The Witcher

[frogbeastegg]

Any of the resident RPG lovers playing this?

[Fragony]

Is it out then? I have heard massive amounts of love for this one??

[frogbeastegg]

Out yesterday in most of Europe, out a bit earlier in other parts AFAIK. The US has to wait until later this year.

[Fragony]

owwwwwww hihihi, now THAT is great news.

[FactionHeir]

Read about it a year or two ago on nwvault and it sounded promising. Haven't heard anything about it recently though (which may be partly due to me not frequenting nwvault anymore).

Probably not going to get it for now though. They already got a patch out on day 1, so there's bound to be more bugs abound.

[AggonyDuck]

Bought it and will install it once I get home.

[Geoffrey S]

Previews have looked promising, should be good.

[frogbeastegg]

So far I've seen it mentioned favourably alongside games like Vampire: Bloodlines and some of the older Bioware games. That's what has tweaked my interest.

[AggonyDuck]

I just watched the opening cinematic and it was propably the best one that I've seen in a long time. Now I'll see if the game can live up to it.

[Zenicetus]

I watched the trailer on the dev's web site. Either that's pre-rendered and not in-game generated, or my computer definitely won't be able to handle it.

I think I read somewhere that it's built on a revamped version of the NWN1 graphics engine (Aurora)? Is that right? If so, it might run fine on what I have. The actual screenshots look reasonably low-density.

Also, the initial word I've heard is that it doesn't have any nasty DRM, so that's another plus. Looking forward to any player reports here, especially anyone with medium to medium-high specs, instead of a screaming latest build game machine.

[AggonyDuck]

I watched the trailer on the dev's web site. Either that's pre-rendered and not in-game generated, or my computer definitely won't be able to handle it.

I think I read somewhere that it's built on a revamped version of the NWN1 graphics engine (Aurora)? Is that right? If so, it might run fine on what I have. The actual screenshots look reasonably low-density.

Also, the initial word I've heard is that it doesn't have any nasty DRM, so that's another plus. Looking forward to any player reports here, especially anyone with medium to medium-high specs, instead of a screaming latest build game machine.

The trailer isn't ingame generated, but the great part about it wasn't the graphics. The story and fight was very nicely done in it.

Well my C2D E6600, 8800 GTS and 2 gb of ram has no probs running it at full graphic settings, so my guess is that it shouldn't be a machine-slayer type of game. But still I must say that the Aurora engine has never looked so fine before.

Anyway I've only played the game for about 15 mins before it crashed on me, but here are some of my first impressions. The game looks decent, although the camera view takes some time getting used to. The combat seems to resemble Jade Empire a lot, meaning that timing and the choice of correct styles is essential in successful fighting. But this also hints at a lack of depth in combat. Anyway I just hope that the story, setting and atmosphere will compensate for it like it did in Jade Empire. Overall the game seems like a Jade Empire set in a rather dark medieval fantasy world, but I'll have to play some more to get a true feel for the game.

[Zenicetus]

Well my C2D E6600, 8800 GTS and 2 gb of ram has no probs running it at full graphic settings, so my guess is that it shouldn't be a machine-slayer type of game. But still I must say that the Aurora engine has never looked so fine before.

Cool... my specs aren't too far off from that, I think (Athlon 64 3800+, 2 Gigs RAM, 8800 GTS). I upgraded to that GPU recently, and it's doing a good job keeping my 2-year old rig going for a while.

The combat seems to resemble Jade Empire a lot, meaning that timing and the choice of correct styles is essential in successful fighting. But this also hints at a lack of depth in combat.

Yeah, I read about the combat style in one of the previews somewhere, and it seems like it's about timing when to throw a "combo" move that takes time to complete, along with choosing the right tactic and character build. Actually I like that setup better than a twitch fighter where you need good reflexes. But then I'm a geezer gamer.

Anyway I just hope that the story, setting and atmosphere will compensate for it like it did in Jade Empire. Overall the game seems like a Jade Empire set in a rather dark medieval fantasy world, but I'll have to play some more to get a true feel for the game.

That's what I think I'd enjoy... the vampire hunter-ish theme in a medieval setting, with some storyline pathing based on player's moral choices. Seems like a nice theme for a RPG, if it doesn't turn out to be a bug farm.

[AggonyDuck]

Played about an hour now, but so far I'm loving it. It remains to be seen how important the decisions I've had to make will prove to be, but overall it does seem like a nice game. That said I do suffer from CTD's every now and then, but it is just a matter of saving often.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
I'll get this one sometime. Saw the screenshots at the chatroom.
.

[frogbeastegg]

From the bits I've read the fighting system seems a lot like the one in Summoner, an old PS2 launch RPG which also had a PC release. I expect I'm the only one here who played that game. It had a great storyline; the main combat feature, other than summoning monsters to fight at your side, was the chain combo system.

You'd order your character to attack. As the animation executed you would see an icon appear above his/her head, at which point you needed to hit one of the other buttons assigned to a combat move. Time it right and that move was executed right after the other finished, and the icon would appear again. Get it wrong, or try to use the move already being executed, and your character would need to wait a bit before attacking again. You could keep on building up chains of moves theoretically forever. As the timing got harder with each consecutive attack it never got to the point where you were doing absurd damage in one go. As you advanced in the game and performed sucessful chains you gained extra abilities to swap with those you began with.

I played the PC version of Summoner and completed it. The controls worked very well with a mouse and keyboard.



