Witcher 2 The Witcher 2 first impressions

[booboo]

Still fiddling about in Chapter 1, think I'm almost done. Overall, I think its an excellent game - the graphics (esp on high), scene design and musical score are all great and immersive. I'm also enjoying the story and quests. I ran the game with uber-sampling and it was still very playable, but when you rapidly rotated the camera it was kind of jerky, so turned that off. I also turned of motion blur, wince having the world blur when I turned my head may me ill I do find that QTEs are somewhat irritating (I turned them off, well the ones that I could) and there are issues with the responsiveness of the interface. The other gripe is *highly* variable difficulty - a lot of which comes from the sluggish interface. I'm playing on normal, and slowly getting to grips with combat - BUT there are huge difficulty spikes (on normal) - esp when you're in tight quarters and can't move about easily. Supposedly you only need minimal use of signs potions etc to be ok on ormal - bollocks! So far I had to switch to easy for the "lohar"…"lothar" (?) fight. On easy it was trivial, on normal I couldn't do it - I'd seen advice on bombs, traps, signs - but I didn't have the vigour/resources etc. I had my arse kicked every which way. If that was on 'hard', I'd say fine. But 'normal', with 2 difficulty grades above it? Nope. I think the encounter design was somewaht patchy. I agree that you need challenge, but some things are just too chllenging and that ruins enjoyment of the game. The 'solution' to some of the fights are also not intuitive

Spoiler

.eg. Kayran: built the stupid trap - takes off one miserable tentacle! Couldn't find more 'frames'. Then having to use Yrden/trap to pin the tentacles (coulnd't hear what Sile was saying…ay? what? Speak up woman!) Ok, finally lopped them all off (damn these unresponsive controls! I said roll LEFT…LEFT - my left, not yours!). Um. Now what? Run out *smacked with boulder and die* Oh! After looking online (after attempt 5) it seems you have to climb on 'the bridge' (there's a bridge?) Given how most of the world is not 'climbable' it didn't even occur to me to try and climb the large lump of collapsed stone.

Still, I'm having a grand old time and eagerly awaiting the patch which should deal with DLC issues, 4:3 aspect etc.

 

[Drithius]

Just got the Heliotrope sign... FUN! ! Being surrounded by 10 guys is almost manageable now

 

[joxer]

Heliotrope absolutely rocks!

 

[RivianWitch]

Listen, no storage like in TW1? Please say there is storage somewhere…

It's a very purty game, I must say.

These QTE's are pretty much a pain but not half as much as the apparent? lack of storage… I've been happily squirreling (no reference to S'coiatel ) away goodies, and now I can't walk…

 

[Thrasher]

The univerdal consensus (well except for a few dithering bugs), is that it looks great. Most like the combat over TW1, which quite frankly, is a pretty low bar.

Most don't like the consolish UI and lack of named saves.

How about character building, and roleplaying? Can you play a good witch or a bad witch?

 

[Maylander]

How about character building, and roleplaying? Can you play a good witch or a bad witch?

All in all, I prefer the character building system in TW2 over TW1. It generally feels like it has a bigger impact on combat than the system in TW1. However, Geralt will always be a "battle mage" (melee + magic), there's no way to make him a pure caster or pure swordmaster.

As for roleplaying? Lots of moral choices, though Geralt is Geralt, there's no way to change that. He's simply not Lawful Good or Chaotic Evil, so there's no way to roleplay him as such.

I assume this is all according to the books. I haven't read them yet, so I can't verify that myself, but it seems likely.

 

[joxer]

Can you play a good witch or a bad witch?

You can't. There is no good or evil there. It all depends on the point of view. Your choices will always be taken as good from one side and evil from the other side. So don't think about that much. When there is politics involved, just listen to your instict. If you're not sure what to do next with a "complicated" choice, take some time and do what you're best at. Kill monsters, remove curses - and get payed for that. Also get some fun with brawl, armwrestling, gambling and women. For some reason, there is no getting drunk in TW2 whenever you want to.

