NeverWinter Nights 2

Well, I finally did it. I have installed NWN2 on my system. It has only taken 11 months for me to take that plunge. Anyway, my initial opinion is good of the game, however, I've only finished the introductory missions.

For the most part, the game is running well on my system. I do have a complaint about the quality of the graphics. Granted, I only have the minimum specs, that doesn't excuse skins from looking "speculated" and semi transparent. I'm finding this graphical nature quite difficult to deal with. I would expect with shading and other features disabled that the people with which I have to interact would appear whole.

The eyes are the most interesting part. Their skin (bare exposed skin, clothing doesn't suffer this same effect) has this semi transparent and speculated appearance. However, the eyes are complete spheres hovering within this frame that suggests a face. Granted, this graphical anomaly doesn't detract from the quality of game play, I had just expected better.

I have to agree with other words of caution that I've previously received from other players. The speed of interaction with the game is much impaired in comparison with NWN1. Trying to rotate the screen with the mouse at the edge of the screen is hit-or-miss at best. Trying to get the "free form" camera angles to cooperate is difficult at best. There have already been times that the camera was facing directly down at the party or up from the ground. I found both situations to be frustrating to try to get a useful angle at the party.

I have found one aspect of the game that is not different from the original. The mini map. The map always stays oriented north regardless of your play camera angle. I personally find this frustrating to no end. I am continuously running in circles just to be my head wrapped around what the map is trying to tell me and how to get to what I want to see or do.

The next thing that I'm finding incredibly annoying is the fact that I have to now maintain my henchmen. WTF? I am playing the game as one character, not a party. Why do the henchmen not take care of their own level-ups? I do not play wizards or clerics and typically not a fighter. However, I now have to ensure that I make the right decisions regarding their character progression. If I wanted to play a spellcaster or a fighter I would have selected that at the beginning. Why do I have to put up with this now? For all I know the decisions I make now can have good or bad consequences in the future. That is some serious pressure when trying to manage character types that I don't play.