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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings |OT| Plough 'Em All
- Thread starter Snuggles
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Well, completed this game last night and I was completely blown away.
Absolutely brilliant game in every sense, combat, story, voice acting, graphics, customisation, looting and ploughing. Where did the guys that made this come from? I would put this game on par with Demon's Souls, possibly even say I enjoyed it more but that's unnecessary.
Already planning a second play through for Roche's side, but wondering if it's worth me playing the first game first? (Which I should have done anyway).
Also, Triss is a BABE.
Absolutely brilliant game in every sense, combat, story, voice acting, graphics, customisation, looting and ploughing. Where did the guys that made this come from? I would put this game on par with Demon's Souls, possibly even say I enjoyed it more but that's unnecessary.
Already planning a second play through for Roche's side, but wondering if it's worth me playing the first game first? (Which I should have done anyway).
Also, Triss is a BABE.
Namco Bandai files suit over Witcher 2's european publishing
CDPR's reponse? "hope you enjoy paying for our lawyers "
CDPR's reponse? "hope you enjoy paying for our lawyers "
Gvaz said:Namco Bandai files suit over Witcher 2's european publishing
CDPR's reponse? "hope you enjoy paying for our lawyers "
yeah, we had a thread about that.
Probably been said 1000 times but the Kayran fight is so awful,I hope the others are better...too many uncontrollable camera pans,no indication what to do,annoying getting hit and recover animations and bad quick time events...taking a break for the night before I uninstall the game and never come back.
Shepard said:I'm struggling to get this game running with everything on max 1920x1080 res (25~29fps)
After seen how awesome this looks with these settings, it's really hard to not use them.
You have uber sampling shut off right? That will crush framerate. What is your set up?
Jay Shadow said:
Yeah, the biggest problem with this otherwise excellent game was that CD Projekt didn't really balance it in time for release.
Code-wise TW2 was surprisingly bug-free even at launch, but with all the stuff they've had to change it's almost like the release was the beta. You could even maybe call it the beta for the 360 version which game design-wise will be better off at least.
Well, more reason to replay this game when I get the opportunity.
Shepard said:Ubersample off, or I can't even turn the camera without having to wait 3-4secs to play again.
Core2Duo E7500, single 5770, windows 7 x64, 4GB. It served me well all those years, but I think it's finally time to say goodbye
Yeah. I rode out a dual core forever then bought just a GTX 460 but I wasn't getting much performance because of the CPU and then went the i5 route. The difference was quite staggering.
AwesomeSauce
MagsMoonshine
The game loves quad cores. I went from a C2D to a Phenom II x6 and it greatly improved my performance even on my old gtx 260.Shepard said:Ubersample off, or I can't even turn the camera without having to wait 3-4secs to play again.
Core2Duo E7500, single 5770, windows 7 x64, 4GB. It served me well all those years, but I think it's finally time to say goodbye
I have a couple of questions about the game. I'm currently going though the Expanded Edition (Directors Cut?) of the original and I'm really liking the game, but I'm curious about the sequel. Does the second game have less fetch quests? I don't mind it so much in the original, but a majority of sidequests seem to feel like that from what I've gotten up to (Chapter III). Are weapons also really varied? I haven't seen much variety in the swords in the game so far, and having alternate weapons is pretty useless. Finally, does the game have extra standalone chapters found in a menu like New Adventures was for the original?
I do like how the new patches are adding bits of content here and there, but it's making me hesitant to play it! I don't want to have to replay the game to play a mission that wasn't in a chapter I already completed.
I do like how the new patches are adding bits of content here and there, but it's making me hesitant to play it! I don't want to have to replay the game to play a mission that wasn't in a chapter I already completed.
Shepard said:Ubersample off, or I can't even turn the camera without having to wait 3-4secs to play again.
Core2Duo E7500, single 5770, windows 7 x64, 4GB. It served me well all those years, but I think it's finally time to say goodbye
Like others have said, your Core2Duo is a major problem. Why are you insisting on maxing everything at 1920x1080? Should know your realistic limits.
Foffy said:
1. Very few fetch quests, if any. There are significantly less side quests in 2 but they're meatier and don't have as much back tracking.