 

[Thrasher]

Ah man, those drinking quests were some of the funniest moments from TW1. Loved the staggering around part...

The lack of roleplaying choices caused by "gray" morality systems makes me not care so much about the choices. I'd like the choices to reflect a chosen role, rather than just change the story.

 

[GothicLena]

I think the graphics and game world design is beautiful, the storyline and characters are more dark and mature then anything Bioware can ever hope to do with EA pulling its leash (despite DA being advertised as Dark Fantasy). The writing is really good, and the characters are funny and interesting. But thats where it is.

This game is really buggy, like it not working with 3D or Widescreen monitors (without a workaround), and the quest bugs, at least I hope they are quest bugs, if they are design decisions, the person who made them is a idiot. The drinking potions only in mediation? sucks, QTE's? epic fail in anything not Heavy Rain and even then it pushes the limit of tolerance. The combat system is horrible, I get what they were going for, trying to simulate swordplay but in reality sword fighters dont roll around like a ball in a fight or have to deal with 10+ enemies at once, but more then that the controls are just unresponsive and poor just like Gothic series combat. The way it is, I prefer Witcher 1's combat, its like they designed this combat system for COD or Mortal Kombat kids with how reliant on Twich it is, if you have poor reflexes even easy mode wont help you too much, which really makes Geralt look like a chump instead of a 'badass monster slaying mutant", game would be better if it relied more on Geralts skills and not the players, afterall this isnt oblivion or something where you make your character so it makes more RP sense to base it on your skills. Geralt is a established character and thus should be more defined by his ability. As for Choices, honestly, I just got to Chapter 2 and havent seen my choices make a big deal, and the choices seem mostly to be atypical RPG choices, nothing really major. And anyone who really believes this is designed for the PC is a fool, seriously, it reeks of consolitis, and the big tip off is just how much better the controls are if you plug in a 360 gamepad, it'll probaly be on consoles in a few months as it seems it would be painless to port with how focused to console the design is.

The Difficulty is really stupid, the beginning of the game is hard as anything, but the game gets easier and easier as you play through. I mean thats just very poor design, a RPG should be more challenging as you progress not get easier, thats what the beginning of games are for ; being easier. Dumb idea there from CDPR

All in all though, Its a good game, but ultimately it seems to straddle the line between hardcore and casual RPG, trying to appease to both audiences, and it does do a fairly good job. But dont look for this to be GOTY despite how good the fun factor is, because that honor is going to Skyrim and I dont mean that as a bethesda fangirl, I just mean it because realistically casual RPGers are going to flock to skyrim in droves just like they did Oblivion and there are so many more casual RPG fans then there are hardcore old school types.

Personally, I much preferred Witcher 1 in terms of gameplay and combat, it was alot better, but story, graphic and writing wise Witcher 2 takes the crown.

 

[lostforever]

I see people mention this game is buggy but I have yet to come cross a single quest bug (I have only finished chp1). The game run solid, not single crash ( played for about 18+ hours).

Only bug i have came across was an NPC getting stuck during a quest where you have to follow them.

Widescreen issue is not really a bug but rather lack of feature. There are few like this (lack of camera zoom etc).

To call it a very buggy game is overreacting imho. I have played lot of buggy games and this is does not come close to any of them

May be I am very forgiving or that people these days are very demanding

 

[DeepO]

I´ve finished the game yesterday and I already can´t resist to reload the save from the end of ch1 and try a different path .
Played on hard, finished at level 33.

Pretty much all my praise/complaints I´ve posted on page 8 stay, with one or two exceptions.

Based on post chapter 1 content, path chosen being

Spoiler

Roche one

I´d add:

The plot became somewhat more labyrinthe, politics more complex, main quest segments more prominent. Some storytelling devices were pretty imaginative. Basically, the game kicked it up a notch main story-wise.
Side quests took a backseat, which I didn´t mind that much because the main quest was fun, but I wouldn´t mind more minor choices on the way.

