 Just what the doctor ordered |
| Review Date: December 27, 2008 |
| Reviewer: D. W., Rockville, MD USA |
Storm of Zehir follows in the grand tradition of Neverwinter Nights (NWN) expansions in attempting to set its own direction and tone while incorporating portions of previous narrative to draw players into the history of the world in which the game is set. Like previous expansions there is much to love, and a little bit to hate about this expansion as it pushes at the boundaries of the engine and the genre.
A big difference between this expansion and previous NWN environments is the split between an overland map (where you move about an entire region) and actual locations in which you can move about. The overland map is wonderful for creating a sense of distance and ambiance, while the locations provide the depth necessary for combat, dialogue, and intrigue.
So as to get them out of the way, I will begin with the bad stuff. First and foremost Storm of Zehir has incorporated the dreaded 'random encounter' mechanic of D&D with the overland map critters. Because of the virtually limitless capacity for players to grind on overland critters the game was also built with the assumption that players would spend considerable time fighting cookie-cutter fights out in the jungle with 200 gnolls, 3000 kobolds, and a partridge in a pear tree. In my tabletop experience we have always avoided these kind of repetitive and functionally random encounters because: they are boring. Other players may disagree, as the wild popularity of MMORPGs might attest, but for me D&D has always been about story, and random encounters do nothing to move this along.
Secondly, the expansion has something of a split personality with regards to towns. Certain towns can be dealt with almost entirely in an overland map setting-- no loading required. But randomly and inconsistently, other towns require you to actually enter the town (load screen... load screen... wait some more...) and wander about. I would have preferred more consistency with when you actually had a town built in-game, and when you could access through overland text menus.
There are a few minor issues in addition to these two large ones, but by and large the positives outweigh the negatives. The first, and most gratifying, change from previous NWN2 content is the richness of the locations. Every environment is bursting with detail and objects; giving more of a feeling of a living world that players might recognize from Baldur's Gate titles, and less of the "our engine can only support 10 polygons on the screen at a time" of NWN [the first one].
Dialogue is also more satisfying in this expansion than previously, where unnecessary chatter has been reduced and useful conversation is more obviously there. Since this is an expansion, and not a game such as Baldur's Gate II, obviously the volume of dialogue is nothing to write home about. But what dialogue is available is tightly written, useful, or just entertaining.
Crafting has been improved in this expansion with the addition of 'recipes book' which can be directly accessed near workbenches to make gear. The mishmash nature of previous implementation has been cleaned up through a mechanic that has you open the recipe book, chose the recipe, and if you have the right components (many of which are simply gold costs now), viola, you make your item. The availability of crafting also reduces the dependence on finding merchants with items of the appropriate level and speeds up gameplay.
Finally, the last improvement I will get into is the story itself. Storm of Zehir builds on previous attempts with the old NWN expansions, and of course NWN2 in building a strong narrative that connects the various events of the core game, expansions, and Forgotten Realms into a story that sucks the player in and makes them feel like they are participating like they would in a real table-top game. As a DM my players always appreciated when their actions had implications in the world. When they built an inn and made a name for it, when they defeated the Dread Lord SomethingorOther and the townsfolk remembered it. Allusions to past events in NWN2 were well-placed and made me feel like I was really in a world where what I'd done previously mattered. I was proud of my Knight-Captain and happy to see her legacy lived on in some small part (with careful non-references to anything specific I might have accomplished...) I would love to see more expansions in NWN2, and have them all link in to each other in unobtrusive ways like this.
So in short, Storm of Zehir is a fun expansion that you will not dream about in years to come, but that you might mention to your friends. If you like NWN style games, or are a D&D fan this expansion is well worth your time. If, like me, you moved away from your D&D group and hunger for the experience of hanging out with your friends haranguing your DM and squeezing out some story from the teeth of tactical combat, Storm of Zehir is the best new diary substitute out there. |
WOW
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| Review Date: November 22, 2008 |
| Reviewer: P. Cantin, |
This is amazing. It magically changes NWN2 from the flawed joke it was at release to a fantastic, old school RPG. It's very reminiscent of Icewind Dale, but with some Darklands and Fallout mixed in. The combat's even fun now. I love being surprised by games like this.
You create a full party in the game (YES!). The downside is that there's no banter, since you characters don't have much personality. During conversations they all talk, so you can combine their social skills (make your barbarian intimidate, for instance). The overland map is awesome. I was going to compare it to Fallout or the old Baldur's Gate map, but I really don't think I've seen anything like it.
Basically, Storm of Zehir is to the original NWN2 what Hordes of the Underdark is to the original NWN. Highly recommended. |
a pleasing departure in gaming
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| Review Date: June 26, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Carl A. Carter, Hillsboro, OR, USA |
I haven't played far in this game yet, but I love the fact that you can create your own characters for the multi person team. I have wanted this feature forever! I KNOW (blind faith) that I can create a perfect party, and now I can do it instead of just using NPC's...
More on the gameplay later... |
Different but great
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| Review Date: September 7, 2009 |
| Reviewer: T. Wenig, |
Storm of Zehir is sure much different from all the other NWN campaigns (NWN1 and NWN2). Though MOTB still is my favourite one SOZ is absolutely a great game:
The overland map forces you to skill your characters in a way that most people usually wouldn't do: you need to skill one party member to work as your "guide" to move fast and to avoid encounters. You don't have to, but than you do not need to complain, if you have to fight every two steps. Trading and crafting is not bad, though I did not use crafting very much, there was still enough equipment around, so I ddi'nt need to craft. The team skills were also no bad Idea: I only used the one, which shortens the rest time to 4 hours, which was very usefull, as resting is only allowed on the overland maps or in taverns. The limitted resting is also forcing you to be carefull with your spells. The new dialogue system is very nice: depending on your skill another character might have to say something that others can not (e.g. if one party member has a high diplomacy skill).
There are also some minor things that I liked about the other games more: in SOZ are no ingame video sequenzes and video dialogues, which is kind of a step back from the original campaign and MOTB. There is also not really team interaction like in MOTB. I liked the principle of the influence points very much. The story is a bit short: directly to the story related quests are rare.
I just hope that games like NWN are continued to be produced as I prefer more round base role playing much more than realtime like in Oblivion (though it was a great game too). |
Great game
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| Review Date: April 14, 2009 |
| Reviewer: tsnrunningbare, |
| This is a great game. I loved the original and the expansion is just as good. |
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