Chronicling my way through Witcher 2

[IceForce]

During the scene where the kings negotiated and the dragon finally showed up I was barely aware about who was who and doing what for which reason. I didn't really know how it connected to Geralt at all.

Yeah, the Iorveth quest line does a much better job of introducing and setting up the exposition behind that scene, especially regarding the dragon (you'll see what I mean when you replay it).

But I guess much of the game's playtime comes from replaying it and making different choices. Which I'm definitely going to do, since

- Iorveth's chapter is apparently much better than Roche's
- You get to bang a succubus in said chapter
- And judging from the achievements, you can boomshakalaka with Ves as well! Bow-chica-wow-wow! Very nice!

So I've definitely got reasons to replay the game. Yeah, and also to see how the different story beats play out.

Ves is only bangable during the Roche quest line, so if you didn't do that then I guess you missed that interaction.

 

[IceForce]

For a bit of levity, check out these frankly hilarious death scenes that you may've missed.



That second video, Triss's face at the end is all like "Can you believe this fool?"

 

[CritialGaming]

Well, it's finished now, and I'm immediately (finally!) moving to Witcher 3 next. I was about to say that the game turned out a lot shorter than I'd expected, but it still took 22 hours, and I didn't exactly obsessively seek out every possible quest. I guess that's a good thing, since I didn't even notice how long it took. Though some of those hours definitely came out of retrying some combat sections over and over again.

Good Luck finished Witcher 3 in 22 hours. You'll be lost wandering around doing ? things for at least double that amount of time. Have fun!

 

[IceForce]

Anyway, this is where my expertise on the subject ends, as I haven't had a chance to play 3 yet.

From my perspective, you're heading into uncharted waters now, OP.

 

[Dalisclock]

I think the reason the game is so short in comparison to a lot of RPG's is because you're meant to replay it at least once to see the other half of the content(the path you didn't take at flotsam). My first time through(I took the Roche Path, because Ivorveth came across as a bit of a terrorist and I actually liked hanging out with Roche) I wondered why so many plot threads seemed to be left hanging. Then I replayed from the choice in Chapter 1 and realized "Oh....., that's where the other half of the game is"

Honestly, if you're gonna make half the game exclusive to a path choice made early on, you might as well make the paths shorter. Otherwise, the game feels way too long.

Though just a heads up, the Witcher 3 doesn't really acknowledge much of anything that happened on Ivoreth's path. Ivoreth and Saskia(?) aren't even so much as mentioned in 3. And along those lines, most of the choices you made in 2 end up not mattering much in 3. Any decisions you made that affected the politcal map at the end of 2 end up at the beginning of 3 with "The Empire and Redania pretty much absorbed everything that wasn't them"

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Soooo, I'm 2 hours into Witcher 3, and let's say... what's the word... I believe the academic term for describing its kind of game is FUCKHUEG. I mean, astronomically FUCKHUEG! Gargantuan. Apocalyptically massive. Bigger and huger than anything else ever in history. I'm hardly through the first story mission, and I already feel like one of those supermassive ocean cruisers is ready to crush me. How big this game seems is unlike anything I've ever seen. What's special about how it makes itself feel massive is a sense of not guiding the player. It doesn't display huge ruins, cities or mountains in your view or give you massive vistas to spot special locations to head towards. Instead it plops us right in the middle of what looks and feels like completely natural scenery, and lets its size be known just by the amount of distance the player is instructed to cover in the first missions, and the amount of discoveries you make on the way.

I'm going to have to contract pneumonia again if I ever hope to finish this game.

 

[The Madman]

Soooo, I'm 2 hours into Witcher 3, and let's say... what's the word... I believe the academic term for describing its kind of game is FUCKHUEG. I mean, astronomically FUCKHUEG! Gargantuan. Apocalyptically massive. Bigger and huger than anything else ever in history.

Heh, the tutorial zone is the smallest in the game. The main game is composed on two main zones: Velen and the Skellige Isles, each of which absolutely dwarf the intro area in size and scale. Not to mention the Blood & Wine expansion adds a third location in the form of Touissant.

You're in for a treat.

As a word of advice however: Turn off the points of interest markers on the game map. Seriously. You might think you're missing something by not visiting them all but the vast majority are just treasure chests, which are much more satisfying to stumble across on your own anyway and just sort of add clutter to the map otherwise. Meanwhile most side-quests are found via the bulletin boards you'll wander across in the various towns and villages you'll visit so you're not missing anything there.

