Skyrim or The Witcher 2?

[TrollFase]

The Witcher 2.

I have played both and beaten each, and I would choose The Witcher 2 as a suggested game over Skyrim without hesitation. This is not me saying that Skyrim sucked, I absolutely LOVED Skyrim, its just the story on Witcher 2 was so engaging and visceral that I was completely, for lack of a better word, attached to the world/story/gameplay. The characters aren't tired out tropes, they are incredibly unique and each offers a new experience in dialogue and such. CD Projekt RED worked extremely hard on their character design, and it really shows. The story and world are a very mature and realistic take on the standard "Swords and Sorcery" setting. The monsters are crisp, and unique and the fauna is very well detailed and well designed.

I could keep going on about Witcher 2 all day, but im just going to stop at the above.

If for nothing else; get Witcher 2 for the story, its top-notch.

 

[Epona]

Do you mean which is best? Because those two are about as incomparable as you can get.

I prefer Witcher 2, but that's mostly because I like a focused linear story over a billion stories in a sandbox.

Really, two RPG's are as incomparable as you can get? How about Witcher 2 vs Mario Galaxy, wouldn't that be MORE incomparable?

If you lack the ability to compare two RPG's, then why even respond at all?

 

[prophecy2514]

The Witcher 2.

I have played both and beaten each, and I would choose The Witcher 2 as a suggested game over Skyrim without hesitation. This is not me saying that Skyrim sucked, I absolutely LOVED Skyrim, its just the story on Witcher 2 was so engaging and visceral that I was completely, for lack of a better word, attached to the world/story/gameplay. The characters aren't tired out tropes, they are incredibly unique and each offers a new experience in dialogue and such. CD Projekt RED worked extremely hard on their character design, and it really shows. The story and world are a very mature and realistic take on the standard "Swords and Sorcery" setting. The monsters are crisp, and unique and the fauna is very well detailed and well designed.

I could keep going on about Witcher 2 all day, but im just going to stop at the above.

If for nothing else; get Witcher 2 for the story, its top-notch.

Exactly my opinion. I loved the shit outta skyrim. But the witcher 2 is fantasic, so good that I bought an xbox just so I could play it right through, as I almost exclusively use a ps3 for games.

 

[Zhukov]

I enjoyed them both for different reasons and eventually came to despise them both for different reasons.

[sub](If that sounds vague it's because I'm not actually sure what the OP wants us to talk about.)[/sub]

You actually despise The Witcher 2? Why is that?

Hyperbole.

But if you reeeeeally want to know:

Spoiler: Spoilered for excessive whining and because I don't want to be quoted to death.

Setting was dull and cliche. Dragons. Mages. Dwarves with beards in mines. Elves with bows in forests. Blah-de-blah.

Characters were boring and one-note.

Story started out okay, if rather cliche, with the framed-for-assassination-gotta-clear-your-name thing. Took a turn downhill when Little Miss T&A got kidnapped. Completely stopped giving a shit by the second act. Laughed out loud with the dragon-in-disguise business.

Combat also started out okay when it was tense and difficult. Got progressively easier and eventually overstayed its welcome something fierce. Eventually said "oh fuck this" and spammed bombs for the rest of the game.

Encountered some nasty bugs. One made all my controls except movement unresponsive. Kept having to run in circles through fight until the game deigned to unfuck itself. Funny the first five times. Less funny by the twentieth time.

Interface was woeful.

At least the trailers were nice.

 

[Gideon Rogers]

I've only played Skyrim, so take this opinion with a grain of salt. It feels like an insult to my intelligence when a game includes sex scenes for no other reason than to appeal to gamers who had to stop paying subscribtions for "less respectable websites" in order to afford the game. Gameplay seems solid though.

 

[jackinmydaniels]

I HATE that this topic keeps coming up, the games aren't even similar outside of their fantasy settings.

 

[Epona]

Really, two RPG's are as incomparable as you can get? How about Witcher 2 vs Mario Galaxy, wouldn't that be MORE incomparable?

If you lack the ability to compare two RPG's, then why even respond at all?

I agree, this is getting silly, while they aren't the exact same game they are similar enough that people will sometimes make comparisons between them or have to choose just 1 to pick up.

Indeed, and if they were close enough to be comparable to these people, then they would be complaining because they weren't different enough.

