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It's a Niche Game, Not Everyone Will Enjoy It Like I Did

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 7
Date: January 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If I could think of a way to best describe Neverwinter Nights, it would be Diablo meets Baldur's Gate. The game is made by the same people that designed Baldur's Gate but it's more of a mainstream "hack and slash" adventure than an epic RPG. Don't get me wrong, the in-game story is great but it just doesn't feel like a classic RPG. One reason for this might be because of the easy-to-use Aurora Toolset. If you've ever messed around with PC game editors, this one will probably be the easiest custom content maker you'll ever use. It was designed that way so that D&D fans everywhere could quickly create their own adventures. (The game even allows you to act as a Dungeon Master with your spiffy new adventures.) Unfortunately, the official adventure included with Neverwinter Nights also uses the same toolset that was designed for "Joe Schmoe" and something probably gets lost in the process because each map uses the same same grid design and 3-D structures. Frankly, most maps just feel the same and after all is said and done, the offical campaign in NWN comes across as an average gaming experience. Keep in mind too that while it's very easy to place items and creatures with the toolset, you'll need a basic knowledge of programming to script actions in your module. If you're convinced that this game is for you, check out the newer Neverwinter Nights Gold which comes with the original game as well as the first expansion (Shadows of Undrentide). You may even want to wait a little longer because the second and last expansion (Hordes of the Underdark) just came out and undoubtedly, it will soon be packaged in a newer "platinum" edition. Make sure you check the official Bioware website so that you can download one of the many custom adventures designed by gamers. There is also a fairly large online community and many gamers have set up their own servers that are up and running 24/7 for online D&D fun. I had a good time with Neverwinter Nights, but not everyone may find the game as enjoyable, especially if they don't like online play or the easy-to-use toolset. If you enjoy the feel and gameplay of NWN, it has an extremely long lifespan because of the online community, but many gamers don't find the game that appealing to begin with.

The single player game is not the best BioWare has made

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: May 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After trying out the beta toolset, I had originally given this game five stars. Now after having bought and played the game for 20 hours or so, I have taken a star away. This is because the single-player game is just not as exciting and engrossing as I had hoped it would be. The non-player characters are not as convincing, the storyline is simpler and less absorbing, and the admittedly decent 3D animations do not evoke the same grandeur as the beautiful painting-like scenery in the previous games made by BioWare.

Many people say that one should not buy this game if all one wants is a good single player adventure. They are wrong; I say that the single-player adventure is fun. However it fails to live up to the BioWare CEOs' promise that it would be as good as anything they've made in the past.

Neverwinter Nights

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: June 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Ok, first off, if you are thinking about buying this game solely for the single player aspect then save your money(Replay Baldur's Gate instead!!). I have only been playing 10+ hours, and find the game a bit boring. Compared with Baldur's Gate series storyline, Neverwinter story is not good. I am attempting to find exotic creatures in the city to help create a cure for a plague. Understand I am very early in the game but see the exotic animal search as a substantial part of the game(4-5 creatures to locate). Also, when playing in higher resolutions the NPC's speech bubble is reduced to microscopic levels. I have to strain my eyes to read what NPC's are saying to me. There may be a way to enlarge this bubble to ease reading, but I am unable to do it! I also hate the fact that I can only have one other party member with me at any given time. I want to make a 6 person party! Not one character and then hire a Merc to assist me. I may be a bit overly critical here, but the hype surrounding this game was huge and I expected a bit more!---Enough with the criticism. Aspects I like in Neverwinter Nights-- The Aurora engine driving the game is excellent. I play in 1600x1200 and have the ability to "zoom" right in close to watch the action. The DM and Toolset hold tremendous potential(Real reason to buy). I have not used either so I cannot say how good these parts are. D+D 3rd edition rules are cool. No longer are you required to a thief( OR THE NEW POLITICALY CORRECT WAY TO SAY IT "rogue")in your group to find and disarm every trap and lock. Every player has a limited ability to do this and depending on how much you stress it(allocate ability points), their success rates. Ok let me wrap this up. DONOT buy for the single player mission only(Go buy Baldur's Gate series)I am still early in the single player but the weak storyline is not very promising. I have not yet dove into DM or Toolset so check out other reviews for info on those aspects. I rated 4 out of 5 stars for the excellent Aurora engine and the potential for DM and toolset parts. I have been gamin since the Atari days and my gut tells me the single player is a bit weak. Baldur's Gate set the bar very high for single player with it's series, but my gut tells me it is weak(not terrible just a bit weak). If you love RPG's, then you should buy the game, however; a casual RPGer may feel cheated. Hope all this confusing talk helps. My final suggestion is to wait and see what the general consesus is about the game. You have waited for 5 years wait another 2 weeks or so!

