The Witcher 2

[Azure-Supernova]

I'll pick it up when I can afford it, from what I've seen (and the very little I've played) it's cracking.

That's interesting. Isn't the difficulty curve supposed to start easy and end hard, not vice versa?

One would argue... no... as technically as you get more skilled and stronger through progress the game would become easier, am I right?

 

[sta697]

i want this game i want this game i want this game!

 

[Harb]

I'll pick it up when I can afford it, from what I've seen (and the very little I've played) it's cracking.

That's interesting. Isn't the difficulty curve supposed to start easy and end hard, not vice versa?

One would argue... no... as technically as you get more skilled and stronger through progress the game would become easier, am I right?

If you mess up positioning, signs, potions, oils, swords, ect. enemies will roll you over on normal anywhere between tutorial and chapter 3 (haven't gotten any further yet), don't worry .

 

[Azure-Supernova]

I'll pick it up when I can afford it, from what I've seen (and the very little I've played) it's cracking.

That's interesting. Isn't the difficulty curve supposed to start easy and end hard, not vice versa?

One would argue... no... as technically as you get more skilled and stronger through progress the game would become easier, am I right?

If you mess up positioning, signs, potions, oils, swords, ect. enemies will roll you over on normal anywhere between tutorial and chapter 3 (haven't gotten any further yet), don't worry .

Sounds perfect! Nothing I enjoyed more in The Witcher than spending 5 minutes before a battle sharpening my sword and necking potions!

 

[-Drifter-]

I actually got used to the combat. I guess it's quite a hit and miss issue with players.

Its not that the combat is hard to get used to, its that it feels clunky and unresponsive at times. Like I'm surrounded by nekkers and I smack one in the face with my sword and when I try to roll away it takes a second or two for Geralt to respond and move. In the time 4 more nekkers gang up on me and have their way with me. It would be easier if I could just use the Arad sign to blow them off of me but seeing how it only effects one person now that's not an option.

Is it as bad as the Witcher 1 in that regard? I'm playing through the first game (on act 2) and whenever I kill one of those exploding slug things, I can never seem to get away in time to avoid taking damage.

 

[wolfapocalypse]

I actually got used to the combat. I guess it's quite a hit and miss issue with players.

Its not that the combat is hard to get used to, its that it feels clunky and unresponsive at times. Like I'm surrounded by nekkers and I smack one in the face with my sword and when I try to roll away it takes a second or two for Geralt to respond and move. In the time 4 more nekkers gang up on me and have their way with me. It would be easier if I could just use the Arad sign to blow them off of me but seeing how it only effects one person now that's not an option.

Is it as bad as the Witcher 1 in that regard? I'm playing through the first game (on act 2) and whenever I kill one of those exploding slug things, I can never seem to get away in time to avoid taking damage.

Fortunately not as bad but still not great. The combat is better but not by to much. And I hate those slug things so much. I remember having low health and killing two of those slugs at the same time. I died immediately. Seriously those damn slugs seem like they have little nuclear reactors inside of them.

 

[DannibalG36]

Best RPG I played all year - then again, I was feeling charitable after the atrocity that was Dragon Age 2.

But the Witcher 2 gave me a wonderfully immersive game with a story that was actually mature, not something involving homolust fanfiction and barely disguised political satire (COUGH COUGH, Bioware).

 

[Harb]

Sounds perfect! Nothing I enjoyed more in The Witcher than spending 5 minutes before a battle sharpening my sword and necking potions!

If you want to enhance this to the max, invest points you get every level to alchemy path. There are pretty damn huge boosts(+40% potion / oil duration, +35% positive effect, -80% negative effect, ability to drink extra potion, ect.) "while poisoned" or "while intoxicated". First I misunderstood "while poisoned" as poisoned from e.g. spiders, which rendered it useless in my eyes . But it's poisoning from potions.

I've only watched a little bit of a playthrough of it, but doesn't it have a very large and detailed instruction booklet, and those large pop-up tips that pop up when you're doing something new?

I understand how combat works just from reading the pop-ups.

Pop-up tips are very...brief and can be read again if you open your journal and select "tutorial" button. The game pdf manual served me a lot better.

 

[Harb]

Redundant post...

 

[Danceofmasks]

Sounds perfect! Nothing I enjoyed more in The Witcher than spending 5 minutes before a battle sharpening my sword and necking potions!

If you want to enhance this to the max, invest points you get every level to alchemy path. There are pretty damn huge boosts(+40% potion / oil duration, +35% positive effect, -80% negative effect, ability to drink extra potion, ect.) "while poisoned" or "while intoxicated". First I misunderstood "while poisoned" as poisoned from e.g. spiders, which rendered it useless in my eyes . But it's poisoning from potions.

I think Azure-Supernova was being sarcastic.

It's also unnecessary .. I just did a run on Hard without dying, and I never bothered using any potions.
I did use alchemy to make a bunch of explosives, but I can use those on the fly, rather than having to prep for combat.

 

[devotedsniper]

I love it, the combats hard, but once you get into it's very good system. my only issue is the saves, i just checked and from 1 playthrough of 19 hours i have 1.45GB of autosaves.

...My only question why is steam downloading a further 9GB for it.....i already finished it lol.

 

[Harb]

I think Azure-Supernova was being sarcastic.

It's also unnecessary .. I just did a run on Hard without dying, and I never bothered using any potions.
I did use alchemy to make a bunch of explosives, but I can use those on the fly, rather than having to prep for combat.

