This game is a masterpiece. The only problem that it has that keeps me from giving this game a straight 10 is the fact that it does take quite a bit of tweaking to get the game to even run. The main problem that causes performance hits is the water FX, as they seem to be severely bugged and can make the FPS rate go to 2 or 3 on even the highest-end system. However, after you get past, or work around those initial technical issues and actually start playing the game - its amazing. I don't want to spoil anything, but RTS fans may be excited to get this game too. There are some RTS elements thrown into this game.… Expand

Nice looking, good voice acting, but very buggy, even with patch 1.10. They threw out the good UI of the original NWN and jammed some clunky UI in sideways. The camera angle needs constant adjustment so you can see where your character is going, and that gets in the way of the immersive experience. Still, I'd rate this game highly if it weren't for the frequent crashes and corrupt save files. It's just not worth the frustration. Save your money and replay the original NWN, or drag out that dusty old copy of Baldur's Gate. I know you've got one.… Expand

NWN2 is to Baldur's Gate what NWN1 is to Icewind Dale. That is to say, where NWN1/ID focus primarily on combat, NWN2/BG give equal time to roleplaying.
In NWN1 there really was only one substantial roleplaying quest (the trial in chapter 3), companions had no personality ("please help me find some item, and I'll give you a bonus", repeat...), quests didn't go beyond "fetch X" and "kill Y", and the world just didn't feel like a place were people actually lived.
In contract, in NWN2 NPCs once again have memorable personalities, quests are diverse, the world is atmospheric, you get to invest in it by building up a base of operations, etc.
I do have to say that I played this game when most bugs had been patched, and by then its only major weakness was that it required a very heavy pc while not looking particularly great.
Now, 5 years later, I still consider NWN2 to be one of the better RPGs ever made. It's right up there with games like BG, KotOR, and Morrowind. (And the first expansion, Mask of the Betrayer comes close to Planescape: Torment.) Heartily recommended!… Expand

As close as a RPG can get! Combat can be a little sluggish at times but with patches, that problem clears up. Sadly, developers are making games now where its more hack n slash with a little story.

Awsome game! Bioware's games rule! Why?... I DONT KNOW! They just do! Neverwinter Nights forever! But if talking seriously - its a good game because it have a tonn of side quests and its never boring. The bad thing about it is the "waiting for the loading to stop" that takes up about 20 % of your whole playing time... But in all the game is great. 9/10 - awesome

One of the best rpg I have ever played. The graphic is nice, the plot, as a whole, is outstanding, the ending "cinematic"'s passable, but not great. The voice work and dialogs are absolutely the stunning. Don't be discouraged by the naysayers, this is a great game for those who are NOT D&D hardcore and over skeptical. 10 out of 10.

Really disappointing. Too much bugs and problems. NVW1 was one of my favorite game, but NVW2 is a BIG let down for me. I have a really high-end computer and everything is working fine even at 1900X1200. The problem is the game itself. Awfully counter-intuitive user interface, party AI is incredibly lame, the camera is a joke... I just put the game on the shelve and will wait and see if patches will make it playable. But I really feel like I've simply lost 50$... Save yourself 50$, don't buy this game, and wait to see if the developpers will be able to fix that awful mess beofre spending money on it.… Expand

What happened with this Game? Obsidian should not be allowed to touch any other RPG's from now on, just look at what they did with KoToR2!

Giving it a 9 mainly because of small crash to desktop issues, else it is a game of neverending joy where one self even can decide the content for eg. mod building, anyhow with all the posibilities you get, then you can really get alot of gameplay out of it as well as lust for creating your own mod for both multiplayer reasons or singleplayer reasons. The Reason to that I do not give it a 10 is mainly because of certain hardware errors that occurs with some video/sound cards that causes you crash to desktop with the option to report an error to windows, those most of the time can be walked around still, but you are in need to know in what to do if you receive an error like this.. For those people giving the score of 1, I would say some of the stuff I have read does not explain or anything constructive said other than eg. talking about another game for then simply flaming away in a way that does not provide any proper feedback.… Expand

Hmm, I am rather confused with the negative votes. I just finished the game after buying it (April 2008), and I have to say I really enjoyed it. I am big on storyline as I am tired of hack/slash games. There is a deep story involved if you are willing to seriously roleplay your character. I enjoyed the action and combat. I think people are too obsessed with desiring over the top graphics and special effects. I thought the graphics were great and the effects enjoyable, I played my character true to form and enjoyed a wonderful walk through making tough choices and got to destroy the bad guys. My negative points would be that some of the boss fights were over done, I dislike having to over-strategize and hope it all works out because its all based on D&D rules with a non-existent DM. But then again in my pen&paper days of gaming my favorite DM was forgiving and friendly, while others would make you roll dice every 5 seconds to see if you could remain seated on your horse, a mate of mine rolled a critical failure and had to go the rest of our campaign with a permanent broken leg. If you play games for an enjoyable storyline then this will bring you enjoyment. If you are looking for hack/slash and over the top graphics and special effects then buy a PS3 and get Heavenly Sword, or a God of War series and stop complaining. I avoided this game for a very long time because of the negative reviews, and now I wish I had just ignored them and played this earlier. I gave it an 8 because I wish there had been more interaction between characters and boss fights were over done. (Possible spoiler ahead) In general I get irritated when a games makes you kill the boss more than once to finish the game or continue to the next stage. Just die and be done with it, stop lingering.… Expand

The game was well written, the story is pretty good, and the interactions between NPC's had me laughing on many occations. However, the game play makes me regret the week of my life I wasted playing this game. The maps and quests are non-intuitive, the camera angles are awful, the characters are hard to control, the big fights are WAY TOO LONG, and you will bang your head against a wall when you hit the endgame. I literally spent hours trying to beat the last boss... i even resorted to cheating and couldn't do it. Hell, walkthroughs didn't help. I can't even finish the game and many a bug had me reloading to saves the happened hours before. I would only recommend this game if you have nothing better to do and no other games you want to play.… Expand

To begin with I love crpg's. Baldurs Gate, BG2, Fallout 1+2, PS:T, M&M series, Arcanum, even the Diablo series with mods. The problem with crpgs today is the most important part, the story, is the part that gets the least attention. Big shiny graphics, "life-like" AI, giant worlds; all secondary elements in an RPG to the story. RPG: Role Playing Game, if the role your playing is a courier you have a tedious game. If the role your playing involves exploring many simple areas populated with simple enemies, you have a tedious game. Act 1 of the NWN2 OC was genuinely painful for me; excruiatingly boring "find orc leader, fight through peon guards and kill him" type quests, set in "plod forward through the sea of boring underlings to reach the boss" style dungeons. Act 2 improves somewhat; the keep is genuinely interesting but doesn't feel like a fully implemented feature. If you could merely join your men on special missions, patrol the roads, guard the farms, some way of making the keep feel "real" rather than just an object you throw money at it would be vastly more entertaining. I haven't even finished the game so can't speak for Act3 and am not sure I ever will. I am patched to 1.12 and bugs still exist with alarming frequency in the game, many show stoppers such as, corrupt save games, crash to desktops and missing party memmbers. The AI is literally garbage; your companions will randomly stop obeying commands, attack each other for no apparent reason, cast aoe's when companions are in the area of effect, etc. The real reason I bought NWN1+2 is the Toolset and the modules resulting from the toolset. The quality of the modules is in direct correlation with the quality of the Toolset; the mods I've played have been vastly superior to the OC; VASTLY SUPERIOR! Almost surreally, my toolset will not work and surfing the forums many users, especially vista 64x are experiencing this with the latest patch. I'm sure it will be fixed, but it certaintly is a WTF moment when you pay for something and integral parts do not work at all. The reason NWN2 gets a 7 is the promise of true greatness hiding deep within the engine; the graphics will be tolerable/good for many, many years. I just hope all the bugs will be ironed out before the modding community gives up on the game. Rating the OC by itself I'd give a 2.5/3, rating the "polish" of the game I'd give a .5, the plethora of bugs present after more than 1 year is unacceptable, especially one preventing the toolset from running at all.… Expand

