Jonric: Especially during combat, will the player have direct control of all party members, one at a time or just the main character? And how will other forms of gameplay factor into the overall mix?

Ferret Baudoin: People familiar with the first game should be able to dive right into combat in Neverwinter Nights 2 - and they'll have plenty of opportunity to bash skulls, fire crossbow bolts and make enemies eat arcane fire. The system is a blend of real-time and turn-based, which makes it relatively forgiving. D&D 3.5 has a lot of changes to feats and spells that rebalance things and make things tighter, which translates to more gameplay goodness. The other big change you asked about - which is full party control - you can swap between your companions and plot out fun tactics to deal with the many foes you'll face.