Luke Scull, British author and lead developer at Ossian Studios, today announced a brand new sequel to the original Neverwinter Nights campaign, nineteen years on from the game’s original release. Ossian Studios is well known amongst fans of Neverwinter Nights as the developer of official expansion packs Darkness over Daggerford and Mysteries of Westgate, as well as their own original, non-licensed game The Shadow Sun. Luke Scull is well known among fans as being an author in his own right, as well as working on other gaming franchises such as The Witcher and Baldur’s Gate, and more recently, Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition: Tyrants of the Moonsea.
In recent years, the ‘CRPG’ (computer role playing game) has experienced something of a resurgence, with classics such as Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment receiving ‘enhanced editions’, with the latter two also receiving sequels. The original developer of Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights, Bioware, have since moved away from Dungeons and Dragons as a licence and worked on their own properties, notably Dragon Age and Mass Effect, leaving other companies, such as Beamdog, Larian Studios and Ossian Studios to carry on work with the ever popular property. Obsidian Entertainment, made up of former Black Isle Studios employees known for their work on Fallout, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance and Icewind Dale, originally worked closely with Bioware to develop sequels to many of their games, and have since delivered the exceptional Pillars of Eternity franchise and the hugely popular, albeit still work-in-progress, Grounded.
Announced today, Luke Scull’s next big project, The Blades of Netheril, is an unofficial sequel to the original Neverwinter Nights base campaign game. The new game promises to be a whopping 60+ hours long, and continue the ‘Wailing Death’ storyline fans remember so fondly in addition to Shadows of Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark expansion packs. Familiar friends and foes will return, with all new characters also set to appear. The game will be split into three chapters, with the first launching on the 18th of June, 2022 – exactly twenty years on from Neverwinter Nights‘ original release on Windows back in 2002. As of the time of writing, The Blades of Netheril is indented to release free for owners of Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition, which is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4, Steam, GOG and Beamdog’s own Beamdog Client.
The Blades of Netheril promises:
- 20+ hours of gameplay
- A fully narrated intro cinematic
- Deadly new monsters to fight
- New portraits and a gorgeous world map
- New music
- The level of quality one would expect from an official campaign or premium module
Signed copies of some of Luke’s novels can be purchased from Forbidden Planet here, and Luke can be followed on Twitter here. Ossian Studios can be followed on Twitter here. To best enjoy Neverwinter Nights, Soundsphere magazine warmly recommend the GOG version, which can be found here, as it includes the original unaltered edition of the game as well as a bonus digital artbook. Multiple expansions are included in the enhanced edition, with a host of premium content available at very reasonable prices, including Luke Scull’s other Neverwinter Nights products.
We are very excited about this project, being fans of Luke’s work in games and novels, and The Blades of Netheril looks positively epic in scope. Certainly one to watch!
If you’re feeling nostalgic, check out this cinematic from the original game, from 2002.
Words: Graeme Small
