[quote name='j.elles']Man try Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion pack. I think the patches and the expansion have really made it a solid follow to the original.
They may not be Bioware but I think they did a good job. I guess you can also wait for this new expansion pack that should be coming out soon as well.[/QUOTE]
In fairness, I'm allowing my disdain for how poorly designed and coded the game is overshadow my opinion of the writing and execution of the game's story. I actually own the exapnsion, which I got at CC for 10 bucks during their 50% PC game sale, but it's still sealed. All of the engine improvements from the expansion are included in the latest patches anyway, which I've tried. BTW, patching the game from launch version to current takes about 1 hour now, unless you have everything downloaded in advance.
I've still to this day been unable to get over how poorly conceived the changes to the user interface are, how unnecessarily obtuse all of the menus are relative to the first NWN. Moreover, with all settings maxed and full AA, the original still looks and runs great. Even with everything set to very low, I can't get decent framerates and enjoyable performance out of NWN2, and yet the graphics of the game at very low look FAR worse than those of NWN maxed out. What does this have to do with anything? In my opinion, it demonstrates incompetent coding, a bunch of programmers who just built their Electron modifications onto an already adequate Aurora engine. I should be able to get the same performance out of NWN2 with minimal settings as I do with NWN maxed, based on how the games look, but I can't. There are no physics being processed in NWN2, the AI isn't that much more sophisticated.
Also, I can't stand the first few hours of the single player campaign. I got about 8-10 hours in after FORCING myself to, but after realizing that the dwarf, the demon, and the druid all annoyed the hell out of me, I realized I just wasn't enjoying the experience, that the writing was too juvenile to plod onward. I somewhat agree with those that complain about NWN1's main campaign, saying its too dull, generic, and uninteresting. But at the same time the solid programming and excellent performance I enjoy with the game translate into a pure gameplay experience. I can't get that with NWN2. Moreover, the game uses the same stilted, static, moronic dialogue system that's billed as "cinematic" but really just consists of awkward cuts back and forth from the navel up. Fantastic presentation. At least the Witcher delivers some well directed in-engine cutscenes, and personally I'm more interested in the characters and game world. It lets me overlook the performance issues it too suffers from.
Obsidian has yet to prove to me they're capable of making an RPG that doesn't suck nuts. Folks that like their writing, that thing they do a better job of giving true moral choices and dialogue options, great... Enjoy it. I disagree, I hate their writing and their story design, and I think they have some of the worst programmers in the industry doing their engine work and post-design-optimization.
I guarantee you Alpha Protocol will be a poorly-coded Mass Effect rip-off with terrible frame rate issues and fundamental design flaws... they just can't make a good game (at least not within a normal development window). Maybe if they had 5 years to work on it NWN2 would have been worth the time.
up your game.... you won't notice till you're in it... which would be lame.
