Witcher 2--can anyone convince me that it's worth playing?

[zinfamous]

So....I bought Witcher 2 back in the summer sale, finally started playing it about a week ago.

I played Witcher 1 2 years ago, about 20 hours in and got to, I think the 2nd chapter? The one in the city, that also has some swamp explorable area. Spent a lot of time there, got to possibly the end of the chapter, but just stopped. Got bogged down in endless fetch quests, and constantly full bags. endless sorting, etc.

So, hearing that Witcher 2 was gorgeous and so much better than the first one, I picked it up. Now I'm in the first chapter, about 14 hours in...and I'm basically running around doing about 4 fetch quests as part of one little quest, just to get the reward for the little quest. And there's a dozen of these in the small town and forest map, all with their own minor requirements. Just to kill the big monster, you've got to go and talk to various people, complete various tasks, just to get to the point where you can fight this monster.

On top of that--the invisible walls, very confined map, everything on rails.


...Is it like this for the entire game, should I just stop caring now?

 

[crownjules]

If you're more into giant open world RPGs with tons of side quests you can wander off on, like Elder Scrolls and Dragon Age, then you won't enjoy the Witcher 1/2 as much (supposedly 3 will be a more open world design). The following two chapters are a little more open spaced areas, but I'm guessing you'll still find it confining. And you're following the main story with only a minor side quest diversion here and there.

 

[Dankk]

The Witcher games are famous for their rich storylines, characters, dialogue, and moral decisions. That's why it's my favorite series. However, if you're looking for a light open-world sandbox RPG like Skyrim, you're playing the wrong game.

Play it for the rich plot and character interaction. No other recent RPG comes close to it.

 

[moonbogg]

I got bored with it as well. If you want an interesting game to try I suggest far cry 3.

 

[frozentundra123456]

So....I bought Witcher 2 back in the summer sale, finally started playing it about a week ago.

I played Witcher 1 2 years ago, about 20 hours in and got to, I think the 2nd chapter? The one in the city, that also has some swamp explorable area. Spent a lot of time there, got to possibly the end of the chapter, but just stopped. Got bogged down in endless fetch quests, and constantly full bags. endless sorting, etc.

So, hearing that Witcher 2 was gorgeous and so much better than the first one, I picked it up. Now I'm in the first chapter, about 14 hours in...and I'm basically running around doing about 4 fetch quests as part of one little quest, just to get the reward for the little quest. And there's a dozen of these in the small town and forest map, all with their own minor requirements. Just to kill the big monster, you've got to go and talk to various people, complete various tasks, just to get to the point where you can fight this monster.

On top of that--the invisible walls, very confined map, everything on rails.


...Is it like this for the entire game, should I just stop caring now?

I have had pretty much the same experience. Got the first game, played a few hours and quit. Heard how much better the second game was, got it, and quit just before fighting the karyn or whatever it is.

Just can't get into it. The story seems pretty much like any other RPG to me, except for the moral ambiguity. And I absolutely hate the QTEs with a passion. Not only do I suck at them, but it totally breaks the immersion to be in a battle and have letters start flashing all over the screen and have to start mashing buttons to match them.

I really want to like the game, and perhaps will give it another go one of these days.

 

[zinfamous]

The Witcher games are famous for their rich storylines, characters, dialogue, and moral decisions. That's why it's my favorite series. However, if you're looking for a light open-world sandbox RPG like Skyrim, you're playing the wrong game.

Play it for the rich plot and character interaction. No other recent RPG comes close to it.

I'm not even sure if I have liked the plots so far. It seems decent enough to start with, but it's basically--find assassin, intimidate people and be a general drunken man whore, complete a dozen fetch quests to "learn enough" so you can kill this monster...

I know I know...complaining about something that I probably just won't like. I want to like this game, I always hear great things about them, but when I read things like "this game is very mature!" and I then I see that much of it is people saying fuck every other word, every fake woman in the game wants to jump your bones...because?, I wonder if the concept of real maturity is woefully lost on a younger generation? bad words and tits /= maturity....

The general gameplay is fun to me, it looks very nice, the voice acting is quite good, it is story driven and I can only assume it gets deeper, it is difficult, which is refreshing...but it's like their solution to small, confined chapters is to toss in a bunch of fetch quests. You can't really ignore them, because the difficulty demands that you level on pace, and just hacking neckers endlessly isn't going to cut it.

