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

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Van Buren

Member
Just finished the game (Roche's path), and forget GOTY, it is the best damn WRPG I've played in years, and a contender for the best 3d WRPG ever.

Contrary to certain impressions, I loved the plot focus and exposition that occurs in Chapters 3 and the Epilogue. Here is where being familiar with the Witcher universe became an advantage - so many plot threads that carry over from the first game and books are laid bare, and the game ends wonderfully, with promises of a lengthy series of games.

I absolutely loved the choices in the Epilogue, and the justification for them. Bring on Witcher 3 and Nilfgaard. Meanwhile, a playthrough experiencing the other way for the story to play out beckons.
 
I just got around to installing the game tonight, and I'm trying to input the Mysterious Merchant Pack DLC code, but I don't see the "Code Redemption" tab on the launcher. D:

Edit: I found it after I typed it. IGNORE ME!
 
epmode said:
I agree with 95% of this but I like being able to play dress up every once in a while and carrying around all of those weapons and armor is HEAVY. This is why we have storage chests!

Agreed... what the FUCK were they thinking not putting a storage chest in the game... that is the most crazy stupid oversight I've ever seen... what the hell? Or was it deliberate? Deliberately stupid... Are they patching that in?

When is this patch due? I can't move on from Chapter 1 until they patch it because I have to do Troll Trouble before I move on but I have nothing else to do in the game.... spose I could play LA Noire until they patch it but FUCK I want to play Witcher, it's so much more enjoyable :(
 

Tokubetsu

Member
Van Buren said:
Just finished the game (Roche's path), and forget GOTY, it is the best damn WRPG I've played in years, and a contender for the best 3d WRPG ever.

Contrary to certain impressions, I loved the plot focus and exposition that occurs in Chapters 3 and the Epilogue. Here is where being familiar with the Witcher universe became an advantage - so many plot threads that carry over from the first game and books are laid bare, and the game ends wonderfully, with promises of a lengthy series of games.

I absolutely loved the choices in the Epilogue, and the justification for them. Bring on Witcher 3 and Nilfgaard. Meanwhile, a playthrough experiencing the other way for the story to play out beckons.

Told you bro. Still hoping they go the Couple of Expansions and THEN Witcher 3 route though. Love this engine and want more sooner rather than later.
 

Stahsky

A passionate embrace, a beautiful memory lingers.
ColonialRaptor said:
Agreed... what the FUCK were they thinking not putting a storage chest in the game... that is the most crazy stupid oversight I've ever seen... what the hell? Or was it deliberate? Deliberately stupid... Are they patching that in?

When is this patch due? I can't move on from Chapter 1 until they patch it because I have to do Troll Trouble before I move on but I have nothing else to do in the game.... spose I could play LA Noire until they patch it but FUCK I want to play Witcher, it's so much more enjoyable :(


I think you people just love overreacting over petty issues. Make many of each potion you use (around 10, lets say) save specifically for certain crafted gear, sell the rest. You get far too many items than you actually need. Sell them and stop trying to fit 80 pounds of Iron Ore in your pockets.

I do this and I can run around with 180 out of 300 in my inventory and not miss a thing. Makes it easy to restock on mats as I venture around and sort through them when I'm at a hub again later.
 

Complistic

Member
ColonialRaptor said:
When is this patch due? I can't move on from Chapter 1 until they patch it because I have to do Troll Trouble before I move on but I have nothing else to do in the game.... spose I could play LA Noire until they patch it but FUCK I want to play Witcher, it's so much more enjoyable :(

Honestly it bugged me at first but once i stopped looting absolutely everything and carrying around huge surpluses of crafting materials I found that It wasn't that much of a problem. Yes there absolutely should be storage chests, but you can easily work around it. When you do plan on crafting something big just take a trip around town and gather the stuff you need.
 

Stahsky

A passionate embrace, a beautiful memory lingers.
Van Buren said:
Just finished the game (Roche's path), and forget GOTY, it is the best damn WRPG I've played in years, and a contender for the best 3d WRPG ever.

Contrary to certain impressions, I loved the plot focus and exposition that occurs in Chapters 3 and the Epilogue. Here is where being familiar with the Witcher universe became an advantage - so many plot threads that carry over from the first game and books are laid bare, and the game ends wonderfully, with promises of a lengthy series of games.

