"The Witcher" by CD Projekt

[Achilles]

Update 2: if you have the "re-gore" patch in the same directory as the EE-install file, it will patch the game automagically (either that or the "re-gore" patch lies). At some point, I'll actually start a new game and confirm which of those things is true, but it won't be tonight.

[Arátoeldar]

Don't feed the troll.

 

CD Projekt is the best thing we've got going for CRPGs these days (and that C doesn't stand for console).

 

Preach it brother tk.

[Char Ell]

The ignore function is a wonderful thing.

 

Update 2: if you have the "re-gore" patch in the same directory as the EE-install file, it will patch the game automagically (either that or the "re-gore" patch lies). At some point, I'll actually start a new game and confirm which of those things is true, but it won't be tonight.

The only two files I downloaded were TWEE_Upgrade.exe (last night) and TWEE_English_language_pack.exe (this morning). When I saw tk's post about the "re-gore" patch today I downloaded it but during installation attempt got a message that it was already installed. That leads me to believe that CD Projekt got the upgrade patch updated with the missing file and replaced the prior upgrade patch. I did see blood and gore while playing through the prologue. I guess I'll see if that continues throughout.

[Corinthian]

If CD Projekt is the best thing going for CRPGs, I think I'm going to buy a console.

 

Fortunately, you're wrong. Ahem, gentlemen. Allow me to present Diablo III. Sanctuary's Finest, with the biggest Demon Body count, ever.

 

Let me continue with presenting 'Dragon Age', a game that, if it follows up on it's promises, will be everything the Witcher could have been, and more.

 

Furthermore, we also have Fallout 3, Gothic IV: Arcania, the inevitable TES: V, and so on and so forth. CD Projekt has released one title. (Incidentally, this is the only place I've ever heard good things about the Witcher.) And I give them credit for Good Old Games. I've played The Witcher. Admittedly, I only played a small amount before I got fed up and decided to play something genuinely fun like Microsoft Flight Simulator...

 

Anyway, what precisely is so good about The Witcher? The mediocre voice acting? The lackluster combat that could take pointers from Neverwinter Nights, of all things? The 'maturity' which mostly just boils down to sex and cursing? I'm genuinely curious.

[Wookiee Rrudolf]

@Corinthian sorry that I'm the one who tell you... but Diablo isn't and never intended to be RPG game, it's just Hack'n'Slash (RPGs are not about leveling up but roleplaing).

'Dragon Age', a game that, if it follows up on it's promises, will be everything the Witcher could have been, and more.

Just like every new game that will be 'experience that you've never seen before', 'revolution in RPG and gaming industry' etc. etc. We shall see...

Anyway, what precisely is so good about The Witcher?

I personally like choices that I didn't have in any other game I played, no 'good or bad' just decisions and consequences.

[Ctrl Alt Del]

@Corinthian sorry that I'm the one who tell you... but Diablo isn't and never intended to be RPG game, it's just Hack'n'Slash (RPGs are not about leveling up but roleplaing).

 

Go tell that to Blizzard.

 

"We’re developing Diablo III to be the definitive action role-playing game, and a true continuation of the Diablo series."

 

Source

[Arátoeldar]

If CD Projekt is the best thing going for CRPGs, I think I'm going to buy a console.

 

Fortunately, you're wrong. Ahem, gentlemen. Allow me to present Diablo III. Sanctuary's Finest, with the biggest Demon Body count, ever.

 

Let me continue with presenting 'Dragon Age', a game that, if it follows up on it's promises, will be everything the Witcher could have been, and more.

 

Furthermore, we also have Fallout 3, Gothic IV: Arcania, the inevitable TES: V, and so on and so forth. CD Projekt has released one title. (Incidentally, this is the only place I've ever heard good things about the Witcher.) And I give them credit for Good Old Games. I've played The Witcher. Admittedly, I only played a small amount before I got fed up and decided to play something genuinely fun like Microsoft Flight Simulator...

 

Anyway, what precisely is so good about The Witcher? The mediocre voice acting? The lackluster combat that could take pointers from Neverwinter Nights, of all things? The 'maturity' which mostly just boils down to sex and cursing? I'm genuinely curious.

