This is an all-in-one bundle for the Shadowlords, Dreamcatcher, and Demon campaigns, packaged in a self-installing executeable. For those who want to play the entire campaign from start to end, this simplifies downloading and installing all the little files separately.
I enjoyed most of this a lot. For the impatient reader here's my detailed vote: Shadowlords: 10.00 Dreamcatcher: 9.00 Demon. 5.00 Total: 8.00 For everybody else who enjoys reading about other peoples experiences, here's the details: This campaign was my first attempt at trying te pale master class. So I started Shadowlords with a wizard and promptly hit my first Pale Master level in the dungeon under the monastery. I played with Anera and from a roleplaying experience this was a perfect 10. The young wizard fascinated by the undead, constantly struggling between neutral and evil and the lawful good cleric. A doomed romance, I say! I ended up a good boy, being a true neutral, scythe wielding, Jergal worshipping W3/PM5. It was tough beyond what I imagined with that combo, but I managed in the end. My fight with the Balor laid waste to the whole of the dreamworld and was one of the best and longest battles I ever had in NWN1. So, a 10.00 for this. Dreamcatcher started very good but after I arrived at the elven palace it was a bit b too railroaded for my taste. Each new area was small an had one nice (and ofter VERY nice) programming gadget going but did little in terms of the story. The whole commander thing got a bit longish after a while. So 8 points for that. The end of Dreamcatcher was like an evil foreboding for Demon. Honestly, I was very disappointed by that. I felt like a long stretched out series of of programming show offs with no real story to speak of. I quit about 3/4 through the mod. The whole switching between forms thing didn't really grab my interest and I didn't like most of the side quests you had to go through. Not my thing at all. So just 5 points from me here. All that said, I never encountered anyone else yet, who could do such amazing things with the toolset. That was just jaw-dropping what Adam managed to pull out of the hat sometimes. Unfortunately it felt that his supreme skills got in the way of storytelling sometimes the further the whole thing progressed. So, that's my 2 cents. I hope you don't mind the criticism. Voting and gaming experiences is after all a highly subjective thing.
Posted by gnollpaladin at on12/05/09
Super Module, from the scripting to the story. The reason you only get an 8 is the ridiculous hardness of the battles. I was in the end of dying 50 times per fight so I had to go into god mode. Also, when you don't give me more than a +2 Weapon don't let them have AC of 30.
Posted by DarkWyldchilde at on11/23/09
I decided to put my rating in here because I was too busy jumping module to module, and because as this page shows it's better to look at it as a whole picture rather then the separate pieces. That said my ratings will look at the individual modules. I mean comparing Shadowlords 1 and Dreamcatcher 1 simply wouldn't be fair. I should also note that I start at least at a 5 because I've never done a module and so I don't feel right being TOO critical. That's not to say it couldn't happen, but it would have to be truly dreadful. SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Shadowlords 1-3 9.5 Tight programming, good script what kept it from a 10 was the henchman not being able to level up with you, and you not being able to go into their inventory to give them extra healing potions and the like. Shadowlords 4-5 10 While the henchman problems were still there Anera had reached a level that I wasn't too terribly worried for her welfare like I was in 1-3. The script also went from the good to amazing with what is still my favorite even in all of NWN... when in the mind of Jergal, in the sanitarium, in the conference room Anera pounced on my sorceress and had her way with her... I mean my girl was totally compliant, but she had to be the one who was wooing Anera, so to have her become the aggressor? Well in RP I imagined her walking through the rest of the sanitarium with a deliorously happy smile and a dusty back while Anera walked with a swagger. Dreamcatcher 1-4 10 I almost want to give more... that initial dream sequence had ME upset, with Anera loosing her faith, and then burning alive? **I** decided to get up and fix some lunch just to let myself calm down... and it only went from there. The switch out with the doppleganger was BRILLIANT... the funny thing was that I had buffed her out with spells, but I figured "Oh, one of the mages must have dispelled." when I noticed the effects were off. Then when she attacked I thought "Faction Glitch?" Then I found myself verbally swearing "Oh you bastards, where is she what did you do to her?" Yeah... I played this for the romance... I did NOT like the start of part 3... the whole, you're weak, you're thirsty.... blah, blah blah... the reason I settled at 10 was BECAUSE of the item strip, curse, to injured to rest BS. The only thing that kept it from reducing the score was Adam scripting stuff to stay in bags... I'm STILL bitter over the time it takes to put stuff back in it's bags after HotU's item strip. Reuniting with Anera in 4 however makes up for any bitterness. Just an all around awesome series that has the technical proficiency, but more importantly draws me into the story. Demon-8 The story starts with you dying... no chance to