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The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

#121 User is offline   Gothos 

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Posted 23 May 2011 - 07:41 AM

I've finished Act II yesterday and did about half an hour of Act III and... HOLY SHIT THIS GAME IS SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
I can see how it has 16 different endings. Most of my Act II has probably been influenced by what I did at the end of Act I, and OH MY GOD looks like every little last bit of Act III (except perhaps for sidequests like the Gargoyle Contract) can probably change depending on what you did in Act I and Act II. I can understand why the game is, all in all, shorter than Witcher 1 - the replayability... OH MY GOD.
Buy the SHIT out of this game, guys. Also, in some time from now, we could like share out playthroughs, and I can guarantee they will differ greatly.

As a side note, I'm level 33 now, and I've taken pretty much everything I wanted from swordfighting, and branched off into magic... extra vigour? Multi-target Aard? Yes please! Combat's gotte a bit... easier now than at the start. Probably some balancing to do yet, though I'll only know once I start a new playthrough and see what the start is like when you know your shit.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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#122 User is offline   Euler 

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Posted 23 May 2011 - 06:55 PM

Well I have now finished this game, even did act 2 with the diffrent choice from act 1 and I am overall greatly pleased by this game.

Gameplay: As has been mentioned many times before, the combat could use with some tweaking, its brutal for first time players who just start up the game, but once you get the hang of it, its damn easy actually. The biggest complaint I have with the combat system is that it feels to much like a dodge fest, I have no need to use parry, dodge is always better in my opion, since parry uses up rescoures that you need for spells and you can still take damage etc... the great thing about the combat in the witcher 2 is that its more "realistic" then most games, Geralt is a beast 1v1 (noone can come close to him) but you are almost always outnumberd and you need to use most everything you have at your disposal to win (good thing imo). I just feel the could change parry to make it better somehow.

Graphics: no need to say much, its just awesome, the game looks awesome!


Story wise:

Prologue: I thought it was great actually, nice start with a big siege like battle where you get right into the thick of things. I really thought it was a nice intro and I felt I got right into the story (when I played the first witcher game I could never really get into the story in the start)

Chapter 1: things get even better here, the suberb grahpics of the forest and the town actually feels alive helps alot with the story. Things really start to get interesting in this chapter, when you get to the end of this chapter I thought it was just getting better and better.

Chapter 2: Now here things start to get even better!!! no matter what choice you made in chapter one the story moves so good with either choice and things just start to get better and better (by this time I am thinking, holy shit this part of a game is prolly one of the best I have played in a long time) suberb chapter that even finishes even more awesome then the first chapter so by the time it ends my hopes for chapter 3 were staggeringly high.

Chapter 3: I had so high hopes for this chapter, and so I felt a great disapointment with this chapter, first of all it just felt like the game makers realised the game is "getting to long so we have to finish up quickly", It was way to short in my opinion and felt somewhat rushed, I was frankly suprised when I got to the epilouge... to bad actually since I was so enjoying this game until chapter 3. to sum it up, this chapter was a huge disapointment and ruined alot of the game with the kinda bad ending.

In conclusion: a really awesome rpg story with fun combat (most of the time, that could use som tweaking), what makes this game for me not be a 5/5 is that chapter 3 (and ending) was a real disapointment and the minor things with the combat system otherwhise its a great game, one of the best games I have played in a while.

This post has been edited by Euler: 23 May 2011 - 06:57 PM

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#123 User is offline   Gothos 

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 06:45 AM

I have finished yesterday afternoon as well, and I'll agree to most of what Euler said. Chapter 2 is the peak of the game, and quite frankly if you look at just it, best gaming 'moment' this year, perhaps in the last decade. However, the fight with the Draug was... disappointingly easy.
Chapter 3 feels... rushed like HELL. It's about three times shorter than the other ones - I'm actually not sure if the prologue isn't longer. A lot of shit is happening, true, and most of it depends on what you chose in the earlier chapters - but it's just not as good as the buildup.
But where I'll differ is that the game is a full 5/5 for me, despite this. Chapters 1 and 2 are enough to get this game above most shit released in the past decade on their own.
I'll be doing a few more playthroughs, though now I'm going back to Civilization V achievement hunting until I can get a proper Witcher 1 save as a starter for the next playthrough.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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#124 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 12:10 AM

I haven' touched this since last week. I want to wait for the patch, at least since that's supposed to allow me to remap WASD to the arrow keys.
but i might wait even further, untill thye release the Russian voiceovers. this game just doesn't feel right in English to me.
The problem with the gene pool is that there's no lifeguard
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#125 User is offline   Gothos 

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 06:57 AM

Why... why do you use arrow keys? Left-handed? 'Cause I don't see any other reason to do so.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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#126 User is offline   Cause 

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 02:09 PM

Can it be enjoyed if you have never played the first game?
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#127 User is offline   Gothos 

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 03:08 PM

Yes. Though extensive use of in-game literature would be reccommended.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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#128 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 04:51 PM

View PostGothos, on 25 May 2011 - 06:57 AM, said:

Why... why do you use arrow keys? Left-handed? 'Cause I don't see any other reason to do so.


I play everything with arrow keys, ever since I was a like 8.
I've never even heard of WASD untill I came to Canada and was introduced to the interwebs and the gaming culture, some 7 years later.
The problem with the gene pool is that there's no lifeguard
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#129 User is offline   Aptorian 

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 05:00 PM

Barbarian.
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#130 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 05:09 PM

View PostBattle Plaptypus, on 25 May 2011 - 05:00 PM, said:

Barbarian.



