The Witcher. Why?

[Hentaitom]

if you do not enjoy the witcher, then chances are you think that the best RPG to come out of the western world in the last 10 years is Fallout 3. The game has an amazing story told with a great first person narrative, and the combat system can actually be pretty fun if you play on the harder difficulties (alchemy requirements etc. etc.)

Every decision that you make culminates into an epic bloodbath of a final chapter that looks back on every choice you have made in the game and judges you for them. This alone is worth playing the game through to its end!

It is true you might get more out of the story having read the books, i myself had not, and i enjoyed the hell out of the game anyway. Its ambiguity, its perspective on the downtrodden rising against the upper class and the grey area between being a terrorist and a freedom fighter.

 

[Psychophante]

I thought it was pretty good, but also very flawed. Quietly looking forward to The Witcher 2, hopefully they've learned from the mistakes and can pull off a cracking RPG.

 

[Steppin Razor]

Good man! Here's your award for writing a comment.

-Snip-

I hope you are proud of yourself.

Where's my award, damn it!? Everyone's always handing out awards to everyone but me.

 

[Jekken6]

I enjoyed The Witcher very much ( I even reviewed it on here, look it up yourself, I don't feel like digging up the link now) and enjoyed EVERY chapter and I have also read the first 2 books and am awating The Witcher 2 to be released and the rest of The Witcher books to be translated into english and released.

 

[RivFader86]

Whenever I'd go into an EB Games I'd see the Witcher on the shelf with it's shiny black cover, all it's awards prominently displayed next to the title and think that it must be an amazing game. I kept meaning to buy it and try it out. So many people had said it was good and look at all those GOTY and Choice awards!

So I eventually went in and picked up a copy of the Enhanced Edition. I've had it for a while and I have only one question; Why? Why is there so much praise for this game?
I'm not saying I think it's terrible, it's just not amazing.

Yes, it was originally a book but that doesn't change a thing. It fails as a story, it fails at being sexy, and it fails as an RPG. The whole point of an RPG is the role-playing aspect. The only character you can role-play in this is a horny albino mutant.

So how did it win RPG of the year awards?

Because there isn't just your opinion?
Because you are not the (only) one voting for the rewards?
Because Smurfs are blue?


PS: Why do some gamers feel the need to ***** about anything that is succesfull? It's like "ah i don't like/buy/support this because so many others do" you are just like the people who follow every trend and listen to music in the charts just because they are in there only difference is you are going in exactly the oposite direction than those following the trend but you are still controled by the trend....TOOLS


PSS: Hey vlahud give me a ride to the gagoon!Yaavlahh where the galoon the god damn galoon

 

[blxtnsq]

PS: Why do some gamers feel the need to ***** about anything that is succesfull? It's like "ah i don't like/buy/support this because so many others do" you are just like the people who follow every trend and listen to music in the charts just because they are in there only difference is you are going in exactly the oposite direction than those following the trend but you are still controled by the trend....TOOLS

I'm not having a ***** about it because it's successful and everyone else loves it. If I was like that I wouldn't have bought it because people reccommended it to me in the first place.
I played the game, I formed my own unbiased opinion of it and then I wanted to know what other people thought of it. A lot of people don't like it, a lot of people love it and cause of that I think I might go back and play through bits of it again to see if they can change my mind.
I even said at the start that I didn't think it was a terrible game, just nothing to rave about and shower with awards.

And I don't see how this has anything to do with trends. I'm not that immature.

 

[child of lileth]

I never read the books or played the game, but one of my best friends loved them. He always said he liked the game because the combat system was challenging from how he played it. (I guess he means like the controls he used and so on.) And I think he said something about liking the alchemy system in the game. I don't really remember what all he said too well, this was like 4 years ago, or whenever the game came out.

