Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer Review
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The curse is no mere plot device; it has a direct effect on gameplay. You've become a spirit-eater and must constantly consume spirits to stay alive. It adds a challenging monkey wrench to an already complex game -- forcing you to reconsider even basic actions like resting or traveling, if your spirit meter is too low. Add in a few genuinely tough logic puzzles (some frustratingly short on clues) and a series of side quests that completely vary (some might not even open up) depending on your party makeup, and you have a game that goes a good 20 hours -- at least -- and begs for repeated playthroughs.
Mask is not without problems, though. Even all these patches later, with two new "modes" to play in, NWN2's still got one of the most annoying, impossible-to-use cameras ever. (Obsidian: Please ditch this engine, for all our sakes, next time out.) The new NPCs are a fine, but mostly humorless, bunch. And once again, a few bugs tripped up my game, failing to trigger events and forcing me back to an old save (save early and often, kids). Still, these issues were far less obtrusive this time and ultimately did not dampen my happy feelings that here was the kind of deep, hardcore RPG that old-school fans like me thought they just didn't make anymore.
