NWN is a bad game

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I just bought Dungeon Siege and it's really opened my eyes to how bad NWN is. Think about it, it's just plain dull. After you look past the toolset it's rubbish. I mean, take the fighting, it's SO SLOW! Compared to DS's fast pased sword hacking it's tedious and annoying. The story is pretty pants too. The graphics are awful and it dosn't run very well on anything under 1ghz. Bioware have spent so long on this game but it kills me to say, that it's AWFUL! Bioware can't make RPGs, DS and Morrowind both kick it's ass and i'm sure IWD2 will be much more fun too.

[This message has been edited by Z-Layrex (edited July 21, 2002).]

 

I would not say it is actually that bad. But its a point that bioware has a special style of RPG. Morrowind has much more to offer, but it's a different style of RPG it can't set beside NWN or DS. After playing NWN through 2 times I must admit I like Morrowind more, but since NWN is 3ED D&D I will never give it up. Beside it is a great game, but I allmost like evere kind of RPG, even if I prefer the Morrowind, Daggerfall or Wizardry style. It's in the eyes of the Beholder at last.

 

Actually I have just finished off Morag a few minutes ago. A little silly, my pally - 18 levels - leveled up right after killing Morag, enabling him to use the best weapon he ever found in the game - too late

On the other hand I really liked the story though near the end I missed some continuing about the hero, Nasher, Neverwinter and Aribeth - beyond the movie.

Mind that NWN is primarily a multiplayer game, and eventually it will be designed by DMs rather than a developing team. The possibilities of NWN are practically infinite, that's the potential that vastly distinguishes NWN over DS, not to mention the 3e rules. When you look for great singleplayer, wait for IWD-2, just like me

[This message has been edited by Ragusa (edited July 21, 2002).]

 

Z-Layrex, what do you mean, after you look past the toolset. The toolset it really what is the most important thing about NWN (and the multiplaying) the singleplayer campaign was more a bonus.

[ September 22, 2002, 15:46: Message edited by: Uytuun ]

 

in my opinion neverwinter nights rocks all over dungeon siege!
I had alot more fun playing neverwinter then i did playing dungeon siege.
although i would say that both of them are awesome games by far the 2 best games i've played this year.
I wish the toolset worked properly on my computer cause i know i would spend many hours with that

 

Z-Layrex, from reading what you said, sounds like NWN is made for: patience, open-mindedness, and good graphic cards. Also, NWN is a lot of role-playing, and not just hack 'n slash.

All games are different. That is good because then we have variety. I doubt they are sopposed to be compared to other games that are made by totally different companies.

 

Z-Layrex, let me see you play Dungeon Siege on and on without being bored of the fighting. My Dungeon Siege experience was clicking on monsters and killing them. In Neverwinter Nights I have to look at a whole look of really cool animations and spell effects (Dungeon Siege practicly doesn't have this) before the monster is dead. Much more entertaining.

In Dungeon Siege you have to kill hundreds of on type of monsters before you move on to the next type and kill a few hundred of them to. Boring!. The "story" in Dungeon Siege isn't exactly the best you'll find either.

With my 1400MHz and GeForce 2 64mb I survive Neverwinter Nights in 1024*768, but Dungeon Siege had to be played in 800*600. And watch out for that fearsome bow with damage 120-430 . Dungeon Siege is pathetic compared to NWN, and it was made as a really bad attempt to make something better (just like Empire Earth compared to Age of Mythology).

 

I can't say I agree with that comparison. Now mind you, NWN has it's faults with me as well, but overall, it's a much better package than DS. Graphics wise, DS for the most part blows away poor NWN. And I hate to say that, but I think it's true. Everything looks so much more detailed, from characters to environment. The only edge NWN has are monsters and spell/lighting/particle effects. NWN scores with these, as mosters look much better and are more diverse, and the lighting is very well done.

Game play wise, DS runs much smoother. My computer runs NWN, but it can get choppy at times. DS never had that problem. However, the gameplay system is NWN reigns supreme. Dungeon Sieges combat rules aren't as good, and their character development is for the most part non existant. Their magic system is atrocious as well, and their spell effects leave *alot* to be desired. DS is repative, and while fun for a while, once the shine wears off, it's boring. Hack, slash, rinse repeat. Chug a potion hear and there, then wait around a bit while your hp regerates at a rate that makes trolls jealous. I do like some additional features of DS, though, such as a controlable party (NOTE to GAME DESIGNERS: Don't impliment henchmen, they almost always turn out badly, as even NWN shows), pack mules, etc.

Storyline: did Dungeon Siege have one? I'm not claiming NWN's is anything to write home about, but Dungeon Siege's really is lacking. The few NPC's you can interact with are poorly written. And the voice acting...my god. Everyone who talks in DS either sounds like they've consumed a bottle of gin before they went in to do their lines, or they rode the short bus to the studio that morning. NWN's isn't that great, but it's above average. And it's dialog is much better (not great, but still blows away DS's).

In all DS has some nice features and looks like a much more up to date and polished offering, but once you get passed the shine, while fun to play, it lost my interest about halfway through the game. It was just too repetative and missing key features that would have made it shine.

If I had a rather, I'd take Dungeon Sieges graphics with NWN's style of play. DS with DnD rules, spells, and mosters might have been a really good game.

