"Truly life is a fleeting dream. We must make our own peace, for it is from within that tranquility arises like a cool fountain. I don�t mean to imply that losing my home and family was not a trial, but who, if I were to reflect, can hope to have a thing and not to lose it? Look at Umar. How many died there? Best to live in the moment and look to the next. By the way, I have heard that lately there have been a great many pirates from Bast in these waters. I hear they take slaves to labor or fight in the arenas. Thank heavens we won�t be going there!"
- Xian
As Seiji, Xian and Azura sail from the doomed port of Umar, their ship is attacked by Bastian pirates. All are sold as slaves to a psychopathic priestess of Bast, and Seiji and Xian are sent to fight in the arenas. Can Seiji and Xian manipulate their captor to find Azura and escape the sands of Bast? And even if so, where will their path lead?
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Disclaimer
Vis et Virtus is not a normal Neverwinter Nights module, nor is it intended to be. It is, by design, a mostly linear adventure with a heavy emphasis on story and character development. It was designed to be a fusion of game genres combining elements from traditional Japanese console RPG games like Final Fantasy, with computer RPGs like NWN, along with devices that are unique to VeV.
If you are looking for a game that uses a non-linear approach with lots of dialogue options through which you can create a character of your choosing, featuring standard NWN systems, I encourage you to look elsewhere. There are plenty of excellent games out there that do an excellent job of this. I would also encourage you to look elsewhere if you don't have the time to allow the story and characters to develop. Like a great novel, the story gets better as it goes, and many questions remain unanswered until later in the series. In the beginning, you will not know the full history of each of the characters nor have a full understanding of their motivations, but over the course of the game these elements will become apparent. Finally, in order to add to the depth of the characters, Vis et Virtus uses pregenerated characters. If you are uninterested in games involving pregenerated characters, please do not waste your time downloading VeV.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for a game with a truly epic story, strategic battles, engaging party members, unique systems and stunning custom content that make you feel like you're playing an entirely different game, you will enjoy Vis et Virtus.
If you are still uncertain as to whether Vis et Virtus is the sort of gaming experience you like, I encourage you to read our reviews. QSW and the Vault Review Team have written excellent, detailed reviews of the last three chapters of VeV which will likely give you a good idea of what to expect. You can find them at Link, Link, and Link.
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For more information on Vis et Virtus, please visit our website at Link
Posted by spuriad at 2013-04-13 06:50:01 Voted 5.50 on 04/13/13
One more Con:
The cut scenes are pretty annoying, especially those with the Company of the Claw... and also because all the buffs you use before a major fight just dissappears during the cut scene.
Posted by spuriad at 2013-04-13 06:48:22 Voted 5.50 on 04/13/13
OK, just finished the 2nd in the series.
Pro:
I like the scenery and the graphics.
Cons:
The story seems to start in the middle of no-where, and doesn't seem to have a point to it. The character starts off after having had some history (un-known), and given a task to find that guy for an un-known reason.
Lots (lots!) of areas with nothing of interest in them. Cities that are made of 6 different areas, but there's nothing to do in them! Going west to find this Tre dude, I must have crossed 12 areas that had nothing except for a couple of baddies and some herbs and stuff. What was the point in all that?
And the music... dude, it sucks. Absolutely. Goes completely against the character of the areas and the story.
Sorry.
I AM, however, going on with this series, because the prospect of reaching level 40 intrigues me, and I like to play several consecutive modules with the same character.
I only hope it improves as I go along...
I released an update to the prologue and chapters 1-6 today. Chapters 7 and 8 will be updated in the coming weeks.
I've dubbed this particular version the "Almost Final Version" because we are honing in on a Final Version. Andrew and I will be doing one last test run this summer and updating accordingly before officially labeling VeV Final.
These final updates are almost exclusively polish, subtle details and bug fixes. The only update I would like to point out is that we have added an On / Off switch to the boss cutscenes we added in version 4. That way, if you prefer not to watch those scenes, you can turn them off via a Macro Command. Further information is included in the in game Journal.
We have also remade our Vis et Virtus Website from scratch and moved it over to wordpress. We are still working on the finishing touches on this as well, but all the important information should be accessible there. You can find it at the link above.
Since the website has had a lot of downtime lately due to the server, I've decided to use a different host. The new Vis et Virtus website can be found at the link above.
Friends, due to being in the process of opening a business and my test player being busy in his final year of college, I'm going to take a different approach with the release than I have in the past with 4.0. I'd like to ask those of you on the vault to please help me find bugs with the new version, so I'm releasing the beta. I have, of course, done a good deal of testing myself, but I'd love to get your input on the new version.
