Ivan
Arcane
cast cunning eagle/fox to increase my diplomacy and intimidation. convinced wizard was a bad move.
I like taking my time in exploring an area, not having to rush because of a stupid mechanic.
I like taking my time in exploring an area, not having to rush because of a stupid mechanic.
Are you one of those pro games journos who got buttblasted by a simple mechanic?I see a lot of idiots here defending the Spirit Eater thing. That was by far the worst mechanic I ever seen in any RPG I played.
Vault Dweller said:The Spirit-Meter thingy
I have to mention the spirit meter because it was criticized in every review for being confusing, hard, and just not fun. Well, guess what? It's a pretty damn good feature and an excellent moron indicator. If you failed to understand this feature, odds are you’re a fucking moron. Sad, but true. Let's blame the clearly failed education system and the leniency toward degenerates in your homeland.
Anyway, a handy guide to the spirit-meter.
The game revolves around your condition. Some say it’s a curse, some say it’s a gift. You are a spirit-eater. You consume spirits and sometimes souls (if you choose the evil path). Game mechanics-wise, your condition is represented via two meters: % level of your spirit energy (100% is good, 0% is dead) and your hunger level. The higher your hunger level is, the faster the spirit energy level drops. The lower your spirit energy level is, the heavier your stat penalties are.
- STAT PENALTIES?!! WHAT THE FUCK?!!! THIS GAEM SUCKS!!!!
Now that you understand the basic idea, here are the two basic paths the game offers.
The good path: You consider your affliction a curse. You suppress your hunger, thus significantly slowing your need to feed. Eventually you acquire “good” feats like Eternal Rest, which allows you to grant rest to undead spirits and restores your spirit energy without increasing your hunger. Soon (very soon) your hunger is pretty much at zero and you focus on the rest of the game.
The evil path: You realize that you've been given a power and that only a fool would give it up. You devour spirits and eventually learn to devour souls. You gain very powerful spirit essences (to craft VERY powerful items) this way and once you fully unleash your gift, you gain significant combat bonuses.
So, what does it all mean? It means that if you are a good person, you can pretty much ignore this feature by suppressing your hunger and enjoy what it adds to the dialogues. If you are an evil bastard, you can "go with the flow" and become a powerful being through the special spirit essences, feats, and abilities. However, all that power - and that's the brilliant part - comes with a price. You must constantly look for spirits to feed on to stay alive. Compare that to Knights of the Old Republic, for example, where the difference between good and evil is purely cosmetic as both sides are equally balances and it doesn't cost you anything to join the Dark Side.
The only problem with the spirit meter is the alignment adjustments. Whenever you make a spirit system related choice, you gain a few alignment points, becoming more Lawful, for example. Since the DnD alignment system is a subject to many interpretations, some players would disagree with how the spirit system handles your alignment. I don't think it's a big deal, to be honest, but if you care a lot about this aspect, I suggested getting a mod that can remove and change the adjustment to fit your own alignment beliefs.
Vault Dweller said:The Spirit-Meter thingy
I have to mention the spirit meter because it was criticized in every review for being confusing, hard, and just not fun. Well, guess what? It's a pretty damn good feature and an excellent moron indicator. If you failed to understand this feature, odds are you’re a fucking moron. Sad, but true. Let's blame the clearly failed education system and the leniency toward degenerates in your homeland.
Anyway, a handy guide to the spirit-meter.
The game revolves around your condition. Some say it’s a curse, some say it’s a gift. You are a spirit-eater. You consume spirits and sometimes souls (if you choose the evil path). Game mechanics-wise, your condition is represented via two meters: % level of your spirit energy (100% is good, 0% is dead) and your hunger level. The higher your hunger level is, the faster the spirit energy level drops. The lower your spirit energy level is, the heavier your stat penalties are.
- STAT PENALTIES?!! WHAT THE FUCK?!!! THIS GAEM SUCKS!!!!
Now that you understand the basic idea, here are the two basic paths the game offers.
The good path: You consider your affliction a curse. You suppress your hunger, thus significantly slowing your need to feed. Eventually you acquire “good” feats like Eternal Rest, which allows you to grant rest to undead spirits and restores your spirit energy without increasing your hunger. Soon (very soon) your hunger is pretty much at zero and you focus on the rest of the game.
The evil path: You realize that you've been given a power and that only a fool would give it up. You devour spirits and eventually learn to devour souls. You gain very powerful spirit essences (to craft VERY powerful items) this way and once you fully unleash your gift, you gain significant combat bonuses.
So, what does it all mean? It means that if you are a good person, you can pretty much ignore this feature by suppressing your hunger and enjoy what it adds to the dialogues. If you are an evil bastard, you can "go with the flow" and become a powerful being through the special spirit essences, feats, and abilities. However, all that power - and that's the brilliant part - comes with a price. You must constantly look for spirits to feed on to stay alive. Compare that to Knights of the Old Republic, for example, where the difference between good and evil is purely cosmetic as both sides are equally balances and it doesn't cost you anything to join the Dark Side.
