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

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Solo

Member
Vasilisk said:
EDIT BTW, I just remembered a very strange thing I saw in my last playthrough, what the hell is that thing I've seen in the sky..
it seems like a plane lol, could it be The Wild Hunt? I've also had another screencap from Vergen in Ch.2 showing the same thing
54C7186D87D122644A2F0DEEE4EF11BCC74AC4E5

A shooting star?
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Dmax3901 said:
Isn't that the comet that appears as part of that Sorceress' curse in Chapter 2? I've only played through it once though...

Yes. Its part of the prophecy.
 

Chinner

Banned
Been playing this, completed the prologue and started chapter 1:

why did they do that to foltest he was a total bro

also should i keep bloom on?
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Chinner said:
Been playing this, completed the prologue and started chapter 1:

why did they do that to foltest he was a total bro

also should i keep bloom on?

I personally liked bloom because it makes cool reflections of light (not, I'm not talking about SSAO). Like for example you see a red tent under the sun and it radiates red because it reflects sunlight (IRL).
 

Chinner

Banned
im gonna test it out, think i'll like it on. also just put the ultra + config.

also combat is a bit more challenging now. I quite it like, but I think my biggest complaint is that it's not as responsive as I'd like it to be. not sure how I feel about only being able to take potions while in meditation, i mean i understand why they did it for balance reasons but drinking potions used to own.
 

BadTaste

Member
Just ordered this bad boy from Amazon, it's in stock and I used expedited delivery (ships faster than First Class delivery), but in my order email it tells me it'll take 1 - 3 MONTHS to be delivered? wat
 

Red

Member
Solo said:
A shooting star?
It doesn't move and is present for the entire chapter.

I took pics of it as well on my first playthrough:





subversus said:
I personally liked bloom because it makes cool reflections of light (not, I'm not talking about SSAO). Like for example you see a red tent under the sun and it radiates red because it reflects sunlight (IRL).
Yes, but unfortunately it also causes other, less realistic things to reflect light as well:

 

Red

Member
EatChildren said:
Yes. Its part of the prophecy.
Wait what, what prophecy? It's present the entire time, and the comets they refer to in the Sorceress's spell are the ones that
actually fall at the end of the chapter.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Crunched said:
Wait what, what prophecy? It's present the entire time, and the comets they refer to in the Sorceress's spell are the ones that
actually fall at the end of the chapter.

I looked and looked but couldn't find a quote. If I recall correctly,
the prophecy is associated with Sabrina's curse, the phrase she muttered, which involves the appearance of square coins (or something) and a comet in the sky.

That might not be a correct memory though.
 
i Just beat the game, WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF at act 3 i should of lingered abit but i wanted to do the story bits then it ends with the epilogue.
What happens if you let Letho's live? Towards the end we were like Bro's but he still killed the Bro King he had to die for that.

Oh Yeah just like Vinny on Giantbomb this makes me want to read the Novels, the story is some twisted deep shit. I believe CDProjekt with infinite money would do an amazing adpatation of Game of Thrones.
 

Jokab

Member
Technosteve said:
What happens if you let Letho's live? Towards the end we were like Bro's but he still killed the Bro King he had to die for that.
.
Nothing as I recall it. He just left and then there was nothing more to it.
 

njean777

Member
Vasilisk said:
It's not the first time that people brings DS in this thread using it as example of good combat design, and don't misunderstand myself, the combat in DS is amazing, but is filled of cheap moments (and don't make me start talking lol). The Witcher 2 combat has it flaws, of course, but precisely the mentioned combat (
Letho
) is not cheap. Maybe is hard the first time (
what were you expecting? you're fighting a fucking witcher like yourself
) but you have to learn to control your distance and don't let him make a move, because if you let him do things (
signs, bombs, etc..
) you're dead.

Thats fine but it doesn't change that the combat can be worked on for Witcher 3 if there will be one, I hope there is.
 

Tokubetsu

Member
Technosteve said:
i Just beat the game, WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFF at act 3 i should of lingered abit but i wanted to do the story bits then it ends with the epilogue.
What happens if you let Letho's live? Towards the end we were like Bro's but he still killed the Bro King he had to die for that.

Oh Yeah just like Vinny on Giantbomb this makes me want to read the Novels, the story is some twisted deep shit. I believe CDProjekt with infinite money would do an amazing adpatation of Game of Thrones.

Not even infinite money. Give them the license and AAA budget and like two years with this engine. Shit would be so cash.
 

