Witcher2

[GhostofAnakin]

Not a fan of the "mist" parts in Chapter 2. Specifically, the parts where it's unclear whether you have to walk through them or not to accomplish a task because the mini-map doesn't really say (or is sometimes even labeled wrong about where you need to go).

 

For instance, I had to go online to figure out how to retrieve the Dun Banner from the catacombs because from the mini-map, it looked like the only way to get to the ! marker was by going through the mists of battle again to get to the Kedwuen side. But when I tried that, it kept sending me back to the Vergen side of the map. Similarly, when I was going to the dragonslayers' hideout, again the mini-map made it seem like I had to go through the mist battle, but there was actually a different path to take.

 

Overall, though, I really like the story. Some interesting political intrigues, and the decisions aren't quite "good" or "bad". A lot of times the decisions come down more to "which side do you agree with".

[Gorth]

I reinstalled the game and tried playing through the prologue again. The visuals are "weird" with that black halo thing shining around Geralt and objects in the game. I don't feel comfortable with the controls either. I've tried fiddling around with mouse sensitivity, but it lacks the gratifying responsiveness of TW1. This one feels like it's flitting around all over the place, like he has no mass.

 

At least I found out how to gimp the QTE's this time around, so I actually made it to chapter 1.

[Hassat Hunter]

I found the fist fight's easy... and that was with keyboard with 1.0.

 

Probably should replay it with the EE and now the Elves' side... never could push myself to complete chapter 1 again when I tried it with 1.2.

[Orogun01]

I found the fist fight's easy... and that was with keyboard with 1.0.

 

Probably should replay it with the EE and now the Elves' side... never could push myself to complete chapter 1 again when I tried it with 1.2.

Buyer's beware, the new content it's only a quest per side on the main story.

[HoonDing]

I found the fist fight's easy... and that was with keyboard with 1.0.

 

Probably should replay it with the EE and now the Elves' side... never could push myself to complete chapter 1 again when I tried it with 1.2.

Buyer's beware, the new content it's only a quest per side on the main story.

But there's new nookie.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTMVOzPPtiw

[Orogun01]

Stock cinematic from a common whore, she's dirty.

[GhostofAnakin]

Finished my first play through tonight. I'm going to play it one more time and see what making different choices does to affect the story.

 

It seems a lot shorter than the first Witcher game.

[Humanoid]

Only because it had no extensive swamp-trudging.

[Gorth]

Only because it had no extensive swamp-trudging.

Most disappointing.

 

No smell of rotten eggs, no methane bubbles, no soggy, squishy noises when trudging through thigh deep black slime, no mosquitoes... it's a Witcher game in name only

[Hassat Hunter]

Yeah, the lack of monster diversity in Witcher II didn't really make it feel Witcher... :/

[Pidesco]

I don't think the second Witcher has less monsters than the first one.

[Nepenthe]

Only because it had no extensive swamp-trudging.

Most disappointing.

 

No smell of rotten eggs, no methane bubbles, no soggy, squishy noises when trudging through thigh deep black slime, no mosquitoes... it's a Witcher game in name only

I dunno, I've had more than my share of running back and forth. And classically, the only dungeon so far that has given me the option to skip the running back part had a hidden treasure trove unlockable with a key from the end at the beginning, so I still had to run it back.

 

Apart from that, it's quite good, so far not the Second Coming some have made it to be, but then again I don't get a sustained erection from their level of story branching, even if such a waste of resources is rather impressing.

[WorstUsernameEver]

even if such a waste of resources is rather impressing.

 

C'mon, you're smarter than that, don't do the provoking game! You know fairly well that what for you is a waste of resources is golden to other people (not necessarily just Codex grognards either).

[Tigranes]

I think putting all that content in one playthrough would have made the game too long and stretched, especially given its character development mechanics, etc.

[Nonek]

Just finished my second playthrough, and i've got to say they've improved things rather dramatically since it first came out. Also quite impressed with the endgame state I reached on my Mr Iorveth's playthrough, the amount of differences (minor and major) as compared to my previous playthrough are very defined. Also got to say it's damnably refreshing to not be railroaded into a bossfight come the denouement.

 

The UI's still crud compared to the first games however, still these things are sent to try us.

Edited May 6, 2012 by Nonek

[GhostofAnakin]

Just finished my second playthrough, and i've got to say they've improved things rather dramatically since it first came out. Also quite impressed with the endgame state I reached on my Mr Iorveth's playthrough, the amount of differences (minor and major) as compared to my previous playthrough are very defined. Also got to say it's damnably refreshing to not be railroaded into a bossfight come the denouement.

 

This is why when I played the Witcher 2 and got to the end, it was such a refreshing change from that horrible ending Mass Effect 3 ended on. Both involved no boss fight (or in the Witcher 2's case, the option by the player to avoid a final boss fight), and both involved the player being told why things went down the way they did. The difference is the Witcher 2 gave the player the opportunity to ask a bunch of questions to flesh out the "whys", while Mass Effect 3 had the player sit there like a stooge listening to some translucent SpaceChild ramble on nonsensical explanations.

[Zoraptor]

I think putting all that content in one playthrough would have made the game too long and stretched, especially given its character development mechanics, etc.

Plus you'd have to totally redo the narrative structure from scratch. I can understand wanting the entirety of content available in one playthrough but it's counter to how the game was developed- might as well say you'd prefer it as an fps, or with a player defined character. Perfectly reasonable things to want in theory but simply not part of the game.

[Nepenthe]

even if such a waste of resources is rather impressing.

 

C'mon, you're smarter than that, don't do the provoking game! You know fairly well that what for you is a waste of resources is golden to other people (not necessarily just Codex grognards either).