I bought the NWN2 Gold edition, much later than the initial release, so I probably didn't experience a majority of the bugs and flaws that may have given the game a lower score from other people. NWN2, in my opinion, is a good sequel - not great. Basically, it's NWN1 with better graphics, more spells, more classes, etc. The default controls aren't great, but can easily be tweaked to your liking; you can even make it play just like NWN1. In fact, the menu gives users a lot of control over graphical features, control, etc. Added features, like the quick spell menu, really help streamline the gameplay, and make it a much more enjoyable experience. One thing I find disappointing is that NWN2's toolset system is more difficult to use, and has slowed the creation of community mods. If you're looking for a solid RPG DnD experience, I would highly recommend NWN2.… Expand

Overall, I do not like this game. The graphics feel clunky, especially the melee combat which is unsatisfying and unrealistic looking. To compare, take a game like Icewind Dale (which is a 2D game, but has similar rule sets, many of the same spells, etc). In Icewind Dale, if two opposing warriors attacked each other you either saw the attack animation fail with maybe an appropriate sound (but no specific graphics to differentiate between a block, parry, or dodge) or a successful hit. In a 2D game it is forgivable because you have to use your imagination to an extent. Spell casts in that game were truly magnificent to behold and even the sound of the casting seemed otherworldly. In NWN2 I could not discern any specific graphic for blocking, parrying, dodging, etc. which is unforgivable for a 3D game. A successful attack results in the flinch animation, but other than that I did not notice any other surprises in melee combat, even with different weapons. Combat is therefor dull and boring. I also noted the level of gore and blood. There is none in this game. Icewind Dale 2 had it's fair amount of gore (even exploding bodies), with dead enemies lying in pools of their own blood. NWN2 unfortunately has none of that. Death essentially involves an avatar falling down to the floor unconscious. The bodies quickly disappear after a certain amount of time has passed, but I would have liked the option of seeing them remain. Dropped loot is not accessed by clicking on the dead bodies, instead little bags spawn beside the bodies, which you are forced to click on, as small as they are (why NVN2 degenerated to that style of loot system is beyond me). The spell-casting also looks completely wrong. Some spells fly at strait angles to targets. Take for example acid splash, which looks like a beam of green light emitting from the caster's hand to the target... it just looks so cheap... like the devs took a shortcut in the graphics department. It doesn't look like acid and it's not very satisfying to behold. The sound that the casters make when casting is ridiculous and almost comical, it's like something you might hear out of an poorly translated Japanese anime. Even if you choose your characters voice at the beginning of the game, every spellcaster makes the same sound in exactly the most horrid tone. I find it hard to enjoy any spellcasting class what-so-ever.

A lot of the dialogue in the game is spoken audio, which I think is unfortunate. The audio is too short and precise to give any feel to the game. All spoken audio seems plot driven. The written dialogue is not very clever and I can't help but feel that the game was presented in such a way that young teenagers would "get it". The game is rated T, so go figure. Any brass humor that you may have seen in similar themed 2D RPG's do not exist here. The rating for the game obviously held it back in many regards. The plot and dialogue completely disinterest me as a result.

I was expecting a lot more for an RPG. The graphics totally suck for the requirements and nothing filled me with awe like I have seen in many a 2D RGP such as Baldur's Gate, IceWind Dale, etc. Those games impressed me; this one made me glad that I never bought it full price.… Expand

This game was really enjoyable, I played through it twice at least back in the day. Don´t know why it has such a bad score. The storyline was enjoyable, the classes were fun and leveling up your characters was fun. I don't remember having any issue with bugs in it either, except one with the cut scenes but they fixed that.

While the this game is not without its flaws, few of the negative reviews have taken into account one of its strongest points: mods. Multiplayer, especially when played on the dedicated servers put up by the more prominent mod teams, is an entertaining alternative to games such as World of Warcraft. The animations may appear lackluster in comparison with more recent titles, but the multiplayer is free, and I for one am more than willing to ignore occasional bugs (which are far less common than other reviews would have you believe) in favor of a multiplayer system devoid of monthly fees.

The player community on these servers is also far more engaged than that of big-ticket MMO's: roleplay is encouraged, granting an element of versatility to the game and enhancing replay value significantly. This offer a sharp contrast to the pettiness I encountered during my brief stint playing WoW; players are willing to flesh out their backgrounds significantly and remain true to their characters even when doing so negatively affects gameplay. While this may not appeal to all, it enhances that the suspension of disbelief essential to many enjoyable video games. Single player offers a somewhat different position; the original campaign is slow at first (the first few levels feel almost like another tutorial), but it soon becomes more interesting. While I found playing a truly evil character difficult (the game seemed to be forcing me to conform to a particular brand of evil: those who have reach the end of the game as evil characters know what I mean), neutral or good characters offer a wealth of interesting gameplay with enough material for roughly two interesting playthroughs. My only true complaint with regard to the single player campaign is the often stilted dialogue of minor NPC's. In many cases, they restate their commentary two or even three times before finally relinquishing their unwelcome hold over your computer screen. The issue of poor voice acting is less prevalent in the first expansion, Mask of the Betrayer, but it resurfaces with a vengeance in Storm of Zehir. Beside better dialogue, MOTB continues in much the same vein, with the occasional moral dilemma to make the story more engaging. In conclusion, aside from bugs and somewhat disappointing voice acting, this game is one well worth purchasing, with significant replay value, enjoyable roleplay-based multiplayer and a comparatively low price of $20 on Steam. I would strongly recommend it for any who enjoy fantasy RPG's and would like a multiplayer service to occupy a few hours on dreary evenings without the prohibitive monthly fees.… Expand

Classic Forgotten Realms adventure. In fact it's positively cliche, but don't let that put you off: this is one excellently realised linear D&D romp, with extremely entertaining NPCs (NWN2 doesn't take itself too seriously). The single "romance" plot (I won't spoil it) is just the ticket if you're fed up with BG2's melodrama. It's too easy (there's only one properly tricky encounter, the optional dragon battle), but I had ages of fun with this. Why so many detractors?… Expand

Very poor game. Graphics are better than NWN1 but they aren't nearly as good as other current contemporary titles. Lost many useful things from NWN1 Large PW's and multiplayer will suffer greatly. There won't be any large online worlds like NWN1 due to enormous memory usage. That's probably why it ships with D&D online, a pay per month subscription. Bioware should have retained the title instead of giving it to Obsidian. There are hardly any monsters. The give a monster a different name, use the exact same model, and call it another monster. I really dislike this game.… Expand

I play D and D 3.5 every week and I love this game. It does an ok job coverting 3.5 into a real time game, but i would rather have turn based. The games strongest point is its plot. This game does a great job creating a roleplaying experence similar to a real (paper and dice) RPG. The main story is complex with many aproches to that incresses replay vaule. Wile the plot is thick the game alows you to engage parts you may enjoy, like building up your keep, and ingnor parts that are lame, like the bard. This game is a real rpg fueled by player choices not FMV.… Expand

