Stripped down. Dumbed down. Uninteresting story. Shallow companions. Mostly small areas. Childlike trading game. Ripoff.
In regard to the cinematics of the OC and MOTB, some might say, "If I wanted to watch a movie, I would go to the theatre.", but I argue that the cinematics were much more like taking part in the movie rather than just watching it. I would also argue that if I wanted nothing but a hack-n-slash game I would go play Diablo II or Titan Quest or if I wanted a trading game I would buy something with Tycoon in it's name or if I wanted a strategy game I would buy Civilization IV or Sins of a Solar Empire. Why? Because those games are top notch in delivering that kind of gameplay. Nothing about SoZ is memorable, except for the complete disappointment. The magic combat is still fun, but you can't give SoZ credit for that. And the story? Give me a break! The only thing you can say about the story is that it is short and doesn't require you to follow it or even pay attention.
People that complained about the NWN2: Original Campaign and Mask of the Betrayer's deep, compelling, yet linear story and game design, and fleshed out companions who offered extensive, yet interesting dialogue, and lengthy, yet excellent voice acting will probably love the bare-bones sandbox direction that SoZ took. It's a Linear vs. Non-Linear preference that will very likely influence your decision to love or hate the Storm of Zehir expansion. Since, there are plenty of discussions on the internet about the merits of each gameplay style, I won't bore you with the details, here. But of course, there are folks who enjoy both types of gameplay.
I personally found that SoZ's particular non-linear style became very boring after a while because nothing interesting happened for very long periods of time. I could very easily have downloaded a free hack-n-slash-no-story mod from the Neverwinter Vault and had a better experience. If you just like the NWN2 combat (which I love), I suggest saving your money and downloading a Battle Arena type mod from the Neverwinter Vault, that is, unless you just really want to check out the Overland Map features that were added in this expansion.
On with the Review:
The good: Overland Map offers great potential for modders. Other party member social skills are used in Conversations.
The bad: The Overland Map takes away more than it gives (explained later). The trading game is underdeveloped and unsatisfying. Constant loading for every single short encounter (even if you have a ranger with maxed hide,move silently, survival skills --- the short, random, meaningless, uninteresting, and unrewarding encounters happen far too often). Long Loading for small one or two room areas. Short -- weak -- and uninteresting story. Cohorts are shallow and empty -- they add nothing to the experience. This game is like an average mod found on the Neverwinter Vault, except for the Overland Map and Party Conversation improvements.
Story: Boring, short, not very engaging -- extremely slow paced. The story starts out fine, but then comes to an almost complete halt after twenty minutes of gameplay, then very little happens until the last 2 hours of the game.
Companions: Cohorts contribute almost nothing to the experience. Very minimal voice acting, mostly dialogue text.
Voice Acting: Sa'Sani's voice was unconvincing or fake, otherwise unremarkable. Her voice acting reminded me of when I was a kid and my grandmother tried to make up voices for every character in the book she was reading to me. She usually exaggerated the voices, like the evil laugh, "muahahaha!" for the bad guy. Sure, it was sweet of her to try and I enjoyed it when I was a kid, but I am not very impressed by such an effort in my adulthood, especially in a role playing game who's developers were formerly praised for including excellent voice acting in their earlier titles. Also, the earlier companions that I was able to locate in SoZ left me so unimpressed that I didn't even bother checking out the rest of them. Very minimal voice acting. Replaced with mostly text dialogue.
Graphics: Mostly Beautiful, but Character faces are still not very attractive.
Music: Amazing.
Atmosphere, Battle, and Other Sounds: Top notch.
Cut Scenes: Mostly done away with and replaced with text dialogue options box.
Fun Factor: Mostly boring, because the trading game was just not fun at all, was so simplistic that it seemed more geared for a young child, and took so long to complete that I lost interest in what little story there was. I just didn't care anymore. Also, the constant loading for short encounters or small areas was very annoying, even aggravating. The Cohorts have almost no value and what they do offer is mostly unlikable. Melee combat is still boring, but Magic combat is still as fun, exciting, and visually splendid as ever.
