The Witcher 2 - Review @ RPG Codex

RPG Codex has penned a review of this game entitled Of Monsters, Men and BROche. It deals with the history of the Witcher games, the combat, the quests, alchemy, the graphics, and more. Here is a bit about the combat:

Each skill tree has 15 different skills, which can be picked and later upgraded for greater effect. You can’t gain more than 34 skill points during the game, which means that you can’t max a single specialization tree (after spending 6 points to unlock them), which is a wise decision, considering that after upgrading your skills you can kill bosses in 2-3 hits.

Two skills worth mentioning are the throwing skills and the top tier (adrenaline) skills of each tree. The throwing skill is your lifeline. For example, a superb silver sword does 17-25 points of damage. A well-balanced silver dagger, which can be thrown from a safe distance and can NOT be blocked does 50-70 points of damage. You can “machine gun” daggers, making short work of your enemies, which makes sense because a genetically enhanced monster slayer should have superior eye-hand coordination.

A bit about alchemy:

Most of the potions from the first game are still present (often slightly altered in effect), but there are a lot of new ones as well. The secondary effects of potions (albedo, nigredo etc) and different bases are gone, greatly streamlining the experience. Considering that you can't drink potions during combat and that some fights start after lengthy cutscenes, after which your potion timers either run out already or are close to expiring, it’s easy to wonder if, perhaps, fixing what wasn’t really broken is a good idea.

A little something about the quests, particularly about the Big Choice:

Now, I assume that you’ve all heard rumors about The Big Choice™, which dramatically changes the entire game. It’s true. At the end of chapter 1 you’ll be offered to make the most important choice – which location you’d like to visit in Chapter 2: Henselt's war camp or the city of Vergen. Whereas most RPGs allow you to visit different places freely, CD Project redefines the genre once again by introducing this very important choice – left or right. While it may seem like that you’re choosing sides in a conflict or that the game is wildly non-linear, we’d like to reassure you that CD Project knows that such things are very confusing, so you’ll merely choose which linear adventure path to follow.

A snip from the conclusion:

The Witcher 2 is undoubtedly a product of love, which is a rare thing these days, so in the end it doesn’t really matter what kind of game is it, how linear or non-linear it is, and whether or not the choices matter. Most importantly, it is a game worth playing. Even though the faults are glaring, the game is more than the sum of its flawed parts, which is what makes it an enjoyable experience overall, whether you play it as RPG or as an action-adventure game.

More information.

While I appreciate subtle and clever irony, this was so blunt and forced it made me cringe. The writer was trying way too hard to be witty. More amusing than this review is the fact that the Codex does exactly what it accuses the industry of: catering to the lowest common denominator.

Oh look: teenage sarcasm, over and over and over again.

At least the ZeroPunctuation one had the decency of being brief.

Quit bitching Its his opinion. The game has flaws like any other game but is still fun to play.

Well I'll say this - the tone of that 'review' is consistent with the culture over at the Codex.

"So now the character system is an optional mini-game. Playing it unlocks a lower difficulty mode"

Well, I know I'm from the Codex, but really, this is spot on! Don't concentrate on the humor part of the humor, some of the sentences there are literally true which makes it even funnier imho.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Quit bitching Its his opinion.

Was anyone claiming that it wasn't? Or even arguing against the points in the review for that matter?

While the extent of Dragon Age 2's influence on Sapkowski’s work isn’t clear, most players will find the gameworld eerily familiar: non-human races like elves and dwarves being treated poorly for no good reason, scheming sorcerers being met with distrust, and religious zealots attempting to widen their influence and maybe even start a little inquisition here and there. Throw in genetically enhanced monster slayers right in middle of it and you’ll get the full picture.

I'm not sure if the reviewer has got it right or if this is supposed to be humor, but it was Sapkowski’s work that influenced DA:O (the racism and monster slayers who drink potions or darkspawn blood to enhance their abilities).

Considering that Sapkowski has been writing The Witcher stories since the early 90s, I'd have to believe the reviewer was just being sarcastic there. Otherwise that comment really doesn't make sense.

What good is a review at this point?

You guys know that he claims he wrote that review at least partially because a comment someone made here about the codex never posting reviews.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
What good is a review at this point?

Reviews written a couple or a few months "late" are usually better written, with more depth and better points. Not everybody are day-1 buyers who base their purchases off biased PCGamer reviews.
Also it's the Codex and the Codex is awesome.

I would appreciate the review more if it was written in serious style, like VD's Dragon Age reviews.

As for the character system being an optional mini-game, it deals directly with the fact that there three or four difficulty modes - this is not, imo, a mini-game, it is a feature. And why is there no mention of the true hardcore mode, the insane mode, where your character and your save game files are either erased or locked….

And I'm still confused as to what the Codex things about this game, Witcher 2. Do they like it or not? The part about the combat is not very clear, imo….As for the Big Choice in Chapter 1, even if it leads you down two different paths, isn't this so much better than allmost any other game out there, rpgs included…

I think its pretty clear: He likes it as a game, but notes that the RPGfeatures have been diminished. I wouldn't disagree. I really love the game, but in many ways it seems closer to an action adventure now, and the interface is worse than in Witcher 1. Nevertheless it is one of my favorite games ever.

Originally Posted by Zed
Also it's the Codex and the Codex is awesome.

It used to be. Now it's just an happy trollfest.

Originally Posted by GhanBuriGhan
I think its pretty clear: He likes it as a game, but notes that the RPGfeatures have been diminished. I wouldn't disagree. I really love the game, but in many ways it seems closer to an action adventure now, and the interface is worse than in Witcher 1. Nevertheless it is one of my favorite games ever.

Yes, like a Motörhead-hard-rock fan, who must confess that he likes "Manic Monday" performed by the pop-band "The Bangles"

Was the first (even) an RPG? To me, it did feel more like an action adventure game with stats, skills and abilities - especially after I learned to do combat in witcher-style. I played it for the story; witcher1's story was awesome, creative, unique and original. And while there are some good mentions of how the quests in Witcher 2 play out, there's next to nothing about the story overall. Is it good or not? or is it -meh-?

I think the problem is this:
The people who wrote this review like choice and consequence in every quest in the game, they like gameplay mechanics, they like that skills have an impact on the things you can do. Hence, as I read the review, the focus is on these parts of the game - not the story, not the dialogue, not the characters… - things, I find important in a game…

Originally Posted by JDR13
Considering that Sapkowski has been writing The Witcher stories since the early 90s, I'd have to believe the reviewer was just being sarcastic there. Otherwise that comment really doesn't make sense.

It's a good insight into the writer's research skills.

Originally Posted by HiddenX
Yes, like a Motörhead-hard-rock fan, who must confess that he likes "Manic Monday" performed by the pop-band "The Bangles"

Originally Posted by aries100
And I'm still confused as to what the Codex things about this game, Witcher 2. Do they like it or not?

There was a poll, over 70% liked it.