The Witcher 2 Assassins of Kings Thread

[MatTheCat]

Risen is a great game, but the story is plain jane rpg. gothic stories are nothing special either. i just plain disagree with you, elder scrolls stories are better than gothic or risen, and the reason witcher is more engaging is because it's a movie script.

Ok...regarding Risen/Gothic yes the stories are very simplistic so forget 'Story' and think 'things that gets the gamer involved with the NPC's and the world they inhabit'.

As for The Witcher's magic being that it is essentially choose an action yourself movie script, the Bioware games (Mass Effect Dragon Age etc) follow a similarly scripted RPG formula and they all suck and bore me to death. The Witcher's 2 magic is in the life it breaths into the world it creates and the highly individualistic NPC's within it, the gripping arcade gameplay, and the intrigue woven into the plot(s) which can be felt whether the gamer is playing for 30 minutes or 3 hours. The Witcher 2 does this, Gothic/Risen do this, Skyrim doesn't!

I have just been playing the Witcher 2 since my last post in this thread. Amongst other things, I bumped into a Patrol of Soldiers who had captured an attractive young Elf female whom the soldiers accussed of being a spy. Geralt undertook a mission to find out whether the female was indeed luring soldiers to ambush and death, which turned out to be absolutely true, Geralt was then given the choice whether to tell the truth and condem the attractive Elfin to death, or to lie and exonerate her. He chose to exonerate her and was lured to some waterfall on the promise of a tryst with the female. In full anticipation of a bit Elfin poontang Geralt arrives at the waterfall only to be informed by the pretty Elfin that he knew too much and that he now must die, at this point he is ambushed by a gang of Elves totally unprepared. After quite a long winded battle (involving many deaths and reloads) Geralt defeats the Elves and goes looking for the Elfin female. She begs for mercy, Geralt considers whether to take her to local commandant for legal trial (and certain execution), just to let the girl go and let by gones be by gones, or whether to finish her off on the spot. In no time at all, Geralt takes his swords and chops through the poisonous sluts torso, before heading down river where he bumps into a grumpy hung-over Troll who gives Geralt a solid kicking. After Geralt wakes up (Death, Load Game) he finds himself back at the f-king waterfall with a big band of elves to defeat once again....

aRFGADFHATHGFARFDZTGQ$§&%Q!

Which is why I am back here typing this shit out.....need a break before doing all that again. But take the above narrative (about 20 minutes of succesful gameplay), count the number of twists and turns, bear in mind the frantic skilled arcade action, the excellent dialogue, stunning character models and compare it with a typical Skyrim mission:

Hero speaks to someone who has exact same bland generic personality as the last 10 people he met. Hero is complemented on what a great guy and all round drgon born hero he is, but in order to prove it hero must travel to some dungeon and spent 30 minutes mindlessly swinging in order to collect some device. Hero accomplishes this and goes back to mission giver. Hero is complimented on what a great guy he is, but is told that there is an object missing. Hero must travel to some other dungeon and spend another 30 minutes spamming with his sword/axe to get the other object. Hero returns to mission giver and is told again what a great guy he is, but unfortunately the baddies have stolen the orginal object that hero obtained. Hero must travel to other dungeon, spend 30 minutes wildyl swinging his sword up and down and collect object.........and this is what 80% of Skyrim is like.....it is f-ing mind numbingly dull.

 

[digibucc]

honestly you can break every rpg down that way, you're just choosing not to do it with witcher.
i don't disagree it's a great game, and i know the part you are speaking of. i'm simply saying i don't play the two games for the same reason. if i want a deep story i will play witcher - if i want to explore i will play skyrim. they really are two different games.

skyrim is not even an RPG as i have noted before. it's an open world adventure, free roam, etc - but you create your character - not like witcher where you are given a character to play. witcher is a Role-Playing game, skyrim is not. no more than GTA is a role-playing game imo.

