17 réponses à ce sujet

[winrehs08]

I just finished MoTB and I plan to play SoZ next before buying MoW, so is it worth the time?

[-Semper-]

it's not a story driven campaign but all for exploring and traditional pnp sessions. in terms of comparison it's more like icewind dale with much smaller dungeons.

there's a whole new skillbased overland map feature like the old final fantasy games with random encounters. you can create your entire party but this comes with almost none party banter. it's a lot of freedom without the story boundaries - as you can see it's either love or hate

if you're already owning soz then you should try it too. imo it's worth the time.

Modifié par -Semper-, 21 octobre 2011 - 12:43 .

[winrehs08]

I see, thanks for the reply man.

[The Fred]

I think it's very hard to compare the two because they're very different games, and what appeals to one person mightn't appeal to another. If you liked MotB very much then it might be that SoZ isn't up your street. It's light on story, very open-ended, and pitched at a much lower level (touted at 1-15ish, though getting up to 20 or so is apparently perfectly possible). On the other hand, that might appeal to you to. The best way to find out is to play it, I guess.

[Dorateen]

Long live Storm of Zehir, the crown jewel of NWN2

Harumph!

[winrehs08]

I have leveled up my characters to level 7 and still, the game won't sink in to me like the OC and MotB did. Right now, I'm currently playing it for the sake of completion, not really enjoying the game.

Things I didn't like so far:

1.) Loading - This is the price to pay for using an overland map like that and inducing battle in the overland map. So tiresome.

2.) No Party Banter - One aspect of NW2 that I loved the most was the party banter, 'coz I've felt that they were really there.

3.) Voice Acting - One of the worst I've ever heard in a game. Never really imagined NW franchise would permit something like this.

4.) Story/Plot - It feels like a different game, why did they change most succesful core of NW2 and MotB? They should've just change the title, 'coz this is not NW.

Things I love:

1.) Improved Scenery

2.) Anything else?

Modifié par winrehs08, 21 octobre 2011 - 10:16 .

[Kaldor Silverwand]

Not your cup of tea is all.

For me I disliked the party banter, railroaded storyline, and forced companions of the OC and MotB (less forced but still). So SoZ's lack of party banter, fewer cutscenes, and an open storyline were improvements in my opinion.

Many posters who like SoZ consider the party editor, the bleeding death system, the overland map, the crafting system, the ability to multiclass party members, and the party conversation system to be improvements. I've enabled some of these capabilities in the OC Makeover and MotB Makeover and they are generally viewed favorably.

SoZ uses the same toolset and engine as the OC and MotB and shares the same world, so it is a valid expansion of the NWN2.

Regards

[winrehs08]

Yup, more likely so. Because they strayed from the successful formula of OC and MotB.

[-Semper-]

obsidian tried hard to deliver a classical rpg which lives up to pnp and plays nice. they had a tiny team and low budget on this one and what they accomplished with the given resources and time is incredible. with this last expansion they gave much improvements and features to the community and that alone is worth alot.

if you don't like zehir then just stop playing it. there ain't something like a successful formula but just your taste

[FedericoV]

SoZ is a very interesting game filled with lots of interesting design choiches (the living exploration map with the Total War feel alone it's a real gem). The execution is not perfect and it's clearly a budget game: still, very fun if you can pass over its shortcomings. If you like the storydriven nature of MoTB (imho, best Obsidian title to date and probably best fantasy RPG since BG2, yes better than DA:O) and wants more of it, I'm not sure if that's the game for you.

It's really an oldschool title focused on combat and its design is more similar to Ultima and other RPGa of the '80s than the Infinite Engine games. That alone put the game apart. But honestly, I've never managed to finish it, even if I don't regret buying at full price.

Modifié par FedericoV, 22 octobre 2011 - 10:19 .

[The Fred]

winrehs08 wrote...
2.) No Party Banter - One aspect of NW2 that I loved the most was the party banter, 'coz I've felt that they were really there.

I'll agree, party banter is nice, but how would you go about putting that in a game where the player makes the whole party?

winrehs08 wrote...
3.) Voice Acting - One of the worst I've ever heard in a game. Never really imagined NW franchise would permit something like this.

Personally I don't care much for VO anyway, and often even play with the sound off, it's just a habit. I do hear you, though.

winrehs08 wrote...
4.) Story/Plot - It feels like a different game, why did they change most succesful core of NW2 and MotB? They should've just change the title, 'coz this is not NW.

winrehs08 wrote...
Because they strayed from the successful formula of OC and MotB.

