The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition

[Toffeli]

Yep, had to download the whole 15gb game again, which took about 10 hours since the GOG.downloader stopped downloading at some point and dl speed decreased too. And after completing the download, I've spent literally 2 hours waiting for first to files to unpack, then checking file intergrity and then the actual installation. And it's starting to finish with installing .NET Framerwork 4 Extended.

 

[Kitako]

The problem is that there is nothing to understand in QTE. You just get prompts showed in your face without context or idea what will they do. After slicing the tentacles part which is kind of obvious according to derpy vidyagame logic and which is easily the best part of that battle because it relies on actual mechanics and movement rather than prompt spam, you're left in the dark.

There is no cohesive interface or mechanics, so you simply have no idea what the fuck you're doing or what the fuck is happening, other than flashing prompts and pressing keys you're told to press.

Worst. Thing. Ever.

There are ruins that get destroyed right in front of you, forming a natural ramp that end right over the monster's head, which is half incapacitated at the time... and you don't know what the fuck to do?
What do you want, hookers pointing you do drop a bomb on his brain?

I really never got all the kayran whining, really.

 

[Mrowak]

The problem is that there is nothing to understand in QTE. You just get prompts showed in your face without context or idea what will they do. After slicing the tentacles part which is kind of obvious according to derpy vidyagame logic and which is easily the best part of that battle because it relies on actual mechanics and movement rather than prompt spam, you're left in the dark.

There is no cohesive interface or mechanics, so you simply have no idea what the fuck you're doing or what the fuck is happening, other than flashing prompts and pressing keys you're told to press.

Worst. Thing. Ever.

There are ruins that get destroyed right in front of you, forming a natural ramp that end right over the monster's head, which is half incapacitated at the time... and you don't know what the fuck to do?
What do you want, hookers pointing you do drop a bomb on his brain?

I really never got all the kayran whining, really.

The problem is exactly that - Kayran is simply you typical arcadey-consoley boss creature of this variety:



Edit: ok bros, skip to 8m 55s - Codex cannot into embeded timers.

You use exactly the same mechanics durring that fight and the battle with Kayran - dodge the attacks, hit the weak spot with ability, deal damage while the creature is dazed, rince and repeat. Hell, in this video it's even more complex, because the enemy has varied forms of attacks and it's never just 'dodge left || dodge right'. And yes - this boss battle takes place not far from the beginning.

In other words - fucking platformers have more complex and tactically challenging boss fights than TW2.

And it's so painfully obvious that gameplaywise boss battles are so untactical, so lackluster, so boring, and so cheap that I can't wrap my head around how this could appear in alleged "hardcore story-driven RPG".

 

[Rivmusique]

Jesus fuck it's out today? Need a consensus, is it worth a play through? I played through Witcher 2 4 times I think before that Dark(?) patch came out, didn't bother to play through that because it didn't seem like much was changed, how about this time?

 

[Kitako]

The problem is that there is nothing to understand in QTE. You just get prompts showed in your face without context or idea what will they do. After slicing the tentacles part which is kind of obvious according to derpy vidyagame logic and which is easily the best part of that battle because it relies on actual mechanics and movement rather than prompt spam, you're left in the dark.

There is no cohesive interface or mechanics, so you simply have no idea what the fuck you're doing or what the fuck is happening, other than flashing prompts and pressing keys you're told to press.

Worst. Thing. Ever.

There are ruins that get destroyed right in front of you, forming a natural ramp that end right over the monster's head, which is half incapacitated at the time... and you don't know what the fuck to do?
What do you want, hookers pointing you do drop a bomb on his brain?

I really never got all the kayran whining, really.

The problem is exactly that - Kryan is simply you typical arcadey-consoley boss creature of this variety:



Edit: ok bros, skip to 8m 55s - Codex cannot into embeded timers.

You use exactly the same mechanics durring that fight and the battle with Kayran - dodge the attacks, hit the weak spot with ability, deal damage while the creature is dazed, rince and repeat. Hell, in this video it's even more complex, because the enemy has varied forms of attacks and it's never just 'dodge left || dodge right'. And yes - this boss battle takes place not far from the beginning.

In other words - fucking platformers have more complex and tactically challenging boss fights than TW2.

