The Witcher 2 or Dragon Age 2: which (in your OPINION, is better)?

[Anteaus]

I'm playing Two Worlds 2 right now. I guess Witcher 2 is going to my next game.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Not even a question, Dragon Age 2 is a huge disappointment, especially for a Bioware game. Even the first one was lacking IMO, although it was a lot better than the sequel.

CD Projekt is the new Bioware for RPGs, ever since EA bought Bioware, everything release from them get progressively worse.

 

[RandomSanity]

I didn't buy The Witcher 2 yet due to lack of gaming funds (thank you steam daily deals) but I was of the minority and actually liked The Witcher 1. My only issue with it was that it got boring near the end because you had to repeat the same act with updated mobs..

That being said I abstain until payday when I see if I can fit it in my budget. I would think The Witcher 2 would win over DA2 though. That game was a disappointment.

 

[PhatoseAlpha]

While it's got flaws out the wazoo, and I'm not 100% certain I'd actually classify it as fun, Witcher 2 is certainly a lot better then Dragon Age 2 was.

 

[Mem]

lol who's the smart ass that voted for DA2?..must be an EA employee .

 

[Zanovar]

I didn't buy The Witcher 2 yet due to lack of gaming funds (thank you steam daily deals) but I was of the minority and actually liked The Witcher 1. My only issue with it was that it got boring near the end because you had to repeat the same act with updated mobs..

That being said I abstain until payday when I see if I can fit it in my budget. I would think The Witcher 2 would win over DA2 though. That game was a disappointment.

The witcher 1 was great once you left the castle(this was enhanced version,not sure how witcher 1 non enhanced version plays)

 

[Dankk]

The Witcher 2, without a doubt. I'm actually curious as to who voted for DA2 and what their reasoning is.

 

[gothamhunter]

Wait...DA2 was a game? I thought someone took a dump and somehow made it electronic.

 

[pathos]

lol who's the smart ass that voted for DA2?..must be an EA employee .

Heh, world is filled with all sorts of people. I'm sure there are plenty of people that like da2 just fine. Of course, I haven't even bought it, since I know it will be a huge letdown. I'll probably pick it up.....1 day.....for super cheap

That being said, I remember just how many people love the first Witcher, and I'm still having trouble getting through chapter, erm, 2 I guess. The investigation when you get to the city. Story is just not very engaging at all.

I've played about 30 minutes or so of the witcher 2, so I don't have a definitive opinion of it yet.

But, at this rate, I'd rank dao above either witcher, but I'd rank all 3 much lower than some of my old nostalgia favorites like the Baldur's Gate series, Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale series, Temple of Elemental Evil, Knights of the Old Republic, Betrayal at Krondor, and the first few Might and Magic games.

I guess it's hard to beat nostalgia sometimes. Well, that and personal taste

 

[Dankk]

That being said, I remember just how many people love the first Witcher, and I'm still having trouble getting through chapter, erm, 2 I guess. The investigation when you get to the city. Story is just not very engaging at all.

Yeah, I'm one of those people. The fantastic storyline was one of the reasons The Witcher is one of my favorite RPGs of all time. You're not alone, though. I know there are tons of people who hated the storyline in TW1. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

[Dumac]

Only played DA2 which wasn't awful, it just got terrible press in smaller circles because few will admit to their hardcore friends that an EA game has any redeeming qualities. A few of my friends thought DA2 was a great game, I thought it was decent but it did fall quite short of the original DA.

I don't know about smaller circles. DA2 is the laughing stock of many video game related discussions I've had in quite a few different forums (either IRL or online). I thought DA2 was terrible, and I can't even bring myself to beat it (a first for a Bioware title - I even beat and enjoyed Jade Empire much more than DA2).

Witcher on the other hand set a much, much lower bar for itself. TW1 was miserable, so good game or not, I don't think it would take much for TW2 to feel like a big step forward.

I loved TW1. It was one of my favorite games, and I think its far better than DA2. It has its flaws, and I would rate it a bit lower than DA:O, but the story in TW1 is pretty amazing. I am glad they redid the combat and graphics for TW2.

Not to mention there's a certain Crysis effect that happens when shiny new games come out, especially those that 'raise the bar'. Graphics also have the tendency to help players overlook shortcomings that might be more offensive otherwise.

