Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition Review

Sometimes The Dragon Wins

HIGH Great atmosphere, engaging story. Memorable companions.

LOW Frequent bugs and glitches. Crashes to desktop. Basic features don’t work.

WTF My Druid has a dinosaur as an animal companion!

In 2003, I was looking for a Dungeons and Dragons experience for my PC. 

I was interested in trying something like World of Warcraft, but hesitant about the subscription model and didn’t want to turn it into a part-time job.  I discovered Neverwinter Nights, determined it was exactly what I was looking for, and then happily spent dozens of hours playing through its campaign and the user-made modules. 

It’s fair to say I’ve always been a fan of the series, and I own multiple copies of both titles.  As such, I was overjoyed to review the latest remaster from Aspyr, Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition to see how this seminal role-playing experience held up in 2025…  Spoiler: not well.

Near the city of Neverwinter on the Sword Coast of Faerun, evil forces have conquered and despoiled the lands.  As the adopted child of an adventurer in a backwater town, the player learns of their role as the Shard-Bearer — possessor of an artifact the Shadow King requires to complete his dastardly agenda.  Setting forth alone, the player must gather allies to thwart the Shadow King.  Will the Shard-Bearer be a savior, or a more powerful evil to blight the land?  Only the player can decide..

Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition is an isometric, third-person role-playing game where the player selects or creates a character from one of the many races and classes available, ranging from a Half-Elven Rogue to a Dwarven Cleric of Tyr.  The player directly controls the character’s movement and then uses a hybrid menu system for combat where battles are strategic and turn-based. 

For instance, the player may click on a target or select one using the Enhanced Edition‘s newly implemented controller inputs to select the next action which will take place on the next turn.  There’s also a pause feature which allows more refined control over the character (or party) where the player can select several turns’ worth of actions to take place sequentially. 

Outside of combat, the player faces a multitude of dialogue choices, both large (should I aid the village in its time of need?) and small (should I demand a few more gold as a reward for my actions?).  There is no right or wrong answer, only what feels appropriate to the player.  It’s important to note that all choices feel important and have a lasting effect on the party members and any other characters the player meets along the way. 

Speaking of which, a cast of memorable faces are ready to travel with the player — some favorties included a Dwarven Fighter looking to become a monk, a Tiefling who steals whatever isn’t nailed down, and a cranky human sorceress with an inflated ego — but also with the fireballs to back it up. 

Party member interactions are a highlight of Neverwinter Nights 2, and learning more about them by gaining their confidence is always a treat.  Characters gain experience via combat and exploration, and can readily purchase or craft gear.  Progression is steady, and it’s generally easy to earn the coin needed for upgrades. 

While things get off to a roaring start and this version has a great base to work from, Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition squanders the goodwill its writing and mechanics earn almost immediately. 

While the improved graphics make character models sharper and slightly more detailed, they still look tremendously dated. Worse, bugs are glitches are rampant.  Ten minutes after starting the game, my character got stuck in place and I had to try numerous fixes to continue on my way. Hardly an isolated occurrence, this ‘stickiness’ happens frequently during exploration and required me to quickly select a new character or click on a faraway destination to remedy. 

During combat, my character frequently teleported outside of any room I was in.  Also during combat, clicking an action doesn’t always work, even if the appropriate icon appears in the combat menu. 

Also, players need to spend a good deal of time micro-managing their party to get them to behave usefully in battle — dysfunctional behaviors like running around in circles, refusing to follow the main character into a room, or launching spells from nowhere near a fight. Even basic things like sound effects don’t work properly.  The clash of steel against armor or shield is notably missing from all battles, and I also suffered several crashes to desktop, causing me to repeat lengthy sections.

I will give the save system specifically a mixed review.  Neverwinter Nights 2 allows me to save whenever and wherever I want, which longtime readers will know is something I harp on constantly — so I approve.  However, when trying to load a saved game, I’m asked if I want to save first.  The first time this happened, I had just suffered a total party kill, requiring me to load an earlier save.  Not paying attention, I accidentally saved this graceless defeat over my good save I was trying to get back into! Why on earth would anyone want to save right after they’d been killed? 

Dungeons & Dragons Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Edition could have been something truly special to share with modern-day players.  This classic does a great job of worldbuilding and gives a player true stakes, a sense of progression, and a realistic party of companions to interact with. Sadly, the rife bugs and glitches along with a general sense of being unfinished make it impossible to recommend, especially as there seem to be no patches incoming. 

It’s tremendously disappointing, and hopefully either Aspyr can do something about it in the future, or ardent fans will come to rescue and save this title from a fate worse than death.

Rating: 3.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed and published by Aspyr Media. It is currently available on XBX/S, PS5, Switch, Switch 2, and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 24 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. While there are multiplayer modes which offer features such as the ability to turn PVP on and off, I was not able to join any sessions. Player sessions are password protected, and I did not know anyone currently playing the game.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T and contains Blood, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence. The official description reads: This is a role-playing game in which players can create characters to engage in popular D&D campaigns set in the Forgotten Realms. From a third-person perspective, players explore fantasy locations while interacting with characters, performing quests/missions, and battling enemies. Players use swords, arrows, and magic spells to kill various enemies (e.g., ogres, bandits, animals, elves, dwarves). Combat is highlighted by cries of pain, small explosions, and large splatters of blood. A handful of walls/floors are also stained with blood. Female characters are sometimes depicted wearing low-cut tops that reveal large amounts of cleavage; players can develop relationships with others, sometimes resulting in suggestive dialogue (e.g., “I thought perhaps we could get some sleep. Together”; “I have no intention of letting you sleep.”). Tavern sequences depict drunk characters slurring and hiccupping; background characters also drink alcohol. Players’ character can consume ale, wine, and spirits, resulting in status/skill effects. The word “bastard” appears in the game.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. All gameplay critical sound effects have a visual component.  However, characters casting spells, attacking, or making non-gameplay critical utterances do not have accompanying subtitles.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

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