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

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Couldn't resist the Steam deal and plunked my cash on this bad boy. I was actually going to buy Deus Ex: HR instead of this one, but damn, I love me some Witcher.
 

mileS

Member
Not really a fan of the new hair cuts. Well.. I like maybe 1 or 2 of them but I think the default is still the best. Cool option to have anyway.

The new gear from all the DLC probably makes the game a lot more easy early on. That + the changes they mentioned about the prologue. The stats are extremely good on the mage pants and the herb gloves almost seem overpowered.
 
mileS said:
Not really a fan of the new hair cuts. Well.. I like maybe 1 or 2 of them but I think the default is still the best. Cool option to have anyway.

The new gear from all the DLC probably makes the game a lot more easy early on. That + the changes they mentioned about the prologue. The stats are extremely good on the mage pants and the herb gloves almost seem overpowered.

Are the pre-order items DLC or included with the patch? Do I have the option of not installing them if I wish?
 

mileS

Member
Inferno313 said:
Are the pre-order items DLC or included with the patch? Do I have the option of not installing them if I wish?

Everything including the collectors edition suit are in the patch. No option to pick except if you don't want to use them in game you don't have to. Everyones weight limit is going to go up with the gear and all the oils they give you.
 

Exuro

Member
mileS said:
Everything including the collectors edition suit are in the patch. No option to pick except if you don't want to use them you don't have to in game. Everyones weight limit is going to go up with the gear and all the oils they give you.
So they just appear in your inventory? If so that's lame, would rather there be a merchant who sells them.
 

Darklord

Banned
Just finished the game. Somehow Geralt caught on fire in the cut-scene and I died during the credits. wtf?

Aside from that, great ending. I don't get why people hated it. Tons of games set sequels up like that. It's like Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. It ended the assassin business, and set up the premise for the next game and it seemed like a lot of consequences for your actions in chapter 3 as well.
 

Byblos

Neo Member
I've almost finished it and I have really enjoyed it.

One of the main things i want from an RPG is a sense of discovery. While it's never as open as a Bethesda RPG the world is still fantastically detailed and a joy to explore. I never played the first game but I've found the story interesting throughout, best of all the dialogue has been worth listening to from beginning to end which I haven't experienced every often.

I really appreciate the way the game split off early on, in a weird way it made me be much more decisive throughout than I normally am in open ended games (in other games I'll save before major decisions and then re-load to see all the possible outcomes). This meant the consequences of the big decisions felt much more meaningful for me.

The only real sore point would be the animation, specifically character movement, which isn't as fluid as it could be and that in turn affects the combat IMO, it felt a bit too jerky.

Some of the interface stuff wasn't that great either, for instance I found the map pretty disappointing as I love games that not only map out your local and near-local environments but give you a sense of your place in the world. I would have been nice if it had connected together better.
 
Foiled by Best Buy again. I got a $50 BB gift card in the mail today for switching to Direct TV. Went down there with the intention of buying the shit out this, but they were sold out of the retail version. I knew I should have gotten this first instead of LA Noire. I had it in my hands in the store about two weeks ago. I'll try again Saturday at the BB by my folks' place. If not I'll just order it online.
 
Byblos said:
One of the main things i want from an RPG is a sense of discovery. While it's never as open as a Bethesda RPG the world is still fantastically detailed and a joy to explore. I never played the first game but I've found the story interesting throughout, best of all the dialogue has been worth listening to from beginning to end which I haven't experienced every often.

Bethesda Exploration: "Wow more raiders and subway tunnels. Yay."
CDProject Red Exploration: "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen crafted within a game world."
 

Solo

Member
jim-jam bongs said:
Bethesda Exploration: "Wow more raiders and subway tunnels. Yay."
CDProject Red Exploration: "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen crafted within a game world."

Exactly.

Smaller, hand-crafted world >>>> large, barren world with copy and paste/pre-fab dungeons
 

gotee12

Member
Exuro said:
This is pissing me off. Would like to know why it's taking this long for Steam to get the patch.