The only problem with the spirit meter is the alignment adjustments. Whenever you make a spirit system related choice, you gain a few alignment points, becoming more Lawful, for example. Since the DnD alignment system is a subject to many interpretations, some players would disagree with how the spirit system handles your alignment. I don't think it's a big deal, to be honest, but if you care a lot about this aspect, I suggested getting a mod that can remove and change the adjustment to fit your own alignment beliefs.
Also it bears mentioning that time only really passed while traveling and resting. Opening chests and standing around pondering whether the +5 sword of bumfucking was better than a +6 sword of shitpounding did not.
I am playing through NWN2 for the first time now. Tried it at launch but didn't like my character and scrapped the playthrough. Currently at the end of Act 2. The combat is below average and the camera is bad. That said, while the OC is certainly a below average crpg, it does not sink to the shit levels of DAI or Skyrim. I would say it is worth one playthrough given the reward at the end of the tunnel (MOTB).
I am playing through NWN2 for the first time now. Tried it at launch but didn't like my character and scrapped the playthrough. Currently at the end of Act 2. The combat is below average and the camera is bad. That said, while the OC is certainly a below average crpg, it does not sink to the shit levels of DAI or Skyrim. I would say it is worth one playthrough given the reward at the end of the tunnel (MOTB).
There's lots of good stuff in the OC, slithers of reactivity here and there, and the Trial is truly excellent. I also enjoyed most of the Crossroad Keep stuff. Way better handled than the stronghold in PoE.
I am playing through NWN2 for the first time now. Tried it at launch but didn't like my character and scrapped the playthrough. Currently at the end of Act 2. The combat is below average and the camera is bad. That said, while the OC is certainly a below average crpg, it does not sink to the shit levels of DAI or Skyrim. I would say it is worth one playthrough given the reward at the end of the tunnel (MOTB).
There's lots of good stuff in the OC, slithers of reactivity here and there, and the Trial is truly excellent. I also enjoyed most of the Crossroad Keep stuff. Way better handled than the stronghold in PoE.
I agree. The trial is good and the Crossroads Keep at least gives gold a purpose for the first time I can remember in a D&D game. I had probably 500K in gold when I got to the keep and spent every piece of it immediately.
I am playing through NWN2 for the first time now. Tried it at launch but didn't like my character and scrapped the playthrough. Currently at the end of Act 2. The combat is below average and the camera is bad. That said, while the OC is certainly a below average crpg, it does not sink to the shit levels of DAI or Skyrim. I would say it is worth one playthrough given the reward at the end of the tunnel (MOTB).
There's lots of good stuff in the OC, slithers of reactivity here and there, and the Trial is truly excellent. I also enjoyed most of the Crossroad Keep stuff. Way better handled than the stronghold in PoE.
I agree. The trial is good and the Crossroads Keep at least gives gold a purpose for the first time I can remember in a D&D game. I had probably 500K in gold when I got to the keep and spent every piece of it immediately.
The trial? That damn trial who just ignores all your hard work and just forces into a freaking duel!? My warlock ass is still tender from that god damn duel. That said everything else about that trial was good indeed, just...not the end of it...
No, I just didn't want to play all my characters as Lawful Good paladins so I can ignore this mechanic. When I removed it, MotB became playable. In the end the game was more playable than OC, but not to levels everyone praises it. I enjoyed PST much more for a game less focused on combat.Are you one of those pro games journos who got buttblasted by a simple mechanic?I see a lot of idiots here defending the Spirit Eater thing. That was by far the worst mechanic I ever seen in any RPG I played.
Both Trial and Keep were shit. A bit better than PoE but not much.I am playing through NWN2 for the first time now. Tried it at launch but didn't like my character and scrapped the playthrough. Currently at the end of Act 2. The combat is below average and the camera is bad. That said, while the OC is certainly a below average crpg, it does not sink to the shit levels of DAI or Skyrim. I would say it is worth one playthrough given the reward at the end of the tunnel (MOTB).
There's lots of good stuff in the OC, slithers of reactivity here and there, and the Trial is truly excellent. I also enjoyed most of the Crossroad Keep stuff. Way better handled than the stronghold in PoE.
I agree. The trial is good and the Crossroads Keep at least gives gold a purpose for the first time I can remember in a D&D game. I had probably 500K in gold when I got to the keep and spent every piece of it immediately.
It's hard to sink to the level of DA:I because it's rock bottom but Skyrim was infinitely more interesting and convincing than NWN2 OC.That said, while the OC is certainly a below average crpg, it does not sink to the shit levels of DAI or Skyrim.
The trial? That damn trial who just ignores all your hard work and just forces into a freaking duel!? My warlock ass is still tender from that god damn duel. That said everything else about that trial was good indeed, just...not the end of it...
It's hard to sink to the level of DA:I because it's rock bottom but Skyrim was infinitely more interesting and convincing than NWN2 OC.