Amazing improvement on many fronts
Because of this, Mask of the Betrayer (MotB) really surprised me. It has improved on the original game-play experience so much that it has restored my hope for NWN 2s future.
First of all the game is well balanced. In the original campaign i could just ram through a dungeon door without saving, and then just hack my way through the opponents with melee , spells being an afterthought . In MotB you have to use actual strategy to win a lot of the fights , and not a few of them are quite challenging and will have you on the edge of your seat.
Of course near the end of the game you end up with some quite powerful characters (level cap i 30) and this reflects on the last chapter of the game, which seems to lack the same challenging combat seen previously.
Since i have struggled with similar problems in the Pen and Paper version of D&D, im prepared to give the developers some leeway here.
The MotB campaign is much better written than any of the previous official products in the NWN franchise. Main story, dialogue and Non Player Characters have been given considerable thought and artistic expression. The NPCs (the main ones) feels much less like the archetypes of the OC and more like defined characters , and it is interesting and satisfying to converse with them (though they could have been given a tad more
dialogue ). The main PCs dialogue-options are also more nuanced than your standard good/evil/neutral replies. Sure all these options are still there, but every so often the game presents you with more "mature" (as in complex) conversation.
The writing also asserts itself in the story of the campaign which is epic in scope, centering around curses, feelings and deities. It's all handled quite well and is complex enough to surprise you a few times without being incoherent.
The quests are interesting and makes sense, and while there isn't many side quest, those there are feel like they are worth exploring and are often tied to the main story in some manner. Best of all there are multiple ways to solve the quests and dialogue (and appropriate skills) is as relevant to finishing quests, as combat ability is.
Key moments in the campaign gives you choices that will affect the rest of the campaign. Im not sure about the effect these choices have on the ending of the game, but nevertheless MotB features several different endings , and those i have seen seems fulfilling and appropriate.
The spirit eater curse (aforementioned curse which is focus of the game) works well story-wise, but is not always easy to deal with in the game. It took me some experimentation to get the hang of it, but it works well enough if you remember how to use it correctly (alternately , you could just cheat and remove it entirely, if you are seeking a more standard D&D experience).
This mechanic and the sometimes incomprehensible D20 system may make it seem too hard, but once you get the hang of it the game flows well.
The game takes place in Rashemen (a barbarianesque wilderness), which is a nice departure from the standard fantasy of the Sword Coast. It reflects itself in the look and feel of the game, which has a more raw feel to it than the dull looks of the city of Neverwinter. There are trips to the countryside and other exotic locations, and they all seem to have been getting the right amount of attention and that makes them seem worthwhile to explore.
I would argue that there isn't enough houses to rummage through (even if you aren't playing as a thieving scumbag, its nice to know that the option is there), those there are, are usually tied to a side quest to some degree.
All in all, i am quite surprised to see the giant leap Obsidian (by far their best product yet) has made from the OC in NWN 2 to the campaign in MotB. Their attention to detail and story can be felt on many levels of the game and proves that NWN 2 can be a really great game. I recommend it to everyone who's is looking for a game with a rich story, interesting characters , good combat and multiple quest solution.