Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer Review

PC Gamer’s review of the NWN2 expansion Mask of the Betrayer is up, giving it an 8.4.

NWN2 was immediately joyful, with hilarious characters and dialogue juxtaposing the dark story. MotB is far more serious, and while the companions fulfil the role of representing personality extremes, none of them are particularly entertaining company.

There’s no one to compare with Khelgar’s dwarfish temper, nor Neeshka’s impish naughtiness. Most are positively dull. And this isn’t helped by the opening dungeon being tedious beyond belief.

Things pick up very quickly afterward, and the story – while embroiled in yet more ‘chosen one’ cliché – flows neatly. And Obsidian’s trademark ethical dilemmas feel more meaty than previously.

There are some pretty significant choices to be made, emphasised further by how you approach your need to gobble up spirits. And for the D&D aficionados, there are plenty more epic feats and spells leaping from the pages of the rulebooks.

If only it could have retained its sense of humour, this would be really good stuff. As it is, it’s too po-faced too often, and still contains some of the bugs that bothered the original. However, with a tidied toolset and 25 more hours of story, it’s still a solid and well-written expansion to an admirable game.