REVIEWS Vis Et Virtus

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Site Front Page REVIEWS Current News Archive Old News Archive NWN2 Community RATINGS News Vis et Virtus - Chapter 8 NWN Community News Gameplay : 8 Reviewers Forum Voting FAQ Created by Pailith Studios RP/Storytelling : 10 Reviewed by QSW Work to Do Action : 8.5 RSS Feeds Review Posted on 2009-10-03 Visuals : 9.5 Contacts Staff Quick Pros: Sound : 9 Help Replayability : 8 Buy NWN2 Amazing cut scenes, vivacious companions and gripping story. Download Full Games Polish : 6.5 My Proﬁle Quick Cons: Solo : 8 Features Multiplayer : NA Some polish and debugging issues. Fun : 8.5 Neverwinter Nights 2

NWN2 Files Summary (No Spoilers) FINAL SCORE : 8.44 NWN2 Game Info Number of Players: 1 NWN2 Resources Hours of Game Play: 12 AWARDS NWN2 Community Character: Seiji Master of the Way Monk. Start Level: Master of the Way 38/Shadowdancer 1. Neverwinter Nights End Level: Master of the Way 39/Shadowdancer 1. NWN2 NWN NWN Files Hak Size: 325.07MB compressed. Death: Final (reload) unless raised by henchman. NWN Game Info Resting: Limited to every 4 in game hours. SCREENSHOTS NWN Resources Requires: (SoU & HoTU) NWN Community PNP conversion: No HOF NWN2 Original Hakpaks Vault Network Vis et Virtus is a saga of epic proportions acted out via the NWN1 game platform. Almost movie- RPG Vault like in its delivery, this, the final chapter, will leave the player feeling that they too have travelled 1) RWS - Pocket Citadel VN Boards the five realms and back again, to the grand finale. IGN Vault 2) TKL Performer (The Bard's Tool) Vault Wiki 3) RWS Pocket Ship Interiors · Age of Conan Author Description: 4) RWS Tower Rooms · Anarchy Online 5) BCK II · Asheron's Call The age of the Five Realms began with the death of the Red Prince, who sought to unite the · Dark Age of Camelot world with blood. The five realms were carved out of the remnants of his failure, by those who View all Hall of Fame entries · City of Heroes · D&D would fulfill the dream of conquest, and there was war. As generals rose and fell, the world · EVE Online wearied of conflict and despaired. In those days, came the White Prince, a lord of cunning and · EverQuest power, who would order the five realms through cooperation and law. · EverQuest 2 · Final Fantasy At the tireless urging of the White Prince, the wisest rulers traded their ambitions for prosperity · Guild Wars and, under him and in cooperation, the five realms pacified those who would not abandon the TOP NWN2 Modules · Lineage 2 dream of conquest. Each nation was free to pursue its own aims within its borders, but those · Lord of the Rings Online borders were dictated from the White Isle by the White Prince and the ambassadors of each 1) The Maimed God's Saga · Middle Earth nation. And so uneasy peace has been maintained for generations, with the White Prince quietly 2) The Heist at the Neverwinter Lights Casi.. · Neverwinter Nights passing on his authority to his successor and the five realms checking each others ambitions 3) Chapters 1+2 - Planescape: The Shaper o.. · Pirates of the Burning under the guidance of the White Princes... 4) SOZ "Holiday" Expansion Projec.. Sea 5) Misery Stone · Rise of the Argonauts But rumors are spreading of unchecked war in the east and gatherings of power. The Peace of 6) NWN2 OC Makeover SoZ Edition · Star Wars Galaxies 7) Trinity · Tabula Rasa the White Isle is disregarded. Heaven holds the timing of all things and the time of change is · The Matrix Online nigh. 8) Live Forever · The Witcher 9) 16 Cygni 1 · Titan Quest Review (Spoilers) 10) ZORK – Rediscovering the Great Undergrou.. · Two Worlds 11) The Caravan Club · Vanguard 12) Serene · Warhammer This is the final chapter in the Vis et Virtus (VeV) series, and the culmination of 6 years of Body shop 13) Tanithiel · World of Warcraft development and 90+ hours of gameplay. Few single player NWN1 modules rival VeV for game time investment, amazing cut scenes, vivacious companions or story. This is an ambitious 14) The Last of the Danaan Planet Network project that delivers well in many areas, most strongly in companion interaction and cut scenes, 15) Lolthanchwi Planet Hub but does fall short in other areas such as attention to ambient area detail and debugging. Nonetheless, if you are willing to forgive these oversights in favour of experiencing a truly NEW Modules IGN riveting epic story, then play VeV. Either that, or wait for the novel to come out! ;) Games 1) Alcheringa, a post-heroic DnD adventure Cheats Gameplay : 8 2) The Maimed God's Saga Entertainment 3) The Cursed Land The gameplay in this chapter is significantly different from the previous ones I've played. There is 4) The Wizard's Apprentice a definite feeling of freedom given to the player. An example would be the PC’s and companions’ 5) Alpha: Nihil Trilogy Part 1 of 3 quests for artefacts. There is no specific order laid out for these quests, so the player has total control over which direction to travel. Also, should the player come upon Northaven early on, you NEW Reviews can actually forgo all of the artefact quests left and travel straight to the White Isle and the final showdown. Of course, I don't recommend this course of action, because the quests themselves 1) Sheep and Stone are quite a lot of fun, and they yield important equipment for your PC and party members: 2) Sands of Solvheil III: Crusaders of Shal.. equipment that will be needed unless you enjoy being face down in the dirt all the time. 3) Three Clawed Dragon Inn 4) Night of Death Prologue The dialogue in this chapter is once again superb; I’d even go so far as to say it is the best 5) Murder in Dunlop dialogue I’ve ever encountered in an NWN1 module. Your companions have a lot to say, and they say it with a gamut of emotions, and with wildly funny humour on some occasions. NEW INTL. Modules

