Another of the great myths of RPG by Bioware returns in a console adaptation 17 years after its original release.
After the arrival of Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment and Baldur’s Gate deliveries, the Beamdog studio concludes its relaunch of some great legends of the role with this Neverwinter Nights. The work done with all these once great games is noteworthy, since bringing back and for consoles some of the references of the genre must always be reviewed, but you have to be aware of the time that has passed since then. If Bioware has the name it currently has, despite some bumps in the road like Mass Effect Andromeda or Anthem, it is thanks to not only what they got in the last generation – Mass Effect itself, Dragon Age: Origins – but also to that almost two decades ago they were able to create some of the best RPGs of all time: the aforementioned Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire or the one that concerns us.
It is these role-playing titles that obviously notice the years visually, but that in terms of possibilities, narrative, freedom, depth … they have nothing to envy to current RPGs. In fact, they are usually even above. So is this review of Neverwinter Nights, a myth of the role.
Dense Narrative and Gameplay
It is not easy to find a role-playing game whose plot premise is already very attractive in itself, and Neverwinter Nights is no exception. We begin the adventure in the Academy of Heroes, which will act as a tutorial – although perhaps insufficient to what comes next – and also an introduction to a plot in which a disease known as the Howling Death has wreaked havoc. Doctors and even sorcerers have tried to discover the origins of this plague, but they have been unable, with what is a work that remains in the hands of a great hero, that is, us. This tutorial shows us the vicissitudes of combat and the radio menus – as usual – of Neverwinter Nights, but once we have more freedom to explore the environment we will also need some extra notions that are not offered to us in the beginning. It will be different according to the class we have chosen, since if we choose a warrior and try to learn to use spells, the tutor will tell us that we do not need it, so at least it gets to the point, something to be thankful for given the overall complexity of the game.
Some players will see it as a virtue, others will throw it back … the reality is that this game does not carry the player's hand, much less, rather the opposite.
Well, once this introduction is finished, we realize that it is argumentatively giving much more of itself than it initially seems. Like some of the games we have mentioned above, it is based on the vast universe of Dungeons & Dragons, traditional pen and paper role-playing games with an inexhaustible number of variants to consider and a completely unattainable lore. This results in a script with a multitude of characters – and with them, many lines of dialogue – environments to visit – in which exploration with hidden objects is rewarded – and human enemies or beasts. In this sense, Neverwinter Nights, as we said before, is not that it is at the height of modern RPGs, but that in general it exceeds them widely, being a perfectly recommended title for those who enjoy these aspects of the game and do not give it so much importance to combat or the technical section.
We speak of a role in which it is so important to know how to handle the different possibilities we have to solve a situation such as being showers in combat, although this does not have the difficulty, or complexity of, for example, Baldur’s Gate. This is mainly because we do not handle so many companions, but also because the camera is more versatile, being able to handle both the angle and the distance, and with a slightly smaller amount of options. This virtue is also supported by a well-designed and simple menu design and navigation, in which, after guessing the corresponding controls to move between them – since the tutorial skips this – we will not have major difficulties, since they are relatively intuitive. We say relatively because, after all, it is clear that this type of game is far from being designed to be enjoyed on the console and with a pad.
As we said before, Neverwinter Nights is a game in which it is not that exploring has a reward, but is strictly necessary. If we stop for a moment to investigate the environments we will surely find some useful object in our adventure, or gold, but also, most likely, that track we needed to continue. We insist: there are no signs that mark our next objective, there is no map unless we buy it – and when we do it, it will not help much – and there is no list of missions that tell us directly what to do next. Bioware's philosophy is that if the player wanted freedom he would have it, but with all the consequences, and having said that, it is easy to get lost or get stuck without knowing what to do, but we also have the feeling of moving forward in each game session, even if they are small steps
This freedom of which we speak is reflected, first, when choosing class for our protagonist: warrior, paladin, druid, monk, rogue … The amount is considerable, and that in terms of possibilities, Neverwinter Nights is left over, but then this freedom only increases, when making progress and also in some aspects such as dialogues, where the different options are also working our personality, being able to show us as a hero of honor or a mercernary who only cares about golden metal
The years do not go in vain
As for playable depth, Neverwinter Nights is incontestable even 17 years later, although some of its peculiarities regarding control are designed to be played on PC and are adapted regularly to the pad. It is not a problem of conversion to consoles, but of the design of the game itself, little more could be done, but sometimes we will miss some more precision when interacting with the environment or with the characters, especially enemies. Even so, the leisurely nature of the game makes it an obstacle that those who want to delve into their role-playing possibilities will know and can overcome.
It is technically where those almost 20 years weigh, and in what way. This Enhanced Edition is little more than the same title as it appeared then and it shows in the quality of the textures, which although with greater resolution still do not show a remarkable remastering work, and in some polygonal models, especially in what Regarding the environments. It is not to detract from the work of Beamdog, and it is that making the visual section of Neverwinter Nights look according to these times would have been a titanic work, but it must be made clear that it is far from being something that enters through the eyes.
THE BEST
- Amount of content almost unattainable
- Playable depth that will satisfy the most demanding of the RPG
- Arguingly ends up catching a few minutes later
WORST
- Regular adaptation to the control with pad or Joy With
- Old-fashioned visual section, the years are very noticeable
- Framerate, popping …
CONCLUSION
Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition is an improved version of one of the best role-playing games of all time, with all the positive that entails: depth, demand, a lot of content … The most purist lovers of the role will be more than satisfied, max of the role of pencil and paper, but unfortunately, 17 years later, there is much to forgive him, especially technically. Its visual section is obviously obsolete, with ugly and poorly detailed polygonal models, and its control is not the most appropriate to the console controls, no matter what it is. However, its virtues are so great that they make it perfectly enjoyable if they know how to forgive all those defects.
Right
It is not the latest or the most original, nor does it have the best execution, but it can be fun if you like the genre. Good, but improvable.
