Recently I have been searching for games that I used to play before getting into console gaming. I have digged out old copies out some of the games that I have played before and others that are still missing. One of those games is Neverwinter Nights. This game didn't get me into RPG but the game itself got me into playing hours upon hours of this game. It's satisfying to even play this game again, everything from the game-play, cinematic and soundtrack proves to be awesome and epic. These were the days that I always played RPGs like Diablo, Baldur's Gate, Dungeon Siege and such, and I had a better experience than playing Final Fantasy IV, VII and IX. 
 
The reason why I had a better experience with western RPGs is because it doesn't feel restricted or linear and you have the freedom to customize your hero and especially the storyline is better. While playing those Final Fantasy games, I don't feel compelled to play as some teenager or someone that isn't interesting. Furthermore, the storyline doesn't make any sense or is too cliche to even merit a storyline at all. Granted that Final Fantasy IV has some great moments and your character doesn't look gay at the starting. I still don't understand, to this day, the reason why JRPG make so much cliche and stupid storylines plus characters that are all kids that probably endorse pedophilia actions. ... But I digress

Playing Neverwinter Nights again is awesome. First off, customizing your character is fun, its quite in-depth feature. You can first choose your race from either Human, Elf, Half-Elf, Halflings, Dwarf and Orc, picking these races with supplement you for your desired class. Besides choosing your portrait from picking either male or female eariler, you can set your karma level from either good, neutral or evil and each of these contains three options of each perspective karma level. After you get to choose your desired class and manage your stats, then customize your hero and his/her voice. It's quite an awesome feature, customizing your hero and making a back-story for your character. 
 
Like other RPG games like Diablo and Baldur's Gate, the camera remains in a isometric view but in 3-D and you can move the camera to change angles. These camera options are customizable as well, as you can pick whichever camera view that you desired. After switching to the desired camera view in the tutorial room, the games teaches you the combat from melee and range and there is additional rooms that teach you more combat depending on which class you took. The combat is like playing D&D, your attacks are affected by "dice rolls" or calculations from the HUD chat interface, making it some-what tedious but more fun as you level up to higher levels. If you had chosen class that is dependent on stealth, there are chests, doors that you can pick-locks at and other classes have their abilities, like summoning a companion, brewing potions or singing a song to buff you or your allies. 
 
After that, you are greeted by Lady Arbeith about your success on the academy but suddenly it appears that this academy is under attack by unknown invaders. Therefore, you will start a indenture on exiting this academy, with further tutorial lessons on having a companion and the benefits of leveling up. After you had reach the end, you encounter Fenthick and Desether but is too late to receive the cure from the four creatures. And so, you venture off to find these four creatures from either the Peninsula and Docks District, Beggar's Nest and Blacklake District but require a mercenary for your travels. You can acquire a mercenary from the Trade of Blades where you can choose a plethora of companions, depending on your class choose whatever the desired class that will benefit you in your journeys.  
 
In these districts, you will encounter NPCs that will give you quests on receiving or killing someone, sometimes these things will affect your karma level depending on which dialogue tree you had spoken while interacting them. The feature is quite awesome because like other western RPGs, you have the freedom to express the situation not being limited to those actions like JRPGs. Again, I still really hate that aspect from those games. Anyways, each district features different types aspects, especially Docks District, where you are required to infiltrate the Blood Sailors headquarters to receiving a reagent from a creature, this district also had its own currency, the Smugglers' Coins. These can buy you better items featured in the auction or purchase these coins from a merchant. 
 
Eariler on, when you level up there a passive spell that can identify items just like in Diablo II, this spell is quite interesting because its rather tedious to teleport back to the Temple of Tyr with your Stone of Recall and let the merchant idenfity the specific item with additional costs. This and other spells as you progress through other levels are quite beneficitary for not only combat but yourself. When you are purchasing something, you see a interface that is exactly like Diablo and like Diablo II, you can buy a item by dragging the item to your inventory or dragging a item to the merchant to sell it. 
 
Other than that, the voice acting and the soundtrack is amazing. I totally fits to the fantasy and storyline that pertains in this game. I especially love how you interact with characters in this game, it feels more livelier especially when they described their own story to you. It feels more compelling to come back to these games, its addicting and nostalgic, seeing the awesome camera view and game-play aspects. Also the game consists of four chapter, each of them containing their own opening cinematic. What impresses me is the cinematic, the way it is executed is awesome, it simply looks beautiful because it doesn't contain any CG nor FMV of real people cosplaying as Neverwinter Nights' characters. It has an art feeling that I totally adore and wished that other games would have the same merit as these awesome cinematics. 
 
Here is one of cinematics that I wish every game in Neverwinter Nights series have: