Despite being a direct sequel, the deep, complex and atmospheric story in Mask is a welcome departure from the original.
Even in first few seconds of the game, the much darker tone is palpable. In the opening scene your character lies unconscious on the floor in an unknown cave, as the narrator describes in a somber tone what little you can remember of the events that transpired between the end of the first game and now. Safiya, a mysterious woman in red appears and frees you from what you realize is a sort of warded prison in a barrow of angry spirits. With little time to explain, the two of you attempt to make your way to the surface.
Avoiding any large spoilers, you come to realize that you've somehow been transported far, far north of Neverwinter to the country of Rashemen. Now in a cold, hostile environment, with no sign of your old companions, and Safiya, a member of the notorious Red Wizards of Thay as your only guide, you become desperate for answers. As if things weren't bad enough, you come to realize that you've been cursed; possessed by a spirit that constantly needs to devour souls. With a dozen questions looming in your mind, not the least of which being whether or not a way to lift the curse exists, you find yourself unwittingly forced into another epic quest.
The number of characters that can potentially join you are less than half of the original, but this allows for more depth and development. The reasons that your companions have for joining you are much more believable than Khelgar's "Hey, you like fightin'? I like fightin'! Let's travel together!" Rather, Kaelyn, a fallen angel of sorts, seeks the destruction of the Wall of the Faithless, which is basically where atheists of Faerun go. Her reasons are elaborated on if you gain her trust, but the gist of what she gives you upon your first meeting is that she believes the Wall is a thing of complete injustice. It becomes apparent to her that your curse and the Wall are tied together somehow, and travels with you not entirely for your sake, but hers as well.
Most of the additions to the game are welcome ones. The level cap has been raised to 30 to allow for epic level characters, and new prestige classes have been added. The manual also states that the installation of Mask applies some fixes to the game's engine to increase performance. How much this will change your experience running the game will obviously vary greatly from PC to PC.
Visually, Mask is a lot more colorful, so to speak. Yes, the world does feel much gloomier, especially when you're exploring the 'Shadow' plane of existence, but there's a certain dreamy, almost surreal vibe that's present throughout much of the game. This is, once again, helped by a cast of much more serious characters than in the original. Some dungeons leave a bit to be desired in their design, but the myriad of different locations you visit more than make up for it. On entering a couple, I'll admit to having said, "whoa," out loud and paused for a moment to take everything in.
On the audio side of things, I have to say I was very impressed. The voice acting is very convincing, and I have to give special mention to the voice actors portraying Gann and Kaelyn. Gann, who's voice that of one who never loses his cool, and despite his mysterious nature, is not above witty and sometimes humorous banter. Kaelyn, who's voice is perpetually calm and soothing, bellies a determination that borders on fanaticism behind one who gives an aura of innocence. The music also does an excellent job of driving home the emotion behind the story, and the atmosphere of the world. From the moment you step into Mulsantir and come to the realization that you truly are alone in a foreign land, to the eerie ambient sounds of the shadow realm.
The enchanting system is vastly improved as well. Elementals, spirits and most other creatures will drop essences that can be combined by Safiya, or any other character that dabbles in Alchemy. You're also given an enchanting bag, so there's no need to actually be at a workbench. By requiring only essences, and the recipes for enchanting being in the descriptions themselves, there's far less fumbling around should you wish to enchant your gear. And you really should.
Of course, for all the praise I have concerning most aspects of Mask, I did run into a few problems as well. The pacing suffers at certain points, such as an area where puzzle solving becomes the main focus, and a dungeon or two that were a little too large and maze-like for my tastes. I don't have a problem with either of those things generally, but I did feel they stalled the story for the sake of adding more hours to your play time. I also encountered a bug that would have kept me from completing one side quest. I found a fix online through console shenanigans, but players should never have to do that.
The system for managing your hunger might put off some people as well, or at the very least, make them feel more inclined to rush through parts of the game faster than they'd like. As time goes by, a bar showing the amount of spirit energy you have, drains. The closer to zero you get to, the more penalties begin to stack on your character until he, or she dies. It's not as simple as just devouring every spirit you come across. If you feed more than once every 24 hours, your cravings become more intense, requiring you to devour more and more. If you feel inclined to do so, you can try to stave off your hunger, and in time become more adept at doing so. Unfortunately, resting and recovering spells and health in Mask requires you to do so for 8 hours of game time, which of course drains your spirit energy accordingly as well. It turns into something that you have to constantly micromanage on the side, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't add another layer of depth to the game for me personally.
So is Mask of the Betrayer worth playing? Hell yes. While I liked the original campaign, Mask is an entirely different, memorable and unique experience that I did not expect at all. It does have some issues, some of which carry over from just being Neverwinter Nights 2, but if the original campaign didn't quite compel you with it's more by the books style, Mask almost certainly will. It should last you at the very least 25+ hours.
Hard to believe these two games came from the same company.