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Game News The Witcher 2 Enhanced Info Bundle

VentilatorOfDoom

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Tags: CD Projekt; The Witcher 2

Spong apparently had some hands-on time with the upcoming Enhanced Edition of The Witcher 2, so they penned a preview.
So it certainly looks like CD Projekt is doing the game justice on the Xbox 360. The studio is also really kicking things into gear with the fan-service here. The Standard Edition comes with a 2-DVD game, an OST, map and a handbook. Going for the Dark Edition at retail comes with an extra artbook, stickers, medallion and a making-of DVD. And best of all? PC peoples get free patch for Enhanced Edition. Now that’s service.
The patch is free or what? I luv u, CDProjekt!

Afterwards, Spong did a short Q&A with CDProjekt's Mark Ziemak.

SPOnG: I noticed, when playing the Prologue - as interesting as it is - that the action was very directed and focused. For an old-school style RPG, that’s a bold direction to take. Will the game open up after this section of the game? And the focus on tight direction and cinematics - was there any inspiration from BioWare on that front, or are you going in a different direction with this?

Mark Ziemak: I think we’re going in a totally different direction. We’re all about telling stories and having this really well-defined character in a quite open world with a complex combat system and character development.

To answer the first question, the prologue is different to the rest of the game. And there are reasons for that - we wanted to capture players, show them as much of the storyline before we give them freedom. We want them to understand - especially if they didn’t play the first game - what is actually going on. They get all the background on the story and gameplay elements, and when they are ready in Act 1 they will be getting this total freedom.

It’s not going to be like Skyrim or anything - it’s not going to completely open up as much as that, because we have a well-defined plot. But it’s going to be much more open than the prologue. It’s certainly more open than The Witcher 1.

And finally, in somewhat related news, CDProjekt Bigwig Marcin Iwinski told Joystiq that CDProjekt will never ever use any DRM ever again. Like, never.

"We release the game. It's cracked in two hours, it was no time for Witcher 2. What really surprised me is that the pirates didn't use the GOG version, which was not protected. They took the SecuROM retail version, cracked it and said 'we cracked it' -- meanwhile there's a non-secure version with a simultaneous release. You'd think the GOG version would be the one floating around."

"DRM does not protect your game," Iwinski told Joystiq after the presentation. "If there are examples that it does, then people maybe should consider it, but then there are complications with legit users."
 

Syril

Liturgist
Queued
Joined
Nov 1, 2011
Messages
1,385
yeah well they still cant spell project right

[Perception]: Bonq lacks intelligence to successfully indentify that projekt is a potato spelling which also sounds different vocally.
 

Kjujik

Educated
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
56
Location
Land of Blossoming Potato
Well, the gaming „journalists” did it again.
The Witcher has nothing to do with “old school” RPG’s, it’s as next-gen as it gets. The game was based on the novels of Sapkowski, which were intended as post-modern anti-fantasy and ridiculed almost every fantasy cliché in existence. The same way, the games took a deconstructive approach with their design, that went against most of the classical RPG mechanics. If you look past the fedex quests from the first game, you clearly see, that CDP tried to stray as far as possible from typical D&D’esque character progression, turn based tactical combat and goody-two-shoes vs. renegade binary choices. In the second game the differences are even stronger. It definitely is a breath of fresh air in the somewhat stale genre. Or it would have been, had the whole industry not been going down the simplified action adventure way.
At least the plot of Witcher stands out from the see of mediocrity that is modern game writing. And the gameplay, while not tactical, is still pure fun. Seriously, if only some other developers (may they remain nameless) took notes and delivered at least 1/10 th of CDP’s level.
 

yellowcake

Arcane
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Dec 11, 2007
Messages
2,898
Location
Alas! in my skull
I wonder if they're going to fix that horrible mouse lag and fucked up FOV in 4:3 display mode eventually. Being a potato I would gladly kick them in the balls with the point of my foot repeatedly for leaving such obvious flaws not addressed.
 

DarkUnderlord

Professional Throne Sitter
Staff Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2002
Messages
28,344
Well, the gaming „journalists” did it again.
The Witcher has nothing to do with “old school” RPG’s, it’s as next-gen as it gets. The game was based on the novels of Sapkowski, which were intended as post-modern anti-fantasy and ridiculed almost every fantasy cliché in existence. The same way, the games took a deconstructive approach with their design, that went against most of the classical RPG mechanics. If you look past the fedex quests from the first game, you clearly see, that CDP tried to stray as far as possible from typical D&D’esque character progression, turn based tactical combat and goody-two-shoes vs. renegade binary choices. In the second game the differences are even stronger. It definitely is a breath of fresh air in the somewhat stale genre. Or it would have been, had the whole industry not been going down the simplified action adventure way.
At least the plot of Witcher stands out from the see of mediocrity that is modern game writing. And the gameplay, while not tactical, is still pure fun. Seriously, if only some other developers (may they remain nameless) took notes and delivered at least 1/10 th of CDP’s level.
This is what potato landers actually believe.
 

