cipher86
Mysteries of Westgate (MoW) is an adventure pack for NWN2. It requires the original game. None of the expansions are required, however having them installed will give you access to the additional classes.
Quick note on the DRM: I was initally going to avoid this game due to the implementation of the DRM. The truth is, it's incredibly non-intrusive, and not nearly as bad as it was built up to be. You need to be connected to the internet the first time you activate MoW, after that, the DRM hops into the backseat. For more information on the limited of installs, you can visit the official forums, but I don't think many people will ever run into a problem the DRM. Again, it's practically non-existent.
With that out of the way...
STORY
The setup for the story is that your character found a mask in a dungeoun which turned out to be cursed. Ever since finding it you have been plagued by nightmares, and when you try to discard the mask, it always finds its way back to you. You seek out the advice of a local sage who tells you the mask's origins lie with an organization in Westgate known as the Night Masks. You board the next ship for Westgate to seek out the Night Masks and a release from the mask and its curse.
This, however, is just the main quest of the game. It's called Mysteries of Westgate for a reason. While conducting your hunt for the Night Masks, you will come across an insane amount of sidequests, each throwing you into the center of a new, elaborate plot taking place in Westgate. Really, there are a ton of sidequests here, none of which should be overlooked. For the most part, the sidequests are fairly well paced alongside the main story, but most of them are obtained near the beginning of the game and dry out towards the latter few entries of the main quest.
SOUND
There are some new music tracks in the game, all of which are outstanding. I really came to enjoy most of the tracks, my favorite being the loop that plays while you are in the Arena District of Westgate.
There's some new Voice Acting, but not a lot. It's pretty scarce throughout the chunk of the game, some sidequests don't have any at all, but all the endgame scenes are fully voiced, which is quite nice. This is one of my few beefs with the game. The general absence of VA doesn't ruin the game by any means, but it did make it more difficult for me to get into the world and relate with several characters.
Having more VA and dialogue with your companions would have been a nice addition as well; if you enjoyed spending 15 or 20 minute asides getting to know one of your companions better in the Original Campaign or Mask of the Betrayer, you will likely be let down by the lack of companion development. Each companion DOES have their own distinct personality, and there is a decent amount of interparty banter going on, but I didn't get the same sense of satisfaction from completing each of my companions side quests as I did when, say, assisting Khelgar to discover himself.
That said...
GENERAL GAMEPLAY
- You gain three companions, and only three, throughout the story of MoW. You can get them all fairly early on. You recruit a rogue, a cleric, and a fighter. There's the odd time you get a non-controllable NPC in your party, but those segments are fairly short.
- There are some seriously tough battles in this game. If you had any qualms with the combat system in the previous NWN entries, you will likely have some problems here. One way to help ease the frustration is to use Tony K's AI. Ossian, the studio that developed MoW, recommends not using any mods at this point as it may cause glitches. I used it for most of my journey through Westgate, and only experienced one minor glitch, which occured before the implementation of Tony K's. More on glitches later.
Another solution is to set the game to Easy. I ended up doing this, as after taking an extreme beating and many stupid companion decisions, I decided I just wanted to continue experiencing MoW without the frustration of an often-clunky combat system. It made it much more enjoyable for me, and it should be noted that the poorly designed combat system is not a fault of MoW, and as such won't weigh heavily in the final score. It requires SOME weight, however, because it is there.
- I only ran into one glitch, which was solved by loading an earlier save (approximately 10 minutes back). I'm not even entirely convinced this load was necessary, but I didn't want to waste the time fiddling around to see if I could work it out otherwise. All in all, this game was virtually glitch free for me, and reading the official forums, this seems to be the case for most. Even if you run into a glitch, all that I have seen reported are near harmless, and not game ruining at all. This alone is quite a feat. Kudos to Ossian.
- There's a good sense of humor in this game. The entertainer in the Market Triangle has constant back and forth insult-based banter with the audience, all of which I found to be fairly witty and a few were hilarious. There's a reappearing protestor who protests everything, an annoying yet helpful and loveable beggar, and several lines that encourage a chuckle. Some jokes were alright, but hey, at least they tried to keep things fairly lighthearted, and in most situations the humor was a success.
- Most quests have multiple solutions. If you're the type that enjoys replaying lengthy RPGs (which MoW is) to see different solutions to quests, you'll enjoy this feature.
WHAT COULD HAVE MADE THE EXPERIENCE BETTER
- More VA. It's only $10, so this won't weigh much in the final score, but when I was doing a string of sidequests, it would be practically devoid of VA, and I found it hard to remain immersed in the world. I would have glady paid $15 or even $20 if it meant additional VA, as I feel it really helps keep the game lively.
- At times I felt the amount of sidequests being acquired made the main quest feel much less urgent than it should be. After all, my main focus is to discover the curse of the mask and how to lift it, but I'm getting offers to help out Joe's and Mary's all over Westgate. The sidequests are thoroughly enjoyable, and some provide memorable experiences, however I sort of wish there was more focus and development on the main story, or perhaps more conversations with your companions and additional quests for developing their stories, than the development of random happenings around Westgate.
- There were very, very few decisions that actually affected your alignment. I started off as a pure Netural wizard, and by the end of the game I was only a couple points off of still being an absolute neutral wizard. At one point in the game, I bought a bunch of slaves, and then made a decision to be a benevolent type and immediately released them. They thanked me, I got some experience, but I didn't gain any alignment toward good or lawful. Also, in the odd case where you do get an alignment shift, it's usually +/- 1 point. It would have been nice if the moral choices had a greater impact on your moral affinity.
All these suggestions are really just minor quirks. This is a very well made module, and is well worth the $10. I think I did almost all the sidequests (save for the Arena. That place isn't safe for a mage, and the final battles are extremely difficult), and it took me around 20 hours to complete. Your mileage may vary, but if you're into the RPG scene, you'll definitely enjoy this addon.
GRADE: 9/10
Vala, posle tolikog cekanja, i red je da nas pocaste sa necim zaista kvalitetnim, mada sumnjam da ce se pribliziti MOTB-u, koji je, po meni, jedini imao pricu i atmosferu koja je mogla da se priblizi nedodirljivom Planescapu. No, ako su u tome uspeli, skidam im kapu! 