 

[MatTheCat]

I have a Question:

I know that in Witcher 2 u use steel swords against humans and silver against monsters......but what about against animals or things such as Trolls (after all these are sentient beings)???

- if i want to explore i will play skyrim.

Explore what though?

Granted, Skyrim consists of an utterly fantastic landscape littered with quaint villages and some spectacular towns and structures. In this respect amazing..never seen anything like it in a video game before.........but, this landscape is utterly devoid of life! It is empty. Practically nothing happens there. In effect, this utterly spectacular landscape is just a space/time obstacle between the hero and the next f-ing dungeon where the hero must spend yet another 30 minutes spamming his sword at zombies or whatever. Compare this approach to video game exploration with Gothic/Risen where all kinds of pleasant and unpleasant surprises lurk around every corner.

Like all Bethesda's previous games....amazing in theory....but in practice....pffffffft.

 

[AsRock]

I have a Question:

I know that in Witcher 2 u use steel swords against humans and silver against monsters......but what about against animals or things such as Trolls (after all these are sentient beings)???




Explore what though?

Granted, Skyrim consists of an utterly fantastic landscape littered with quaint villages and some spectacular towns and structures. In this respect amazing..never seen anything like it in a video game before.........but, this landscape is utterly devoid of life! It is empty. Practically nothing happens there. In effect, this utterly spectacular landscape is just a space/time obstacle between the hero and the next f-ing dungeon where the hero must spend yet another 30 minutes spamming his sword at zombies or whatever. Compare this approach to video game exploration with Gothic/Risen where all kinds of pleasant and unpleasant surprises lurk around every corner.

Like all Bethesda's previous games....amazing in theory....but in practice....pffffffft.

I believe time is the issue. Either game takes years to make and both are totally different. I tried putting both together with Fallout 3 but fell short on length of the story i thought.

Games like these 2 in question are great but to find all what they both offer in one game is terribly rare. Maybe they will get it one day but there is that thing called time.

 

[ViperXTR]

The Witcher 2 : Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition - CG Intro

 

[Easo]

CD Project are one of the best game studios. Free content after release, removing of DRM, what else do you need?

 

[MatTheCat]

FUCK ME!!!

A bit short is it not...The Witcher 2.

It has just like ended on me midway through the game...I know this cos I only got enough XP to reach level 30 unlocking only the bottom rung of capabilities....

I say they ran out of money/time and just cut the game short....

sonsofbitches.

 

[Easo]

In the EE they will make the chapter 3 bigger.

 

[MatTheCat]

In the EE they will make the chapter 3 bigger.

Which kind of proves they never had time to finish the game.

 

[Easo]

Well, the chapter 3 being short was actually the only problem for me.
Now, after all those patches and few free DLC, having a overhauled game (for free, again, just like in Witcher 1) makes up of everything. Of course, its just my IMHO.
P.S.
Damn april, come faster

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I literally had to use Google to find this thread because the forum's search function apparently doesn't go back this far. Anywho...


I just finished Enhanced Edition siding with Iroveth. Knowing the title of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, much becomes clear. Anyone looking to play Witcher 3 should definitely brush up on Witcher 2, especially if you never played it with Enhanced Edition content. It appears to me that most of the content added in EE is to bridge between Witcher 2 and Witcher 3.

 

[rtwjunkie]

I literally had to use Google to find this thread because the forum's search function apparently only goes back this far. Anywho...


I just finished Enhanced Edition siding with Iroveth. Knowing the title of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, much becomes clear. Anyone looking to play Witcher 3 should definitely brush up on Witcher 2, especially if you never played it with Enhanced Edition content. It appears to me that most of the content added in EE is to bridge between Witcher 2 and Witcher 3.

Time for me to get crackin and play again. I got to the last part and then didn't finish. I've since upgraded it to Enhanced Edition, and after persuing the myriad of notes with all the updates, patches and enhancements, it appears that some chapters have been more fleshed out with an entire 2 extra chapters added, which is cool! It's good to know the extra content is relevant to Witcher 3!

