And now to finish this review. University-work and employment-work keeps me fairly busy, but I managed to complete it on, coincidentally, a snow day.
I can't really say my praise in such a way that would be worthy of this mod. It is simply wonderful, all the way up to the end, and the only bad thing about it was that it eventually ended! I wanted more! I really enjoyed the character's interjections, especially, when they actually asked your main character what they thought, and it even manages to build a story and personality on your own PC, which I was quite impressed with. The choices were never too specific or too broad, but just right. As stated in my mid-game review, all the dialogue is perfect and wonderful, and though I don't think they ever novelized IWD officially, I would have to consider these five NPCs to be canon(much like I do with several specific fanfictions of the BG series, in spite of those horrendous novels).
As expected with my first experience, the interjections of areas in the game were amazing, and since I had never played through Trials of the Luremaster until this time, I found that area to specifically feel the newest for me. Also, I really liked Holvir's pyrophobia dialogue with the party in Upper Dorn's Deep, I believe it happened where Ilmadia was, if I'm not mistaken. It was a very cool way to keep the characters, Holvir being case in point, overcoming their personal demons in such a realistic and well done way. Same Korin's revelation of good and evil, as well as his reactions at the Severed Hand.
I did romance Nella, and let Severn have Teri, and if I haven't said so already, the dialogue is great. I really got that the friendship was building before the romance interest, and it is rather annoying that the only bantering you got in BGII with NPCs was if you were romancing them. The budding relationships with all the characters was paced very well, in fact, and the dialogues were quite funny when they were meant to be, and I admit the one I remember mostly off the top of my head, when we were traversing Marketh's castle, the dialogue about Holvir's codpiece which pretty much involved the entire party as I recall, but I remember it very well. It was comedic gold!
Again, the voicing was good, and the portraits were amazing. They retained the painted feel of IWD, but there was a certain originality that also kept them a little different. Overall, they were amazing. The voices and the portraits completely matched.
Now I can only secretly hope for a Korin BG mod to tell me what happened to the rest of the NPCs after IWD. Again, thank you for this wonderful mod, one of the best I've ever played. You're a truly gifted writer.