Should I play The Witcher 2?

[Servo]

My overall impression of the first game was pretty much "meh."

• Geralt is meh
• Story is meh
• Other characters suck
• Exploration sucks
• Quests suck
• Alchemy is good
  
• Combat is a clunky, buggy mess (especially magic)
  
• Ending is incredibly cool - makes rest of game possibly worth all the tedium

So, yeah, do I pick up The Witcher 2 for $4.99 on Steam right now?

 

[Name]

In Witcher 2:

Geralt learns QTE
Story is incomplete in one playthrough due to branching
Other characters suck
Quests suck, the exploration is cool
What is Alchemy, never used it.
Combat is real-time with rolling
Ending is downer in an cool way

So, yeah, pick it up while it's cheap.

There seems to be a unofficial mod patch that changes lots of gameplay.

 

[Infinitron]

Do you like Game of Thrones?

 

[Servo]

Do you like Game of Thrones?

Never read/seen it, but I think I get your angle so I will elaborate:

• I like the antihero thing
• I like believable (flawed) characters
• I like realistic plots (somewhat grimdark) but get tired of things that try to act mature and come across as juvenile, crying for attention, and trite (over the top grimdark) - felt like TW was more of the latter
  
• I especially liked the difficult decisions I had to make throughout TW

Does that help?

 

[Infinitron]

Do you like Game of Thrones?

Never read/seen it, but I think I get your angle so I will elaborate:

• I like the antihero thing
• I like believable (flawed) characters
• I like realistic plots (somewhat grimdark) but get tired of things that try to act mature but come across as juvenile, crying for attention, and trite (over the top grimdark)
• I especially liked the difficult decisions I had to make throughout TW

Does that help?

Heh, Witcher 2 has all of those things in spades, but my "angle" was actually more explicit. Before the release of the actual Game of Thrones RPG, Witcher 2 was the closest thing we had to that. You spend most of the game doing errands for various political factions and getting involved in their wars. It's a very different atmosphere from the first game.

If you don't mind a game that could be described (in terms of basic game mechanics, not in terms of story or writing) as "Mass Effect 1 with swords", then you'll probably like it.

 

[Excidium]

Sure why not

 

[Servo]

If you don't mind a game that could be described (in terms of basic game mechanics, not in terms of story or writing) as "Mass Effect 1 with swords", then you'll probably like it.

I assume you're referring to the combat. Do you mean it's really easy? I know a lot of people thought the combat in TW was too easy but I didn't think this was the case - mostly it was just tedious because of the endlessly respawning enemies (in some areas) and general bugginess ("SWING YOUR DAMN SWORD FFS ALREADY GERALT WTF??!?").

 

[Servo]

Sure why not

Because if it's enough like the first one, well, I don't think I want any more of that snoozefest.

 

[Infinitron]

If you don't mind a game that could be described (in terms of basic game mechanics, not in terms of story or writing) as "Mass Effect 1 with swords", then you'll probably like it.

I assume you're referring to the combat. Do you mean it's really easy? I know a lot of people thought the combat in TW was too easy but I didn't think this was the case - mostly it was just tedious because of the endlessly respawning enemies (in some areas) and general bugginess ("SWING YOUR DAMN SWORD FFS ALREADY GERALT WTF??!?").

It's not so easy at first, but it quickly becomes easy after the first chapter. But no, I mean more generally in terms of perspective, user interface and the way you interact with the world.

Although Mass Effect is better than Witcher 2 in one way - it picks up items from enemy corpses automatically and it doesn't have an inventory limit. If you play the game, mod that shit out, it's just annoying and doesn't add much.

 

[zerotol]

Yes because its a good game.

Good, not great.

 

[Excidium]

Sure why not

Because if it's enough like the first one, well, I don't think I want any more of that snoozefest.

It's quite different from the first one, a lot of people dislike it because of that. I like it, for $5 you can't go wrong as it's worth at least two playthroughs to see the other main route.

 

[MasPingon]

My overall impression of the first game was pretty much "meh."

• Geralt is meh
• Story is meh
• Other characters suck
• Exploration sucks
• Quests suck
• Alchemy is good
  
• Combat is a clunky, buggy mess (especially magic)
  
• Ending is incredibly cool - makes rest of game possibly worth all the tedium

So, yeah, do I pick up The Witcher 2 for $4.99 on Steam right now?

TW2 is worse then TW1 in about every aspect. You will probably like it.

 

[Dreaad]

I vote no. Boring combat and story. Difficulty curve works in opposite direction from what a game is supposed to be like. Just like the first Witcher, decisions you make are a random coin toss because how you react has a completely random effect on the world. A sudden and broken infusion of +10 magical items even at low levels. Also it overheated and killed my laptop, granted that's more my fault, but I will never forgive the Witcher 2 for that.

 

[Servo]

Although Mass Effect is better than Witcher 2 in one way - it picks up items from enemy corpses automatically and it doesn't have an inventory limit. If you play the game, mod that shit out, it's just annoying and doesn't add much.

I thought inventory limits were viewed as around here, no?

TW2 is worse then TW1 in about every aspect. You will probably like it.

That could be interpreted a number of ways. Are you saying you thought the first was mega supa awesome, or what?

 

[Comrade Goby]

Yes play W2

Ignore the edgy fedora fucks

It's a good game

 

[Derpy]

Compared to it's predecessor TW2 offers a relatively more dumbed down streamlined experience.

