The Witcher 2 is awesome thread

[PixieGirl]

This sucks, I was totally looking forward to playing this today, but it seems my graphics card finally found something it can't handle. I've been playing most games on mostly high settings and its been fine, but even if I put The Witcher 2 on "low" its very slow and not payable Oh well i've been putting off upgrading for a while. I think its time

But I did put it on High when i first started playing...

and Oh. My. God.

Is this the prettiest game ever or what? and no I reeeeally don't just mean that scene with Triss at the start
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[Jarrod]

Triss is too hot. Too sexy. It's not fair she's not real.
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[PixieGirl]

In the last game I romanced Shani (I think that was her name?). and never really got with Triss except at the beginning. I hope Shani is in this game again, she was more my type
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[Scrav]

I loaded up my last save game, whom I ended up with Shani and Triss hating the sight of me. It didn't appear to have an impact as I woke up with Triss in The Witcher 2.

[PixieGirl]

Yeah I found that a little strange too, I don't remember being on good terms with Triss at the end of The Witcher.
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[Frozencry]

Triss has been madly in love with Geralt for years, so she'd be mad at him for like a day then get over it. <3 Triss.

Also, this scene is one of the most fist pump awesome scenes so far (no spoilers, just a shot of Geralt looking boss):



Also, it looks f**king amazing.

This game...*tear of win*
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[Scrav]

[Jarrod]

[Benc82]

I posted a link to it in this thread the other week and it got removed. Theres a playboy shoot or something with a model dressed as Triss. Google it.
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XBL/PSN/Steam: BenC82

[grim-one]

^ I think it was the Russian version. Or at least one of the Slavic ex-USSR countries.
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Steam:grim_one | PSN/Live:najakh | Flickr

[Frozencry]

Alright, yeah wow, it's 1:44AM atm and I've just managed to finish the game. Annual leave definitely worked out; mass 8-14 hour runs each day.

Did a good amount of side quests (though far from all of them) but mainly focused on story and figuring the combat out (which by level 24-25 was a breeze, made most fights for me super fluid and Godly. It's REALLY good).

Game is not as short as it may seem considering I completed it in 3 days. I've just been incredibly obsessed and determined. I beat StarCraft II in one sitting and that's with all missions done too, so don't be surprised.

But yeah to sum up:

-Combat is incredibly good. It punishes you for mistakes and rewards you for clever play. it's also diverse and consistently different much of the time. Fantastic.

-Visually astonishing. It's up at the top with technical ability alongside a few other games, but art style? Wow. They've conjured a world with enough lore and passion behind it to be touted the Lord of the Rings of video games. There is so much love put into this game, and it interlinks so amazingly well with the books. It is a fans dream come true.

-The story was to put it blunt, f**king magnificent from start to finish. Bioware take note: this is how you make an RPG and a sequel. Every character had a complex agenda and personality behind them, and the plot shifts and thickens particularly when you make one of the many choices in the game. It's extremely non-linear and VERY replayable, as you'll miss entire areas and quests at points depending on your choice in certain places.

It also does not treat you like a child, and the choices are not merely "save kittens" or "Butcher a family" black and white rubbish. Just like in the first, decisions are all shades of grey which can make things really difficult for you, and emotional. This is absolutely a mature, adults game and does not hesitate in complicating things and delving into political strife.

I admit, I was a little surprised to see 'epilogue' after completing a chapter, but nonetheless I came out with a big, fat smile on my face and am quite keen to replay the game and see where the story and ending goes with many other choices. It is as I said, an insanely non-linear game and there's an absolute tonne of secrets too.

Also if you want flaws; minor bug or two here and there and some minor technical problems at launch. Otherwise..didn't have an issue with the game.

Dunno if I'm doing the review for this one. But I'm pretty sure it'll be really god damned positive. It's an RPG that succesfully blends the fluidity of combat in Arkham Asylum, the challenging nature of Demon's Souls and the complexity and maturity of cRPGs and the original game to create a very unique, insanely polished and unforgettable kind of experience.

