The Witcher 2

[brkl]

The extras include "Triss Playboy session". I honestly stopped playing this game because I just felt too uncomfortable after I moved in with my girlfriend. She's moving to another town soon, though, so maybe I'll go back to it. I don't suppose save games are compatible... There's a lot of grinding for gear and looking for shit that I wouldn't want to do again.

[Gwardinen]

I don't suppose save games are compatible... There's a lot of grinding for gear and looking for shit that I wouldn't want to do again.

I hope they are, I'm downloading the Enhanced Edition patch right now and I'm hoping my save near the end of Chapter 1 will be useable so I can roll right in to picking a different Chapter 2.

[Orv]

The extras include "Triss Playboy session". I honestly stopped playing this game because I just felt too uncomfortable after I moved in with my girlfriend. She's moving to another town soon, though, so maybe I'll go back to it. I don't suppose save games are compatible... There's a lot of grinding for gear and looking for shit that I wouldn't want to do again.

Aaaahahahaha. I saw that and my face just slowly turned down in every possible way. Whhhhhhhhhhhhyy. Why is that a thing?!

[brkl]

I hope they are, I'm downloading the Enhanced Edition patch right now and I'm hoping my save near the end of Chapter 1 will be useable so I can roll right in to picking a different Chapter 2.

Let me know how it works out.

[Erwin_Br]

I'm also curious, as I'm not very far in the game yet.

[Gwardinen]

Yeah my save from Chapter 1 appears to still work. I previously had a version after the last big update, the one that introduced the tutorial and so on, so if you're coming completely fresh it might be more of an issue but so far patches seem to be ok with previous saves.

Now if I can only figure out how to stop this weird black grid effect from appearing on textures.

[brkl]

I had something like that with Dragon Age 2. Took me ages to figure out it wasn't supposed to be there!

[Wrestlevania]

I've had this since release, but only really 'ploughed' (eh-heh) into it since the Enhanced Edition was released. Completed it yesterday and I've really enjoyed it on the whole.

The story-telling is excellent, and it's interesting to find out how the story lines for the numerous different characters - big and small - unfold based on your choices. I particularly liked that the dialogue feels more natural than I've seen in some other action-adventure games.

It also feels like a grown-up and complicated story. There's a lot going on and whilst it tries not to bog you down too much within its politics, it's still capable of drawing you in enough that you feel like you're making informed decisions.

I did get a bit confused in some of the latter parts of the game, as so many names and factions are flying about that I lost track of some details when things got particularly frantic. But then this only added to the experience for me; it's a big, complex war and shouldn't be simple to follow if it wants to be believable.

Aside from the dialogue and story-telling, I found the combat to be generally good and enjoyable. The swordplay is largely fluid and gracefully executed; scything through a group of several knights is fun and satisfying, and you get a good amount of control over numerous different moves. I did find myself mashing buttons a bit on some of the lesser fights, but I enjoy that sort of brutalist gameplay anyway so it wasn't a negative for me.

When you're not fighting humanoids is where the sword fighting falls apart somewhat. It doesn't seem to translate the close quarters melee combat into the sort of big, precise attacks you'd expect to use

on something like a dragon

.

But it's a minor gripe and didn't spoil the experience overall. The main point of recommendation for me is the story that The Witcher 2 involves you in. It's meaty and twisting, without taking dozens of hours to unfold, and without any apparent padding beyond the games introductory couple of quests that help you settle in.

Really great game, and I can't wait for the third one.

[Wrestlevania]

The extras include "Triss Playboy session".

I didn't see that in the PC version--could it just be for consoles?

I honestly stopped playing this game because I just felt too uncomfortable after I moved in with my girlfriend.

I don't really understand why you would be. I've not found anything that isn't consensual, and apart from the usual "high fantasy = deep cleavage" outfits, the female characters all seem to be wilful and intelligent.

And saved games seem compatible btw; picked up my months-old original game where I left off and continued with no problems. This and the big graphical performance increase are the best aspects of the Enhanced Edition for me.