Konjad

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Messages
3,930
Location
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
ITT a lot of codexers are butthurt because some people are satisfied with the CDProjekt's support of the game.
 

commie

The Last Marxist
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1,865,249
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Where one can weep in peace
Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Divinity: Original Sin 2
ITT a lot of codexers are butthurt because some people are satisfied with the CDProjekt's support of the game.

The bastards...How dare they release something that adds content and enhances the ending instead of charging $9.99 for it?


The patch is free or what? I luv u, CDProjekt!

Nice strawman VoD. It's not a 'patch' it's additional content that other companies would charge money for in a Gold edition or DLC. Did Bethesda release Broken Steel for free?
 

Mrowak

Arcane
Joined
Sep 26, 2008
Messages
3,947
Project: Eternity
yeah well they still cant spell project right

The word "Projekt" means "Project" in Polish. Duh. :decline: of googlefoo.

@VentilatorOfDoom

You know, as much I came to agree with your view, and now I see TW2 as a flewed poor RPG, but a good game nonetheless, I think that you are overdoing with your snarky remarks in this case, yet again. Sure, what CDProjekt Red are doing should be a goddamn standard in the industry, not the fucking "halleluiah", but let's face it: between EA and Activision robbing gamers blind and Ubisoft's attrocious DRM, at least it's a miracle that one dev does the right thing. So why do we have to snivel about it resort to blunt irony, other than trolling all the Pollacks here?

Yes, everyone here does know that they are doing it as a business tactic, and that if they could get away with EA's methods, they would go for it, but since they are doing the right thing (or is it wrong for some reason?), regardless of their agenda, can't we stop whining about their marketing and instead start asking important questions to different people? The questions like: "Hey, fuckers! How come a small supbar developer from some Euopean shithole can do the same shit as you on the same (better?) level, for lower price, and release legitimate DLC content for free, when you jackasses just published DLC content for a fresh game theat you MUST pay for? How on earth is this possible? Why the fuck isn't it the standard to your multibillion $$$ gaming studios, when it comes naturally to those filthy, thieving Pollacks? And if they are thieves, then what that makes you? Anal rapists?".
 

VentilatorOfDoom

Administrator
Staff Member
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Messages
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Here's something for you to think about. Why should I NOT make snarky remarks? I mean, it's not like I'm specifically targetting CDProjekt. It's just that you (among others) don't bad an eyelid when BioWare, Bethesda, Obsidian, [insert dev name here] become subjected to this cruel irony but somehow it becomes an issue when CDProjekt is concerned.
 

Mrowak

Arcane
Joined
Sep 26, 2008
Messages
3,947
Project: Eternity
Actually, of all the people I am the one who always criticizes snarkiness in any newspost/interview. While I can accept general jackassery from random posters, which has become sort of a landmark of this place, it just sounds weirdly unporfessional from a :monocle: Codexer such as yourself.

Besides, I am fine with others using snide remarks that are used to ridicule by and large negative trends like "streamlining", "emotional engagement", "cinematic experience" but "free content"? The hell is wrong with free content? It's not like they cut it out from the original game. Yeah, I know they are introducing it to the PC game in order to mirror the XBOX release. However, in fact, in the past it was common practice to include extra content in ports and not give a fuck about earlier versions on other platforms. Is it really a big evil trend we just must make fun of? No? So the irony here just rings hollow. It's like an article from a gutter press looking for cheap sensation - "haha! they said they will include free content that should be free! What a bunch of fags! They should be like totally quiet and penitent about it, the losers! It's not like all other gaming studios aren't doing anything like that... oh, wait."
 

Kjujik

Educated
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
56
Location
Land of Blossoming Potato
Well, the gaming „journalists” did it again.
The Witcher has nothing to do with “old school” RPG’s, it’s as next-gen as it gets. The game was based on the novels of Sapkowski, which were intended as post-modern anti-fantasy and ridiculed almost every fantasy cliché in existence. The same way, the games took a deconstructive approach with their design, that went against most of the classical RPG mechanics. If you look past the fedex quests from the first game, you clearly see, that CDP tried to stray as far as possible from typical D&D’esque character progression, turn based tactical combat and goody-two-shoes vs. renegade binary choices. In the second game the differences are even stronger. It definitely is a breath of fresh air in the somewhat stale genre. Or it would have been, had the whole industry not been going down the simplified action adventure way.
At least the plot of Witcher stands out from the see of mediocrity that is modern game writing. And the gameplay, while not tactical, is still pure fun. Seriously, if only some other developers (may they remain nameless) took notes and delivered at least 1/10 th of CDP’s level.
This is what potato landers actually believe.


