The Witcher 2 - Hyped or No?

[Monk]

So four years after the first game, the Witcher 2 is set to be released May 17 of this year, just over a month away.

When I played the demo of the first Witcher I was intrigued. It seemed like a decent enough RPG with deep combat mechanics and an okay story. What killed it was the 15 min loading screens every time you went through a door. When the Enhanced Edition came out, i happily bought it... and was treated to some of the most dull, underwhelming voice acting I'd ever heard. I got breasts shoved in my face every five minutes, usually after I said "That's a lovely dress you have." and was incredibly put off by the entire experience.

Add to it that the story.. just didn't go anywhere. You ever have that "What the heck am I doing?" in an RPG? That was The Witcher at about hours 4-12. It sits in my Steam Library to this day unfinished and unwanted.

When Dragon Age 2 turned out to be (imo) a great game but still something of a let down, most of my friends were quick to chime in "No it's okay, Witcher 2 will be way better." ...How? The first one did nothing to endear me to the franchise and I'm planning to steer way clear unless I get confirmation that everything about the first has been changed.

Is anyone interested in this game? Have I missed a ton of media that will put my pessimistic view at ease and get me hyped with just a month left? I will admit, i'm always hungry for a great RPG.

[rajpoot]

I liked the moral ambiguity of the story. What I did not like was the vague manner in which it was told. As for voice acting, sure it wasn't Bioware level, but then I've heard lot worse.
Combat in the new one seems better of anyhow...the clicking on time is gone as are the different styles. It's just light blow from left and heavy blow from right and attack chaining combos. There are also some quicktime events to finish off bosses (a la Force Unleashed I think) but hopefully they'll be far and few in between.

[Graphic]

First game is a personal classic. You bet I'm hyped.

[Husar]

I set the voice acting to German, problem solved.

I'm not sure what to think about the second, I really liked the first but the second introduces console versions and these cutscene thingies where you have to press buttons that are shown on screen etc. I'm a bit afraid it may have lost some of the depth and become more action-oriented.

[rajpoot]

these cutscene thingies where you have to press buttons that are shown on screen etc.

Quick-time events?

[Graphic]

the second introduces console versions

It's still PC exclusive. They were working on a console port of the original Witcher a few years ago but there was some snafu with the funding and it was scrapped.

[Husar]

It's still PC exclusive. They were working on a console port of the original Witcher a few years ago but there was some snafu with the funding and it was scrapped.

It is? I remember reading that they were planning to release it on PC and consoles but maybe that info is outdated by now.

And yes, india, there was a video where Geralt was fighting some huge beast with quick-time events, it was very actiony but I didn't find that it looked like a lot of fun.

[rajpoot]

Actually AFAIK they had outsourced the development of the console version of Witcher (not to an Indian company, lest there be a misunderstanding), which in the end did not deliver. Witcher 2 however is being developed for the PC and the console both.
@Husar
No issue there...I dislike quicktime events as much as the next chap. When I'm watching a cutscene I want to watch..when I'm playing a a game I want to play. But as long as they aren't too numerous it's going to be all right.

[Graphic]

Witcher 2 however is being developed for the PC and the console both.

The developers have simply said it's possible that it could make it to consoles some time in the future. Developers say that all the time when questioned in an interview. It's only confirmed platform is still PC.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I'm somewhat excited. I got the first game, and did end up just not finishing it.

So I likely won't get it when it's released, but I think it could be a very good game. No consolization, after all.

CR

[Scienter]

I enjoyed the first one, so I'm looking forward to the second one. I've watched a few of the dev diaries and it looks pretty impressive.

[Crazed Rabbit]

A hands-on preview at Rock Paper Shotgun.

Short version; they are excited for the game.

CR

[Crazed Rabbit]

Videos!




CR

[Husar]

That looks very nice, thanks CR!

[Graphic]

Awesome.

Still kind of funny that even the most immersive RPGs always have people sleep on top of their blanket with no pillow.

[rajpoot]

Two different trailers.
One on Gamespot -
(Can't seem to embed it for some reason, but don't miss it)
http://asia.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/thew...opslot;title;2


And another one -



So anyone else, really really really exited yet?

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

Somewhat excited. Worried that I'll have to play the first one in order to understand the nuances of what's happening.

I'll probably wait for it to go on sale.

[rajpoot]

Somewhat excited. Worried that I'll have to play the first one in order to understand the nuances of what's happening.

