Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition will be available for purchase on Steam on March 27, 2018, according to a blog post on developer Beamdog's website.
If you're a fan of Dungeons & Dragons, you've probably heard of Neverwinter Nights. Originally released in mid-2002, the game is a third-person role-playing game based in the Forgotten Realms setting. It had multiplayer support as well as the ability for players to create custom modules for the game, something that's very much in the spirit of D&D. The blog post also serves as a recap of yesterday's livestream from Beamdog which you can watch on YouTube if you'd like to see everything in more detail:
Beamdog had been working on Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition for a few months now. They had begun a Head Start program that would let some customers check the game out ahead of its official release. The updated version of the game will feature the original game, the Shadows of Undrentide & Horde of the Underdark expansions, and the Kingmaker, ShadowGuard, & Witch's Wake premium modules. Longtime players who still have save games & modules from the original will be happy to hear that they will be compatible with the enhanced edition.
Of course, Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition will have a number of technical improvements to the game. UI elements can be dynamically adjusted in size all the way up to 4K resolution, although this particular features is having some issues and will likely require some additional work post-launch. Graphics have seen some overall improvements (including support for much larger textures). Work is also underway towards making it possible to use different rulesets for modules; the original game was released under the 3.0 Edition ruleset, modified to work in real time so some stuff works a bit differently. Notably, that means it lacks some of the changes that happened to the 3.5 edition of the game that is more commonly used for 3rd edition gameplay, and is significantly different from the newer 5th Edition rules. Interestingly, they've also expressed interest in bringing their Enhanced Editions to the Nintendo Switch (although there are no formal plans to do so as of yet).
If Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition sounds like a good bit of fun, you can pre-purchase it directly from Beamdog for $19.99 or your regional equivalent and get into the Head Start program to check it out a bit early. Otherwise, you can add it to your wishlist on Steam. Be sure to check out the F.A.Q. for some additional information on the finer details.
What do you think of Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition? Do you think Beamdog will be able to capture the magic of the original games while adding some modern updates? Let us know in the comments below!
