Nonek

Never used a single decoctions, way too gamebreaking. I'm conflicted over combat however. Pros: Generally I like the combat, it is involved, engrossing and needs attention to triumph in. Geralt is mortal and despite being a potent supermutant a few pounds of pressure applied at the right place with a steel implement will render him dead, and this frailty and realism is something that I like, it reflects the books take on the Witcher and reminds us that combat is a danger. Get surrounded, mobbed or caught by surprise and you can easily die. Cons: Geralt is too weak and slow, he is one of the foremost swordsman of the north, if not the world and this speed and deadliness is not really reflected in the game. Untrained peasants could not match the sheer speed and coordination of a Witcher, and they certainly could not block his blows, the finest warriors of the north might be able to stop a few at most. To Geralt when fighting his opponents should be moving like they are in treacle. The gameplay is once again clearly based upon the controller, and feels floaty and imprecise, with none of the instant response we see in games such as Severance: Blade of Darkness, which once again leads to Geralt feeling clumsy and slow. The animations for coating or whetting ones sword are gone, and one can do this in the midst of battle, it shatters the sense of verisimilitude that this game strives for in almost every other area. The same goes for taking potions and consuming vittles, there is no animation like in the first game and it just feels cheap and breaks the internal consistency of the game. It should require a clear space and a quick hand to quaff potions from Geralts slots, instead it's just dumbed down, a shame. Good Lord Geralt use the point of your blade, instead of executing an elaborate, spin, pirouette, and reverse cut simply stick the end of your sword in their throat or through their heart, quick, effective and longer ranged than a cut. We once again begin the game at first level, at a point where Geralt has regained almost a century of experience and practice in his profession, this is counter intuitive and is the second time it has happened with absolutely no explanation. The levelling and itemisation systems unfortunately just really discourages one from exploring as one wishes, great i've defeated a dread foe in a life or death struggle and want to be rewarded, what do I get: A sword that requires another fifteen levels to use, or a piece of junk which I already possess a few hundred of. Like most games now randomised loot is killing any sense of reward for exploration. This sounds excessively negative upon looking at it, but it is I think fair and truthful criticism from a fan of the franchise whom wants it to improve, but also a real fan of good combat systems. Personally i'd also get rid of the monster and npc levelling system and have each of them be threats in their own right with unique abilities, or maybe have very loose levels of ability, maybe matching the Witcher gear tiers of standard, enhanced, superior and mastercrafted. Standard, rare, unique and legendary perhaps?

Lord knows why you are interacting with Bruce, it's pointless. So what is known about the whole Arkham (i've forgotten the name of this latest one) scandal, i'd heard that a member of Warner Brothers PR had been masquerading on a message board to exercise damage control for the terrible state of the PC release of the game. Is this true, and have there been any statements released?

I was discussing the word with Mrs Nonek and apparently her great uncle was a Fettler (to the extreme detriment of his lungs) at some steel mill called Fox's, and that's probably where i've heard the term used before. Though one can imagine that side of the family using the term to indicate their constitution, as their dialect includes many such oddities. I didn't know the term had reached across the pond, though I suppose it arrived with mass steelworking, and I know that there were quite a few Yorkshire folk emigrated to America. Thinking on it in terms of what Mr Elerond states, it does make sense for the Ninth World, and it's nice to see such an obscure term used rather than falling back on the usual faux Latin that we're all conversant with.

I'm a weak man, i've dived back in to see what the other options, choices and decisions offer. I've got to admit I really love how the devs handled the ending choices for Ciri. Perhaps this only appeals to a parent however.

An interesting term used in the latest Numenera update: Fettle. I was sure I knew and had heard the word from somewhere and was muttering to myself when in passing Mrs Nonek told me it meant to be in good shape, or was a process used by metalworkers in some manner. I wonder how a group of Californians came across such an obscure northern English term? Good update however.

A game can be emotionally engaging, complicated, deal with contentious issues and still appeal to a mass audience. This is not a binary situation. A small indie game can also be brainless, fun, challenging and violent as all hell such as Volgarr the Viking. Neither AAA or indie has exclusive rights on approaches.

I have no real problems with the time passing rate in Poe other than it being a little too truncated, and never said I did, one needs simply read my posts. However i'd like RPG's to start implementing living worlds like we saw in games twenty plus years ago, and have various other internally consistent features added, rather than abstracting everything until the world feels as artificial and nonsensical as most modern RPG's.

If time doesn't flow at a realistic rate, I don't see how it adds to "versimilitude". If you want to create a world simulator, like a Bethesda game, or some MMOs, I can see why you might want to wait around twiddling your thumbs, or go hunting for some NPC in the marketplace, but in a game that's about telling a story, I don't see why it should have anything that wouldn't be included in a novel or a movie. 1. Time would flow at a realistic rate, just not a one for one implementation of real time, that would be boring and hardly any game does that and no one has asked for it. It worked in Betrayal at Krondor, it worked in Baldur's Gate, it worked in the Witcher, it worked in Ultima and the Underworlds, in short a realistic time passing system works and is proven to, and in my opinion aids internal consistency. 2. Games are not movies or novels, they're interactive, and if you want to be just told a story then go and read a novel or watch a film. Making an internally consistent gameworld is not solely the domain of Bethesda or MMO's who have not yet matched the Ultima's from twenty plus years ago. This is just an artificial division that has arisen as games have degenerated, one can have and should ideally want both.