This is something I kind of have to disagree with you on. Yes it pretty much is a different game, but whether or not what they did with MotB was a successful formula is kind of down to opinion. I know a lot of people found SoZ really refreshing after the darkness of MotB, or just didn't enjoy MotB at all. I've only played a bit of MotB but from what I gather it's similar to HotU was for NWN1, and there are lot of people claimed that was the best of the series, whereas I much prefered SoU.

Either way, where do you go from there? It gets ridiculous if you just add more and more levels and bigger enemies to face. By the end of MotB, you are chinwagging with folks like Kelemvor. They pretty much had to start something new and it's not a surprise that they went back to a low level. If they'd just gone with the same again as NWN2 a lot more people would have complained; this way, they're broadening their market a bit. I'll agree with you, though, in that it's not for everyone.

[ShinsFortress]

winrehs08 wrote...

I'm currently playing it for the sake of completion, not really enjoying the game.

Stop playing!  Never play a game if you're not enjoying it.  That's the point of playing....  As Kaldor said, it may just not be your cup of tea.

When I first played it, I liked the game play but would have rated the game 5/10 (6 or 7 for fun, -1 or 2 for basic bugs).  But after revisiting some time later, knowing more about it, I rather liked it more.  After all, I had almost as much fun with Icewind Dale games as I had with Baldur's Gate!  By the time I was done with SoZ I had enjoyed it more than MotB and almost as much as the OC (which still has the worst crafting system of the three!).

With the game no longer being 'current', to me it helps that most of the problems/bugs with SoZ just seem easier to fix, with tweaks or mods.

[Jesse_the_Thief]

It's apples and oranges, but MotB was better overall. SoZ is still quite good, its shortness is my only real complaint. They're very different styles, but I like both styles.

Also, for funsies you can change the number of PCs you're allowed to play with by popping open the toolset and making an adjustment. This time through I'm trying 8 PCs.

[Kaldor Silverwand]

Jesse_the_Thief wrote...

It's apples and oranges, but MotB was better overall. SoZ is still quite good, its shortness is my only real complaint. They're very different styles, but I like both styles.

You can add some additional community content to SoZ with the SoZ Holiday Expansion Project.

Also, for funsies you can change the number of PCs you're allowed to play with by popping open the toolset and making an adjustment. This time through I'm trying 8 PCs.

You can also increase the number of allowable cohorts with the SoZ Party max override.

Regards

[Dorateen]

November is the time to celebrate the 3 year anniversary of Storm of Zehir

Even people who didn't care for the campaign, we should all be thankful for the features and content this expansion added, to enhance the NWN2 experience.

Exactly as the developers intended, it has been a builder's blessing.

Thank you, Obsidian

Harumph!

[Shallina]

SOZ is a builder blessing, more than a story and a gamer expension it has so many feature that makes NWN2 a fantastic game for modders.

SOZ real interest isn't the new story, it's all the new feature that can be used by the modder.  Like a real death system, the overland map, well the list is very long

If you are interested in modding, and community made module, SOZ is a real jewel. If you wish only to play the official content, MOTB is clearly better.

Modifié par Shallina, 23 novembre 2011 - 10:26 .

[Dann-J]

One advantage that SoZ has over MotB is the lack of a 'ticking clock'. Although I thought the spirit eater curse made MotB interesting, at least in SoZ you can stop and smell the roses, or deviate from the main quest to explore and complete side quests instead.

I prefered the crafting system in the first OC though. Crafted items tend to be far more powerful than existing blueprints, so it should be difficult to obtain them. MotB simplified things with a mobile enchantment satchel and by removing any need for components other than essences, but SoZ took much more of the difficulty out of crafting to allow you to obtain powerful equipment far too easily. You don't appreciate it nearly as much if it's not hard to obtain.

[The Fred]

From the point of view of someone just having played the first few minutes of each (not a fair comparison admittedly, since I imagine MotB gets better later on whereas SoZ probably doesn't so much), I much prefer SoZ. The resting restrictions in both make them more challenging, which I like, but other than that MotB is just like a bit more of the OC, probably with better story later on. Compared with that, SoZ has:

1) No party banter, but loads of conversation options for different characters. I've only played the very start but already I've been given plenty of options to make what's still essentially a fairly linear piece of gameplay feel actually good.

2) An awesome Overland Map. It just feel so much better actually walking around it.

3) New GUI bits like the trading stuff and the crafting stuff, which just make it feel different from NWN2.

I haven't really played enough to judge the story, but the gameplay of SoZ seems far more interesting, it's just fresher thanks to all the little things they've put in. Getting killed by Batiri right at the start was annoying (since I have to do the shipwreck bit again) but really harkens back to the good old BG days.