Thinking about buying Witcher 2

[RoboChobo]

Well, you can pick up the Witcher 2 this weekend for $29!!!

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2186029

That's a pretty damn good deal! I got a physical copy for $49.99 a few weeks back

You should give Witcher 1 another chance,

the game starts really slow and it took me about 3-5 hours to get used to/adjusted to everything and that's a pretty long. That included everything from game mechanics/controls/over the shoulder camera view.

But you will be rewarded with a pretty engaging story.

 

[Arg Clin]

I think I was a bit harsh the first time around. TW1 is actually a really good game, and I suppose the sometimes seemingly unfocused storyexecution is mainly due to the fact that this game has a lot of choices, and thus the story is highly customized.

Not as good as DAO, but definately one of the best CRPGs ever.

 

[darkewaffle]

Man I gave TW1 20 hours and got to the swamp, I don't see where it picks up. If anything the story becomes even more diluted. There's plenty of stuff going on, but none of it seems like it's urgent or meaningful.

"Crap some new witcher trainee died that none of us knew for even a few hours. We should all split up and travel miles and miles to avenge him." "Yea I guess so, let's get packing, what a bother."

"Crap those guys took our potion bottles and some leaves. We should get them back." "Yea I guess so, lets go on a big journey for some glass and dirt but then not make it a priority at all. We might have to kill some dogs in the city and get some poon along the way."

"Crap so there's this big gang of salamanderpeople who doesn't like witchers. Or much of anybody for that matter." "Yes well... that will probably become a sticking point eventually so go ahead and kill a few just in case. For now I have to see a man about a haunted house."

Like I get the game design is to have side quests and smaller story arcs along the way, but I felt like they did a really poor job of keeping any sort of higher goal present, I ended up basically wondering what it was all for since there seemed to be no motive.

 

[Mem]

Man I gave TW1 20 hours and got to the swamp, I don't see where it picks up. If anything the story becomes even more diluted. There's plenty of stuff going on, but none of it seems like it's urgent or meaningful.

"Crap some new witcher trainee died that none of us knew for even a few hours. We should all split up and travel miles and miles to avenge him." "Yea I guess so, let's get packing, what a bother."

"Crap those guys took our potion bottles and some leaves. We should get them back." "Yea I guess so, lets go on a big journey for some glass and dirt but then not make it a priority at all. We might have to kill some dogs in the city and get some poon along the way."

"Crap so there's this big gang of salamanderpeople who doesn't like witchers. Or much of anybody for that matter." "Yes well... that will probably become a sticking point eventually so go ahead and kill a few just in case. For now I have to see a man about a haunted house."

Like I get the game design is to have side quests and smaller story arcs along the way, but I felt like they did a really poor job of keeping any sort of higher goal present, I ended up basically wondering what it was all for since there seemed to be no motive.

You missed a lot of storyline which I can't comment on without spoilers,especially twist at the end,oh well can't really comment unless you completed it .

Nothing wrong with haunted house quest,basically you are a witcher its YOUR JOB to solve and help people with regards to monsters etc.....
Btw its a RPG,you do know these are normally long,unlike 10 hour FPS games you see so many of nowadays.

I enjoyed the swamp,killed everything that moved,done virtually all the quests in that area too.

I will say at least you got a storyline in W1 ,remember Obvilion (less said about that storyline the better ) .

 

[GrantMeThePower]

I played TW2 and LOVED it completely...without ever playing TW1.

I just decided last night to give DA:O a chance. I won't be playing TW1.

 

[PrayForDeath]

I just decided last night to give DA:O a chance. I won't be playing TW1.

If you're saying that because you didn't like DA:O and somehow think TW1 is worse, then you're gravely mistaken. Completely different games.

 

[shurato]

I bought Witcher2 then decided to purchase W1 from a GOG sale and finish that before I started 2 so I could get a better understanding of the lore, etc. Very glad I pushed my way through to the later chapters in W1 after being discouraged at first. Fantastic game itself.

W2 has it's faults that people have mentioned but I would rank this as one of the best RPG's I've ever played and I've been playing them all since the early DOS days. To each there own but I absolutely loved it and will be playing it a second time through which is something I rarely do with games.

I do hope they release some expansions as the end does seem a bit rushed through. But what a ride it is to get to it....

 

[shurato]

I played TW2 and LOVED it completely...without ever playing TW1.

I just decided last night to give DA:O a chance. I won't be playing TW1.

I absolutely love TW1 and TW2. I couldn't get into DA:O. Felt a little too much like WoW for some reason but then again I haven't played much of it but it just couldn't hold my interest at all.

 

[digitard]

DA:O was amazing to me. One of the reasons I've gotten back into that style of game! I picked up the Ultimate edition for like 40 bucks so I had DA:O, Awakenings and all 7 DLC's to play. DA2 was a vast departure, and while some of it worked, and some of it didn't. I see where Bioware was going.

After reading this thread I'm going to give TW1/TW2 a chance now that my PC addiction has been rekindled!

 

[ayabe]

I liked it a lot - until the last "chapter" which is more of an epilogue, at this point I feel the game fell apart. For me that didn't really detract from the overall experience which I still would rate very highly.