ARRRGGGG!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: July 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Buyer beware.

If you have a high-end machine, NWN will crash it repeatedly in multiplayer mode. Go to their site and check out all of the problems - currently, 38% of people are having problems with this software.

That being said, when the bugs are fixed this will be a fantastic game and a great tool for playing D&D with all your buddies that moved away or had children and are no longer willing to chill and play in your basement. I am addicted already - I just have to restart every 20 minutes!

The DM tool is grand...but there are a few bugs there and not (yet) enough variety of monsters - no centaurs, for example, or common housecats.

All in all, if I had it all to do again, I would have waited a couple months for all the bugs to blow over and then bought a copy and downloaded all the patches. Still, it is fun and I still recommend it with reservations.

Disappointment after Baldur's Gate/Icewind Dale games

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 7 / 10
Date: January 27, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I have enjoyed all D&D PC games since discovering them shortly after purchasing my first PC. I'm not a hack or programmer, just a regular person who enjoys fantasy and SciFi and really like the strategy and hard work necessary to beat the previous D&D games. I like finding lots of loot and saving damsels in distress, etc... However, I do not like NWN's focus on walking around, picking up one or two gold pieces, and hacking at a few smugglers now and then. And I really dislike having only one henchman!! And not being able to control that one with any success is really frustrating. Decent accessories at the stores are way too expensive for the loot you are able to find to pay with.

The graphics are pretty good, but I don't like the game well enough to try to figure out how to make up my own game. I won't buy the new expansion pack coming out, I will buy the Icewind Dale II game, and hope Bioware and Black Isle will put out more of those type games.

Enjoyable game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: March 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

I find it interesting how split opinions on this game are, especially as they relate to the single player game. I greatly enjoy the single player game.

A lot of the complaints seem to stem from the fact that people feel the story is not as rich and complex as the BG games. I personally think that is one of the plusses of the game. I only can spare a few hours/week for computer games, so I had a hard time with BG. You just can't put that game down for a week or you forget what quest you're doing and why. I just don't have that problem with NWN. The story is linear, but I think that's a good thing. Sure BG is more rich if you can get sucked in for 8 hours at a sitting, but lots of people don't have the time to do that.

Greatest RPG ever created

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: November 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Neverwinter Nights is by far the greatest RPG ever created. I know a lot of people say that the plot is not very deep, or that the gameplay is repetitive, what they are descibing is their opinion on the single player campaign that comes with the game. Possibly they have failed to find the toolset, where you can create your own adventures, or if not that, the Bioware website where you can download hundreds of fan submited modules. Hopefully through the website or the toolset you can find a module more suited to your tastes.

FANTASTIC!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: April 11, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Let me say first, that when I first bought this game and installed it, played it for an hour or so, I didn't think I liked it, however, I realized that it takes time to get use to the camera angles, the combat system and the overall feel. So, I took a break and went back the next day and really gave it an effort and well, I love it! It's an awesome game...

It has a nice modding community, even comes with its own toolset so you can create your own maps, dungeons, etc.

It has a wonderful auto updater that will download all the latest patches for you among other things, like previews on new games from the ever so wonderful BioWARE corp.

Bioware puts out incredible, addictive and just super excellent games. Virtually BUG free as well. I was a huge fan of the Baldur's Gate games and played those for years. That's why it took me so long to get around to NWN. lol.

Well, Bioware, congrats, because I think you lived up to your name once again with NWN. It's not the same as their Baldur's Gate, but does have some of the same feel and game play.

The storyline is very good and you can interact with TONS of NPC's. Some people don't like it because you can only travel with up to 1 NPC and you really have no access to their inventory to give them stuff or help you carry things, but it's not that big of a deal. Sometimes it is better playing with just your character alone. Yes, sometimes, NPC companions get in the way.

The combat system takes awhile to get use too, but is nicely done. You can target one enemy and your character will attack all enemies in the area, taking out one at a time. This is nice, because you don't have to keep pointing and clicking on each enemy.

The movement has 3 different camera angles to choose from, so you will have to decide which one you like best, or just keep changing from view to view. It's quick and easy.

The character creation is awesome, and although the portraits are not that good, you can go online and download character portrait packs, even Baldur's Gate II pic packs are available. It's nice.

You can choose between various races, sub-races and classes, including sub-classes, just like BGII. You can be Human, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Halfling or even create a custom race.

The classes are awesome. Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer and Wizard. Also, remember, you can have sub-classes as well. You could easily spend hours just in the character creation alone.