Difficulty: Medium to Hard. Random encounters on the Overland Map can very often be overpowering because they are of much higher level. A nice challenge if you are up to it, but the constant loading for each encounter is a drag.
Depth and Length of Game: Short and unsatisfying. This game is a good mod, but not a good expansion.
Re-Playability: Never again.
Overall: 5 out of 10. The annoyances outweigh the positives, by far.
Summary: In my opinion, the OC and MOTB are nearly tied with both offering top-notch RPG gaming quality, but SoZ doesn't even belong in the same company. I consider SoZ a good mod not a good expansion. However, If SoZ had at least somewhat of an interesting or engaging story, likable companions with good voice acting, more interesting random encounters or at least, the elimination of constant loading for every single battle, a more fleshed out - less boring - trading game, it would have scored much higher because the Overland Map and Party Conversation changes have great potential. Unfortunately, all of the battles from the Overland Map are an annoying and even aggravating chore because you are forced to wait for the game to load the battle area for every single very short encounter. Many of the discovered areas are only one or two room excursions and are hardly worth the effort to check them out. In the OC and MOTB all encounters for the area are pre-loaded, so once you enter the area you are able to go from one encounter to the next without the long delays in between the fun.
Much praise can be given for the Overland Map and party conversation improvements, however, these things do not help SoZ compare to the OC or MOTB. The Overland Map is a blessing and a curse. You have wide open freedom to explore, but the areas you can explore are no longer large, lush, beautiful, and atmospheric. It's just a flat map. The new party contribution to skill checks in dialogue does not offer any meaningful or desirable reward for success in SoZ. Besides, It's like having a skill-bot take over every skill check in the game so you never fail. If you got rid of those two additions, SoZ would not measure up to it's predecessors because other very important RPG content is severely lacking. For example, the weak story could be told, in it's entirety, with just a few paragraphs and the companions or cohorts are as shallow and empty as a plastic cup with a hole in it.
Again, the story is short, weak, and disappointing (I just don't care what happened, what is happening, or what is going to happen), the cohorts are empty and shallow, and the trading game is underdeveloped and unsatisfying. SoZ added two great things to the series and neglected a third addition which had such great potential, but sacrificed what was so good about the OC and MOTB; therefore, SoZ is an inferior product.
FINAL THOUGHTS: For me, I am not happy about the direction Neverwinter Nights is heading. Actually, I am very disappointed. In my opinion, Neverwinter Nights should not try to compete with Strategy games like Civilization IV or Sins of a Solar Empire because it just looks bad (example: the SoZ trading game is so underdeveloped that it subtracts from the whole). More importantly, Neverwinter Nights should absolutely positively never try to mimic Sand-Box games like Oblivion, because that is where it will lose it's strengths. I say don't sacrifice what is great about Neverwinter Nights just to become a mediocre example of those other genres, because those particular game developers do that type of gameplay so much better. Not to mention, those particular game developers spend their entire budget on that type of gameplay, so how can you compete? I say stick with what you are good at and that's making some of the best RPGs on the planet (NWN2:OC and MOTB).
Nonetheless, If Obsidian can combine the open-endedness of the Overland Map with the deep and compelling storytelling that we know they are capable of, likable companions with good voice acting, more interesting random encounters on the Overland Map or at least, the elimination of constant loading for every single battle, a more fleshed out - less boring - trading game for their next expansion, they might have the makings of a truly remarkable experience that most everyone could enjoy ... possibly a Masterpiece.
For all of you disappointed "Story-Driven RPG Lovers" out there, we can at least look forward to "Dragonage: Origins" which will be released right around the corner (March of 2009 for the PC).
My PC Specs:
MB: Biostar TForce 550 SE
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Brisbane
GPU: Geforce 9600GT 512mb 256bit GDR3 PCIE
RAM: G.SKILL (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
HDD: WD Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 32mb cache
PSU: HIPER HPU-4M480-PS 480W
CASE: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-UB Black
DVD: LiteOn 16x DVD+-R/+-RW, +/-R DL Burner