Incline Witcher game series is one of the hallmarks of gaming

[PorkyThePaladin]

I get all the criticisms about the Witcher games, I will be the first to admit that they are far from great in the gameplay department in a lot of ways. But sometimes, you can't see the forest by analyzing the trees. Whatever you want to call it, atmosphere, writing, lore, the total package, these games are an achievement in this favorite hobby of ours. I've been bored lately, trying tons of different games, and none of them can keep my attention for long because they are just not very good, but I tried playing the Witcher games again (which I've already completed years ago), and right away I am hooked. They just have that something that few games have.

I am a bit of everything-fag, as I love great writing, and great exploration, and great combat, so this is not about that. It's just about recognizing greatness when it rarely shows its face.

 

[Beastro]

I really liked the first one despite the flaws (which weren't an issue for me and I disliked the change of combat to the second games even if it could be argued to be objectively better even by many who dislike it as well), appreciated what continued on in the second despite changes, but avoided the third because of many of the changes to both the gameplay and the story.

I also didn't like the impression the first game seemed to establish and then the series failed to continue with. That is, the King of the Wild Hunt's accusation that Geralt's implied existence as a Witcher is a self-righteous delusion. That instead of being the stated neutral protector of order that a Witcher is, he is an agent of chaos whose actions cannot help but sow discord and he leaves wake of destruction behind him where ever he goes.

The events of the first game seemed to establish this accusation and then it was left to Geralt to challenge it and try to disprove it. Only the second game dropped it and the third went with "save the world".

 

[karoliner]

Yennefer is better than Triss.

 

[janior]

Witcher 2 is fucking awful

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Aside from loving the stories so much, it always struck me that the concept of Witchers and the world they live in is just the perfect setup for an action RPG.

CDPR have said that TW3 is the definite end of Geralt's story, but I'm convinced that we'll see more games from them like TW3. Either playing as Ciri, or I think more likely just a completely disconnected scenario were you make your own Witcher and choose your school etc.

 

[Crispy]

This belongs in General Gaming.

Spoiler

 

[Harthwain]

It has a story and atmosphere that's better than in your average game, the quests are very well done (compared to generic crap or cliches), but besides that... I don't feel like any of TW games was this special.

Combat ranges between boring and average (at best!). The RPG elements aren't really interesting (the %-based skill system is probably the least interesting of them all, in my opinion). I never really felt like a monster hunter (or a swordmaster, or superhuman) in any Geralt game. What else is there worth mentioning? Probably the open world (in Wild Hunt), but I have trouble finding more at the moment.

 

[DalekFlay]

I'm replaying one of the games after watching the Netflix show, like every other asshole. I chose the original, because I only played it once before around release. I'm near the end of chapter two and I'm enjoying myself a good bit. The translation is a little iffy but not as bad as I remembered, and the quests are a little better than I remembered too. I had a strong recollection of the investigation stuff in chapter two being a total clusterfuck but this time around it's all worked splendidly, so who knows what my 12 year younger self was doing. I like that money is actually kind of scarce at first too. Unfortunately the combat is still total ass, but oh well.

 

[The Wall]

They should be bad, but instead they're good. How? Polish folk magic, I guess

 

[Citizen]

Never played these RPGs, are they good? 6 or 8 men party? Turn- or phase-based?

 

[DJOGamer PT]

Yennefer is better than Triss.

Someone likes to be pussy-whipped...

 

[RepHope]

I like all three. Can’t really think of another game trilogy where that’s the case.

 

[Serious_Business]

They're alright, but mostly work because they contrast off Bioware and Betheshda's incompetence in terms of writing and world-building. The series pretty much built itself as the alternative to these two major names of the time, to the point that the Witcher 3 is supposed to have surpassed Betheshda in terms of open-world design. Open-world design is inherently problematic in narrative games ("ludonarrative dissonance") and I don't know if the Witcher 3 has done anything special on that front (if anything Red Dead 2's spontaneous interactions were more interesting, although the overall game was pretty mediocre).