I absolutely loved the choices in the Epilogue, and the justification for them. Bring on Witcher 3 and Nilfgaard. Meanwhile, a playthrough experiencing the other way for the story to play out beckons.


Have you read the books? Which ones? I'm really tempted to pick them up.
 

epmode

Member
Complistic said:
once i stopped looting absolutely everything and carrying around huge surpluses of crafting materials
HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE. Saying nothing of how you can't selectively loot treasure boxes with a controller, I simply cannot allow myself to leave an area with glowing shit unplundered*. I must be defective.



*those few bugged, unlootable chests cause me physical pain!
 

Van Buren

Member
JWong said:
Elaborate? 8)

I've been meaning to read the books, but I don't want them to spoil the game for me. XD

The power struggle between the rulers and mages, the lodge of sorceresses and the Wild Hunt - all elements from the second game - feature prominently if you are aching for more Witcher. As does Yennefer. You can actually read the books without fear of spoilers for the game. If anything, it will lead to the game making an even better impression since you know which events characters and the journal are referring to.

Tokubetsu said:
Told you bro. Still hoping they go the Couple of Expansions and THEN Witcher 3 route though. Love this engine and want more sooner rather than later.

I want more Witcher too, but the second game actually ended in a great manner considering it was meant to showcase the various organizations vying for power. So I wouldn't mind if they went straight to Witcher 3 to move the conflict forward. If the expansions are meant to move the conflict forward, I'd love that too - I just don't want a stagnant expansion that saves the plot developments for the sequel.
 
I'd imagine this has already been brought up, but I noted that the game took an autosave right on the credits so I'd imagine choices will likely carry over to a larger degree than they did from 1 to 2. Though I guess this is no surprise given some the choices you have to make.

I'll admit I was a little disappointed that seemingly little carried across from the first. However, I did read somewhere that it's inclusion was a late design decision and CDPR wanted The Witcher 2 to be relatively self-contained, so I guess it comes as no surprise.

Anyway count me among the 'Best RPG in recent years' crowd. Loved it from start to finish. Hopefully we don't have to wait several years till we get the next chapter.
 
Alextended said:
A nice comparison, this isn't.

Sure it is. There is always a 'point of no return' in combat where you are screwed. When I get myself surrounded and know that I'm screwed, I don't think "I need a QTE," I die. Why shouldn't that same risk be there in dialogue trees as well?

Just like when you are exploring, the risk of death should also keep you on your toes during conversations. You are annoyed that the game gives you freedom and, unlike a plethora of other RPGs, doesn't start playing soft ball when it comes to conversation.
 

epmode

Member
Tain said:
Has CDProjekt talked about a level editor for this at all?
http://pcformat.techradar.com/blog-entry/witcher-2s-senior-producer-talks-pc-format-17-05-11

PC Format: Do you have anything planned for modding tools or DLC?
Tomasz Gop: Nothing particular, but the we'd like to do it and probably will. Because, with the Witcher 1, we were writing the engine throughout the whole process of producing the game, and it's the same with the Witcher 2, so the engine's not ready to be published yet. But after the release of the Witcher 1, we needed to take some time to polish the editor itself for modders...and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be the case this time round too.
If we do DLC- conditional sentence- I can promise that it will be a whole adventure, a brand new story. There are chapters in The Witcher 2 in between which some time passes, that might be a good idea for DLC. It's doable, definitely.
 

Riposte

Member
The battle music in Witcher was pretty lame. Not so in this game. It is alright. Best tracks are the background songs though. Really cool there are morning / night songs for towns. The night song for Vergen reminds me of Assassin's Creed 2.
 

Van Buren

Member
A question for those who picked Roche in Chapter 2 :
Did anyone manage to defeat Geralt during the necromancy sequence ? I was utterly destroyed on hard.
 

Exuro

Member
epmode said:
There are chapters in The Witcher 2 in between which some time passes, that might be a good idea for DLC.
takemymoney.jpg I'd love for this to happen. Replaying the game right now and I'm enjoying it even more than before. Definitely my favorite wrpg ever.