The world design took a hit when compared to chapter 1.
Environments became somewhat flatter, more corridorized and generally less elaborated. The ambience became progressively less lively as well.

Spoiler

The battlefield

part was spectacular though.

It also seemed social skills were used somewhat less frequently than in ch1.
On a similar note, QTEs were used a lot less frequently, I think I got two throughout the all of post-chapter 1 content (not counting minigames) - after playing through the whole game, I can definitely say that prologue is totally not representative in this regard.
I don´t remember any timed dialogue post-chapter 1, there might´ve been one but not more.
Also, at least the route I went through contained no additional stealth sequences.
Maybe these elements are spread out through different paths player can take, but right now I wonder if devs ditched these elements consciously or just haven´t enough time to implement them.

Combat-wise, the game got generally quite a bit easier in the latter chapters.
I think the main reason is that at low character levels players have to use more diverse portfolio of abilities/items to be successful.
Once specialization kicks in, some abilities become effective for just about every scenario and common encounters get more straightforward.
Anyway, there still are few tough encounters present in the latter chapters and I don´t see a problem with Geralt becoming progressively more kickass, so all in all I rather like how the combat was balanced in the game overall.
Moreover, I suspect I´ve played one of the most straightforward possible builds, mostly relying on whirl, group finishers and quen.
I wonder how an alchemist build fares against

Spoiler

the draug.

I think the specialization might be rather screwed in this encounter.

I´d say the game shifts from a quest driven, more free roam-y experience in the first chapter to a more story driven experience in the latter ones and I can´t say I mind that because storytelling is pretty damn great.
I really, really like the feel the world doesn´t revolve around the player and, due to extensive branching towards the end, a lot of events take place without player´s involvement and a lot of story nuances can´t be uncovered in just one playthrough.

Speaking of branching, I have to say I was not disappointed with the chapter 3 + epilogue at all.
Besides the fact I really liked the two puzzle infused side quests in ch3, I think the story came really well together here, the political aspect of the story got sufficient resolution and, if I understand it right, there are 8 ways the ending segment of ch3 can play out.
The epilogue added satisfying amount of additional light on the events and I really, really love how low-key and sorta humane it was.
It also left a good deal of hints/unanswered questions for a potential expansion or sequel which I´m already looking forward to.

My favorite character for the chosen path was

Spoiler

Vernon Roche. I´ve sided with him throughout the whole game, the chapter 3 segment was simply badass and throughout the game the path became a rather bro-esque venture . The guy ended up being almost as main character as Geralt, eh.

The experience was rather bug-free for me. Two or three times a reward I supposedly obtained hasn´t appeared in the inventory, I had about 5 crashes and that´s it.

All in all, I think The Witcher 2 is, despite my numerous nitpicks, an excellent game.
In some ways it´s worse than its predecessor, in some ways it´s better and it´s definitely a worthy successor. Hopefully it´ll be a commercial success.

P.S.: Probably my most lol moment:

Spoiler

Heliotrope absolutely rocks!

Yeah.
During the ending stages I had both heliotrope and group finishers which rocks even more (x activates both in quick succession, finisher first, heliotrope right afterwards).
I like the adrenaline mechanics.

 

[Paul]

To call it a very buggy game is overreacting imho. I have played lot of buggy games and this is does not come close to any of them

May be I am very forgiving or that people these days are very demanding

You are not alone. I would guess the silent majority does not have bugs…

I finished the game, 48 hours it took me..and I had one (1!) bug, and that was unskippable cutscene before kayran fight, on x360pad..so I had to watch that 1 minute cutscene 5 times before I killed it (skip works on mouse, but I have not thought of that).

And not a single crash. I mean, compared to all games from Obsidian/Troika/Black Isle/Bethesda, Witcher 2 is INCREDIBLY polished (at least in my experience).

 

[GothicLena]

I think part of the issue with bugs is there are alot of things people (ahem.. namely fanboys) dont consider bugs or problems, so obviously in that mindset theres nothing wrong with the game. I guess you cant convince them to take their rose colored glasses off, thankfully CDPR has said alot of this stuff is going to be fixed, which would imply there are indeed problems.