 

Dragon Age hasn't come out. So it is still an if game. It does have the fact that it is being developed for the PC going for it.

 

Fallout 3 is being developed first for the X-box 360 not the PC. While I do think it is better than "Oblivion with guns", not by much. We will see once it comes out. I'm sure that the inevitable TES: V and Gothic IV: Arcania will follow suit.

 

The Witcher is the first game. That I have had to think. How I want to respond to the dialog.

[patient_zero]

What with it being a month 'til Fable and Fallout, I chose to give The Witcher a shot instead of embarking on playthough number 5 of KotOR.

 

I guess I've been feeling somewhat bogged down with endless replays of normal CRPGs, so I found the "clicky clicky" combat style refreshing. If you're surrounded by easy enemies and using group style it becomes almost soothing, like playing a level on a rhythm action game that you've mastered three times over.

 

I'll admit I didn't care for the not-quite-tastefully-done Tit TCG, but so far that's the only part that actually bothered me.

[tk102]

When I said CD Projekt is the best thing for CRPGs we've got, I was referring to the demonstrated commitment they have shown to the customers. They show an open enthusiasm for developing and perfecting the game they've envisioned, they've released patches within a 45 days after customer complaints about load times and other bugs, and now they're giving away two expansion adventures for free and polishing the game further. Last but not least, these guys are PC-only gamers -- and with that and their Djinni editor, they've embraced the modding communities with open arms.

 

Now to be fair, Obsidian released MotB for free as well, and many considered that expansion to be superior to the main campaign. They're also working on the Storm of Zehir expansion due out later this year. I believe that CD Projekt's sudden success with The Witcher stole the thunder from Obsidian and there were many direct comparisons between the two companies. The competition between the two companies is a good thing for all of us.

 

My hope is that CD Projekt's dedication to the games and the customers (not their money) will continue to come first.

[Q]

Obsidian released MotB for free as well

They did?! When did this happen?

[tk102]

Oh didn't they? Sorry I'm confused.

[Aash Li]

So apparently theres a Witcher expanded edition that comes with more quests and the like. But I have yet to read if they put in an option to play female "The Witcher"s.

[tk102]

As before, the player character is fixed: you are Geralt of Rivia.

[Corinthian]

Decision and Consequence? Wasn't that the much touted feature of Fable? I mean, really, you're telling me that the most impressive thing about it is that you have decisions and consequences, there's no direct Good/Evil system, and you have to think about the dialogue?

 

Did you ever play Fallout?

[Samuel Dravis]

Well, I tried to play this game again since giving it up completely due to load time issues a year ago. Now, the load times are acceptable, but I still have one gripe, and probably one that will make me give up on it again: the control scheme!

 

I don't mind clicking a bunch to target different NPCs. What I do mind is clicking a bunch for no other reason than to click. I suppose the benefit (?) of the click-combos is that you can possibly fail (by missing the (small (hard-to-click (no, I do not know lisp))) characters). Whatever the case, I find it extremely irritating.

 

I would not mind nearly so much if they had put a key where I can press it to keep up with your combos, but no, I have to hold the mouse over the (often moving) NPC and click it at the same time, at a specific instant, or my attacks do virtually no damage. Moreover, since I have to stare religiously the little combo icon, I can't even enjoy watching the fights! It's almost like they designed the game to be played on consoles (which would be perfect for their combat system, I admit). Target enemy>Start attacking>Combo Light comes up>Press A, repeat. The only problem is that there is no A button on a PC!

 

Perhaps I've been spoiled by NWN/2, Guild Wars and other recent RPGs, but honestly I find their controls are by far better than The Witcher's. I looked around to see if there was any way to mod a button into the game, or possibly a mod for it, but no luck. It makes me annoyed that I can't seem to enjoy an RPG as well-reviewed and recommended as the Witcher due to some wretched hard-coded control scheme. Being different is most emphatically NOT an improvement in this case.

[tk102]

You might want to avoid Jade Empire then too, SD.

