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[thetrin]

Even the streaming tech seems a little off/slow. Although if doors, lack of fast travel and non hand holding are his main concerns/negatives then the game is doing pretty well.

Doors I can agree with, although I can't care enough to make it a large complaint. the targeting system in general needs work, both in combat and out of. If you're trying to loot a chest and theres an npc next to it's sometime a little tricky to move geralt in a position where you target one and not the other. Then in combat when you're targeting nekkers for example there's always one that gets inbetween and when you go to attack you're too far away from the targeted one, but since you're not targeting the close one even though the distance is perfect you don't do damage.

These kind of issues are why I'd rather they make an expansion that works on these issues than go straight to TW3.

Targeting needs serious work. Especially in Chapter 2 (Iorveth) when you're

Spoiler

defending Vergen's walls,

it's easy to get stuck on a dude you're not targeting.

 

[Exuro]

Also, despite liking the lack of hand holding I wouldn't had minded a better tutorial for magic. I think midway through chapter 1 I actually used yyrden and the tutorial tooltip popped up. An optional tutorial fight explaining your magic would had been nice, especially for those new to the series.

 

[Darklord]

Everyone's favourite fat person, Jim Sterling, has decided to bestow a mighty 6/10 to this game ...


http://www.destructoid.com/review-the-witcher-2-assassins-of-kings-201752.phtml

The first thing you'll notice with The Witcher 2 is that its combat is utterly ridiculous. Roleplaying games always risk sporting an imbalanced fighting system that sees a game get easier as the player levels up, but nowhere has this problem been more prevalent than here. Geralt of Rivia, the titular Witcher, starts off pathetically weak and unable to properly defend himself,

Translation: I CAN'T PRESS XXXXXX,YYYY,XXXXX,YYY,XXX AND WIN. TOO HARD.

However, enemies are so keen on bum-rushing the player, surrounding him, and striking from the back that all strategy flies out of the window once melee actually begins.

Translation: What? You were meant to dodge the attacks? BUT WHAT ABOUT SPAMMING X?

From simple things like arm wrestling to more important thing like finding an unmarked objective on the map, the game is dreadful at providing player feedback.

Translation: How I play gamez? i want to press x and fast travel to everything! >:'(

No seriously, he couldn't figure arm wrestling out? It's brain dead simple. And he can't...you know, explore rather than "GO HERE"? It's not hard.

and stick with the dry, uninspiring narrative,

Translation: Not enough boom boom bang bang! why they explain stuff? more boom!

I don't think I'd have completed this title, or even bothered playing for more than hour, i

Translation: It was too hard so I hate it and wanted to quit playing.

he auto-targeting system is dreadful, with Geralt constantly switching opponents halfway through attacks and diving into a group of enemies to attack a monster, while ignoring the three that were far closer.

Translation: I had no idea the game has a lock-on system.

The voice acting ranges from hilarious to embarrassing, though.

What? I can't even translate that one. The game has some brilliant voice acting.


Back to CoD, boys!

 

[Easy_D]

It would be nice if they added mousewheel support for the targeting, scrolling between enemies, would work better than what we have now.

Though I'd like it if you could turn targeting off entirely, it's frustrating when you accidentally target a guy/monster behind the one you were going for and miss just because of the wonky targeting system. Granted, lock on does solve that issue and I am dumb.

 

[Riposte]

Jim has a history of showing he cannot play games well. If you can't understand them, then you can't write about them properly. He also doesn't seem to be a solid criteria worth paying attention to. Just ignore it. If that is not enough for you, at least Destructoid is pretty insignificant.


EDIT:

It would be nice if they added mousewheel support for the targeting, scrolling between enemies, would work better than what we have now.

Though I'd like it if you could turn targeting off entirely, it's frustrating when you accidentally target a guy/monster behind the one you were going for and miss just because of the wonky targeting system. Granted, lock on does solve that issue and I am dumb.

Targeting system might be the biggest failing of the combat. It is made more brutal by the fact you have to unlock "group" damage and back-attacks doing x2 damage. Sometimes it would really back-fire on me, e.g.: three enemies approaching me, one in back and two in front. I try to attack the left one, get middle instead and then get destroyed in seconds by two back attacks.