resist, no real point in struggling, you can't even kill one and have him pop right out of his spirit gem (since you wouldn't know what they are at that point) NOPE! Just grab your ankles and hope they are gentle! Which leads to the level strip... why make a Shadowlords/Dreamcatcher sequel that is NOT epic! it feels like a cop out. It could have been a standalone mod that starts with your death... ala Legacy of Cain... you let me bring my gril from the previous 9, and then strip all traces of the previous 9. Which leads to the spirit trap... WHY would the bad guys keep an item that's going to let you recover MOST of your power along with all those neato items that would make you that much more likely to kill our main villain? Why wouldn't he destroy it? Or send it to some distant plane if destroying it would simply return the power to you... bah just throw it in stroage with the rest of her increidbly powerful items. On a related note... when you get to the villain and realize he is your old enemy from Shadowlords... your first actions are to talk about old times??? You are a parent! Your child is missing! This bastard has her! I WOULD have been wrapping my hands around his throat and not letting out any words that didn't lead me to Rowen... exposition can come after. But then again on your way to finding your girl you are basically expected to do idle crap like stop off for a game of cards while your baby is in unknown hands! Sorry, story is what gets me, and while Demon is REALLY, REALLY pretty is story had numerous flaws. So I'll average it all out to nine and a quarter.
Posted by edosan at on09/14/09
This is a great series and I really like one unified installer for everything. I'm only giving this a (slightly) lower review because more recent modules have built on this one -- still, this is probably the first great NWN campaign.
Posted by Jedijax at on09/13/09
Even though I agree with most of what WeAreAllKosh has said, we usually perceive modules and games in the same way, I do think his comments are heavily influenced by the fact he played a Bard. Indeed, I think Miller made very simple modules in terms of storyline and character development, and I also think they are more an exercise on toolset capabilities. I also think Adam included too many modern and real-life references, which tend to get you off-character, something that should be avoided in serious RPG's (I mean, he even goes as far as to make a Brittney Spears joke in Demon!). His sense of humor seems rather dull and childish to me, and dialogue options are rather... lacking. However, in spite of it all, I think Miller's saga is quite enjoyable. I wouldn't go as far as to grade it upon its scripting alone, Miller's knowledge of the Forgotten Realms' history is shown, and his incursion into the Planescape campaign setting is also well implemented. All in all, I would say it was one of the first good, custom works to grace the NWN community, and it is still one of the best sagas to be shared. Of course, I think AL and The Aielund Saga are much better, but still, Shadowlords/Dreamcatcher/Demon is an outstanding, vintage, effort.
Posted by edosan at on09/14/09
Played this quite a while ago and it is very good, although not the best I've played. It's nice to have one installer for everything.
Posted by deathangel at on07/24/09
these mods are lots of fun _________________________ Dying's easy Living's hard "Don't fear the dark...fear what's in it." "Freedom is secured not by the fulfilling of one's desires, but by the removal of desire." -Epictetus (\__/) (='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into (")_(") your signature to help him gain world domination. Check out my stuff at fanfiction.net Link
Posted by slaytanic at on06/11/09
Just the innovations alone made by the author at the time of each release already deserved a 10... Not content with this , he also developed an interesting story along all these mods. And finally, the card game in "Demon" is a big plus
Posted by Jamro at on06/02/09
Played this again after a great while... and it's still great! Ok, Shadowlords starts a bit average, but after seeing the Penguin things start getting more and more of that Miller flavour. The story is a good one, henchie interaction romance exemplary. But what really sets the series apart is the custom content, amazing inventive stuff you just don't see anywhere else. The full demon cards trading card game built into Demon is just superbly wonderful (and something I largely ignored on my earlier playthrough). Sometimes this content breaks up a bit and you'll have to reload, but it's worth it. There are a few better modules in the vault than any given module in this campaign, but this is THE single best complete campaign made for NWN. DO NOT pass.
Posted by Quozz at on05/08/09
In one word - Awesome. Few things i didn't quite enjoy: Shadowlords - XP and XP loss for companions death... Technically you're able to lose more then you can gain. Especially spamming fireballs on hardcore difficulity settings. Teira was doomed. Wasn't that bad with melee char though. Dreamcatcher - Only thing i can think of is my sorcerer hunting frogs and going through "the Trial". Real pain in the butt it was. Those who played with magic class should know what i'm saying. Those who didn't - try it. Demon - If it was only a bit longer ... Things i did enjoy: All the rest. And i went through it about 6 times.
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