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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings |OT| Plough 'Em All

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Mr. Snrub said:
That's a good idea...I just hate the temptation. I'm wondering if there's a fast and easy way to just LOSE a ton of money. $25,000 seems like enough to coast through the game on.



.... Money well spent on a courtesan, or 1000, but where are they you can't hire them in Flotsam, lol...
 

Ceebs

Member
Think I am nearing the end of chapter 1 now and I had heard about how the plot can splinter off based on your choices, but if it does so in the manner some of these conversations are implying, then holy fuck.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
sflufan said:
PC Gamer review: 89% with a very specific reason why it'a not a 90%+ game.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/05/19/the-witcher-2-review/

Fair enough score on a real scale, but it gets completely ridiculous when the same outlet gave fucking Dragon Age 2 a 94%. I generally don't care about review scores, but goddamn, PC Gamer needs some standards. It was criminal enough that they gave Dragon Age 2 the same score as Dragon Age: Origins, but to score The Witcher 2 lower? The game is about as close to being objectively better as you can get.
 

Echoplx

Member
Salaadin said:
I cant remember his name...Merses maybe?. Hes the guy who also wants you to go to him whenever you complete a monster contract like the Nekker one. Hes the well dressed, distinguised looking dude. His house is near the area where the hanging takes place, across from the inn, I think.

EDIT: Spoilered just in case.

Yep that was him, thanks!
 

wilflare

Member
Mr. Snrub said:
That's a good idea...I just hate the temptation. I'm wondering if there's a fast and easy way to just LOSE a ton of money. $25,000 seems like enough to coast through the game on.

wait. you mean that Neutral/Triss Save?
the one that says (bunch of numbers) Order of the Flaming Rose?

I wanted to try Order/Triss but the game did not recognize the save
 

Wes

venison crêpe
Just completed it. Very entertaining game and the story is so rich with depth. It's not without it's issues as the game reaches it's conclusion but was still a good gaming experience. No doubt there's replay value but I don't think I'll be doing it anytime soon.


Also, this must be the only game where (chapter 1 into chapter 2 spoilers)
saving an elf from a fire and then sleeping with her opens up a shortcut.
 

JoeBoy101

Member
I thought the PC Gamer Review was fair and his posts valid. The issue is not the Witcher 2 review, its the atrocious DA 2 review. Even him saying 'mid 80's' if he did shows me he's grasping a bit because that game is fairly an 80, 82-83 at VERY best. I know Joe Gamer is going to only go by scores, but that's they're own fault. I respect his position, because PC Gamer already lost the respect from me it was going to for that DA 2 review. If they want it back, they need to revisit that score (which they won't).

As to the game, I'm fully a kb/m re-convert now. Better control than with the gamepad which felt just too loose.

Deep into quests in Flotsam right now and am adoring the game. Seriously good.
 
wilflare said:
wait. you mean that Neutral/Triss Save?
the one that says (bunch of numbers) Order of the Flaming Rose?

I wanted to try Order/Triss but the game did not recognize the save

Yeah, the "000194 - Order of the Flaming Rose" one.

Maybe we should get a warning in the OP about that save...has this happened with any of the other saves?

As for me, looks like I'll be banging 25 wenches to get rid of my excess cash. STDs, here I come!
 
Beginning chapter of the game is terrible. Jesus. Combat consists of pecking at guards, running/rolling away, peck again, etc.. I get hit when I'm clearly out of range, it feels slow, clunky, and unresponsive. The dragon sequences were awful, especially the part where it's breathing fire on you. I was outside of the monestary and one of the "cinematic" finishers showed me inside the building. I think they're stupid as hell, much preferred the simple ingame animation.
 
Confidence Man said:
Beginning chapter of the game is terrible. Jesus. Combat consists of pecking at guards, running/rolling away, peck again, etc.. I get hit when I'm clearly out of range, it feels slow, clunky, and unresponsive. The dragon sequences were awful, especially the part where it's breathing fire on you. I was outside of the monestary and one of the "cinematic" finishers showed me inside the building. I think they're stupid as hell, much preferred the simple ingame animation.

Are you using your signs and traps?
 