 

[mileS]

love how he says the games quests only amount to "kill these" or "collect this".

 

[Archie]

The thing that offends me the most about that review is the complaint about quests not having a giant yellow exclamation point. I really like wandering around and getting quests from NPCs, even if I do miss something. The

Spoiler

Baltimore treasure hunt

in Chapter 2 was awesome because there was no marker and I actually had to think about where to go instead of running to my destination like a zombie.

 

[Salaadin]

Why do we dislike Jim Sterling? I literally know nothing about him.
Name is kinda familiar though...is he the heavy bathtub wineglass guy I saw in some gaf thread a few months ago?

Im trying to remember how many times I had an issue with the doors in this game. I can think of one or two times in Act 1 where you have to follow someone but thats it. Its mostly been a non issue. I guess its a legit complaint though.

Whats the tradeoff there though? I know nothing about programming but I always assumed it was done this way as a "fake" load screen so we can have our gorgeous streaming world without being pulled away to stare at a load bar.

The idea of fast travel is ridiculous. I cant even come up with a reason for it in TW2.

The prompts for climbing/looting is valid. That can be annoying.

He also seems to be oversimplifying the side quests by calling them "kill these" or "collect this". I dont get that repetition vibe at all and find myself more interested in TW2 side quests than I usually am in other games. Theres a lot of interesting stuff that goes on and happens in them.

As far as story complaints go, not his thing I guess. I love it but cant fault him for not being into it.

EDIT: Ok, so he is the bathrub wineglass guy XD

 

[VisanidethDM]

I hate Sterling as much as everyone else, but he has a fair share of points on combat.
The design is amateurish, the implementation sketchy at best, and the talent system and general level up structure is very interesting but absolutely unbalanced and uninteresting from a gameplay quality perspective.
It's never a good sign when a game get easier and arguabily worse as you level up.

6/10 is absolutely ridicolous, and his comments on narrative are laughable, but on combat he's close to the truth. TW2 is a 6/10 game wrapped into 11/10 production values.

 

[GhostRidah]

Any idea why these harpy's wont take my harpy traps?

 

[Brandon F]

I normally disagree with Jim Sterling(props for him giving DW7 a proper look though), but his review seemed to have a lot of validity to it. Especially combat balancing complaints. As someone that wants a constant progressive challenge from an RPG, it severely dissapoints me that the game turns into 'God' mode in the latter half.

I am still finishing up W1, but a similar problem exists there. Combat has become tedious, rote, and stupidly easy in the midgame, even on Hard mode. I love other aspects of Witcher 1, but the actual 'playing' is severely busted. The Alchemy system no long matters(a real crutch to the entire game design!), equipment and other such features...rendered pointless. Anything related to development is just completely ambivalent. A shame, as I chose the 'challenging' difficulty.

 

[Snuggles]

Why do we dislike Jim Sterling? I literally know nothing about him.
Name is kinda familiar though...is he the heavy bathtub wineglass guy I saw in some gaf thread a few months ago?

He's just not very well liked in the gaming community because most of his articles are meant to be provocative above all else. But not provocative in a way that makes you think, but provocative in a way that makes people go crazy in the comments section. I haven't read this particular review but typically, he seems to be more interested in being inflammitory than insightful.

The reactions to his 'pieces' are usually funny, though.

 

[EternalGamer]

Translation: I CAN'T PRESS XXXXXX,YYYY,XXXXX,YYY,XXX AND WIN. TOO HARD.


Translation: What? You were meant to dodge the attacks? BUT WHAT ABOUT SPAMMING X?

Translation: How I play gamez? i want to press x and fast travel to everything! >:'(

No seriously, he couldn't figure arm wrestling out? It's brain dead simple. And he can't...you know, explore rather than "GO HERE"? It's not hard.

Translation: Not enough boom boom bang bang! why they explain stuff? more boom!

Translation: It was too hard so I hate it and wanted to quit playing.