Journal entries are spot on 99.9% of the time, and I only had one small problem in locating a 1) Les Terres Maudites particular marsh that my companion Tre needed to visit. The journal entry in this case, while 2) Dark Soul (addon to MotB) word for word script wise, yielded no information as to its location apart from somewhere in 3) Der Fluch der Zwerge - Teil 3: Kapitel 1.. perhaps Keld or Sigmar. Looking at the world map that I had downloaded from the authors’ site, I 4) Exiliados de la Muerte Aullante didn’t see anything that looked like a marsh and was pretty stumped for a while. 5) 16 Cygni 1

Overall the pace of the game was very enjoyable even with the odd hiccup, and I didn’t feel as if TOP Hakpaks I were being driven quite so hard towards the next goal as I had in previous chapters. 1) RWS Swimming Beta RP/Storytelling : 10 2) RWS Deep Environments 3) RWS Grand Citadel A synopsis of the story so far… 4) RWS - Dungeons 5) Eph's Extras ***SPOILER WARNING*** 6) RWS Dark Mines 7) Barons Adobe Pack Chapter 6 8) RWs Cliffs and more. 9) RWS All in One (1.0) 10) RWS Mezzo American Placeables Your PC and companions have just rescued Azura from her brother the White Prince. You find hey good looking. yourself dodging fiery blasts from the air as you all try to avoid the irate dragon and the many White Knights on your trail. Finally, you make it to the docks and have to figure how to sneak TOP Gameworlds onto the only ship there, which is about to set sail. Luckily, one of your companions, Van, is a master of bending time and space as well as teleporting short distances. Returning to your party 1) IMPERO - Warhammer Multiplayer MOD munching an apple, he manages to get you all on board without being seen…sort of. 2) World of Charun 3) Highland Saga: Black Dawn It is at this point that you overhear a conversation on board and discover, to your dismay, exactly how far the White Prince’s hand reaches throughout the Five Realms. Azura and the rest of your TOP Tutorials company are determined to try and stop his annihilation of the entire human race, but can four humans and one dragon accomplish such a feat? Your plan is simple: find and kill the secret 1) Electron Toolset Videotutorial (spanish).. agent of the White Prince placed in each realm, and try to convince those left in power of the 2) Electron Toolset Videotutorial (spanish).. White Prince’s plan of setting one realm against another until none exist at all. Not so easy when 3) Sunjammer's Dynamic UIListbox Guide your company’s reputations are less than stellar. Your first port of call is Dunbane, and then onto 4) Electron Toolset Videotutorial (spanish).. the realm of Bast where your companion Zhana is a high priestess. 5) Electron Toolset Videotutorial (spanish).. 6) Electron Toolset Videotutorial (spanish).. Chapter 7 7) Electron Toolset Videotutorial (spanish).. 8) Guía del world map plugin. After your bare survival in the temple on Mount Sheckhim, you hot-foot it down the mountain and 9) NWN2 Toolset Notes travel through Bast to the docks to find a ship. You’re on your way to the realm of your 10) CCC Guide - Creatures & Placeabl.. companion Tre, Ortzenhelm. You arrive in the port of Corleon only to discover that the main army has been ordered far enough away so as not to be of any aid to the city and its queen while the TOP Prefab:Areas realm of Sigmar attacks. You also find that Tre, the Arch Legionnaire of Ortzenhelm has been illegally stripped of his title and branded a traitor. 1) Complete PW - The Frontier Reborn 2) Just Add Encounters: Gardens Once Tre has challenged any solider who thinks to brand him traitor, you move off to locate the 3) City in the Trees armour of Tre’s office, and then on to the palace to protect the Queen. The palace is overrun with 4) Glacial Valley and Falls the enemy and the Queen is in mortal danger. As you enter the palace, the Queen is standing 5) Forgotten Village defiant to the last and slain before your eyes. Tre, mad with grief and betrayal lays waste to the 6) Tombwatch Pass, Winter Farm, Tourney Fie.. murdering scum, and then sets upon a course of action that will remove him from your party for a 7) Just Add Encounters: Jungle Paths while. Gathering what is left of the fighting men, Tre marches to kill the pretender Arch 8) Surague Escarpment Legionnaire, then continues to Krisguard, where the traitorous Duke Brom resides while the 9) Thunder Falls realm of Ortzenhelm is overrun by the troops of Sigmar. Zhanna, Tre’s lady love is, as you can 10) Just Add Encounters - Dungeon 1 imagine, mightily peeved at his leaving and her ever colourful language hits its all time high for flavour! Eventually, the rest of your party arrive in Krisguard just ahead of Tre’s army, and you TOP Blueprints battle Duke Brom and his minions. Sigmar will be repelled and Tre will rejoin your group. Azura, as always, is the voice of the group's conscience (for those that have one!), Van is spectacular in 1) Rod of Full Party Buffing both word and deed, and your PC pales to a whiter shade of grey against such amazing 2) Storytellers Hobbit NPCs companion personalities. 3) Storytellers Animated Armors 4) KEMO Beds and Tables Your final journey in this chapter will be to travel through the Roots of the Mountain, a place of 5) Storyteller's Customized Lizardmen dark magic, terror and mystery. Your destination, should you survive the mountain, is Sigmar, a 6) AP Magical Miscellanea Package (v1.4) land long used to magic, so much that if you have no magical talent, you’re less than worthless 7) Storytellers Desert Town Adventure Pack to society. You must kill the agent of the White Prince in Sigmar, but first you have to get into the 8) Storytellers Adolescent NPCs city! With a lot of luck, brute force and trickery, your party manages to enter the highest council 9) Drinks of the Forgotten Realms rooms in Sigmar, and what ensues is yet another epic battle that will leave you gasping for 10) Townfolks 1.1 breath. Revolution in the streets of Sigmar is brewing, and it would only take a spark to set it I'm a priestess, trust me! alight…will you and your party be that spark? TOP Plugins

