The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition

[Cat Dude]

Combat has always been weak sauce in the franchise. I had never finished playing all the 3 games I bought.

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

Is this as much of a glorified cutscene as part three is?

 

[Chippy]

Currently playing the Witcher series as I never got around to finishing Blood and Wine. Graphics card at the time couldn't handle the expansion.

I think it's important to reiterate at every opportunity that W1 felt the most authentic, W3 was probably the most fun, and W2 (which I am currently suffering through again) is worse than DA2 was to DA:O.

I don't like anything about this game. The story is all over the place. The combat is shit. The Witcher class and progression is shit. The signs and their implementation is shit. The potion system is shit. The crafting is shit. The console restrictions - like trying to find the fucking ladder while the building is burning around you because you don't have a mouse cursor...is shit.

And to think it was worse before they patched out the QTEs in the EE.

And the boss battles are shit. I'm just playing it for the export save into W3, but am gonna slide it over to 'easy' and install a mod or two that allows for overpowered mutagens. Then make a beeline from beginning to endgame.

Whoever was responsible for making the decisions that resulted in this game should hang their head in shame. Or go and jump on a pitchfork.

 

[Naraya]

I think it's important to reiterate at every opportunity that W1 felt the most authentic, W3 was probably the most fun, and W2 (which I am currently suffering through again) is worse than DA2 was to DA:O.

I don't like anything about this game.

Thanks for your opinion. I also think that W2 is the weakest of the three but I wouldn't call it bad. I had my share of fun with it!

 

[Storyfag]

I think it's important to reiterate at every opportunity that W1 felt the most authentic, W3 was probably the most fun, and W2 (which I am currently suffering through again) is worse than DA2 was to DA:O.

A bit harsh, I would say. It definitely is the worst of the three, with a lot of mistakes. Very much a grand experiment, as per the vid linked above. But not completely bad.

The story is all over the place.

What? No. The story is the game's one solid point. Not to mention its impeccable English translation. Lots of the other elements you mention are indeed wanting. But not the story.

And finally, the game's true saving grace is its reactivity to player choices. Of course the most significant of those is the case of two different versions of Act II, but there are loads of minor instances too.

 

[MoonlitKnight]

I think it's important to reiterate at every opportunity that W1 felt the most authentic, W3 was probably the most fun, and W2 (which I am currently suffering through again) is worse than DA2 was to DA:O.

A bit harsh, I would say. It definitely is the worst of the three, with a lot of mistakes. Very much a grand experiment, as per the vid linked above. But not completely bad.
.

.

Jeez why do people love the 3rd game so much? It argubely took every saving grace from TW2 and Skyrimified it.
Most notably the quest design which went through the Batman Arkham food processor in addition.

 

[Storyfag]

It's not love of the 3rd game (which has its own faults), it's the disjointed jankiness of the 2nd game.

 

[Avarize]

Witcher 1 < Witcher 3 < Witcher 2

 

[Chippy]

Storyfag Maybe (for yourself) if you know more about the lore in W2, or had read the books. But for me, and for the most part they were referencing things about the world that I had no clue about. Now that I'm playing it again I've got a better idea of wht's going on, but mostly from what I remember from the first and third game.

MoonlitKnight The first game and third were just two different styles of game to me. What really let the first one down was chapter 4. The island chapter that was effectively Avalone. So when I say W1 was more authentic and more of a RPG, and W3 was more fun - I don't mean W3 was necessarily better. They were just different experiences. Like spending a day driving an off road truck through the wilds vs a high performance car on the track.

 

[Storyfag]

What really let the first one down was chapter 4.

Funny. That was my reaction on my 1st playthrough as well. However on replays, I learned to appreciate chapter 4's fairytale atmosphere the most.

 

[Falksi]

How people can think TW1 is better than TW2 I can totally see. I personally preferred TW2, but TW1 does a lot of things very well which TW2 fails to do, and feels far more of an RPG.

But how anyone can prefer the fuck awful TW3 over TW2 I've no idea. Literally all they do is take TW2, add a ton of bloat & filler, base it around a far duller main quest + story, and dumb all the Witcher elements down a shit load.

 

[Haplo]

What really let the first one down was chapter 4.

Funny. That was my reaction on my 1st playthrough as well. However on replays, I learned to appreciate chapter 4's fairytale atmosphere the most.

