Neera's Romance: Is it worth it? (no spoilers)

InvictusCobra

What the title says. I stopped playing BG and coming to the forums for a few months but now I'm back and would like to know if the Neera romance is good.It's just that from what I read of it in a playthrough of SoA I dropped is that she is Chaotic Neutral for a reason.
She basically does what the f*** she wants and I stopped right about when she talks about a relationship she enjoyed but left one day, with no previous notice whatsoever, because she just felt like it!
Now, just for additional information's sake, the only romance I did was Aerie, but I did Viconia's until ToB but stopped due to a nearly gamebreaking bug, so that one is on hold (and the only thing I'm doing Viconia's romance for is to witness what happens in ToB and how the character remains in the aftermath).

Heindrich

What do you mean by "worth it"? If you are talking about metagame rewards, then that's a powergaming question, or do you mean "is the story of the romance interesting/compelling/well-written?" or "will Charname develop a close bond with Neera like he did with Aerie?"

The answer to the latter two questions are very subjective. I personally wouldn't like to be in a relationship with a Neera-type girl in real life, and I'm not even talking about the random fireballs! Then again I know there's people who cannot stand Aerie, whilst I love her character.

So in short, unless you are asking about metagame rewards, then the answer is very subjective, and very hard to discuss without spoilers...

InvictusCobra

Perhaps I should clarify. Worth it storywise. I don't much care about metagaming since I usually run the same party composition with one or two exceptions most of the time due to romances. For example, I liked the Aerie romance not only because shy and frail girls are a weak spot of mine, but also due tohow she matures and grows as an independent and strong person ready to face the world to protect those she loves. So in short, in terms of character development and how Neera and Charname influence each other, their behaviours and choices.

Tresset

Bearing in mind that I haven't actually finished the ToB component yet, Neera seems to be Neera for most of the romance. Your assessment of her being Chaotic Neutral seems pretty accurate. I am not sure what would constitute a spoiler, she does seem to have her own way of doing things and I would almost say she takes the lead in the romance. Eventually she will open up to you about her various fears and reasons for things, but other than that she pretty much stays Neera... until ToB where she seems to change her tune a bit. [spoiler=Brief overview on how her attitude changes]She seems to begin to realize that her living in the moment is fleeting and she starts to get more concerned about the future... and about losing you.[/spoiler]

Whether or not you would think this is worth it is up to you I guess...

JuliusBorisov

Neera's romance is like a breath of a fresh air in terms of BG romances. Some would not like it and say "it's too modern/too realistic" while others (and I'm among them) would actually value it.

I've been following the romance till Suldanessellar and so far I see a real woman, with real desires and in the same time real uncertainties. I very much can imagine such relationships in the RL.

Jarrakul

I like Neera's romance because you can be sassy without breaking the relationship. Given that my real-life relationships tend to be heavy on the sass, this resonates with me in ways the other relationships don't. She's also actually interested in Charname, sexually, which is something I find missing from the other non-evil relationships (and not always well done in the evil relationships, frankly). Not that I think it's far and away the "best" relationship or anything, but there are a number of ways I think it's above par.