Leaving Sigmar will involve some fighting, but your party manages it nonetheless. Weary, almost 1) Infinity Engine conversation converter defeated by the never-ending duplicity of the White Prince, your party cuts a trail towards the 2) Journal exporter/importer Hall of Ages, a place where only The Queen of Dragons may enter. Luckily, you have such a 3) NWN1 area converter queen in your group, for Azura is the last living female dragon on the earth…and the daughter of 4) Tree Randomizer Plugin the last Queen of Dragons. 5) NWN2 Toolset Tree Randomization Plugin 6) Lazjen's Icon Viewer What lies in the Hall of Ages, and why must Azura go there? 7) Terrain Importer 8) Tree Cutter plugin Chapter 8 TOP UI The Hall of Ages didn’t yield the armour and weapon of the Dragon Queen, but it did provide you with some insightful answers and truths. At the time of Azura and her brother’s birth, their 1) DM Client Extension - PC/PNC Inventory &.. mother, the Queen of Dragons, was permitted one god-given gift for each of her newborn 2) DMFI Bulletin Board offspring. And this is how the prophecy came about. Two different sides of the same coin, one 3) KEMO PC Scry destined to rule the humans, the other destined to sacrifice all in order to stop it. One cannot kill 4) KEMO Character Biography and Portrait the other without dying also, and yet the White Prince would have Azura’s power for himself and 5) Fire&Ice's Big Fonts UI bind her in chains for eternity. Like a snake in long grass, the White Prince lays his traps, almost 6) Horizontal PartyFrames (including names .. languid in his actions as he holds all the cards…or so it seems. 7) SLATE's 5-row hotbar 8) Smaller Big Map Having survived the Hall of Ages, you and your companions must travel to locate artefacts for 9) Readable Books each of you. For Zhana, it is her grandmother's armour and weapon, buried in the crypts beneath 10) Square Minimap the temple in Bachock. Your PC must travel back to his home-town of Heien and the home of his dead master to retrieve the book which holds the secrets of his art, The Kage Ryuu. But know TOP Other that the ghosts of the past are never far away. The Company of the Claw makes an appearance, and no chapter would be complete without them! Kurau Gai, their leader is, as ever, mad as a 1) Language Files for Kaedrin's PrC Pack hatter and burns with a justified hatred for your PC. Strangely enough, you’ll end up helping The 2) NWN2 Client Extension Company of the Claw and making a deal that will procure your party a ship. Although you don’t 3) Warlock Outfit Fix have to take that course of action, the choices you make concerning this group may well come 4) SoZ: Accusation in Nimbre and the Inquis.. back to haunt you at a later date should you chose unwisely. I won’t tell you how it ends with this 5) Markshire II: Rise of the Titan - Player.. hilarious group, but you’d never guess they’d have such dreams! 