My comment on CD Project Red: They are a fantastic company. One, because they develop for PC first and foremost, and are uncompromising in that regard. Then The Witcher, which was so bug-ridden, they provided the totally overhauled and fixed Enhanced Edition free for previous Witcher purchasers, and included alot of extra stuff in the large box for new users, almost as if you bought a "Collector's Edition" of another game. Then Witcher 2 came out, and my non-collector's edition came in a box, again stuffed to the gills with extra stuff. Plus, a mere month after it came out they sent out a patch to remove DRM from the game, saying "We're not playing that game." And it hasn't hurt them one bit...almost 2 million PC sales of that game alone! Finally, they distribute these two, plus the upcoming Witcher 3 on their own website, GOG, without any DRM. And once you buy it from GOG, you can install it on as many PC's in your house as you want. Can't do that with the Steam version!

 

[ne6togadno]

Can't do that with the Steam version!

you can use steam family share.
not sure if it will alow you simultaneouse play of one and the same title but family member can run title from your library and play in the same time while you play your (another) game.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

2 extra chapters? Eh, wot? There's only the Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and Epilogue--the same as the original release. There is an entirely separate Arena mode and the addition of the Dark difficulty though.

My comment on CD Project Red: They are a fantastic company. One, because they develop for PC first and foremost, and are uncompromising in that regard.

I have to completely disagree here. The Witcher was a red blooded PC title. The Witcher 2 reeks of console compromises (small environments, obvious barriers for consoles to cache the next area, the over-the-should perspective to facilitate the use of controllers, the lack of variety in monsters because there isn't enough memory to cache a greater variety, etc.).

you can use steam family share.
not sure if it will alow you simultaneouse play of one and the same title but family member can run title from your library and play in the same time while you play your (another) game.

Nope. If the owner of the game is playing any game on Steam, all games are locked out from their library. I'm pretty sure someone playing a title from a library prevents other people from playing a game in the library as well. In other words, only one person can play a game in a library at any given time. It doesn't matter who because it always locks all games.

 

[rtwjunkie]

2 extra chapters? Eh, wot? There's only the Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, and epilogue--the same as the original release. There is an entirely separate Arena mode though.


I have to completely disagree here. The Witcher was a red blooded PC title. The Witcher 2 reeks of console compromises (small environments, obvious barriers for consoles to cache the next area, the over-the-should perspective to facilitate the use of controllers, the lack of variety in monsters because there isn't enough memory to cache a greater variety, etc.).

The Witcher 2 did not go to console until after the PC version was out and they reworked it. They had to deliberately downgrade almost everything about the game for the consoles to handle it. Go through all the patch and enhancement notes: They explicitly state that there are 2 more stories to play in the Enhanced Edition. I assumed that meant full chapters. So how much was it?

 

[ne6togadno]

I have to completely disagree here. The Witcher was a red blooded PC title. The Witcher 2 reeks of console compromises (small environments, obvious barriers for consoles to cache the next area, the over-the-should perspective to facilitate the use of controllers, the lack of variety in monsters because there isn't enough memory to cache a greater variety, etc.).

i can live with such kind of lmitations but i cant accept fps lock or reducing graphics quality so pc verstion look worse then on consoles.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

The Witcher 2 did not go to console until after the PC version was out and they reworked it. They had to deliberately downgrade almost everything about the game for the consoles to handle it. Go through all the patch and enhancement notes: They explicitly state that there are 2 more stories to play in the Enhanced Edition. I assumed that meant full chapters. So how much was it?

It was designed to meet the hardware requirements of consoles; that is very obvious. Most likely console release came second because they couldn't meet Microsoft validation requirements until they fixed the myriad of bugs that also existed on PC.

i can live with such kind of lmitations but i cant accept fps lock or reducing graphics quality so pc verstion look worse then on consoles.

