Witcher

[cytg111]

So .. saw a commercial on steam for Witcher 3, prepurchase and all, thought i'd take a google dive on it and compare it to dragon age (wich I enjoyed immensely) .. and damn.
Playing Witcher 2 right now and its a friggin gem.
How could you keep me away from it all this time?
(btw, on steam now for 20 euros ..)

 

[darkewaffle]

Witcher 1 sucked hard enough to pretty much prevent me from having any further interest in the series.

 

[cytg111]

the story and graphics (disclaimer im a graphics whore) is marvelous.. have yourself a treat.

edit : dangit, some of these graphics are crysis level good ... amazing

 

[rivethead]

I loved Witcher 1. Playing Witcher 2 right now and loving it even more.

It's all about what you like. I like a good story and interesting characters.

 

[BlitzPuppet]

Witcher 1 sucked hard enough to pretty much prevent me from having any further interest in the series.

Witcher 1 isn't bad, the gameplay is just extremely outdated nowadays.

Granted I struggled to finish the game because I couldn't get used to the pure click based combo combat style as opposed to the combat in the Witcher 2. The story on the other hand was pretty good....I'm still asking questions on Alvin/Grand Master.

Witcher 2 was definitely WORLDS better in comparison to the first Witcher, but that doesn't mean the first one was a bad game. This is even coming from a person that played the 2nd one before the first.

 

[SMOGZINN]

I never played Witcher 1, but I started Witcher 2 just the other day, I'm just about an hour into it and feel a bit lost. Already I've had several dialogs with NPC's about how I completed quests for them and expect to be paid.

 

[Morgoth780]

Witcher 1 isn't bad, the gameplay is just extremely outdated nowadays.

Granted I struggled to finish the game because I couldn't get used to the pure click based combo combat style as opposed to the combat in the Witcher 2. The story on the other hand was pretty good....I'm still asking questions on Alvin/Grand Master.

Witcher 2 was definitely WORLDS better in comparison to the first Witcher, but that doesn't mean the first one was a bad game. This is even coming from a person that played the 2nd one before the first.

The first Witcher was definitely a very good game. In some ways the story felt more complete than the second one. With the first one, when I got to the end I really felt "yes, this is definitely a very logical spot to end." Whereas with the second one, I got to the end and thought "wait what it's over already?" Admittedly that might partially be due to expecting 5 chapters in witcher 2, like witcher 1.

One of my biggest complaints about Witcher 1 is reused/poor assets. There are tons of identical models, and even some models that have super low resolution textures. Not the end of the world but it can get a bit frustrating.

The combat... well I know some people really didn't like it, but I did find it to be relatively enjoyable. Super easy though. And the UI is a lot better than Witcher 2, which after playing the first you can tell it's consolized.

 

[Mem]

Witcher 1 sucked hard enough to pretty much prevent me from having any further interest in the series.

I've to disagree,sure there were complaints on the combat system but the game itself ie storyline etc was good enough,it gave you a bit of character storyline to Geralt of Rivera as well as his companions and past.

I think I played it about four times from start to end so can't be that bad IMHO,Witcher 2 followed on from ending of Witcher 1 with improved combat controls.

Also the developers made a free upgrade of enhanced version of Witcher 1 as well back then.

Overall some things I like better in Witcher 1 ie cats eyes potion in the dark then 2,both have good and bad points however both are great games in their own right.

 

[sourceninja]

Due to bugs in both games, I have been unable to beat either of them. They were fun though, but nothing is worth replaying large parts of the game because my save was corrupt and a quest can't be finished.

 

[darkewaffle]

Major problems of drab combat and frustrating camera aside, the story was a weakness for me in the first one, but I might have never gotten out of the 'rising action' so maybe I missed out on some things. I quit about 20 hours in at the/a swamp.

But it seemed like much ado about nothing - you wake up with amnesia rolleyes, you're attacked suddenly, some noob who came to your house to join the Witchers dies, your special Witcher plants and potions are stolen and so the three or four of you still alive split up to scour the world and avenge the noob and obtain the plants?

That's a stupid overview but that's about what's stuck with me. Even further when you get to some town you fight a ghost of the noob and he's a total dick to you like "man screw you guys i never liked you anyway and you got me killed" so now that's cleared up and you're now on a quest for plants. I'm probably forgetting the characterization of the villain/organization that organized the attack but part of the problem imo is that it never interested me enough to care about who/what they were.