JoeBoy101

Member
Confidence Man said:
Beginning chapter of the game is terrible. Jesus. Combat consists of pecking at guards, running/rolling away, peck again, etc.. I get hit when I'm clearly out of range, it feels slow, clunky, and unresponsive. The dragon sequences were awful, especially the part where it's breathing fire on you. I was outside of the monestary and one of the "cinematic" finishers showed me inside the building. I think they're stupid as hell, much preferred the simple ingame animation.

If you're not, use the Quen(?) sign. It will allow you to take a couple of hits without damage and the hits won't interrupt your own actions. Very handy. Keep guys to your sides and front. When getting hit at the back, you take double damage. Finally, use potions! Swallow is handy in this regard and I think you do start with a couple.
 

Nezabyte

Neo Member
Damn, this game is so good I'm playing it on hard so it can last a lot longer than usual. I don't want it to ever end! And it's extremely satisfying beating things up when there's the risk of dying in 2-3 hits.
 
I would ask the man how many rpg games with sword play and magic there are that have better combat than this. In my opinion, its combat would even beat a lot of straight up action games. Demon's souls is the only game I can think of that has comparable quality, and its not as deep or as visually pleasing.
 

Vlodril

Member
Need help with a quest. Chapter 2 towards the end for those that want to remain unspoiled. although not much of a spoiler just to be safe.

the kingslayer's hideout. its says to go there but the door is locked. It also said the assasin should have the key but i dont get a prompt to get anything from him. Any ideas? i am stuck.
 
Lafiel said:
Go downstairs in the inn!

Praise be to the Goddess!

edit:
Anyone else find that woman hanging out in the town center, extremely sad?
--Reminds me of how the female vampires lying down on the cold crypt floors in the first game struck me as sad.
 

Van Buren

Member
JoeBoy101 said:
PC Gamer already lost the respect from me it was going to for that DA 2 review. If they want it back, they need to revisit that score (which they won't).

You mean to say that Dragon Age 2 is not the "Rpg with the best combat" on a platform that has turn-based gems like Temple of Elemental Evil and Knights of the Chalice, etc and encounter rich games like Baldur's Gate 2 ?

Do you mean to say that Dragon Age 2's "best storytelling ever" is not better than the likes of Grimm Fandango and a little-known game called Planescape Torment ?

PS:
Reviews for Western RPGs are unreliable (read worthless) since the reviewer could be a die-hard infinity engine fan, or a fan of Oblivion (*boggles the mind*) or even a fan of the Goldbox RPGs, and the reviewer's preference is rarely made clear. Word of mouth and player impressions from forums is a much better metric. Going by reviews alone, one wouldn't know that Mass Effect 2 lacked a main story, and that Oblivion had one of the worst underlying rpg mechanics ever devised.
 

Salaadin

Member
Act 1 medallion quest question:

I have some Medallion that a witch believes to be Meliteles Heart and she gave me a recipe I need to gather ingredients for. Can all of these be obtained in Act 1 or is it one of those long branching quests? Some of them items she needs, I have no idea how to get. Trolls tongue? The only trolls I know of are the actual troll and then his wifes head. Im assuming I need to get the head from that guy to get the tongue.
I also need a fetus from one of those scorpion things. All Ive found so far are embryos.
 

matmanx1

Member
Just beat the big bad monster in Chapter 1 and although it took several reloads it really was a cool fight when all was said and done.

I am liking now how the story is tieing some stuff back into the first game and finally mentioning Yennefer. It's about time!

And yeah, my Troll quest is officially bugged. I've registered my game, downloaded and installed the DLC. The notice board outside the Inn had a blurb about registration for an additional quest but not the quest itself and nothing got added to my quest log so I guess I just missed that one. Maybe I can get it on the second play through.
 

JoeBoy101

Member
Van Buren said:
You mean to say that Dragon Age 2 is not the "Rpg with the best combat" on a platform that has turn-based gems like Temple of Elemental Evil and Knights of the Chalice, etc and encounter rich games like Baldur's Gate 2 ?

Do you mean to say that Dragon Age 2's "best storytelling ever" is not better than the likes of Grimm Fandango and a little-known game called Planescape Torment ?

PS:
Reviews for Western RPGs are unreliable (read worthless) since the reviewer could be a die-hard infinity engine fan, or a fan of Oblivion (*boggles the mind*) or even a fan of the Goldbox RPGs, and the reviewer's preference is rarely made clear. Word of mouth and player impressions from forums is a much better metric. Going by reviews alone, one wouldn't know that Mass Effect 2 lacked a main story, and that Oblivion had one of the worst underlying rpg mechanics ever devised.