Exalted leader, are you by any chance implying that TWicher is an old school RPG classic on par with Ultima or Eye of the Beholder? Does not compute - somebody must have slipped something into my coffee again.

On a serious note, I actually do believe, that TWicher has better writing than most modern games (i.e. post 2002/3). The English version may be very bland in comparison to the original - a lot gets lost in translation, as Slavic languages are highly synthetic and have a different structure so some content cannot be transferred into English. Still the dialogs feel fresh, the plot is okayish and the character presentation is deeper than in your garden variety dating sim.

And what do we get in other modern games? Bethesda – Morowind, Oblivion, Skyrim – Boooring! Same old story in almost the same setting. No, wait, now we get dragons. And I took an arrow to the knee. Wow that’s deep.

Bioware – their last game I acquired (no piracy - DA was a gift) was NWN2 (epic ragequit after the murder trial quest), but apparently I haven’t lost much. If I’ll ever want a dating sim I’ll just get the real thing, preferably with a lolicon Adolf, hot pigeon action or something along the line. At least I’ll avoid getting sexually harassed by same-sex mercenaries.

As for gameplay in TWicher - it's not as :obviously: as turn based party combat - but still fun, in the same way that Contra was back in the day.
 

Mrowak

Arcane
Joined
Sep 26, 2008
Messages
3,947
Project: Eternity
yeah well they still cant spell project right

[Perception]: Bonq lacks intelligence to successfully indentify that projekt is a potato spelling which also sounds different vocally.
The word "Projekt" means "Project" in Polish. Duh. :decline: of googlefoo.

Are you both autistic? It's clearly a joke.

Look up the definition of "clearly". There was nothing there indicating that it was a joke, and not a trollish nitpick.
 

Mrowak

Arcane
Joined
Sep 26, 2008
Messages
3,947
Project: Eternity
Bioware – their last game I acquired (no piracy - DA was a gift) was NWN2 (epic ragequit after the murder trial quest), but apparently I haven’t lost much. If I’ll ever want a dating sim I’ll just get the real thing, preferably with a lolicon Adolf, hot pigeon action or something along the line. At least I’ll avoid getting sexually harassed by same-sex mercenaries.

Actually NWN 2 was made by Obsidian, not Bioware.

As for gameplay in TWicher - it's not as :obviously: as turn based party combat - but still fun, in the same way that Contra was back in the day.

I wouldn't say I had the same kind of fun with either TW as with Contra (though the Bosses in TW2 would fit in Contra with little to no modification). If they substituted rolling with some more swordsmasterish manoeuvre, and nerfed Quen the combat gameplay would have been so much better.
 

Achilles

Arcane
Joined
Sep 5, 2009
Messages
3,425
Here's something for you to think about. Why should I NOT make snarky remarks? I mean, it's not like I'm specifically targetting CDProjekt. It's just that you (among others) don't bad an eyelid when BioWare, Bethesda, Obsidian, [insert dev name here] become subjected to this cruel irony but somehow it becomes an issue when CDProjekt is concerned.

Those guys deserve it though. CD Projekt does not.
 

Kjujik

Educated
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
56
Location
Land of Blossoming Potato
Bioware – their last game I acquired (no piracy - DA was a gift) was NWN2 (epic ragequit after the murder trial quest), but apparently I haven’t lost much. If I’ll ever want a dating sim I’ll just get the real thing, preferably with a lolicon Adolf, hot pigeon action or something along the line. At least I’ll avoid getting sexually harassed by same-sex mercenaries.

Actually NWN 2 was made by Obsidian, not Bioware.

Sorry, my bad. I'm still repressing the trauma it caused.


As for gameplay in TWicher - it's not as :obviously: as turn based party combat - but still fun, in the same way that Contra was back in the day.

I wouldn't say I had the same kind of fun with either TW as with Contra (though the Bosses in TW2 would fit in Contra with little to no modification). If they substituted rolling with some more swordsmasterish manoeuvre, and nerfed Quen the combat gameplay would have been so much better.

I meant that both have that pumping action feel and it was all about patterns - once you learn the pattern Contra levels or Wicher combat became less challenging.

What would be really epic, is if they made Witcher combat closer to the books. Only few monsters, which have to be tracked down by examining footprints, victims remains, looking for droppings, setting up bait and so on. The preparation by talking to people who saw the beast and reading up in books, was handled ok. The combat could have been longer and of course no qte's.
 