2. You won't use many weapons outside of your blades, but you'll see a lot more of them in 2. In TW1 I think I switched my swords once but I upgraded/found new ones several times in 2.
3. No stand alone chapters.
Snuggler said:
Thanks. One more question. Are sidequests easier to uncover? Apparently I missed one of the hunt missions in Chapter I of the first game, which has prevented me from getting the best silver sword possible.
I don't want to have to rely on a guide to make sure I'm not missing any possible side missions.
Shepard said:Ubersample off, or I can't even turn the camera without having to wait 3-4secs to play again.
Core2Duo E7500, single 5770, windows 7 x64, 4GB. It served me well all those years, but I think it's finally time to say goodbye
My E8400 with HD4870 runs quite smoothly on Medium. I can even put on Light Rays and AA and only be slightly choppy.
FreakinSyco
Member
Alright I finished my first (and probably only) play through.
Honestly, I didn't love it. The combat was just too simple. The game felt like a movie with some clicking involved.
Talk to someone, go somewhere, cast quen, click a hundred times to kill something, come back.
The counter attack ability and finishing moves should have been given from the beginning. At least that lent some skill and timing to combat.
The game ended abruptly to me (I'm sure its my fault for not reading/talking to enough people). The whole prologue area flowed too well in the main story line. I saw a few side things I wanted to do, but never saw an opportunity to do anything other than the main quest.
The game (for better or worse) never forced me to use any of the alchemy skills. I think I applied a blade oil maybe once. I would have preferred some sort of obvious reason to use those skills.
I also didn't love the story line. However, reading the comments in this thread make me feel like I chose a poor story line option. I stayed consistent with my Witcher 1 playthrough:
Honestly, I didn't love it. The combat was just too simple. The game felt like a movie with some clicking involved.
Talk to someone, go somewhere, cast quen, click a hundred times to kill something, come back.
The counter attack ability and finishing moves should have been given from the beginning. At least that lent some skill and timing to combat.
The game ended abruptly to me (I'm sure its my fault for not reading/talking to enough people). The whole prologue area flowed too well in the main story line. I saw a few side things I wanted to do, but never saw an opportunity to do anything other than the main quest.
The game (for better or worse) never forced me to use any of the alchemy skills. I think I applied a blade oil maybe once. I would have preferred some sort of obvious reason to use those skills.
I also didn't love the story line. However, reading the comments in this thread make me feel like I chose a poor story line option. I stayed consistent with my Witcher 1 playthrough:
I went with Triss, the scoia'tael, killed the dragon and killed Letho.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Going through on hard a the moment, I'm reminded how much I dislike the combat. CDP failed in that area, in my opinion. I can see what they were going for, and agree with comparisons to Demon's Souls, but it feels like a poor mans version of just that. Immensely unresponsive and clunky in comparison to From Software's outing and not remotely as satisfying.
Throw in some exceptionally average and clunky boss fights and you've got pretty damn messy combat. Its the only area of the game I dont think CDP did a very good job with, at least compared to the level of presentation and quality in the rest of the product.
Throw in some exceptionally average and clunky boss fights and you've got pretty damn messy combat. Its the only area of the game I dont think CDP did a very good job with, at least compared to the level of presentation and quality in the rest of the product.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
garath said:
Oh totally. Its a huge step in the right direction, as it does allow more control and depth over what combat the original Witcher had, which became little more than a completely broken (in your favour) timing click-a-thon.
40 hours in now, at the very start of chapter 3.
What a game! Disagree with the above complaints about combat. I think it's great, with only a few technical bugs holding it back (unresponsive button presses especially). Only thing I wish is that fights were a bit bigger. Most on-screen brawlers I've seen so far was the final battle of chapter two, but many were ally characters. I want to actually take on maybe fifteen, twenty guys. Fights get too easy once you're level 20 or so.
What a game! Disagree with the above complaints about combat. I think it's great, with only a few technical bugs holding it back (unresponsive button presses especially). Only thing I wish is that fights were a bit bigger. Most on-screen brawlers I've seen so far was the final battle of chapter two, but many were ally characters. I want to actually take on maybe fifteen, twenty guys. Fights get too easy once you're level 20 or so.