Van Buren said:
A question for those who picked Roche in Chapter 2 :
Did anyone manage to defeat Geralt during the necromancy sequence ? I was utterly destroyed on hard.
I got caught during the last part of that. :/ Didn't know you could get that far. Pretty cool. Wonder if you can win.
 

JWong

Banned
Van Buren said:
A question for those who picked Roche in Chapter 2 :
Did anyone manage to defeat Geralt during the necromancy sequence ? I was utterly destroyed on hard.
Played the game on easy.
It just fades out. Completely destroying Geralt cuz easy is dumb.
 
Van Buren said:
A question for those who picked Roche in Chapter 2 :
Did anyone manage to defeat Geralt during the necromancy sequence ? I was utterly destroyed on hard.
lol, I didn't even try. I let it go exactly how it happened:
Geralt cutting him down within 2 seconds :p
 
Just finished the game following Iorveth's path. Man, the Witcher universe fascinates me and I can't really put my finger on it. Maybe it has something to do with its grim and raw look at humanity, but I just love learning whatever I can about Geralt. I really hope this isn't the end...

This was one of the best gaming experiences, and I'll be starting up my Roche path tomorrow, very excited.
 

Animator

Member
Van Buren said:
Just finished the game (Roche's path), and forget GOTY, it is the best damn WRPG I've played in years, and a contender for the best 3d WRPG ever.

Contrary to certain impressions, I loved the plot focus and exposition that occurs in Chapters 3 and the Epilogue. Here is where being familiar with the Witcher universe became an advantage - so many plot threads that carry over from the first game and books are laid bare, and the game ends wonderfully, with promises of a lengthy series of games.

I absolutely loved the choices in the Epilogue, and the justification for them. Bring on Witcher 3 and Nilfgaard. Meanwhile, a playthrough experiencing the other way for the story to play out beckons.


You are going to shit your pants from happiness when you go iorveths path because it is way better than roches path.
 

Exuro

Member
BruceLeeRoy said:
Getting this game tomorrow and just had a quick question.
I can download and run this fine off of Steam right? No DRM issues?
Yes. Steam just uses Steam DRM. No issues with performance like retail and other non GoG DDs.
 
jim-jam bongs said:
Well that makes sense, yeah, I just wish that Geralt could have mentioned that he had actually faced The King of the Hunt at some stage during all of the discussions about them during the game. Like when he talks to Letho would have made total sense -- "hey you know how we tracked them down? I totally killed their boss in some guy's dream".

We are getting on story here, but this is explained:
Geralt mentions to someone, that the King of the Hunt he killed was a wraith, but he remembers killing the Huntsmen who had blood just like regular people. My guess is the King of the Hunt in W1 is simply a leading wraith, and can be easily replaced
.
 

Zeliard

Member
ColonialRaptor said:
I got one last night that makes crafting items 0.1 each. I think that's a better trade off rather than making EVERYTHING 0. I think there should still be some form of inventory management but having unlimited inventory is cheating. I just don't think crafting / alchemy items should be limited. I should be limited in the number of weapons / bombs / potions / armour etc that I can carry, but not stuff that I can use to craft things, so I thought that was a better trade off.

As a hoarder in RPGs, I can sympathize with you guys about the weight limit.

Things you have to consider though is that messing with the weight limit too much breaks the alchemy and crafting portions of the game. Those aspects are heavily balanced by the fact that you can only realistically carry so many items at a time, which of course includes alchemy/crafting items, the area where a lot of people end up getting their excess weight from.

If you use some mod that makes everything 0, or even another that makes just alchemy/crafting 0, you're basically messing with the balance there. You can just start gathering up to x99 of everything without concern for being overburdened and then make any number of potions, bombs, traps, etc that you want, as well as potentially make a lot more money by either selling the ingredients themselves or whatever you craft with them. I think that breaks the difficulty to some degree.

As someone who's focusing mostly on alchemy I've found the weight limit to be a nice check against that aspect possibly becoming overpowered. It both limits the amount of ingredients I can carry as well as the amount of bombs and traps I can hoard.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
holy shit I just saw a group of like 20 nekkers

do I fight or flee

Mhm.