Yeah, pretty graphics are always nice. It is pretty embarassing to compare DA2 vs Witcher 2 graphically.

TW2 is probably better than DA2, but the results here are probably also skewed. People here felt burned by DA2 and they don't just like TW2 but they 'want' to like TW2 because of the publisher and the animosity towards 'big developers' and 'mainstream' gaming which they think TW2 opposes.

TW2 has gotten a lot of publicity that I would consider it pretty mainstream in the RPG, or perhaps even general gaming, community. Its not as much of a niche title like TW1. It is a great game regardless of mainstream status.

I don't really think the results are skewed. I don't feel burned by Bioware. I just thought DA2 was one of the worst games I've played in years, and a complete waste of $60, or however much the pre-order cost. I will definately not be pre-ordering any more Bioware games.

 

[KaOTiK]

The Witcher 2, without a doubt. I'm actually curious as to who voted for DA2 and what their reasoning is.

There is always someone for the underdog, damn bastards.

 

[MustangSVT]

waiting for skyrim

 

[Dankk]

There is always someone for the underdog, damn bastards.

Shrug I don't intend to diminish anyone who actually likes DA2. If they enjoy it that much, then good for them.

waiting for skyrim

Yeah, I would call TW2 "RPG of the Year", but it's only May and it has Skyrim to compete with. (Granted, I was never very fond of The Elder Scrolls games, and I kinda doubt #5 will be any different.) So for me personally, TW2 it is.

 

[Fenixgoon]

based on my experience with DA:O

TW2>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[Zenoth]

I haven't played nor bought The Witcher 2 yet, and I will next month (just bought the original at GoG.com, and I JUST started it like yesterday, I won't comment about it I haven't seen enough so far). But I'd like to say something about Dragon Age 2, not that it matters much, but I had an interesting "debate" about it with friends lately (part of the subject at hand is something that even Brent Knowles acknowledged, a veteran lead designer who has worked for BioWare for years). Basically, in the end, Dragon Age 2 is nothing short of an accomplishment, and this requires some explanation doesn't it...

The thing is EA wanted BioWare to rush DA2, we know that... or do we? Lots of people are pointing at BioWare, but are they really responsible? Say... imagine that you're a very talented and renowned artist, 9 out of 10 of your creations are beloved by the "majority" out there, and suddenly your boss asks you to... no... ORDERS you to "do that" with a third the amount of time you'd normally be working on that project to make it just as good if not better than what you've done in your career, would that be possible? How long have BioWare worked on DAO? Even if we remove a year of development just for the engine, and another year to create the rich lore and the characters, we still get a good two years and a half, if not even more than three years of development on it. If at the time BioWare themselves would have limited themselves to develop DAO for just ONE year instead, and then would have forced themselves to release the resulting product, do you guys think that we would have ended up with all those Origins to play in? With all those races to chose from? With the not-so-linear game-play? With the unique design for pretty much every maps? With the varied party banter? No, not at all, we might have ended up with just two Origins, perhaps even just a single one, heck the game's title might just have been "Dragon Age", period (heck, it WAS called just "Dragon Age" back in 2004 when it was announced at that year's E3).

Now on to Dragon Age 2, they started development on it sometime in early 2010, and they announced it in summer of the same year, and next thing you know in February of THIS YEAR the game was Gold already. For all we know BioWare PROBABLY had no more than a single year to work on a "Dragon Age: Origins" sequel, can any of you understand how IMPOSSIBLE even for BioWare it was to make an actual direct sequel to the events and/or characters' story arc(s) that occurred in Origins in just that ridiculous amount of time that they disposed of to work on it? Within that same year of development they had to work on the new engine updates, the new dialog, the "story", make new animations, new sounds, new textures, new maps... guys, they had to "make a sequel" for crying out loud! Let me put it this way, can any of you guys seriously and objectively think of a SINGLE developer out there who could have possibly done the exact same work and came up with the exact same DA2 that we have now with the exact same amount of time that BioWare had to work on it? Blizzard? No, they don't make games like that, Blizzard makes MMORPGs, RTS'es and ARPGs. Ubisoft? LoL? Some European developer? Never. CD Projekt? Maybe, in a decade perhaps (if any of you can confirm that CD Projekt worked on TW2 for just a single year and came up with that, I'll gladly stand corrected and change my mind immediately about everything I'm saying here), Valve? Erm yeah sure, haha (I guess they could make new hats for the main characters in DA3 though, that'd be nice)... ok seriously though who else... well I'll let your imagination light itself up and let me know when you find one.

