NWN2: Overview of the Suquel.

Overview of the Suquel.  Neverwinter Nights 2 represents a giant leap forward in graphics technology, with beautiful 3D and color, visual feedback on stacking commands is helpful, crafting allows the creation of more effective weapons and armor, and the option of having detailed control over characters is great. All of these are vast improvements over Neverwinter Nights. Unfortunately, the quality of story development is lower than in Hordes of the Underdark (though higher than in NWN or Shadows of Undrentide). Role-playing devolves to planned flattery confused by ambiguous wording, and there are a number of technical deficiencies and bugs. The Christian themes that were delicately and beautifully developed in Hordes of the Underdark are here wooden and forced—and probably done for commercial reasons. Naming a warrior and recruiting sergeant The Light of Heaven was particularly graceless.

 

The storyline has a small-town boy, attacked by dark creatures, being sent to the big city to meet his uncle and get a magical silver shard. The male player meets a love interest, Shandra, who ultimately decides to train under him. In the city, the player meets and defeats the githyanki, who are also searching for silver shards. These shards, it develops, are part of a githyanki sword—and one is lodged next to the player’s heart. The player survived only because his mother sacrificed her life by shielding him with her body.  Defeating a second group of githyanki, the player discovers that the entire planet Toril is now on its own to face the King of Shadows. He manages to disrupt a ritual at the Crossroads Keep castle intended to cause the King of Shadows to emerge, but even killing the mages involved in the ritual, including their leader Garius, only delays that.

 

The player is awarded a castle in total disrepair, which he has to refurbish largely out of pocket. Guided by a githzerai, he searches the ruins of the lost empire of Illefarn and partially completes a ritual used to defend against the King of Shadows. Then the party goes to the secret haven of the grandfather of his love interest, who holds the last key to the ritual. Here the love interest is killed by her own grandfather.

 

In an unconsciously telling comment about the quality of game development, one of the associates in the game, Grobnar, asks why the love interest had to die. No answer emerges. It was just a senseless self-sacrifice. In yet another oddly disconnected story bit, the male player is offered the chance to sleep with the elven earth mother figure, Elanee. As romantic as the 30-second cut scene might be, no further intimacy or camaraderie develops.

 

Facing a series of confrontations with sidekicks of the King of Shadows, the player ultimately confronts the King of Shadows, Garius, and one or more associates who betray him. As good as the graphics are, they aren’t good enough to make this anything except confused mayhem. And at the end, what was it all about?  It’s not clear. The King of Shadows has been stuffed back into the closet.

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