Neverwinter

Nothing is Everfree

If you're a fan of Dungeons & Dragons by way of pen and paper. Or you rolled some dice in your day like I did when I was a kid. Then you will find Neverwinter to be a fun nostalgic run through your past. I have loved leveling up my Dark Elf Rogue and running into creatures from those old Monster Manuals like Gelatinous Cubes, Mimics, Gorgons and Beholders oh my. You will get a kick out of seeing them as living breathing opponents that are trying to kill you. The graphics are great and nicely rendered encompassing many different environments. The game play is thought out with familiar Dungeons & Dragons races and lots of classes to choose from. Be warned this game can suck you in before you know it.

The game offers many levels of complexity that you will have to master to take full advantage of your time in the game. Be it adventuring, exploring the world, crafting items, questing the different zones, collecting the many trinkets, building up your guild & stronghold, or navigating the auction house. As you can see the game has a lot to offer you. However, it will take some time to master and understand it all. At times you can get completely side tracked in one activity and completely forget that you were doing something else. The biggest plus is that all this game content is free to download and play if you want to spend the time to learn your way around.

There are a couple of drawbacks if you want to consider them as such. Game currencies, inventory space, and the time needed to become proficient in this world. Being that the game is free to play for gamers, the developers needed a way to generate money in some way. You can certainly play through the game without spending a single penny, but if you want more then two characters for example you will have to purchase Zen. Zen is one of the three main currencies in the game. The other is the familiar gold coins and other denominations which do not hold much value in the game. The true currency of the game is Astral Diamonds which can also be converted into Zen for certain purchases. You will have to weigh out if certain purchases are worth spending any of these currencies, sometimes they are not.

Inventory management is the biggest problem in the game that you will run into. Space fills up quickly and items need to identified to decide what to do with them. You can pick up a few bags in your travels giving you 30, 18, and 12 spots for items. To expand your carrying capacity you need to buy bags from the auction house from other players. If you don't want to battle it out with other bidders you can buy a 24 space bag from 269,000 (What I paid for mine) to 350,000 Astral Diamonds. There are bigger and smaller sized bags available, but unless you buy them with cash it will be a slow crawl to save up for one bag. Most items you pick up will need to be identified with a magic scroll which you can get off of enemies or you have to buy with Astral Diamonds. It always seems you never have enough scrolls for the task. These items can be equipped if better then the current item you hold, sold for gold to buy some supplies, or can be given to your guild stronghold for guild marks.

The developers add new modules and content on a regular basis giving you a wide choice of items, zones, and quests in which to adventure in. In a nutshell, the game has tons of content that will keep you busy, but it could be more enjoyable if you are able and willing to spend some real cash.