Worth getting?

Remove all ads!

Using the config menu you can set up the camera to work similarly to NWN1 after much, much tweaking, although the (IMO completely unnecessary) vertical pan can be irritating at times if you didn't mean to go too close to the edge of the screen

 

Considering the camera, I place the zoom on an option where it lags less, and it's okay, sometimes I have to spin it around and pan it, but that's not much of a problem. I do miss the isometric view of BG and IWD

 

Hacken Slash tbh your specs barely meet the system requirements.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

Your vid card is about the 3rd worst card you could have to try running modern games. I would say that most of your problems stem from that. The 6600's outperform that card.


"Keep in mind that the Minimum System Requirements of a game do not mean that the game will run smoothly. They are the minimum hardware that will enable the game to launch."

To make a suggestion I would get an 8600 GT... $120 and a lifetime warranty.

 

I disagree. Sure it's very linear and there are some flaws here and there in the story etc. but it's still a very good game IMO, and I'm glad I got it. However, it does require an up-to-date computer to play. If you've got a CPU that's a bit old, then that would be the only reason I'd not recommend it.

When I got it, I had a P4 2.4 GHz, 512 RAM and a Radeon 9800 pro and it was barely playable.

If you've got a fairly good computer, and if you like D&D games like BG and IWD, I'd say go and get it. It's quite cheap now anyways.

 

In the latest patch (afaik) a button has been added in the strategy mode options screen to set the camera to the NWN1 isometric viewpoint.

 

I just got this game last weekend and tried out a paladin just to get a feel of the game. I basically had a rig that's a couple of steps above the minimum system requirement so I didn't get much problems. The game felt like BG2 in a Neverwinter Nights kind of game. Party-base with some banters from the NPCs and a NWN isometric view. A D&D 3.5 Edition turn-base RTS combat system... so it's real time but not a click-fest. Which was a bit of annoying. No quick slot for alternative weapons, felt like a bummer but looking at it in another way, it's more realistic. It felt linear with some side quests that provides a bit of breaks. So far at level 6, I'm kind'a enjoying it.

 

Click and drag weapons and items from you inventory to the hotbar and you can switch without having to open you inventory.

 

Thanks spetznaz, that's a real help.

 

No worries

 

I think the point is that the above rig would run Oblivion quite well. Look at D&D Online or Everquest 2. Both look better than NWN2, came out a year or so prior, and run at much higher FPS on similar rigs.

Even with a good PC, NWN2's animations are crap, the faces and hair of characters look like melted Play-Doh, spell effects are cheap-looking, items you drop on the ground all look like a cloth sack, etc. I could go on forever. For $9.99 it might be worth it if only for a few hours of hacking through orcs and zombies, but I can't say much else for it.

 

But they are all cloth sacks.

Seriously, I have to agree that the graphics of NWN 2 is just not that good. In fact, the first NWN was better in some ways. One of the characters I am playing is a human female rogue. And with Neesha (tiefling-rogue) and Elanee (wood elf-druid) in the party, all 3 of them look almost similar. If I didn't have the Harvest cloak and Elanee doesn't polymorph, I really can't tell who is who... unless it's fully zoomed in.

 

Although the graphics aren't that good, neither visually nor the coding, it's never a reason not to buy a game in my book. I recently played through Fallout 1, and though it's an old game, I don't care about the crappy graphics. I'd buy it today, for say the above mentioned $9.99, and I did buy the Fallout compilation when it was released.

It should be better optimized, just look and Call of Duty 4 which runs suprisingly well, even on quite old machines, but it's just not. Still no reason not to buy NWN2 imo.

If you only think NWN2 is a few hours of hacking, I don't think you've embraced the full essence of an CRPG. It's a bit too linear, especially if you compare that part with say Oblivion or Baldur's Gate 2, but it's still a very deep game when it comes to developing characters, especially the protaganist. There are almost unlimited possibilities to dual-class. The ability to create your own weapons is something that more developers should consider.

The D&D rules can be hard to understand for a beginner, but once you get a hold of it... it's just amazing.

Oh and personally I don't like Oblivion due to the lack of NPC's and characters. Alot of my friends can't understand why I'd rather play a more linear game like NWN2 when Oblivion is so free. There's just something about D&D.

 

But this is actually my chief compalint about NWN2: fundamentally it is not a CRPG, but more of an interactive movie rigidly plotted out by the developers. I felt the same way about KOTOR2.

Much of the choices in NWN2 are placebo; click anything you want you'll get the same results in the end. Whether you're a paladin or a necromancer you'll end up in pretty much the same place in the end. Whether you try Bluff, Intimidate, Diplomacy or just click on "aw heck with it. Let's just fight, already!" you'll always end up fighting Dr. Evil, after sitting through a long cut-scene of course.

Then there's the "meanwhile, back at Dr. Evil's secret base..." cut scenes. How on earth does the PC know this conversation is taking place? With his chrystal ball? How is that deep CRPG? That's Stan Lee comic book story-telling.

I'm getting all this off my chest cuz I'm actually slogging through the game again for the first time since it came out. I was hoping all the patching would help, and it has a bit, but it's still a clunky, sluggish, awkward game engine chock full of oddities, bugs and inconsistent behavior. I'm this close to just giving up on it though I'm halfway through.

 

I agree with every point you have, but I still withhold my opinion that it is a good game worth playing, mainly because of the character development. I would recommend it if you like RPG's. However, I understand why people who like RPG's wouldn't like it, reasons which you've explained thoroughly and the same goes for people who aren't particulary interested in RPG's.

I actually don't know that many CRPG's that gives you majorly diffrent experiences by choosing dialog option 1 or 2. Baldur's Gate 2, my favourite games of all times, cannot really be played as an neutral of chaotic evil character and still get fair gameplay out of it. KotOR 1 ofc, but the diffrence doesn't really kick in until 3/4 into the game. A little of topic, but I wouldn't object to some replies on this.

Regarding KotOR 2, the distributors forced the developers to squeeze it out earlier then planned, hence it's not near it's potential and not nearly as good as KotOR 1. I'd recommend visiting http://www.team-gizka.org/ for anyone who wants a better experience of it.

 

Back again with another question, folks.

I'm giving NWN2 a last try (for the tenth time) and somehow I've managed to beat the camera issues almost into submission. I only have to "guess" where a loot bag is due to blockage by a tree, rock or NPC about 30% of the time.

Now I'm frustrated by hearing my NPC's holler at me that "They could use a healing potion" when they have plenty of potions already in their inventory. There must be some way to get NPC's to heal themselves without me going into their inventory and manually selecting it?

This was automatic and easy in NWN1...why don't they do it in NWN2?

Thanks!

 

Possibly because some people found it annoying on NWN 1, as the henchmen would often drink potions at the drop of a hat. On "Core Rules" difficulty this could be devastating, as the provoked Attacks of Opportunity would often kill your henchie stone dead. I recall Linu being particularly dense in this way, as she'd often cast spells without defensive casting on, too. If you want to make things a little less painful for yourself, you could always hotkey your companion's potions. At least that way it's just a matter of two clicks (or key presses) to feed them a potion.

 

I'm pretty sure there's an option in their AI screen that you can toggle this one. However, I could be mistaken... been a while since I played single player NWN2.

 

I've found the options for the party members, each one can be set individually for each member, but it doesn't seem to include them using potions to heal themselves.

Moving on with the plan to put their potions into a quick bar slot.