Back when it was released in 2002, Neverwinter Nights was highly
acclaimed for its near perfect implementation of the 3rd Edition
Dungeons & Dragons rules and a multitude of online options making
it easily the RPG of that year. But 5 years later, does it still hold
up to games which have much better graphics and refinements of the same
formula? The answer really depends on a lot of factors. If you only
like the flashy graphics of games like Oblivion, then Neverwinter
Nights will most probably not appeal to you but if you like deep,
satisfying role-playing with lots of questing and looting plus a great
story, then Neverwinter Nights is the game for you.
The game starts when the city of Neverwinter is hit by a terrible
plague and has called for all adventurers to help protect the reagents
that have been found to create a cure for the plague. In the Prelude,
players start of in an academy where they learn to use the primary
skills of their respective characters as well as meeting up with one of
the game's main characters. The prelude serves as a tutorial and you
get to learn most of the game's basic features like buying, selling,
leveling up and so on and is a great way for players new to RPGs to
learn some the tricks of the trade. At the end of the prelude, the
academy is attacked by enemies of Neverwinter and all the reagents for
the cure are lost and this kicks of the first chapter of the game.
Neverwinter Nights' main campaign is split up into 4 chapters each of
which can be considered a smaller game in itself totaling to about
60-90 hours of gameplay. The first chapter has you hunting down each of
the reagents for the cure and also tracking down the mastermind behind
the group that attacked the academy. Though each of the chapters do
play a nice part in the story it is not until the end of the second
chapter that the story really opens up and the third and fourth
chapters are really a pleasure to play through from a story
point-of-view. The story is certainly not as complicated or epic as a
game like Planescape Torment but is quite good with a good dosage of
plot twists, betrayals and so on.
Bioware has really provided some good documentation to help new players
get into Dungeons and Dragons. The game manual weighs in at about 200
pages and explains almost all the 3rd Edition rules as well as the
different types of weapons, armor etc. and generally is the complete
package for people really looking to get into D&D. However it is
not required of casual players to put in such effort and things are
made easier by NWN's character creation system which basically walks
you through the whole process. As in any other RPG, players start by
selecting a race (human, orc, elf etc.), gender, class (mage, wizard,
fighter, rouge etc.) dividing points among the various attributes --
strength, dexterity, constitution, wisdom, intelligence and charisma --
choosing skill sets and finally by selecting an appearance and name for
your character. NWN really makes it easy by giving this "recommended"
button on each screen which suggests what class you should be and
divides ability points based on your race, class and so on and this
makes it a highly accessible game to people who have never played
D&D based RPGs before. Of course, the complexity is there for
people who wish and people can really tweak the system to create the
character they want including multiclassing (creating a character with
different classes) which is not offered in many RPGs.
Gameplay is pretty much similar to every other RPG and typically
involves lots of questing, looting, returning the loot for gold, buying
upgraded weapons with the obtained gold and so on. And as you complete
these various actions you will learn experience points which you can
use to level up your character to higher levels. Other than following
the previously mentioned main quest you can also take up an infinite
number of side quests some of which are even more interesting than the
main quest and offer better rewards and some exotic items that may not
necessarily be available in the main quest. Each quest you take is also
recorded in your journal which keeps track of all accepted and
completed quests. A handy map is also effective in pointing you in the
right direction along with having notes for important buildings like
shops, barracks etc. as well as allowing you to add notes of your own.
The main player interacts with other characters through a number
dialogue choices which have to be carefully chosen since the game
decides your alignment based on the dialogue choices you make which in
turn affects how certain characters behave towards you. Since character
interactivity is quite important in NWN it is sad that you get only one
henchman on your travels. Previous games like Planescape Torment and
even Bioware's own Baldur's Gate have supported an entire party of
characters with up to 6 or 7 players at a time. That being said all of
the henchmen in the game really have a personality and backstory of
their own and it is important to choose a henchman that complements
your class and abilities. Another disappointing aspect being you cannot
equip your characters with weapons or spells of your choice or select
abilities for them while leveling up -- all of this is done
automatically.