Chapter IV was my favorite...

 

[Storyfag]

How people can think TW1 is better than TW2 I can totally see. I personally preferred TW2, but TW1 does a lot of things very well which TW2 fails to do, and feels far more of an RPG.

But how anyone can prefer the fuck awful TW3 over TW2 I've no idea. Literally all they do is take TW2, add a ton of bloat & filler, base it around a far duller main quest + story, and dumb all the Witcher elements down a shit load.

Watch the entire vid WhiskeyWolf linked. There will be an exam, so pay attention.

What really let the first one down was chapter 4.

Funny. That was my reaction on my 1st playthrough as well. However on replays, I learned to appreciate chapter 4's fairytale atmosphere the most.

Chapter IV was my favorite...

To make things clear: it BECAME by favourite in time

 

[ScrotumBroth]

Netflix series is where it's at laddies.

 

[Chippy]

I really appreciate what they were 90% close to achieving in Chapter 4. I think it was mostly about Geralt taking a bit of time to himself (literally on Avalon) and taking time to smell the roses. But it was just a hairs breadth of becoming irritating. All of that running around was fine, but having to constantly run around at certain times of the day in the hope that the centipedes would spawn, running backwards and forwards for the wedding...

I think they made a good move by eliminating the concept that certain NPCs and enemies only appeared at certain times. Didn't the con artist in Vizima only appear for a few hours before dawn? Great for replays, and people who don't read walkthroughs. But I suspect most players missed him & the quest.

 

[Storyfag]

I think they made a good move by eliminating the concept that certain NPCs and enemies only appeared at certain times.

Are you really sure they did eliminate that concept?

 

[tindrli]

How the fuck someone find 5 god damn hours to watch this

 

[MoonlitKnight]

It's not love of the 3rd game (which has its own faults), it's the disjointed jankiness of the 2nd game.

If by jankiness you mean of the technical nature (i.e lack of polish) then there are very very few good games in which a general jankiness isn't an inherent part of them

 

[Storyfag]

It's not love of the 3rd game (which has its own faults), it's the disjointed jankiness of the 2nd game.

If by jankiness you mean of the technical nature (i.e lack of polish) then there are very very few good games in which a general jankiness isn't an inherent part of them

Yes, I mean the technical nature. The combat in particular is very poorly implemented, and the alchemy has been butchered. The UI looks AND plays like a console port.

 

[Ninjerk]

 

[MoonlitKnight]

It's not love of the 3rd game (which has its own faults), it's the disjointed jankiness of the 2nd game.

If by jankiness you mean of the technical nature (i.e lack of polish) then there are very very few good games in which a general jankiness isn't an inherent part of them

Yes, I mean the technical nature. The combat in particular is very poorly implemented, and the alchemy has been butchered. The UI looks AND plays like a console port.

Not denying it. It's just hard to understand how in a forum in which Troika games are very often revered as masterpieces people can forgive an experience profoundly shallower than its predecessors like TW3 because it has a less bad combat and a 'good UI' (or something - as said I really dont get it)

 

[pomenitul]

Easy. TW3 is a much better game than Arcanum.

 

[Chippy]

It's not love of the 3rd game (which has its own faults), it's the disjointed jankiness of the 2nd game.

If by jankiness you mean of the technical nature (i.e lack of polish) then there are very very few good games in which a general jankiness isn't an inherent part of them

Yes, I mean the technical nature. The combat in particular is very poorly implemented, and the alchemy has been butchered. The UI looks AND plays like a console port.

Not denying it. It's just hard to understand how in a forum in which Troika games are very often revered as masterpieces people can forgive an experience profoundly shallower than its predecessors like TW3 because it has a less bad combat and a 'good UI' (or something - as said I really dont get it)

The Codex should be a bit more broad minded. It's like saying if you're a £200 a bottle whiskey drinker then do you have to drink that exclusively to everything else? Of course not - you may enjoy a decent beer once in a while as well.

 

[ScrotumBroth]

Or a homebrew moonshine distilled literally from feces.

 

[CaffeineConquistador]

Have some respect. Those are called “semi-improvised rustic country-style micro-breweries” where I come from. Or “cover that still up with some tree branches and hope the pigs and neighbors don’t find it”.