I feel like I've spent a lot of time on this game, but I'm still on chapter 2. One of the remarkable things about this game is how fleshed out all of the quests are, even the smaller quests are high quality. It's gonna be hard to go back to other modern wrpg's after this.

^^^ Also, I have awesome gear and plenty of items to use, but I'm like 80lb under the limit. You just gotta sell, craft and make potions actively, as long as you keep up it's not a big deal. I can see why people want to hang on to their armor sets, but aside from that I don't see the need for extra storage.
 

Varna

Member
beastmode said:
Are the Witcher games canon? Like, do the novels take place in an alternate universe or is this one of those multimedia IPs?

Games take place after the novels I believe. I don't know how cannon they are. They do references a lot from the novels. Not to mention most of the lore being lifted from the novels.
 

markot

Banned
This really has nothing to do with anything.....

But why did they go with Atari as publisher again? (For retail and some dd)
 
markot said:
This really has nothing to do with anything.....

But why did they go with Atari as publisher again? (For retail and some dd)

I like to believe it's to let me feel cool, by knowing that I own an Atari game.
 

markot

Banned
scorpscarx said:
I like to believe it's to let me feel cool by knowing that I own an Atari game.
>_<

You been asleep for a decade or so? Atari is the worst pub this side of.... Themselves even!
 
Varna said:
Games take place after the novels I believe. I don't know how cannon they are. They do references a lot from the novels. Not to mention most of the lore being lifted from the novels.

I think Sapkowski doesn't mind pushing the Witcher forward, he certainly is not involved in Witcher anymore - after the series he wrote another successful one - Narrenturm.
 

Zeliard

Member
Snuggler said:
holy shit I just saw a group of like 20 nekkers

do I fight or flee

Mhm.

I feel like I've spent a lot of time on this game, but I'm still on chapter 2. One of the remarkable things about this game is how fleshed out all of the quests are, even the smaller quests are high quality. It's gonna be hard to go back to other modern wrpg's after this.

Dude I'm still on Chapter 1. But I finished everything I think. The Malena one was a bitch as far as finding her.

There's only one (well, two) Chapter 1 quest left and without a doubt it's the one that leads me to Chapter 2. Presumably Mystic River goes on into Chapter 2 as well.
 

Deadly

Member
Snuggler said:
holy shit I just saw a group of like 20 nekkers

do I fight or flee
Do you have whirl? If so fight and watch them all die in one hit :lol Assuming you're strong enough to one hit them.
 
markot said:
Any tips for fighting
the queen bee insect thingy that materialises after you mess up her eggs?, she pwnt me


Dodge, use all your abilities, study her, avoid her charge.

Hit her until she blocks, then aard her.
 

Zeliard

Member
Snuggler said:
^^^ Also, I have awesome gear and plenty of items to use, but I'm like 80lb under the limit. You just gotta sell, craft and make potions actively, as long as you keep up it's not a big deal. I can see why people want to hang on to their armor sets, but aside from that I don't see the need for extra storage.

Honestly, I don't. :p

Yeah some of them look cool, but after you've walked around a bit in them does it really matter? The difference with Witcher and many other RPGs is there aren't any level requirements for weapons or armor, so anything you find that's better than what you have, you should equip. Unless you just don't care about the stats.

I'm wearing Hunter's Armor and I think it looks dope, but as soon as I get better armor in Chapter 2, shit's getting sold.
 
I just got to Chapter 2 after 23 hours played, I'm taking my sweet time with this game and I think I'm going to hold off for more until that patch we're supposed to get next week.

I know they said that optimizations weren't part of it, but heres hoping.
 

Tokubetsu

Member
Van Buren said:
The power struggle between the rulers and mages, the lodge of sorceresses and the Wild Hunt - all elements from the second game - feature prominently if you are aching for more Witcher. As does Yennefer. You can actually read the books without fear of spoilers for the game. If anything, it will lead to the game making an even better impression since you know which events characters and the journal are referring to.



I want more Witcher too, but the second game actually ended in a great manner considering it was meant to showcase the various organizations vying for power. So I wouldn't mind if they went straight to Witcher 3 to move the conflict forward. If the expansions are meant to move the conflict forward, I'd love that too - I just don't want a stagnant expansion that does saves the plot developments for the sequel.