Combat is generally quite good in NWN. You have a multitude of weapons
to choose from including long swords, great swords, short swords,
longbows, short bows, various types of axes, maces and generally every
weapon conceived so far in the D&D world. And for wizards and
mages, the game offers a healthy dose of spells including
combat-oriented, mind-affecting, healing and so on. And with three
quick bars at the bottom which can be accessed directly (or by pressing
Ctrl or Shift for the second and third bars) you can pretty much place
all your weapons, spells and special items and never run out of space
since each bar has 12 empty slots. The other slick aspect is that
clicking anywhere on the screen brings up a neat circle which has all
the actions you can perform including attack, heal, cast spell etc.
which is really intuitive and east to get into. In general the overall
ease with which Neverwinter Nights plays will appeal to new players and
the added complexity underneath will definitely appeal to hardcore RPG
buffs.
Given the difficulty of RPGs like Planescape Torment, Baldur's Gate
etc. it is natural for most players to expect Neverwinter Nights to be
the same, but it is not. Neverwinter Nights is one of the easier RPGs
and can be really enjoyed by even casual players. Much of this ease
comes from a single item which players get at the beginning of the game
which when used transports them to the nearest temple where they can
rest up, heal (for free!) and return to the place where they used the
item for a very small cost. And since you can use the item even in the
middle of combat and generally there are very few places in the game
where you cannot use it, it is generally easy to use the item and
return to combat fully energized which takes out all the challenge from
some bigger foes you meet later in the game. Unlike the previously
mentioned RPGs, in Neverwinter Nights you can also pretty much rest
wherever enemies are not in sight again owing to the game's easiness.
Of course, none of this reduced difficulty deters the game from being
enjoyable. Hardcore players can push the difficulty setting all up
which full PvP and even friendly spells will damage you and this should
be the setting of choice for most players.
Considering how good Neverwinter Nights plays it is disappointing that
it is not brought to life using the graphics which are only slightly
good-looking at best. Even when considering the game for its 2002
release (the same year the beautiful Morrowind was released), it does
not fare well except for some of the lighting and shadowing. Only some
of the textures look really good -- like the textures on armor, weapons
etc. -- and most of them are a little bland especially the ones on the
environments. Most of the spell effects look quite good especially the
healing spells. Character models are good but not great although they
move in a seemingly plausible manner and you will see them dodge
attacks by sidestepping and parrying and these effects look really
nice. The lighting and shadowing are really effective though and are
easily the best aspect of Neverwinter Nights' graphics -- multiple
light sources cast multiple shadows on an object, the lens flare from
lamps and flaming plague-victim pyres look really good.
No such complaints can be made against the sound. Jeremy Soule has
become of the best composers of game music and in this game he again
proves why he's one of the best. The music is really orchestral and
does a great job in conveying exactly the mood of the game. When you
are walking through the forests not knowing what to expect it is really
mild and will send a chill or two down your spine or when you are in
combat it is really bombastic with heavy drums and percussion. Overall,
the music adds another layer of immersion and polish to the game. The
in-game sounds also don't lag behind either. The sound of clanking
metals when one sword meets the other or the sound of footsteps when
you are running or the sound of healing or other spells never get
boring to hear. Many dialogues in the game are also voiced especially
for the main characters and it is uniformly awesome throughout and
feels like all of the actors put in their utmost effort to convey the
right emotions.
Neverwinter Nights is essentially the complete RPG package. Though the
multiplayer aspect holds no appeal anymore given the game's age, it is
really the campaign that shines throughout. It is highly replayable
given all the different combinations of classes, genders and attributes
and the way dialogue choices affect your alignments not to include the
sensitive element of multiclassing and the insane amount of
side-quests, you can easily get more than 100 hours of gameplay.
Certainly the game is not without its share of flaws including the
graphics which are not up to par given the game's age and the relative
easiness of the game, though that should not stop anyone from buying
this game and experiencing what is one of the definitive RPGs in recent
times.
