The Witcher 2 First Impressions Thread

[-Seraph-]

After beating the game, I found it to be really, really good. Honestly if you find the combat too difficult, try it on Easy mode. Interestingly enough, the difference between the two difficulties is quite huge. It'd be better if normal wasn't so difficult so as to punish any mistake with death.

Easy: No real tactics in combat beyond the need to avoid being surrounded. Shielded opponents don't block, they only mitigate damage done.

Normal: It's incredibly hard. At the beginning of the game, an enemy can 2 or 3 shot you from behind. Very, very unforgiving for a "Normal" difficulty.

Anything harder than that would be insanity I presume.

I'm playing on Hard mode and finding it pretty manageable; you really gotta use all the tools at your disposal even in standard enemy encounters. Those little shits like Nekkers and Drowners can easily murder you if you get surrounded....and boy did I fucking hate Nekkers while in Flotsam.

Capcha: between essivila

 

[BodomBeachChild]

So fr so good. Had some issues in the beginning with some studdering but it got cleared fast. So detailed and colorful.

The combat is fun, but had a learning curve that resembled the St. Louis Arch for me. Lock-on targeting is something the game tends to forget it is supposed to do. Using magick is 100x more efficent in TW2, though

Btw Dangeling Object Limitor limits how many objects such as hair/ropes/swords dangle. No other dangely bits. The world is goddamn vibrant..

 

[sbb]

It looks fantastic. I started out running it on medium-high, ran pretty well. Updated my graphics driver, and fps dropped in the toilet, no matter what settings I had. Rolled back the driver and everything's gravy again. Combat is way tougher than I expected, and I'm kind of considering buying a wired 360 controller so I can play it that way. I find when I have 20 different actions I NEED TO USE right in the middle of battle and most of them are keyed to be right next to each other, I'm frequently hitting the wrong thing and getting myself killed. Ugh.

 

[ElectroJosh]

I found the combat more challenging but, after getting used to the mechanics, I prefer it. It feels more satisfying when I defeat monsters/enemies. Also, as I said in an earlier thread, the signs are more useful. In the first game I really only used Aard and Igni - now I find that I regularly use all of them and am considering investing in more heavily in magic this playthrough.

 

[Sunder845]

Normal: It's incredibly hard. At the beginning of the game, an enemy can 2 or 3 shot you from behind. Very, very unforgiving for a "Normal" difficulty.

Anything harder than that would be insanity I presume.

I agree with this, I am on chapter 2 now and am finally used to the normal difficulty, though it took many many deaths to get there.

 

[Trolldor]

Investing in the combat skill tree pays off immensley.

Get dodge to level 2, whirlwind to level 2 and the combat acumen to level 2.

After that, all you have to do - for almost all battles - is attack, roll away, attack, roll away. Eventually your adrenaline bar will fill up. You unleash it and boom - up to three enemies dead instantly.
Combined with the two seperate abilities that reduce damage and the 200+ vitality bonus from the 'training' and 'combat' skill tree skills, and there's pretty much no battle you won't survive.
Admittedly I've been playing on the easiest difficulty, but with the frame rate issues I was having it was like playing on hard. Traps and signs are wonderful,

 

[ElectroJosh]

... Traps and signs are wonderful,

Yes I forgot about traps. Use them if you can because they really can help even up the odds in a fight.

On my PC the game runs smoothly and looks great. I've also had no buggy issues (knowing my luck, though, that will happen soon enough).

 

[ionveau]

Boring combat
Looks good
No open world




Its assasin creed with a closed world and no insta kill option

Using a 460 GTX runs fine on high after ultra it starts dropping below 30 FPS

 

[Trolldor]

... Traps and signs are wonderful,

Yes I forgot about traps. Use them if you can because they really can help even up the odds in a fight.

On my PC the game runs smoothly and looks great. I've also had no buggy issues (knowing my luck, though, that will happen soon enough).

Old computer is the problem.

Oddly enough the framerate improved at the later stages of the game to the point where I could

Spoiler

Fight the 'Order of the Rose' following Iorverth's path in Act 3. They spawn never endingly as you're supposed to go through a cave to avoid them. I went up 2 levels fighting them.

But yeah. Take your time, survey your surroundings, save frequently, run if you need to. A well placed trap can solve most of your problems.
A bunch of nekkers in Act 1 were making it impossible to make it to a cave, so I laid a few traps and just goaded the nekkers in to them. Only had to fight two out of the group of about 10 by the time the traps had gone off.