 

Hmmmm....I personally think that NWN is good, but its no BGII. I find that NWN is hard to pick-up-and-play second time round, but I just can't place my finger on it.

Dungeon siege, however, I don't want to play it, its too Microsoft-ish (though they actually didn't make it). My brother bought it, played it, but cannot complete it as it is to hard to find out where to go (in his opinion)

I hope patches from any of the makers of NWN soon descover how to make the recommended specs actually run the game better. My computer has everything needed in the recommended, and I have to run it in its near-lowest settings.

Booo, only one henchman!

 

Well, I steered clear of DS, so I can't talk about that comparison. However, I do not think NWN is a bad game. The official campaign isn't the best designed scenario out there, though its decent enough in most respects.

Personally, I like not having to control all the henchmen, even if the AI does leave a lot to be desired. I also like that the combats are relatively slow paced. I like watching my guys duck, parry, etc. I also wouldn't want to play a spellcaster in the no pause multiplayer environment if the game rounds went by faster.

While I knew the engine would necessarily restrict DM creativity, the existing toolset is somewhat more restrictive than I had hoped. However, it seems that alot of people are adding custom content by leaps and bounds to address that. Its easy to use (at least, if you do their tutorials), especially if you are good at script plagiarizing.

 

I concur with Vormaerin in that I prefer the henchmens. I never was a fan of play the whole party yourself idea. Admittedly though, the henchmen ai leaves much to be desired. Still, I find it ok the way it is and certainly not terrible. Using the keyboard you can issue commands very fast if you don't like what your henchman is doing. The pathfinding on the other hand..

While NWN has its issues (as did Morrowind), some of them bothering me quite a bit, it is still fun and has great potential for further play than the SP campaign.
The plot, voice acting etc might not be spectacular but there were some very inspired side quests. Overall, I think it is a pretty good game with a lot of effort put into it. (could've used some more though )
The problem is that they overhype the community and people can/will never find the game of their dreams when they finally come out.

 

I'd put DS into the same category as Diablo 2, and that's hack and slash, not roleplaying. Honestly, neither game has any real character development, and all you do is click on monsters and fight them.

NWN is the pure RPG of the bunch. Yes, it does not deliver instant gratification. It isn't supposed to. RPGs are about watching your character(s) develop over time.

As far as replayability goes, NWN reigns supreme over the bunch, especially once you get a live DM into the game. Correct, you won't find yourself playing through SP like we did with BG2, I grew somewhat bored with it by the middle of Chapter 2, but once you go into MP with a live DM, there is infinite variety and it is easily the most fun of any game mentioned here.

Which one is best is your own opinion, but don't go slamming a game until you have actually used it in all it's possible modes.

 

I agree with Rastor in the fact that DS is mostly a hack and slash type of game and I would rather play a game more like NWN that isn't so hack and slash.

 

NWN is good, mostly because of the third edition rule set and the potential it offers through the tool set and mutiplay. Conversely, single player was not nearly as good as BG2/TOB to me. Furthermore, I personally like the ability to control multiple characters and the greater interaction permitted by scripted NPCs (BG2-style). Consequently, I am looking forward to IWD2.

 

This is how I feel about the single player campaign in NWN at the moment:
"Bored now." (Willow in BtVS)

 

Dungeon Siege was great when i played it but i got bored with it before i was even finished the game.
neverwinter is a great game too and i actuelly went through 2-3 times in SP mode before really getting bored with it.
Diablo 2 isn't really in the same leage as these as I played that game for over a year without getting bored
but i played diablo 2 in multiplayer.
havent tried neverwinter in multiplayer yet.
at any rate all of them where good games as far as i'm concearned

 

I actually beat DS way before NWN came out, its the only thing I could do at the time. First I must say it was hard to carry onward with that game. The burden of fighting legions of clone goblins annoyed me to no end. But the terrain is epic in size. You really get a feel for the atmosphere weither you be in a deep dwarven cavern, scary-O-dungeon, or a lush green forest. The enviroments really are that amazing. Other than that, hack'n'slash 24-7. And be perpared. The distance between towns is something like 100 leagues the crow flies. Covering this distance is billions of enemies.

Now Neverwinter I think without a doubt is better. It offers more than any hack'n'slash. The single player, refered to as a bonus by many, isn't as good as thoughs games built for single player in mind, obviously. The toolset and DM client is what is key here.

 

My only complain about nwn is it is too fast! It D&D, should be slower. Should be more turn based. Great game, however.

 

I'm in the early parts of Chapter 2, so I have no first hand knowledge of large parts of the SP game.

This is where I find myself almost bored to tears. I like the story well enough, but how many more boxes do I have to open?
Half the times I have to coax that annoying halfling twit Tomi an extra time (sometimes several times) into opening or disarming whatever.
How many more trolls will I have to kill? My character is a Fighter/Cleric level 11 and the fights haven't been challenging since she was at 4th level and fought the boss in the Prison (playing on Core rules).

The old Gary Gygax style of room after room with monsters and generic looking square dungeons is very much present. Although I must say that some of the modules with Mr Gygax' name on them are among my favourites.

[This message has been edited by Earl Grey (edited July 25, 2002).]