Which is better CRPG?

[Fridayknight]

Do you think that NWN2 or Dragon Age is better? If you like either tell everyone why or just admit you fancy Neeshka (even though her name is more like a sneeze). Any random arguments about NWN2 are encouraged (to get you started does the game actually let you be evil or is it all a trick to make you think you can be evil but cant). Have you ever needed to cheat (I sadly had to in chapter 3 at the start but I kept a save before cheat a save after and then just made a new character).

 

[DreadPirateMurphy]

I find DA to be a more impressive accomplishment from a design perspective, in that they managed to create a tremendous amount of backstory and setting detail without the crutch of having decades of Forgotten Realms materials from which to take things.

DA also has slightly more replay value for me because of the differing origin stories, and because having only three classes allows for three fairly distinct play styles.

DA's tactics system makes it fairly simple to allow most of your party to function on autopilot while you focus on key aspects of combat. This really only makes a huge difference with spellcasters, which had to be micromanaged a bit more in NWN2. Speaking of spellcasting, the quick regen of health and mana/stamina outside of combat is another plus, as it eliminates recovery waits.

On the other hand, NWN2 was easier to understand out of the box because of my D&D knowledge. I'm still trying to figure out questions in DA like, "What monsters do spirit damage that would make the spirit salve worthwhile?" I had to lookup a forum post to figure out how theivery skills worked, etc.

I also thought NWN2 had a more epic story and more humor, and is somewhat lighter in tone than DA. Sure, bad things happen to people, including members of your party, but nothing really comes straight from the Book of Vile Darkness. That makes it fairly entertaining to me. Whether or not this is better is simply personal preference. Obviously, any big fan of the Forgotten Realms as a setting is going to appreciate the game's locale.

I would say DA is the better game, but DA also came out 3 years later than NWN2 and got to take advantage of feedback given in response to NWN2. I found NWN2 to be a vast improvement in many ways over the original NWN.

 

[Fridayknight]

I find that NWN2 is more based on original DND (as opposed to the weird half-dnd half mainstream DA). If they were going to make a sequel or even another DND based game then it would either have 4e powers (which DA doesnt have) or 3.5e magic (which DA doesnt have). How can they be claiming to have learnt from NWN2 if they have dropped all the DND stuff in order to make the game more mainstream (and therefore get more money). Seems like a cop-out to me. Is there even a single CRPG in development that is based on the big daddy of tabletop RPGs or have they forgotten their roots?

Of course DA has better graphics but super-hyped up NWN2 graphics arent exactly rubbish. If people complain that the graphics make it less realistic then they are stupid since the MAGIC and DRAGONS are unrealistic anyway.

 

[Remus Lupin]

I love both games, but I've got to give it to DA:O, which is in terms of story and technology a quantum leap beyond NWN2.

However, I'm happy to keep playing both games as long as they keep coming up with expansions for them!

 

[DreadPirateMurphy]

How can they be claiming to have learnt from NWN2 if they have dropped all the DND stuff

There are aspects related to the software interface that have nothing to do with the underlying fantasy game system. For example:

1) I find that the camera angle in DA is slightly better at providing useful views, though I'm unsure how much of this is view logic and how much is environment design.

2) The sometimes-awkward wheel interface now only exists in the inventory screen, while most actions are simple enough to exist on the quick bar.

3) The tactics screen is much easier to use than the NWN2 scripted AI options, and works almost as well.

4) The new system is very good at providing enough options in character development to seem flexible, but not so many that it is overwhelming -- I'm thinking of skills and abilities as opposed to the feat and/or spell system in NWN2.

in terms of story and technology a quantum leap beyond NWN2

Sorry, this is a pet peeve -- a quantum is the smallest measure of a substance, so a quantum leap is a tiny change. The TV show intended the name to be clever/ironic, but it has inspired frequent misuse of the term.

 

[Remus Lupin]

Sorry, this is a pet peeve -- a quantum is the smallest measure of a substance, so a quantum leap is a tiny change. The TV show intended the name to be clever/ironic, but it has inspired frequent misuse of the term.

I actually know this, but was using it more in the commonly understood term. On the other hand, from the subatomic particle's point of view, I'm sure the leap seems enormous!

 

[Fridayknight]

if there is one gripe i have with NWN2 its the AI. Seriously what is up with the other characters following yours? Sometimes they follow but wont attack unless micromanaged or some follow whilst others dont. It's a shambles and i have checked whether puppet mode is on and it isnt.

 

[fba827]

DA:O has the advantage of many years of experience and evolution in gaming. The technology changed and they have a better idea of what types of things work and what didn't. Thus, they provided changes based on this experience of NWN2 to form what became DA:O.

Both are good. But if I were to pick either game today to play, it would be DA:O.

It does a better job of holding my attention and I find it to be much more replayable (and replayability is actually a big factor for me in my game decisions - so that part may skew my opinion; case in point, I played with NWN2 all the way once and since then have tried to replay it a few times over the years but always stop after a little while because even though it had been years it was too familiar. Whereas with DA:O, even though i've only had it for a couple months now, I've replayed it 4 times already and while i'm nearing my 'saturation point' on it, i'm not entirely bored of it yet.)

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

NWN2 is the better D&D game if you're trying to use D&D rules elements and canon, but I think DA:O is the better RPG -- better story, better characters, and better gameplay integration.

I never bothered to finish NWN2 (even though it was much, much better than NWN in the original campaign mode); I'm on my second playthrough of DA:O by way of comparison.

 

[Fridayknight]

How can i be the only one who has voted for NWN2? Come on supporters, vote now.