I sensed sarcasm, but wasn't sure . I've been enjoying alchemy style, so why not throw some recommendations.

Btw - did you run on hard with points in Swordsmanship?

 

[Danceofmasks]

I think Azure-Supernova was being sarcastic.

It's also unnecessary .. I just did a run on Hard without dying, and I never bothered using any potions.
I did use alchemy to make a bunch of explosives, but I can use those on the fly, rather than having to prep for combat.

I sensed sarcasm, but wasn't sure . I've been enjoying alchemy style, so why not throw some recommendations.

Btw - did you run on hard with points in Swordsmanship?

I had some points in swordsmanship, but I invested mostly in magic.
Some parts are quite silly due to my build ... oh a duel, eh? You intend to block everything, eh? Igni, Igni, Igni, Igni, Igni ... ??? ... Profit!

I found that max vigor & vigor recovery is the most useful thing to have, rather than investing in improved effectiveness per point of vigor, so my build revolved around that.
Even in the witcher training tree, I just picked all the vigor upgrades, the mandatory parry upgrade, and a point into knife throwing.

Must be my having played mages in just about every game where I can pick mage, ever ... my Geralt is basically projectile (of all sorts) spam, with sword slashes to finish stuff off when convenient.

 

[Danceofmasks]

my only real issue with the game is the fact they removed bankers and added a crafting system and its mats at the same time.

that said you don't actually need to constantly carry as much stuff as i did in my first play through and they did overhaul the interface as part of the Enhanced Edition of the first game so i kinda suspect it will see some attention before the expansion arrives (yes i expect an old school expansion as the next big chunk rather than a Witcher 3)

My biggest issue with the inventory is when I'm trying to sell junk.
Why no "sell all junk" or even just making quest items I can't get rid off invisible?

Also, it annoys me somewhat that one of the choices in the prologue gives you +50 carrying capacity.
This game was supposed to be about choices and consequences, not choice X is always better than choice Y.

I think the most common complaint of "the game doesn't tell you anything; it's balls hard" can be fixed by having some sort of training mode like fighting games have. Teaching you how to link abilities into combos or control the battlefield, maybe like you're being taught stuff at Kaer Morhen.

 

[Danceofmasks]

im actually not so sure that +50 is related to a plot choice

Test it yourself. You only get it if you help whathisface escape.
(Hope I'm being sufficiently vague to avoid spoilers)

As for the stuff about signs:

Quen stops vigor regen while it is up. Consequently, I often let the enemies hit me, on purpose, in order to empty Quen's duration.

In the prologue, your max vigor and vigor regen is obviously not going to be fast enough.

By the end of chapter 1, I won't even get below 3 vigor in most fights before everything is either dead or on a sliver of life, and I do so a lot faster (due to AoE) than I would with a sword.
Obviously, this may not be the case if I had upgraded group style instead of level 3 Igni .. I heard you could Quen+click to wipe out several foes at once, but that's an option you have to choose to go.

Finally, it's perfectly feasible to slash at foes front on.
A little tricky to choose which attacks Geralt uses, but once you figure a few moves out, it's damn sweet.
For instance, say you got a superb cutlass and put some Ysgith runes in them.
Now, if you angle Geralt so that his target is at close range and to the front/right of him, a light attack will make him do a spin which hits 3 times.
With >65% chance of bleeding, you can usually immediately roll away and cackle as your foe bleeds to death.

 

[nbamaniac]

one thing about the combat that i will clarify as the OP is yes, i f*cked up a lot of times in the game. It could be because of quibs in the combat mechanics or maybe i was just plain stupid. Anyway i agree with the criticisms on this game and i found them to be constructive. (especially the 'junk tab in inventory') I hope CDP will look at this for a better experience then either in their next game or in the ff patches.

 

[mrhateful]

I havent played the the witcher 2 yet but from what i heard the start is offputtingly difficult, and towards the end it's laughably easy.

But i couldnt get into the first game (might try again actually) but until the price drops significantly i wont be picking up the sequal

The reason why you couldn't get into the first was because it was terrible, the second is a power house of greatness, its like comparing poor nwn1 to fantastic nwn2.. a joke.

 

[infohippie]

I've been really enjoying it, it's one of the best games I've played in at least a decade.
One gripe, though, is the alchemy system. Alchemy in Rise of the White Wolf was a little more complex, with the secondary elements and the possibility of discovering potions by experimentation. I also liked the way you needed to find or brew alcohols of different purities for more complex potions. I would have preferred CDPR kept this system and built on it to make it more complex for Assassin of Kings rather than simplify it they way they have.
I would also have preferred to see Geralt doing more "witcher's work" tracking down monsters and investigating supernatural occurrences for villages rather than getting so involved in politics.

 

[Danceofmasks]

i know all about Igni builds especially after the first game where they were seriously overpowered, but ye as you suggest extensive magic use at the start of the game simply isn't practical.

Oh I wouldn't say that, exactly ...
Can't win fights by just spamming signs, but playing as more of a mage can be done from the very start.

For example, this video I made when I was testing out Axii and Yrden, as well as how close I can get to those sword swings before getting hit.
(I record footage so I can review what works and what doesn't)

 

[StormShaun]

I love the series but my computer sucks so, Goodbye cruel world...until I get a better computer...*BANG* X_X