Description

I love video game soundtracks... so much so that I think it is my favorite genre of music outside of film scores. And just like with films, music can make or break a video game publication. Neverwinter Nights 2's OST, especially that of Mask of the Betrayer, is one that I think most certainly makes the game. However, there were a few tracks that bothered me, and after finally figuring out the basics of audio-editing software, I set out to make adjustments to the tracks that irked me the most.

This mod features three edited tracks that you can download separately and can easily install/uninstall any time you like. For each edited track, I've included which expansion is required to use them; if you have the GOG version of NWN2, you should already have all the expansions available, but if you're still using an installation from the original disks, please take note of which track is for which expansion before downloading.

Here are each of the tracks that have been edited and how they've been altered. Also, spoilers galore, just so you know.

Storm of Zehir - Main Menu Theme
As good as the SoZ theme is, I tired very quickly of hearing the blaring horns every time I started up the game, and I found myself feeling nostalgic for the far darker theme from Mask of the Betrayer (which was actually the only expansion I had for a very long time). For me, the MotB theme was the theme for NWN2, and I wanted to switch back to it. Not only that, but I also wanted the theme to sound even darker. So I made a few adjustments to pitch and tempo and created an alternate variation that is lower, slower, and even more ominous than the original.

You can compare the two versions of the MotB theme below.



Mask of the Betrayer - Fugue Plane Combat
This track plays after the initial fight outside the gates of the City of Judgment and features in most of the CoJ's districts. Whether you side for or against the Crusade, this should be a track that tells the player "you shouldn't be here", and while the original track is good, I felt it could also be darker. So, similarly to the main theme, I made the track slower and lower in pitch, making the background "ambient" sounds also a little less harsh on the ears. Additionally, I feel the slower tempo fits the combat pacing of the whole area better.

Hear the differences for yourself and make your own judgment (har har).



Mask of the Betrayer - Dreamscape Music
Interestingly enough, this track only plays in one dreamscape that I remember, despite the sheer number of them the player encounters. In fact, I believe this track is far more memorable from its feature in the final area of the game, after the player travels to the location of their soul in the CoJ. Indeed, it's basically the backing track to Kelemvor's conversations with the player, and as such, I felt it should support his presence just a bit better. Thus, this one has been the most heavily edited, with the stranger segments cut out in favor of the mellower ones that have been slowed, lowered in pitch, and looped.

Installation

Just unzip the archive and drop the existing folders into your My Documents -> Neverwinter Nights 2 folder. If you already have soundtrack replacements for those specific tracks, you might want to back them up, just in case you want to revert for any reason. To uninstall, just delete the .bmu files.

My Other NWN2 Mods:
Judge of the Damned
True Fatal Touch