 

[zinfamous]

I have had pretty much the same experience. Got the first game, played a few hours and quit. Heard how much better the second game was, got it, and quit just before fighting the karyn or whatever it is.

Just can't get into it. The story seems pretty much like any other RPG to me, except for the moral ambiguity. And I absolutely hate the QTEs with a passion. Not only do I suck at them, but it totally breaks the immersion to be in a battle and have letters start flashing all over the screen and have to start mashing buttons to match them.

I really want to like the game, and perhaps will give it another go one of these days.

Oh yeah--I forgot to whine about the QTEs--the single worst aspect of this game. I'm not sure how even the staunchest fan could defend their existence in a game like this. absolutely terrible.

Yep, I'm working towards the Karyn thing. I think I am supposed to go fight it now--that's right where I started putting it down.

 

[Gloomy]

It gets extremely interesting once you leave the port. Was not expecting my choice to actually matter, was a little jaded on RPGs after playing Skyrim. I had to play the game twice, was the first time I've done that since Mass Effect 1.

Second time around I played it with the official overhaul mod, it made the combat and progression much different (and also more forgiving).

 

[sweenish]

I don't see why you should be convinced. You either want to play it or you don't.

 

[CrackRabbit]

I couldn't get into the combat of the first Witcher game and gave up after frustratingly trying to kill a monster unsuccessfully because I couldn't get the rhythm down.

 

[pauldun170]

I stopped playing it.
Didn't like the control system or combat and just didn't enjoy it overall.

 

[zinfamous]

I don't see why you should be convinced. You either want to play it or you don't.

main thing is that I spent money on it, I'd hate to be disappointed with the purchase. Also if it's just me being derpy for now, I'd like to know if there is potential for less derpiness.

and, for whatever reason, I like the CDP Red--I like their style and their attitude. Maybe it isn't rational, but even though I have been underwhelemed by these two games, I respect them, want them to remain independent, and I want to support them in their goals.

There are plenty of games that I have just outright not liked and stopped playing, with little thought otherwise. For whatever reason, I see these as the type of games I have always liked, yet find myself frustrated trying to get into them.

I think I will soldier through and try to get to the next chapter, as I feel as though I am close enough as it is.

 

[desura]

it's edgy and cool like Miley Cyrus because there is sex and gory medieval cruelty in the game.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

I loved the Witcher 2. The first? Not so much. But 2, I thought, was really great. But convince you? Nah...sounds like you've made up your mind.

 

[VashHT]

main thing is that I spent money on it, I'd hate to be disappointed with the purchase. Also if it's just me being derpy for now, I'd like to know if there is potential for less derpiness.

and, for whatever reason, I like the CDP Red--I like their style and their attitude. Maybe it isn't rational, but even though I have been underwhelemed by these two games, I respect them, want them to remain independent, and I want to support them in their goals.

There are plenty of games that I have just outright not liked and stopped playing, with little thought otherwise. For whatever reason, I see these as the type of games I have always liked, yet find myself frustrated trying to get into them.

I think I will soldier through and try to get to the next chapter, as I feel as though I am close enough as it is.

Honestly I had to do the same thing, I stopped right before the end of the first chapter and didn't come back for years. The 2nd chapter is a lot of traveling back and forth so it can get tedious as you said, but I forced myself through it (and the rest of the game) and as I went on it wasn't really forcing myself and I really enjoyed the game overall so I would say try to push yourself through it. I did install the combat overhaul mod and a high res texture pack which improved things a bit.

 

[crownjules]

it's edgy and cool like Miley Cyrus because there is sex and gory medieval cruelty in the game.

While your comment is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, it's also true. Mature content means content "society" deems to be not suitable for children. That happens to be sex and, to a lesser extent, gratuitous violence. We also tend to paint the world as black and white to them due to their limited understanding when things are shades of grey. The Witcher games incorporate all of that as core to their storylines whereas they are at best only touched upon in most other RPGs like Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, and so forth where stories are a clearly delineated good vs. evil.

 

[SPBHM]

in my opinion witcher 1 is a far better game, apart from graphics obviously (and the combat system is more polished on 2, I wouldn't call it better, but the old one needed some changes), also the last chapter on witcher 2 is bad... incomplete, rushed, I don't know... Witcher 1 just had more things to learn and explore, more interesting things happening...
but I have to admit it took some hours to really learn the game and start enjoying... first time I played I gave up after 1 hour or so, and many months later started again, and played until the end in a short period... oh, and I did finish the game a second time, something I couldn't bother doing with Witcher 2.

but if you don't enjoy the story and the pace of the game, it's simply the wrong game for you...