Translation: I had no idea the game has a lock-on system.

What? I can't even translate that one. The game has some brilliant voice acting.

Back to CoD, boys!

I seriously think that dude must play games stoned. The combat and the quest systems are not that hard to wrap your head around. They do require a little effort and concentration and they aren't dumbed down to the point of always just being "go where shiny arrow points you," which is what he seems to want.

I am tired of RPGs that become mundane "follow the arrow and smash "x" until you turn quest and repeat. There are so many great quest lines in this game that don't even involve fighting or fetching items. And the reward from fighting enemies comes in researching them and preparing for the encounters.

Witcher 2 so much more immersive than the breadcrumb trail we have been conditioned to enjoy in most RPGs as of late.

 

[thetrin]

Any idea why these harpy's wont take my harpy traps?

I had this problem.

Spoiler

Once you destroy the first 4 in the quarry, you need to go into the door at the end of the quarry for the last three. You won't be able to get there until you get a story quest that gets you the key to that door. Keep it aside for now and come back to it.

 

[Exuro]

Looks like he really didn't comment on the decisions and choices you make which are arguable the best part about the game. He just mentions theres different stuff for multiple playthroughs. This game seriously needs to be played twice. I'm enjoying my second playthrough more than my first.

 

[EternalGamer]

I normally disagree with Jim Sterling(props for him giving DW7 a proper look though), but his review seemed to have a lot of validity to it. Especially combat balancing complaints. As someone that wants a constant progressive challenge from an RPG, it severely dissapoints me that the game turns into 'God' mode in the latter half.

I am still finishing up W1, but a similar problem exists there. Combat has become tedious, rote, and stupidly easy in the midgame, even on Hard mode. I love other aspects of Witcher 1, but the actual 'playing' is severely busted. The Alchemy system no long matters(a real crutch to the entire game design!), equipment and other such features...rendered pointless. Anything related to development is just completely ambivalent. A shame, as I chose the 'challenging' difficulty.

You really shouldn't assume he is correct about Witcher 2 just because you played Witcher 1. You are right about Witcher 1 become very easy, but they are not the same game at all. The combat system is radically different; it is not the same at all. It does, however, demand that you pay attention, dodge, use bombs and magic and not just rely on sword combos.

It does get easier later on, but that is partially because you learned how to play. Even late in the game if you just ran into a horde of enemies without buffing your character or using any magic, you will die.

 

[Raelson]

Does combat really get that easy later? I really like this game because of the challange and I fear that I might lose interest if it gets too easy...

 

[Exuro]

Does combat really get that easy later? I really like this game because of the challange and I fear that I might lose interest if it gets too easy...

Yes unfortunately. I'm playing on hard and it's refreshing getting one shot by the endrega queens. Later on you can almost play it like a hack n slash.

 

[mileS]

Looks like he really didn't comment on the decisions and choices you make which are arguable the best part about the game. He just mentions theres different stuff for multiple playthroughs. This game seriously needs to be played twice. I'm enjoying my second playthrough more than my first.

This is the type of shit I hate. Instead of talking about something like this he decides to waste time bitching about a lack of fast travel in a game that isn't built to have it.

 

[EternalGamer]

Targeting system might be the biggest failing of the combat. It is made more brutal by the fact you have to unlock "group" damage and back-attacks doing x2 damage. Sometimes it would really back-fire on me, e.g.: three enemies approaching me, one in back and two in front. I try to attack the left one, get middle instead and then get destroyed in seconds by two back attacks.

That's a fair complaint, but there are in game solutions to avoid that. I always stun one enemy or trap them first. Usually I don't even take a group head on unless I can put some distance between them. I'll use bombs or stalk them one by one, like Batman.

I like that the focus is more on positioning and strategy rather than lock on combos. I mean, how many games like that do we need? If the lock on and combo system was a lot more efficient, you wouldn't have to use nearly as much strategy as you do.