The npc's function according to the time passing rules of the gameworld, like they did in Ultima twenty plus years ago. This adds to the verisimilitude of the world and its internal consistency. No game will have a day pass in ten minutes, and no one would want it to or has asked for this.

What RPG has ever had a one for one time passing system? The answer is hardly any, and no one has asked for that at all. In almost any RPG you could pass time as well, Fallout allowed one to do so twenty years ago, if a game doesn't then that is another mark against it in my opinion. Edit: I'm not asking for a real life simulator, i'm asking to roleplay someone else in a heroic fantasy or similar piece of escapism, with a game world that makes sense, has logical restrictions and has more of a scope than simply combat and conversation.

I prefer the term internal consistency to immersion, because immersion is largely subjective while the internal consistency of a setting is not. This is one area where modern games have undoubtedly degenerated, look at Ultima VI and VII over twenty years old now, a living world where every npc had a daily routine, that fitted with his character and gave insight into his life. This enriched the gameworld, made it more than a simple theatre upon which the protagonist performs, and gave life and agency to the npc's you interacted with. This was the high point of the RPG genre for me, and since then they have markedly degenerated, streamlining, dumbing down and jettisoning content and features in favour of the core experience. Well the core experience has been achieved and surpassed, RPG's now are barely alive combat and conversation simulators, and anything beyond that is scorned as busywork, not part of the core experience or too difficult and frustrating for the player to bother with. Of course this is nonsense, young children can deal with multiple systems and RPG veterans certainly can, but the harmful streamlining narrative endures. It is saddening to see this degeneration championed and celebrated. What is the result: A lifeless world, lifeless characters and and an unbelievable, dead setting where there is virtually no interaction with anything. My character carries cart loads of equipment without even equipping a backpack, it is illogical and harms the internal consistency of the setting, perish the thought that I must pick and choose what I carry, that it must be a strategic choice or that the game behaves in a realistic manner. When I go in a tavern I cannot sit down on a seat, order a meal and watch the populace visit and leave the place as the hours change, because there is no change or verisimilitude in the places at all. Of course the argument against this verisimilitude is the usual pathetic and childish one: Dragons exist and fly so anything is possible! No, fantastic elements are governed by their own rules, and serve to reinforce the mundane as fantastic elements are supposed to. A Wizard and his spells have rules and stipulations, the unstoppable power to change all creation and render anything possible is not within his power, if it were he would be a god or something more and beyond worrying about this small world in the void. I would personally like to see as many features, content and as much reactivity and logical restrictions as the setting can handle. If this means a smaller game with far more detail packed into each area, alive npcs who behave realistically, far less identikit loot to haul about, and far more reactivity to our actions, then that is a good price to pay and an example of streamlining done correctly. Of course this is merely my opinion.

Wow, that moon-sized entitlement mixed with willful economic illiteracy. Those kinds of SJW indie devs seem to honestly believe that the world at large owes them money because they choose to spend their time delivering a 1st year sociology essay in multimedia form and call it a "game", and that big bad capitalism is preventing them from getting what they're owed. In fairness they were schooled to think like that by being funded by the evil capitalists tax money for many years (never objecting about that supposed evil,) now when they release a poor game that has to stand on its own merits, and the market shrugs, well their reaction is obvious: It's not our fault, it's the buyers. It's the usual victim mentality and easy demonisation of gamers, we've seen it from the beginning and it's par for the course. "To be united by hatred is a...fragile alliance at best."

Usually those unoriginal and boring, even uninspired and broken games may have flashes of genius and genuine innovation as well, this is a creative medium staffed by people whom want to create and are passionate, they're not terrible, degenerate people as the media is stating.

I would have thought that with the shared iterative nature of game development an unfit for purpose team member is quickly flagged and dealt with, obviously this is before sales and possible success. After all what advice do experienced developers give to aspiring ones: Usually to prove themselves in practise with a mod, a small Flash game or something similar that proves their ability. This is appointment based on merit, and one would assume advancement based upon the same. Look at Mr Sawyer, I believe he began at Interplay on the old boards and through success, his intelligence and let's face it the grit shown in making good games while a studio crumbled around him, he advanced. Now I know that it's unfashionable to praise Mr Sawyer as there is a little hate train aimed at the gentleman, but to my mind we need more developers like him, who study the medium, have clear ideas, hold interesting views and seek to really immerse themselves in the internal consistency of their world, and the minutiae.