6) Clipping Wings/Tails Fix 7) Warlock Reworked 1.02g Finally, after travelling to various destinations, you’ll make your way via ship to the White Isle and 8) Race Editor, 1.1.2.0. your final showdown with the White Prince himself. Will you survive? Will your companions 9) Draco's Class Addition Pack survive and remain true to the cause? All this and more can be found out by playing the module 10) Chez's Domains and Deities series yourself. TOP Visual Effects **/End Spoiler** 1) botu_waterfall Alignment plays no part in this module series, but happily I discovered that my PC was able for 2) Container Fillers the first time to really make some choices. Not only that, but those choices would drastically alter 3) Gortan's Signs v1.1 how the module played from then onwards. This was a real treat, and I don’t mind saying, a 4) Silk´s Character VFX Pack surprise, given that the last two chapters caged my PC in that department. What is even more 5) The Grinning Fool's Complete Visual Dark.. surprising is the fact that not only could my PC make choices, but that, depending on the path 6) A Cloud of Bats taken, the world adapted for better or, in some cases, for worse. I have to say, very few good 7) Remove Annoying Effects (Stoneskin, Bark.. roleplaying modules have world altering consequences to them, and that this chapter does get a 8) Subdued Weapon Visuals huge "Huzzah!" from me. TOP Scripts My companions continued to thrill me with their amazing dialogue, and beautifully emoted actions. Zhana is still my all time favourite companion; she may be a totally immoral cow, but she 1) Scarface's Persistent Banking v1.0 wouldn’t be half as attractive if she were like Azura, for instance. Van just makes me laugh…of 2) FRW Persistent Companion System ver0-9-0.. course I wouldn’t turn my back on him for a moment! Tre has a stick up his butt most of the time, 3) Charlie's Appearance Changer Expansion P.. but strangely he is all the more loveable for it…at least Zhana seems to think so. My own PC has 4) E.C.’s Super Include! Access 100s of hid.. pretty predictable, utterly mind-numbingly boring lines, but heck, who cares when I am 5) Secret Doors surrounded by the very best of blasphemous, hedonistic and dead on balls dialogue from my 6) Pencil n Paper Coins companions? 7) Markshire Climbing System 8) MPWC Spawn Beta6 Of particular note are the various different temples I walked into. Every single one had utterly 9) To sit on objects (v1.76) useless priests and priestesses in them. No temple store, no offer of healing. In fact, all they did was spout off their various beliefs unto mine deaf ears. While their cities burned and were TOP Tools overrun, they walked inside their temples utterly unconcerned about the state of their flock outside. I have come to the conclusion that the authors were making a rather deliberate 1) nssclc - NSS Command-Line Compiler statement as far as religion is concerned in this world; one I heartily embrace! ;) 2) NwN2xLauncher 3) Blender Import / Export So where’s the downside to this category I hear you ask? Well, there are a couple salient points 4) Encapsulated Resource File Editor by Ran.. to make on that score. I found the fact that NPCs would simply wander about as if nothing had 5) NWN_2daEditor happened, in a city that has been utterly destroyed, just daft. My PC walked into the pub and 6) PC Color Palette Editor saw unconcerned citizens. Indeed, they looked remarkably healthy considering the devastation 7) Flamewind Conversation Editor outside, where nearly every other building has been razed to the ground…and they still found the time and money to have a pint! TOP Movies