 

[Keikoku]

Where do I find the

Spoiler

Assassin's King hideout

during act II (

Spoiler

Roche's path

)

 

[thetrin]

That's a fair complaint, but there are in game solutions to avoid that. I always stun one enemy or trap them first. Usually I don't even take a group head on unless I can put some distance between them. I'll use bombs or stalk them one by one, like Batman.

I like that the focus is more on positioning and strategy rather than lock on combos. I mean, how many games like that do we need? If the lock on and combo system was a lot more efficient, you wouldn't have to use nearly as much strategy as you do.

I use Axii like a mad man. Also, once you get the area effect Igni, it's just too much fun to blow everyone up with it.

love how he says the games quests only amount to "kill these" or "collect this".

He must not have done....well, most of them.

 

[Van Buren]

Does combat really get that easy later? I really like this game because of the challange and I fear that I might lose interest if it gets too easy...

When I played it on Hard, I could still be killed in a couple of seconds if I was sloppy. As one gets used to the combat and develops various tactics for the foes, it becomes more manageable, but there were fights during the last quarter of the game that required careful positioning if one did not just want to cheese them using an overpowered weapon.

There was one optional boss who took me over 2 hours to kill. It was glorious with me going back to drawing board every few minutes to try something new.

 

[RustyNails]

Jim Sterling's reviews are always very whimsical. He's trying to carve a niche for himself like Yahtzee but sometimes it seems like he is just screaming for attention.

 

[Deadly]

What the shit? Were you playing on hard or something? On normal, I didn't die once in Chapter 2 or 3. What encounter did you find to be difficult?

Nah man those gargoyles kept plowing me. And the battle vs the Operator I even lowered it to easy and it was still freakin hard. Maybe I was just abit tired and wanted to finish the game so I wasn't really thinking. Or my weapons were underpowered? I didn't buy anything because I assumed we'd get something better like in the other acts. The only new thing I got was the Draug Armor. I bought the diagram for Zegfdsfg-something (silver sword) but I didn't even have enough silver ore to craft it. Worst is I'm a freakin loot-whore and I basically looted everything and still didn't have enough. I never really needed it so I never bought it from previous merchants either. I went through Act 2 EASILY too, that wasn't hard at all...

 

[Deleted member 17706]

I hate Sterling as much as everyone else, but he has a fair share of points on combat.
The design is amateurish, the implementation sketchy at best, and the talent system and general level up structure is very interesting but absolutely unbalanced and uninteresting from a gameplay quality perspective.
It's never a good sign when a game get easier and arguabily worse as you level up.

6/10 is absolutely ridicolous, and his comments on narrative are laughable, but on combat he's close to the truth. TW2 is a 6/10 game wrapped into 11/10 production values.

I agree that the combat is the weakest part of the game, but it's still an improvement over the last game, I think. The main problem for me was that the sword attacks just weren't consistent. You never knew what kind of swing Geralt would choose when you clicked the button, and that makes from very frustrating combat on occasion. There were moments where I genuinely enjoyed the combat, but most of the battles against human opponents were really quite annoying. If they tightened it up and gave Geralt some consistent attack moves, I think it could be a great system, though.

 

[Enemy Of Fate]

Reposting this for an answer from someone please!!

So I just finished chapter 1 and was wondering if someone could tell me

Spoiler

who was the person Geralt told Roche to give the baby to? I'd never come across him in my game, or even heard his name mentioned!

 

[thetrin]

Nah man those gargoyles kept plowing me. And the battle vs the Operator I even lowered it to easy and it was still freakin hard. Maybe I was just abit tired and wanted to finish the game so I wasn't really thinking. Or my weapons were underpowered? I didn't buy anything because I assumed we'd get something better like in the other acts. The only new thing I got was the Draug Armor. I bought the diagram for Zegfdsfg-something (silver sword) but I didn't even have enough silver ore to craft it. Worst is I'm a freakin loot-whore and I basically looted everything and still didn't have enough. I never really needed it so I never bought it from previous merchants either. I went through Act 2 EASILY too, that wasn't hard at all...

Huh. I found the gargoyles really easy (mostly because I abuse Quen III)

 

[Salaadin]

I kinda wish that magic and blocking didnt come from the same vigor bar. I wouldve greatly preferred a separate MP bar for signs.