Dealing with all the trolls in-game might have rubbed off a bit on me.

 

But yes, the game does seem to suffer a bit of some subset of the DAO disease, where every segment runs on a bit longer than it really should. Not branching would've probably made the impression worse... or allowed them to compact things up a bit. Who knows.

[Gorth]

Does that mean the game really doesn't have any swamps worth mentioning?

[WorstUsernameEver]

Does that mean the game really doesn't have any swamps worth mentioning?

 

Well, the forest in chapter 1 comes close. Also.. I might be a weird guy, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the swamps in the original Witcher, it had quite a few interesting critters. In general, I kinda miss the dark satire and thematic poignancy of the original title, although the actual writing in the second game is much better and discarded a lot of the (I'd have to guess unintentional) most unfortunate subtext in favor of better dialogue, more nuanced characters and a more intricate and political plot.

[Gorth]

Does that mean the game really doesn't have any swamps worth mentioning?

 

Well, the forest in chapter 1 comes close. Also.. I might be a weird guy, but I really enjoyed the atmosphere in the swamps in the original Witcher, it had quite a few interesting critters. In general, I kinda miss the dark satire and thematic poignancy of the original title, although the actual writing in the second game is much better and discarded a lot of the (I'd have to guess unintentional) most unfortunate subtext in favor of better dialogue, more nuanced characters and a more intricate and political plot.

I can't really put my finger on it, but "something" is missing from the first game. I'll be damned if I can identify it and just say "that's what I would have liked to see". Never mind my swamp fetish, I've always had a thing for swamps and sewers, probably dating back to when Ultima IV was released. I know, it didn't have a lot of sewers, but it had underground tunnels and waterways besides the wetlands.

[Tigranes]

The first game has that Small Village with a Dark Underside feel that works really well with its reappropriation of Eastern European folklore - the scene where you front the villagers wanting to lynch the witch in the dark, or uncovering the dirty secrets of the villagers, etc. It also manages to carry through into Vizima in Chapter 2, and the swamps. TW2 abandons that, to good and bad effects, as Geralt moves up to 'higher circles' and deals with court matters most of the game. I'd say it's comparable to the difference between BG1 and 2. TW2 is a more fun and better designed game to play, but I get nostalgic for TW1 in ways I don't with the sequel.

 

I'm not so keen on the rumours about TW3 going on Nilfgaard and Yennefer though, I really would like all that fantasy stuff in the background and it just feels like the setting again become more political and guerrilla fighting-based, oppressed populations, etc. - a police state that is very different from the kind of oppressive feeling in TW1 (even Vizima). They do have the opportunity to put Geralt in some really screwed up situations though, where you really have to choose between terrible options.

[WorstUsernameEver]

The first game has that Small Village with a Dark Underside feel that works really well with its reappropriation of Eastern European folklore - the scene where you front the villagers wanting to lynch the witch in the dark, or uncovering the dirty secrets of the villagers, etc. It also manages to carry through into Vizima in Chapter 2, and the swamps.

 

I kinda hated how it was done in Chapter 1 to be honest, it felt incredibly heavy-handed to the point where it didn't feel believable anymore: it was a town made *exclusively* of complete ****. I think it was executed to much greater effect in Chapter 4, with the Vodyanoi, etc. There is definitely a dark side to the village, but it's not *all* there is to it. Also, Chapter 2 was the best part of the game for me.. it had some really messy translations and awkward sections, but the quest design and the strength of the underlying themes, writing, atmosphere and plot threads overcame that. Nothing like that in the sequel unfortunately

 

I still think The Witcher 2 is by far the better game of the two by the way, I just hope that they go and take a good look at some things that worked in the original title and bring them back for the inevitable The Witcher 3: The Whoreson and the Ploughing Mutant.

[Starwars]

I think the atmosphere of the first chapter was well done though. Like it's been pointed out, Witcher 2 kinda lacked that... folklore-esque feel to it that was so prevailent in the first game (mostly in the second and fourth chapter) for a more straight-up "dark fantasy" feel. And yeah, I think the more supernatural parts of the Witcher 2 tended to be on the weak side as well... The whole Wild Hunt story is very weakly done if you ask me (though was like that in the first game also), and the whole business with the Mist and all the quests involving it in Act is the absolute worst part of the game. The more "common" struggles are way more interesting, dealing with people like Loredo, Roche Iorveth, Henselt and their politicking and scheming.

 

But yeah, the whole bit in Witcher 1 where the Beast was born out of the evilness and the villagers and all that was kinda... eeeh.

[Orogun01]

I think the atmosphere of the first chapter was well done though. Like it's been pointed out, Witcher 2 kinda lacked that... folklore-esque feel to it that was so prevailent in the first game (mostly in the second and fourth chapter) for a more straight-up "dark fantasy" feel. And yeah, I think the more supernatural parts of the Witcher 2 tended to be on the weak side as well... The whole Wild Hunt story is very weakly done if you ask me (though was like that in the first game also), and the whole business with the Mist and all the quests involving it in Act is the absolute worst part of the game. The more "common" struggles are way more interesting, dealing with people like Loredo, Roche Iorveth, Henselt and their politicking and scheming.

 

But yeah, the whole bit in Witcher 1 where the Beast was born out of the evilness and the villagers and all that was kinda... eeeh.

I get what you say, although I still feel that the main focus of the Witcher 2 story which was the politics of the land came across shining. If that means that you don't get to experience the same atmosphere as you did in 1, i'm ok with it. Storywise they have been able to constrain their weak bits in favor of focusing the majority of the plot on a stronger story. The Wild Hunt is to the witcher what the Reapers are to ME and even less since they haven't been a central part of the plot yet,