I'll be releasing chapters 3-5 beta as well very soon. Chapters 6-8 are taking a little longer due to my busy schedule and the numerous cutscene additions. Of note, the boss death sequences I mentioned in my prior post will not start showing up until chapter 3 simply because there are not as many major bosses in the early chapters.
Thanks so much for your patience and, to those of you willing to help me out, you have my sincere appreciation.
On an unrelated note, we're still being swamped by troll voters, some of whom may even sound like they've played the game before if you're not familiar with it. I want to make it clear that I have nothing to do with them and do not in any way condone their actions. Unfortunately, I no longer have the time to patrol the site for them, so if you see any, please report them to BeyondThePale.
Thanks,
Jim
Posted by yatzik at 2011-08-15 05:40:47 Voted 5.00 on 08/15/11
Well, this episode continues the general feel of laziness and uninspired designs. Writing goes from amateurish (or should I say childish) to seriously obnoxious - Zhana's lines are a screaming example of this i dare say idiocy, "jokes" are offensively unfunny, story completely incoherent. Combined with inexistent character development, the same problems from previous episodes - huge empty places, boring NPCs, same freaking set of stores in every goddamn town. All in all: huge waste of time.
Posted by snowdog at 2011-02-26 13:29:20 Voted 8.00 on 02/26/11
Adjusting my score up a bit. I did really like the Company of the Claw. But my criticism of the overall design remains. Long, Long walks to get to another city that is the same as the city you left. With the same stores and extremely few characters.
Posted by snowdog at 2011-02-25 17:31:22 Voted 8.00 on 02/26/11
It really looks like this series score was pumped up by the same four people giving it 10, with one sentence.
This is not a "10" module by any stretch of the imagination.
So far just lots of long walks in largely empty areas. Cities generally have about 2 buildings you can enter, they same exact shop just gets repeated in each city and there is pretty much nothing else.
These are way overrated do to the small amount of ratings and what looks like a concerted effort to pump them up.
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2011-02-05 16:40:27 Voted 7.25 on 02/05/11
What is Christina DeCiantis doing in a dojo? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
First, you need to go to the Hall of Heroes in Corleon and talk to the old man at the bar. Then you can exit Corleon via the west gate. Continue heading west till you find his manor.
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2011-02-05 09:10:46 Voted 7.25 on 02/05/11
Were is Tre? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2011-02-05 05:03:14 Voted 7.25 on 02/05/11
I'm stuck in a desert with a path in its center leading west, but there's no transition point. Where do I go from there? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
No, your equipment has been stolen and sold off. You will have to acquire new equipment. Not to worry, loot is not often in short supply in VeV and you will soon find yourself with better equipment than you had in chapter 1.
Posted by Steve_Savicki at 2011-02-03 17:23:25 Voted 7.25 on 02/05/11
Do we get our equipment back after being sold in a slave market? _________________________ Steve's Characters - please don't forget to vote on them if you play them.
Thanks,
Steve
Posted by tisdestiny at 2011-01-06 14:45:12 Voted 9.75 on 01/06/11
Continued excellence in the series. Chapter 2 takes the player from the lowliest life of a slave, to the prestigious job of world diplomat, Seiji and crew explore the other half of the world, first being bossed around by the priestess Zhana in Bast, to still being bossed around by Zhana in a peace convoy to Ortzenhelm. The story continues to introduce the player to the other half of the world and the remaining party members. While the main event of warring nations hasn�t fully engulfed the party, the excellent writing and inter-party dialogue more than makes up for the still flourishing story. The writing combined with the well done cutscenes brilliantly tells the story. The custom content of this module continues to be unrivaled. From hundreds of custom items in the shops and found on the ground in every map, the variety of ways you can equip your character will please every player. The music, lighting, and other small touches were very nicely done. The battles were nicely balanced, but challenging, especially the city battle to save Azura and the martial arts fight. The random fights also included a large variety of enemies, 3-4 different sets of enemy groups per location. The puzzles in the teleport dungeon were well constructed, interesting, and made for very enjoyable gameplay. Overall, this chapter only minor setback, like chapter 1, was a truly large world; but again playing a monk and having plenty of custom lootable items on the ground helps explain the higher number of maps. Every other aspect of this chapter and series so far has been outstanding and outclasses every other module out there.