 

[Bellvedere]

But see you shouldn't have to play a game for 20 hours to find the little nugget of fun. You should be able to enjoy a game on the first level.
Funnily enough it's only in the RPG genre, the games that do last over 20 hours, that you find people who try and convince you that. You'll never find someone who hates emerald hill zone and try and convince them "DUDE IT GETS BETTER IN MYSTIC CAVE ZONE" or someone who hates the first zone of Devil May Cry because of it's gameplay and try and convince them it really does get better halfway through. Either you like it or you don't. If an RPG has shit gameplay, chances are someone's not going to want to suffer through twenty hours of shit being shoved in their eyes to find that little tiny nugget of "It's not entirely shit".

Yeah it's in RPG's because of character development... Obviously you won't start out with a character that's completely awesome otherwise you wouldn't need to develop it. Thus making the fact it's an RPG redundant. As you progress further into the game and more options become available you get more interesting combat and more powerful characters. Though in fairness some games just have unbearable gameplay mechanics. Similar case with the story. It really starts to become fun when you start to see the repercussions of your decisions. But same thing don't want to make every decision have an immediate effect so beginning game you're not going to see as many results.

But you know each to their own. I've never finished a game I hated, so you're point that you're not going to convince anyone that hates a game that it's going to better is probably correct.

As for the Witcher, I've played a bit, I was on a friends computer, and I would probably like play all the way through one day. It seemed like it could be quite good from what I experienced.

 

[chenry]

The Witcher is great.

 

[Buccura]

In my opinion the gameplay was excellent, but the problem is, as Yahtzee pointed out, it's too easy to forget about what the story is while you play it. I want to go continue it but I can't remember much at all about the plot other than there is some cult called Salamandra who wants Geralt dead for, some reason.

 

[RivFader86]

*snip*

I'm not having a ***** about it because it's successful and everyone else loves it. If I was like that I wouldn't have bought it because people reccommended it to me in the first place.
I played the game, I formed my own unbiased opinion of it and then I wanted to know what other people thought of it. A lot of people don't like it, a lot of people love it and cause of that I think I might go back and play through bits of it again to see if they can change my mind.
I even said at the start that I didn't think it was a terrible game, just nothing to rave about and shower with awards.

And I don't see how this has anything to do with trends. I'm not that immature.

Yeah wasn't realy directed towards you (should have said so) your post just sparked the thought again...i know you played the game and made an informed decision so you don't fall in the catergory i mentioned.

 

[Woodsey]

if you do not enjoy the witcher, then chances are you think that the best RPG to come out of the western world in the last 10 years is Fallout 3.

1. How the f*ck did you arrive at that conclusion?

2. What would be wrong with someone who did think that Fallout 3 was the best RPG to come out in the past 10 years?

OT: There's this little thing called opinion, believe it or not the people that hand out the awards have their own just like you and me.

 

[Conman94]

Because it has boobies in it. That automatically gives it legendary status.

Kidding, The Witcher is a piece of shit played by lonely PC gamers.

 

[Gralian]

Probably because it was the first and only real masterpiece of the small company that actually churned it out.

It had the star wars style 'Heavy, normal, quick' attack style setup that made you consider your opponent rather then hack n' slash your way with multiple mouseclicks while shouting IT'S HAMMAH TIME.

It had a fairly complex alchemy system that was essential to survival on the harder difficulties. I'd like to see you beat the wolf-ghost boss thing in the village without spectre oil.

It's actually one of the few games to deal with sexuality (okay, i know it was shallow and misogynistic) as an actual art as part of the gaming medium. It also included a (very addictive i might add) gambling mini-game.

It has to be pointed out, again, that it's based off a book (possibly series?) which i myself own, called The Last Wish. Cross-medium stuff always excites fanboys of that particular thing / subject / franchise.

Varied enemy design and the world had a fair bit of lore to it, if you could be bothered to read through the journal entries. For example, Echninopsae grow where blood has been unjustly spilt, which is why so many were at a cannibal's hut. It can be an interesting game if you enjoy tangential learning.

Lastly, i would like to stress again that this was made by a very small, probably poor company from a country that isn't exactly known for its well published games. It wasn't Hollywood that churned this out, it was Poland. And kudos to them for publishing something so well made - it's just like people praising Xeno Clash for being an impressive, if bizarre game from a Chilean developer. The game itself may not have been gold but the developers deserve credit for making it without huge, endless financial backing.

