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Neverwinter Re-Review | MMORPG.com

SystemSystem Member UncommonPosts: 12,599

imageNeverwinter Re-Review | MMORPG.com

Mitch revisits Neverwinter for the first time since 2021, giving the D&D MMO a re-review to see how it holds up after ten years. From the new player experience to the darkest reaches of the Underdark, Mitch takes us through the MMO as it stands today.

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Comments

  • WarlyxWarlyx Member EpicPosts: 3,375
    i remember mike b playing it on beta :( looked so good
  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    edited July 2023
    One of the leaders in the obnoxious monetization department.

    Not to mention its faux-beta launch with the cash-shop turned on that prompted Suzie Ford here to call them on their BS and do a full review despite its alleged "beta" state. (https://www.mmorpg.com/reviews/an-astral-diamond-in-the-rough-2000055168)

    My most vivid memory of trying this out in 2013 is how every time someone got lucky with a lootbox, a message was broadcast to all players everywhere with the player's name and what they got... made me feel like I was in K-mart and the "blue light special" was being announced rather than in an RPG.
    TokkenZenJellyValdheimViper482Samhael
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    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
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  • OG_SolareusOG_Solareus Member RarePosts: 1,041
    "Boring new player experience"

    Agreed.
    Sarlab003Samhael
  • TokkenTokken Member EpicPosts: 3,651
    edited July 2023
    I miss The Foundry..... I really enjoyed that part of the game! The Pay to Win aspect sucked.
    DattelisTomteSovrathSarlab003ValdheimSamhaelValdemarJ

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  • DattelisDattelis Member EpicPosts: 1,684
    Tokken said:
    I miss The Foundry..... I really enjoyed that part of the game! The Pay to Win aspect sucked.

    Dude, I was so jealous of how creative some people could get with the quest making.
    Tokkenb003
  • NeoyoshiNeoyoshi Member EpicPosts: 1,531
    edited July 2023

    Warlyx said:

    i remember mike b playing it on beta :( looked so good



    Mike B aka Fony?

    Those were the days..... :(
    Tokken said:
    I miss The Foundry..... I really enjoyed that part of the game! The Pay to Win aspect sucked.
    To me that was the beginning of the end; removing the construction kit from the game was a signal that sounded off telling players exactly what type of greed was on it's way.
    TokkenValdheimScotPoorOld_GamerGent


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  • Slapshot1188Slapshot1188 Member LegendaryPosts: 17,776
    Pretty fair review. It's NOT real D&D but it does take place in the lands around Neverwinter so you get to visit some famous D&D places and meet some famous characters. If you ignore the cash shop (and you really do NOT need to use it) the game can be a pretty enjoyable jaunt. The most annoying was the constant spamming of XXX has won Golden Mount of Doom across the screen. But if I remember you can get keys for lootboxes in game, but just at a fraction of how many boxes drop.

    I really enjoyed my time there a year or so ago and was glad I went back. But I never really liked the Dragon fighting that was the focus when I was there as it was the newest module. So eventually I moved on.
    TokkenValdheim

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  • JudgeUKJudgeUK Member RarePosts: 1,708
    I miss the Foundry. One, if not the, best features of Neverwinter. Some excellent content:
    https://www.tentonhammer.com/articles/top-foundry-missions-in-neverwinter

    One of the core aspects of the game, sadly removed, likely to save support costs.
    https://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/361975/preview-neverwinter-the-foundry-shapes-the-game

    NeoyoshiPoorOld_GamerGentValdemarJ
  • xdave78xdave78 Member UncommonPosts: 123
    Played around 100 hrs in the last 2 month and tbh: I enjoyed it. The game still looks good and especially the level-phase i found as very rewarding and different, for you gain levels as quest reward. Sadly after level 2 it gets awkward. At the beginningt after getting 20 you get Items with a GS around 1.000 but then as you progress through the campaignbs the rewards have GS around 700, 800, 900 but nothing speciual (like set bonusses etc).
    I would also give it a 7/10 and recommend it to everyone, who is looking for a game to bridge some weeks :)
    Tokken
  • JudgeUKJudgeUK Member RarePosts: 1,708
    Although unlikely to ever happen, the game would benefit tremendously from a graphics update.
  • DelondialDelondial Member UncommonPosts: 124
    The combat look and feel always felt pretty on point in its day. Before BDO, I'd have said it was the best in the MMO genre. Animations felt so responsive and visceral. Pity the company ruined practically everything I liked about it.

    Clever things.

  • BattlestormBattlestorm Member UncommonPosts: 136
    I think I got as far as making it through the tutorial to a “main” city of some sort. Walking around, there were SO many currencies and cash shop items that I stopped playing almost immediately. I found it repulsive.
  • Asm0deusAsm0deus Member EpicPosts: 4,642
    edited July 2023
    Game was crap when it released and during alpha and betas and is still crap now 10 years later....and not even cause of the monetization..game fails even before that for a "DnD" game.