I don't usually go by reviews. I only trust GAF usually.

Also, I still play Mass Effect 2 a ton and love it. Oblivion, I don't any longer, but put in 300 hours or so into it, and wrote a couple of house mods.

I only mention the review because its getting talked about. I usually have a good idea of the game and how it will be before I get it based on developer and word of mouth. Only recent time I digressed was, well, DA2 because I was weak and like the first one alot. Lo', how I badly miscalculated that one.*

* DA2 does have some redeeming features and good points, they just got buried under a mountain of shit.
 
Just starting Chapter 2, and it continues to jaw-drop at a rate I haven't seen since Half-Life 2, GTAIV or Red Dead Redemption.

It's incredibly frustrating and occasionally baffling, but it's just so polished, its narrative delivered with such confidence and conviction, that I can't stop thinking about it.
 

Riposte

Member
I am not there yet, so I should probably reserve judgment, but I really doubt the ending is so bad as to degrade what came before. And likely anything you could say of The Witcher 2's final act you can probably say for DA2's final act. Did anyone even like that? It was all about the 2nd part from what I hear.

EDIT: Jeez, even I am making comparisons to DA2 now. Really shouldn't. But I guess this is a "storyline" based complaint so it deals with any game.
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Wes said:
Just completed it. Very entertaining game and the story is so rich with depth. It's not without it's issues as the game reaches it's conclusion but was still a good gaming experience. No doubt there's replay value but I don't think I'll be doing it anytime soon.


Also, this must be the only game where (chapter 1 into chapter 2 spoilers)
saving an elf from a fire and then sleeping with her opens up a shortcut.

What the hell? How are people already finishing the game? Don't you guys have lives?
 

Salaadin

Member
thetrin said:
What the hell? How are people already finishing the game? Don't you guys have lives?

I wish theyd post their play times.
Does this game keep track of playtime anywhere that I havent see yet?
 

Minsc

Gold Member
Salaadin said:
I wish theyd post their play times.
Does this game keep track of playtime anywhere that I havent see yet?

Tacitus_ said 25 hours. So it seems that it'd be possible that if you wanted to speedrun it on easy, and knew what to do, you could probably do it in 10 hours or so skipping everything you could (all dialog, quests, and movies).
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Salaadin said:
I wish theyd post their play times.
Does this game keep track of playtime anywhere that I havent see yet?
I started playing on day 1, and I'm still in Chapter 1. I don't really get more than 2-3 hours a day on a weekday to play, and I'm a completionist, so I've been doing all the side quests as well.

I'm pretty sure I'll get to Chapter 2 today (just have a couple story quests to tie up). It's just surprising me that people are ALREADY done. Don't you guys have work? School? A work out schedule? Girlfriends? All that shit limits my time (well, except schoo), and I figured it limits everyone else's.

Minsc said:
Tacitus_ said 25 hours. So it seems that it'd be possible that if you wanted to rush through it on easy, and knew what to do, you could probably do it in 10 hours or so skipping everything you could (all dialog, quests, and movies).
Yeah, but what's the point?
 

Sanic

Member
For someone who, so far, isn't really feeling the Witcher 1, would it be worth it to plough through it so as to enjoy the Witcher 2 more? Or would I be safe just jumping into TW2?
 

Archie

Second-rate Anihawk
I've played for ~10 hours and I just (Act I spoiler)
killed the Kayran
. I've been taking my sweet time and exploring every nook and cranny.

Minsc said:
Tacitus_ said 25 hours. So it seems that it'd be possible that if you wanted to rush through it on easy, you could probably do it in 10 hours or so skipping everything you could (all dialog, quests, and movies).

Well that seems pointless.
 
Corky said:
I'd like to pull the old " who cares what scores the game gets " but I'm neither naive nor stupid. I realize fully well that good publicity/reviews will shed more light on the game and subsequently increase the exposure/sales.

But I will say this :

It's one of the best games I've played in a long time and it transcends scores. Not saying it's perfect, but if we wanna compare apples to apples then tw2 is about a trillion times better than all the new games that are getting 85+ avg on metacritic.

