Neverwinter Nights 2 Expansion Pack: Mask of the Betrayer
Neverwinter Nights 2 (NWN2) is a computer role-playing game set in the fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms, one of the popular campaign settings of Dungeons and Dragons. It takes the player from the tiniest of villages into a sweeping tale of danger and war, chronicling their rise from a peasant to a full-fledged hero of the Realms, defending it against one of the greatest threats of the age.
In Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, players are transported back to the Forgotten Realms shortly after the events detailed in the original Neverwinter Nights 2. Following the climactic battle against the King of Shadows, the player awakens alone and stranded deep beneath the earth. Surrounded by a horde of evil spirits, the player embarks on an epic adventure that reveals his true destiny. Set in harsh, spirit-rich Rashemen, near the powerful nation of Thay, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer will present players with an exciting new campaign; epic levels; dozens of new feats and spells; new races, base classes and prestige classes; new companions; new weapons, armour and crafting options; hordes of new monsters; and enhanced modding tools.
Neverwinter Nights 2 Expansion Pack: Mask of the Betrayer Accessories
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Neverwinter Nights 2 Expansion Pack: Mask of the Betrayer Reviews
The crafting aspect is much improved for those who don't want to have to scour the entire bloody game to find one rock or recipe for something, allowing much quicker on the fly weapon and armor modification. Other than that minor quibble, this is an excellent RPG, and is superior to both the original NWN 2 and Storms expansion.
You certainly get much more of a feeling of power in this expansion (no beetle killing), with Ancient Vampires being one of your EASIER foes. The only story-wise disappointment was the way that your previous companions' fates were revealed, which was somewhat depressing and anti-climatic.
The combat has greatly improved, and looks awesome when all the effects are turned on. It does shrink down the number of companions you can have, but this means that it is easier to get to the bottom of the various background stories without having to play musical chairs with your party all the time.
Also, the companion interface is now better, giving you an idea of where you stand with your group and granting different bonuses on these interactions. Mask of the Betrayer is definitely the strongest of the NWN 2 series of games.
I experienced no game-stopping bugs or clipping issues like in the original campaign, and the story was refreshingly original, for once not being about you saving one kingdom or another from ancient evil mojo.
So the entire time I'm handicapped by a silly system that does not take into account little aspects like not being able to use my entire spell list. The whole system had me pulling my hair out in frustration at how absolutly ridiculous it all was. Storm of the Zehir looks to continue what they started with MotB and hopefully will be another stellar entry. But when mask of the betrayer introduced the ridiculous spirit meter system, causing me literally hours of pure frustration, I resorted to the only thing that would allow me to experience the game.
The spirit meter looks good on paper - introduce a system that makes your choices and tactics more meaningful by restricting resting,and providing a new "twist" on gameplay. A true waste of gaming resources that could have been spent adding quests or making the game longer. The characters are unique and more likeable than typical cast of characters that was Kheglar and the rest. With all that being said, once you finally get to enjoy the game, it's actually the best NWN I've ever played. Once you disable the ridiculous spirit meter, the game is great. The thing is actually eating spirits causes what's called your "craving" to rise, which in turn makes you need to eat spirits more frequently. I shoudl also mention that the game runs better than it did with the OC, and it looks better too.
Cursing the developer for allowing such a poorly tested, poorly thought out feature just for the sake of a bullet point on the box. Im a warrior/cleric, and simply traveling to another destination causes me to deplete my spirit energy by half, causing me to lose my entire list of spells because i've lost my wisdom points. Compounded with the fact that MotB is immensly more difficult: enemies are stronger, have stronger spells, etc. And cheat you have to. Well that sounds good but in practice itself is also frustrating. Every other destination I have to replinish my spirit meter by appplying the cheat, further taking me out of the immersion. So you figure just devour more spirits right. I've never used 'cheats' for a game.
I'm not an evil character so why would I kill a family of trolls just to try and hack a poorly implemented gameplay "feature". Sounds not so bad so far right. Nice thing but everytime you use it, you gain +2 lawful points. You have to wait till an enemy gets to 'Near Death' before you can devour him. It becomes a frustrating effort in micro management to tell your companions to stop fighting or attack different people while your trying to time a "devour" spell. Top it off each devour only restores a handful of points, but still puts your craving meter up, further debilitaing you. If you're looking for a great RPG you should pick up the Gold version with both the OC and this game. The music is great and atmosphereic, the voice acting is suitable and makes you feel for characters like Kaelyn and Gann.
I have mixed feelings about this expansion. So when it comes time to level up my barbarian, I can't because i've now become a lawfull good character, and my barbarian can't level being lawful good. Sadly, it was poorly implemented. For instance, time depletes your spirit meter, requiring you to either consume spirits or "suppress" your hunger to raise it.
There are so many restrictions on NWN gameplay staples like resting and traveling that instead of adding a tactiful twist it's been mindbogglingly frustrating. So now I have to try to go around doing evil things to get back into chaotic status completely disrupting my role playing experience. So there is the option to 'suppress' your craving. So the only way I could enjoy the game for what it was was to cheat.
Mask Of the Betrayer has caused me to do something I haven't done since the nintendo days, cheat. The mood and atmosphere is much more engaging that the main campaign. Well the whole time this is going on, you slowly lose your abilities and health.
the spirit energy angle ruined it for me. Would like to have spent more time in the adventure and less time looking for spirit energy.
The side quests aren't just go-fetch, either. I've played most of the major BioWare (as well as others') RPGs Baldur's Gate, Planescape, even the most of the original Ultima series and really enjoyed this game. They add a lot to the game, and are fun in and of themselves. Engaging story line, rich characterizations, good NPC AI, immersive environments. The thematic plot of the game really played on the good versus evil aspect that's so much a part of the series (as evidenced by the stress on character alignment) and though the nature of the ultimate foe wasn't a surprise (and I won't say more to avoid spoiling) I think it was very well executed, and a lot of fun. In many ways I found this even better than NWN2 OC, because frankly, I found all the empire-building aspects of that game very tedious after a while, what with building the castle, etc. Buy it and enjoy.
He just said suffice it to say it is quite a bit different than the other packs, and he personally did not care for the changes. Wish I could be a little more specific, but I don't play this one myself. I am writing this review for my husband, as he is the player of this game. He said they changed some things in this one that made it more difficult to play, also a little boring in spots. He told me to say that he has always liked (very much ) the rest of the NeverWinter Nights series. He has about everything from the start.
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