Going before that, the first Witcher was a strange affair, built on the NWN engine, it was both humble in its narrative ambitions and attempted some fairly complex quest-design ; allegedly one of its inspirations was U7 if I'm not mistaken. Overall the game has good atmosphere and it certainly is more engaging than something like Dragon Age, but it's also clumsy in many parts. The gameplay had some interesting quirks (I disagree that it didn't "make you feel like a witcher" ; it had the merit of being tailor-made to the lore and not to generic rpg mechanics). The second game was considerably better written, and it had an entire branching chapter, which is something.

Ultimately though none of these games are interesting in terms of the complexity of the systems ; they are part of "money-based rpg design" that doesn't innovate very much in terms of game mechanics and focus more on the "cinematic experience" - although I wouldn't say they diluted themselves too much in that swamp like Bioware did. It's a mystery how they got to be so big really. They should make an engine and sell it to Bioware at this point, right

 

[Maggot]

CD Projekt is the new Bioware.

 

[Lilura]

OP iggied.

Reason 1: Making a thread about AAA popamoles just to praise them.
Reason 2: Being an everything-fag.

 

[Valky]

Everything about him is a fag, if that's what he meant.

 

[The_Mask]

The second game was considerably better written, and it had an entire branching chapter, which is something.

I appreciate you a lot Mr. Frown Town man, but the 2nd Witcher's branching paths don't exactly represent better writing.
I doubt you give any shits, but I could write a wall of text about The Witcher 1's motifs, character resonance and character arcs, gameplay and reactivity, and ambiance; whilst for the 2nd one the only thing I can remember is that they made my imported Moonblade obsolete in 0.5s, which pissed me off tremendously.

 

[DeepOcean]

Witcher 2 had more C&C than the whole Witcher 3, it is the best one in terms of choice with actually decent consequence. Witcher 3 is way too bloated and I would cut half of those secondary quests for more reactivity on the main quest. On Witcher 3, CDPR half assed hard on that aspect with relegating most consequeces to the end slides or doing the whole, you have path A and path B, "Surprise! Path B lead to path A anyway!". There are actually an entire act and major quests on act 3 that depend of your choices.

 

[aweigh]

Porky says Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the best RPGs ever made, specifically because it allows climbing. This is the guy whose opinion on RPGs you're being asked to take seriously.

No, seriously. Ask him about it.

 

[DalekFlay]

The second game was considerably better written, and it had an entire branching chapter, which is something.

It really is something, and pretty unprecedented. Also, as much as I love choice and consequence, a lot of Witcher 2's plot can feel mudddled by only getting half the story in act 2 each playthrough. The game arguably would have been better if the choice resulted in a different sequence, but getting both the camp and Vergen experiences every time. Of course then it wouldn't be the unique thing that it is.

 

[PorkyThePaladin]

OP iggied.

Reason 1: Making a thread about AAA popamoles just to praise them.
Reason 2: Being an everything-fag.

You vowed to ignore me last year too.

Porky says Zelda: Breath of the Wild is one of the best RPGs ever made,

Indeed...

specifically because it allows climbing.

Nope.

 

[Lithium Flower]

 

[Necroscope]

Witcher 1 had this gritty, European atmosphere and nude chicks, but combat was awful.
Witcher 2 was oriented towards American Mountain Dewers, but it was a worthwhile game. Rolling combat was awful, though.
Witcher 3 is an open world, hiking mundane fest that I couldn't force myself to finish. And combat is still awful.

If there was a mod that totally redoes combat in TW1 I would replay it.

 

[Andhaira]

The idea of the Witcher character is good, a mythical monster hunter with cool abilities. But its realized in the way one would imagine an emo teen would realize a fictional character (he's a mutant, he can use magic, he's great with swordplay, he looks 'cool', he bangs all the chicks, he's sarcastic and has dry wit, etc).

Most importantly, Geralt is a rip off of a true giant of fantasy literature, the only, the original, the REAL White Wolf:

Spoiler

 

[ItsChon]

What the fuck? Fourteen people agree with this shit post? The Witcher games are complete garbage. A consoletard series that runs headfirst into the decline with each progressive iteration. They're literally third person Bethesda walking simulators. What did I expect though, half the people on this forum thought FO:NV was a great game.