A pleasant surprise compared to other boring RPG around. It is a game where the design is so pervasive that you need to cover it entirely to experience all the nuances in gameplay and variety. The factor that dragged down the game in the eye of a lot of people is that you have to actively play it to enjoy it. If you are trying to find a game where the first hour of gameplay is an exaustive demo of the entire game experience go away, in this game every action you take counts. It's a better sandbox game that those dull approximation of a lifeless reality that they dare to call RPGs. At least here there's a story to shape aside incompetent NPCs to kill.… Expand

I almost completed this game, two years ago. I never did. Owen T, below has already said much of what I feel signifies the problems with Neverwinter Nights 2. My first problem the first time around was that after four hours of playing and eventually reaching the city from where the game draws its' name, I still didn't feel like the story had started. The story eventually picked up and even got somewhat interesting (albeit remaining terribly cliché) at times, but it was still too slow to start and at times it felt like half a dozen writers wrote a part each and then joined them together hastily. I could probably live with a bad story if the gameplay was smooth. But it isn't. The controls are sluggish or over-sensitive, depending on what actions you are trying to perform. The interface is clunky, counter-intuitive and the targetting functions in such a way that half the time I found myself throwing fireballs at my own party members only to start applying healing to the enemy. The graphics are at times great, but mostly stick to bland with a few dips into sheer ugly or out of place and often times I found myself thinking "Wow, Dungeon Siege looked better than this". All this combined with a difficulity that flails wildly from cake walk to hair tearing frustration in the span of two encounters leaves you with a game that you occasionally find yourself wanting to play more of. But most of the time, the uninspired story, the horrid interface and controls and the strange design decisions will just be too much to stomach. I give it a 6, because for all its' shortcomings, NWN 2 still delivers a solid dungeon raiding experience from time to time. Every now and then, you actually feel as if you are playing a virtual simulation of the Pen & Paper game that NWN2 draws its' rules and setting from. It never lasts long and it certainly doesn't make up for Obsidians glaring lack of polish (which holds true for all their games so far) but it saves NWN2 from being a complete disaster of a game.… Expand

I got the game about a half year after release and couldn't see what all the bad player reviews were about. Bugs have been fixed for a long, long time and the game is a lot of fun. NWN'ers will have about a ten minute learning curve and then will loose themselves in the customization and immersion the gorgeous graphics and character generation process give you. Good game, still needs higher end hardware to run well on high settings. Good story, good options, great graphics, familiar feel. It's a worthy successor to the crown. It's biggest problem was the system requirements were way misleading and that pissed a lot of people off in 2006. It's still an issue today in 2009 but a medium end gaming rig will run this game on High.… Expand

I'm able to run this game on my business notebook at a reasonable speed and with few of the bugs that I've seen so many people claiming to have "high-end" systems have reported. Some patience is necessary but this game is probably 3 or 4 patches away (from v.1.03) from appeasing the critics. This game is in a rough spot, critics-wise, because it's caught between the rabid loyalty of fans to NWN1 and the excellence of TES:Oblivion. Taken alone, however, it's a pretty good game. Of course, it isn't Oblivion, graphics-wise, but if you enjoyed Wizardry in its early incarnations, Bard's Tale, Ultima and Baldur's Gates I & II, there is no reason, a few bugs here and there, not to like this game.… Expand

I agree with most of you naysayers out there. NWN2 has serious camera issues, AI flaws, and steep hardware requirements. My computer barely meets the requirements, and I have the graphics all the way down. The cut scenes still look decent, but in general, not a big step up from NWN1. I've used the toolset a little bit, and its daunting. But with the online community it's pretty easy to get your feet wet, and after all, for a truly powerful toolset you would have to complicate things...its in the nature of power. Finally, the game is FUN. The voice acting, while at times exaggerated, is hilarious. I can't wait to play though as an evil character. The different choices do an excellent job of making the player feel like he's bearing an impact, and quest accomplishment is rewarding. It gets an 9 for its overall play value, and while it does have issues, its one of the most potentially replayable games in a long time.… Expand

To sum up: good= long, brilliant, immersive storyline, well crafted characters, very well voiced dialogue. bad= Looks somewhat dated except on cutting edge hardware, unstable framerate, a few minor bugs(that are being ironed out in patches bit by bit)

At the start of this review of NWN 2 I like to quote the words of Feargus Urquhart, the CEO of OBSIDIAN from the manual that comes with the game. - "What we really wanted to do is bringing the playing and crafting of D&D adventures to the computer." - "keep the sequel as true to the original product as possible" These statements reveal the aims of the game at the moment of release: it was to differ little from NWN 1 and specifically to make a game and toolset in one like NWN 1 was. It is therefore not surprising that there have been no groundbreaking changes. The same levelling system, same classes, races, skills, abilities, spells and feats are implemented. Except for the introduction of a new base class, the warlock, nothing has been altered so drastic as to attract attention. A few changes have been implemented. The first two stem from criticism against NWN 1: the rather uninspired plot and the fact that it was a single character game. So these points have been addressed by creating a better story line and adding a party game system. The third change is maybe the only real new thing: a more elaborate system to create your own items and potions. Many problems make the game rather wearisome. Wearisome because the action is interrupted continuously. Battles are generally followed by resting because you need regenerate spent spells and lost health that way, since both won't regenerate themselves. Irksome is that by slavishly sticking to the restricted AD&D rule set little interesting is brought into the game. You find that some classes are repeating their actions again and again and again. Notably the fighter class offers little variance. But even when a change of tactic might be possible this is hampered by the way OBSIDIAN has implemented it. The thief class offers sneaking which could be used in other games to scout ahead, but this advantage is nullified because in NWN 2 the thief can't act on his own. What is even more tiresome is that the already small area's are filled with roundabout routes and blocked area… Expand

I dont know what is the problem with you people here!! NWN2 had some bugs, true! But they are not so big to give a great game a score 0/10. Almost noone mentions the bugs Oblivion had, which is far worse game in every regard when compared with NWN2! This so unfair! And it is clear that Bethseda payed you people to slander NWN2 so they could boost their sales on Oblivion, which BTW doesnt deserve one point above 7.… Expand

Finally, finally, after the blunder of Neverwinter Nights I, they have gone back to the way Baldur's Gate was done -- brilliantly sophisticated and intelligent, funny at times and always subtly beautiful. Well done guys.

An excellent game (after the fifth patch). Not quite as good overall as the original but better in many ways.

I am impressed. It definitely has a different feel from the original Neverwinter Nights... if you've played Dungeon Siege, try to imagine that with better graphics and an actual plot. I'm running a 1.73 Ghz Pentium 4 with 1.0 gigs of ram, with a GeForce 6800 video card, and while I can't play at an extremely high resolution, the detail settings are pretty high without any frame rate issues. It's doable, and enjoyable, if you have my specs or even slightly lower. The gameplay is engaging and the character details are fabulous. I also enjoy the "cinema" conversations, which resemble dialogue in your average popcorn movie. The interface is a tad cluttered, and the whole game does not feel as "sharp" as NWN 1, but the trade-off is excellent. I recommend this game for anyone with reasonable computer specs and a love for the NWN story.… Expand

The first real RPG in years. If you liked BG2 and KotOR, this will ´rock your socks off!