Stop posting this crap. Patch 1.1 released the same exact time as retail and GoG patches.
I'm trying to wait for the patch before I start the game. Though I may not be able stave off my desire to play if it's not out by Monday!
 

mileS

Member
Exuro said:
So they just appear in your inventory? If so that's lame, would rather there be a merchant who sells them.

Yup. I'm not sure where the mysterious merchant DLC guy is for any of the chapters, but I heard he only sells gear and weapons that you would get normally from story or side quests. That right there is kind of lame if you ask me but w/e
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
dionysus said:
Just finished act II, what an amazing chapter. I hope act 3 is just as good!

Chapter 3 and the Epilogue are the culmination of your decisions up to this point and are the ending of the game. Don't expect a similar length to chapters 1 and 2.
 

Darklord

Banned
jim-jam bongs said:
Bethesda Exploration: "Wow more raiders and subway tunnels. Yay."
CDProject Red Exploration: "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen crafted within a game world."

I like how after The witcher 2 came out both Bioware and Bethesda are now shit. Bethesda has some of the best exploration in any game, ever. The Witcher 2 has nearly none. It's just a really, really nice area you can run around. You aren't exploring anything really.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
Darklord said:
I like how after The witcher 2 came out both Bioware and Bethesda are now shit. Bethesda has some of the best exploration in any game, ever. The Witcher 2 has nearly none. It's just a really, really nice area you can run around. You aren't exploring anything really.

The Witcher 2 is definitely light on the exploration elements compared to a Bethesda game. The visual fidelity of the hidden bits in The Witcher 2 may be superior, but the sheer volume in any Elder Scrolls or Fallout 3 game can't be beat.

The mere fact that, after the initial tutorial, you can set out and do whatever the hell you please in a massive world, and have it still be a very fun experience, makes the Bethesda games unique and special.
 
Darklord said:
I like how after The witcher 2 came out both Bioware and Bethesda are now shit. Bethesda has some of the best exploration in any game, ever. The Witcher 2 has nearly none. It's just a really, really nice area you can run around. You aren't exploring anything really.

I gotta disagree with this. I can't rationalize the disagreement, so I'll just use Chapter 2 as the best example.
Sigh, I've explored this whole area now, did most of the quests...what's that, I gotta cross the Mist? HOLY CRAP this new area is huge and way more interesting that that stupid camp! And there was some cool stuff surrounding the camp, too, like the cave that runs under it, the house on the cliff, ect.
 

Solo

Member
Darklord said:
Bethesda has some of the best exploration in any game, ever. The Witcher 2 has nearly none. It's just a really, really nice area you can run around. You aren't exploring anything really.

I dunno, I personally don't find walking around barren locales and pre fabricated dungeons and looting armor and weapons that every Tom, Dick and Harry already have to be very exciting.
 
I don't know how you couldn't find exploration amazing in Witcher 2. Sure the area is smaller but combing every inch yields you interesting things. I mean just walking around town and you hear interesting banter between townsfolk.
 
Zefah said:
The Witcher 2 is definitely light on the exploration elements compared to a Bethesda game. The visual fidelity of the hidden bits in The Witcher 2 may be superior, but the sheer volume in any Elder Scrolls or Fallout 3 game can't be beat.

The mere fact that, after the initial tutorial, you can set out and do whatever the hell you please in a massive world, and have it still be a very fun experience, makes the Bethesda games unique and special.
Definitly. Don't disrespect Bethesda my good people, their games might be glitchy or bug ridden, but they are top of the line. Bethesda will debut its new improved engine, that was one of the weak points of its recent games. SkyRim is the only game that might pull the rug out of The Witcha feet.

The wait to play Witcher 2 was long, hard and painful so we should be happy we get another great RPG to close the year and Mass Effect 3 at the beggining of the next one.
 

Van Buren

Member
Darklord said:
I like how after The witcher 2 came out both Bioware and Bethesda are now shit. Bethesda has some of the best exploration in any game, ever. The Witcher 2 has nearly none. It's just a really, really nice area you can run around. You aren't exploring anything really.

It doesn't take Witcher 2 to see that recent Bethesda games can be shallow experiences without the aid of gigabytes of mods; they're great frameworks for user-created content though. Piranha Bytes games, with their mesh of huge hand-crafted worlds and a persistent sense of danger, are much more satisfying open-world experiences to me.

