I can't believe Gamespot gave this their lowest score. I was scared to try it, and now I know better! Very underrated.
"Dude, I heard that game sucked... big time!" I said.
"Here, give it a try."
Boom. Nothing like I expected. If someone is giving a game a 6.0, and I have rarely seen lower than that on Gamespot, I expect it to be barely playable, not a nice interesting addition to an old favorite. Sure, the story is not Baldur's Gate II, but neither was Neverwinter Nights 2, and I still enjoyed it in the way someone enjoys a good popcorn movie.
Once you get past the story aspect, you get into the gameplay and the development of your characters, which is easily the best part of the game. In previous NWN installments, the skill sets hardly seemed worth it. You maxed Tumble, Spellcraft, and depending if you're doing PvP or PvM, Spot or Diplomacy. This game changes all that.
On the overhead map, every single skill you have comes into play. Have Spot? You can notice enemies coming. Hide or Move Silently? Hide from same said enemies. Pretty standard so far, right? Have Lore? Easier to find hidden ruins. Craft Alchemy? You'll find great caches of alchemical ingredients. Craft Armor? Likewise. It goes on and on...
The same skills come into play in conversations (or parlays with randomly wandering hordes of monsters) and you can choose who to respond with. Your leader have no diplomacy, but the wizard does? Let him respond.
This stuff goes on and on, and just adds to the playability of the game. Simply put, if you enjoyed NWN2, you'll enjoy this game.
I've always held Gamespot reviews in somewhat high regard before, but having actually played this game after being warned to stay away from it by Gamespot? Well, now I just wonder what happened to that reviewer.