Also Geralt is a boring boor of a character.

 

[SPBHM]

Witcher 1 was a better game than witcher 2, I love how big and ambitious it was, sure graphics are not impressive even for 2007, but it's not ugly, the story is interesting, the game is fun to play, combat is frustrating at the beginning, but I got used to it

witcher 2 is closer to other big budget games, with a lot of resources spent on high end graphics (they built their own engine for this game, while Witcher 1 uses an old Bioware engine) and less "exotic" gamepad friendly combat, but I still didn't like the combat much, and while the first chapters were good, the last one was pretty bad, it didn't gave me the same satisfaction going trough this game as Witcher 1...

both games are good, but 1 is my favorite.

 

[Bateluer]

Witcher 1 sucked hard enough to pretty much prevent me from having any further interest in the series.

Other than the somewhat lackluster combat, Witcher 1 was the best RPG to come out in a long time. It was still two years before Dragon Age Origins would launch.

Given that you can get TW1 for 2 USD often enough, its worth having and playing through. Would be a good idea to play through TW1 and TW2 to get the full effect of Witcher 3, which is going to be the biggest release of 2015.

 

[cytg111]

..It's all about what you like. I like a good story and interesting characters.

- Me too, im into two kind of games, the BF's COd's left4dead's etc for their fast paced multiplayer action. Connect. Fray. Disconnect. Instant satisfaction ... and then these RPGs, I like the stories as I like to go to the cinemas ... tell me a friggin tale bards. .. so far Witcher is doing a better job than DA.

 

[cytg111]

I never played Witcher 1, but I started Witcher 2 just the other day, I'm just about an hour into it and feel a bit lost. Already I've had several dialogs with NPC's about how I completed quests for them and expect to be paid.

- Dude, tf? Never encountered that. I do however notice that, after a dialog, if you are too fast on the keys it wont take (or proceed), so you may have to move about and press again.. But its a minor glitch compared to ... everything else.

edit : reading the rest of the replies, there is one thing that bothers me a little. I didt play Witcher1 yet there is alot of references, dialogs etc, that I dont get.. a little "microsoft clippy - this is what u lost if u didnt play the first" woulda been great.

 

[Morgoth780]

Other than the somewhat lackluster combat, Witcher 1 was the best RPG to come out in a long time. It was still two years before Dragon Age Origins would launch.

Given that you can get TW1 for 2 USD often enough, its worth having and playing through. Would be a good idea to play through TW1 and TW2 to get the full effect of Witcher 3, which is going to be the biggest release of 2015.

That's a pretty big claim.

Still can't really disagree. The only other 2015 title I'm really looking forward is Battlefront (at least I think that's supposed to release in 2015) but I'm sure EA/DICE will just ruin it.

 

[cytg111]

Major problems of drab combat and frustrating camera aside, the story was a weakness for me in the first one, but I might have never gotten out of the 'rising action' so maybe I missed out on some things. I quit about 20 hours in at the/a swamp.

But it seemed like much ado about nothing - you wake up with amnesia rolleyes, you're attacked suddenly, some noob who came to your house to join the Witchers dies, your special Witcher plants and potions are stolen and so the three or four of you still alive split up to scour the world and avenge the noob and obtain the plants?

That's a stupid overview but that's about what's stuck with me. Even further when you get to some town you fight a ghost of the noob and he's a total dick to you like "man screw you guys i never liked you anyway and you got me killed" so now that's cleared up and you're now on a quest for plants. I'm probably forgetting the characterization of the villain/organization that organized the attack but part of the problem imo is that it never interested me enough to care about who/what they were.

Also Geralt is a boring boor of a character.

Dude. 1. Switch drugs. 2. Gimme your old stash. Kidding. I dont know what hardware level you are playing at, but the graphics is stunning for this kind of game. It is really what I'd like Dragon Age to be.. (DA seems to have better 'NPC' character development .. i fell in love with that Morrigan char .. if that aint craftmansship i dunno).

 

[VashHT]

Witcher 1 was a great game, the combat is a bit clunky at first but after you get more skills and such I found it to be decently fun. The only bad part about the game imo was the part in act 3 I think where you're slogging through the swamp back and forth, I ended up spending a loooot of time running around since I did all of the side quests. I haven't beaten witcher 2 despite starting multiple times, but I plan on beating it before witcher 3 comes out.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Witcher 1 sucked hard enough to pretty much prevent me from having any further interest in the series.