I really don't understand what you people are complaining about the "camera angles" for...I've never had any trouble with the camera. Maybe that's because I actually control it to look at what I want to look at. Also, the graphics look a billion times better than NWN1. The A.I. is spotty, yes. But, that is in the very nature of A.I. so there is really no reason to rag on Obsidian for that. I haven't been able to play the multiplayer yet, but it doesn't seem that bad. Just wait for the PW's to get back in the swing of things. Single player story is pretty good, but I've never been a single player guy. A lot of people have been talking about it being a "rehash of NWN1." Obviously you never followed NWN2's development. They did that on purpose, going by the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" policy. I wish they had added more voices sets, but still. It's progress forward. I don't have the video settings on high because my comp has been built on a small budget, but it runs very smoothly for how I do have it set, so once again I don't know what you people are talking about. And, don't compare it to BG...I'm sorry, but BG wasn't that good anyway. And, NWN2 is 2 generations past BG. NWN was designed (from my perspective) to sit the fence between single- and multi-player. BG was meant to be single-player. The official campaigns are not going to be the same quality, because they want us to have room to make our own stuff.… Expand

I play the game and I am close to end it. The game is great the graphics are very good the story is great with lot of subquests and the gameplay is good. I like the way that equipment appears on the caracters the swords the armors and especialy the clocs. I believe the only problem it has is the camera but with the patch the things are better. I play D&D 5 years and the game the best singleplayer RPG for those who love D&D.… Expand

An alright game. Nothing spectacular about it that saves it from its flaws. The interface or really the entire game as a whole seems unpolished and clunky, with things such as your character taking half a second to move after you tell him to detracting from the experience. Spell effects are weak and clearly quickly thrown together. Multiplayer, the original NWN's strongest point, was not focused on in NWN 2 which is a real shame. Overall, not a bad game, but I was expecting so much more from the sequel to what is possibly my favorite game of all time.… Expand

Everyone who gave NWN2 a score 0 is a total retard. The game has some bad points, true. Its far from perfect, but 0!!!! COME ON!!!! Thats why i am giving 10!

PROS: reasonable story-line, reasonable advancement system, good graphics on iMac 3Ghz, like the feature of having 4+ party members CONS: single player campaign too easy and WAY too short, still LOTS of bugs which are usually sorted out by the time the Mac version is released, many useless skills, not good value for money, no toolset in Mac version, low replay value, very limited variety of monsters/opponents, monsters don't respawn.… Expand

At first, I thought the game was about a 4. Clunky interface and mediocre visuals. Slowly, I decided after using my friend's computer as a server (no 3rd party server needed), that that feature alone was excellent. After playing through 8 levels and running a second 3 player campaign (which we are only 6-7th level) that the fun was rolling along. Each spell and each night spent with a friend over 1,000 miles away makes me realize, that when the multiplayer servers are up and running, that the game has potential. The graphics are better than I thought, but they do tax my system as well as the interface is still mildly clunky. But heads up. We're doing a 2-3 player raid which has lasted over 20 hours and is better and better as we go. So far, maybe one gamespy crash. But well worth the 10 minute delay.… Expand

An excellent RPG with great expansions. The addition of the Auto down loader makes visiting PWs a snap.
The graphics are better than NWN1 and the mod community is strong and helpful.

Neverwinter Nights 2 is actually superior than the first neverwinter nights in game design. It has a functional party system, some good companion characters, an interesting story line and lots of choices and consequences. However, this game's user interface is just terrible. there are three modes for camera angles which may drive people crazy because you have to press a button to change it not like in first neverwinter nights, just need to scroll up/down the middle mouse button. Also this game still has performance issue even with current patch. All I have to say, this game has potential but is not nearly as well-done as the original Neverwinter Nights. so I give it 7 out of 10.… Expand

Man! I am total surprised at the low score this is getting. You have to give it marks for just providing an editor (the tool set). The ability to create a multi-player mod give this game 9 right off. Yes! The campaign provided is crap..agreed. However, this game is about communality content. Like me, if you are a wanna-bee game designer you have no other options out there to create multi-player worlds.. So from a game designers perspective this game is a must have. I have hundreds of hours spent building my modal and I find it very rewarding. . Coming from a game designers perspective the NWN2 tool set id leaps beyond the nwn tool set. Yes. the nwn2 tool set requires an advanced builder..so maybe cut your teeth first with the first tool set.… Expand

Anybody here a fan of AD&D? This game will not disapoint. It's wonderful, full of pretty memorable lines, decent characters, and 8/10 voice acting (Ran out of adjectives). While not as in-depth combat-wise as any D&D Tabletop game, it's definitely got that 'Mountain Dew and Doritos' feel to it. Never checked out online play, and only have over 30-50 hours in the game total, but I'm sure nothing is ruined.
Plus, toolset's out!… Expand

There are hardly words for me to describe what a horrible letdown this game was. I was expecting a follow-up to the original, what I got was garbage. Even if you happened to find this game in the bargain bin for $5 bucks it still wouldn't be worth it

looking at all the other reviews, i have to agree the game cold be buggy. but not any more than many other rpgs, and it is fairly stable when patched. balance is fairly bad for PvP, but that's not really what this game is about. i am quite amused at people complaining about the AI, as i found it good in the original campaign and it just got better in the later campaigns (after spending a few minutes setting it up in the AI menu, which is admittedly fairly easy to miss). importantly, every mechanic is there in the spell/ability description, and all the numbers too, unlike that annoying trend recently.… Collapse

Very good story. Good graphics. Not well optimized performance-wise (graphics quality to machine-requirement ratio). Good moddability but more coding needed. The mods weren't as big as in NWN though. Agreements could be the cause of this, and maybe additional complexity in the toolset. The expansions weren't of the snuff but the single player experience with the base NWN2 was very good.

This was the first game that actually pull me into the D&D lore, the game is good and the story is kinda epic, the Tools to create maps are really really hard to use and are not intuitive.

This is a great game. Like NWN 1 it starts very slowly, which can be a pretty big barrier for those going back to this game after enjoying stella controls and camera with newer, better presented games like Oblivion. This game gets really good as you get to higher level and deeper into the plots. Character development was fantastic. The writing is awesome. The scenario is great. But the engine SUCKS big time. Sorry guys, I can't agree. There has been a lost decade for Bioware in which they have tweaked and published all their games on sub-optimal engines. Everything has been published on a different version of different engines, so they have never been able to publish what they needed to: a sequence of games that could provide real continuity in building a single fantasy world. They are still messing around with new ideas and a totally different engine for Dragon Age 3. (Frostbite 2?) Thus a whole long series of games since Baldur's Gate add up to ten years of LOST TIME, facking about with totally different engines, totally different character systems, totally different approaches to narrative, none of which have been significantly better than what they had with Baldur's Gate 2 back at the turn of the century. In the light of this the forced resignation of the two chief honchos was inevitable. Their performance was too erratic. It would have been nice if at any stage they had taken the time to build a single SUPERLATIVE engine and used that as a stable basis for a series of games that built an amazing fantasy world. They have only flushed about a million hours of professional paid labour down the toilet. perhaps we will see the dawn of understanding at last. In a sense it doesn't matter. Without Greg and Ray, there is no more Bioware. When David Gaider cleans out his office it will all be a memory. Thanks for the great games guys! Never say never! Have a break Reflect on your mistakes and try again. For Thedas!… Expand

Copyprotection that cannot read correctly in 2 of my 3 Drives. Update theat cannot work due to bugged copyprotection. Bluescreens & Freezes (Havent had a Bluescreen for years) tons of minor bugs and a COMPLETE FREEZE AFTER WINNING TYRS CHALLENGE. Reinstalling wont work. And a "Customer Service" that is typically Anglosaxon - NONEXISTENT!!! (Sorry all you Anglosaxons out there!)

Not a good game. It probably had a lot of potential, but the gameplay is an utter drudge. The AI is painfully buggy, and the game's requirements are absolutely not proportinate compared to the graphics. The original release looked like a beta, and the patches didn't help as much as was needed.