Kitako

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Joined
Mar 3, 2011
Messages
2,036
Location
UK
I'm a CDP fanboy and I'm happy about these news.

Waiting the EE for my 4th playthrough.
 

Roguey

Codex Staff
Staff Member
Sawyerite
Joined
May 29, 2010
Messages
35,656
Oh man that Q&A.
Mark Ziemak: Yeah, we actually do feel that RPGs have lost their way a little bit, because I think the genre is changing a lot. RPGs used to be really hardcore, really big - the choices were meaningful. Then they were starting to change a little bit more into action games.

I think that’s come back a lot with The Witcher and The Witcher 2.

The lack of self-awareness.. it's just... :lol:
 

DarkUnderlord

Professional Throne Sitter
Staff Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2002
Messages
28,344
Well, the gaming „journalists” did it again.
The Witcher has nothing to do with “old school” RPG’s, it’s as next-gen as it gets. The game was based on the novels of Sapkowski, which were intended as post-modern anti-fantasy and ridiculed almost every fantasy cliché in existence. The same way, the games took a deconstructive approach with their design, that went against most of the classical RPG mechanics. If you look past the fedex quests from the first game, you clearly see, that CDP tried to stray as far as possible from typical D&D’esque character progression, turn based tactical combat and goody-two-shoes vs. renegade binary choices. In the second game the differences are even stronger. It definitely is a breath of fresh air in the somewhat stale genre. Or it would have been, had the whole industry not been going down the simplified action adventure way.
At least the plot of Witcher stands out from the see of mediocrity that is modern game writing. And the gameplay, while not tactical, is still pure fun. Seriously, if only some other developers (may they remain nameless) took notes and delivered at least 1/10 th of CDP’s level.
This is what potato landers actually believe.
Exalted leader, are you by any chance implying that TWicher is an old school RPG classic on par with Ultima or Eye of the Beholder? Does not compute - somebody must have slipped something into my coffee again.

On a serious note, I actually do believe, that TWicher has better writing than most modern games (i.e. post 2002/3). The English version may be very bland in comparison to the original - a lot gets lost in translation, as Slavic languages are highly synthetic and have a different structure so some content cannot be transferred into English. Still the dialogs feel fresh, the plot is okayish and the character presentation is deeper than in your garden variety dating sim.

And what do we get in other modern games? Bethesda – Morowind, Oblivion, Skyrim – Boooring! Same old story in almost the same setting. No, wait, now we get dragons. And I took an arrow to the knee. Wow that’s deep.

Bioware – their last game I acquired (no piracy - DA was a gift) was NWN2 (epic ragequit after the murder trial quest), but apparently I haven’t lost much. If I’ll ever want a dating sim I’ll just get the real thing, preferably with a lolicon Adolf, hot pigeon action or something along the line. At least I’ll avoid getting sexually harassed by same-sex mercenaries.

As for gameplay in TWicher - it's not as :obviously: as turn based party combat - but still fun, in the same way that Contra was back in the day.
You're referring to CD Projekt's bold new steps of taking RPGs down...

... the same path everybody else has been walking down for the past decade.

I mean please, they made an action twitch game for consoles with combat dumbing down quick time events. If BioWare did that, we would rightly chew them out a new asshole. This isn't about them "holding up the values of the books" and shunning "old-school RPGs", this is about them selling lots of copies of their action game and making money while they self-flagellate themselves as the saviours of the RPG.

Remember when they wanted to "redefine the RPG"? Well, the entire RPG industry had already well and truly abandoned turn-based combat and embraced real-time by 2006. And yet: "Our goal is to focus on delivering a great story [...] and introducing combat yet to be seen in PC RPGs." Apparently this "yet to be seen" combat is action-focussed QTE's taken from other games years after it has already been done. Someone should tell them that isn't new.

CD Projekt are making the same sorts of action-focussed games everyone else in the RPG industry is making. The only difference is they think they're "saving" the RPG industry by doing so.
 

el Supremo

Augur
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Messages
548
Location
City 13
I laugh everytime I see "old-school" or "hardcore" RPG about TW2.

Well, if The Witcher/The Witcher 2 is not oldschool, hadrcore RPG, I don't know what is.

Well, Risen was. (Risen 2 being Steam-requiring shit notwithstanding).

I cannot think about any RPG game being better then Gothic1/2/NOTR and TW1/2(EEs?)
 

el Supremo

Augur
Patron
Joined
Jan 1, 2011
Messages
548
Location
City 13
OMG DarkUnder(pants)lord must be a diabetic.

noobs.jpg
 

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