Yea, definitely. Maybe make the expansion about
the journey to nilfgaard?
 
Tokubetsu said:
Yea, definitely. Maybe make the expansion about
the journey to nilfgaard?

I think we can assume this will be in Witcher 3. Given they did their own engine, and how great it looks, I think we can expect W3 in two-years time.
 

Zeliard

Member
They can probably pump out Witcher 3 more quickly now since they've built their engine. Presumably a significant part of Witcher 2's 3-4 year or so development was focused on that.

Edit: Castor your mind-reading edit isn't cool.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
I just finished my first run through the game on Normal. What an amazing experience, only hampered by a flawed and inconsistent combat system and a bit of jankiness here and there. Otherwise, the game was simply incredible. Definitely my game of the year as of yet, but there's still plenty to come.

I don't know what some of you were on about when talking about how Chapter 3 and the Epilogue fell apart. I completely and utterly disagree. Sure, Chapter 3 was short, but story-wise, I absolutely loved the events that unfolded in it and in the Epilogue. You learn a ton of awesome stuff, tie up some loose ends, and have a perfect set up for the next game (and likely conclusion of this trilogy?).

I went in expecting disappointment, but I thought the final act was excellent.
 

Van Buren

Member
A lingering question from Chapter 2:
Geralt mentions to Roche that Ves was lying when she claimed Dethmold let her go after the Blue Stripes were massacred. Is there any more to this plot development ? I chose Triss, so I might have missed the conclusion.

Zefah said:
I went in expecting disappointment, but I thought the final act was excellent.
Epilogue spolier :
I agree - Geralt and Letho sharing drinks together while telling each other of the Wild hunt and other matters was great. As was the final resolution where there was no cause for them to fight each other.
 

Riposte

Member
Zefah said:
inconsistent combat system and a bit of jankiness here and there.

How so?


I can't believe it is so hard to find a working Witcher 2 save which sides with Order. Looks like I am really going to have to go download Witcher 1 again and complete the save in the OP lol...


EDIT: I really want a BERSERK game done in practically the same style. Maybe covering Lost Children arc to Reunion on the Hill of Swords chapter. Flashbacks of the Golden Age. RPG elements which allow you to change the story a little. Witcher 2, with a slower attacks with wider range(and dashes instead of rolls), is basically exactly what I want out of an adaptation.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Riposte said:
How so?


I can't believe it is so hard to find a working Witcher 2 save which sides with Order. Looks like I am really going to have to go download Witcher 1 again and complete the save in the OP lol...

The combat system? There is no consistency in Geralt's attacks. You have quick and heavy, but you never actually know what kind of attack Geralt will unleash. You don't know how far he will move forward and you don't know exactly how long it will take to swing. That's what was great about Demon's Souls' combat and what made it great: your weapon swings were consistent and you could learn exactly when best to use them. In The Witcher 2, especially against human opponents, you mostly just have to hope for the best. For example, you can parry guys, but you never know if Geralt's follow up swing will actually carry the appropriate amount of distance to land a blow. It gets frustrating. Sometimes the system works and you can deftly dispatch foes, but it's more or less out of your control.
 

Snuggles

erotic butter maelstrom
So I just had an interesting glitch. I was fiddling around in some catacombs and apparently Geralt's ponytail got stuck on something and stretched out infinitely. It went all the way to the Inn in Vergen.

wtfponytailvm3x.jpg


wtfponytail2dku5.jpg



pretty awesome, but thankfully it went away after a reload
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Van Buren said:
A lingering question from Chapter 2:
Geralt mentions to Roche that Ves was lying when she claimed Dethmold let her go after the Blue Stripes were massacred. Is there any more to this plot development ? I chose Triss, so I might have missed the conclusion.


Epilogue spolier :
I agree - Geralt and Letho sharing drinks together while telling each other of the Wild hunt and other matters was great. As was the final resolution where there was no cause for them to fight each other.

The epilogue was great, I thought. It really answered a lot of questions while setting the scene for the next chapter in this awesome story.

What I did:
I fought and killed Letho. I figured I owed that much to Roche after promising him I'd get the Kingslayer multiple times throughout the story
.
 
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