NWN 1 + Expansions or NWN 2

[Xehh II]

What would you buy?

[FactionHeir]

I got both, but I find NWN1 quite a bit more worthwhile than NWN2 + MotB.
Sure, graphics are outdated, but it still has a large community and has nearly countless modules and modifications that will make it a different game experience each time.

NWN2 is more graphics focussed and the camera restrictions make it quite difficult to play it efficiently (IMHO). No actual improvement in enjoyment from my perspective and has a lot of annoying things you cannot change, like the target that will pop up all the time and blocks your sight (you can move it, but not deactivate it, but then it just blocks something else) and that you can no longer drag an inventory item (from equipped or loot) onto another to stash it but actually have to find a free space to put it in.
The removal of the efficient radial system is also a major annoyance as the new system is a lot slower and difficult to work with (unless you use the target system which IMO I dislike).

I suppose the quick cast menu was an improvement, but that's pretty much it.

[Kekvit Irae]

NWN + Expansions, just so you can muck around with the wide variety of user-made modules and scripts.

[econ21]

NWN1 for the mods. The Shadowlords/Dreamcatcher series was better than most professional CRPGs, as is Crimson Tide of Tethyr.

In terms of the official campaigns etc, to be honest, I am not terribly enamoured with either.

The official campaign of NWN1 had flashes of brilliance (Charwood!) but generally drowned in repetitive fights that were far too low for your level. The first expansion (the one with Deekin) was sweet, but limited. The second had a more epic scale but totally failed to grab me.

NWN2 has a better official campaign - better balanced at least. However, neither the NPCs nor the plot are very memorable. I stopped playing when I got my stronghold and have not really felt an urge to play the second half of the game. I won't get the NWN2 expansion until I have finished the first campaign. The soul reaping mechanic sounds off-putting, anyway.

In terms of the engines, I found the NWN1 graphics rather sterile and lifeless - maybe due to the tiles or something. They just seem rather ugly and functional compared to rival games. NWN2 is prettier and less generic, but more clunky to use.

The big advance of NWN2 was enlarging your SP party - the limit of 1 + 2 NPCs in NWN1 just hamstrung the game, given that the typical DnD party has 4+ (fighter, cleric, mage, thief).

If there was the same content available on both engines, I would plump for NWN2.

[Ramses II CP]

As others have said, you'll get triple or quadruple your money's worth on NWN1+XPs in truly excellent mods. I played the game on a number of persistant worlds and solo for a long time, and the quantity of content available for it is excellent.

Don't forget that NWN2 comes with SecuRom too, which is why I don't own it and have only played it a bit on a friend's box.

[Xehh II]

Don't forget that NWN2 comes with SecuRom too, which is why I don't own it and have only played it a bit on a friend's box.

NWN2 comes with securom? That immediatly rules it out, poll closed, NWN + expansions wins by default.

[Zenicetus]

I haven't bought NWN2 yet. Even without a full basis for comparison I'd recommend NWN1 plus the expansions. The real content is in the user-made modules, and some may require the tilesets and creatures you get in the expansions.

I didn't love the official campaign in the main game, but it's not bad as a way to get comfortable with the game mechanics and combat. I'd suggest playing it at least as far as the Charwood side quest, which is brilliant. It goes downhill from there, and many user mods are far better as an overall story.

The only thing I found tiresome after a while with NWN1 was the relatively limited number of background tiles, so there's a lot of repetition in the scenery. Every castle looks like every other castle, there isn't that much variety in outdoor scenery, and so on. The user mods do some creative things with lighting, and the extra tiles in the expansion packs help, but it still got a bit visually boring after a while.... especially since NWN followed the BG series with its nicely drawn and constantly varying 2D backgrounds. But the story quality in the better user mods are what sucked me in and kept me playing.

BTW, NWN is fun as a co-op LAN game too. I played through most of the modules with my S.O. It doesn't always scale the difficulty level up properly for co-op multiplayer, but it's still fun, and there aren't that many co-op games like this out there.

[Justiciar]

Neverwinter Nights was far superior to it's sequel, tbh. For me, NWN2 fell on it's arse with Character Creation, and failed to redeem itself from there on. And everything was so much more simple in the first game! Not to mention that some of the most memorable RP I've ever experienced owes itself to NWN. It's toolset, DM client, multiplayer, and the vast range of mods makes it one of my all time favourite games. So aye! Get the first!