 

[Yureina]

I don't know much about The Witcher. The only things that I have really heard is that it has alot of sex in the game, but is otherwise your typical PC RPG. Sex in a game not only does not sell a game to me, but in fact usually does quite the opposite for some reason. Its not something I have decided to check out though because I already spend far too much time playing with other RPG's, such as Fallout 3.

 

[The Eggplant]

So how did it win RPG of the year awards?

It did? Yeesh...it wasn't awful or any such, and I actually enjoyed most of the attempts at innovation and shoehorning those innovations into essential gameplay that it tried, but still. A solid effort, but dry as dust.... and I say that as someone who has actually taken the time to read most of the books in Oblivion and Morrowind. Yes, including the non-skill ones.

Ambiguous statements about overall game quality aside, Geralt needs to go sunbathing, acquire a severe case of skin cancer, and die. I hated the surly, albinoid little fuck.

 

[Hentaitom]

if you do not enjoy the witcher, then chances are you think that the best RPG to come out of the western world in the last 10 years is Fallout 3.

1. How the f*ck did you arrive at that conclusion?

2. What would be wrong with someone who did think that Fallout 3 was the best RPG to come out in the past 10 years?

OT: There's this little thing called opinion, believe it or not the people that hand out the awards have their own just like you and me.

ill rephrase, if you did not enjoy the witcher, then chances are you though that fallout 3 was a superior game to fallout 2.
the witcher gets back to what crpgs were like when we played Planescape Torment and Baldurs Gate. combat usually takes a back seat in the RPG experience.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I know most gamers today expect instant gratification from their games, but I was raised reading books more than playing games, and so grew up with an understand of rising action leading towards the climax of any tale.

I'll say this right off the bat, I haven't played The Witcher but your comment got my attention. Is it just me or is instant gratification more prevalent amongst gamers nowadays than it was 5-10 years ago? I work in the industry and so many families come in asking if they should buy x-console when they already have y and z-consoles. I don't want to come across as if I'm clinging onto the past, but when I was younger all I had was a SNES, which we had to sell to get a N64. All we had was one console with a few games and that was enough. Now everyone has everything and they always want more. This spills over into what kids want for their games, and this generation is pretty disgusting and they're never satisfied.

I'm not saying anyone here is that kind of brat, but as a whole, gamers are losing/have lost their patience. If they aren't hooked immediately, there's no point in playing. I know with FFXIII it started a little slow and I wasn't very impressed for a while, but I stuck with it because I'm a fan of the series, and I paid for it as well. Now I'm very happy and I don't ever plan on getting rid of it.

Sorry to digress, just wanted to touch on that point. Might've been better to put it in a new thread.

Except it's not always about instant gratification. It's about having fun. If your game is boring and does nothing to draw me in, in any way and the controls make it abysmally unfun to play to go with the characters I can't stand, I'm not going to want to keep playing this game even if I am the only one who feels this way about it. Crying that no one likes the game just because they want instant gratification is just foolish.

I think you missed the point a bit. I understand you play games to have fun - this is not an unexpected assertion. The trouble with game stories is, quite often, that they have incredibly poor pacing. Because of the constant pursuit of the next watercooler moment you end up with a series of action pieces connected by narrow lines. Games like God of War or Modern Warfare are fun to play but ultimately fail utterly in the story department precisely because of an unending drive to find the next little nugget of joy.

This is not to state that you should play a game you don't like until the stage is set and the plot starts to get really interesting. The defenses that have been made in the name of the Witcher make this quite clear in fact. If the core systems are so dissatisfying that continuing for the sake of the story alone seems like a painful process then, by all means, simply stop. The Witcher is hardly the best example of marrying story and gameplay, but it did at least present a tale where your choice had tangible effects. Other games claim to offer such things, and in some cases it may truly pay off in the end (Mass Effect for example) but for the most part the choices you make have no impact on the outcome.