TL;DR, Get yourself a new PC and play the ploughing game.
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[Jarrod]

I wish my copy would hurry up and arrive from the UK. Glad to hear it was great, though I'm not surprised. CDProjekt RED really know their stuff. I hope this sells very well, and I hope the destined console port does well too. People need to pay attention to games like this, as it will probably be the deepest RPG of the year yet retaining all the high product values folk expect from their blockbuster titles.

One thing though, looking over screenshots and footage, I'm a bit disappointed with how the devs have handled bloom lighting. It looks great on individual light sources, like the sun or flames or whatever, but the way it blooms textures is pretty nasty. A surprising amount of texture clarity is lost from all the brightness.

It still looks great though, and was probably an art decision. But, having seen comparison shots, I personally would have toned it down.

/opinions from someone who hasn't played it
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[ManeKast]

Was waiting to see how quickly you finished it Denny.

Me, I am still in chapter 1 exploring the town and surrounds. I absolutely love this game. Its extremely refreshing to play a game with no hand holding, reminds me of the good old PC RPG days in the 90s where you would pour through the manual, journals and dialogue to figure out the intricacies of the game.

Even the usual (grab 20 monster skins) quests have so far been updated with quests that mean something (seal off the lairs etc.) and so far only in chapter 1 the game is really unpredictable. And whats this? A challenge? Yes the game is challenging and rewarding, kicks your ass for not saving and makes you pay strict attention.

Not to mention how gorgeous the art is, the environments...... and far out the writing is genuinely funny and shocking.Most of all, its original and doesn't feel like its been squeezed through the marketing machine usually associated with consoles (ahem DA2/FF13).

Absolute love.
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PSN/XBL/Steam: ManeKast
Kudos to Fetidchimp for the sig.

[LeonJ]

I seriously need to play the first and then get onto the 2nd.

I think I am missing out.
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Shin J Leon.

XBL - LeonJ
PSN - LeonJ

[Cyph]

^ Yes you are

[Schultzy]

Loving how the name of this thread mysteriously changed!!!
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Now Playing: Borderlands, HOMM5, Mass Effect.

[toasty_T]

This game is incredible. I'm unprepared to to write out why at the moment but for now I'll leave it at

Has anyone mentioned how good the music is? My goodness. Flotsam is just charming, the next city is even better (awesome acoustic guitar). I was wandering around this place for over an hour and I'm listening to the track from the OST just after quiting the game.
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[Scrav]

My copy of the game stopped working. I think I'm going to curl into a ball and cry.

[Island_Wolf]

[Marka]

[Frozencry]

Yeah the OST is beautiful. The first OST I still listen to so to see this soundtrack match the first is fantastic.

Anyway on my second playthrough now. Just about to hit chapter 1. This game doesn't get boring, and I very rarely replay RPGs, if ever.
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[thebigm]

So I just finished the Witcher 1 (~55hrs... yes, I did every single quest / side quest... except for one in the prologue I think).

Then proceeded to do the following:

Booted up Witcher 2 with ubersampling.
Looked at my FPS drop.
Stopped playing the Witcher 2
Proceed to modify my 6950 to a 6970
Stress Test PC
And now about to continue playing to see how ubersampling goes

Edit: Unfortunately, only a few FPS increase on Ubersampling, so disabling for now.

[Frozencry]

^Only the super high end can pump Ubersampling. I'm waiting on my CFX fix, and once that's implemented I should be capable. Already doing about 25-30 fps in most areas, with some shooting to about 50-60.

Was walking through Flotsam in chapter 1, and it starts raining. Everyone starts running under cover, and some dude mutters:

"Thank God it's raining, I thought a bird shat on me."

I lol'd. Do love this game.
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[toasty_T]

The foliage in this game is fantastic. This is seriously the best looking game I have ever seen and it runs like a dream, never seen the frame rate to drop to <30 on ultra (without ubersampling).

Check this pic out. It's about 3mb so here's a link

http://h-5.abload.de/img/witcher22011-05-2116-4dja3.png
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[Jarrod]

Yeah, turn off ubersampling dude. Everything else can be maxed, but 99% of PCs wont be about to run ubersampling at a stable framerate. Its future tech.
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