Rumour is they'll have a comic book sort of story in the beginning of the game, which will recapitulate the events of the first game and allow the player to choose how the major events took place.
Anyway...even if you do play the first game, I doubt you'll be able to gather much in one play-through. I was totally lost and didn't find the story at all interesting until I played the game thrice and then read the book that's been translated to English.

[Crazed Rabbit]

I am pretty excited, but I'll probably hold off until the end of summer, when I plan to build a new computer.

CR

[Krusader]

Pre-ordered from gog.com to support CD Projekt, plus no DRM. Pre-loading as we speak.
Also pre-ordered earlier from amazon.co.uk and will sell that copy to a friend, minus the Swordsman DLC that comes with it (which I actually found about last month).

As for hype, I'd say its hyped up yeah, but not more than other games. If the hype lives up to it I don't know. There will always be someone who is going to be dissatisfied no matter what.

[rajpoot]

I am pretty excited, but I'll probably hold off until the end of summer, when I plan to build a new computer.

CR

When is it summer, where you stay, it's already the peak of summer season here.....one cannot survive without proper air conditioning....

Pre-ordered from gog.com to support CD Projekt, plus no DRM. Pre-loading as we speak.

Pre-loading? You already have the game you mean? And you've installed it and are playing it? I thought it had a date check release control thing....?

[Crazed Rabbit]

I believe pre-loading means downloading it so you can play it the instant the game is officially released. So you don't have to wait to download after the game has been released.

As for air-conditioning, yeah, we have that too. We need to condition the air by heating it year-round.

CR

[Krusader]

Pre-loading? You already have the game you mean? And you've installed it and are playing it? I thought it had a date check release control thing....?

I have the files, but lack a few megabytes more to download and complete the installer. Meaning when it hits May 17th I can download remaining files, install and then play.
Might be unlocked at 10pm GMT May 16th according to some rumours.

[Krusader]

So, anyone bought this yet? I have, but with all the technical difficulties that are reported in addition to some snafu bugs on my rig, I'm going to wait a week or so until playing to make sure all the bugs are ironed out. Atm, some older ATi/AMD cards can't be run in fullscreen, no real Crossfire support and anti-aliasing is recommended to be turned off for any ATi/AMD card. With Brink's problems I think I might buy nVidia (again) next time I upgrade (I seem to rotate between nvidia and ATi cards whenever I upgrade). Though, it seems people are experiencing framerate issues with nvidia cards too.

Otherwise, graphics is pretty good and the game from comments read, seem to be much more difficult than Witcher 1 and most other RPGs, at least on same level as Dragon Age: Origins.
Also, from reading user reviews on metacritic there seem to be trolls giving Witcher 2 a 0 score, but who have given Dragon Age 2 a 10 :D

[naut]

Hmm. If it isn't as complex and counter-intuitive as Witcher 1, which lets face it was a bit like playing Fantasy Microsoft Access. And a little more fun, maybe I'll give it a go. Maybe.

[rajpoot]

So anyone know where can one get saved games from the first witcher?

[Husar]

Hmm. If it isn't as complex and counter-intuitive as Witcher 1, which lets face it was a bit like playing Fantasy Microsoft Access. And a little more fun, maybe I'll give it a go. Maybe.

It was? I played on Normal and hardly bothered with potions, didn't find it very complicated.

[rajpoot]

Been playing since a few hours.
Combat is fun. After M&B no other swordplay will ever be satisfying enough, but still, it's fun here.
The graphics are, as everyone is saying, gorgeous. I'm playing on low-middle settings, and it still looks pretty, and though my PC is only slightly above the minimum config, there is almost no lag.
The one thing that is really irritating me though, are the quick-time events. I was under the impression that they will be limited to boss fights, but (gameplay spoiler) -

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Fist fights too? Why?! The normal attack and dodge fighting of the first game was great...and now suddenly one needs to have the reflexes of a 15 year old on sugar to win a brawl.....

And it does not help that saving during the quicktime scenarios is not possible, so if one fails, one has to start it all over again.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I had to do the dragon sequence 18 times before I managed to get through on the 19th, by simply spamming the RMB....not cool.

That's my only gripe as yet. Otherwise the game's nearly as good as I had dreamed.

[Greyblades]

Anyone else finding it realy hard to fight more than 2 people at a time?

[rajpoot]

Anyone else finding it realy hard to fight more than 2 people at a time?

I've been checking the forums and apparently it is only a low level thing. On higher levels the game is very easy. Parrying and dodging supposedly become useless.