You cant just dismiss other peoples problems because you dont have any, it does not mean there is no bugs, it means you didnt hit it, even CDPR has recognized the technical issues and said they will fix the problems with high end machines.

 

[GhanBuriGhan]

All who find bugs are whiners, and all who don't find bugs are fanboys. Welcome to the wonderful world of computer gaming!

 

[GothicLena]

All who find bugs are whiners, and all who don't find bugs are fanboys. Welcome to the wonderful world of computer gaming!

Touche, but in most cases its those who dont find bugs AND refuse to believe they exist that are fanboys. Its okay not to find bugs but to lash out at people who do and blame them rather then the game is fanboyism not to mention reeks of ignorance in how software works.

 

[Thrasher]

Extremism in everything we do. Be brave.

 

[lostforever]

The game definitely has bugs however when people say a game is "buggy" they usually means it so full of bugs and unplayable in its current state so avoid it. There are games like that but I do not believe this game is one of them (far from it).

This is great game and its shame if enough people don't buy it due to reading overreaction on the internet.

 

[GothicLena]

The game definitely has bugs however when people say a game is "buggy" they usually means it so full of bugs and unplayable in its current state so avoid it. There are games like that but I do not believe this game is one of them (far from it).

This is great game and its shame if enough people don't buy it due to reading overreaction on the internet.

You mean like what happened with DA2? That was a shame, RPG wise it wasnt an 'abomination' but design wise bioware did get lazy yet people dont buy it because over the same internet overreaction. It wasnt worth 59$ but it is worth every penny at 39$

 

[JDR13]

The world design took a hit when compared to chapter 1.
Environments became somewhat flatter, more corridorized and generally less elaborated. The ambience became progressively less lively as well.

Spoiler

The battlefield

part was spectacular though.

I thought the level design and atmosphere in Chapter 2 were even better than what was presented in Ch 1, especially in Hensalt's camp. I thought they totally nailed the war camp atmosphere perfectly, and I loved the caverns and beach areas in that region. Some of those areas reminded me of Gothic 2, which is always a good thing.

Speaking of branching, I have to say I was not disappointed with the chapter 3 + epilogue at all.
Besides the fact I really liked the two puzzle infused side quests in ch3, I think the story came really well together here, the political aspect of the story got sufficient resolution and, if I understand it right, there are 8 ways the ending segment of ch3 can play out.
The epilogue added satisfying amount of additional light on the events and I really, really love how low-key and sorta humane it was.

I can't say I was disappointed by the storyline, although it never had that special twist that TW1 had. However, I thought Ch 3 was much too short, especially when compared to the previous chapters. I wasn't ready for it to end when it did.

P.S.: Probably my most lol moment:

Spoiler

Lol.. not sure how I missed that. Where did you take that screenshot?

During the ending stages I had both heliotrope and group finishers which rocks even more (x activates both in quick succession, finisher first, heliotrope right afterwards).I like the adrenaline mechanics.

Due to Ch 3 being so short, I never really got to use heliotrope. I was also on level 33 when I finished, and I had five talent points in reserve. Had I known the ending was coming that soon I would have invested those points a lot earlier.

 

[Maylander]

A quick question about the ending:

Spoiler

The dagger was supposed to go straight to Saskia's heart in order to work, but.. it never did? He just held it up near her nose and it worked. I never saw him stabbing her with it. Maybe I missed something?

I've nearly completed it twice now, a few notes:
- Always do the Aryan quest (let him live, then rescue him) to get the increased backpack. It really helps.
- The difference in chapter 2 depending on the choice in chapter 1 is as impressive as I hoped it would be. It really is completely different. Excellent!
- Focusing on melee is easier than focusing on signs, but only after you've put enough points into signs to get the upgraded version of Quen. During the last part of the game it evens out. No idea about alchemy/traps talents.