 

[Trolldor]

Boring combat
Looks good
No open world




Its assasin creed with a closed world and no insta kill option

Using a 460 GTX runs fine on high after ultra it starts dropping below 30 FPS

...it is 'open world'. The locations are set, but you have free roam in those environments with the exception of the Prologue which introduces you to the game.

 

[ionveau]

Boring combat
Looks good
No open world




Its assasin creed with a closed world and no insta kill option

Using a 460 GTX runs fine on high after ultra it starts dropping below 30 FPS

...it is 'open world'. The locations are set, but you have free roam in those environments with the exception of the Prologue which introduces you to the game.

I dont consider walking down set paths as open world, Oblivion is open fallout3 is open assasin creed is open(even though there nothing to do)

This game is more like fable or one of those movie games,

 

[Trolldor]

Fable was open world as well.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

...it is 'open world'. The locations are set, but you have free roam in those environments with the exception of the Prologue which introduces you to the game.

If it's anything like the first Witcher (i.e. having large slabs of map tied together, but preventing you from going back and forth between them as you like), I would hesitate to call that open world.

 

[Bostur]

So far I really like it.

It's hard, and I love that. In many recent games I get the feeling that the game can play without me being present. This certainly isn't the case for TW2 and thats a refreshing change.
The combination of hard combat, but relatively few fights give the feeling that battle is serious business and not to be taken lightly. That adds a realistic feel suitable to the setting. This certainly isn't a fairy and unicorn type of fantasy world.


The environment is amazing. It looks great and the small talk from the NPCs makes the world feel alive. This works much better than most RPGs. It really shows that the developers care for the world and the setting.


The controls could have done with some fine tuning. They sometimes feels sluggish and imprecise. Gameplay sometimes does suffer a bit because of this, but not to a large extent.


It's a great refreshing change to the RPG formula. Developers that dare and care, that is not something we see very often.

Lock-on targeting is something the game tends to forget it is supposed to do.

This option is there, I've seen it in a "Let's play" video. It's just that it's somewhat "hidden"from the player. Can someone who found it share this secret?

Pressing alt while having an enemy targeted will lock it.

 

[Trolldor]

Lock-on targeting is something the game tends to forget it is supposed to do.

This option is there, I've seen it in a "Let's play" video. It's just that it's somewhat "hidden"from the player. Can someone who found it share this secret?

Also there is no point in arguing if it's open world or not. The world is exactly how it needs to be for the story to work. If you like "unlimited freedom of movement" then go hiking.

Well, if you read the tutorials at all, you'd know all you have to do is pres the alt key when an enemy is highlighted to 'lock on'.

...it is 'open world'. The locations are set, but you have free roam in those environments with the exception of the Prologue which introduces you to the game.

If it's anything like the first Witcher (i.e. having large slabs of map tied together, but preventing you from going back and forth between them as you like), I would hesitate to call that open world.

The first Witcher didn't prevent you from going back and forth between them. Most of the game was running back and forth between areas for quests.

The Witcher 2 improves on the first substantially.

 

[veloper]

The first Witcher didn't prevent you from going back and forth between them. Most of the game was running back and forth between areas for quests.

There were areas that would become blocked off after a chapter transition.
Ofcourse those were areas you'd have no reason to revisit anyway, unless you missed out on some side-quest.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

At the risk of sounding wierd can someone tell me if it's as sexist as the first one? I mean the constant half naked promiscuous women and women-are-pokemon playing cards. I really couldn't stomach it after a while in the first Witcher although I did soldier on through for a bit. I might consider getting it if that has been improved as I enjoyed the gameplay.

I'm not looking for an argument if it's as bad I will just walk away I can accept that some games aren't meant for me.

If these things are known yet of course.

 

[Zer_]

At the risk of sounding wierd can someone tell me if it's as sexist as the first one? I mean the constant half naked promiscuous women and women-are-pokemon playing cards. I really couldn't stomach it after a while in the first Witcher although I did soldier on through for a bit. I might consider getting it if that has been improved as I enjoyed the gameplay.

I'm not looking for an argument if it's as bad I will just walk away I can accept that some games aren't meant for me.

If these things are known yet of course.

Funny that you should say that considering the fact that any sex in the game is the player's choice. There are exceptions in the second game, mainly being a romantic scene in he beginning with your significant other.

Sex cards were a way to tone down the nudity I believe. The second game does away with the sex cards. Sex is sex, and there are no "trophies" for it as it were.