I just can't express how much this game has captivated me... I can't wait to play it tonight after work... I haven't even felt that way (or to be honest thought it was something I'd grown out of in a way) in over two years.. Loving it.
 

Salaadin

Member
Minsc said:
Tacitus_ said 25 hours. So it seems that it'd be possible that if you wanted to speedrun it on easy, and knew what to do, you could probably do it in 10 hours or so skipping everything you could (all dialog, quests, and movies).

I thought I was further in than I am but it looks like Im only 8 hours or so. Feels like Ive been playing forever.
Looking at my side quests, Ill probably be near 15 hours by the end of Act 1.
 

1stStrike

Banned
Those having issues registering through the client... I managed to register, but it indeed does not show any of the text you're typing. When you type it does go into the box, but it doesn't display.

I got up to the CD Key screen but can't get past it as it's saying I'm putting in an invalid key. I can't even tell if anything I'm typing is actually going into the box, however, and I've carefully typed out my key about 5 times... bah.

Pretty annoying that they have the game as polished as it is, but simple shit like registering your copy of the game is a fucking nightmare. It took me several tries just to activate my game because SecuRom kept saying it wasn't a valid key (I entered the same key each time and then it magically took it on the 6th or 7th try...).

Annoying shit.
 

Coldsnap

Member
I was thinking about the difficulty on the drive to school today. Considering bumping it down to Easy. Hear me out; On normal everything seems just as powerful or equity strong as you. Because of this your character has to resort to guerrilla like warfare, setting traps, dodging in battle to do small damage then rolling out, using spells at a distance. This type of battle is completely contrary to how the story explains what a Witcher is like, some of the first dialogue in the game states a Witcher is just as good as a army of men. The battle system has been compared to Demon Souls in a way, but with Demon Souls it works because the whole game was suppressive....

Don't get me wrong, this game is awesome. I'm just thinking about bumping it down to Easy and slicing dudes in half.
 
Riposte said:
I am not there yet, so I should probably reserve judgment, but I really doubt the ending is so bad as to degrade what came before. And likely anything you could say of The Witcher 2's final act you can probably say for DA2's final act. Did anyone even like that? It was all about the 2nd part from what I hear.

EDIT: Jeez, even I am making comparisons to DA2 now. Really shouldn't. But I guess this is a "storyline" based complaint so it deals with any game.

It's true, though. I actually liked Dragon Age 2, but nobody can reallyl defend that last hour where characters make ridiculious decisions and stupid crap happens just so you have big bosses to fight. It totally undermines what came before.

I doubt it is even possible that Witcher 2's ending is that bad.
 

Van Buren

Member
Pandoracell said:
For someone who, so far, isn't really feeling the Witcher 1, would it be worth it to plough through it so as to enjoy the Witcher 2 more? Or would I be safe just jumping into TW2?

If you are in Chapters 1 or 2 in the Witcher, the narrative will soon pick up and become engrossing towards the second-half of the game. In your position, I'd continue on, because you might want to devour anything that is witcher-related after playing the second game, and the combat system in the first might be even harder to get into after playing the second.

At a certain point, things are liable to fall in place and click.
 

Wes

venison crêpe
Salaadin said:
I wish theyd post their play times.
Does this game keep track of playtime anywhere that I havent see yet?

I can't say exactly. Somewhere between 25-30 hours I would guess. From what I can tell I missed at least 3 side quests (
1 I read about in the game guide I didn't pick up in Chapter 1, 2 I think I closed myself out of through selecting incorrect dialog options)
) but I doubt many more in the whole game. I spent a couple of hours farming for no reason too.

There were many opportunities to do things in a "quick" fashion so I can see that time being a lot shorter for others too.
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
In that way, Witcher 2 seems to pick up almost instantly. The story is so incredibly tight and engrossing from the word go. They've really done an awesome job.
 

Tacitus_

Member
Salaadin said:
I thought I was further in than I am but it looks like Im only 8 hours or so. Feels like Ive been playing forever.
Looking at my side quests, Ill probably be near 15 hours by the end of Act 1.