[Nappi]

I didn't see that in the PC version--could it just be for consoles?

You can enter your the Witcher 2 CD key on GOG.com to get a "digital backup" plus all the goodies.

[Wrestlevania]

You can enter your the Witcher 2 CD key on GOG.com to get a "digital backup" plus all the goodies.

...so there's more stuff in addition to the Enhanced Edition?

(The free backup on GOG was also a nice touch, too.)

[Nappi]

I think it was mostly the same stuff that you already got when you first bought the game (papercraft, soundtrack, etc.), but still.

[Korax]

I've had this since release, but only really 'ploughed' (eh-heh) into it since the Enhanced Edition was released.

HA!

I played the PC version non-stop when it first came out, and I loved it so much I've bought the X360 version, too. Again, it has destroyed most of my free time.

Unfortunately, I don't seem to be able to convince my friends that it's something they should play. I even had to tell my brother that he was dead to me until he played it. I'm holding a memorial service on Saturday.

[brkl]

Porn is consensual but I wouldn't feel comfortable watching it when she's around. And the game is full of women designed by some dude to look like and dress like porn actresses, along with other suspect stuff like happy prostitutes servicing soldiers.

[Wrestlevania]

[...] along with other suspect stuff like happy prostitutes servicing soldiers.

I disagree.

The only thing I saw as far as NPCs interacting was some very bad dancing of a couple of fully-clothed prostitutes in front of some equally fully-clothed soldiers inside a tent.

Whilst rape is alluded to as a general threat to women (nothing new there), there's none taking place in the game that I could see. And whilst there are prostitutes in each major town you visit (again, nothing that doesn't ring true today), the ones you can speak to usually treat you with contempt and seem fairly miserable with their lot.

None of them were "happy" in my opinion, but they do engage in banter as part of their sales patter--they have to eat, and they're just doing what they know sells to drunk soldiers. There's a sense of overwhelming poverty and necessity to them though.

The only vaguely glamourous setting is the brothel above the inn in Kedwin(?). But one of the prostitutes here is later killed during the riots, though you don't see it and the body isn't mutilated when you discover the body. And you can't have sex with them either I don't think.

To be clear: there's no gratuitousness in the game to my mind. The game doesn't let you proposition anyone you want, it has to be consensual. There is a lot of naked flesh in some scenes, I agree, but these aren't mandatory scenes in the majority, and they only occur through mutual concession and direct player agency.

The only negative point I could level at the game is all the options for sex I encountered were strictly heterosexual--the only aspect where I think it actually fails to reflect real life accurately, from a sexual point-of-view.

Anyway...

~climbs down off soapbox~

[lobotomy42]

I pre-ordered this game, and it's been sitting on my coffee table for about a week now, and will probably continue to sit there for another week at least. Not from lack of interest, but from my generally busy schedule. *sad trombone sound*

[Erkki]

I disagree.

The only thing I saw as far as NPCs interacting was some very bad dancing of a couple of fully-clothed prostitutes in front of some equally fully-clothed soldiers inside a tent.

Whilst rape is alluded to as a general threat to women (nothing new there), there's none taking place in the game that I could see. And whilst there are prostitutes in each major town you visit (again, nothing that doesn't ring true today), the ones you can speak to usually treat you with contempt and seem fairly miserable with their lot.

None of them were "happy" in my opinion, but they do engage in banter as part of their sales patter--they have to eat, and they're just doing what they know sells to drunk soldiers. There's a sense of overwhelming poverty and necessity to them though.

The only vaguely glamourous setting is the brothel above the inn in Kedwin(?). But one of the prostitutes here is later killed during the riots, though you don't see it and the body isn't mutilated when you discover the body. And you can't have sex with them either I don't think.

To be clear: there's no gratuitousness in the game to my mind. The game doesn't let you proposition anyone you want, it has to be consensual. There is a lot of naked flesh in some scenes, I agree, but these aren't mandatory scenes in the majority, and they only occur through mutual concession and direct player agency.