Anton Sugar
Member
EatChildren said:
I'm still on my first playthrough on Normal, but once you level up a bit, the combat goes from frustrating to amazing. Leaping from enemy to enemy, using spells/bombs to get out of corners, etc. It's all extremely satisfying, to me.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Shepard said:
I know this is how you play, and I like that. But I dont believe the game holds a candle to the mechanics of Demon's Souls, a game that shares almost exactly the same style of combat. By comparison, the Witcher 2 is plagued by unresponsive and clunky control. Many of these issues are circumnavigated by new abilities, better equipment, and all-round stronger attacks later in the game, but early on the game too often throws you not so much in the deep end, but in completely unfair and arguably broken encounters you must play exploitively rather than tactifully, and even so there is too larger margin of error in combat from Geralt failing to block or come out of a roll in a responsive manner.
These issues become most problematic when fighting earlier, fast attacking enemies, and really come to light during the most unorthodox fights like the one against the
Kayran
It has a charm and is a step in the right direction (as said), and is far more involved and enjoyable than the first game, but still is in my opinion mechanically inferior to other games of its ilk, and by a considerable amount at that. This saddens me, as if The Witcher 2 had a level of combat responsiveness as Demon's Soul it would one of my favourite games of all time.
Okay, the menu/inventory still needs work too, but combat is a priority
.
Riposte
Member
EatChildren said:
Weird, because I've been able to clear everything in the early chapters tactically(without Quen, even). While The Witcher 2 lacks the tightness(in particular accuracy in hitboxes and defined attacks) of Demon's Souls and the large-scale boss fights are lamely designed(aside from maybe the final one), your complaints are rather scruby("unfair", also you say clunky more than a game journalist). The early chapters, while remaining the most difficult(thus the most interesting) chapters, became fairly easily once I became familiar with the game(clearly visible with a second trip through the game). I heard they were made easier recently via patch, so I am not sure where they fall now. The point being in an unfair game that wouldn't happen.
Also everything which allows you checkpoints and quicksaves is "trial and error". If the game was easy it would just be "trial and succeed". If the game punished you more brutally for dying(we'll put aside the hardest difficulty) then constant trials and errors would be a more and more infeasible strategy. (In the end it is still trial and error, as is everything which takes more than one try.)
EatChildren said:I know this is how you play, and I like that. But I dont believe the game holds a candle to the mechanics of Demon's Souls, a game that shares almost exactly the same style of combat. By comparison, the Witcher 2 is plagued by unresponsive and clunky control. Many of these issues are circumnavigated by new abilities, better equipment, and all-round stronger attacks later in the game, but early on the game too often throws you not so much in the deep end, but in completely unfair and arguably broken encounters you must play exploitively rather than tactifully, and even so there is too larger margin of error in combat from Geralt failing to block or come out of a roll in a responsive manner.
These issues become most problematic when fighting earlier, fast attacking enemies, and really come to light during the most unorthodox fights like the one against the. In the case of the latter, the beast is equipped with attacks that not only do a tremendous amount of damage in a single blow, but knock Geralt to the ground, allowing a second or even third blow to connect before Geralt gets up (or just as he gets up). Most of these attacks are extremely difficult to learn without succumbing to them first, which introduces a heavy element of trial-and-error in combat that seriously favours the enemy over the player.Kayran
It has a charm and is a step in the right direction (as said), and is far more involved and enjoyable than the first game, but still is in my opinion mechanically inferior to other games of its ilk, and by a considerable amount at that. This saddens me, as if The Witcher 2 had a level of combat responsiveness as Demon's Soul it would one of my favourite games of all time.
Okay, the menu/inventory still needs work too, but combat is a priority
I never played Demon Souls so I can't comment on that (and maybe that's the reason I think the combat is less flawed then you think, you tryied something beter) and I agree with what you said but, In my view, Witcher 2 has a great battle system with some unbalanced battles. Sure, there are times where you just wan't to throw your mouse against a wall but there isn't any battle that can't be surpassed when you do everything right (using quen, alchemy, potions), and losing often means that you made some shit like dodging in the wrong direction, blocking when you weren't supposed to... The combat isn't perfect but the foundation is pretty great, and to kinda show my point, patch 1.3 is coming mainly focused in combat balance. So, I agree, there's a not that smooth learning curve, sometimes the game is too hard, but the basics are very good and can easily be fixed with a patch or two, I think.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Riposte said:
Clunky/unresponsive/loose, whatever you want to call it. Im talking about those exact things; accuracy of hit boxes, defined attacks, and responsiveness of controls relative to navigating Geralt through the world and his position in combat. The Witcher 2 demands a high level of tactical play and this is essential to winning battles, but my point is that it doesn't hold a candle to the exact same formula present in Demon's Souls.