I will definitely buy the next in the series, the characters, world, etc are really intriguing to me.

 

[Cuda1447]

After reading this thread I decided to give TW2 a try. I was a huge fan of DA:O on 360, but DA2 sucked. Not many games can hold my attention for very long. At first TW2 was bleh for me. It barely ran on my laptop which was extremely disappointing and the controls were difficult for me. (Not used to using a keyboard to move... it's been WAAAY to long since I've really PC gamed).


But then.... I decided to give it a try again. Lowered my resolution from 1920x1080 to 1024x768. Then I turned off most graphic options. It started to run decent. Then I found out my gpu was apparently a very good overclocker. It's an nvidia gt 525m. It runs at 600mhz clock speed stock and I'm able to OC it to 750mhz no problem at all. In fact, I think I could probably go much higher. Then I learned about disabling the throttling on my i7 processor. Another increase in performance.

All in all, it went from basically unplayable to pretty damn good. Now I'm starting to get into the game a bit and I have to say, it's a lot of fun. The only minor gripe I have so far is sometimes it's a pain in the ass to look on the ground and search bags. It's like I can't get my guy to 'look' in the right spot so I can click search. Maybe I just gotta get a bit more used to it though.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

Cuda- i would also HIGHLY recommend hooking up a console controller to play TW2 with. There are free drivers avail for a PS3 controller, or if you have a wired Xbox 360 controller, you can use that too. It makes the game way more playable and, IMO, was meant to be played with a gamepad rather than k+m.

 

[mindcycle]

The only minor gripe I have so far is sometimes it's a pain in the ass to look on the ground and search bags. It's like I can't get my guy to 'look' in the right spot so I can click search. Maybe I just gotta get a bit more used to it though.

Nah, it doesn't really get any better. I've had this same issue the entire time i've been playing through the game. It helps to walk instead of run when you're trying to get the game to recognize a loot bag or monster carcass, but it still usually takes a couple tries. It's pretty damn annoying.

 

[Cuda1447]

Cuda- i would also HIGHLY recommend hooking up a console controller to play TW2 with. There are free drivers avail for a PS3 controller, or if you have a wired Xbox 360 controller, you can use that too. It makes the game way more playable and, IMO, was meant to be played with a gamepad rather than k+m.

Very good, I'll give that a try.

 

[Dankk]

I played TW2 with an Xbox 360 controller, and I too can confirm it's better than using a M+KB. The analog control is nice for walking when you feel like walking, and running when you feel like running (as opposed to a keyboard where you're constantly running everywhere like a spaz). You'll be glad to know it's there when you want to go on strolls through the forest.

 

[mindcycle]

I played TW2 with an Xbox 360 controller, and I too can confirm it's better than using a M+KB. The analog control is nice for walking when you feel like walking, and running when you feel like running (as opposed to a keyboard where you're constantly running everywhere like a spaz). You'll be glad to know it's there when you want to go on strolls through the forest.

Or you could use the "walk" key on your keyboard..

 

[Dankk]

Or you could use the "walk" key on your keyboard..

Or that.

 

[mindcycle]

Or that.

 

[Cuda1447]

Or you could use the "walk" key on your keyboard..

and which key would that be?

 

[PrayForDeath]

I believe capslock toggles between run/walk. Not sure though, as I don't really use it.

 

[mindcycle]

and which key would that be?

I think walk is activated by holding down the shift key by default. I remapped all of my keys as I use a separate gaming keypad, but there are key mapping for both walk and a walk/run toggle.

 

[Keeper]

Nah, it doesn't really get any better. I've had this same issue the entire time i've been playing through the game. It helps to walk instead of run when you're trying to get the game to recognize a loot bag or monster carcass, but it still usually takes a couple tries. It's pretty damn annoying.

In "One" holding the tab hilighted objects you could interacty with.

Did the take that out?

THAT would suck.

 

[mindcycle]

In "One" holding the tab hilighted objects you could interacty with.

Did the take that out?

THAT would suck.

I'll have to look through the manual and check that out tonight. It's been so long since I played the first one I can't remember if I used that option or not, but i'm sure I likely did since I don't remember it being as awkward to view shit on the ground as it is in W2 for me.

 

[sigurros81]

You have to hit your medalion button for it to burst and highlight all items on the ground around your vicinity to pick up, the medalion recharges after 5 seconds or so, so you can't spam it.

The items themselves don't appear instantly the moment you kill a mob like...WoW. It takes a couple of seconds for it to appear, which I can see that annoying impatient people.

 

[Keeper]

You have to hit your medalion button for it to burst and highlight all items on the ground around your vicinity to pick up, the medalion recharges after 5 seconds or so, so you can't spam it.

The items themselves don't appear instantly the moment you kill a mob like...WoW. It takes a couple of seconds for it to appear, which I can see that annoying impatient people.

LOL I remmeber that in one. And I was one of "those" people too. I killed it. I know its laying in the reeds, where is my booty?????

Then..... I chilled.... This sounds nice too though. A 5 second delay aint the end of the world. I used to run (SO MUCH RUNNING IN ONE) just holding tab.