Jaded Grinder

Let's take a look at the press release that Atari has announced today:

In Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, players are transported
back to the Forgotten Realms shortly after the events detailed in the
original Neverwinter Nights 2. Following the climactic battle against the
King of Shadows, the player awakens alone and stranded deep beneath the
earth. Surrounded by a horde of evil spirits, the player embarks on an epic
adventure that reveals his true destiny.

So we start with all of our awesome gear taken away from us, yet again? Grrr. Underground also seems to imply the Underdark, but we'll see I guess. I know that some people were hoping that Obsidian would implement beholders and mindflayers so that modders could use them in their own creations. In particular Schegels' planned Underdark campaign series would need these things.

Set in harsh, spirit-rich Rashemen, near the powerful nation of Thay, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer will present players with an exciting new campaign; epic levels; dozens of new feats and spells; new races, base classes and prestige classes; new companions; new weapons, armor and crafting options; hordes of new monsters; and enhanced modding tools.

I have to admit I'm a little curious how they will handle the witches and warrior-guardians of the Rashemen. We can only hope for a cameo from the fan-favorite NPC, Minsc, from Baldur's Gate 2. I have to assume that the new base and prestige classes may relate to the new areas, such as Red Wizard of Thay is a powerful arcane caster prestige class for evil alignment characters.

"We're also making new advances in story and character development as well as improving upon the acclaimed companion Influence System used in both Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2."

I'm not sure what improvements they are going to make, but if they make it easier to figure out how to gauge how much your companions like you it would be pretty nice. At least you could figure out some sense of progress in KOTOR2 with making them move from light to dark side or visa versa and apprenticing them. I really hope that the companions in NWN2 "Mask of the Betrayer" have a lot more character development options in their dialogues and side-quests. NWN2's characters more or less didn't change (some items were the most they got, aside from upgrading the Blade Golem and changing Khelgar's class to monk) which was a bit of a disappointment.

Labels: Neverwinter Nights 2