Back in the FSU, gaming was a personal niche hobby. this was before PCs even became widespread. There wasn't any gaming gurus I could ask for advice or tips.
I had to master Warcraft II all by myself, having never played an RTS before. not to mention the whole thing was in English, and my comprehension of said language was far from great.

I did not discover the right click until StarCraft came along with a helpful tutorial mission.

Edit: back on topic. patch 1.1 promises to fix many issues. here's hoping.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 25 May 2011 - 05:10 PM

The problem with the gene pool is that there's no lifeguard
THE CONTESTtm WINNER--чемпіон самоконтролю

View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#131 User is offline   Gothos 

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Posted 26 May 2011 - 06:59 AM

Barbarian, indeed. My beginnings were just about the same as yours. Still, once I came out of the closet and looked to the world, there was no other option.
WSAD or die. Never too late to change. You'll never look back.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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#132 User is offline   Cause 

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Posted 26 May 2011 - 08:22 AM

So how bad is the notorious prologue exactly? I cant actually believe the prologue is that hard? Dying twenty plus times?
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#133 User is offline   Gothos 

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Posted 26 May 2011 - 08:24 AM

Yes, it is, to fresh players. It doesn't exactly hold your hand and guide you through. Which can be good or bad depending on your viewpoint.
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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#134 User is offline   POOPOO MCBUMFACE 

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Posted 26 May 2011 - 10:53 AM

I went through the first couple of fights haphazardly clicking and rolling occasionally. Not sure what the fuss was about, honestly.
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#135 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 26 May 2011 - 05:00 PM

View PostCause, on 26 May 2011 - 08:22 AM, said:

So how bad is the notorious prologue exactly? I cant actually believe the prologue is that hard? Dying twenty plus times?


yes, it is.
I spent at least 5 hours on it.
The problem with the gene pool is that there's no lifeguard
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View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#136 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 27 May 2011 - 01:32 AM

So, the patch is out.

it's great. optimization-wise, I' running the game on same half-max resolution as before. but now, even halfed, resolution is RIDICULOUSLY more clear.

example--I can actually see what the wanted posters look like. and what the dice say.

overall, the graphics before the patch on min settings looked like Morrowind.
now they look like...the original Witcher.


Indoors, Geralt actually runs. outside, where there's more stuff due to the crazy vegetation, it slows down a bit. but I still get steady framerate.

I got the DLC "Troll trouble"--the quest is now available as "Troll COntract" (although, the original message "this additional content is available to those who register for free" is also still on the message board, hehe).

oh, and the DLC for Polishe subtitles + voiceovers is still not working. thankfully some kind soul already ripped both Polish and Russian versions and made them available all over the runet.

combat is still hard (haven't played in 5 days, have to get back into it, but i'm stoked to enjoy this now.
The problem with the gene pool is that there's no lifeguard
THE CONTESTtm WINNER--чемпіон самоконтролю

View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#137 User is offline   Bulwyf 

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Posted 27 May 2011 - 01:48 PM

View PostMentalist, on 25 May 2011 - 04:51 PM, said:

View PostGothos, on 25 May 2011 - 06:57 AM, said:

Why... why do you use arrow keys? Left-handed? 'Cause I don't see any other reason to do so.


I play everything with arrow keys, ever since I was a like 8.
I've never even heard of WASD untill I came to Canada and was introduced to the interwebs and the gaming culture, some 7 years later.


CONFORM!!
Once you get used to it (should only take an hour or two in one game) you'll wonder why you didn't sooner. Soooo many keys to hotkey in ultra close proximity!

OMG arrow keys! :apt:
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#138 User is offline   Gothos 

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Posted 27 May 2011 - 08:41 PM

Started a second playthrough today, again on normal... and now that I actually know wtf I am doing, it's going pretty easy. I only died 5 times in the prologue, 1 of which was due to dragon fire in the courtyard, the other 4 was that goddamn scripted sequence running over the bridge with Foltest. I think I'm doing fairly well.
I think I'll go sword / signs again, just doing this playthrough to see every option I didn't take in my first one. Or something. In any case, I think my 3rd playthrough I'll go alchemist major and on Hard.

Perhaps one day I'll beat the game on Insane! (though I dunno if dying in quicktime events counts?)
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is not effort without error and shortcomings; but who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly. So that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
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#139 User is offline   Mentalist 

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Posted 27 May 2011 - 10:00 PM

apparently, the one downside to the awesomeness of the 1.1 patch is that the fix for the absence of Russian voiceovers, that's been rectified already by anonymous good people becomes a problem again.

the voiceover files are avialble for downloads, but they don't mesh with the patched game.

between this, and Clear Sky, my attention to this game is split...

oh, and I really need to learn to use bombs effectively. Never bothered with them in the original.

in retrospect, this combat is very similar to that of Blood Omen 2--the bastard child in the Legacy of Kain series. it worked really well there. the only differences are the limits on blocking, and the lack of a fixed camera in TW2. but it's getting better.
The problem with the gene pool is that there's no lifeguard
THE CONTESTtm WINNER--чемпіон самоконтролю

View PostJump Around, on 23 October 2011 - 11:04 AM, said:

And I want to state that Ment has out-weaseled me by far in this game.
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#140 User is offline   Sammehmander Rake 

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Posted 28 May 2011 - 05:59 AM

Just finished my first playthrough! very Nice! have to agree that chapter 3 was left a bit to be desired. but it was still all epic and had me gaping with awe at everything that happened! the story telling is superb Might try second playthrough on hard. but we'll see.after every one has finished it at least once, we should compile a list of how the game played out on our playthroughs. marked with spoilers of course..
"There is no struggle too vast, no odds too overwhelming, for ever should we fail- should we fall- we will know that we have lived."
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