 

[thetrin]

I kinda wish that magic and blocking didnt come from the same vigor bar. I wouldve greatly preferred a separate MP bar for signs.

Yeah, it makes combat pretty damn hairy early on.

 

[Snuggles]

I don't even block anymore. It's not worth wasting the vigor and it's pretty much useless when you're facing multiple enemies.

Alls I really need is evade, traps and signs to stay safe.

 

[Lostconfused]

I don't even block anymore. It's not worth wasting the vigor and it's pretty much useless when you're facing multiple enemies.

It depends on the way you play. Because block will block every single attack without any risk. Depending on the skills you picked.

 

[Exuro]

If you have riposte though you can one shot shield wearers at times. Guess it all depends on what you spec.

I'm finding Quen to be pretty much overpowered.If you go combat and pick up Quen upgrades you can rip through everyone. They really need to balance the game out more. It becomes too easy later on.

Yeah. You can use the points to get more vigor but then you lose out on other helpful stuff like hitting multiple enemies with one swing (an ability that should be unlocked from the start if you ask me).

Completely agree with this. Make it so it barely hurts other, like 10% damage, but that would fix/mask a lot of problems with the target system.

 

[Salaadin]

Yeah, it makes combat pretty damn hairy early on.

Yeah. You can use the points to get more vigor but then you lose out on other helpful stuff like hitting multiple enemies with one swing (an ability that should be unlocked from the start if you ask me).

I don't even block anymore. It's not worth wasting the vigor and it's pretty much useless when you're facing multiple enemies.

Alls I really need is evade, traps and signs to stay safe.

one on one, I always block. I also tend to fight the larger mini bosses like Engreda Queens face to face with blocking.

 

[zlatko]

He's just not very well liked in the gaming community because most of his articles are meant to be provocative above all else. But not provocative in a way that makes you think, but provocative in a way that makes people go crazy in the comments section. I haven't read this particular review but typically, he seems to be more interested in being inflammitory than insightful.

The reactions to his 'pieces' are usually funny, though.

His way to fame is simple, "Make up bull shit and extremely crazy statements for hits."

He's a waste of fucking space and life on the planet. Everything he does is just for hits and the sad thing is he'll keep striving within the industry because of nutters who give him fucking attention even if it's just to flame him. Him and guys like HipHopGamer are turds within journalism that need to be flushed the fuck away.

The review he wrote is more sad than wearing a t-shirt to cover up your tits in a tub...oh wait.

 

[Deadly]

Huh. I found the gargoyles really easy (mostly because I abuse Quen III)

I only put points in the swordsman tree. You had to go through some signs I never used to get to the good ones so I didn't bother putting any points there.

Reposting this for an answer from someone please!!

So I just finished chapter 1 and was wondering if someone could tell me

Spoiler

who was the person Geralt told Roche to give the baby to? I'd never come across him in my game, or even heard his name mentioned!

Spoiler

When you first meet Cedric, he's talking to a guy who says his wife (Maril) disappeared in the forest. That's him, I forgot his name sorry :lol

 

[Corky]

Ya'll know what I'd kill for ?

Small, regularly released, DLCs that each has 1 big monster for you to hunt down and kill. It felt amazing doing the final part of the endraga quest, laying out traps, hiding in the thick forest. Preparing bombs and making potions, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The feeling of "hunting" was incredible.

Maybe some crazy manticore is wrecking havoc in that open field at night, ch2. Or there's a Nekker Lord coming to fuck you up for messing with all them little nekkers.

Do it.

 

[Durante]

one on one, I always block. I also tend to fight the larger mini bosses like Engreda Queens face to face with blocking.

I used to always block against single stronger enemies, but Yrden is usually a much better investment. It allows you to get multiple strong hits in.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Blocking is mostly useless. Generally a successful parry will cause the enemy to stagger back so far that Geralt's follow up attack won't actually reach the enemy before they recover. Sure you prevented most of the damage of the attack, but you also spent precious vigor and didn't really gain anything unless you got lucky and Geralt decided to do one of those far advancing sword swings when you pressed the attack button.

