The Addons are a little bit better. And NWN2 is also better (especially with the addons). But yes... vanilla NWN is not really good.
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The Addons are a little bit better. And NWN2 is also better (especially with the addons). But yes... vanilla NWN is not really good.
Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark I feel NWN became a superior product. With extremely high D&D characters that you usually don't get to see in cRPG's.
I would like to give an honorable mention to Japanese tactical RPG, Warsong for Sega Genesis. Had to be one of the first games I played like that, I mean it was 1991.
There are some great mods for NWN though. Well worth picking the game up and going through some the top rated player generated content. In fact, the modding tools were basically the point of the game, with a throwawy official campaign stuck on it to keep players occupied until some good mods could come out....
As for the best RPGs, well, here's my top 5. My top two have been the same for the last 10+ years, and I'll be amazed if they ever change, but 3-5 seem to vary based on my current mood, and what I've (re)played recently. Anyway, this is my current ranking - probably a couple of surprises:
1 - Planescape: Torment - What more can I say about it what hasn't already been said dozens of times? It's not flawless - the combat in particular is pretty poor, and it's lacking in replayability (once you've done a "high non-combat stats" character, you've pretty much seen everything) - but the storytelling, characters and setting are simply unsurpassed.
2 - Baldur's Gate 2 - While the original hasn't aged as well as might've been hoped, BG2 still stands as the finest example of your classic high fanatsy RPG. Again, the storytelling and characters are brilliant, the gameplay is fun and you damn sure get your moneys worth. Throw in some fanatstic mods, and there's pretty much nothing wrong with the game at all.
3 - Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines - Ridiculously buggy (there's *still* unofficial patches with fixes being released....), but have some patience with it and you've got an absolute masterpiece on your hands.
4 - NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer - Maybe a bit cheaty putting an expansion pack here, but damn, it's worth it. The original NWN2 was so-so: I quite liked it, but I could never really tell if it was playing straight with it's genericness, or if it was actually a clever parody/deconstruction of RPGs, and I don't think I'll ever go back to it. It's first expansion though, was Obsidian going back to their BIS roots, and giving us the closest we've ever had to Torment. As with it's spiritual predeccesor, it takes the story in a complex and unusal direction for cRPGs, with a perfectly weighted exploration of the D&D gods and afterlife, more strange but fantastic charcters, interesting moral choices and, as usual, amazing storytelling.
5 - Jade Empire - Bioware's hidden gem. I'm not going to claim it's flawless by any means, but far more so than any of their more recent big budget work, JE really feels like a labour of love, and that's why I'm such a huge fan of it. More than anything, it's the setting that makes it for me - it's so different from what you usually get in RPGs, capturing eastern mythology so well, and the fact that it's never been revisted is downright criminal. The story is fun and well written (one thing I really like is that you're not "the world's last hope" from the word go - while you do end up as that, the story builds up to it nicely), the characters, while not the exceptional wierdness of BIS/Obsidian, are interesting and the combat, while possibly a bit repetative by the end, well made. Oh, and the twist is *perfect*.
I didn't find it too bad - certainly no worse than many other RPGs. Could perhaps have done with a bit more variety, but ultimately, the other aspects of the game mroe than made up for it.
Baldur's Gate 2 always has been and always shall be my number 1 RPG. No other villain can match the sheer "love to hate him" quality that Irenicus has, especially with that sublime voice acting. No other NPC companion will ever come close to beating Minsc and Boo.
They can be bought at GOG.
other games I have loved.
Chrono Trigger.
FF 7
KOTOR I
Dragon Age I
Diablo I and II
Mass Effect I
Skyrim
They can be bought at GOG.
other games I have loved.
Chrono Trigger.
FF 7
KOTOR I
Dragon Age I
Diablo I and II
Mass Effect I
Skyrim
Man, after reading this thread, it becomes more and more obvious that I need to find a new copy of BG2 and pick up Planescape: Torment. (I lost disc 2 of my BG2 copy years ago.) The one thing I didn't like about BG is that you got penalized very, VERY heavily for missing certain skills (I remember getting into that final dungeon and completely ignoring trap detection up to that point... not a good time. I was a mage, damn it!)
I believe there is a D&D "set" in GOG, that has both the full BG epic (original, not EE), Icewind Dale 1 & 2, Planescape Torment, and aother one I can't remember at the moment.
oh, and it's a team effort. Imoen is a great thief and there are a couple of good ones on the evil side as well.
But she was so annoying!
But best thief and best mage in game at least good party. I liked to use Jan Jansen before you get Iomen back. His crazy Jan gear was pretty good and the crossbow you buy with Thrones of Bhaal right away, he was pretty good. Ok I admit his stories cracked me up as well.
Bg2 EE was a pretty good buy from steam when you catch it on sale. Normal price is $25 a little high but I caught it for $15. Worth not having to add all the mods to vanilla BG2 plus it has 4 new characters. The Wild Mage, Neera, is pretty good her spell number per day is incredibly high with some of her items. Plus got to love turning the party into a chicken. The monk equipped right is an absolute monster. 2 new evil characters. And a bear for fun.
In BG2 EE I will bring Neera and Jan Jansen then sub him out for Iomen when you get her back from Irenicus. Round out the party with Jaheira, Anomen, Minsc, and favorite PC is a Dwarf Berserker. Enraged and with the dwarven racial bonus plus "shorty save throws" basically immune to everything nasty (level drain, ability drain, mind flayers, confusion etc) Its nearly impossible to miss saving throws with that character worse case you make throw and get half damage. And your CON will be high enough to regen HP.
Typically I would play at least all of chapter 2 with every character combo to finish everyone's sub quests and stronghold missions etc.
Evil parties are lot better in BG2 EE.
Minsc, Imoen, Jaheira, Anomen and the inquisitor who's name I can't remember right now. Finished the game with those 5, with a dual-class fighter/mage as PC.
but it's worth it. I don't know how long you will still be in Russia. Maybe you could wait until you're back home?
Another two months.
I'll definitely wait until I get home. Just the opportunity to finish BG2 will be enough; Planescape and the Icewind Dales are an added bonus (as is the other game which I've quite forgotten at the moment). I did hear Icewind Dale was a bit more combat oriented than BG/B2. True?
Another two months.
I did hear Icewind Dale was a bit more combat oriented than BG/B2. True?
Yeah. Even more than BG was. While those dialogues that are there are nice (and are written with each speaker in mind, I had nice time speaking as drow priest of Talos), it is not more than linear combat location after location.
Another two months.
I did hear Icewind Dale was a bit more combat oriented than BG/B2. True?
It was the D&D version of Diablo, more or less. Quite enjoyable, too.
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