So I totally missed out for the longest time. I got back into BG2 last year when I noticed how many amazing new mods had been released in the time I was away from the game. I promptly downloaded numerous NPC mods and played them with great enjoyment. Then I eventually stopped playing again when I figured I was out of new content. Adrian had not made it onto that list of played Mods. Why? Because I saw his alignment and never even gave him a chance. I had tried and failed to play evil before. I'm just bad at being bad.
So I stopped playing for many months again, waiting for 'in progress mods' to be released. Well that's a horrible waiting game and I'm clinically impatient. I gave the list of released NPCs another look, searching for a promising romance mod. And stumbled on to Adrian again. I thought 'what the heck' and gave him a try. Boy am I glad I did!
The good: Very well written. I enjoy our conversations. His past is interesting. I'm not having to force myself to chose dialogue options that won't break the romance (ie Anomen. Or Diriel.) I also enjoy his interactions with 'the gang', in my case Imoen, Jaheira, Viconia and Aran. Not that he talks to Aran obviously. I had others such as Edwin along for a bit as well. His quest line was interesting and didn't tax my patience trying to complete it. Best of all, he's really not THAT evil. Sure he's jaded, vain and opportunistic, but you get the feeling its nurture and not nature. He hasn't said anything that my chaotic good swashbuckler can't roll with. I am a little curious as to what the Master Wraith will reveal...
The bad: After a very promising first kiss I found the first 'come to my bedroll' dialogue a total let down. I will try again, this time turning him down after the nightmare talk and see if that changes anything. If not, then that one begs for a rewrite. I tried resting throughout the rest of the game in different locations to see if a talk to make up for it would pop, but none did. You get to grope him through PID, even new PID in the Underdark, but no nooky. For a guy who's supposed to be oh so experienced I was hoping for more. I'm only just starting ToB so I have my fingers crossed that something will happen here. He has a very interesting conversation about the Mistress of Pain with Viconia, I figure that would make for great rest talk material! I was also disappointed in two other instances. I expected more from his post Vampire talk and a pre Irenicus talk (going down the stairs, or opening the eye gate). Maybe I have the wrong feel for the character, but just like the Haer'dalis mod I expected him to eventually gush a little, show some emotion. I feel like its in there somewhere and it would warm my little thief's heart if he expressed it.
The ugly: I'm experiencing some glitches and fatal runtime errors and the like, but I'm not ready to place the blame at Adrian's feet. He might have just been the straw to break the camel's back, as I have a lot of NPC mods installed and its probably about time to clean up my weidu log.
In conclusion: Love the mod, really looking forward to finishing up ToB to see what he still has in store. Now if he just indulged my inner letch a little more.... but I guess that's why I have Aran along.
