The Witcher 2: your opinion

[Shilka]

The Witcher 2 is scheduled for release on xbox this april, so I've put this game on my 'might buy this' list for this year.

I was wondering if any of you have played the game, and what you thought of it.
I know there's plenty of reviews around, but I'd really like to hear the opinion of the average semi-tard with limited skill set on this game.

So anyone played this and like to voice his opinion?

 

[Wotan]

I played it and enjoyed it very much. It is a very good game in my opinion. And as a bonus I can say a fan of the books (which I have all read), that the characters and atmosphere is spot on.

If the port to the xbox is done well, I can wholeheartedly recommend this game.

 

[Kenadian]

I've played it but have yet to finish it.

I think its a really great game but for some reason I didn't enjoy it as much as the first Witcher and I still can't put my finger on why?

My guess is that what's turned me off a bit on the Witcher 2 is that I seem to have no control over how much I die. In the first Witcher I could adjust my gameplay a bit depending on situation and usually come out of battle hurt but alive, in the Witcher 2 that seems to be impossible for the most part.

 

[Leimboy]

I bought Withcer2 last year (on release) but haven't got around to play it yet. I'm currently playing TW1 and am looking forward to play TW2 though...

 

[Shilka]

Well, I guess it's still on my might buy this list. I'm not sure if I'm looking for overly hard combat (are there difficulty settings?), but I read it's pretty awesome in the roleplay/storyline department, so I'm still interested. Might wait for the price to go down a bit.

 

[Wotan]

There are difficulty settings. I had no trouble with the fights or dying too often. But of course there are enemies you have to avoid until you have sufficiently leveled - it's a role playing game after all.

 

[Leimboy]

There are difficulty settings. I had no trouble with the fights or dying too often. But of course there are enemies you have to avoid until you have sufficiently leveled - it's a role playing game after all.

Well said! I feel that 'modern' RPGs have downplayed the challenging nature of the genre and focused more and more on accessibility, prettyness and action.
I must admit I was quite displeased when seeing the first player vs dragon fight in Skyrim. That's not the dragons we know and loathe

 

[mondo]

I must admit I was quite displeased when seeing the first player vs dragon fight in Skyrim. That's not the dragons we know and loathe

Skyrim is a bit of a joke in that regards, the difficult doesn't scale at all well. I found the toughest creature was the Mammoths and the Giants. But as soon as you get Daedric armour and weapons and some points into heavy armour and whatever weapon you use, the games difficulty just disappears.

Its not like the old Bioware RPG's where you'd be level 20 but you're still dog food in some areas of the game.

Its why I might actually try both Witchers. Because they appear to be the best of the old school RPG's.

 

[Shilka]

Well, I must say the dragons were somewhat difficult in skyrim, when I was still like under level 15. I must admit though my character only uses light armor. When I got a housecarl they got a lot easier though.
I still had one hugely difficult dragon encounter, because I was stalking a bandit camp when it attacked me, and while fighting it I simultaneously got attacked by the bandits, and just when I had disposed of the bandits a black bear ran up and started clawing at my back while I was still firing arrows at the dragon. It was extremely hectic and I only lived with a shred of health left. I know it was very coincidental, but the game makes these sort of coincidences possible.

I agree Skyrim isn't the most difficult RPG and it's very possible to make it a cakewalk by picking the right skills to upgrade, but it's also possible to counteract this by roleplaying and staying in character. I love to bake in some flaws in my character designs as much as I hate making uberbuilds.

 

[Leimboy]

I agree Shilka! I haven't played Skyrim but from what I've seen so far it seems much better challenge-wise compared to Oblivion (where everything was 'the same level' as you - which killed the feeling of progress). It's the difficult situations and the near escapes you remember from your games, just as the one you described. The randomness of the Skyrim world is what makes me look forward to play it some day
Morrowind has the same problem with being too easy, but that was only in the later part of the game when you've done almost everything anyway. It was very hard in the beginning, hard middle game and a total cakewalk late game.
I too like to role play the RPG - "I would do this, but what would my character do?". This is why I enjoy open game worlds where you can how your character fares instead of breaking the game because you're too evil or have killed a special quest character or something.
The Witcher seem to accept stupid player decisions. You can actually kill quest givers (or get them killed accidentally) and that will affect your choices and how the inhabitants see you as you play. Real choices with real consequences which affects the gameplay.
I read somewhere that making a choice in Witcher 2 would split the storyline in two, and each of the choices made the game almost into two separate experiences. Now that's a kind of choice I can like

 

[Kenadian]

I play a Nord so I picked up a companion, outfitted them with decent armor and weaponry and then have them keep the dragons pre-occupied while I hit them with arrows or whatever staff works best.