Am I saying that DA2 is some sort of a new standard in video gaming? No, if you think so you misunderstood what I'm trying to say. Am I saying that with the amount of time that BioWare disposed of to work on nothing else than a DAO sequel they managed to make DA2 as it is makes them good? Well yes, but hey, we knew that BioWare is a good developer already, Baldur's Gate, KOTOR, Mass Effect, DAO... heck even MDK2, name it and it's most likely very good, or at worst it's still good... and that's exactly what I'm saying. Basically BioWare had NO choice to take shortcuts, NO choice to reduce the story to the most basic they could think of in their veteran gaming-developers mind, NO choice to repeat the same musical themes (something that the composer admitted due to EA wanting to rush the damn thing), NO choice to "streamline" things left and right, NO choice but to re-use the same environments they managed to create in the first place (we should consider ourselves lucky that they actually had the time to even create Kirkwall in the first place)... the game was rushed, seriously you guys think that the DA2 team suddenly woke up a morning, smiled and over-joyed themselves at the thought of rushing the game on purpose? BioWare is just another victim of EA's greed and indifference to video games' actual quality and content, if a game can be patched they don't mind, they could release a Beta game tomorrow, convince the developer to call it a full game even though they know internally that it's just a turd and not ready, patch it one or two times and call it a night, that's EA, not BioWare.

I was VERY surprised by the outcry from the so called BioWare "fans" out there IMMEDIATELY pointing at BioWare as being the ONLY and universal cause for what happened with DA2. It's a turd, yeah most likely, I haven't finished it yet myself, still in the "first chapter" I believe, I don't particularly like it, but when I'm playing it, seeing the environment, the animations, hearing the music, the voice acting, the dialog itself, the "story", experiencing the new combat system they made, seeing that they managed to find some time in all that to still allow you to import a DAO/Witch Hunt saved game to DA2 (I have yet to see what kind of implications it'll bring in the game, haven't seen anything relevant yet from what I have done in my canon DAO game that I chose to import other than talking to Bohdan and Sandal and him mentioning my character and her being the hero of Fereldan, that's pretty much about it so far)... I mean I'm seeing and experiencing it and you know what? Instead of "complaining" because heck believe me I could, the only reasoned conclusion I can possibly come up with is that DA2 is nothing short of a miracle for being a game that has been developed for JUST a year and was supposed to be the "sequel" (and isn't, for those very reasons I'm repeating to this point) of the monumentally epic DA:O, if they managed to do THAT in ONE year to DA2, I CAN imagine that if they disposed of "enough time" (say... three or four years) to make a "proper" DA3 then oh my God...

To me, DA2 is the PROOF that BioWare IS a well-past veteran status developer in video gaming development for having being able to make a game like that in just that amount of time. Yes, I'm sorry for the haters out there, but they are. Is DA2 "good"? Well so far I don't like it much, to be honest, but objectively and I'll repeat myself again, for the last time, when seeing what was done and considering they only had about a year or around a year and a half to work on "that", well yeah, that's the point, it's a good accomplishment for a "rushed" game. I've played much worse "rushed" games out there guys let me tell you, but I'll stop my praising of BioWare right here, it should suffice, feel free to disagree. I just feel very sorry for BioWare, and they are the meat shield for EA right now, they (BioWare) are taking the blames even though we all love to hate (and with good reasons) EA, why suddenly ignoring EA (for the most part I mean) and pointing at BioWare? It was a damn waste, and DA2 should have never been rushed, EA should have never touched DA2's development time in any way, shape or form, they should have known better, BioWare know what they want and what they need, one of those things they need to make a good game on the scale of DAO is time, not a deadline to increase profits when in the end all it does it piss on the franchise's face and in the same turn humiliating BioWare.

