The Witcher series

[futurefields]

How much of a must play is the first one? Or should i skip to part 2?

 

[el-Capitan]

Part 2 is so cheap on Steam at the moment that it should be a no-brainer.

You don't need to play 1 to relate.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

I enjoyed TW1, and it does give a good background for 2 and 3. The combat is not the best, but then one plays the Witcher series for the story, as in many RPG's.

 

[futurefields]

Part 2 is so cheap on Steam at the moment that it should be a no-brainer.

They are both on sale, Witcher 2 is 3.99 and witcher 1 is 1.99

guess ill just get both, i just have so many games in backlog

 

[NickelPlate]

I thought W2 was terrible. Not gonna turn this into a review but I couldn't even finish it. The first one was really good however (although really long) so I'd start there. But as has been mentioned, the 2nd one is so cheap and goes on sale all the time (there's a message there) you could at least try it.

 

[Dankk]

I'm one of the very few people who enjoyed TW1 slightly more than TW2. They're both wonderful games though. TW1 managed to absorb me in a way that few games manage to do. Hell, I didn't even know I liked RPGs until I played The Witcher. Although to be fair I guess I just don't like most RPGs. The Witcher is special to me because of how story-oriented and character-driven it is, even moreso than Mass Effect or Dragon Age. The atmosphere, setting, and writing are just really gritty and well-done.

Try to play TW1 first, but if you can't get into it, skip ahead to TW2. They're both extremely different games, and there's lots of people who said they hated the first but loved the second. Your mileage may vary. Although since they're both on sale, you might as well pick them both up.

 

[tidy]

.

 

[OVerLoRDI]

Love the Witcher 2 and if it is on sale for $3? yeah absolute no brainer, I can't even get a beer for $3 around here.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I got about halfway through witcher 1 but it was way to boring, and he game was really clunky.

Witcher 2 was amazing.

 

[AdamantC]

Liked the first, loathed the second.
As I mentioned in another Witcher topic, the games are trying way, WAY, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too hard to be adult, gritty, and ambiguous. They basically come off as "Fisher Price's My First Game of Thrones." Mass Effect has this problem as well, albeit not to such an extreme degree.

 

[showb1z]

Liked the first, loathed the second.
As I mentioned in another Witcher topic, the games are trying way, WAY, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too hard to be adult, gritty, and ambiguous. They basically come off as "Fisher Price's My First Game of Thrones." Mass Effect has this problem as well, albeit not to such an extreme degree.

Well the sex cards in TW1 were pretty silly and maybe dwarf cocks get mentioned a bit too frequently in the ambient dialogue... But the overall story and feel of the game is pretty good I think. Quite faithful to the source material too. And way more interesting than the typical Bioware bad-ass/smart-ass/choirboy system.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I tried both and could not get into either one. The first one I simply did not like. The second one was OK, but I got frustrated with the QTEs and trying over and over to kill the Karyn and gave up. I also agree with AdamantC in that they were trying too hard to be gritty and ambiguous. So much so that I couldnt really identify with the protagonist, which took away from my interest in the game.

But those are just my personal opinions. A lot of others feel differently. They are so cheap now they are worth a try.

 

[DominionSeraph]

They are both on sale, Witcher 2 is 3.99 and witcher 1 is 1.99

Oh god yes. I picked up TW1 for $5 and it was the best $5 I've ever spent.

Porting this over to Hot Deals.
Might want to enter the prices in the OP as well, so nobody misses them. And also point out that it's a free weekend for both.

 

[QuantumPion]

I gave up on TW1 about 1/3 of the way into it. While the plot and characters seemed pretty interesting, the gameplay was just too awful and made the game a chore. Assuming it would take 50 hours to beat it, 30 of those hours would be spent grinding mobs with the really lame combat system, 10 hours running around between locations, 5 hours messing with the inventory system, and only the remaining 5 actual character interaction. The gameplay was very reminiscent of WoW vanilla days of repetitive fetch and kill x monster quests - but without the MMO portion which made WoW worth playing.

I'd like to get around to playing TW2 some day though for its awesome graphics but I'm worried about missing out on plot elements from the first game.

 

[KeithTalent]

Yeah I quit the first one a few hours in. Found it very boring and tedious. The second one does look a bit more intriguing though.

KT

 

[rivethead]

I loved the first one. And I thought the combat mechanism was pretty awesome too. If you're expecting/liking the Diablo button mashing "click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click" style of combat, you'll hate TW1. Timing is very important in TW1 and you must exercise patience to time your attacks perfectly.

