Neverwinter Nights 2
Neverwinter Nights 2 | |
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Neverwinter Nights 2 is a role-playing video game developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Atari Interactive. It is the second installment in the Neverwinter Nights series and is the sequel to BioWare's Neverwinter Nights, based on the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy tabletop role-playing game. Neverwinter Nights 2 utilizes an adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition rules. Players create player characters to represent themselves in the game, using the same character creation rules as found in the Dungeons & Dragons game. They may gain the assistance of additional party members, and they eventually acquire a keep that can be used as a base of operations. Neverwinter Nights 2 is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting—in and around the city of Neverwinter. The story is mostly unrelated to Neverwinter Nights and follows the journey of an orphaned adventurer investigating a group of mysterious artifacts known as "silver shards" and their connection to an ancient, evil spirit known as the King of Shadows.
Neverwinter Nights 2 went into development in July 2004. This sequel was designed with the
Reviews of Neverwinter Nights 2 were generally positive. Reviewers were pleased with the changes that had been made from the first game in the series, especially regarding the storyline and party management. The game won GameSpot's Best Story award for 2006. One of the most commonly raised complaints about the game was the presence of numerous technical glitches in its initial release. Two official expansions and one official adventure pack have been released for the game: Mask of the Betrayer in 2007, Storm of Zehir in 2008, and Mysteries of Westgate in 2009.
Gameplay
Neverwinter Nights 2 is played in the
The game is set in the
Before the online component was disabled (see
Story
Setting and characters
Neverwinter Nights 2 takes place in and around the city of
Ammon Jerro.Plot
Neverwinter Nights 2 is composed of three distinct
In act two, the party discovers that an evil wizard, Black Garius, is plotting to subsume the power of a powerful entity known as the King of Shadows. The party interrupts Garius during the scheme and Garius is apparently killed. As a reward, the protagonist earns a title of
Act three introduces the Shadow Reavers, a sect of powerful undead mages that include a revived Garius, still intent on resurrecting the King of Shadows.[24] The player must prepare Crossroad Keep for imminent battle by fortifying its troops and lands. After additional shards are retrieved by defeating Shadow Reavers, the shards are reformed into a powerful unique weapon for the player character, the Silver Sword of Gith. The sword, stolen by Ammon Jerro in the first battle against the King of Shadows, is the only weapon that can resist the enemy's power. The army of the Shadow Reavers lays siege to Crossroads Keep and is repelled by the occupants.[11] After making their way through Garius' new stronghold, the party engages the mage in a second confrontation. After Garius is defeated, good members of the party begin the final fight against the King of Shadows. Evil and neutral characters (including the player character, if applicable) can decide to attack the King or fight alongside him. A cutscene afterwards details the battle's effect on the world, and ends on a cliffhanger which is continued in the Mask of the Betrayer expansion pack.[25]
Development
Neverwinter Nights 2 was unofficially announced on April 1, 2004, when an Atari employee listed the names of several games in development, including a "NWN2" in response to an inflammatory comment on
BioWare provided its
Obsidian drew on older computer RPGs for inspiration on the storyline and gameplay, like
At the beginning of the game, the main character will run into a person of importance and be ignored like any other lump of crap with legs. The powerful simply don't notice those weaker than themselves. It's this kind of philosophy that promises a more cohesive story.
Instead of the henchmen system used in Neverwinter Nights, Obsidian overhauled the game's party format to mimic Knights of the Old Republic II. Like the Neverwinter Nights expansion Hordes of the Underdark, the player would be able to recruit more than one party member. Each character could be directly controlled,[33] but party members would also be able to come to a player's aid even when not controlled, such as summoning a rogue to open a locked chest.[39] Companions would have distinct personalities and their own agendas, but it would be possible for the player character to influence them.[40] Characters can leave the party permanently under certain circumstances.[41] Other changes from the first game include the addition of prestige classes and more exotic races, like planetouched and Elven subraces.[10][11]
In 2012, GameSpy, the company providing multiplayer support for the game, was purchased by Glu Mobile.[42] After the purchase, Glu Mobile raised the fees being charged to publishers to provide online services for their games.[43] The new owners then shut down a number of the online services for different games,[44] including Neverwinter Nights 2.[45] GameSpy claimed that the developers had allowed their contracts to lapse, and, after providing free services for a time, were no longer willing to continue.[45]
Release
Neverwinter Nights 2 was
Atari licensed
A complete edition that contains the original game and the three expansion packs (Mask of the Betrayer, Storm of Zehir, Mysteries of Westgate) was released on GOG.com on January 24, 2013.[62]
Expansions
- Mask of the Betrayer, the game's first expansion pack, was announced in April 2007 by Atari and Obsidian Entertainment.[63] It was released on September 28, 2007, in Europe, on October 9 in the United States, and on November 1 in Australia.[64] Mask of the Betrayer's story begins shortly after the events of Neverwinter Nights 2 and is set in the country of Rashemen, a matriarchy near Thay.[65] The expansion contains several new options for character development, including additional races and prestige classes.[66] It received favorable reviews from critics.[67]
Reception
Aggregator | Score |
---|---|
1Up.com | C+[8] |
Eurogamer | 8 of 10[18] |
Game Informer | 8 of 10[24] |
GameSpot | 8.6 of 10[2] |
GameSpy | [7] |
GameZone | 8.7 of 10[3] |
Publication | Award |
---|---|
GameSpot | Best Story (2006)[76] |
Reception of Neverwinter Nights 2 was generally favorable.
While some reviewers considered Neverwinter Nights 2 superior to its predecessor, Neverwinter Nights,
Other reviewers were less convinced,
The most common criticism of the game was its numerous
The Mac version of Neverwinter Nights 2 received mixed reception, and reviewers complained about its lack of the editor toolkit and its high system requirements.[56][93][94]
Modding community
The Neverwinter Nights 2 level editor and design toolset were widely praised,
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External links
- Neverwinter Nights 2 at IMDb
- Neverwinter Nights 2 at MobyGames