Funny you mention that. I bought 1 & 2 at the Steam Summer Sale and started playing 1. About an hour or two into it I just completely lost interest. I should probably just give 2 a try since I already bought it but the combat system in 1 is so horrible I haven't even bothered to try it.

 

[Martimus]

Funny you mention that. I bought 1 & 2 at the Steam Summer Sale and started playing 1. About an hour or two into it I just completely lost interest. I should probably just give 2 a try since I already bought it but the combat system in 1 is so horrible I haven't even bothered to try it.

The combat in the Witcher 2 is completely different than the combat in the Witcher 1. There are very few similarities between the two when it comes to combat mechanics. While it was almost impossible to lose a fight in the original game once you learned the mechanics, the second game remained a challenge all the way through.

 

[cytg111]

The combat in the Witcher 2 is completely different than the combat in the Witcher 1. There are very few similarities between the two when it comes to combat mechanics. While it was almost impossible to lose a fight in the original game once you learned the mechanics, the second game remained a challenge all the way through.

- Yup, still loosing fights.. just when you think you've got the system cornered.. Anyway, several more hours into it and it is still giving.. this is an Awsome game!

edit: and the details of this game, a dog will approach you and almost demand a belly rub.. Alot of thought have gone into this dev.. dogs ... doves.. unless the next level is bsod hell im allready signed up for the 3'rd.

edit2 : also, if this game was a tad more open it could rival skyrim in it genre ... If you were to add multiplayer to that I think you have a recipe for beating wow.

 

[Demo24]

Funny you mention that. I bought 1 & 2 at the Steam Summer Sale and started playing 1. About an hour or two into it I just completely lost interest. I should probably just give 2 a try since I already bought it but the combat system in 1 is so horrible I haven't even bothered to try it.

I was a bit bored at first with tw1 but if you stick with it, it gets a lot better in the middle/end. It is however a long game, so it does take a bit to get to the more interesting parts and to really understand what is going on.

Tw2 is vastly different. Much prettier and combat is a lot more 'inclusive' than 1. Tw2 is one of the few games I've played through a few times, especially since you can choose two different directions to go for a period of time in the game.

I may try to get through both of them again for 3, but even if not I am so ready for it

 

[Morgoth780]

- Yup, still loosing fights.. just when you think you've got the system cornered.. Anyway, several more hours into it and it is still giving.. this is an Awsome game!

edit: and the details of this game, a dog will approach you and almost demand a belly rub.. Alot of thought have gone into this dev.. dogs ... doves.. unless the next level is bsod hell im allready signed up for the 3'rd.

edit2 : also, if this game was a tad more open it could rival skyrim in it genre ... If you were to add multiplayer to that I think you have a recipe for beating wow.

Well apparently Witcher 3 is going to be an open world in the vein of Skyrim. Also I at least personally think that the first two games were good enough in terms of open world. Even though it was relatively linear in terms of areas you could access, you could explore those areas you have access to in a relatively open way. But it wasn't on the scale of the Elder Scrolls, of course.

 

[alkemyst]

Witcher 1 sucked hard enough to pretty much prevent me from having any further interest in the series.

Witcher 1 was great if you just didn't want a hack and slash, cookie cutter game.

The storyline was good and the relationships you could build and how that AI interacted were really unique.

Combat was deemed challenging, but once you got through the learning curve it wasn't bad at all.

I never finished Witcher 2. Thought they removed everything that made the original so good.

I am playing Skyrim now...just hacking up just about everyone

 

[Morgoth780]

Witcher 1 was great if you just didn't want a hack and slash, cookie cutter game.

The storyline was good and the relationships you could build and how that AI interacted were really unique.

Combat was deemed challenging, but once you got through the learning curve it wasn't bad at all.

I never finished Witcher 2. Thought they removed everything that made the original so good.

I am playing Skyrim now...just hacking up just about everyone

My biggest gripe with the second one is how the story ended.

I did find it be a very good game overall but just not as good as the first.

 

[KentState]

Like 1, but had other games to play so never got far. I spent a decent amount of time playing 2, but got stuck on a boss fight and haven't touched it since. I'm hoping that that 3, while graphically impressive, finally tackles my frustrations with the controls. Even in 2, the controls just don't feel right and getting stuck on a small rock or stone just turns me off. I personally prefer the freedom of movement in Skyrim compared to the walled off paths in Witcher 2.