Reviewer note - The reason that the pub patrons don't react to the situation outside, is because 1) NWN2 Official Trailer that inn does not really exist within that town area. The store/inn system the authors have I'm a WOMAN dammit! 2) Making of - an Area developed, means that there is only one instance of any particular store or inn. There is one inn 3) NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate Intro Traile.. where the PC can gather intelligence of the realms, and that particular NPC's information will update with new rumours. TOP Models

Action : 8.5 1) Evil Edison's Gray Render 2) Evil Edison's Efreeti The action in this chapter was very enjoyable! I’d even go so far as to say that the balance, while 3) Monodrone not always perfect, was far, far better than in the previous two chapters of this series. 4) MWM Kama 10 Pack Hak 5) Basilisk The enemies didn’t all have true seeing, which meant that my PC was able to use his stealth 6) Snake skills during some battles. There was a range of melee and ranged enemies and, where 7) ArPharazon's Traps appropriate, magic users as well. Enemy types ranged from human to beasts and monsters, in a 8) Inverted Daggers Override variety of terrifying sizes! 9) Fey's Spear model pack 10) MWM Drow Spider Dagger Hak Terrain was brilliantly utilised and was simply a joy to experience (if painful!). One example of this was The Battle of the Hills. The battlefield consisted of open space with various hills to the TOP Characters left and right. Towers were strategically placed, as were the Cultists of Amaryuu (the White Prince), some of whom were crack shots! Other cultists were melee types, and my party had to 1) The CambPack - (closed for now) sneak, duck and dive our way through several areas of this type in order to take a fortress of the 2) The Legend of Drizzt Pack cultists. Often having picked off the enemy archers, my party was able to use the height of the hills and the towers to rain terror down on the enemy foot soldiers, which was a wise course of action because they numbered in double figures and hit like a mule!

My PC had to face a ghost from his past, Master Yagi. This fight was challenging, made even more so because, for some reason, the cut scenes created a bug where my companions would have faction issues with each other and any ninja my PC spawned. I had to reload three times, and even then I ended up fighting my PC’s ex-master alone while dodging AOE spells from both Azura and Van. That said, while the bug obviously wasn’t meant to have happened, it was a great fight and a hell of a lot of fun!

During Tre’s quest we got to go head to head with a rather powerful enemy. My companions were slaughtered in no time at all, (don’t you just hate cut scenes stripping your buffs?) and I sent a quick prayer of thanks for my PC’s monk speed. Running like a maniac, my PC was able to buff himself with stoneskin, call up his powerful ninja and then utilize his Kage Ryuu book with the special ability Enlightenment of 4000 Eons . This is a madly powerful feat that raises my PC’s AC by +50 and deals a cartload of divine, bludgeoning, negative energy and positive energy damage. On top of that, you gain +20 to all attacks (that is the max NWN will allow without you re-writing the battle engine), +10 to all stats and damage reduction 100/+20. Basically, you’re a Never call Zhana names... whirling dervish who can kick arse!

