I prefer NWN over NWN 2 as well, all things considered.

I found the original campaign and companions better in NWN 2, even though the story is not all that special and original either (and I wasn't fond of the long middle part in Neverwinter with all those quests for the guard). I liked NWN's Hordes of the Underdark, but NWN 2's Mask of the Betrayer was the most interesting campaign of them all. Being able to fully control all party members myself was also better than dealing with NWN's bad henchmen AI.

But NWN 2 also has pathfinding issues, and contrary to NWN, it doesn't give feedback when the characters can't follow your orders for some reason, it just drops them silently. And the performance and camera issues in NWN 2 can really ruin the fun. NWN's Aurora engine is easier to work with than NWN 2's editor, and there are much more and better custom modules available for it. Personally, I also like NWN's detailed Tetris-style inventory better than the non-descript and uniform one from NWN 2 in which I can barely distinguish weapons from potions etc.