Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir Preview

IGN has conjured up a three-page preview of Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir, after spending some firsthand time with Obsidian’s upcoming expansion pack.

Cue the intro.

The ship is heavily damaged during a storm and the characters wake up with the rest of the survivors on the coast of Samarach. Off in the distance, between the coast and the jungle, a group of goblins known as the Batiri are gathering. As one of the shipwrecked survivors goes off to parley with them, we started scrounging for weapons and learning the benefits of the game’s new discussion system.

Since we have a full party now, we can take advantage of each party member’s conversation skills during any given dialogue. So when my halfling Swashbuckler can’t convince a fellow survivor to give us his sword in case the Batiri attack, we can switch to our Warlock whose Intimidation skill does the trick. When you’re in a conversation, you’ll see the option for a certain character to use their various skills represented as a small word balloon next to their portrait in the dialogue window. And since you can switch back and forth in between each response, you can rely on your Cleric’s Diplomacy, your Swashbuckler’s Bluff, your Rogue’s Appraise and your Warlock’s Lore to give you entirely new options during the conversation. It’s a very convenient system and it helps to add a little more personality to each of your party members. We know that when it’s time to turn on the heat, all we have to do is let our Warlock do the talking.

Sure enough, the Batiri attack and, after a few waves were beaten off, we and the other survivors were happy to see a patrol of guards from Samargol arrive on the scene. That is, until they start arresting us on the suspicion that we were Yuan-ti spies, a charge that our Warlock makes it awkward to deny. They escort us back to the city where we’re rescued by the timely intercession of a powerful noblewoman who, it just so happens, had some important cargo on that ship and suspects that the wreck was no accident.