Posted April 13, 2011
I really want to love this game. I'm a huge fan of cRPGs and 'classic' ones in particular. However, I've tried to get into NWN three times since 2004 and I just find it boring and frustrating. I wonder if I'm missing something?
To be clear, I'm not trying to bash one of your favorite games if this happens to be one. I'm just perplexed as to how this game seems to be as popular as it is, as highly reviewed as it was, as well as being the exact kind of game I like and yet I just can't get into it.
My issue with NWN is that it seems to try to exist in this nebulous space between being a party-oriented tactical RPG a la Baldur's Gate and point and click 'action' RPG a la Diablo, the latter of which I'm not really into. In the end this seems to amount to clicking on something then sitting back as a series of rolls are made, the outcomes of which determine whether you win the battle or die.
This is of course how games like Baldur's Gate work, fundamentally, but in BG you can control your entire party of six which provides many, many variables over which to influence the outcome of the combat. The inability to control party members in NWN even makes things as simple as having an ally drink a potion tedious. Whilst fighting Cailik in the aqueducts my PCs job in the battle was to stand by my barbarian henchman and dole out potions one at a time. (!?!?)
Having so little control over the party basically makes each encounter a game a chance. Given the way the D&D round works, there isn't a whole lot for one character to do. I basically get to manipulate one thing in a battle then wait to see what the computer does with the other 6-7 entities involved. It's like watching my computer play a game, basically.
So far I've played a fighter/thief up to around 6 or 7 character levels. By the time I got a rogue level or two I realized the tedium wasn't going to change. I decided to try my hand at a Druid. This path gave me a couple more options, I guess, but quickly seemed to amount to about the same thing.
Having a 'tank' pet that I can't send out ahead of me - not to mention the henchman - has provided for some pretty ridiculous situations. Assuming they don't get lost along the way, they always hang back a few paces. This means that my armor poor low HP druid has to run out, grab enemies and run back to my fearless squad of summoned beasts and a half orc. Then I have to run in circles until the computer decides it's time to attack something. If I'm lucky they will attack the ones who are after me but, you know, there are no guarantees.
If you've taken the time to read all of this I would really appreciate knowing what you think it is that makes NWN worth playing. Like I said I really, really, really, want to love this game. There's so much content for it and it's so highly regarded that I would love to sink my teeth into it but the basic mechanics just seem dull and lacking. Am I missing something? Do I just need to push on? Does it eventually open up into something that I'm not yet seeing?
Thanks.
To be clear, I'm not trying to bash one of your favorite games if this happens to be one. I'm just perplexed as to how this game seems to be as popular as it is, as highly reviewed as it was, as well as being the exact kind of game I like and yet I just can't get into it.
My issue with NWN is that it seems to try to exist in this nebulous space between being a party-oriented tactical RPG a la Baldur's Gate and point and click 'action' RPG a la Diablo, the latter of which I'm not really into. In the end this seems to amount to clicking on something then sitting back as a series of rolls are made, the outcomes of which determine whether you win the battle or die.
This is of course how games like Baldur's Gate work, fundamentally, but in BG you can control your entire party of six which provides many, many variables over which to influence the outcome of the combat. The inability to control party members in NWN even makes things as simple as having an ally drink a potion tedious. Whilst fighting Cailik in the aqueducts my PCs job in the battle was to stand by my barbarian henchman and dole out potions one at a time. (!?!?)
Having so little control over the party basically makes each encounter a game a chance. Given the way the D&D round works, there isn't a whole lot for one character to do. I basically get to manipulate one thing in a battle then wait to see what the computer does with the other 6-7 entities involved. It's like watching my computer play a game, basically.
So far I've played a fighter/thief up to around 6 or 7 character levels. By the time I got a rogue level or two I realized the tedium wasn't going to change. I decided to try my hand at a Druid. This path gave me a couple more options, I guess, but quickly seemed to amount to about the same thing.
Having a 'tank' pet that I can't send out ahead of me - not to mention the henchman - has provided for some pretty ridiculous situations. Assuming they don't get lost along the way, they always hang back a few paces. This means that my armor poor low HP druid has to run out, grab enemies and run back to my fearless squad of summoned beasts and a half orc. Then I have to run in circles until the computer decides it's time to attack something. If I'm lucky they will attack the ones who are after me but, you know, there are no guarantees.
If you've taken the time to read all of this I would really appreciate knowing what you think it is that makes NWN worth playing. Like I said I really, really, really, want to love this game. There's so much content for it and it's so highly regarded that I would love to sink my teeth into it but the basic mechanics just seem dull and lacking. Am I missing something? Do I just need to push on? Does it eventually open up into something that I'm not yet seeing?
Thanks.