The only negative point I could level at the game is all the options for sex I encountered were strictly heterosexual--the only aspect where I think it actually fails to reflect real life accurately, from a sexual point-of-view.

Anyway...

~climbs down off soapbox~

I agree with you completely. I actually wrote a lengthy post in reply to brkl about this, but then deleted it because I didn't find the right words. You said it better.

[Twig]

The only negative point I could level at the game is all the options for sex I encountered were strictly heterosexual--the only aspect where I think it actually fails to reflect real life accurately, from a sexual point-of-view.

That's a fair complaint in a game where you create your character from scratch and you control every facet of that character's personality.

But The Witcher 2 isn't that kind of game. You play Geralt, a dude what loves women. A lot. I mean, I guess you could counter-argue on the angle that he's suffering from amnesia in the beginning of the first game and still doesn't really know who he is by the end of the first game, but... I don't know how much weight such an argument would hold. He's still Geralt. In the book I read, he's even kind of a womanizer. Not in that he thinks less of women, though. He just likes sex with ladies.

[dium]

The only negative point I could level at the game is all the options for sex I encountered were strictly heterosexual--the only aspect where I think it actually fails to reflect real life accurately, from a sexual point-of-view.

Is Geralt of Rivia bisexual?

Whoop, ninjad with an answer.

[twmac]

Just finished it last night, superb game although the mechanics never quite gelled for me and the bosses were downright tedious. I had to knock the difficulty down for the final boss.

Also, depending on your choices, the achievements have spoilers in the game.

I am impressed by the sheer amount of content that gets locked off when you make certain choices it added a weight that I felt most games lack.

[Erkki]

I'm finally playing it for the second time and this time I took the Roche path, as the first time I sided with Iorveth.

 

Just got to Loc Muinne, and I don't want to screw it up this time. In the first playthrough, I somehow managed to skip most of the content in Chapter 3 and headed almost straight to the meeting, which got things rolling towards the end without possibility to do side quests, as I remember. Peeking at a walkthrough, there should be a lot of content in Chapter 3, actually.

 

So does anyone remember which quest or player action it is that starts a there's-no-going-back-from-here situation?

[Nasser]

Man, I really have to get back to finishing this game. I put at least 20 hours into it last October (holy shit, I just realised how long ago that is now) but hen I believe XCOM came along and it dropped off my daily cycle. It was weird though because I really started to enjoy it. The first 3 - 5 hours I was struggling with the combat encounters (and I was playing on easy) but then I started to realise that potions mattered and I can't go in swords swinging and expect to win. 

[Scratch]

I'm finally playing it for the second time and this time I took the Roche path, as the first time I sided with Iorveth.

 

Just got to Loc Muinne, and I don't want to screw it up this time. In the first playthrough, I somehow managed to skip most of the content in Chapter 3 and headed almost straight to the meeting, which got things rolling towards the end without possibility to do side quests, as I remember. Peeking at a walkthrough, there should be a lot of content in Chapter 3, actually.

 

So does anyone remember which quest or player action it is that starts a there's-no-going-back-from-here situation?

 

The quest is called "Summit of Mages". That quest opens up once you finish either "Of his Blood and Bone" (Roche) or "The Spellbreaker" (Iorveth) depending on other choices you made previously. You can start the Summit quest and reach a point where either Roche or Iorveth will give you another warning that "this is the point of no return, are you sure you're ready for this?".

[Erkki]

I wonder if I can manually delete the save games from the Steam userdata folder? The combination of lots of save files and Steam cloud seems to make it crash a lot. And the load game screen takes a while to come up.

 

It's even crashing while I'm deleting the save games in-game one by one. Crashes each time after 5 or so games deleted. However, I think I will keep doing it because I'm too close to the end to risk somehow screwing it up by deleting through file system.

[Nappi]

Yeah. The save/load system breaks if you have too many save files. I deleted them within the game just to be sure.