Posted by Libita at 2010-12-12 13:28:14 Voted 8.75 on 12/12/10
Compared to chapter 1, this features some more variation in gameplay and strategy. I missed a certain map item during the first half of the chapter, though.
Overall, this remains a beautifully customized, unique piece of art with a very responsive author, meaningful updates and some pretty minor drags.
(reposted vote because of oversight) _________________________ One feels inclined to say that the idea that man should be "happy" is not included in the plan of "creation". - Sigmund Freud
Posted by Libita at 2010-12-12 13:26:47 Voted 8.75 on 12/12/10
*bangs head at wall*
That was actually written on the hints page... stupid me. That being one of my criticisms, I'll have to update my vote a bit yet again... _________________________ One feels inclined to say that the idea that man should be "happy" is not included in the plan of "creation". - Sigmund Freud
Hey Libita, thanks for taking the time to update your votes!
In regards to your statement, "Though I think that there should be shortcuts from Al-Herald to Mt. Sheckhim and back, as long as there is nothing new on the roads.", there actually is a shortcut back from Al-Herald to Mt Sheckhim. After defeating the invaders, you just have to talk to Zhana who gives an option to jump to the top of Mt Sheckhim.
Also, the DAMAGED GOODS item mentioned in chapter 1 is just a little joke item Van left with Azura. It's meant to represent a note tacked to her back.
Jim
Posted by Libita at 2010-12-12 04:19:11 Voted 8.75 on 12/12/10
Compared to chapter 1, this features some more variation in gameplay and strategy, while also feeling a bit more dragged out because of having to walk a certain path several times and not having access to a certain map item during the first half of the chapter.
Overall, this remains a beautifully customized, unique piece of art with a very responsive author, meaningful updates and some minor drags. _________________________ One feels inclined to say that the idea that man should be "happy" is not included in the plan of "creation". - Sigmund Freud
Posted by Libita at 2010-12-12 04:12:40 Voted 8.75 on 12/12/10
Things that came to mind while playing version 3:
- This featured more minigames and riddles especially in the Sepulcher of the Faithful (?), whiich was a nice change of pace. Though I have no idea how to solve the chess board without the brute force method.
- Having journal entries for the task at hand was good, though most of them aren't marked as finished until the next chapter.
- Pointers towards the next destination, both in journal and dialogue, were very helpful.
- Though I think that there should be shortcuts from Al-Herald to Mt. Sheckhim and back, as long as there is nothing new on the roads.
- The cutscene with the druid was golden, though I don't remember if it has always been there.
Altogether a good improvement on the downsides while keeping the upsides, which is just what an update should be. _________________________ One feels inclined to say that the idea that man should be "happy" is not included in the plan of "creation". - Sigmund Freud
Posted by EthernalWanderer at 2010-10-10 16:28:50 Voted 10.00 on 10/10/10
Just great, try it and you'll enjoy it.
Posted by flamingninja at 2010-09-27 06:44:21 Voted 10.00 on 09/27/10
This series is the reason to reinstall NWN on your computer.
There isn't a trigger or anything after the knights, so I suspect your character is getting stuck on the knights when trying to walk past. Sometimes when that happens, the character goes for a bit and then is teleported back. Try the following debug codes. They should take you to the next map up. DebugMode 1, then dm_jumptopoint 70 5 CorleonSS.
Nope every time I try to get past the guards, after a few steps I'm like teleported back to the docks. The map stays empty too (apart from the docks), it's really weird =S
To get to the Imperial Palace, you just need to head north. The exit to that map is straight north of the docks. There should be an area transition at the top of the map. Don't worry, it will just take you to another part of the city. Corleon is a rather large city as it is the capitol of Ortzenhelm. I hope this was helpful. If you're still running into problems, let me know and I'll try and find a work around for you.
Hey,thanks for this nice module, a treat for someone like me who's favorite character is monk. I really love the combat animation, makes monks look so much better! And the huge empy areas really aren't that bad... when you spoil yourself with some boots of speed ;-) I hate the gameboy like music on the other hand, but I think I'm getting (slowly) used to it.
Now I'm stuck at Corleon. I just arrived there, talked to the guards who told me not to leave town, but I can't even leave the dock. Every time I try I just get back on the dock. Did I miss something?
Posted by bombsaway at 2009-09-24 12:00:24 Voted 10.00 on 09/24/09
love the game, great work.
Posted by FMRusso at 2009-09-22 13:58:36 Voted 8.00
Site
at 2013-04-13 06:50:01
at 2009-10-13 13:01:53