My god folks, you compare games everytime you look on the shelf and decide what to play. It isn't hard to compare games of the same genre.

 

[Joccaren]

Ok, to everyone saying "They're totally comparable", they're not in this context.
In an argument over which is better, you can't compare them to come to an answer.

"Witcher is better because its combat is better".
Its combat isn't better [Though I find it to be more enjoyable]. Its combat is different. You can prefer the style the Witcher goes for in its combat, or the one Skyrim goes for, but you can't say overall "This is the better combat".

This is why they are, in this context, incomparable. You can look at them both and say "This is different", but not "This is better", which is what this thread is, vaguely, asking for.

If someone were to ask you which were the better RPG, Skyrim or TW2, you couldn't give a flat "This one" answer because they are not immediately comparable overall either. You would have to ask "Do you prefer open world questing, or a more fleshed out semi-linear set of quests" among other questions.

No, this does not mean you can't compare the games at all. You can. In this context, you can't do it properly. If it were changed to "Which game has the better open world mechanics", then sure, you could compare the features from each game easily enough and come to a conclusion.

Granted this is mostly OPs fault thanks to a lack of clear direction for the thread, but TW2 vs Skyrim makes it pretty apparent that its asking which one is better. In this case, they are not directly comparable, but which is better is entirely dependent on the tastes of what an individual likes in RPGs, as they are different beasts along those lines.



OT: The Witcher 2 for me, easily.
Combat I find more entertaining and engaging.
The story is better told and IMO more interesting.
The characters are far more fleshed out and alive.
Everywhere you go feels alive [or dead] and has some sort of atmosphere, as opposed to Skyrim where it usually just existed.
Its graphics are far, far better.
Whilst the choices don't necessarily have a ton of consequence, they can lead to a different experience in playing through, giving it IMO more replayability than Skyrim.

Its also less buggy, at least for me, and more polished.

 

[Zhukov]

[snip]

Lengthy discussion time!

No, it really, really isn't.

Sorry, but I have no interest in getting into lengthly exchanges about whether or not a game is good. Hence why I kept my first post vague and spoiler'd my reply.

You enjoyed the game (or so I presume) and I did not. Doubtless there are games out there that I enjoyed that you did not. I see no point in arguing the matter. You won't change my mind and I have no need to change yours.

 

[Imbechile]

Both of them are pretty mediocre games....
So I would say that the Witcher is the less mediocre one

 

[Starke]

Skyrim because I hate the Witcher.

WTS a thread full of bias.

Yeah, but who'd want to buy a thread full of bias? I mean, it's not like they're actually worth anything.

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

I'm with the swarm who say they're incomparable, but I'm gonna go with Skyrim.

I prefer the organic open ended gameplay that's reasonably intuitive. Sure the Witcher has sex, but Skyrim has nudity mods (I don't use them, I'm just aware of their existence).

 

[BroJing]

Skyrim will always be my favourite, I loved everything about the world, the story and yes even the combat mechanics.

I didn't play the Witcher 2 because I don't like RPGs with default characters, yes I understand the emphasis on a linear story but then it's not really a RPG its just a normal game(Yes you are playing the 'role' of Geralt but by that logic you're playing the 'role' of Pvt. Billy in every COD game ever).

Also, the world and the visual style didn't appeal to me as the Renaissance/High Medieval vibe wasn't something I could get excited about. I didn't like Oblivion for much the same reason.

 

[Joccaren]

I didn't play the Witcher 2 because I don't like RPGs with default characters, yes I understand the emphasis on a linear story but then it's not really a RPG its just a normal game(Yes you are playing the 'role' of Geralt but by that logic you're playing the 'role' of Pvt. Billy in every COD game ever).

This is why I like to refer to Witcher 2's story as Semi-Linear.

Its linear in the sense that Skyrim's war between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials is linear. There is a linear set of missions for each side, and you get to choose a side.

You Role Play as Geralt as it isn't a set in stone "This must happen every time" sort of thing. Geralt is a pre-defined character, but key conversations are interactive, and allow you to choose how his pre-defined character reacts to certain situations, whilst still keeping in that character. You can't go around and slaughter a village because you felt like it, but you can decide whether to help one set of potential allies, or the other, whether to let people who cross you go, or whether to kill them, to deceive some, or to help them.

