Poll: I'm On The Fence About Trying The Witcher 2

[cojo965]

Now let me just say that I think the Witcher 2 sounds like a good game but a few mechanics put me off. I know the game is hard, that isn't a problem, I finished Dark Souls twice. If you want to know why I am intimidated by these mechanics despite not having played the game go watch the Zero Punctuation review of it because Yahtzee puts it better than I can. I'll wait.

...

...

Watched it? Good now on that bit about potions I heard a more detailed description of how that works and I could not begin to wrap my head around it. I hope you, the Escapists can give me a reason to try it.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Well ZP is about picking things apart to mock them, so what are your actual concerns here?

 

[cojo965]

Now to clarify, The Witcher 2 sounds like a good game but a few mechanics sound intimidating to me. The difficulty isn't the problem, I finished Dark Souls twice but I'm not the one to talk about it so watch Yahtzee's review of the game. I hope you, the Escapists can give me a reason to play it.

 

[Andrewtheeviscerator]

For the most part Yahtzee is right about the game. I got it, played it, and had some fun. Don't expect the amazing engrossing game that people hype it up as because it is far from it. If you can get it cheap then go for it but I wouldn't pay full price for it. Also not sure what system you're getting it for but there is very little difference besides that it controls better on xbox (or with a gamepad).

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Most of the issues are minor complaints.
Things like switching between swords and dodge rolling become second nature.

On normal difficulty the hardest fights are in chapter 1.
If you pay attention to where you throw your skill points, fights become a cakewalk.
I didn't use a single mutanagen throughout the whole game and after chapter 2, I no longer used potions.

Unless you play higher difficulties, the game isn't as hard as people make it out to be.
There can be some frustrating moments, but nothing that should cause a rage quit.

 

[The_Lost_King]

Make sure your computer can run it first. It is a pretty demanding game.

 

[OpticalJunction]

It's a very nice, in depth modern rpg with beautiful graphics and a branching storyline. I'd definitely recommend it. Just make sure your pc can handle it. The only real flaw is the gameplay, which I found a bit clunky.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

There was something about the Witcher 2 that just bored me to death, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

The world felt alive, the characters were cool, the story was decent, but I didn't care about any of it.

I dunno, it just lacked 'that spark' I guess.

 

[kyogen]

If you have the patience to work and think your way through Dark Souls, then you should have no problem playing The Witcher 2 beyond the time it takes to learn a new combat style. There's a pretty good (and optional) combat tutorial now, and there's always easy mode (which can still be challenging if you're new to the game) in case you just want to practice things or get to the next story point.

I really doubt that the gameplay would prevent you from finishing, but if the story and setting just aren't your thing, that might be trouble. If you want your purchase to be worthwhile, you need to go into TW2 intending to pay attention. Sure, there's action and eye candy aplenty, but the game will treat you as if you're interested in social politics and capable of independent reasoning.

Maybe check out some gameplay on Youtube? There's also the game's official forums: http://en.thewitcher.com/forum/

They're a mostly friendly bunch, and they love their game enough to be critical of it as well.

 

[TeletubbiesGolfGun]

Most of the issues are minor complaints.
Things like switching between swords and dodge rolling become second nature.

On normal difficulty the hardest fights are in chapter 1.
If you pay attention to where you throw your skill points, fights become a cakewalk.
I didn't use a single mutanagen throughout the whole game and after chapter 2, I no longer used potions.

Unless you play higher difficulties, the game isn't as hard as people make it out to be.
There can be some frustrating moments, but nothing that should cause a rage quit.

basically this

it will take some getting used to at first, but the controls do become second nature after a half hour or so, and personally to me it's one of the most well balanced rpg's i've played in a long time (combat wise/story wise/rpg wise/etc..)

definitely worth getting if you like rpg's at all.

 

[pilouuuu]

It's a good, but flawed game. I hated the navigation in that game!

Sometimes the map doesn't help at all and you're stuck because the path where you should go is not clear. It's really baaad in that sense!

But it's still worth playing and you're also supporting a great developer.

 

[MetallicaRulez0]

I got bored about 10 hours in and never went back to play it. If you enjoy slower story-based RPGs, it's a fine game. It's GORGEOUS, for one. But yeah, I didn't really enjoy the combat or the world very much, so I dropped it.

 

[Saviordd1]

Now let me just say that I think the Witcher 2 sounds like a good game but a few mechanics put me off. I know the game is hard, that isn't a problem, I finished Dark Souls twice. If you want to know why I am intimidated by these mechanics despite not having played the game go watch the Zero Punctuation review of it because Yahtzee puts it better than I can. I'll wait.

...

...

Watched it? Good now on that bit about potions I heard a more detailed description of how that works and I could not begin to wrap my head around it. I hope you, the Escapists can give me a reason to try it.

Listen, I played the first one, and hated it; and for the longest time I REFUSED to try the second one due to the first game and what some people said.

Just...fucking...buy it.
If you like RPG's, play it, it is worth every damn penny.

Most of the issues are minor complaints.
Things like switching between swords and dodge rolling become second nature.

On normal difficulty the hardest fights are in chapter 1.
If you pay attention to where you throw your skill points, fights become a cakewalk.
I didn't use a single mutanagen throughout the whole game and after chapter 2, I no longer used potions.

Unless you play higher difficulties, the game isn't as hard as people make it out to be.
There can be some frustrating moments, but nothing that should cause a rage quit.

I don't know...that draugir until I figured out I COULD use the yrden sign...

 

[The Wykydtron]

Ehhhh, the mechanics are fine I suppose. The quest objectives can be a bit obtuse sometimes but I suspect that's on purpose.

It's too in your face with its theming for my tastes. Yes Witcher 2, you're Grimdark. Have a cookie. Maybe you could pick up some subtlety once you stop spamming the swearwords and implied rapes every two seconds?

I had to stop just before you do that part where you split the game completely differently if you side with guy X or guy Y (that's pretty cool though.) Perhaps if the heavy handed theming wasn't being the equivalent of a child waving his arms and shouting for attention I could have gotten further.

Afterall being mean to women is shorthand for good dark theming right?

 

[4173]

I'd give it a try; most of the difficulty I had related to being too stubborn to learn which sign did what.

 

[Sexy Devil]

Now let me just say that I think the Witcher 2 sounds like a good game but a few mechanics put me off. I know the game is hard, that isn't a problem, I finished Dark Souls twice. If you want to know why I am intimidated by these mechanics despite not having played the game go watch the Zero Punctuation review of it because Yahtzee puts it better than I can. I'll wait.

...

...

Watched it? Good now on that bit about potions I heard a more detailed description of how that works and I could not begin to wrap my head around it. I hope you, the Escapists can give me a reason to try it.

Just play on normal mode, can go the whole game without using a potion (except the Kayran one but they walk you through that) if you do side quests.

 

[Lord Garnaat]

Well ZP is about picking things apart to mock them, so what are your actual concerns here?

Just because Yahtzee can be extreme with his criticisms doesn't make those criticisms any less valid. Some of the problems he had with The Witcher 2 were nitpicks, but small problems can break a game if done often enough.

As for the topic at hand, I'm afraid I cannot offer much wisdom on the subject. The Witcher series has never really appealed to me. It seems like the kind of "dark" fantasy where it tries so hrd to be dark that it just makes the whole thing seem artificial and juvenile a la Warhammer 40k. Still though, I can't speak for your tastes, so do as you will.