It's Been 17 Years Since the Release of Neverwinter Nights 2

Obsidian Entertainment reminded of an important anniversary. Yesterday marked 17 years since the release of the RPG Neverwinter Nights 2.

1. The game was released on October 31, 2006, exclusively on PC.
2. It lived to see two major expansion in the form of Mask of the Betrayer and Storm of Zehir. Added to this was a smaller so-called adventure pack in the form of Mysteries of Westgate, which, unlike the other two expansions, was developed by Ossian.
3. Currently, the easiest way to buy the game is on GOG.com as part of the Neverwinter Nights 2 bundle, which includes all three expansions.

Neverwinter Nights 2 was an interesting project. Developed by BioWare, the first part turned out to be quite controversial. The game offered a revolutionary multiplayer mode with a dungeon master and powerful modding tools, but was disappointing in the quality of the single player campaign (although it must be admitted that later expansions, notably Hordes of the Underdark, have largely remedied this).

For Obsidian, the priority was to keep the good elements from the first NWN and at the same time avoiding BioWare's mistakes. This task was generally accomplished. Neverwinter Nights 2 offered a much better story campaign, while introducing improved modding tools and a revised Dungeon Master mode. The game has an average rating of 82% on Metacritic. Even better was the Mask of The Betrayer DLC, which remains one of the best things Obsidian has ever developed.

Today Neverwinter Nights 2 is somewhat forgotten. The first part received a remaster in the form of Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition, but it's been more than five years since its release and most gamers have given up hope that the sequel will also be refreshed. NWN2 however, can still provide a lot of fun even today, especially since in addition to the game itself and expansions, you can play with hundreds of excellent mods (such as Ravenloft Chronicles or The Black Scourge of Candle Cove). What's more, even today, 17 years after its release, Neverwinter Nights 2 receives new adventures from time to time. For example, last month saw the release of the mod called The Crypt Of Istaris, which is an adaptation of a module for the tabletop Dungeons & Dragons, published in 1988 in Dragon.

Neverwinter Nights 2

October 31, 2006

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• D&D / Dungeons & Dragons (franchise)
• Obsidian Entertainment
• anniversaries
• RPG games
• Neverwinter Nights (series)