Its not like CoD where everything that happens will happen the same way in every playthrough. It actually does react to the way you RP Geralt, IMO more than Skyrim does.

 

[Krantos]

Both of them are RPG's in a fantasy setting. In both games, you play as someone who is close to being the last of his kind (Witcher or Dragonborn). Both have dialogue options. I could go on, of course. I fail to see how they are so mind-blowingly "incomparable". Maybe if these are the two only games you have ever played in your entire life, but otherwise...

What you're talking about are superficial similarities. The two go for very different engagements.

The Witcher is much darker, has a much more structured narrative, focuses on player story choices, has a much smaller world, is more character focused, and limits the player to playing a single character, it also gives the main character much more personality.

Skyrim is much more light-hearted, has almost no narrative structure, allows for (almost) no player story choices, has a huge world filled with unrelated stuff to do, allows the player to play any of 10 races, male or female, warrior, thief, mage, or any combination, but gives that character no personality of their own, relying on the player to provide that.


In short, the Witcher presents the player with a very refined and structured story. The player is allowed to make choices which affect how the story unfolds, but it's always the same story.

Skyrim on the other hand simply presents the player with a multitude of possible stories (sometimes only the barebones of a story), and then lets them loose to do and be whatever they want.

The Witcher 2 can also be completed, with all the side quests, in about 25-30 hrs. 500+ hours into Skyrim, and I'm still finding new shit.

Both are great games, but they do and provide very different things.

 

[Dark Prophet]

You can't really compare those two, they have only two things in common they are both RPG's and both have fantasy theme going on for them and that's all.

 

[themyrmidon]

Reading through these posts I can't help but think that the internet is missing the point of doing a comparison. Yes, you compare things when they are similar to highlight the differences, but you also compare vastly different options to determine which you like more. Saying that Skyrim and Witcher 2 are incomparable is just false, while I can't pick as I *still* haven't played Witcher 2 yet I can say I much prefer Skyrim to Dragon Age: Origins, despite their differences in almost all but setting. This is due to story, quests, feel of the world, gameplay, and pretty much everything (yeah, I really didn't like DA:O). I also liked Avengers more than TDKR, despite their "lack of comparability".

TL;DR: stop whining about things not being comparable and make a choice!

 

[Dendio]

Gonna throw in my vote for witcher 2. Both games are good, but witcher 2's characters are much more memorable than skyrim's. As such the witcher 2 story is stronger. The refreshing maturity level of witcher 2 is another feature worth mentioning

 

[Dendio]

Skyrim is very good, but I feel like I'm faffing around without too much purpose. Just started Witcher 2. Seems very hard so far. If you prefer hard games, I think you'll like it better than Skryim

It gets much easier after the first level or so. Just a bit of a learning curve

Witcher 2 if you want a story.

Skyrim if you want replayability.

Both are about equal in every other domain.

To be fair witcher has 16 different endings and you need to play at least twice before you uncover the entire story. Decisions you make in stage 1 leads to completely different towns, allies, characters and circumstances. They did a great job making choice really matter mid game

 

[RyQ_TMC]

Not to mention the fact that I'm not sold on this being a mature and adult story. It seems like a lot of profane material was thrown in for the hell of it. I realize that in that time people were more than a little uncouth, but I've never heard someone say, "What the ass fuck is going on here?" That's just childish. Additionally, you can't make it more than thirty minutes without some profane sexual innuendo. It's fine at first but gets old quick.

The WItcher's big problem is that all the sex, drinking and cursing was actually a big selling point of the books and I dare say that it was a big factor contributing to their massive success in Poland and therefore to the decision to develop a game based on them.

Sapkowski's "fucks, farts and profanities" style is so closely associated with The Witcher series that they pretty much HAD to put it in the games. I agree it often appears childish and gives an impression of a 12-year old's idea of what "being adult" means. But it's also an inalienable part of the setting.

And please, please DON'T use "in that time" as a shorthand. Don't do it because medieval fantasy is based on a popular image of the European Middle Ages, which (as history now tells us) is far from truth. "In the movies" would be a more accurate statement.

Anyhoo, OT: I LOVE the woods in The Witcher 2. They just feel so much better than the standard "randomly positioned bunch of trees" in most other games. So yeah, that's my reason for the preference. I like both games, but Skyrim just doesn't have that forest area.