It's all in what you like.

I spent over 120 hours on TW1.....I'm compulsive about doing all the side quests.

 

[Super56K]

I've really tried to like these games, but the gameplay really puts me off.

 

[Bateluer]

The combat system in TW1 was a little wonky, but these are games that should be in every RPG fan's collection. And at 6 bucks to get both, its really a no brainer. Buy them both, right now.

TW2 is the best RPG to come out in years. Its really refreshing to see a game with high production values, best in class visuals, while keeping an awesome story and characters, while supporting the game with bug fix and content patches, no steady stream of shitty DLC, and no DRM; when other publishers are stripping their 'RPG's down to cover based 3rd person shooters with a few stats and a constant stream of P2W DLC trash.

Soon as TW3 preorders open, I'm going for a Collectors Edition.

 

[DominionSeraph]

I gave up on TW1 about 1/3 of the way into it. While the plot and characters seemed pretty interesting, the gameplay was just too awful and made the game a chore. Assuming it would take 50 hours to beat it, 30 of those hours would be spent grinding mobs with the really lame combat system, 10 hours running around between locations, 5 hours messing with the inventory system, and only the remaining 5 actual character interaction. The gameplay was very reminiscent of WoW vanilla days of repetitive fetch and kill x monster quests - but without the MMO portion which made WoW worth playing.

See, I found The Witcher to actually make you feel like a Witcher. It's a job, so it feels like one. It works because it's immersive -- you feel like there's a purpose to what you're doing as a character, you're not just grinding the game.
WoW I never felt like a hunter or a paladin, just a loot bot.

If you're playing The Witcher as though the point is to jump through hoops trying to get to some imaginary end game, you're going to have a bad time.

 

[GrantMeThePower]

I'm voting for great games.

But if you just want to play the second, you will understand it fine without playing the first.

They changed the controls a LOT for the second. It is really designed to be played with a controller, not K+M.

 

[Kratos47]

How much of a must play is the first one? Or should i skip to part 2?

Last year i played both the games one after another and it was a very pleasant experience and i was glad to not have played witcher 1 years before it.

So i would highly recommend you play part 1 before playing part 2. Stories are connected, which should be a very convincing reason to try out first part beforehand.

I'm one of the very few people who enjoyed TW1 slightly more than TW2. They're both wonderful games though. TW1 managed to absorb me in a way that few games manage to do. Hell, I didn't even know I liked RPGs until I played The Witcher. Although to be fair I guess I just don't like most RPGs. The Witcher is special to me because of how story-oriented and character-driven it is, even moreso than Mass Effect or Dragon Age. The atmosphere, setting, and writing are just really gritty and well-done.

Try to play TW1 first, but if you can't get into it, skip ahead to TW2. They're both extremely different games, and there's lots of people who said they hated the first but loved the second. Your mileage may vary. Although since they're both on sale, you might as well pick them both up.

^Amen brother.

 

[Bateluer]

It is really designed to be played with a controller, not K+M.

No, its not. Because inventory management on a controller is almost impossible. As is precision combat. You're on a PC, don't take one of the best RPGs ever made down that road.

 

[drebo]

I tried to play TW1 years ago and couldn't get into it (though I did put well over 200 hours into DA:O). I tried TW2 in the free weekend this weekend and ended up buying it. Put a good 5 hours into it so far. It's pretty decent.

However, the story jumps around way too much. There's not very much coherence. It's interesting and it seems like a neat IP, but I don't get where people are saying that it's the best told story in recent years.

 

[arkcom]

However, the story jumps around way too much. There's not very much coherence. It's interesting and it seems like a neat IP, but I don't get where people are saying that it's the best told story in recent years.

You don't think missing all of the character introductions and backstory from the first game have anything to do with it?

 

[drebo]

You don't think missing all of the character introductions and backstory from the first game have anything to do with it?

Nope.

Maybe it's because I'm playing the Enhanced Edition.

I'll give you an example. The Prologue is kind of neat, told in retrospect. But right after the prologue ends, there's a narrator with a weasely little voice that narrates shit that has no bearing on anything during a stupid cutscene while it shows the boat sailing down a map of a river. Nothing he said had any bearing. I don't know if that was in the original release or not, but it seemed out of place and irrelevant.

Same thing with the whole Frank Miller-style comic cutscenes.

As stated, though, I am enjoying the game, even though monster difficulty is extremely inconsistent and the story is about as sharp and straightforward as a rusty rake.

Also, I played about 15 hours of TW1 before I got bored of it. I had a fair introduction to the IP.