Amazing game only hindered by its bugs.
Bards sing tales of heroes from ages past, but never have the Forgotten Realms so desperately needed a champion. Years have passed since the war between Luskan and Neverwinter, almost enough time for the wounds of war to heal. But the brief peace the Realms have known may be at an end. Tension growing between the mighty city-states means the Sword Coast again teeters on the edge of open war. Unnoticed, a greater danger stalks the City of Skilled Hands. Unbeknownst to the denizens of the North, deep in the Mere of Dead Men, dark forces from across the Realms have been rallied under the banner of a legendary evil. If left unchallenged, all of the North is doomed to fall under its power.
Even in this darkest hour, hope remains. A mysterious relic is borne to Neverwinter in the hands of a lone hero so that its secrets may be unlocked - secrets that carry the fate of all the North. So begins an epic tale of shattered alliances, noble acts and dark deeds to be told across the Realms for generations to come.
First Impressions -
My first impression was the game was done very well. Not only that, I thought the game gave very many choices as to what I wanted my character to be. One thing that bugged me starting out was the few choices I was given for a character's looks; it wasn't that big of a deal, however, and it more than makes up for it.
Difficulty - Medium.
Some parts can be difficult, but not so much that you are tearing your hair out. Just remember to save frequently, usually after a big battle, because otherwise you might find yourself doing the same tedious tasks. The game can often catch you off guard with a boss or a big group of enemies.
Review :
Graphics - 8.0
This part is where most of the problems are born. It isn't so much the graphics looks, for they are decent, but mostly the problems that come out of the graphics looking like they do. The graphic system for this game is horrible; some lower-end computers can play this game better than most higher-end computers. Mine ran really slow for a while, until I decided to poke around with the system files. Eventually I found the game's cache options, and I changed it from 500 to 5000. My computer now runs it at what I think is a good speed for an RPG (an average of 30 FPS). The reason this score isn't lower is because of the beautiful spells. They were probably the greatest factor in making my second play through as much fun as it was.
Sound - 9.0
The game definitely has memorable music. Not only that, they don't really bore you with a track, since the next area usually has a different track that is played. Also, it didn't seem like the game came back to a track they used very often, so this is definitely a game's strong point.
Story - 8.0
I thought the story was good. It sucked me in long enough for me to enjoy the game. However, after a while the story seemed to lose it's charm, and a lot of elements seemed repeated from earlier in the game. Eventually I found that if a character I was traveling with died I wouldn't really care. The characters definitely feel forced on, because I don't have the option to not travel with them.
Interest Level - 10
The game had me interested from the get-go. All of the characters you create were different to play with in some way, so you could replay the game and come across different situations because of it. Playing as a good character and then an evil character is a much different ball game; I had a lot of fun killing people that annoyed me the first time through.
Gameplay - 9.0
The game is rather easy to understand once you get going. One thing that annoyed me for the first hour or so was the camera. However, once I was used to it, it was harder to go back and play games like this one because of the different camera. I could recommend this game to beginners of the RPG genre because it is quite easy to get started.
Fun Level - 9.5
This game is fun. There is no denying that. Although, the second time through, the tasks were annoying to do over, but I continued doing it just to see what was different because of the different path I was taking. So, I didn't really have a problem with that.
Bug/Glitch Level (higher score means fewer bugs) - 6.5
With the bugs this game has, I'm surprised it's gone through so many patches. On my third time through, Elanee's event was bugged, so I never even got her on my team. With the various lag issues this game has on even the highest-end computers, It's a surprise this game was playable on the computers that made it! It's worse on Vista, too, but that's not Vista's fault as much as it was the game's fault. However, I gave the game credit, because with the patches, they have definitely fixed a lot of the visible problems with the game. Also, if you're not lazy enough to tinker with some of the files or graphical settings, it should work alright. Oh, and Mask of the Betrayer fixed a LOT of the graphical problems this game had (even on the regular campaign for me), but that's for another review. All in all, I was quite disappointed with its bugs.
Overall Score – 9.0
This game is definitely deserving of it's high scores across the board.
Final Thoughts :
Despite its bugs, I REALLY enjoyed this game. It's a lot of fun. They also did a really good job of incorporating the rules of D&D into the game in my opinion. Anyone that enjoys RPGs and/or D&D should give this game a try; I recommend this game to everyone, however.