I'm more disappointed by the kinds of changes I listed than superficial changes. Example: compare Vizima in Witcher to Vergan in Witcher 2. Vergan may look big but it really isn't. They fool you by spreading the map vertically. Vizima was much larger, with more NPCs, more variety in textures, and with fewer sub-environments.

Luckily, The Witcher 3 is ignoring last gen consoles altogether so those limitations shouldn't be present or at least not to a patently obvious extent like previous gen consoles.

 

[rtwjunkie]

It was designed to meet the hardware requirements of consoles; that is very obvious. Most likely console release came second because they couldn't meet Microsoft validation requirements until they fixed the myriad of bugs that also existed on PC.

I'm sorry you believe this. It was designed smaller because it is so taxing on PC's, and not just graphics-wise. Hardly anyone had a PC when it came out that didn't get brought to it's knees by this game. They knew if they made it more taxing, they would have another Crysis on their hands, a game everyone talked about, but few could play as intended. Anyway, I'm just telling you stuff I recall off the top of my had from the time that they said in press releases. IIRC, they even stated that they made a "decision" to rework it and release it for consoles. If it was designed for consoles originally, they never would have needed to "rework" it.

In any case, the world isn't going to end because we disagree on whether CD Project Red is a PC or Console company!

 

[FordGT90Concept]

They do both and like all companies that do both, compromises have to be made. Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed and James Bond 007: Nightfire are two games that come to mind which are completely different for PC and console releases. If you're a developer serious about exploiting platforms to the fullest, that's the only way to do it.

Crytek started out the same way as CD Projeckt making PC-exclusives. Like Crytek, CD Projeckt expanded its consumer base by lessening their product to reach consoles.

 

[ne6togadno]

I'm more disappointed by the kinds of changes I listed than superficial changes. Example: compare Vizima in Witcher to Vergan in Witcher 2. Vergan may look big but it really isn't. They fool you by spreading the map vertically. Vizima was much larger, with more NPCs, more variety in textures, and with fewer sub-environments.

this comes up to personal preferecnes.
i also dont like invisible walls but number of npcs for example doesnt bother me cause you still can heve good immersion even with low npc number if environment is scaled properly.
on the other hand low poly modeling, 720p textures for 1080p and higher res just because average joe will ask "why my game on console looks soo bad compared to pc version" no thx.
if average joe wants top graphics quality he should invest thousands $ in pc that is capble to provide it and also to educate himself how to assemble and managed such pc. if he prefer easy (and cheap) mod then take 400$ console and dont bother with anything more than to insert game disk in odd.

Luckily, The Witcher 3 is ignoring last gen consoles altogether so those limitations shouldn't be present or at least not to a patently obvious extent like previous gen consoles.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Just finished Witcher 2 EE on Roche's side. The only major deference I noticed was that you are given the option to investigate Temeria politics in Chapter 3.

Spoiler: I think I finally get the major choices in the game

There's only three true outcomes:
1) Sorceresses dominate (choose Triss).
2) Royalty dominates (choose Analais via Roche)
3) Non-royalty dominates (choose Saskia via Iorveth) which likely translates to civil uprisings

Going deeper into Witcher 3, whether or not you save Sile and spare Letho play the greatest parts. Sile, because she divulges where Yenefer is; Letho, because he is of the vipers which specialize in the Wild Hunt. I suspect Sile is far less important. Gealt will probably find that out no matter what. Letho, on the other hand, may be the last of the vipers--the last of those specifically trained to combat the Wild Hunt. To lose him implies having to go to where the vipers were based out of to try to aquire the information lost by slaying Letho.

We'll likely see Saskia in Witcher 3 either way but the events in Witcher 2 determine if she is friendly or hostile.

The primary enemy in Witcher 3 is presumably the Wild Hunt, secondary is Nilfgard. I suspect the three choices above only impact how the war with Nilfguard plays out but by the end of the game, none likely matter.