On the subject of special feats, your companions, and thus you by association, gain the use of some rather spectacular abilities. They are too many to list here, but their effects are really very powerful. One Master of the Way feat I did not manage to acquire was the level 40 Kings of Hell. My own fault for taking 1 level of Shadow dancer *grins*. Seven Dragons of Heaven and Earth is totally awesome visually, and again, is another powerful feat that your PC will gain in his class.

My only real complaint regarding the action in this module concerns the scripted mobs and guards in the various cities. While it is acceptable that the mobs might well attack your party should you put a foot wrong in their town, I find it extraordinary that, while their city is laid waste, they turn up out of nowhere and randomly attack you. This in turn makes the town guards hostile towards your party. Should you tire of this behaviour, it is well worth visiting Master Aram’s office and paying the leech to get rid of this nuisance. One other point I’d like to make concerns the final fight, and the White Prince’s amazing ability to shout his enemies to death. This is a neat bit of scripting, and pretty imaginative as well. At first I must admit to being outraged that such a tactic had been put in place. But, after replaying the final battle fully once, and partially several times, I’ve come to the conclusion that this script balances out the fight, as well as making it interesting. The special feats Enlightenment of 4000 Eons and Iron Sutra make your PC invulnerable, which in turn causes the White Prince to Company of the CLAW! suddenly stop attacking you and stand still. This is unfortunate, and we at the guild suspect is more of a BioWare oddity rather than a custom AI fault. That said, this should have been pretty obvious during their testing, but I’m not entirely sure anything can be done about it.

**Pro Tip**

Remember whom you are dealing with, and listen to the words of dying men, for there is truth in them.

Be patient if you die. Sometimes you’ll have to wait until the White Prince ports off elsewhere, before a companion like Tre for instance, will hot-foot it over to give you the kiss of life ;)

**/Pro Tip**

I’m not going to talk very much about the final battle in this module, as obviously that would be a massive spoiler. But I will say this, stock up on healing potions, such as Grey Goose (resurrection) and Flury’s Special Brew for you and your companions. You’ll need a lot of them! Your companions will resurrect you, or each other during this final fight. Be prepared for a long fight with the White Prince, it can last approximately 40 minutes.

Overall, I really enjoyed the action in this chapter. It is by far the best that I’ve played in this series.

Visuals : 9.5

There were some really fantastic custom tilesets (Faloth the Unholy - Ultimate Tileset Pak) used in this chapter. Cities, marshes, crypts, fortresses, oriental landscapes, fashion and equipment stores to name a few. The cities are under- populated considering their size, But apart from the lack of NPCs doing stuff, the areas are quite beautifully designed.

There were no overly large areas this time, and custom lighting is apparent in each area. Wonderful use of strategically placed hills, towers and the like are very noticeable. Magical effects during cut scenes abound, and the cut scenes themselves are, as they have been in the previous two modules, just amazing. Cut scenes have now become an art form, and the bar has been set as a challenge to other module builders out there! Custom loadscreens are used and they really are a delight to see. Specially made custom portraits are also used, and other NPCs have portraits that match their in game looks.

Some NPCs still had their design tags as names, which did somewhat spoil the ambiance of the area.

Stores, as mentioned in the previous reviews of this series, are chock full of custom items with full and creative descriptions. This chapter yielded a few more custom items; one such item was a Fabulous Suit that had +12 charisma on it. Now to be honest, I’ve no idea what I was supposed to do with this apparel, certainly not wear it! But it did fetch a rather hefty sum when sold. *grins*

The areas were much more interesting and varied in this chapter. The final fight with the White Prince had some truly amazing visuals, such as, solid ground suddenly turning into molten lava. Additionally, there were dream sequences via the cut scenes, armies of illusions, red beams hitting the ground from above and various other magical transformations. The White Isle itself looks nothing like it did back in chapter 6!

Finally there is an epilogue cut scene that shows you what happened after the final showdown. This is beautifully done and finishes off the story very well. An interesting twist is that as you view the last scene, credits roll in the cut scene. I found this a refreshing idea instead of having an end movie that rolls credits. It was a perfect ending to the visual splendour that has been Vis et Virtus

Visually, this is the most impressive of the 3 modules reviewed by myself, and that really is saying a lot.