The OC is full of bugs, it is very linear, it lacks exploration and its general feeling is that you are in a lifeless, empty world made of painted features. I only played for 2 days and had to stop. The game reminded of KOTOR2, use old content add a couple new things (that weren't very creative) then take away several of the fun factors that made the original what it is. If this is the best Obsidian has to offer they need to find new jobs, they are making Bioware look bad.… Expand

Only the (not justified) huge system reqs prevent it from being plain perfect; even so, it's the best game since NWN 1.

Best Game Ever!!!!

The only reason I'm giving this a 0 is there isn't a negative option. This game makes steaming piles of trash look good. Not only are there significant game stopping bugs, but the entire game plays as if no one at Obsidian even bother to fire it up on a machine.

Only the late release and a few bugs keep me from a 10 here. I don't know what Andrew C is talking about with the camera, the controls are just like, and just as responsive as the original NWN. As to there being not enough monsters, or not enough models, well, let's just say that if there's not enough, I haven't seen it and they do an excellent job of killing me whenever I don't plan well for a fight. Graphics are phenomenal, the storyline is engaging and long (I'm over 15 hours in and still in Act I), and the back end of the system is solid. On second thought, it's worth a 10. It just so happens to own my soul right now.… Expand

What a disappointment. I had been looking forward to this game for years, only to find that it is the worst D&D game in the Black Isle/Bioware/Obsidian line to yet be released. Boring gameplay, lackluster graphics, linear design with virtually no side quests or other optional activities, awful AI, flat, cliched NPCs, counterintuitive interface-- I could go on. The other comments have elaborated on all the problems with this game. I thought that Obsidian showed promise with KOTOR 2, which, despite its obvious flaws and unfinished feel, was a much better game than this one. Hopefully Bioware will do a better job with Dragon Age and Obsidian did with NWN 2. Until then, I'll keep playing Oblivion.… Expand

This game is a HUGE disappointment. There is no AI to speak of, the camera angles are a real pain in the butt and the game engine seems unfinished and powerless compared to the previous Neverwinter Nights game. The plot is weak and one-dimensional, compared to Oblivion and Gothic 3.

I had more fun trying to get a refund for this game than I did playing it. It has next to nothing in common with NwN1. The interface, the toolset, the ai, the inventory, and the overall game play is all so far from the original, I can only assume the game was made to cash in on the community. This is a sad day for Wizards of the West Coast. This is a game that I would expect to find in a bargain bin. Not as a sequal for the best RPG of the last 10 years.… Expand

This game is a huge disapointment, the first thing you notice is the woeful graphics, even with a high end system it chugs along creating a disjointed feel. The charater choice system is really crap the faces/hair and races look awful. I'm giving the story line a bit more time and this appears to be the obly saving grace. My advice is don't buy this game if you liked NWN1.

Graphics and effects are pretty good, maybe a 9. D&D based gameplay gives it a 9 in my book. But the storyline is slow to start and pretty bland and predictable, probably a 7. Unfortunately, these make the game sound good, but I come away with it feeling very dissatisfied. The gameplay is extremely linear. Sure, you can change you class & equipment, but you can't "choose your own adventure", so to speak. Everything is layed out for you from the start to the point where you really have no options available to you. You get tons of equipment, but have to sell 99% of it and choose only the ones that fit your profile. These sorts of things make the game fall short on any sort of replaybility or ability to capture your attention for more than a passing fancy.… Expand

Really, 50% is still an "F". That said: This game fails on so many levels. -The story: trite and predictable. -Gameplay(quests): transparent. -Rules implementation: Abysmal, can't even get Attack of Opp to work correctly, eh? Not to mention Bogus feats and NO Climbing/Swimming/Flying... -Graphics: Kotor with more polygons at best, not optimised at all. -Fun factor/balance: Terrible. Even a fighter with great buffs and equipment will be taxed to understand the CR mixture thrown at him. -Cinematics: Terrible, too much, too little PC control, pulled along by the nose and horrible text choices!! You have 4 ways to say yes to a gnome bard joining your group and that is it. 'Nuff said. -Conclusion: Play Baldur's Gate TOSC or TOEE. Vastly superior games in terms of everything that counts to a true DnD fan and not an intellectually nascent Diablo-clone.… Expand

Quite a disappointing game really. I'm a fan of NWN series (and especially KoTOR series). I don't like the graphics, the storyline is kinda childish, and the action is unnatural (let alone some bugs in quests)... Well, it's unplayable in my opinion. No Bioware, no NWN!

Yet another game that needs patching right out of the box. Unlike some of those other games, this one REALLY needs patching! Not that patching will save this game. The graphics on this game are worse than NWN...unless you like near-cartoon graphics. Get close to the trees in NWN and they look somewhat blurry. Some of the modded trees look absolutely great with almost no blur. Look at an NWN2 tree up close. Do you see the resemblance to a piece of paper? The same for the rest of the graphics. In NWN when chickens are running around I feel as if I am looking at real chickens. In NWN2 I was immediately struck by how cartoonish they look. The only real plus to graphics that I noticed was the lack of "fists of doom". I quit playing this game after a short amount of time. I decided my time would be better spent working on my NWN module. Speaking of modules: Why was I most looking forward to this game? Because I thought the toolset would be better than NWN's and not need so much modding. I was sure wrong! The toolset is......let's just say I have spent hundreds of hours with the NWN toolset. I have spent very little time with the NWN2 toolset and will spend no more. The miniscule amount of modding done as of 6-20-'07 tells the story. NWN2 is a complete waste. I am just glad it was given to me as a gift. I was hesitant to buy it as I had read some early reviews by real gamers. If you have not purchased NWN2. Do not! Unless you want to buy my copy… Expand

It is clear that all Obsidian managed to do with this game was to get some quick cash. In general, it stunk! Graphics: Bad, Sound: Worse, Story: idiotic, Bugs: Lots, Replayability: None,Toolset: Destroyed, Community: Gone There ARE worse games, but for it's hype and lazy/incompetent/bad content in the areas described above acompanied with being an insult to NWN 1 and D&D it deserves a big ZERO! In short: BLEH!… Expand

The game started off brilliantly. And for a good 10-20 hours depending on how quickly you play it holds a very good quality. But after that bugs started to creep into the game eventually rendering the game unplayable. NWN2 has great potential but I can't see that a game deserves a rating if you can't make it to the half way point. Once Atari get their act together and realise that part of releasing a game involves making sure it works then maybe it'll be worth playing. Until then, spare yourselves the pain.… Expand

This is an enjoyable new saga to the nwns world. Great intro cut scene and a very powerful modding program combined with a strong story makes it a must by for all those d&d players out there.

Needs a lot of work done yet. Would advise not buying this for awhile. "Party AL" is remarkably awful and fairly essential options are missing to manage those party members. Camera is clumsy and giving orders oddly awkward. Overall there's the promise of a good game there but it is very frustrating at the moment (played with patch 1.2)

Incomprehensibly terrible game. It is not worth repeating for the twelfth time exactly why. Go read the forum posts and please don't wast your money on this game. By it on ebay for $4.00 and it might be worth that.

