Real Breaking News: Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer

[Oerwinde]

kind of disappointed that you can't get any of your old companions. They should have kept one or two of the more popular characters. Like just Neeshka and Khelgar.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

We've also increased the depth of the companions by having them also react more believably to poor treatment. If you upset them too much, they will also act appropriately. At first, you'll lose direct control of them (we've improved upon the companion artificial intelligence). Eventually, they'll stop sharing items or carrying around your loot for you. And if you oppose them enough, they'll abandon you. Don't worry, if they annoy you too much, you can kill them, which might bring some benefits....

The cast of companions in Mask of the Betrayer is fairly small, allowing us to better develop their personalities and increase their reactivity to game events. With very few exceptions, you'll never be forced to have a certain (or any) companion with you. None of the companions in NX1 are from the NWN2 campaign, though you may come across the opportunity to learn a bit about the fate of some of your old friends.

 

All of that sounds really nice. I haven't been able to really get down with NWN2 but from what I've read, this seems to address most concerns regarding party members. Still, I'm left wondering if the exceptions mentioned are due to quest or storyline necessities and if it's the latter, how crucial is it that the story has to depend on their presence?

[Jorian Drake]

kind of disappointed that you can't get any of your old companions. They should have kept one or two of the more popular characters. Like just Neeshka and Khelgar.

yeah and all others too

[Oerwinde]

kind of disappointed that you can't get any of your old companions. They should have kept one or two of the more popular characters. Like just Neeshka and Khelgar.

yeah and all others too

 

I could live without most of the others. The only other one I could see even bothering to stick with you after defeating the king of shadows would be Elanee. Khelgar and Neeshka are the most loyal I think, also the most popular.

[Jorian Drake]

kind of disappointed that you can't get any of your old companions. They should have kept one or two of the more popular characters. Like just Neeshka and Khelgar.

yeah and all others too

 

I could live without most of the others. The only other one I could see even bothering to stick with you after defeating the king of shadows would be Elanee. Khelgar and Neeshka are the most loyal I think, also the most popular.

I want Bevil

 

 

 

(JK)

 

nah, i would prefer Neeshka the most, i just created a good loking 'thiefling male' because of her just like 'boney and clyde'

 

And that gnomish bard was fun

Edited May 3, 2007 by Jorian Drake

[Deraldin]

kind of disappointed that you can't get any of your old companions. They should have kept one or two of the more popular characters. Like just Neeshka and Khelgar.

yeah and all others too

 

I could live without most of the others. The only other one I could see even bothering to stick with you after defeating the king of shadows would be Elanee. Khelgar and Neeshka are the most loyal I think, also the most popular.

 

What about the construct. He'd stick by you no matter what!

 

@Role-Player: Wasn't there a comment by Sawyer that said that the exceptions (required party members) is only during the prologue?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Don't know, have to check that out. Thanks for the heads up.

[Deraldin]

Here's the post I was talking about RP. Earlier in this thread.

 

Of course this doesn't necessarily mean we won't get forced companions but hey, it's not prohibited to hope...

Jeff Husges also posted in that thread. After the prologue, none of the companions are required.

[Jorian Drake]

Here's the post I was talking about RP. Earlier in this thread.

 

Of course this doesn't necessarily mean we won't get forced companions but hey, it's not prohibited to hope...

Jeff Husges also posted in that thread. After the prologue, none of the companions are required.

'not required' doesn't mean we can't have them, yay!

[funcroc]

Eurogamer's new interview Edited May 28, 2007 by funcroc

[SteveThaiBinh]

Thanks, funcroc. Interesting interview.

 

One of Many? Is that a companion from Mask of the Betrayer then? Ring any bells, anyone?

 

"Which implies that the days when you just camp every ten feet down a dungeon to stay at full power may be behind us."

 

I'm guilty of this, but I enjoyed the challenge of the OC endgame where you couldn't do it, so I'm open to being persuaded. I hope they implement it right.

[Pop]

I thought One of Many was an enchanted light flail in NWN1? I know it's something like that.

 

Other than that, no particular bells are tolling.

[aVENGER]

We have come up with a whole new cast of companions that both use some of the new races and classes that we are putting in the expansion and really fit within the setting of Mask of the Betrayer

 

Hmm, sounds like they don't necessarily plan on reusing the original NWN2 companions, and I'm not quite sure what to make of that. Otherwise, it sounds pretty good.

[Xard]

None of the original companions are in, leaving out possibility in beginning

Edited May 28, 2007 by Xard

[Pop]

None of the original companions are out, leaving out possibility in beginning

Buh?

[Volourn]

PST is dead. LONG LIVE NWN2!

 

Any comparisons from a long dead game makes a new game lose points from its Volourno Rating.

 

I'm interetsing in buying NWN2 expansion. Not a PST expansion. Thank you.