And it's so painfully obvious that gameplaywise boss battles are so untactical, so lackluster, so boring, and so cheap that I can't wrap my head around how this could appear in alleged "hardcore story-driven RPG".

That's a opinion I can well understand. What I can't understand is all the "omg this is too hard" and "hapl i dun know wut 2 do" whining.
Not liking the mechanic is one thing (well justified in this case), people that cannot into what is just a glorified QTE boss fight is another. Hell, on GOG forums there was people uploading theyr pre-Kayran saves asking random people to beat the fight for them.

 

[Mrowak]

Jesus fuck it's out today? Need a consensus, is it worth a play through? I played through Witcher 2 4 times I think before that Dark(?) patch came out, didn't bother to play through that because it didn't seem like much was changed, how about this time?

New quests, characters and slideshow at the end. No, I haven't seen that myself - the patch fucked my game so I need to redownload whole setup file. If you have fast enough connection,give it a shot. Maybe it'll work for you.

 

[IDtenT]

The Witcher 1 is one of the most boringly inane utterly retarded games I've played in the last while. It can't hold me for more than 30 minutes. Is TW2 incline?

 

[Commissar Draco]

Wait a week before they'll iron the bugs, the Vanila was unplayable on the day of premiere. This is local Potato tradition.

 

[Carrion]

What exactly does the Dark Mode do? Does it just add more difficulty and items or does it change the game in other ways? I'm just wondering whether I should play the EE on the highest "normal" difficulty level or go straight to the Dark Mode.

 

[Rivmusique]

The Witcher 1 is one of the most boringly inane utterly retarded games I've played in the last while. It can't hold me for more than 30 minutes. Is TW2 incline?

I liked Witcher 1 better than Witcher 2, mostly because Witcher 1 combat was either completely irrelevant and I had no chance of dying, or the fight was won with the preparation (Alchemy/oils etc.), while Witcher 2 was just spamming spacebar until the enemy stopped attacking for a second and I could chain it to death, so it was easy as shit but I still had to focus in a fight making it feel like a chore, while Witcher 1 was just something that got in the way for a second and was quickly through with. Both bad, but 1 was more tolerable. I enjoyed the story in both, Witcher 1 probably preferred as it actually ended. Dialogue system was also superior in Witcher 1 as with 2 that loose paraphrasing shit has spread from ME. Then there is the fact that Witcher 2 feels like a console port in terms of UI and controls.

There's my thoughts on the matter, do not know how helpful that is, or if it even answers your question.

P.S. For an actual half decent equipment-based driven action combat system, give Witcher 1 a go with Flash's FCR mod.

 

[Mrowak]

What exactly does the Dark Mode do? Does it just add more difficulty and items or does it change the game in other ways? I'm just wondering whether I should play the EE on the highest "normal" difficulty level or go straight to the Dark Mode.

It just adds more difficuty and a few rare items you have to construct. No new quests, no new lore, no nothing. If cheap difficulty is not your thing you can safely skip it.

Oh, and the "curse" graphical effect of the new items is annoying like hell.

 

[Carrion]

^ Thanks. Maybe I'll save it for my second EE playthrough if I have the energy to finish both the Roche and Iorveth paths.

 

[IDtenT]

The Witcher 1 is one of the most boringly inane utterly retarded games I've played in the last while. It can't hold me for more than 30 minutes. Is TW2 incline?

I liked Witcher 1 better than Witcher 2, mostly because Witcher 1 combat was either completely irrelevant and I had no chance of dying, or the fight was won with the preparation (Alchemy/oils etc.), while Witcher 2 was just spamming spacebar until the enemy stopped attacking for a second and I could chain it to death, so it was easy as shit but I still had to focus in a fight making it feel like a chore, while Witcher 1 was just something that got in the way for a second and was quickly through with. Both bad, but 1 was more tolerable. I enjoyed the story in both, Witcher 1 probably preferred as it actually ended. Dialogue system was also superior in Witcher 1 as with 2 that loose paraphrasing shit has spread from ME. Then there is the fact that Witcher 2 feels like a console port in terms of UI and controls.

There's my thoughts on the matter, do not know how helpful that is, or if it even answers your question.

P.S. For an actual half decent equipment-based driven action combat system, give Witcher 1 a go with Flash's FCR mod.

I just don't see the point. I've tried playing it too many times. The action isn't even fun.