A steaming pile of monkey crap, designed to grab your bucks before all the hype dies down. Almost impossible to navigate, system reqs so high you will have to set it at "fingerpaint" levels in order for it to even run, and a no-option storyline so boring you will wonder which 6-year-old's bedtime story it was stolen from, all combine to bring PC RPGs to a new low. It gets 2 points for effort, then is penalized 1 point for soiling the memory of a great game. Don't let the name fool you, this travesty has nothing to do with the original outstanding game, Neverwinter Nights. Read the boards *before* they get your money...… Expand

The makers of this game should be ashamed of themselves. Trokia comparison anyone. The fact that they release the beta piece of rubbish for the mod community to fix blows my mind. I find the amount of bias in reviewing this game from all other

A significant portion of the playership find, even on extremely high end systems, the game has major flaws that make it unplayable. Even if your system is listed on the acceptable supported system list you may find yourself one of the unfortunate masses begging for help on the official forums and being ignored by the devs. I say, don't waste your money on this, its seemingly a 50/50 chance that you'll be able to play it at all. The affected player systems have nothing in common outside of they all use windows. there seems no guideline for which kind of system most easily succumbs to the framerate being stuck at 2-5 fps and after about 10 threads of 10-20 pages each have been yanked by the admins there has yet to be any dev post even so much as saying, 'we're aware of it and trying to find a fix' ..nothing. Be forewarned. If you're determined to get this game, be smart and borrow a buddy's first to make sure it runs right before handing over 50+ dollars on what many of us consider a flawed and shoddily supported game.… Expand

Must admit that I am a bit disappointed. I enjoyed BG and BG2 immensely, but the first NWN.. well.. it was boring. I'm sad to see that this one is similar to the first. The story just doesn't interest me at all and I find myself making excuses to keep playing (e.g I paid a lot of money for the game). The gameplay is somewhat awkward (camera, inventory etc.). So far the game works ok on my comp so no complaints there. I can set everything to high on my 7800GTX 256mb video card. Apparently the better rig you have, the worse the game runs... strange. Another thing that really annoys me is the constant loading and small areas to explore. I mean after Oblivion and Gothic3 this game seems too restricted. The player can't walk across a swamp even if there's a clear path. You MUST stay on the road. The fighting also seems a bit silly. The participants may miss each other for almost a minute (yes I've witnessed it). Looks stupid when you fight against a giant beetle and can't land a single hit on the HUGE insect. I mean even a moron can hit a regular beetle and kill it with a stick, but D&D hero can't hit a GIANT beetle with a bloody longsword. I know this may be irrelevant to many of you, but at least I am rather annoyed by these things.… Expand

If you enjoyed the original Neverwinter Nights, load it up and play again. Do not buy this game. It has been released way before it should have been. It is bug ridden, the maps are linear, the in-game camera makes the game virtually unplayable, and the interface is confusing to say the least. The version I purchased didn't even have a proper manual. I am absolutely flabbergasted at how anyone who played the original Neverwinter Nights can give this a good score. Overall I'm very very disappointed.… Expand

K When I play an RPG I like to RP the way I want to RP not the way OBSIDIAN wants me to. Unless you are Lawful Good the story is an extreme letdown and makes no sense, Its written in such a Good/Heroic mindset its difficult to play Neutral and impossible to play Evil! You get little to no choice in you actions you cant even pick the girl you want! Youre stuck with a Neutral Good Druid or for the girls a Lawful Good Paladin which seem forced on you like becoming a stupid squire. You cant be bad! barring one series of quests I will end up with the same outcome all the way to the end battle which means playing it again seems like an instrument of torture, and I was already stuck listing to an instruments of torture going through the first time called Elanee. Saying wait for people to make stuff with the toolset is no excuse and is the biggest copout for OBSIDIAN, especially since they focused so much on single player that they left 1000 bugs and made a mockery of the Toolset, NWN 1 toolset was 100X better. Just too many plot holes, conversation bugs, and obviously forced choices for my liking I dont know why you changed it from a 5 it is by no means a BG 2, HotU, KotOR, Fallout 2 or Planescape all games which I loved.… Expand

What's changed in NWN2? Graphics, 3.5 D&D rules, and uh, graphics. What amounts to mediocre animation and visuals somehow managed to make this game harder on your computer than TES 4: Oblivion (as some have noted in this thread). And the conversion to 3.5 rules has served to provide an excuse for not including epic levels, which I'm sure will be in one of many expansion packs. I could almost buy that 3.5 epic is too complicated and would have taken a lot of effort, if there was any apparent effort put forth in the rest of the game. Certainly not the plot. A predictable, formulaic story full of two-dimensional D&D stereotypes and villains that are incredibly evil because...um...they're just evil, okay? NWN2 makes a Disney animated VHS-only sequel look original. Nearly all the NPCs are disgustingly cliche (the ale-guzzling dwarf fighter who's narrow-minded and likes to punch people, for example). Your character is from a farm community and, of course, you never knew your parents. The dialogue options, on one hand, don't give you any flexibility in the story, and on the other hand, are incredibly obvious about their alignment: "It was my duty to Neverwinter," or "I just didn't want anyone to get hurt," or "I don't care as long as I get paid for this," or the classic "I think I'll kill you because I'm evil for no reason!" New developments are practically handed to you, and there's no point in the story where you're not sure what you're supposed to do.… Expand

Solid entertainment, improves on the first.

The game is better then NWN1..marginally better. I'm a big fan of NWN1 and I also like this game but I truly feel they could have pushed this game further in all aspects then it did. There's no climbing, no swimming. Character customization is disappointing. The PC head and hairstyle variety and quality is pitiful especially. The inventory needs work. Why they decided to revamp the interface to make it like WoW is beyond me...the original NWN1 interface was the best. Why reinvent the wheel? They should have just left that intact with a few improvements. I guess they wanted to attract the WoW people over. The campaign itself was enjoyable and a huge imporvement over NWN1's however you can tell things were left unfinished and it was rushed at the end. The end cutscene was so bad with poor quality slides and lame voice over it leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It's sad because the rest of the campaign is otherwise fun.
The toolset is much more powerful then the original which is awesome however the interface leaves something to be desired. It is very initutive at the moment and needs plenty of tweaking.

Overall, at the moment, the game feels like its still in a beta state. If you're planning on buying it please wait at least another month.… Expand

Though there are a few technical deficiencies, the official campaign is a massive improvement over the first game's. The party companions are always sure to bring plenty of chuckles with their dialogue and character. The toolset and multiplayer mean infinite value for a long time.

Been playing it since yesterday. Here are some of my observations: Good: Gameplay feels like Knights of the Old Republic (also by Obsidian) Bad: Gameplay feels like Knights of the Old Republic, camera angles and controls are a bit funky at times Good: More character options to choose from when creating a character Bad: Not enough faces, and some of the faces are ug-ly! Good: More sounds and music Bad: Many of the sounds are ripped right out of Neverwinter Nights 1 - kind of a rip-off Good: Graphics are gorgeous to look at Bad: Requires a high-end system for all options, probably worse than Oblivion Good: Armor, capes and weapons are beautiful Bad: Helmets do NOT show up on henchmen/party NPCs (whose decision was that?!) Good: Interface, commands and hot-keys are intuitive Bad: Many options, like the radial menu from NWN are gone Good: Load times are really fast Bad: Setting some options (like resolution) will require that you reload the game from the main menu because the maps are glitched Good: Spell effects are freakin' awesome!!! Bad: Gets a bit confusing with all the fireworks Verdict: Excellent - The good fortunately outweighs the bad, in my opinion. I was able to tweak my graphics to a smooth-playing configuration that looks pretty good without sacrificing responsiveness. Cannot wait for people to start releasing mods for it.… Expand

