
Save a merchant from a marauding orc then rob him at knifepoint? That's evil. Some quests will even affect your alignment, pushing you further toward the side of "good" or "evil." Save a merchant from a marauding orc? That's good. Load points are frequent, but short, which keeps the action moving, and as long as you talk to people you run across in the game, you'll never be at a loss for something to do.Īlong with the main quests, there are plenty of side quests to keep you busy, and even a few class-specific quests that you'll only stumble upon if you play the game multiple times with different characters. However, if you're the type who likes their RPGs slow and methodical, you can pause combat at any time with the spacebar and issue more strategic commands that way. You will have to pause and rest to memorize spells and such, and there's a lot of in-game reading to do and conversations to have if you want to find out everything there is to know about Neverwinter, but combat it frequent and, although stat-based, plays out quickly. For a fairly rigid D&D-based RPG, there's really not much down time, and while it's not exactly a hack-fest, it certainly moves a lot faster than Baldur's Gate and its sequel. However, just because it's not an action-RPG, that doesn't mean the game drags. This isn't the case, as Neverwinter Nights is much more than an action-oriented dungeon crawl and still holds firm to the classic RPG tenets that you need to have a complex, epic plot and plenty of quests. I really like this system, and the 3rd Edition rules lend themselves well to a computer RPG.įrom looking at the screenshots, you may assume that Neverwinter Nights is an action RPG like Diablo II or Dungeon Siege. So what happens if you start your career as a fighter and learn down the road that it would be beneficial to learn a few rogue skills? Simply choose rogue as your next class when you level up, distribute some points to pick locks and disarm traps, and go back to your fighter progression next level. And if you do change classes, you don't loose any of the abilities you learned in your former class. Instead of dividing experience equally among your classes, now you can opt to choose to train in any of the 11 classes whenever you earn enough experience points to gain a level. This kind of system also make multi-classing much easier, and rewarding, than in AD&D. And a wizard wearing armor will not only experience more spell failures, but he better have enough strength to heft 60 pounds of metal around. It doesn't mean you're going to be as good at it as some of the other classes, but you can do it - it will just cost a fighter more to learn to pick a lock than it would a rogue. Wizards can wear armor, clerics can disarm traps, and rangers can identify magic items. With the exception of only a handful of class-specific skills, now any class can pretty much do anything. The 3rd Edition rules are actually much more open-ended than before, and your character isn't nearly as limited in his or her choices or abilities. Luckily, they're not difficult to pick-up, even for those of you who have never played D&D. If you've been keeping up with Neverwinter Nights, you know it's set within the confines of the Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition universe. Only thing is, aside from playing Pool of Radiance: The Ruins of Myth Drannor, I haven't really kept up with the progression of D&D into the 3rd Edition rules. I've been playing Dungeons & Dragons computer games since the original Gold Box series, and tabletop D&D well before that, so I know my D&D. What I will go into more detail here is the online aspects of the game and the Aurora Toolset, and of course we've finally attached that coveted score you all salivate over like the Hell Hounds you are. As a matter of fact, it's only gotten better as I play more into it.


My thoughts on the single-player game haven't changed.
#Neverwinter nights enhanced edition beginner guide full#
If you've read my first impressions, you'll notice that the single-player portion of the full review is pretty much the same.