[Lantzen]

Why ? Jade Empire have autotargeting and it's just spam attack key to kill the enemy. And jump around to dodge

[Achilles]

For those of you playing The Witcher, you might want to consider this mod. An update for EE can be found on the 2nd page.

[Lantzen]

Nice, pretty annoying with stacks of only 10

[stingerhs]

well, i picked up the Enhanced Edition of this game a couple days ago, and so far, i'm quite impressed. the game runs quite well, and load times are more than acceptable (better than Oblivion's, actually).

 

combat is actually deeper than i expected, and once you start adding magic to the combat, it only gets better. the idea of chaining combos together is a nice touch, but i wish that dodging attacks was easier than it is (double tapping a key is much more difficult than holding down a block key). still, those minor gripes aside, the game is very addicting, and its a lot of fun to boot.

 

i haven't gotten deep enough in the story to really comment about how good it is, but everything else is good. as for the voice acting goes, i decided to stick with how the game was originally developed, and i'm using the Polish voices with English subtitles. it works pretty well, actually, and it really makes the game almost feel like a foreign film of sorts.

 

so far, so good, and i'm really looking forward to completing this one.

[Achilles]

Here is another thread that you all may or may not find interesting. The texture changes to the swords start off pretty subtle and get more and more "inspired" from there.

[tk102]

Nice, Achilles. Reminds me... Aash Li, there are some mods out there that let you exchange Geralt's model with some of the other characters (link).

 

I haven't yet played through the new stories (or even used any mods for that matter). I am currently enjoying the second playthrough trying different choices and strategies (ie. siding with Siegfried, avoiding Igni in favor of Yrden and Quen, using various secondary weapons where possible). Yesterday I invited Carmen to come to my party.

[Achilles]

Reminds me... Aash Li, there are some mods out there that let you exchange Geralt's model with some of the other characters (link).

*Has visual of Triss speaking with Geralt's voice.*

 

*Vomits then cries*

 

I haven't yet played through the new stories (or even used any mods for that matter).

So far I've only used the inventory mod and the steel sword reskin. I also tried the Berengar's Sword mod, but it had some bugs that I just couldn't get over.

 

I am currently enjoying the second playthrough trying different choices and strategies (ie. siding with Siegfried, avoiding Igni in favor of Yrden and Quen, using various secondary weapons where possible).

5th playthrough. 1st time siding with the humans though. Focusing on swordsmanship this time.

 

FYI, I'm also foregoing Herbalism this time around. Gotta say, I think I prefer it and will continue to play this way in the future. Definitely a little more "witcher-like" imho.

 

Yesterday I invited Carmen to come to my party.

Have fun with Shani's reaction

[Char Ell]

Those were some nice sword models that you linked to Achilles. As a man of relatively simple and pragmatic tastes however I'm still in search of Witcher sword models that somehow reflect the meteorites/runes that have been incorporated into the sword. I mean, I want my steel sword forged from three red meteorites to have a red hue to it or something along those lines in-game. The inventory images reflect that and I only wish the in-game sword model would as well.

FYI, I'm also foregoing Herbalism this time around. Gotta say, I think I prefer it and will continue to play this way in the future. Definitely a little more "witcher-like" imho.

Care to elaborate on that a little more? I see potions as an integral part of Witcher lore so I'm curious why you don't see it that way. Or are you strictly speaking of not gathering potion ingredients throughout the game and having to buy your potions or the necessary ingredients to make them?

[Achilles]

Herbalism is a Bronze skill that you have to buy that allows you to extract ingredients from plants. You still get ingredients from monsters/animals via Flaying (the skinning skill that Vesemir teaches you in the prologue). The environments seems much...cleaner without getting spammed with plant tags every time you hit the ALT key. It also seems a tad bit more roleplay-ey to have to rely on monster parts for my stuff and things.

 

The only downside I've found so far is that I can't be an snobbish about my Alchemy satchel. I worked out a very nice system in my last playthrough for keeping things organized, but now I have to hang on to a lot more stuff.

 

Long answer summarized: I still get potions, just not from plants.