You can certainly see how this might have happened, the toxic atmosphere created by Leigh Alexander and the gamers are dead articles with their nasty little childish ranting, and McIntosh declaring that developers are racist, sexist and whatever other perjorative terms he is having his sock puppet mimic this week certainly might give a negative impression to normal, reasonable people. Of course anybody whom has spent any time with developers will know that this is untrue, and they are just interested in making entertainment, but the false narrative and the toxic atmosphere created by SJF's will persist as long as there are pathetically inept and hateful sites such as Polygon and RPS spouting their bile. It's a shame that there are not better messages being published by industry veterans such as Amy Hennig and Roberta Williams, whom know the industry inside and out and know that it is a meritocracy. Then again positivity obviously does not appeal to the current crop of "game journalists," whom would rather harangue their audience, and pretend to support those whom embrace victimhood in a vain effort to hide their hypocrisy. It will be a shame if such women as might be the next Ms Hennig or Williams are dissuaded from entering the industry because of the toxic environment SJF's have created.

I waited and brought the crystal to Yen as I was still a little suspicious of Triss, from the past games and her being a founding member of the Lodge.

Finished. Galaxy tells me that I have more than a hundred and seventy five hours invested into the game, and i'm still eager for more, i'd say that this game has more than earned its moneys worth. The final fight was for once good, it was a challenge but also allowed one to showcase the moves and tricks that have been learned over the course of the game, and putting down that opponent was satisfying. I've got to admit that the ending was a rollercoaster ride of emotions and twists, that left me with a few snuffles, and more than satisfied. I haven't felt this invested in characters and situations since Torment, staring at Khin Oin and remembering Ravel's words or watching the Guardian tell me that I must not when destroying the Black Gate. I'd give the game an eight and a half to maybe a nine out of ten, probably one of the highest scores i've ever given a game in my own head. It has problems and they have been discussed openly in this thread, and i'd not hold back my criticism or refute others because I believe that only such truthful feedback can improve games, but this is probably the closest to a masterpiece and at times a work of art as we have seen so far in the modern AAA RPG industry. It is also hugely fun, innovative and presents an internally consistent, in depth and thoroughly detailed world that has thrown down a gauntlet, and will hopefully spur competition in what is a fairly static and tired genre. I'm off to play a few rounds of Gwent.

I'm sorry to say that I hope not, in pen and paper dungeons are my favourite playgrounds, they are desperate, frightening, and horrifying experiences where as a gamesmaster I can unleah the full roster of my tricks and details on a party. Once they step across that darkened threshold they are mine, and I can shape their experiences, and cater to their choices in a far more organic manner: Drop hints and foreshadowing as I may, build up tension through carefully scripted scenes, wear the characters down through attrition, have their dreams wracked by nightmares as they slumber fitfully around a flickering fire. Hunger, exhaustion, thirst, the need to find safe places in the dark where they may bind their wounds, steel their hearts and prepare themselves, while eyes shine from the gloom. All of these and many more I can use to manipulate and increase the roleplaying, so that when the players traverse the dungeon they are wary, shields raised, steps careful and quiet, weapons hefted, spells and prayers on their lips etcetera. In most computer games I grind through a few groups of random monsters, and have no weaknesses that make my characters human and interesting whatsoever. Instead of dread artifacts and relics of bygone ages, I find yet more identikit loot, depressing really the limited scope and ambition.

Under Bare Mountain Geralt and Ciri played rock, paper, shotgun to decide whom went where, I wonder whether this was a little nod to Divinity: Original Sin? I decided to take no part in the politics of the north, maintain my neutrality and spurn involvement, after all i've seen exactly how this benefitted the Viper. It was nice to join Ciri in travelling around Novigrad however, though i'm regretting having to rely on the ladies whom I freed, they're an opinionated bunch. Have a couple of quests that I just can't seem to finish, odd. @Azure79: I believe the expansions focus on Oxenfurt (which lets face it needs content) and Toussaint, a semi autonomous wine making region in Nilfgaard. Though i'd certainly pay for more exploration of this world.

Indeed i'd say that laziness and slipshod standards are just as much the poisons that are poisoning professional journalism as anything else, I mean some of the outlets really do rely on Wikipedia! All the more reason to demand better standards and keep them on their toes in my opinion, when all journalism has become as inept, unethical, corrupt and unfit for purpose as game journalism, then we'll miss it.

Lies are not lies when I believe them, ha classic. Edit: I think this is part of the reason why our younger generations are becoming such poor debaters, too much emphasis placed on feels and not enough on the facts.

This game is the next on my docket, assuming the Witcher will let me go, but i've got to say that i'm surprised by the muted response to it. Is this just the usual distaste for an outdated graphical style, or are there more pertinent problems with the game if I may ask those in the know? Edit: I'd heard that there were bugs galore on the initial release but that the two developers are performing Herculean feats to resolve and crush them, has this impacted the reception?

I really thought that finding Djikstra's gold was impossible, much obliged.

The Star Trek version of that was rather good even if you knew it was derivative, always nice to see Patrick Stewart and David Warner working together. Though their best known video game efforts could scarcely be more disparate quality wise (Emperor from Oblivion vs Irenicus from BG2). I'd not seen that, i've just looked up the clip on Youtube and must say I might purchase the Blu-Rays and starting watching the Next generation if they're of the same quality as shown there. Thank you.

Okay the vengeance enacted on the duckfaced Aen Elle general really is splendid, I mean I was absolutely ecstatic when I brought that mace into play, a good fight as well. I'd been wondering why I could not ascend that very interesting looking summit.