Red

Member
EatChildren said:
I looked and looked but couldn't find a quote. If I recall correctly,
the prophecy is associated with Sabrina's curse, the phrase she muttered, which involves the appearance of square coins (or something) and a comet in the sky.

That might not be a correct memory though.
But the thing in the sky is there before the scene that triggers all the hubbub even occurs.

I may have misunderstood something, but I never really got any indication that what you are talking about is something that characters ever discussed in-game.
 

Van Buren

Member
Crunched said:
But the thing in the sky is there before the scene that triggers all the hubbub even occurs.

I may have misunderstood something, but I never really got any indication that what you are talking about is something that characters ever discussed in-game.

I've come across some interesting explanations for that comet. Some people swear that it grows more and more distinct as the game goes on, but I haven't seen this for myself.

Others state that it might be related to the Wild Hunt, based on the information Cynthia shares in Act 2.
 

Red

Member
Van Buren said:
I've come across some interesting explanations for that comet. Some people swear that it grows more and more distinct as the game goes on, but I haven't seen this for myself.

Others state that it might be related to the Wild Hunt, based on the information Cynthia shares in Act 2.
I guess it'd be easier for me to accept that it was an intentional detail if it actually moved :[

It remains through chapter 3, doesn't it?
 
Crunched said:
I guess it'd be easier for me to accept that it was an intentional detail if it actually moved :[

It remains through chapter 3, doesn't it?

Yep, actually my screenshot is from chapter 3. In my next playthrough
I'll do the Roche route and I'll pay attention for the prophecy thing
 

Solo

Member
Its gotta simply be a typical Euro-dev bit of jankiness. Not a big deal. Kind of funny, actually, to see what appears to be a comet or shooting star, but not moving.
 

Red

Member
subversus said:
crossfire driver bug, never experienced this.
I'm running a single 5870. That's what happens to Geralt's face when he looks out an open window.

It's also the moment I decided to disable bloom for a superior The Witcher 2 experience.

But hey chinner, maybe you're like subversus and you prefer your game characters radioactive and glowing.
 
So I jus beat the game this morning. I enjoyed the game very much, I loved the combat, the graphics were beautiful and I loved some of the tough choices I had to make. However, 2 things really bothered me, for starters, I didnt know how the level up system worked, I ended at level 35 and only upgraded 30% of all my abilities at most! Am I missing something? Or was I supposed to choose a path (Alchemy, Swordsman etc) and stick with it? Secondly Act 3 was incredibly short, its almost as if they ran out of time, that was the worst part of the game for me, everything felt so abrupt which is why the had that MGS4 moment with Letho where you are berating him with questions for almost 20 min. But all in all I loved the game, cant wait for the W3 or the expansion.

Has anyone been able to upgrade most of their abilities? If so how? I never got the helitrope sign, barely used my mutegens, and and didn't even get the adrenaline meter!
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Crunched said:
But the thing in the sky is there before the scene that triggers all the hubbub even occurs.

I may have misunderstood something, but I never really got any indication that what you are talking about is something that characters ever discussed in-game.

It wouldn't need to show up exactly when the events of Act II unfold to meet the prophecy. It could show up days before.

I'll have to pay more attention on my next playthrough, but I could have sworn a comet appearing in the sky was part of Sabrina's curse.
 
Domcorleone said:
for starters, I didnt know how the level up system worked, I ended at level 35 and only upgraded 30% of all my abilities at most! Am I missing something?

You're supposed to focus on one path. I mean there's nothing wrong with picking a skill or two from another tree, but the intention is for you to kind of pick a role to specialize in. But it's a role playing game, so you can do whatever you want I guess.
 
GillianSeed79 said:
You're supposed to focus on one path. I mean there's nothing wrong with picking a skill or two from another tree, but the intention is for you to kind of pick a role to specialize in. But it's a role playing game, so you can do whatever you want I guess.

Ohhh I see, makes sense now. I wanted to be a jack of all trades, but it makes sense I suppose. I will def play the game again as it seems I missed a lot of options (I chose Iorveth).

btw how many of you guys let
Letho go?
 

Red

Member
EatChildren said:
It wouldn't need to show up exactly when the events of Act II unfold to meet the prophecy. It could show up days before.

I'll have to pay more attention on my next playthrough, but I could have sworn a comet appearing in the sky was part of Sabrina's curse.
Maybe there's more info about that in Roche's path. I don't know. Postponing my Roche playthrough until 2.0.

