589
0
0
I remember enjoying it, but haven't played it in years so it could just be nostalgia (though normally I'm immune to that) or the fact that I'm a huge D&D fan. I do remember that I preferred 2, but I don't remember why. They're worth 20 quid though. I bought them all full price and don't really regret it. I don't know how well they've aged though...
 

AlotFirst

New member
Mar 29, 2011
126
0
0
Just one thing to keep in mind: Neverwinter Nights 2 is buggy and you will have to download lots of patches if you don't want to go through (possibly extreme) frustration. Also, it isn't well-optimised, the game doesn't properly utilize multi-cores so the individual cores of your CPU need to be powerful. And, one last thing: the expansion, Mask of the Betrayer is fantastic, although a certain vampire-like system that is introduced to your character can be quite annoying.
 

PPB

Senior Member
May 25, 2009
257
0
21
The key to enjoying Neverwinter Nights is to head to the NWN Vault [http://nwvault.ign.com/] and play some of the Hall of Fame modules over there. The official campaigns are pretty terrible in comparison. I honestly think that some module series over there are better than many retail games.

This is especially true for the first NWN. NWN2 had some great modules made for it, but the community was never as large as that of the first game.
 

MikeOfThunder

New member
Jul 11, 2009
436
0
0
YES!! NeverWinter Nights was my first love when it comes to gaming. It was the first time that I became fully entrenched in a game that I then played over and over again. It was only until Oblivion that I loved another game nearly as much.

The first game is fantastic, heavily text based for many of the quests but it does have a massive world to explore and the class/feat system is incredible. I am miserably bias, because this game made up most of my 'gaming childhood', but I would advise on getting. Also Hordes of the Underdark was brilliant, really added to the game as a whole.

The second NWN game is just as good in my eyes. Enjoyed it to the highest degree and would advise everyone that loves their third person RPG's to buy it. The world, although not as expansive, is still fairly large and extremely detailed. Also the dialog and character development was very good. Now I did play these games some years ago when they were 'new' so maybe my memory has warped the experience for me, but I doubt it.

All in all, I would advise that you get them and fall in love with them... something thats not particularly difficult to do!
 

Setch Dreskar

New member
Mar 28, 2011
173
0
0
endtherapture said:
If you want a Baldur's Gate style RPG you can't do better than Dragon Age Origins.

The first NWN game is more of a D&D dungeon crawler without a party. The second one is like a much more challenging BG2.
Wait, what. Other then theme how does Dragon Age Origins equal Baldur's Gate style? DAO is a very streamlined RPG, that is very light on RPG elements in comparison to Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, and Baldur's Gate.

OT, I would highly recommend NWN 2, it doesn't have the best official modules though Mask of the Betrayer and the Official Campaign are the best of the three, and as stated combat is very much DnD 3.5 so be careful what class combinations you make with your character.

As for the community, it has grown recently with the news of Neverwinter, perhaps more people wanting to see what the MMO setting would be, and I would highly suggest some of the Persistent Worlds, actually playing on one now that is a full on MMORPG, that is completely based around the roleplaying aspect of Baldur's Gate and the Sword Coast in general. (Though I should note the Gate is more a starting area sort of deal, and alot of the content and lore is run by the DM's of the server.)

If you do pick up NWN and NWN2 with their expansions, I would say try out the modules, download some of the incredible fan made campaigns and try out some of the persistent worlds, if one set in Forgotten Realms and featuring Baldur's Gate itself is what you want check out:
http://bgtscc1.com/forum/index.php
 
Sep 14, 2009
9,073
0
0
meh personally i found NWN2 leagues ahead of NWN, but that could be just me.

not to mention, there are lots of people who only play the multiplayer/modular portions of it, which i completely avoided for the most part of it.

in either case, the expansion packs are amazing compared to the main games, so if you must play, then play those.
 

Jaythulhu

New member
Jun 19, 2008
1,745
0
0
Neverwinter was a fun game, and the second one more-so. If you haven't played them, they're well worth a go.

I know a few of people have said go with DA:O instead, but I personally found NWN to have a better and more interesting story, character and party options. I completed the entirety of the NWN series, whereas I got bored and gave up on DA:O before I got halfway through.

In the end I guess it just depends on whether you like the Forgotten Realms or Bioware's own setting more.