Act 1 and 2 are fucking huge though. Granted, I didn't explore act 3 properly but it was extremely fast to... what's the phrase, critical something quest through. Something like 3-4 quests for the main story :/

Coldsnap said:
I was thinking about the difficulty on the drive to school today. Considering bumping it down to Easy. Hear me out; On normal everything seems just as powerful or equity strong as you. Because of this your character has to resort to guerrilla like warfare, setting traps, dodging in battle to do small damage then rolling out, using spells at a distance. This type of battle is completely contrary to how the story explains what a Witcher is like, some of the first dialogue in the game states a Witcher is just as good as a army of men. The battle system has been compared to Demon Souls in a way, but with Demon Souls it works because the whole game was suppressive....

Don't get me wrong, this game is awesome. I'm just thinking about bumping it down to Easy and slicing dudes in half.

It gets better when you have something like 30+ armor value and swords that do ~30 damage per swing and have effects on them. Add potions and bombs and I tore through most of the enemies. Act 1 is just horrid witcher-feel-wise
 

Van Buren

Member
Tacitus_ said:
Act 1 and 2 are fucking huge though. Granted, I didn't explore act 3 properly but it was extremely fast to... what's the phrase, critical something quest through. Something like 3-4 quests for the main story :/

Is Act 2 as big as Act 1 ? I'm still in Act 1 -haven't killed that squid yet - and I've played for just a shade under 20 hours. It's on hard, so I'm taking my time to explore every nook and cranny to discover items/recipes to better my chances. That, and the artistic direction is gorgeous and demands constant ogling.
 

Wes

venison crêpe
Tacitus_ said:
Act 1 and 2 are fucking huge though. Granted, I didn't explore act 3 properly but it was extremely fast to... what's the phrase, critical something quest through. Something like 3-4 quests for the main story :/

Regarding Act 3:
I didn't get arrested and went exploring, got the best items, crafted them etc. I think you could start Act 3, get arrested, do all the prison stuff and get to the epilogue in 60-90 minutes quite easily. There's hardly anything to do following the main quest line.
 

Carm

Member
I have a question about the troll quest:
Can you use the stuffed troll head for anything besides just giving it to the troll? The armor schematic is kinda meh, not the raven schematic
 

Tacitus_

Member
Wes said:
Regarding Act 3:
I didn't get arrested and went exploring, got the best items, crafted them etc. I think you could start Act 3, get arrested, do all the prison stuff and get to the epilogue in 60-90 minutes quite easily. There's hardly anything to do following the main quest line.

What did you do to
get arrested? I just strolled through after my special ops buddy, went to see the king, got the brat out and finished the 'meeting'

Van Buren said:
Is Act 2 as big as Act 1 ? I'm still in Act 1 -haven't killed that squid yet - and I've played for just a shade under 20 hours. It's on hard, so I'm taking my time to explore every nook and cranny to discover items/recipes to better my chances. That, and the artistic direction is gorgeous and demands constant ogling.

About same or bigger, but there's a big nasty divide that you can't travel before doing a lot of the quests. There's loads of to do before you get through it though and loads after.
 

Van Buren

Member
Carm said:
I have a question about the troll quest:
Can you use the stuffed troll head for anything besides just giving it to the troll? The armor schematic is kinda meh, not the raven schematic

Can supposedly be used for the troll tongue needed in a quest, but I cannot get the head anymore since I finished the dice poker series of quests.
 
I don't fault the PC Gamer reviewer in this case and even respect him for sticking to his guns with this score (I'm sure the DA:2 comparisons had to be in the back of his mind)as he had valid criticisms (his opinion of combat and the 3rd act). But I admit the inner fanboy in me wants this game to sell as well as it possibly can. I'm really hoping that this dissatisfaction with the 3rd act is a setup for an eventual meaty expansion.

This is a bit off topic but I feel as though publications should address score discrepancies better. If you're going to say that a 94% in one game of the same genre does not mean it's better than an 89% in the same genre b/c reviewers are different, then you should put authors more front and center instead of advertising it as though it came from one singular voice.
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Tacitus_ said:
It gets better when you have something like 30+ armor value and swords that do ~30 damage per swing and have effects on them. Add potions and bombs and I tore through most of the enemies. Act 1 is just horrid witcher-feel-wise
I actually was on easy for most of Act 1, and I bumped it up back to normal. Loaded it up with my new silver swords, and I'm already finding I'm ripping things up at a good clip. The start of the game has a really steeeep difficulty curve.
 
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