Domcorleone said:
Ohhh I see, makes sense now. I wanted to be a jack of all trades, but it makes sense I suppose. I will def play the game again as it seems I missed a lot of options (I chose Iorveth).

btw how many of you guys let
Letho go?
I did. Liked his character too damn much.
He's really intelligent, but doesn't look like it, and uses his appearance to his advantage.
He was simply handled a lot better than most other video game villains, he was never a caricature and had clear, justifiable motivations. Maybe my favorite character in the game.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Crunched said:
Maybe there's more info about that in Roche's path. I don't know. Postponing my Roche playthrough until 2.0.

It was Roche's path it was mentioned, yep.
 

Red

Member
EatChildren said:
It was Roche's path it was mentioned, yep.
Interesting, I'll have to look out for it then. Maybe it was intentional if that's the case... but if so, I'd call a minuscule, non-moving comet poorly implemented at the very least.
 
njean777 said:
Im sorry but the fight with
Letho at the end of ch 1
is horrendous game design. First they didn't even let me know about the fight coming, they had a little cutscene where I had the choice of saying "I need to do something first" but I thought you know like any other good game they would let me have another chance to put on swallow before the fight with this fucking cheater. I can not put on swallow, I don't have enough daggers to be cheap like him and cheese him, so here I am on my 35-40th retry on him. This is horrible game design, and if it was any other game I would quit after maybe the 5th time. CDProject is lucky I am interested in the story. FUCK FUCK FUCK
well, I'm sorry but you suck. anyone with a controller and an ability mash X and Y can get past that, especially on easy.
 

BobsRevenge

I do not avoid women, GAF, but I do deny them my essence.
darkpaladinmfc said:
I'm definitely a part of the no bloom crowd, the bad bloom was the first thing I noticed when I walked outside the tent.
I turned off the SSAO too. They went way overboard with both of those effects.
 

AEREC

Member
theignoramus said:
Best RPG I've played in years. Makes the Mass Effect series look cheap and gimmicky by comparison.

I wouldnt go that far...neither game is really an RPG...they are just action/adventure games with stats and more story than normal.

People give a lot of praise for the Witcher making choices count, but really it's all self contained in one game...it's not like anything you did in the Wticher 1 really matters in Witcher 2, unlike Mass Effect 1 choices going into Mass Effect 2...and possibly the choices made in those games look to effect ME3 even more.
 

Riposte

Member
AEREC said:
it's not like anything you did in the Wticher 1 really matters in Witcher 2, unlike Mass Effect 1 choices going into Mass Effect 2...and possibly the choices made in those games look to effect ME3 even more.

Hahaha.

I'd say on the scale of things ME1 choices isn't that far ahead of Witcher 1. And ME2's choices are looking just as bleak, especially when you consider what's up with Cerberus in 3.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Crunched said:
But hey chinner, maybe you're like subversus and you prefer your game characters radioactive and glowing.


characters don't look like this in my game and Geralt looked normal in this particular shot. My condolences about your problem though.
 

Van Buren

Member
Domcorleone said:
btw how many of you guys let
Letho go?

I never saw Letho as an enemy. His primary motive was to establish a Witcher school, and he believes that the noble end justifies the amoral means. In fact, he is similar to Witcher 1's villain in that regard. The only difference is that there are no hanging questions over Letho's sanity and the same cannot be said about the Grand Master.

I dug the way CDPR handled his character development throughout the game. He tries to avoid confrontations with Geralt whenever possible, and even lets Geralt go when Geralt was at Letho's mercy. The revelation about Letho and Geralt working together to track down the Wild Hunt, and Letho's safeguarding of Yennefer and Triss went a long way towards cooling down my quest for justice following Foltest's and Cedric's deaths at the hands of Letho.

I've always dug ambiguous "antagonists" like Ravel Puzzlewell, The Master, etc. in WRPGs, and that's why I absolutely loved that huge conversation with Letho in the Epilogue. Digging into his head to know more about the events from his perspective solidified my belief that killing Letho would have served no purpose. In fact, knowing that the assassinations of kings was a mandate passed down by the Nilfgaardian king certainly made me sympathize a bit more with him, seeing as how Geralt was at Foltest's mercy in the Prologue.
 

Riposte

Member
I really like the Letho character, so I wasn't about to kill him on my first playthrough. He sticks out as one of the best antagonists in recent memory.
 
hey guises i just beat the game, great overall and the graphics were superb. went roche path and really enjoyed it, will go the opposite route when 2.0 comes out.

some questions because i thought the story was a confusing ass pussy mess (granted i stretched this game over 3 months, so my memory was kinda hazy)

what the fuck happened?
 

conman

Member
AEREC said:
I wouldnt go that far...neither game is really an RPG...they are just action/adventure games with stats and more story than normal.