Regarding Bioware, they've been sticking to the same formula since Baldur's Gate, with a few cinematic additions, and the flaws are beginning to appear since their games no longer have the expansive content of the BG games to cover the inherent drawbacks in their game and story design.
 
Darklord said:
I like how after The witcher 2 came out both Bioware and Bethesda are now shit. Bethesda has some of the best exploration in any game, ever. The Witcher 2 has nearly none. It's just a really, really nice area you can run around. You aren't exploring anything really.

BioWare did that themselves with Dragon Age 2. And Bethesda became shit after New Vegas came out, weren't you paying attention?

Seriously though, I've had a similar discussion regarding the differences between exploration in New Vegas and Fallout 3, both of which I love but I prefer New Vegas. Exploration in Fallout 3 and Oblivion is very broad, in that there are a lot of places to go, but very shallow in that the places re-use a lot of assets and usually don't contain much of a pay-off for finding them beyond perhaps an interesting static set-piece.

On the flip-side, in New Vegas and The Witcher 2, the approach to exploration is different in that there are a lot more side locations with some meaty depth and uniqueness to them; Vault 11 is one of the most interesting experiences you can have in New Vegas, and you might very well miss it the first time you play depending on choices you make; and the whole forest around Flotsam is full of hand-crafted areas you could miss easily if you didn't take the time to check it all out.

I still enjoy Bethesda games, particularly Fallout 3 which I even made a thread here about playing with mods and have clocked many hundreds of hours playing and enjoying. I'm just saying that they take a different approach to exploration which is to make the world as vast as possible. The Witcher 2 is less concerned with raw dimensions and more concerned with the density of the areas in the game.
 

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
dp sorry got too excited.

How About No said:
I gotta disagree with this. I can't rationalize the disagreement, so I'll just use Chapter 2 as the best example.
Sigh, I've explored this whole area now, did most of the quests...what's that, I gotta cross the Mist? HOLY CRAP this new area is huge and way more interesting that that stupid camp! And there was some cool stuff surrounding the camp, too, like the cave that runs under it, the house on the cliff, ect.

That's the issue with Roche's path. It's boring scenery-wise. If you went with Iorveth it's much much better for exploration.

I'm in the camp who loved New Vegas more than Fallout 3, exploration meant something in New Vegas ! you actually see new stuff and meet weird people lol.

Whoever leave exploration to Fallout and Oblivion, I want The Witcher to be just the way it is right nowt, Geralt's story.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
this game....


Chapter II, Roche's path is simply fantastic. The ending is fucking cathartic. Characters are so round and well-written. It's totally different. There are
two visits
in Vergen but they're brief. Also I personally liked the plot better.

And then I thought that Chapter III won't be totally different, but again it's SO different. I couldn't explore the city properly because I was constantly aware of guards, some areas were closed and there was a great sense of urgency. Not this time. a totally different beginning and I guess the chapter overall.

I had dreams that some developer will do something like this someday but I could never guess that it will be The Witcher 2. Damn.

Also I really dig their enemy behaviour design. I HATED golems. My personal way of dealing with them being an alchemist is to spam them with knives. And then I encountered a golem which couldn't be avoided + I had no daggers and bombs.

DAMN. At first I hated whoever designed this encounter. I was trying to beat this mother fucker for about an hour and then when I was ready to give up I decided to read a description in Character section. I read it and decided to try another totally different tactic based on this description. I killed this bitch on my second try. It was really easy and fun. And so satisfying. I felt like I was in a school again reading tips on beating monsters in some game mag.

So every monster in this game has a weak spot. If you suck that's your problem. I guess those who can't cope with difficulty need just stop spamming usual tactics and think a bit. That's very unusual these days.
 

Van Buren

Member
Yurt said:
dp sorry got too excited.



That's the issue with Roche's path. It's boring scenery-wise. If you went with Iorveth it's much much better for exploration.

I was absolutely floored on seeing the tents in Roche's camp under moonlight. Probably the most jawdropping visuals in the entire game.
 

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
Van Buren said:
I was absolutely floored on seeing the tents in Roche's camp under moonlight. Probably the most jawdropping visuals in the entire game.