 

[DraQ]

There are ruins that get destroyed right in front of you, forming a natural ramp that end right over the monster's head, which is half incapacitated at the time...

And what was Geralt's plan for this battle? Did he expect that the ruin will collapse in the exact way that will make a usable ramp? Did he expect that Kayran will be so nice to let him ride its tentacle right to this ramp? If not, what was his plan to not get fucking killed? It's not some heroic herpderp, it's Witcher, heroic herpderps get you killed nastily in this universe, so why was Geralt just making shit up and relying on highly unlikely train of coincidences as he went?

and you don't know what the fuck to do?

No, I don't know what the fuck to do, because the game just makes up mechanics and controls as it goes. Suddenly I discover that pressing a mouse button makes me ride a tentacle, then suddenly I have less than 0.5s to learn that pressing something will make me let go and otherwise I will go splat.

I don't know what the controls are, because they are just arbitrary, single use shit, I don't know what they will do, I don't know what I *can* do, because the game relies on cutscenes of abilities I don't have in normal gameplay rather than on established mechanics, I don't even know I have a fucking grenade because it isn't in my inventory, it isn't mentioned in any dialogue and it wasn't crafted or obtained in any manner.

Finally, if the reason to make shit QTE was to make it an awesome cinematic experience, the Kayran battle completely fails to achieve this goal, because for more than half of it you will be staring at the bottom of the screen to react quickly and not miss any prompts and you likely wouldn't notice a whole crowd of dudes in gorilla suits replacing the monster for all that matters.

 

[No soup for you!]

Sweet! Downloaded the EE last night from GOG. Looking forward to my second playthrough, this time I'll take the Roche path and maybe specialize in a Magic build... and try not to spam Quen so much.

 

[Azalin]

I installed the EE,played the Prologue and reached Flotsam.There are very few differences so far(I know most new parts are in chapter 3),I don't think there is any perfomance improvement so far,in fact there seem to be some texture pop-in now that I don't remember in the regular edition.I hope they release a patch that fixes that problem.The combet seem to be easier this time too

 

[DraQ]

I'd be happy if they simply moved vigor cost from block to roll.

Would pretty much fix the combat completely, maybe add some more quen nerf as well to make it more situational, less obligatory all-purpose personal protection shield.

 

[Deleted member 7219]

Apparently the biggest additions are extra quests in the final chapter, and ending cards (Fallout style). I was happy with the ending as it was, but I don't mind more stuff. Going to do a completely fresh playthrough.

 

[Havoc]

Got butchered (3 hits) with the Dark/Mroczny setting.

 

[Gerrard]

I gave up on dark mode during the ghost battle part where you're completely fucked if you didn't invest in the block/riposte abilities, because those are the only ones that you can apply there, since you can't use signs/items/potions/roll.

Also fuck Flash and his shitty mod, he is the person responsible for "balance" of combat in TW2.

 

[Mrowak]

I'd be happy if they simply moved vigor cost from block to roll

Not feasible. Can you imagine fighting Kayran, Letho, Draug and the Dragon with rolling being gimped in this way? Unfortunately by making boss-battles arcadey CDPRed wrote themselves into corner, and can't really do anything about rolling. This would require changing the entire focus of combat.

Also, as a matter of fact most of TWitcher forum members quite like rolling, and swarm at anyone who decides to criticize their majestic game and holy CDPRed who brings them deliverance. Any suggestion to correct rolling or make the game actually tactical meets with LERN TO PL3Y!11 If you ask me, it's Bioware social all over again. Can't wait for DragonxDwarf sekz scenes.

Especially now, with XBOXers coming along. There's already a thread where a allegedly clueless xboxer trolls PC master race with comparisons between screenies from PC and XBOX versions, claiming the latter is better.

BTW, did you notice that when you block you receive damage now?

Would pretty much fix the combat completely, maybe add some more quen nerf as well to make it more situational, less obligatory all-purpose personal protection shield.

Nerfing quen helps very little. Back in the version 1.2 I prepared a mod (really tinkered with a few XML files) that caused all forms of Quen to be removed after just one hit. It still was too strong.