 

[Dumac]

I liked Witcher 1 more, actually. I thought the story was a lot deeper and more complex. I though the moral decisions easily paralleled our world. I could actually see things from multiple sides in the first Witcher. The Witcher 1, by far, had the most mature story and character interaction of any game I've played.

The second witcher had much better graphics and gameplay, but the story seemed staler.

Both of them blow games like Fable and anything from Bioware out of the water when it comes to moral choices and mature plot lines.

Neither of them sound like they are for you OP.

 

[NickelPlate]

Witcher 1 was great, even if a bit on the long side. I thought W2 was rubbish. The tutorial is broken, and I couldn't stand the new combat mechanics. Only played it for a few hours and just couldn't take it anymore. I also have alot of people on my Steam friends list who own it and everyone one of them have played it for only a few hours which should have been an indicator to me not to buy it. Of course I got it on a flash sale for $5 and it's not even worth that IMHO.

 

[zinfamous]

While your comment is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, it's also true. Mature content means content "society" deems to be not suitable for children. That happens to be sex and, to a lesser extent, gratuitous violence. We also tend to paint the world as black and white to them due to their limited understanding when things are shades of grey. The Witcher games incorporate all of that as core to their storylines whereas they are at best only touched upon in most other RPGs like Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age, and so forth where stories are a clearly delineated good vs. evil.

agree and disagree--yes, society (and only because the MPAA thinks this way) interprets mature as "titties and bad words!" That has nothing to do with mature--quite the opposite.

"Adult situations" is not sex--it is just that--adult themes and, like you said, complex moral choices, situations that you simply have to deal with, as an adult. Skyrim actually does have this, and it isn't thin--you have to find those particularly good quests, of course--the family with the dead kid in Windhelm comes to mind.

I haven't given Witcher enough time to judge if it really is comparable in terms or real adult situations, but for me, it isn't close to Skyrim yet.

 

[Dumac]

agree and disagree--yes, society (and only because the MPAA thinks this way) interprets mature as "titries and bad words!" That has nothing to do with mature--quite the opposite.

"Adult situations" is not sex--it is jsut that--adult themes and, like you said, complex moral choices, situations that you simply have to deal with, as an adult. Skyrim actually does have this, and it isn't thin--you have to find those particularly good quests, of course--the family with the dead kid in Windhelm comes to come.

I haven't given Witcher enough time to judge if it really is comparable in terms or real adult situations, but for me, it isn't close to Skyrim yet.

Skyrim is one of the most shallow RPGs I have played. My brain is mostly off when playing the game. Even when Bethesda tries to prevent a compelling sub story, they do it in the most basic way possible and they fail to root the story in any meaning in the game world.

I'm not saying it is a bad game. The open world aspect of the Elder Scrolls series is unparalleled. However, to put the complexity of any part of Skyrim's part up there with the Witcher is wrong in my opinion.

The Witcher, particularly Witcher 1, deals with a lot of different topics. It is a discussion about what true evil is, and what is the value of a man. Geralt is a monster slayer living in a world where men are more harmful than monsters. He is a man of a dying occupation that is quickly losing relevance. He is a man without the option of starting a traditional family, as he is sterile. So what good is he, and what should he do?

In additional, the world around him is in turmoil. Faith, liberty, racism, sexism, classicism - these topics are are visited in great depth. The characters are real and whole rather than two-dimensional caricatures. As you talk to these people and see their side of things, you grow to understand their point of view and why they choose their actions. There is no true 'bad guy' in the Witcher. No one you can point at and say 'beyond a doubt, this guy is wrong'.

And above all that, you see the consequences of your actions. You see the ripple effect and how a small decision can end in a rather large outcome, whether the choice is made by player agency or by forced plot. Choices you make in act 1 show up in act 4. The sides you choose shape the path of the game and the shape of the world.

But it all comes down to subjective personal tastes. It does suck to get a game and not enjoy it that much, especially when you see others enjoying it. It happens from time to time.

 

[Pocatello]

Oh yeah--I forgot to whine about the QTEs--the single worst aspect of this game. I'm not sure how even the staunchest fan could defend their existence in a game like this. absolutely terrible.

Yep, I'm working towards the Karyn thing. I think I am supposed to go fight it now--that's right where I started putting it down.

