Anyone here playing this? I’m enjoying the crap out of it. Never finished the first witcher, still have to go back an do that someday but this game is fracking pretty.
I’m playing the game and loving it too, even though my graphics card is not quite up to it. I had to drop the resolution down so low I don’t get the benefit of the fantastic graphics. The screen is a bit blocky and the writing is hard to read, but I can’t really blame the game. I guess it is time to save up for a better card. Although too laggy to play, when I had the game on the higher graphic levels, it was one of the most amazingly beautify games I have ever seen, so if your computer can handle it, you are in for a treat.
I understand that TW2 will be coming to Xbox now. In celebration, the PC version will be patched today to tweak difficulty (some things are getting harder, go figure) and to give all players all of the DLC including all special weapons, jackets and merchants. Also you can now change the main character’s hair style. I never cared, but the hard core fans went crazy with the new style. The game is dropping in price by $10 as well and is now DRM free for all versions. I bought mine DRM free originally from GOG.com, the sister company.
For those who have not tried this game…
This RPG is very story heavy, which I love. I did play the first Witcher which also followed an amazing story, but you had to slog through a boring first chapter to get to it. The TW2 starts out rather railroad-y and the tutorials are less than helpful. The game is harder in the beginning and gets easier as you move forward. Normal difficulty in the beginning appears to be like hard on other games. I usually play normal or hard and I reduced the difficulty to easy but now that I understand the fighting and powers, I am going to bump it up. Wiki’s will help with the tutorial issues and there are already mods for the PC to help with a few annoying problems. The Witcher 2 handles the game sex better than the first game (a rather juvenile card collection of sexual conquests now removed, thank goodness) but sex there is and quite explicit. The M in this game does mean adult.
Once past the prologue, the player appears to have more choice than in the first game. I won’t give a run down of TW2 story so as to avoid spoilers. It is enough to say that you play as Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher. Some spoiler light information from the first game follows. In the first game, Geralt is suffering from amnesia after a mysterious and horrible event not quite explained. Some other characters believe they saw Geralt die. During the first game Geralt is subject to bad dreams regarding the King of the Wild Hunt and at one point (perhaps) they meet. The Wild Hunt, a powerful specter, says he is dogging Geralt’s steps and suggests he is intent on killing Geralt, but nothing comes of it. Geralt ends the game saving King Foltest from an assassination attempt. At the beginning of TW2, King Foltest now insists that Geralt follow him around as some sort of body guard.
Witchers start their lives as human children who are either orphans or given to the Witchers through various bargains which mark them as “children of destiny”. You don’t need to know this, but Geralt is a child of destiny. The children are then given mutagens over many years which heighten their reflexes, allow them to see in the dark and give them low end magical powers through the use of “signs”. Geralt proved most adept and was experimented on with more powerful mutagens, causing his hair to go white. Most of the children die during the process, the few who live and pass the Trial of the Grasses are Witchers and they travel about the world killing monsters for pay. Witchers are said to have no emotions, which appears to be untrue. They do try to control their emotions however. Some players complain of the dull voice of Geralt in game, but I think this was a purposeful decision.
Geralt lives toward the end of the time of the Witchers. They were useful when the land was being settled by humans (and non humans were being displaced) but now their numbers are in decline. While some still see the use of Witchers, they are often viewed as money grubbing low lifes and treated fairly badly – until a werewolf starts eating the villagers.
The game was a bit buggy for some and is quite demanding of the hardware, but if you are willing to tweak, it is playable. There has been some problems with Nvidia and AMD drivers which, I think, have been sorted out with driver updates (or beta updates). Another issue is the lack of control over saves. I like to save often but cannot save over old saves. I have solved this problem by getting into the games saved games and deleting them regularly. Each save is calendar dated, so it is easy. Most of the bug issues have been worked out. The developer’s servers crashed on game launch and the forums are closed for the time being. The GOG.com forums are up and running, however, and most technical issues are dealt with there.
The inventory and buy sell screens are universally panned. Either get a mod to help you out, or sell your stuff regularly. If the item is marked as common, it is usually safe to just keep 10 units and sell the rest. Especially lumber and cloth which are heavy. Keep herbs and such that are weightless. Trophies can be worn for extra stats and don’t appear useful for much else to extras can be sold. You do need to understand the potions which provide important pre fight stat boosts.
I am loving this game and do recommend it for the person willing to put some time into understanding the story (read the quests, they update with story items) and can deal with the rather nasty learning curve at the beginning. On the other hand, the story doesn’t treat you like a child requiring constant hand holding. It is an adult approach, which I appreciate. Geralt is neither a good nor a bad person. He won’t be mustache twirlingly, mwahaha-ingly evil or Dudley Doright good and the world around him is equally grey. The decisions you make will effect the world, which should provide replayability. I hear there are 16 different endings. All in all, a big recommend from me, despite the few short comings.
Just finished the first run through of this game and onto the second. There are two major paths you can take in the game so even players who don’t like to run through games more than 1 time will be tempted.
I’m surprised that more GWCers arn’t playing the Witcher 2. If you liked Dragon Age, I think you would like this game as well. You only play as one character, but the feel is similar.
Thumbs up from me. The Witcher is one of my top 10 favorite games ever played.
At the risk of posting on my original post… The Witcher 2 is on sale this weekend for $30 at gog.com.