Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir - Reception

Reception

Storm of Zehir received mixed reviews. Critics were generally pleased with the departure from previous games in the series in terms of open-ended gameplay and its similarities to "old school" role-playing video games, but they criticized the game's story and frequency of random encounters. It was a runner-up in the RPG category for IGN's Best of E3 Awards at the Electronic Entertainment Expo video game convention in 2008.

Reviewers were in favor of Storm of Zehir's focus on exploration and the ability to postpone or ignore the game's main storyline, and they compared the gameplay to older role-playing video games such as Icewind Dale II and Fallout. GameZone's reviewer said "This is a game that harkens back to the good old days of adventure D&D video-gaming", and IGN said "this feels like an homage to the old school D&D games of the past". The ability to handcraft an entire party instead of just the main character was welcomed, with GameSpot's reviewer noting "Rather than playing as a solo hero chosen for some great destiny, you roll up a party of four average joes just like you did way back when in D&D classics like the Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale franchises," (It should be noted that Baldur's Gate did not actually contain the ability to create the entire party in single player mode; however, in multiplayer, this was possible) and IGN saying "There's a strange kind of nerd joy when it comes to creating a D&D party". Reviewers also appreciated the "Party Conversation System", which allows typically underutilized social skills to be used by the entire party during conversation. GameSpy said "It's a terrific convention in which the game responds not to one but to every member of an adventuring party. have the option to interject some special comment into a conversation that might open up otherwise unavailable avenues". Reviewers were grateful that the time-based, "spirit-eating" gameplay mechanic of Mask of the Betrayer was not included.

Reviewers generally praised Storm of Zehir's use of the Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition rules with the exception of GameSpy, who expressed skepticism of the ruleset in a preview of the game. The game's handling of character death was not well received, despite being more faithful to the pencil and paper version than previous Dungeons & Dragons video games. Unlike Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer where defeated characters would be automatically revived after a battle, Storm of Zehir requires a powerful spell or a "Coin of Waukeen" to resurrect dead allies. Reviewers considered this requirement unforgiving; GameSpy said "This merely forces the player to troop back to town through a zillion meaningless random encounters. This may be "realistic" (whatever that means in a world where players fight against newborn gods and sentient snakes), but it's simply not fun. Baldur's Gate had this all worked out over a decade ago. Why do we need to re-invent the wheel?"

Critics gave the game's technical achievements a lukewarm reception. Several reviewers described the Electron engine as aging; IGN Australia said "The two year-old engine is surprisingly sluggish for something that looks dated. The simplistic Overhead Map adds nothing to the visual attractiveness, but this isn't a bad-looking game". GameZone referred to the graphics as "serviceable", and IGN said "The world map is a bit ugly, but otherwise Storm of Zehir looks slightly better than its predecessors". Critics widely panned the voice acting, but praised the music.

Storm of Zehir may have a lackluster story, and that's OK, because it gives you the means--the freedom--to make your own story. And isn't that why we like RPGs in the first place?

The focal point of criticism was Storm of Zehir's story. Critics considered its focus on trade and economics shallow compared to the epic adventures presented in Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer. GameSpy referred to the storyline as a "boringly generic adventure", and GameSpot said "The quests reflect this mundane storyline. You run a lot of lame errands to kill specific monsters and recover lost or stolen merchandise, and you clean out a bunch of formulaic dungeons, caves, graveyards, and the like". Other complaints included the presence of random encounters on the overland map, which were considered excessive, as well as long load times.