Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of The Betrayer

"Would have been a perfect cRPG if it were not held down by the base game"

Mask of The Betrayer (note that the "The" is capitalized) was an expansion to Neverwinter Nights 2 released by Obsidan in 2007.

Mask of The Betrayer is set in the Forgotten Realms Campaign setting in Rashemen and Thay (and various other planes of existences, such as the plane of shadow.), resulting in a unique setting that isn't just borderline plagiarism of Tolkien's work (like just about every other fantasy game out there, including the original Neverwinter Nights 2). This unique world holds the players interest and conveys the sense that the PC is thousands of miles from the Sword Coast after the end of the original game. I do have to question why when the Forgotten Realms has such unique and interesting locations, every single cRPG in the setting gets stuck on the boring generic Sword Coast.

The story is... unique, and involves a personal quest (the player attempting to save himself), rather then a generic save world mission. The course of the story provides the player with a unique, challenging and interesting mechanic, provided the player understands it (i.e., has read the manual). This mechanic presents the player with a believable motivation for being evil, while presenting at the same time, a very good reason to finish the main quest for every character (so you never ask why the player character chooses to bother with it).

The player is given plenty of opportunity to drive the story threw his choices and actions, it is disappointing this feature is so rare in video games, as it acctualy makes the game... interactive. This gives the game excellent replay value, as significant portions of the game differ based on the players choices, while some paths close, others open. These choices are all believable, no silly chaotic stupid/lawful stupid behavior is present, and playing evil doesn't shut you off from 2/3rds of the games, makeing it a fun and believable experience to play as an evil character, a surprising rarity in cRPGs .

Your companions are all enjoyable and, even without the in game bonuses for doing so, you will want to keep them around. Unlike the original campign, there is a focus on quality over quanity, with only 6 npcs that can join your party. This is made up for by makeing each party member memorable. Even if the NPCs are somehow not to your likeing, no NPC is forced. Even the romantic options with them, something that pretty much every game I haved played has failed completely with, are done decently. The party memebers don't to attempt to forcibly attach themselves to you, and don't suddenly reveal the first sign of any attraction just before the end of the game.

Now lets talk about the bad the bad. Like the tag line says, most of the flaws in Mask of The Betrayer come from the original game. The combat is still lack luster, and the interface is still clunky. While loading times and slow down are greatly improved, the flashy spell effects causing slow down are arguably worse now, as the epic level's Mask of The Betrayer means these things are more plentiful AND flashier. (these are explained in more detail on my review of Neverwinter Nights 2, that can also be found on GameFAQs)


Buy/Avoid:If you only own the base game, buy MoTB now, if you don't own it, the gold edition is worth the price for this flawed master piece of a cRPG.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/17/08, Updated 02/20/09

Game Release: Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of The Betrayer (US, 10/09/07)