    They didn't listen at all to the DnD fans during alphas and beta......

    It doesn't deserve more than a 4 or 5 rating considering they spouted this as a DnD game and tried riding the coat tails of NWN by using the name for it that they did.

    Case in point in how peeps still get confused with the two:
    templarga said:
    NWN reminds me of Lost Ark or vice-versa. The screen and UI felt like it was giving me epilepsy because everything is popping up with flashing lights and reminders. it was hard to see the game past the flashers.

    This review is about "Neverwinter Online" not Neverwinter Nights aka NWN.

    Brenics ~ Just to point out I do believe Chris Roberts is going down as the man who cheated backers and took down crowdfunding for gaming.





  • KaliGoldKaliGold Member UncommonPosts: 138
    Neverwinter was a really good game up until Mod 6 (April 2015) when they screwed up on their re-factor and we lost most of the dungeons and skirmishes. They never fully recovered from that and the game has been hit and miss since then. They stopped making good dungeons for the most part and went easy mode development with Heroic Encounters.

    Their chase for the dollar probably has been the biggest factor in ruining this once great MMO. It was similar to eating your own foot.

    There is NO future for this zombie game. It's alive but dead at the same time. Being on all platforms early really helped keep it going.

    The cost structure is pretty low. Most of the devs still work from home from what I can gather. They spit out low grade content every few months and hope to lure in the few suckers that are desperate to try out a new game.
  • jitter77jitter77 Member UncommonPosts: 520
    I think the game was decent when it came out. Some of the dungeons were challenging, but then they nerfed the crap out of the game. End game was pay to win and for elitists. Even if you knew the mechanics and were perfectly capable of completing a run if your GS was not high enough no one would add you to a group. It was at the point where I would log in queue for a group do some dailies and log out. Then I just gave up...
  • PoorOld_GamerGentPoorOld_GamerGent Member UncommonPosts: 25
    I'm just rarely here since Mike's pointless banhammer rampage a few years ago, but these ReRolls are definitely the ones worth a checking back.


    Another great take, Mitch, especially the section with the returnee's POV... it's baffling how often and how easily they put not just individual items, but entire category of items outdated.

    Not even in the sense of power creep/left behind, like most games.
    It ain't leaving a game for a year in your current top gear/build, and when return the game added a new level cap so your gear is not enough anymore.
    Instead of that, Neverwinter pulls out entire systems overnight. You did months of grind for your R15 enchants? Well, from now on we'll have a new system, so those are junk.

    Sure, for a set of a timeframe you can barter them onto the replacement items of the new system, but as a returnee, if you've missed that timeframe, you'll end up with a build of useless crap.


    The level crunch indeed diluted the starter experience, especially in the sense you've said. There's no variety or leveling choice anymore, in practice 1-20 is now acting as a long and hand-holdy tutorial.
    Many adventure zones were taken out, the remaining ones shortened, and the removal of XP makes them even less relevant: you just rush through them, often missing half of the zone entirely.


    Odd thing is, even with all that it's still a fun game to play. Sure, grindy at the end, and boring in the beginning, countless mechanics were changed or straight out removed over the years, but still has a certain charm left there...
    (with that said, I'm more frequent in CO, or STO)
  • ValdemarJValdemarJ Member RarePosts: 1,484
    Tokken said:
    I miss The Foundry..... I really enjoyed that part of the game! The Pay to Win aspect sucked.

    JudgeUK said:
    I miss the Foundry. One, if not the, best features of Neverwinter. Some excellent content:
    https://www.tentonhammer.com/articles/top-foundry-missions-in-neverwinter

    One of the core aspects of the game, sadly removed, likely to save support costs.
    https://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/361975/preview-neverwinter-the-foundry-shapes-the-game


    Same. It was by far the coolest thing about the game. It was removed from STO too. :/ Some people put serious effort into making some great module adventures. It was such a killer feature.

    I got to test Neverwinter during some closed invite phases and it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it a lot. Before all the Cryptic monetization crud was added, it was a decent unique take on a D&D world.
    Bring back the Naked Chicken Chalupa!
  • TalraekkTalraekk Member UncommonPosts: 301
    My major issue with the game (outside of its rampant monetization and game/ui dedicated to it) is the recycling of content. Awhile back, they dumbed everyone down and basically re-released all of the end game zones as 'new content'. Years later every new update is like, an area in these zones. The underdark was released (whats longer than eons?) ago, and we still getting content for it. Nothing is new. Except diamond/cash shop purchase material. Half of my upgrades are gated behind content I already spent tons of time in, but now it's NEW...
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