I also bought the game along with Tomb Raider, could never got the QTE in time or the right order, so I quit both games.

 

[Via]

I didn't expect so many "I liked 1 more than 2" responses so I'm going to pile on: I really enjoyed 1 but never could get into 2.

 

[zinfamous]

Skyrim is one of the most shallow RPGs I have played. My brain is mostly off when playing the game. Even when Bethesda tries to prevent a compelling sub story, they do it in the most basic way possible and they fail to root the story in any meaning in the game world.

I'm not saying it is a bad game. The open world aspect of the Elder Scrolls series is unparalleled. However, to put the complexity of any part of Skyrim's part up there with the Witcher is wrong in my opinion.

The Witcher, particularly Witcher 1, deals with a lot of different topics. It is a discussion about what true evil is, and what is the value of a man. Geralt is a monster slayer living in a world where men are more harmful than monsters. He is a man of a dying occupation that is quickly losing relevance. He is a man without the option of starting a traditional family, as he is sterile. So what good is he, and what should he do?

In additional, the world around him is in turmoil. Faith, liberty, racism, sexism, classicism - these topics are are visited in great depth. The characters are real and whole rather than two-dimensional caricatures. As you talk to these people and see their side of things, you grow to understand their point of view and why they choose their actions. There is no true 'bad guy' in the Witcher. No one you can point at and say 'beyond a doubt, this guy is wrong'.

And above all that, you see the consequences of your actions. You see the ripple effect and how a small decision can end in a rather large outcome, whether the choice is made by player agency or by forced plot. Choices you make in act 1 show up in act 4. The sides you choose shape the path of the game and the shape of the world.

But it all comes down to subjective personal tastes. It does suck to get a game and not enjoy it that much, especially when you see others enjoying it. It happens from time to time.

I agree with this more than you probably think.

However, TES games do offer these elements, in spades. Complex decision, situations, ambiguities between needs, etc. Many of the main quests, sub quests, and minor quests have rather well-developed elements that involve some complex decisions--many of them never seem "right."

Where these games fail, and I think most people agree, especially with Skyrim, is that none of them really matter in the end. The world doesn't really change. Too many NPCs are invulnerable, or their deaths don't drastically alter the locals' perception of you or anything else. The Civil War, in itself, is a rather complex plot when you consider what Ulfric and the Stormcloaks are actually about, the more you explore various parts of the world and little tidbits of information trickle in without much warning, you realize that the issues aren't so simple. But, alas...that entire Civil War is essentially meaningless to the world.

I think the main story is fine, the various stories are fine. I think where people see one game as thin and the other as rich, isn't because of story, but because of character. Skyrim has no character. You are a silent witness to the things around you. Someone tells you to do this, you go do it. Or you don't. whatever. Witcher and similar games have character--yes, the crucial element of developing good story, but that doesn't mean Skyrim is bereft of complex plot elements. I have no real experience with D&D, but I think the goal is to try and remain true to how D&D works--you make the decisions to go where you want and do what you want, playing a game with your friends means you go do this little quest and then go do another. Little bits here and there.

Frankly--I hated the TES style after getting bogged down with Morrowind after about 15 or 20 hours into it. I didn't really understand that design, and as a completionist in those days, it was just too much I skipped Oblivion, and figured there was no way I would care about Skyrim.

 

[Stringjam]

agree and disagree--yes, society (and only because the MPAA thinks this way) interprets mature as "titries and bad words!" That has nothing to do with mature--quite the opposite.

"Adult situations" is not sex--it is jsut that--adult themes and, like you said, complex moral choices, situations that you simply have to deal with, as an adult. Skyrim actually does have this, and it isn't thin--you have to find those particularly good quests, of course--the family with the dead kid in Windhelm comes to come.

I wholeheartedly agree with that point. It annoys the hell out of me when people talk about "mature content" because there is nudity, rape, excessive violence, or language.

If that is really the case, then GTA is the most mature game franchise out there.

Most of the time it seems that kind of content is used as a substitute for the effort it takes to develop intelligent writing and character development. Meaningful mature content.

That doesn't mean a story shouldn't include any of those things, but that the story suffers when meaningful content is replaced by them in an effort to appear mature.

Complexity for the sake of complexity doesn't make a great story, either. How many of life's most meaningful moments revolve around a relationship or an event that is really quite simple?

In the end, I want to care about those animated polygons; whether they live or die. If I don't care about the characters, then the game really doesn't ever resonate with me.