I also really highly recommend the Friendly HUD mod which just gives you a ton more options for tweaking the in-game hud. As a sucker for minimalist UI being able to set it so that the screen is completely uncluttered when not in combat and that the mini-map only appears while using 'detective mode' makes the game a lot more pleasant. It also helps since I found that the mini-map detracts from the experience of just exploring the environment, but that's very much a personal preference.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I'm going to have to contract pneumonia again if I ever hope to finish this game.

Oh you have no idea.

That's just White Orchard where you are right now. It's kind of an extended tutorial level that's supposed to introduce you to pretty much all the gameplay elements that you'll need to survive when the game really opens up. White Orchard is quite small. Velen IS massive though. And so are Skellige and Toussaint. There's also Kaer Morhen but it's about as big as White Orchard.

And be sure to check out The Witcher 3 Nexus. It's full of interesting mods. If you have a grievance about some gameplay elements not being quite to your liking, there's a fairly good chance that there's a mod that will solve it. There's also a pretty sweet lighting mod that's constantly being updated and that I currently use. It makes the game look even better: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2358/?

Just don't look at screenshots because of spoilers.

 

[MysticSlayer]

He is still angry, but not enough to try to kill Geralt with the obvious result that will make. I also think he knows that as a Witcher Geralt doesn't need to pick sides and ends up solving the mystery regardless.

It's not that I expected him to attack Geralt. However, any expression of anger or distrust he showed, if he showed any beyond just being an inherently grumpy person, was significantly more mild than what I'd expect from him.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Okay, when I met Emreis after completing the initial story mission, his voice immediately grabbed my attention. "Who's that?" I wondered. "Christopher Lee? No, he's dead. What other actors do I know that have a similarly booming voice? The guy who plays Roose Bolton? No he's even deeper."

Then I realized it was Tywin Lannister himself, and my heart started to flutter. And sure enough, it really was. Totally unexpected, but brilliant casting. I'm already falling head over heels in love with this game. And as much as I ragged on the first Witcher, revisiting the palace in Vizima was a nice callback.

I'm beginning to see all the hype about this game. It really is a game changer, a new gold standard by which RPGs are measured. Bethesda will need to finally step their game the fuck up with the next Elder Scrolls.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Why don't you start a new thread about it? I always love hearing about people's experience with The Witcher 3, as it is my favorite game of all time.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I'm going to have to contract pneumonia again if I ever hope to finish this game.

very recently I got a new graphics card and 4k monitor, so my first game I went straight for was witcher 3 (I had played the main game once, but not the DLC's, so I had a reason to play it again regardless)

knowing somewhat the in's and outs of the main story, and completing both the expansions, it took me a solid 120 hours to beat all that...

now, there was some dilly-dallying occasionally, and I completed probably 99% of the material (this is the closest game I've come to 100%'ing a full game, I think there was maybe one or two side quests out of everything that I didn't complete.) so that 120 hours was fucking pushing it to the limit.

I don't regret a fucking second of it though, this game is fucking amazing, and I think the 2nd expansion is my most favorite of all, so good luck!

 

[oRevanchisto]

Witcher 2 undoubtedly has the best plot of all the games, though not all the characters are well developed. TW3 has the weakest plot but the best characters.

 

[Dalisclock]

Witcher 2 undoubtedly has the best plot of all the games, though not all the characters are well developed. TW3 has the weakest plot but the best characters.

I do appreciate how Witcher 2 was very good at constantly throwing big decisions at you where both options felt like it was gonna screw someone over and no, there isn't a third option. Sure, it's depressing as hell, but it does nicely encapsulate the idea that the world is going to shit and there's little you can do to stop it.

Or as I described it to a friend "Witcher 2: Who do you want to screw over the least?"

 

[oRevanchisto]

Witcher 2 undoubtedly has the best plot of all the games, though not all the characters are well developed. TW3 has the weakest plot but the best characters.

I do appreciate how Witcher 2 was very good at constantly throwing big decisions at you where both options felt like it was gonna screw someone over and no, there isn't a third option. Sure, it's depressing as hell, but it does nicely encapsulate the idea that the world is going to shit and there's little you can do to stop it.

Or as I described it to a friend "Witcher 2: Who do you want to screw over the least?"

Exactly, your choices felt like they had weight in that game and none of them could really be boiled down to good v. evil.