Kelsey
Woah...16 MB. This should be interesting.
Initial Response: I approached the Firecam Estate and noticed an Elf in purple clothing approaching. Kelsey I thought. He's human but according to the makers the avatar for Male Human Mage has a beard which Kelsey does not, so they made this choice on purpose. He approached and spoke to me courteously with three responses to his questions and comments. He noticed the "Firestorm" at Waukeen's Promenade and thought I would be an interesting party to join. Good enough start. You can ask him why he didn't help out and he would give a fairly intelligent response. If you tell him about Imoen you get a humerous response. His initial dialogues in general are well thought out.
Equipment and Stats: He comes with a regular staff, sling, some stones, scrolls, Bracers of Defense and Kelsey's Cloak which has a spiffy story and grants him some very nice bonuses. I would say his cloak is kinda powergamish but then his stats are very normal (Unlike characters in TDD) which makes him more of a roleplayable characters. I commend Kelsey's makers for these stats choices.
Side Quests: He has several encounters with a person who is after his Sorcerer skills. She sends several groups after him to bring him back to her. The fights are a bit harder than regular BG II fights because the AI for the groups are a bit more aggressive. It's a nice addition which makes you think a bit more and reload several times more.
Romance: I will try it in the next game.
Taisha
She reminds me of my Mage who is Female/Elven/Neutral Good with similar stats
Initial Response: Her story is interesting when you meet her in the tavern at Trademeet. If you're patient she will join you. She is funny and cute but comes with a few spells I don't like. She has a full sound set with a very sweet but mature voice.
Equipment and Stats: She has a Staff Spear, Bracers Of Defense, Amplifier Amulet, Ring Of Acuity, Boots Of The North and a figurine which summons a spirit panther. Her stats aren't powergamish. She has 19 dexterity and stats in the 10-17 range for the other abilities.
Romance: She begins to ask me about my past and I asked her about her past. Throughout chapter two and three she's made several comments and jokes. The thing which I found really interesting is that there aren't just three responses (Good, friendly and bad) to her comments like the in-game romance. Rather, you have many choices which force you to think about how you can appease her and there is no one "I'm trying to romance you" response. You really have to think when talking to her. For example, there was a situation (I'm not gonna spoil you) which I thought I responded very practically and good and she goes on to say something which amazed me about another one of the responses I could have made. More to come.
"good side: is a drow ---> 65% or so magic resis. he's stats are also very good.
boo two... it will crack you up!!!
good dialogues. a bit philosophical, except when talking to minsc.
very very very very very very very very very very very Hard Fights/challanges. he has the second toughest fight in the game (while the first is final battle with ascention (ToB))...
a good way to lower your rep...
dimension door!
bad side: dont have special sounds when clicked. only the boring one...
changes his voice when saying: mystra, aid your devoted... sounds like a freak when he says that.
lower your rep...
a very very very hard fight (for those who are not mazochists...sp?).
also, he can deul wield flails and long swords, and his a multi-class fighte/mage..."
Tale Forgotten, PBG
"i'll tell you one things about Nalia... when i installed the mod i didn't try to romance Nalia immediately... rather i wanted to romance her in the next game... but when i found out that document in the Twisted Rune i felt disgusted...
the document has this description:
"These documents contain lots of information about..."
immediately when i saw the phrase "contains lots of information" i thought to myself these people are overlooking the details. sure including the Twisted Rune into the romantic advanture sounds like a good idea, but Bioware designers would never have made lame descriptions of items like that. it sounded like they just wanted to rush everything through once and for all or something.
if you look at the Ascension, its dialogues are very rich in euphemistic war on words and strong declarations of moral that pulls you deeply into the plot. i can't seem to accept a lame job on item description... "lots of information"?! you'll let it pass like that?! yeesh...
i uninstalled the mod after i saw that phrase... sick of it... besides it doesn't work with Ascension... not worthy of being at Ascension's side anyway..."
Onitatsuken the Ghost Dragon Blade, PBG
I found the mod to be unpalatable for a series of reasons. Granted the author is not a native English speaker, but I found that the numerous grammatical and compositional errors became increasingly annoying through the high frequency of their occurrence. However, I believe the greatest flaw of the mod is that Nalia's personality, and diction have taken a notable turn for the worse. Her interest in the poor, and in righting social injustice, are transformed into a silly and banal revolutionary ideal. And her expressions show little of the polish and verve she exhibited as the BioWare original. Add to this the fact that the mod's plotting gets off to a very slow start, and you end up with something that will discourage many thoughtful players. This is especially sad, as the scripting of the mod has, by all accounts, a great deal to recommend it. Apparently, Arnel has done fine work in some areas, but at the cost of shortchanging the dialogues.
Meleager, PBG