EDIT: The review scores currently look like this:
* Joystick review (France) 9/10 + Megastar award
* PC Jeux review (France) 90% ‘Hit PC Jeux’ award
* Online welten (Germany) 84%
* Gamewelt (Germany) 84% (version with day one patch - 90%)
* X6 (Norway) 6/6
* 3djuegos (Spain) 8.8/10
* Gry-online (Poland) 92%
* Onet.pl (Poland) 9.5/10
* Gildia.pl (Poland) 9.5/10
* Eurogamer 7/10

[SwordsMaster]

Hey, this game has caught my eye too, but since i'm unsure if it'll run on my laptop, can you tell me what the requirements are? What are you guys running it on? Does anyone play it on a laptop?

On the game itself, do you get to create your own character? What makes it stand out? How witty is it? What is the tone of the game? Is it too Tolkien ish? I hate the ones that would speak in "thous" and "m'ladies"....

[AggonyDuck]

On the game itself, do you get to create your own character? What makes it stand out? How witty is it? What is the tone of the game? Is it too Tolkien ish? I hate the ones that would speak in "thous" and "m'ladies"....

You play as a pre-designed character called Geralt of Rivia, a witcher, with no real customisation prior to the game. To me what made me get it was that Bioware recommended it and the fact that I figured this might be a nice warm up for Mass Effect. Comically I've found the game rather dry, but there have luckily been some moments where I've laughed. The tone of the game is dark and the themes are rather mature. That should already point out that it is far too gritty to be Tolkien-ish.

[Kekvit Irae]

How "Mature" is the game? I might pick it up if it has the three B's: Boobs, booze, and blood (and oddly enough, they all have two O's)

[AggonyDuck]

Yup, seen plenty of all three ingame.

[Kekvit Irae]

*goes to grab a copy*

[FactionHeir]

I'd question why Kekvit wants the first b of those 3

[Kekvit Irae]

The answer to that lies in a backroom topic of sexual orientation.

Anyway, what is Witcher like, exactly?

[Husar]

I thought about getting this, Leet Eriksson said it's very polished and good.

One thing that nags me a bit though are weapons and armour. I'm someone who likes collecting new armours and maybe weapons but from what I've seen so far, you only get similarly looking leather armours while some NPCs have very nice plate armours etc. Are you really stuck with almost the same leather all the time?

I know it's a minor detail concerning gameplay but then I like medieval RPGs mostly for the purpose of commanding a big armoured guy around.

[Zenicetus]

How "Mature" is the game? I might pick it up if it has the three B's: Boobs, booze, and blood (and oddly enough, they all have two O's)

I just noticed while browsing the official forum that there are TWO versions... Euro and U.S., and the U.S. version has some censored graphics (but not language, or gore, apparently). Can't let us Americans see to much, 'ya know. Apparently it's just one NPC with clothing instead of nude, and some images on Tarot cards. Here's the thread:

http://www.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?topic=3130.0

The workaround if you really care about it, seems to be buying the download version from the UK.

Other feedback seems pretty solid. I think I'll order it -- the U.S. disk version, since I don't like keeping track of more archived download purchases than I have to. And I've seen enough of the real thing...

[The Marcher Lord]

Really enjoying this one so far. Have finished the prologue and now playing Act 1. Great visuals which are not too taxing on my modest system (AMD 3700, 2 Gigs RAM, Gainward 7800GS+ AGP) which has everything on max except the pointless "depth of field" effect. Framerate is very smooth although I have heard Act 3 can be a bit of a framerate killer for medium to low end machines.

The biggest problem they have at the moment is the loading times between sequences and when you enter/leave a building. These are very long and if you are trapped having to reload a save on a difficult fight then it can get quite infuriating. The load times are bad on fast as well as slow machines and they are working to fix this in the next patch.

Storyline and voice acting is undoubtedly the best amongst the crop of RPG's released over the last year. Stacks of side quests to do for cash. You seem to get handed new weapons/armour as you advance through the storyline although I have only received one set at the end of the prologue so far. You can collect meteorite stone and get your sword ugraded or repaired by a dwarf smith. You can pick up other weapons lying on the ground after a fight, but I haven't seen anything better than the Witcher sword I have been given so far. No sign of new armour yet on dead NPC's or in shops.

Swordfights consist of attacks in Fast, Strong or Group modes and rely heavily on good timing to get the combos working well for maximum damage in the fastest possible time. You can only fight in third person modes, of which there are three. Personally I favour first person battles with slash and parry techniques as this is more immersive, but you do get the hang of the third person Witcher fighting very quickly.

Overall a very good game if you like RPG's

[AggonyDuck]

The fighting actually has a lot more depth than I had initially thought. Drinking the right potions, using the correct bombs and signs and oiling your weapon with a suitable oil will make or break you. In that way it is similar to BG2, where you needed to prepare yourself for tough fight with the correct spells, tactics and equipment.

[Kekvit Irae]

The voice acting is only sub-par. One minute they talk in a frightened tone, the next they talk in a peaceful tone. It's inconsistent.

I get crashes. A lot.

Combat is again sup-par. Sometimes Geralt will just blindly stand there and not attack unless you click several times.

[TinCow]

I picked it up after reading this thread. I am enjoying it a great deal. I like the combat and am not having any technical problems at all (patched before I started). The only thing that gets to me is the dialog. I think the voice acting is relatively decent, but the writing is simply... bizarre. Clearly it has been butchered in the translation, but that knowledge doesn't make it any less distracting. It's not 'engrish' in any sense, it's just... off. That breaks the immersion for me, but it's still pretty fun. Not a must-own by any means, but if you've got money to blow and want a new RPG to play, I recommend it.

[Xiahou]

I ordered the UK version (didn't want to be left wondering what's been censored). Hopefully I'll be getting it in the next couple days. Looks like a really good game.

[AggonyDuck]

From what I've read at the Witcher forums, the translation and the english voiceovers were butchered to a shorter form from the original english translation, which was a lot closer to the Polish version.