People give a lot of praise for the Witcher making choices count, but really it's all self contained in one game...it's not like anything you did in the Wticher 1 really matters in Witcher 2, unlike Mass Effect 1 choices going into Mass Effect 2...and possibly the choices made in those games look to effect ME3 even more.
I definitely wouldn't say that choices "count" in either of the ME games. It's just a big Mad Libs book. "Wow, that time when you (past-tense verb); that was really something," or "Hey, I remember you. We met at the (place name). You really knew how to (present tense verb) and showed that (character name) what was what." And even in the climax to ME2, it was just a Choose Your Own Adventure structure with no logical connection between your choices and their outcomes.

The Witcher seems much more organic than that. More like the old Baldur's Gate games where it was much more about telling a unique story rather than having a lasting effect on the world.
 

AEREC

Member
conman said:
I definitely wouldn't say that choices "count" in either of the ME games. It's just a big Mad Libs book. "Wow, that time when you (past-tense verb); that was really something," or "Hey, I remember you. We met at the (place name). You really knew how to (present tense verb) and showed that (character name) what was what." And even in the climax to ME2, it was just a Choose Your Own Adventure structure with no logical connection between your choices and their outcomes.

The Witcher seems much more organic than that. More like the old Baldur's Gate games where it was much more about telling a unique story rather than having a lasting effect on the world.

Sure, they were'nt "entire game altering choices" but they were still a bunch of little things in ME1 to ME2 that were cool. On the other hand I thought the choices made in The Witcher 1 would would have a bigger impact in The Witcher 2, but really the only purpose in importing your W1 file into W2 is armor and a sword that is useless a few hours into the game.

With all that said Im not a big fan of making choices or multiple endings in game...I like them to be absolute and for everyone to experience the same story. Stories have more meaning and stick with you longer that way.
 

Van Buren

Member
AEREC said:
People give a lot of praise for the Witcher making choices count, but really it's all self contained in one game...it's not like anything you did in the Wticher 1 really matters in Witcher 2, unlike Mass Effect 1 choices going into Mass Effect 2...and possibly the choices made in those games look to effect ME3 even more.

I take issue with this. The choices in Witcher 1 were notable for a couple of reasons - they were ambiguous, and more importantly, they were delayed. Witcher 2 builds upon this by splitting off the main narrative into two, which can be further subdivided a lot in the final Act. Depending on the player's choices, there were significant consequences in the narrative.

Compare this with Mass Effect, where choosing anything but the color-coded responses was hardly the best way to resolve matters. ME 2 also encouraged a player to consistently stick to a specific side in order to clear the harder skill checks. Add to this the unfortunate illusion of choice when tasked with making a pivotal decision at the end of ME 2, and it's apparent why Bioware's games have never been about choices and consequences.

Though if one wanted to experience some fantastic C&C, Alpha Protocol would be my first suggestion since the entire game is built around it.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
AEREC said:
With all that said Im not a big fan of making choices or multiple endings in game...I like them to be absolute and for everyone to experience the same story. Stories have more meaning and stick with you longer that way.

Oh, I soooo don't agree with you... It's like the opposite of true.
 

AEREC

Member
Van Buren said:
I take issue with this. The choices in Witcher 1 were notable for a couple of reasons - they were ambiguous, and more importantly, they were delayed. Witcher 2 builds upon this by splitting off the main narrative into two, which can be further subdivided a lot in the final Act. Depending on the player's choices, there were significant consequences in the narrative.

Compare this with Mass Effect, where choosing anything but the color-coded responses was hardly the best way to resolve matters. ME 2 also encouraged a player to consistently stick to a specific side in order to clear the harder skill checks. Add to this the unfortunate illusion of choice when tasked with making a pivotal decision at the end of ME 2, and it's apparent why Bioware's games have never been about choices and consequences.

Though if one wanted to experience some fantastic C&C, Alpha Protocol would be my first suggestion since the entire game is built around it.

I guess it didnt come across in my post but the Witcher has some heavy game altering choices in both W1 and W2...I was just commenting on the choices being referenced from W1 to W2 were it just seems like most stuff in W1 is not mentioned or forgotten in W2 whereas ME2 makes better references to ME1.

Within the games by themselves, The Witcher series does make better use of the C&C system you mentioned.
 
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