I think the combat system in TW2 is inherently flawed - if they made it with focus on one-on-one clashes - with blocks, ripostes and dodges taking precednece over leaping around like frog on LSD, then we would receive something far more ambitious. One can hope somehow, in spite of the wants of their fanbase, they will realise their error and remove rolling in TW3 (or at least link it to Vigour bar).

 

[DraQ]

Not feasible. Can you imagine fighting Kayran, Letho, Draug and the Dragon with rolling being gimped in this way? Unfortunately by making boss-battles arcadey CDPRed wrote themselves into corner, and can't really do anything about rolling. This would require changing the entire focus of combat.

Then at least disable rolling if vigor is empty and remove blocking reliance on vigor altogether.

Boss battles - keep at least 1 vigor to survive.

Others - you'll need to block/riposte if you blow all your vigor away.

Or, either patch it up quick and dirty (and ugly) so that bosses and bosses alone don't require vigor for rolling while normally it does use vigor up, or add "rolling doesn't consume vigor + hefty maluses" potion. Alchemy needs an overhaul anyway, and Blizzard wasn't used in TW2, while the effect might more or less fit especially given that it's previous effect got nomed by heliotrope.

One can hope somehow, in spite of the wants of their fanbase, they will realise their error and remove rolling in TW3 (or at least link it to Vigour bar).

I think Witcher does need fast dodge moves (pirouettes and stuff from TW1 would be cool in addition to rolling), but the bad thing is that they are free.

No one will tell me that dodging and rolling all the time is less exhausting than fucking parrying.

 

[Edwin]

Hmm, and I wanted to play this soon. Guess I'll wait a bit longer. Gotta replay TW1 anyway.

I am still in act 3 somewhere,working on it since twitcher 1 release date.Few more years and hopefully I will get to twitcher 2

 

[Mrowak]

Not feasible. Can you imagine fighting Kayran, Letho, Draug and the Dragon with rolling being gimped in this way? Unfortunately by making boss-battles arcadey CDPRed wrote themselves into corner, and can't really do anything about rolling. This would require changing the entire focus of combat.

Then at least disable rolling if vigor is empty and remove blocking reliance on vigor altogether.

Boss battles - keep at least 1 vigor to survive.

Lameness incarnate. Breaking the rules of the entire system for one battle? Even platformers don't stoop so low. :/

Others - you'll need to block/riposte if you blow all your vigor away.

Which could give full invoulnerabilty, especially if you select correct talents.

Or, either patch it up quick and dirty (and ugly) so that bosses and bosses alone don't require vigor for rolling while normally it does use vigor up, or add "rolling doesn't consume vigor + hefty maluses" potion. Alchemy needs an overhaul anyway, and Blizzard wasn't used in TW2, while the effect might more or less fit especially given that it's previous effect got nomed by heliotrope.

Not going to happen, because "Alechmy works perfect, and everyone who claims otherwise is a noob". Besides, as you admit, this fix of yours is pretty cheap. It would destroy the last vestiges of RPG ruleset there are.

One can hope somehow, in spite of the wants of their fanbase, they will realise their error and remove rolling in TW3 (or at least link it to Vigour bar).

I think Witcher does need fast dodge moves (pirouettes and stuff from TW1 would be cool in addition to rolling), but the bad thing is that they are free.

It depends. Personally, I would eliminate rolling altogether (or maybe give it as a panic button for vigour cost) and leave dodging. I have in mind here the dodge mechanics from Way of the Samurai series, where it actually look like a dodge or sidestep. You can get pretty amazing results if you time that correctly, as you can take advantage of enemy's speed momentum and strike where it hurts. What's better, you can combine exactly that with blocking, by dodging in the right moment, wghich throws your enemy off-balanc. Thanks to that combat resembles swordsmanship as opposed to goddamn frogger we have in TW2.

Pirouettes would be fine too, although they have little applicabilty in real swordsmanship. However, in TW game they could serve for dealing with multiple enemies - as a means to fend them off and make yourself field in combat - provided they wouldn't be free (again, vigour).

No one will tell me that dodging and rolling all the time is less exhausting than fucking parrying.

You are right about that... it's again disheartening that few people agree with us.

 

[Lunac]

Does this version make the game playable? You know, cuts out juvenile cinematics, rewrites the banal story-line and all that? You know, make the game an actual game, instead of being an attempt at a some kind of Polish JRPG/FinalFantasy, a failed attempt at that.


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