From a narrative standpoint both are rather different. The first is an exploration of the White Wolf and what it means to slay monsters, Assassins of Kings is a desperate pursuit through a world on the cusp of change, and in some ways a far more personal story. Personally, I prefer the first game because of it's atmosphere, setting, soundtrack and "general" feel -- it offers a relatively more "immersive" experience. TW2 has a simpler and more focused story, and fewer characters, but it's more compartmentalized and feels less like you are part of a larger world. Inventory management, level progression, secondary gameplay elements (like potions) and dialog choices have also likewise succumbed to streamlining, as has the causality of the C&C which feels more limited. Also QTE galore!

From a combat-perspective, TW2 does not have the classic feel that its predecessor had. It feels more like a standard third person action game and it's combat is mostly about spamming the rolls until you isolate an enemy, getting in a few swings, and then spamming roll again until you find another opening. It's more button-mashing oriented and lacks the precise skill oriented timing and elegance that the first game had. For instance, In TW1, Hard mode, you had to balance your surroundings, number of enemies, type of enemies, stance per enemy, endurance levels and most importantly, timing. If you screw up a sword cycle, you could die. This, is challenging. In TW2 however, it's devolved to being more or less a kiting game. Just dodge in circles, keeping them clumped together, and killing the strays one at a time - then bombing the crowd.

I also thought there was a lot more interesting/memorable voice acting in TW1. For example, Triss' voice in TW1 was kind of hard, and I thought that fit with a powerful sorceress who was the king's adviser and a member of a secret society. In TW2, her voice sounded sweeter and more traditionally feminine to me, and I thought that fit her character less well than her TW1 voice.

All in all, with TW2, it definitely felt as if it the franchise was (inevitably) drifting towards mainstream casual-shit , which doesn't exactly bode well for TW3.

 

[Storyfag]

TW2 is worse then TW1 in about every aspect. You will probably like it.

That could be interpreted a number of ways. Are you saying you thought the first was mega supa awesome, or what?

The first was mega supa awesome and your taste in games is shit

 

[Carrion]

I thought inventory limits were viewed as around here, no?

They are a good thing. Fortunately Infinitron is not the Codex.

TW2 changes many things that were perfectly fine in TW1 (like alchemy and the inventory system) but it does a much better job in some other areas. It is overall worse than TW1, mainly because the increased focus on cinematics, some streamlined gameplay elements and more linear chapters, but it's got much better writing and a more cohesive and arguably more interesting game world. The biggest flaw of the game is that the story gets in the way of the gameplay too much, especially at the beginning.

 

[Servo]

TW2 is worse then TW1 in about every aspect. You will probably like it.

That could be interpreted a number of ways. Are you saying you thought the first was mega supa awesome, or what?

The first was mega supa awesome and your taste in games is shit

That's what I thought. Just making sure.

Don't get me wrong. It's a good game. I'm glad I finished it because the end totally made up for the rest. It had a lot going for it, but that list pretty much summarizes what I didn't like about it.

 

[Servo]

... increased focus on cinematics... the story gets in the way of the gameplay too much...

Pretty much tells me everything I need to know. Thanks!

Edit: Of course I will probably still get it so I can complain about it on the 'dex.

 

[Roguey]

I thought inventory limits were viewed as around here, no?

They are a good thing. Fortunately Infinitron is not the Codex.

What purpose does The Witcher 2's inventory limit serve? Seems to me like they included it because that's what other RPGs do. Witcher 2 is full of cargo cult stuff like this.

 

[Infinitron]

Inventory management in third person games with console interfaces sucks donkey dick. The less of it you have to do, the better. And yes, that includes removing limitations. Play the game, and you'll see.

 

[Carrion]

Inventory management in third person games with console interfaces sucks donkey dick.

Because of console interfaces and nothing else. TW1's inventory was pretty much perfect and it was very limited compared to most games. Mass Effect's endless lists of junk, on the other hand, are something that I hopefully never have to see again in any form, and that game didn't even have any loot outside from weapons as far as I remember.

What purpose does The Witcher 2's inventory limit serve?

It balances out the economy and discourages hoarding, for instance. Too bad that you can carry around so much stuff that it becomes more or less trivial in the end, so you've got a point there. TW1 did it better, in any case.

If you have a limitless inventory, you'll probably just end up picking up everything that is worth something, because why not? It's just brainless busywork and nothing more. Autoloot, which Infinitron seems to love for some reason, removes the busywork but will clutter your inventory with all kinds of useless shit unless you have a really static environment where you can only pick up basic stuff like weapons, armors and potions. You can't really make the game loot containers for you either, because that'd kind of make exploration completely pointless, so in any case you'll have to click through all those boxes and cupboards in the glorious third-person perspective (and I'd rather keep those lootable boxes and cupboards in the game if the alternative is a BioWarian game world where you can only click on huge treasure chests with an explanation mark over them and everything else is just a non-interactive prop).

If the inventory space is limited, you'll pick up stuff that you actually have some use for and don't bother with the junk, which is more fun and interesting. Well, maybe you're sperging like hell and make a trip to the nearest merchant every five minutes or something, but then you probably deserve those ten extra orens.

 

[DalekFlay]

TW2 is more of a fantasy Mass Effect than anything else, but executed much better. If you don't like action games though, stay the fuck away.

 

[Servo]

TW2 is more of a fantasy Mass Effect than anything else

With 1000% more sex.