A lot of the people giving this game negative reviews are comparing it to NWN and somehow trying to say that was a better gaming experience. As a veteran of D&D RPGs, I can tell you that NWN 1 was by far one of the worst entries in the franchise, and a huge step down from BG and BG 2. If you liked NWN 1, then I am not surprised that you do not like this game, but in the same token, perhaps Diablo 2 or its kin would be a better fit. NWN2 restores to the D&D franchise depth of character, full parties, and story. By no means is this game perfect, but it is by far a step in the right direction, where as NWN 1 was three steps back from BG 2. The biggest complaint on this game is the system requirements. I am running an Athlon X2 4200, 2 GB DDR, and 2 x GeForce 7800 SLI, and I run the game at medium settings at a 1280x960 resolution to get adequate game play. I shudder to think what is required for the HIGH end settings (including enabling shadows and water affects, both of which I had to take off). All in all, it is a good game and a rewarding experience to any D&D veteran. It is not the open ended world of oblivion, but so what, Oblivion held my interest for 3 days - this will hold my interest for 3 years.… Expand

Disappointing to a NW fan. Perhaps my expectations were way too high. The title plays like it was rushed. They use the same music that was in NW1. The graphics are very poor compared to other games being released right now. I spend more time trying to control the camera than I do actually playing my character. I'm truly confused as to the high system requirements? Poor graphics, few graphical choices for characters? Weird. Also, characters in your party seem to lose their way. They get stuck easily behind objects and you have to go back and find them to set them free. Craziness!… Expand

Not a worthy successor to NWN. Not ready for prime time. What the mag critics above are smoking, I've no idea. Environments, map design, interface, camera controls, and game mechanics are all poor, all unacceptable for this title. Sometimes the environment graphics are so bad, it's mind-boggling: think Knight Online quality, same low-res textures on boxy models of building faces that are facades and have nothing inside them. Any review that gives this game a 90-100 simply hasn't played it.… Expand

- The multiplayer system for the default game demands that all players listen to every conversation that advances the plot. This forces all players to freeze completely while the story is being told, even if you are simply selling something to a merchant or changing in game settings. Any spell or ability that needs to be charged, including rest, will be cancelled. - Also in multiplayer, if a player walks into a building, all characters load and enter that building. - Some voices and music are taken exactly from NWN1… Expand

A faithful continuation of the NWN franchise, this one blends elements of the first NWN game as well as elements found in the older party-based InfinityEngine games such as Baldur's Gate. Recommended for fans of D&D.

It's a very bad game. I don't understand that even in 2006, a game company still creating a so cheap game... Another D&D poor game. Disapointing in all point. Ai, camera, gui...

This game is nothing but a cheap rehash of NwN1. The same lame OC storyline, EVEN THE SAME VOICE SETS! This game was cheaply made, and then titled to sell to the existing community. I feel like I've been tricked. This is not worth buying, there is no area in the game where I am satisfied with how it works.

Four years of polishing and fine tunining a great game as NWN was, I was extremely let down and disapointed in the proclaimed sequel. Obsidian/Atari seemed eager to make a quick profit before the end quarter by releasing this beta version at best. I am a gamer, not a beta tester and not a tester paying $50 (not including the 2 vid card upgrades due to faulty information on "supported cards"). The cameras are terrible, the AI will kill your entire party with aoe spells directed at half dead target / targets when single target spells are mem'd in spell book. UI is bulky and quirky at best. Bottom line, all the good things in 1 are missing in 2, actually this game regresses in many aspects and just plain frustrating to play, highly unsatisfied, and misled by pre-release ratings and interviews with OE.… Expand

Extremely poor performance from a graphics engine that is less than impressive. Poor character customization choices. Small areas with virtually no exploration and a decidedly linear storyline. In-game GUI is a step backwards from the original... with a clunky right click context menu, and quick bar that lacks the depth of functionality of the original. Not to mention the horrible implementation of the camera controls. Tool set was completely redone... which may or may not be a good thing... feature and power-wise... too hard to to tell with an interface that is impossibly less than intuitive. Its pretty buggy as well. In fact, its hard to find much to like... It's Forgotten Realms D&D is about all I can think of at present.… Expand

Forget the critics. Unless high resolution "dungeon dressing" is important to you, this game has nothing to offer that 20 or even 40 other games didn't do better. The plot is linear, the terrain (that you can actually go to) is flat, the camera views are difficult to handle, and practically all the fighting can be left on automatic. (Just attack with a fighter, and let the AI handle spells.) Don't worry about interacting with your environment -- just press "w" and you'll be shown all the things you can interact with. I can't remember one genuine moment of fun or amusement in several hours of play.… Expand

Perfect example of a game shipped before being completed. 6 months after release & it's still not done. Maybe Obsidian will fix enough to make it porperly playable by the time they ship the expansion this fall.

Looking at how the game is made and not the content, nor the story, nor the mechanics, the programming effort was very poor. One glaring problem the camera-- or rather how objects in the world don't fade out of the way. For example, you'll be navigating the streets of a city with multi-story buildings. The buildings block your view such that the only usable camera angle is directly above or 45 degree angle behind your characters. One would think that if the game system isn't going to fade out buildings, then they would swing the camera around to a usable angle. Another issue is that I found that most of the game I was zoomed out most of the way. A good game system would swap out textures with lower resolution and reduce the polygon complexity of the models. However this system does not do that. In most 3D worlds parts of objects facing away from the camera are not rendered, but I get a strong sense that this system does that and so a unnecessary performance hit occurs. Occasionally I find my keyboard shortcuts to cease functioning. Pressing the console hot key fixes the problem, but I would not expect such a problem in any piece of commercial software these days. Also problem is that the pause option does not realy work. If you pause in the beginning of a round, select a spell to be casted, but then change your mind to cast a different spell, the system will replace the current round with a "do nothing event" instead of casting the spell in the current round as expected. The next round the spell will be cast, a whole round behind from where it should be casted. This could lead to a party member dying or a complete party wipe. The lack of side quests is smaller than what I would thought. I played Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 and Neverwinter Nights 1 and so I expected a bit more atmosphere in the game. I remember how in Baldur's gate there were buildings a thief character could break into and steal items. There were consequences for getting caught, not so much in NWN2. Another severe problem is that if you attempt to talk to NPC with characters only than your main character, your main character will meracrously teleport from wherever he is in the current area/level to the NPC. The same sort of thing happens if your main character is a Wizard and so you are trying to keep him behind the melee fighters in a dungeon. If there happens to be a cut-scene or a NPC interaction followed by a fight your character will also teleport in front of your melee wall and will have little time to cast a protective spell before being swarmed. Unless your know about these interactions ahead of time and cast protective spells before the NPC interaction, then your forced to have your main character be of a class that can take little beating (e.g. not a mage or a thief). The Party AI is worthless. Baldur's Gate 1 had better AI. The AI will cause your mages to burn through spells very fast or cast a high lvl spell to kill of a enemy when magic missile will do just fine. The AI will often just run off to the enemy when one of them sees it and even when you tell it to move away from it to avoid engaging the target, they'll run to where you told them to go, and then go back to the enemy. The only way to prevent this behavior is to issue "guard me" or "follow me" in the dropdown menu (high-leve/coarse grain AI) or turn of the AI. A couple of times I ran into a game stopping bug where I was left in an area without a "world transition". A dialogue event was to occur which would lead to a new area, but it never happened. I had to reload from a previous save. For those who like to explore, there is not exploring. In fact, much of the wilderness areas are not walkable for some reason. Every area seems to have a purpose either to the main story line or a side quest starting in some city or town. There are very few areas if any that are not linked to a quest. Most buildings in towns and cities are what the engine calls "environmental objects", which are static object without any interaction. The manual says that all objects in the editor begin as intractable objects (have inventory or a door..etc), but should be made a "environmental object" to increase or maintain a good performance. It seems that the "environmental object" concept was used to avoid having to sold a difficult problem. This mean years after release and with three expansions, there are no excuses for not fixing these problems because nearly all of the issues I'm mentioned are game engine problems that would carry over to any expansion or user-made content. They just don't care, Obsidian does not have the passion in this as Bioware did in all the previous D&D games.… Expand