Sound : 9

Ahh, what can I say about the sound of this module that I have not already said in previous chapter reviews? Well, as you know there are 42 pieces of custom made music for this module series. There is also custom voice acting for important NPCs, your PC and your companions. Placed sounds are appropriately set: high wind on top of hills, battle sounds, screams and roars. Standard sounds are well placed as well, with one exception. Ambient NPCs have no in game voice or dialogue. This really spoils the overall affect of populated areas, for people are never always silent. This sadly is a problem shared by chapters 6,7 and 8, and really the only downside to this category. What I really love listening to are the battle screams of Van as he declares that an enemy has far too many limbs, and the Company of the Claw squeaking out their gang chant.

Replayability : 8

Yes I know, you’ve read my previous 2 reviews on chapters 6 and 7 where this category has not been scored. Well, this chapter would not only be a lot of fun to replay, but it also offers alternative paths in at least three situations that I know of. Not only does it do that, but your choices actually matter in terms of game world consequences, and you can’t ask for better than that now can you?

//OOC: I am the screenshot The battles are really so much fun that I actually want to replay some of them, most especially champion still *pokes tongue the ones that offer me tactical choices on the battlefield. I have been starved of this type of out at fellow Reviewers and fighting freedom in the last two chapters, but this chapter offers me sustenance of such superb grins* quality, that I want to gorge myself on it. Yeah, greedy dragon, I know. *smirks*

Polish : 6.5 All documentation, including world maps, credits, class and feat information, history etc. is held on Pailith Studios’ website.

Map pins are placed for certain buildings, but are seriously lacking for area transitions, particularly as many city areas share the exact same name. Lack of NPC voice sets is another polish issue, sadly.

Companion AI seemed, for the most part, to behave rather well. The only annoyance is that when Zhana is in her other form, she can neither heal nor raise my PC or companions. Pretty dumb for a priestess, but hey, she obviously was having a brunette moment ;) Azura also once claimed she couldn’t change into her dragon form, a response normally reserved for when she is inside a building…not out in the wide open grassland space she was in.

A major bug however did occur during the cut scenes. During two major battles, my companions' factions appeared to get utterly messed up and they would attack each other during and after the Ohhhhhhhh my.... cut scenes. Sort of funny to see Azura suddenly stop attacking my ninja to speak her lines only to resume once her part was done. Tre splattering Van all over the grass was another funny moment. That immortal Arch Magus wasn’t so immortal after Tre’s sword cleaved his skull in two! Of course, the downside was that either the cut scene would hang, or my PC would have to use the radial to command the party to ‘follow’ (peaceful mode) before they slaughtered each other. During one battle, my PC had to fight alone while dodging AOE spells from my rather irate at each other companions.

I also experienced the same odd doubling up of the same companion that I did in chapter 7. However, the solution to the faction and doubling up issues is easily fixed, I’ve discovered. Simply save the game, exit NWN totally and load up the save game. Abracadabra! Weirdness all fixed ;)

Typos are minor and limited to only a couple of instances. Overall, the spelling and grammar is perfect. Other than these few (important) issues, the module runs very well, and considering the huge amount of custom scripting that is firing off at every turn, it really is quite an accomplishment I think.

Solo : 8

This module is designed for solo play and as such does fantastically well with its design intention in mind. It's definitely a module that you will enjoy dialogue, story and battle wise.

Multiplayer : N/A

This is not an MP module.

Fun Factor : 8.5

I really did have a lot of fun with this chapter. The freedom, allowed me as a player was much improved upon previous chapters, and the story never fails to enthral, amuse or surprise me with its twists. The plot never has any weak points!

I enjoyed the custom feats, and while they were very, very powerful, I actually feel that the authors managed to get the balance almost perfectly right this time. I sure would like to see this story in novel format; the writers have a wonderful talent for keeping the reader glued to the edge of their seat. Disclaimer

Please note that this series of reviews (Chapter 6, Chapter 7), while covering a third of the Vis et Virtus series are intended to stand alone as reviews for each individual module. The Reviewer’s Award is for chapter 8 solely, and does not represent an award for the Vis et Virtus series in its entirety.

I'd like to thank fellow Reviewer Shia Luck for checking that custom feats worked as advertised, thanks Shia!

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