Well, I can't say as things have been all that exciting lately, but I will say this. I think I will be beating Neverwinter Nights 2 tomorrow. I really feel like the pace picks up dramatically with each new act. And I don't just mean in terms of urgency of missions and so forth. Act 1 has more areas than Act 2 and significantly more than Act 3. And Act 1's tend to the larger, sprawling dungeon crawls with a lotta choppy-choppy and not a lot of dialogue, puzzling or interaction. But Act 2 leads off with running to several areas poking around for evidence and then has a half-hour dialogue sequence (which is really pretty impressively done). What dungeon crawling there is is in smaller dungeons, often with puzzle components. Really, the only time-consuming zone is the Ruins of Arvahn, which has a few things going on in it and three sub-areas of varying size and complexity. Act 3 brings things essentially onto a war footing and aside from a rather annoying solo jaunt you're forced onto right at the start (wizards don't solo well, although I got by.), it seems to be a lot of small areas with set piece encounters against some of the big bads of the game. Even the most sprawling zone I've been in so far, Mount Galadrym, was populated by no more than about 30-40 fire giants (which might sound nasty, but I'm level 18 at this point (may have been 17 in that zone, I forget), and fire giants are basically trash mobs at that level.), their pet hellhounds, and a red dragon (by far the nastiest thing in the area).
On the other hand, even if the average time per zone has gone down a lot, the smaller zones of the later game are substantially more exciting and interactive, especially now that all of my spellcasters are working with an arsenal of dozens of different spells. Slap on half a dozen different buffs, toss the fighters up front as a meatshield, watch the chaotic evil ranger with his infinite cold arrow longbow fire off four or five shots a round, and then start dropping the tac-nukes (Meteor Swarm, Implosion, Storm of Vengeance, Horrid Wilting, etc.). Good times. And while the rest of the game is certainly attractive, and far more so than the original NWN, I must make particular note of the spell effects. They are gorgeous and very viscerally satisfying, especially with spells like Meteor Swarm.
Given the way Obsidian's previous game Knights of the Old Republic II kind of trailed off towards the end, showing obvious signs of being rushed out the door in an incomplete state, I should emphasize that none of this feels at all rushed or forced. Rather, the urgency of the things you need to accomplish in the later zones means less time to explore for side quests and the revisited zones and dialogue tend to reflect this. I was impressed to see, for example, that the Neverwinter Merchant Quarter in Act 3 is a supply depot for an evacuation of Neverwinter, complete with streams of refugees leaving the city, people moving supplies around, guards keeping an eye on the affair to make sure it's orderly, etc. It's on repeat, granted, but.. Also, the set pieces might take less time, but they're more dramatic and challenging than clearing out individual rooms and hallways of the early dungeons.
I'm really looking forward to what they do with the expansion, Mask of the Betrayer. And epic levels. Whee.
On the other hand, even if the average time per zone has gone down a lot, the smaller zones of the later game are substantially more exciting and interactive, especially now that all of my spellcasters are working with an arsenal of dozens of different spells. Slap on half a dozen different buffs, toss the fighters up front as a meatshield, watch the chaotic evil ranger with his infinite cold arrow longbow fire off four or five shots a round, and then start dropping the tac-nukes (Meteor Swarm, Implosion, Storm of Vengeance, Horrid Wilting, etc.). Good times. And while the rest of the game is certainly attractive, and far more so than the original NWN, I must make particular note of the spell effects. They are gorgeous and very viscerally satisfying, especially with spells like Meteor Swarm.
Given the way Obsidian's previous game Knights of the Old Republic II kind of trailed off towards the end, showing obvious signs of being rushed out the door in an incomplete state, I should emphasize that none of this feels at all rushed or forced. Rather, the urgency of the things you need to accomplish in the later zones means less time to explore for side quests and the revisited zones and dialogue tend to reflect this. I was impressed to see, for example, that the Neverwinter Merchant Quarter in Act 3 is a supply depot for an evacuation of Neverwinter, complete with streams of refugees leaving the city, people moving supplies around, guards keeping an eye on the affair to make sure it's orderly, etc. It's on repeat, granted, but.. Also, the set pieces might take less time, but they're more dramatic and challenging than clearing out individual rooms and hallways of the early dungeons.
I'm really looking forward to what they do with the expansion, Mask of the Betrayer. And epic levels. Whee.