[Xard]

None of the original companions are out, leaving out possibility in beginning

Buh?

 

What are you talking about? You can clearly see I wrote "none of the original companions are in"

[Volourn]

Xard wins.

[Diamond]

We fail, rapidly, when we ask him what other game does the 15-20 hour included campaign feels most like, in terms of experience. "This may sound strange, but the other character based RPG that I can think of is Planescape: Torment,"

OK, I'm sold.

 

LONG LIVE PST!

[Spider]

We fail, rapidly, when we ask him what other game does the 15-20 hour included campaign feels most like, in terms of experience. "This may sound strange, but the other character based RPG that I can think of is Planescape: Torment,"

OK, I'm sold.

 

LONG LIVE PST!

 

 

If only the full quote would have kept it up. Here is the next part:

 

Both of them are character focused, but in different ways. Torment was about discovering who you were, while Mask of the Betrayer is more about saving yourself. Another difference is the focus on combat with Mask being more about fun combats and Torment more about your relationship with your companions.

 

So it's like Torment, only it's not. Especially the last part. A focus on combat vs a focus on character relationships sounds like being worlds apart to me.

 

Mask will hopefully turn out to be a good expansion none the less.

[metadigital]

PST is dead. LONG LIVE NWN2!

 

Any comparisons from a long dead game makes a new game lose points from its Volourno Rating.

 

I'm interetsing in buying NWN2 expansion. Not a PST expansion. Thank you.

After NWN2 came out, we immediately were barraged with the same one or two requests - so, those races got on the list."

Curses, Volo: you and your spam-blasting campaign for more dwarves!!11!1one!!

 

One similarity to the previously mentioned Planescape Torment is that rather than having a mass of companions, there's fewer who are more detailed. "We have come up with a whole new cast of companions that both use some of the new races and classes that we are putting in the expansion and really fit within the setting of Mask of the Betrayer," he says, "But, we have also changed their focus a bit. Instead of much of the story depending on certain companions like in NWN2, in the expansion you have much more freedom to have who you want in the party, or no one in the party." Feargus' personal favourite? "I really like One of Many. I kind of look at him like Morte from Torment's evil step brother and I think it's really cool how you get him into your party."

No complaints about having fewer, more interesting and detailed characters.

 

One of Many sounds like a member of a hive, or some conglomerated mind (like Seven-of-Nine).

[Xard]

Both of them are character focused, but in different ways. Torment was about discovering who you were, while Mask of the Betrayer is more about saving yourself. Another difference is the focus on combat with Mask being more about fun combats and Torment more about your relationship with your companions.

 

So it's like Torment, only it's not. Especially the last part. A focus on combat vs a focus on character relationships sounds like being worlds apart to me.

 

Mask will hopefully turn out to be a good expansion none the less.

 

That doesn't mean exactly that IMHO, more like combat has (of course) much bigger role in game than in PS:T, but in other ways it resembles PS:T with focus on characters instead of saving world once again.

 

Something like "if PS:T had more and better combat". PS:T is just good way to get people hyped up only by mentioning it in same sentence with game.

 

Bah, whatever

[Diamond]

If only the full quote would have kept it up. Here is the next part:

 

Both of them are character focused, but in different ways. Torment was about discovering who you were, while Mask of the Betrayer is more about saving yourself. Another difference is the focus on combat with Mask being more about fun combats and Torment more about your relationship with your companions.

 

So it's like Torment, only it's not. Especially the last part. A focus on combat vs a focus on character relationships sounds like being worlds apart to me.

 

Mask will hopefully turn out to be a good expansion none the less.

Yes, but primary characteristic is still similarity, otherwise why mentioning PS:T at all? Why not saying "it will be like Madden only that it is not".

[Spider]

but in other ways it resembles PS:T with focus on characters instead of saving world once again.

 

Actually he said character, not characters. As in the similarities with Torment is that the driving force of it will be the main character. With the difference being that you're trying to save yourself rather than get to know yourself. And then he went on to say that the game is more focused on fun combat than relationships with NPCs. See where I'm coming from?

 

But the thing is that Torment was all about your relationship with the NPCs. It was largely through interacting with them that you got to know who you were.

 

As for why he'd compare the new expansion to Torment? To build expectations. Torment has a lot of goodwill associated with it. But the impression I got from the interview was not that MotB would be that similar. I would love to be wrong of course. And even if I'm not it doesn't mean MotB will be a bad game. Not many games are terribly similar to Torment after all, doesn't mean they're all bad.

[Cantousent]

What if it really IS like PST? I mean, sure, it's a hook. There's no doubt about it. ...But when the bait tastes like filet mignon, why worry about the fish? It COULD be like PST. If it is, then it won't be gamer-bait. It will be a gamer's feast.