AI - The AI doesn

I only score so low because I expected so much more. I'm sure there is much potential here, if you took away my complaints, (which are dealbreakers) you would have an awesome game. 1) why does it perform so badly for such a mediocre looking game? 2) the interface - why can't i swing the camera around with the mouse? Must i use the arrows keys? In the options you can select "invert mouse camera" but for god's sake you can't bind a key to it? Did anyone test this game? It seems you have to use the keyboard for camera control! 3) Another problem I have with this game is that I can't make a nice looking character because all the faces are UGLY.… Expand

I can't stop playing this game. The graphics are lush and very detailed. Everything is dynamically lit and done very well. The technical flaws keep this from becoming a 10. Sometimes the cut scenes wont focus on a character and my frame rate keeps dipping (on a 3 ghz, 6800 geforce, 1gb ram). Still, inspite of the flaws, I'm really enjoying this game so far its very addictive and well done.… Expand

Terrible game. Obsidian not only ruined the NWN legacy, they made a horrendous game that is nearly unplayable. Obsidian not only needs new 3D modelers, but a new director as well.

Believe me, you won't find a NWN enthusiast that was more excited than me to get this game. NWN was superb, and while most complained about the OC, that was only a stupid demo: the potentials of the game were immense and we saw them blossom very soon. I was hoping for NWN2 to be an upgraded version of NWN, with the same outstanding potentials, the same multiplayer excellency but fantastically improved visuals and a marvellous, breath-taking orchestral soundtrack that would dwarf Oblivion's. I was hoping for the ability to create gorgeous looking characters, slender and agile elves, athletic humans, all with their new, finally decent voicesets (the original voicesets in NWN were mostly useless). I was hoping for an epic game, of immense proportions, with fully 3D rendered realistic environments, a smooth interface, and the exceptional potentials of development that only our outstanding community artists could provide. I yearned for sending my egregiously animated Paladin through various side quests in the original campaign, developing it the way I felt she should have developed, exploring a vast, bold world teeming with life and chances to acquire fame and wealth while wiping the evil forces off the face of Faerun. I was so excited to get this game that I preordered it (may I be damned if I ever preorder another game in my life). I was totally caught by the majestic beauty of Oblivion's graphics, but hey, this is D&D, how can Oblivion be better than D&D? I installed the game with thrills of hope, already figuring the next 5 years of infinite replayability and online fun with the newly, breath-takingly beautiful graphics to revamp the old fashioned NWN. Then, after I run the game, one by one all my hopes were shattered. Horrid models, counterintuitive user interface, disgusting animations that look more dated than the original NWN's, a total disregard of details, poor performance without the graphic bonanza one would expect from that poor performance. A choice of 6 faces for my Paladin, 5 of which look like a transvestite and one like a £2 hooker in West End. Hair? Don't mention it, you can't get a fiery red if you try for your life, and there's no vertex weighting at all. That means that your character's hair does not move in wind. It's like watching a 10 year old game. Only, 10 year old games don't cost that much. The OC sucks hardcore, unless you accept it as a linear plot driven adventure with no room at all for unexpected development. No room at all is a good definition because for reasons still obscure the system resources are devastated by this game's engine and there are none left to create large dungeons and modules. In fact, the original campaign requires a dramatic number of modules. It is as if they thought the improved visuals (which are not improved at all, the original NWN looks better, believe me) were worth sacrificing module size. But PWs are all about their vastity, and this game won't give you a chance to create anything large. Add to this that the new toolset is cumbersome, that you must download a file from the net to be able to join *any* server (even if they don't use any haks), and you'll see how long-lived this crap is going to be. You'll hear a few disconcertingly good reviews about this buggy game. Some roleplayers hate gorgeous visuals because they think that if too much is spent on visuals it means the company cares not for roleplaying. Some among these RPers actually play text-driven adventures. If you want my opinion, they are usually right and text-driven adventures are more exciting than NWN2. But in general, those that are praising this game are either too excited to see its flaws yet, or simply like linear adventure-like stories with lengthy cutscenes, and don't really care about cumbersome user interfaces, pathetic graphics and zero-replayability value. You want a honest opinion of a D&D fan? despite this game implements 3.5 rules, it's the crappiest D&D game ever since Pool of Radiance, and it has the same technical quality of that game. And the same amount of bugs too. I am sorry to say so, because I love NWN and I am a big supporter of BioWare (not of Obsidian, now, really not). I love D&D and I love D&D games. But really, do not waste your money on this title.… Expand

A sheer number of bugs and flaws sums up to poorly rendered graphics. While the system requirements are high, the quality of the graphics is appalling compared to what is on the market today. The GUI is cumbersome and feels rather out of date for 2006. The original campaign suffers from strict linearity and lacks the aspects of exploration and freedom that generally define role playing.
A big disappointment, considering the prequel.… Expand

This game is poor at best. Counterintuitive, with inexplicably high system requirements but low performance no matter what. D&D deserved a better game. Oh well, so did Neverwinter Nights,actually. The game is rated for pre-teens. I recommend to leave it to them.

With the high standards set previously by BioWare, Obsidian was facing a difficult challenge in matching the expectations of fans with Neverwinter Nights 2. Unfortunately for Obsidian, Neverwinter Nights 2 is a failure as a sequel as well as a game by itself. The game's many failures seem to stem from what many in the software industry call the second-system effect; the developers could not decide when to stop adding features to the game and reimplemented many gameplay components that many feel were perfect in the original Neverwinter Nights. For example, Obsidian decided to remove the limitation to control just one character and allow the player to control and manage up to four individual characters. While this may interest fans who like to try out many character options, the micromanagement of controlling four separate characters becomes burdensome. What's worse, the implementation faired far worse than the similar implementation BioWare used in the Baldur's Gate series of games. When the player is controlling a character other than the player-created main protagonist and attempts to speak with an NPC, the main character is teleported to the NPC's location and begins the conversation himself. This may not sound like a game-breaking glitch, but eliminates the possibility of using charisma-based secondary characters for conversations. As an example of an unnecessary change, Obsidian did away with the wonderful radial menu and replaced it with a standard windows-like context menu. This menu provides no clue to what sub-menus exist within a menu option. The response time is also incredibly slow; when in battle, players are given little option other than to pause the game to access the context menu. This was an incredibly unnecessary change to a system that worked fine before. The game itself feels like an incredibly unfinished senior project from a local community college. The story is poor, the art is lacking, the graphics engine has incredibly bad performance for the overall look of the game, the interface is tacky and reminiscent of late-90's RPGs, the reaction time is poor, game options and configuration are confusing and inconsistent, and the controls are loose and ill-defined. Combine these faults with a bug-ridden game engine, and you have one of the worst games to be released in recent times. Obsidian obviously cared little about creating a game that would be enjoyable; they knew that they could ride the Neverwinter Nights name to ensure good publication reviews and early-adopter purchasers. One can only hope that the community as a whole will provide appropriate feedback to right this wrong.… Expand

This game was such a disappointment. The first thing that turned me off was the graphics, then the fact that they reused music from the 1st one and to top it off, the game overall is buggy. I wouldn't have mind waiting longer for the game if they were going to improve it. After this.... now I'll wait and see what others say before I run out and buy any more of their games. I wish I could just return it and get my money back, what a waste.… Expand