Neverwinter Nights isn't just your casual (dated?) RPG game, it's also one heck of an electronic D&D gamebox that allows you to play games (obviously) but also build your own game modules. Want to play with your friends? Setting up a server is dead easy and better yet: doesn't even require a heavily juiced up computer either.

About D&D (briefly)

Dungeons & Dragons ("D&D") is essentially a game mechanic for a tabletop game which was originally developed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and later on further developed and released by the Tactical Studies Rules company; TSR in short. What makes the game of D&D so accessible is that all you need to play are the rules, a set of dice, a piece of paper to write down your character stats and of course either plenty of imagination to set up an adventure of your own or... you can also purchase existing game modules and use those to play with your friends.

In my teens I eventually got myself the so called D&D Rules Cyclopedia[en.wikipedia.org] which was a seriously expensive purchase back then, but at the same time also very much worth it because it allowed me to set up game scenarios which I played with my friends for months (basically we had a gaming evening once or twice per month).

What makes this game stand out so much for me is its incredible game design. No, I'm not talking about graphics, audio, not even the interactions with the NPC's... But the way the game itself works, it truly gives you the feel to be playing a real D&D game.

For example... you obviously need to design your own character. This consists of a character portrait, a name and then all their details such as their gender, race, and of course the stats themselves like strength, dexterity, intelligence, and so on. Basically you set up a so called character sheet; a sheet which can always be called up and looked at during your game. The way your character looks in-game isn't what's important here: it's the sheet that defines who they are.

So the cool part here is that while you're playing you can export your character (sheet) at any given time, this will save your character as-is. Thus allowing you to use that very same character (sheet) and everything on it in other campaigns ("modules") as well! Even on multiplayer servers (well, some of them). With "everything on it" I'm also referring to their inventory. Just like in a real game... the inventory is part of the character sheet afterall.

3rd person view is a lot better than you may think...

When we're talking RPG games then I cannot help but mention Skyrim, an all-time favorite of mine. As you may know that game is fully 1st person, and I kinda enjoy that mechanic more than 3rd person. I have several other 3rd person based RPG games as well and while I always had fun... it was also often a very "so so" experience for me.

Yet despite all that I had nothing but fun with this game. In fact.. I even managed to use this view to my advantage several times now as well... running away from an opponent so that my henchman would start fighting them, after which I ran around a few obstacles to get behind the enemy, after which I started a (magical) attack from behind!

So darn satisfying!

Neverwinter Nights ("NWN") is a game which uses the D&D v3 ruleset, and its default campaign plays out in the fantasy world of the Forgotten Realms[en.wikipedia.org]; a campaign setting that is used by many other D&D games as well. The official provided campaigns are:

• The Wailing Death => A cursed plague rages through the city of Neverwinter, the people are desperate to find a cure. Will you become the hero(ine) who will save the city from certain doom?
  
• Shadows of Undrentide => You'll be tasked to find 4 magical artifacts from the wilds of the Silver Marches. Magic & mystery awaits!
  
• Hordes of the Underdark => This is actually a bit of a continuation of the previous expansion: you will come across the city of Waterdeep where underneath lies the Underdark; a foul area from which the forces of darkness emerge. Can you stop them?

But wait.. there's more ;) You see, this game also provides you with the so called Aurora toolset which is essentially a level designer/editor that allows you to build your own expansions, or gaming modules if you will. While the gameplay will obviously be based on the D&D ruleset, the settings... is totally up to you. Forgotten Realms you say? That's definitely not a requirement in any way: your game, your imagination, your settings...

Trust me: it's a lot easier than it may seem at first.

Full multiplayer support too!

Can things get any better? Of course it can: the game also comes with its own (dedicated) server, which makes it really easy to set up a spare computer as a multiplayer server so that you can play together with your friends as well. Don't have a spare computer to set up your own server? Or maybe no (online) friends? No worries! There are also dozens of servers online as well.

While the game itself may be dated... it's still very much played. When I check the currently available Internet games then I see at least 100 servers in my list and some of them are even full! At the time of writing (!) there are approx. 250 players online in total (so: spread across servers). Not bad for game that's essentially over 10 years old, I'd say!

And then there's the community...

As I mentioned earlier... this game also provides its own Aurora toolset, that allows you to build your own modules and campaigns. Yah, fun fact: many players have done just that, and even better: all those modules are available for you to play as well. With the click of a mouse button you can download these scenarios and start playing.

And people have made all sorts of different games... even the 80's classic Eye of the Beholder game has been rebuild and redesigned within the game of Neverwinter nights, now that is impressive I think!

Just so we're clear... I'm not claiming that this is the perfect game or such, nah. The game definitely has its flaws. And it's also kinda dated. For example, I previously mentioned a character sheet which you could look at at any given time. Yah, if you press the 'C' button then a small window appears that shows your character sheet. While it has a titlebar, and even an 'x' button which you can click to close it this window cannot be dragged around your screen. A mechanic which is pretty normal these days.

As for the graphics themselves... yah, those are also definitely dated, and it shows!

But as I mentioned before: that's also not necessarily what this game is about. The mechanics... that is where this game shines.

Setting up your spells, then also dragging those onto a hotbar so that you can cast your spells using either the radial menu with your mouse (or numeric keypad), or... you hit one of the function keys to activate the entry on your hotbar.

You find a chest but oh uh... it's locked and you don't have the skills to unlock it. Fortunately.. your rogue henchman sees what's up and he doesn't hesitate: Hokey dokey, and the chest is suddenly open! :)

And while people also claim that the default campaigns are very "so so" I can honestly say that I'm having a blast with those right now, I'm having a really good time.

There's a very good reason why I only bought the game yesterday (= time of writing) and yet I already have an easy 10+ hours in. Two thumbs up from me!

Thanks for reading, I hope this was helpful for some of you!