The Witcher 2's mechanics can and should be just as responsive as the latter game, and I would like them to be. That is all.
Trial and error gameplay is more problematic in the aforementioned boss fight, and these cases of trial and error in gameplay should be condemned at all opportunities. Where The Witcher 2 fails in trial and error is the poor communication between actions, both of the enemy and Geralt, and lack of tightness in controls. Again, this is mostly related at the clunkier, bigger boss battles, where it is very, very, very easy to find yourself instantly at the mercy of near-if-not-instant kill attacks. Rather than develop visual cues or teach the player what to expect, and then throw the player in a situation where they must use what they have learned, these instances teach you nothing yet demand everything.
This is okay in a game like Demon's Souls, or Diablo, where instant respawn, responsive controls, and comfort in the ability to escape serve as a basis for almost all encounters. This is not okay in a game like The Witcher 2 where you must rely on your last save game.
Defend it all you like, but I muyst respectfully disagree. The Witcher 2's combat, while a step in the right direction, still has significant room for improvement, and fails to meet a standard set by games of similar style.
Shepard said:
I'm probably making a bigger deal out of it than I actually feel. I mean, I still love The Witcher 2, and have managed to complete the game once already. I just tend to be pretty vocal about the things in games I dislike, or that I think are in great need of improvement. Considering how tight Demon's Souls plays, it would be utterly magnificent if The Witcher 2 hit that level, and since I love the game I can only hope CDP strive for such a standard in future The Witcher projects.
Is there anywhere I could read about v1.3's plans? I haven't kept up-to-date with what the next patch will include.
Riposte
Member
I agree the combat system looks poor in comparison to Demon's Souls. It has some weird hold over from its WRPG origins which prevent it from being a pure action game. The problem is that you call it unfair, when my mastery of it was very apparent, even in the early chapters when played again.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Riposte said:
I called particular encounters unfair, or perhaps certain pacing issues (earlier on) unfair, not all of the combat unfair. And again, the aforementioned boss fight is a prime example of what I would call unfair trial-and-error design, and most of these instances are prevalent only early in the game.
Yeah, it's not quite Demon's Souls quality, but I think some people are put Demon's Souls on a pedestal in these conversations. It had some balancing issues and the targeting was just as frustrating and unreliable at times. I liked most of TW2's combat, I found it challenging and satisfying enough to be a positive aspect of the game, but I do agree that there is plenty of room for improvement. I'm probably easy on it since most action RPG's have combat that's tolerable at best and TW2 was a cut above that.
I guess I'm the only person who thought Demon's Souls combat was sluggish and unrefined. It was a good game, but I always considered the player artificially handicapped by the combat control. Everything worked at very precise angles, making the combat feel mechanical (the player moved like a robot). In comparison, TW2 is very fluid.
I always felt like I was fighting the controls in Demon's Souls. Thought simply walking around felt floaty as well. I know I'm in the minority.
I always felt like I was fighting the controls in Demon's Souls. Thought simply walking around felt floaty as well. I know I'm in the minority.
Stallion Free
Cock Encumbered
I actually like AC2's combat because it feels so slick. Brohood takes it even further in that direction. I don't need Ninja Gaiden in my AC.subversus said:
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
subversus said:
I hate AC2's combat even more :lol, but for entirely different reasons. I wouldnt compare them to The Witcher 2. I feel they're both very different.
Riposte said:
Agreed, it's Fable easy. It's all style and no substance.
I played Brotherhood right after TW2 and it was a major downgrade. TW2's combat might not be all that balanced or polished, but goddamn at least it's engaging and doesn't treat you like you're brain dead.
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