Also, did anyone ever successfully perform a counter attack? I put two points into that talent as soon as I got it, but I blocked at least fifty times after that and never got a prompt for it. Is the timing just really, really strict?

 

[Salaadin]

Also, did anyone ever successfully perform a counter attack? I put two points into that talent as soon as I got it, but I blocked at least fifty times after that and never got a prompt for it. Is the timing just really, really strict?

To counter, youll see the icon on an enemy turn into a sword. Its a half second and gone. I watch for it now and see it but have still been unsuccessful at countering.

 

[Exuro]

Also, did anyone ever successfully perform a counter attack? I put two points into that talent as soon as I got it, but I blocked at least fifty times after that and never got a prompt for it. Is the timing just really, really strict?

I've done it plenty of times but sometimes I've noticed that the icon doesn't appear.

 

[thetrin]

To counter, youll see the icon on an enemy turn into a sword. Its a half second and gone. I watch for it now and see it but have still been unsuccessful at countering.

Can you not counter if you have Quen on? I've noticed Quen tends to reflect damage back at enemies before I can counter. I assume Quen needs to be off in order to riposte.

 

[Salaadin]

Can you not counter if you have Quen on? I've noticed Quen tends to reflect damage back at enemies before I can counter. I assume Quen needs to be off in order to riposte.

You cant even block when Quen is up since they hit Quen before you. If Quen is up, dont try countering or blocking. Quen always wins.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Cool, I guess I'll give blocking and riposting another try on my Hard playthrough.

 

[JWong]

Everyone's favourite fat person, Jim Sterling, has decided to bestow a mighty 6/10 to this game ...

http://www.destructoid.com/review-the-witcher-2-assassins-of-kings-201752.phtml

Exactly what I'm afraid of. Stupid reviewers writing about games they don't know shit about.

Dropped a point on the metacritic.

 

[zlatko]

Ya'll know what I'd kill for ?

Small, regularly released, DLCs that each has 1 big monster for you to hunt down and kill. It felt amazing doing the final part of the endraga quest, laying out traps, hiding in the thick forest. Preparing bombs and making potions, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. The feeling of "hunting" was incredible.

Maybe some crazy manticore is wrecking havoc in that open field at night, ch2. Or there's a Nekker Lord coming to fuck you up for messing with all them little nekkers.

Do it.

I'm actually confused how DLC will work in this game in the future. Considering the ending I suppose they could technically have DLC content at any place already in the game you visited and I hope that it is done this way, because if it's just quests for the certain acts that I'd only get to enjoy with yet another replay to get to the act that has the quest, then I don't think I would be motivated enough to do them. 2-3 play through's is my limit on big RPGs like this.

 

[Riposte]

Exactly what I'm afraid of. Stupid reviewers writing about games they don't know shit about.

Dropped a point on the metacritic.

Metacritic itself is invalid before of people like Jim Sterling. That is why rottentomatoes system is better, because it only tells you how many people like something not how good it is. (Also every 4/5 is a 80/100, when it really means something like a 85-90/100 after conversion.)

 

[Salaadin]

I'm actually confused how DLC will work in this game in the future. Considering the ending I suppose they could technically have DLC content at any place already in the game you visited and I hope that it is done this way, because if it's just quests for the certain acts that I'd only get to enjoy with yet another replay to get to the act that has the quest, then I don't think I would be motivated enough to do them. 2-3 play through's is my limit on big RPGs like this.

I wonder how theyll do it too. Its Act based so any DLC confined to a certain act would mean that the player has to be in that Act to do it. We already saw this with Troll Trouble. It doesnt feel like its designed for DLC after beating the game.

 

[Ikuu]

They could just do them like they did in the first game and just have different adventures.

 

[zlatko]

Exactly what I'm afraid of. Stupid reviewers writing about games they don't know shit about.

Dropped a point on the metacritic.

http://wiredcontroller.com/reviews/the-witcher-2-assassins-of-kings-review/2

Don't worry. Some people are giving the game its proper dues.