Yeah it had a gritty feel to it huh, I loved it too.

You have bloom on right ? It makes a huge difference and I'm one of the few who prefer having it on.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Van Buren said:
I was absolutely floored on seeing the tents in Roche's camp under moonlight. Probably the most jawdropping visuals in the entire game.

I was absolutely floored seeing
Henselt's
tents in the sunset. Also the fields around the fortress, vistas on the shore looked so expansive.
 

Van Buren

Member
Yurt said:
Yeah it had a gritty feel to it huh, I loved it too.

You have bloom on right ? It makes a huge difference and I'm one of the few who prefer having it on.
I only turn bloom off for the Kayran fight. Regarding the tents, looking at them from the place where the soldiers gather around at night leads to visuals that seem even more pretty than the elven baths from Chapter 1.
 
D

Deleted member 17706

Unconfirmed Member
subversus said:
this game....


Chapter II, Roche's path is simply fantastic. The ending is fucking cathartic. Characters are so round and well-written. It's totally different. There are
two visits
in Vergen but they're brief. Also I personally liked the plot better.

And then I thought that Chapter III won't be totally different, but again it's SO different. I couldn't explore the city properly because I was constantly aware of guards, some areas were closed and there was a great sense of urgency. Not this time. a totally different beginning and I guess the chapter overall.

I had dreams that some developer will do something like this someday but I could never guess that it will be The Witcher 2. Damn.

Also I really dig their enemy behaviour design. I HATED golems. My personal way of dealing with them being an alchemist is to spam them with knives. And then I encountered a golem which couldn't be avoided + I had no daggers and bombs.

DAMN. At first I hated whoever designed this encounter. I was trying to beat this mother fucker for about an hour and then when I was ready to give up I decided to read a description in Character section. I read it and decided to try another totally different tactic based on this description. I killed this bitch on my second try. It was really easy and fun. And so satisfying. I felt like I was in a school again reading tips on beating monsters in some game mag.

So every monster in this game has a weak spot. If you suck that's your problem. I guess those who can't cope with difficulty need just stop spamming usual tactics and think a bit. That's very unusual these days.

Yeah, I just finished my second game and went with Roche, and was very impressed with how different even Chapter 3 was. The whole thing felt quite a bit different when you weren't treated like some fugitive.

On my third playthrough I think I'll do the Iorveth path again, but choose to help out
Philippa Eilhart
at the end.

Yurt said:
Yeah it had a gritty feel to it huh, I loved it too.

You have bloom on right ? It makes a huge difference and I'm one of the few who prefer having it on.

I think the lighting looks a lot better with it off, but you do lose the intensity of the sun shafts, which look amazing.
 

WEGGLES

Member
Zefah said:
Chapter 3 and the Epilogue are the culmination of your decisions up to this point and are the ending of the game. Don't expect a similar length to chapters 1 and 2.
Oh phew. I blazed through chapter 3, and was kind-of worried I missed a bunch. (probably did)
 

Bebpo

Banned
I'm thinking about picking this up on steam because of the sale (still playing the first one). I just want to double check with steam owners here. I read the polish language dlc came out a few days after the game was released. Does it work with the steam version (aka, has anyone tried playing it in polish on the steam version w/english subs)?
 

Van Buren

Member
subversus said:
how? I had to bump it down to normal.

The 200% dodge talent proved invaluable there. Wasn't an easy fight by any means since he can effectively kill Geralt in seconds on Hard. The key was to attack his back with strong attacks after he lunges and (hopefully) misses you. 6-8 attacks and he is dead, but you need to play defensively until you see an opening.

Varna said:
First try. Easy with the trap spell.

Interesting. I thought he was immune to Yrden since the two times I tried using the spell, he laughed at my face.
 

Varna

Member
Van Buren said:
Interesting. I thought he was immune to Yrden since the two times I tried using the spell, he laughed at my face.

I don't think any enemy has straight up immunity to anything.

I also didn't see any of the arrows. Other shit flying around I dodge pretty easily. Pretty much just trapped him, few power attacks from behind and repeat.

I did have a sword build mostly... A few levels for signs and I had max vigor.
 
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