There are alignments, Deities and a HUGE spell table.
There is so much I could say about this, but I will stop and let you decide. Yes, just buy it and lose yourself, because you will.
I can't say I like NWN as much as their BGII, but it's close, dang close.

HAVE FUN!

FINALLY...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 26
Date: July 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

After the titanic failure of Morrowind, I had almost been put off of computer RPGs permanently. The game market these days seems to be awash with substandard, buggy, crashy pieces of dubious origin and design, and it's VERY refreshing when a company releases a game that's fun, good looking, delivers what it promises, and works right out of the box. I've only been playing for a few days, and by far it is the most enjoyable piece of software I've bought in the past several years.
I hope bethesda softworks is taking notice, and doesn't try to pull another hoax on the gaming public- if they wanna avoid their imminent financial collapse, they might want to take a few pages from Bioware's book...

If you Like RPGs, this is your game.

Not what I expected, but has potential.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 8
Date: August 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

It was hard for me to pin down what I didn't like about this game at first, then it hit me: I expected something different. I'm a big fan of the Baldur's Gate series, and by extension: Icewind dale and Torment. Neverwinter Nights really only has one thing in common with those games: they're based on D&D. After there the similarities pretty much end.

After abandoning this game for the far less time consuming Warcraft 3, I've come back to it with a renewed interest. Havign given it a second chance I must admit that while it's not the game I expected, it's still a pretty great game and can potentially have one of the biggest impacts on gaming ever. Unfortunately, I still find a lot of my complaints to be valid.

One of my biggest complaints in the single player game is the lack of henchmen. One of the best things about the Black Isle games, especially Baldur's Gate 2, was how your Henchmen had minds of their own, would fight amongst each other, even kill each other. I always thoght this was the feature that made the experience as close to a "real" RPG as possible. In Neverwinter, you only get one Henchman, and there's little communication. Since you can only make one player, you usually have to find a henchman that can pick locks or heal. I've tried a lot of them with a couple of different characters, and they always seem to haev a high mortality rate. I always seem to have to go back to the temple as they seem to die an awful lot. In my opinion, they shoudl have limited the henchmen, but allowed extra henchmen for characters with a hgih charisma, that way the henchmen don't drive the story, or steal the show, but you at least haev a better tactical dynamic.

One of my overall complaints is how tiny all the writing, inventory items, and maps are at a respectable resolution. I find myself squinting at my 19" monitor until it feels like my eyeballs are going to pop out. "Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind" had this same problem. Inventory management can get really tedious. This is a pretty small complaint though. I got over it quickly.

The rest of the single player experience warms up slowly, but does eventually hook you. I think most peopel give up early and make rash judgements of the game. I know I was pretty disappointed at first that I wasn't playing one of those other games I loved so much. This isn't Baldur's Gate 3 however and once I realized that, I kind of backed off and started enjoying myself. The single player story really is pretty good, and the deeper you get into it the better it gets. It does haev a relatively linear story, but you can stray really far from the tracks and there are side quets aplenty hidden around every corner. I like the ability to zoom out for navigation, then zoom in for the action so I can watch the fight, which are entertaining thanks to some excellent character animation. The sound is also excellent and really adds to the overall tone of the game. Of the three recent RPG releases that everyone's raving about, including Morrowind and Dungeon Seige, this is definitely the best single player game out there for hardcore gamers or even dungeon crawlers.

The biggest reason to buy this game, and what will make it endure beyond the relatively flawed single player experience is one of the most ambitious editors ever made. The community of wannabe game makers out there is respectable and growing bigger every day. I've tooled around with the editor and must say it's oen of the easiest I've ever used for a RPG. You can whip up a map in no time, opulate it with all manner of critters and NPC's, and then navigate through it with a charater to see how it works. The scripting is where most people who've never had nay C++ experience, like me, will start running into some problems. The scripting process is what keeps the editor from being completely user friendly. If you haev a vision of a cool adventure that isn't a dungeon crawl, you're going to have to leqarn scripting. I guess they couldn't come up with a wizard that was versatile enough to handle all the various jobs that scripting covers.

It's the scripting that I think has made most of the player made dungeons on the net fairly mediocre. People like me are still learning the process and perfecting what they want to get done. Patient and thorough dungeon builders will find lots of helpful communities and forums on the net even if you can't find a really definitive set of instructions at this writing. The longer this game stays on the market, however, the better those player made levels get. With patches, add-ons and a very enthusiastic community, I think this game is going to blossom into the experience we were promised. If I didn't think that, I would have given up on this game a long time ago.

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