I do feel that DA2 has been rushed, it shows, a lot, it's sad, and it has pretty much nothing to do with (so far anyway) anything I've done in my DAO game, nor the story in general, and because I'm a fan of DAO and its rich lore and for what happened with DA2 I'd like to say this as my conclusion, EA, you guys suck.

 

[Red Hawk]

Yeah, I would call TW2 "RPG of the Year", but it's only May and it has Skyrim to compete with. (Granted, I was never very fond of The Elder Scrolls games, and I kinda doubt #5 will be any different.) So for me personally, TW2 it is.

They're all just lucky that Mass Effect 3 got pushed back to 2012.

*snip intelligent post*

You make a good point, but there are a couple key issues that remain even with that explanation. Even with the vastly reduced development time, they are still selling Dragon Age 2 as a full-priced game. As the customer I reserve the right to not purchase it until I believe it is worth my money.

Secondly, your point only accounts for the shortage of content and abundance of bugs. Any changes to the combat system, art style, writing quality, etc., are still squarely BioWare's fault. Now, I can't really speak for these since I only played the demo, but if they exist less development time doesn't excuse them.

On another note, Mass Effect 3 is getting a more suitable amount of development time (2 years since ME2's release, as opposed to less than a year and a half for DA2 after DA: O) so it should be fully awesome.:thumbsup:

 

[DeathReborn]

Didn't like TW1 much because it keeps bugging out on me in Chapter 2. DA2 is a disaster, a terrible waste of money & time. TW2 is actually alright, I cancelled my CE of TW2 because of TW1 being a pain and bought the cheaper version.

 

[hofan41]

There's no comparison, TW2 beats DA2 in every single way. TW2 is a breath of fresh air after exploring the same freaking cave over and over in DA2.

 

[JoshGuru7]

Poll needs an option for "Will buy both, just waiting for inevitable DLC + 75% off steam deals next fall and christmas." It used to be that you had to wait a while to see a meaningful price drop in games. Now if you don't mind playing singleplayer games 6-12 months after release you can get 3-4X as much for your gaming buck.

 

[Red Hawk]

Poll needs an option for "Will buy both, just waiting for inevitable DLC + 75% off steam deals next fall and christmas." It used to be that you had to wait a while to see a meaningful price drop in games. Now if you don't mind playing singleplayer games 6-12 months after release you can get 3-4X as much for your gaming buck.

This is true.

 

[KaOTiK]

Poll needs an option for "Will buy both, just waiting for inevitable DLC + 75% off steam deals next fall and christmas." It used to be that you had to wait a while to see a meaningful price drop in games. Now if you don't mind playing singleplayer games 6-12 months after release you can get 3-4X as much for your gaming buck.

TW2 DLC is all free the dev has stated.

 

[Iron Wolf]

I do feel that DA2 has been rushed, it shows, a lot, it's sad, and it has pretty much nothing to do with (so far anyway) anything I've done in my DAO game, nor the story in general, and because I'm a fan of DAO and its rich lore and for what happened with DA2 I'd like to say this as my conclusion, EA, you guys suck.

This doesn't give me much hope for DA3. They have already started working on it, but if EA pushes them for an early next year (or sonner!) release, it could be a rushed mess like the current game is.

 

[sigurros81]

No BS assessment of Witcher 2. I just beat the game a couple of hours ago and I can honestly say that this is one of the best video games I've ever played. I've read some reviews that complained that the game ended 'abruptly'--this was a big concern of mine as I played, but as the end credits rolled, everything came together nicely and I was quite satisfied with the story.

It goes without saying, they leave the story open for sequels/dlcs, but the game wrapped up nicely. Without spoiling too much, the final fight between Geralt and a beast that I will not divulge is quite epic and cinematic.

While I enjoyed DA:O, I beat that game once and never cared to revisit the game. With Witcher 2, I'm already looking forward to a second play through.

 

[mooncancook]

While I enjoyed DA:O, I beat that game once and never cared to revisit the game. With Witcher 2, I'm already looking forward to a second play through.

Same here, I never bother to replay DA:O. Now after I finish chapter 1 in TW2 and read a little of the game guide, I realized that depending on your decision at the end of chapter 1, you'll end up in 2 totally different locations with totally different quests at the beginning of chapter 2. That is awesome, and I know I must replay this game.