Witcher II - Impressions Forthcoming

[tgb]

Probably not a big surprise. I hope some of you are more excited than I am. Anyway, Tom Chick has the trailer up over at fidgit.com

[Smoove_B]

I am very excited for this game; probably a day-one purchase for me. They actually provided a secret message for fans in the trailer, it flashes up real quick at the end.

Spoiler:

"This message is for our biggest fans. Analyzing our stuff pixel by pixel. It's good to see you again!
BTW: Simple minded people think that nobody is reading these days, dear reader of this, we think that we can agree that is bullshit, huh?
Same as the fact that single player RPGs are dead, or PCs?
We sold 1.5 million units of the game from a dying genre on a dying platform - so we somehow cannot agree

Before we start talking about TW2 please let us thank you for your great support and appreciation.
It always motivates us and make us happy.

We started working on TW2 right after release of TW. Our goal was to create all the things which made TW so great even better in TW2.
We are very proud of TW but lets be honest, it was our debut. We never made any game before, and we practically learned as we worked.
So there were many things which could be done better, you know it as good as us
But the vision, the main concept, remains the same: a game with a mature, captivating and non linear story, and full of spectacular combat.
A game created by a team of independant thinkers immune to corporate priorities, who don't care what's trendy at the given moment.

The core vision of the game hasn't changed. What has changed is the quality and the maturity we can deliver. That's largely because we're more experienced and also due to the fact that we've cerated our own technology. Do you remember how we made significant improvements with the Aurora Engine in the original game, but it still had its limitations?
Now we've created technology designed specifically to create non-linear games with extensive plotlines and a living word...
Well, there's no point in expanding on that too much - you have to check out our tech yourselves!

Nevertheless, we have many reasons to believe that you will like The Witcher 2!
See you soon and stay tuned!

Q1 2011 is a helluva long way off though.

[Freezer-TPF-]

I really need to install my copy of the Witcher.

[dfs]

I really need to install my copy of the Witcher.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the witcher. Sure, in retrospect they could have done some things better, but the world felt far more "real" to me than anything in any of the other bioware games. I hope they manage to keep that with the sequel.

[hepcat]

This is the game that will make me buy a new PC.

...well, that and Barbie's Funhouse Adventures

[Arcanis]

I just couldn't get into the original game. I hope this does well as it seemed very interesting but i just kept feeling like an abandoned child when i was unable to do what it was telling me or find the quest to open up the path to get there.

[Smoove_B]

Kotaku has some impressions:

With the action-based combat, branching dialogue choices, and emotional engagement, it almost sounds like The Witcher 2 is going to be a dragon Age clone.

But the major differences are there. The entire world, for instance, is accessible at all times. You can travel anywhere, with no loading times, any time you want. Inside buildings, on top of buildings, or deep into the swamp to face off against the giant octopus/bull monster that Geralt faced at the end of our demo.

Showing off the game's combat again, Gop had Geralt setting stun traps, rolling out of the way at the last minute as huge tentacles came crashing down. Triggering the traps, they remained rooted in place while Geralt took out their weak points. Once three were down, he rushed in, tricking the monster into smashing the pillar supporting a broken stone bridge above its head. The structure collapsed, trapping the creature, and with a few final blows the Witcher stood triumphant.

[Smoove_B]

There's a trailer up on youtube that shows the kinds of options you can expect in the game story and tactics. However, there are some b00bs (2:45), so it could be NSFW depending on what you consider safe. It seems like they've changed some of the basic mechanics of game play. This trailer reminded me a bit of Thief or even Batman Arkham Asylum.

[Toe]

The first game just seemed to get a little overwhelming eventually for me. So I lost interest. It is not a game that I (at my feeble age) can simply stop playing for while and pick back up either cause of so much going on. I really do appreciate dev's angle on making it for the more mature gamer though.

[Daehawk]

Loved the first will love the second.

[Smoove_B]

Interview with CD Projeckt about Witcher 2. I didn't realize they were creating a whole new game engine from scratch. Though I guess realistically how much further were they going to push the Neverwinter Nights engine.

Eurogamer: I've heard there are 16 endings in The Witcher 2 and even multiple introductions if you import your savegame from The Witcher. How do you make sure that every way you play the game is rewarding and coherent when there's so much player choice involved?

Jan Bartkowicz: It's like this. First of all, we wanted to make these multiple endings not like... We don't want the game to be a linear story until the last 10 per cent of the game where you make the choices and suddenly everything goes totally different ways. That's not really a summary, right? It's only a summary of the last 10 per cent of the game.

So we've made our system based on the idea, for example, that in the first chapter of the game you will make choices that mean you could only possibly see eight of those endings because of the choice you made. Someone asked me at gamescom, "Where do I need to save the game to load it and see all the different endings?" and I told them, "Well, basically in the prologue!"

[Little Raven]

This will be a day 1 for me. Witcher was far from perfect, but it was unique, and I had a ton of fun with it.

[Frost]

This will be a day 1 for me. Witcher was far from perfect, but it was unique, and I had a ton of fun with it.

Same here. I never make day 1 purchases, but the makers inspired me to take the plunge based on their commitment to the first game, and how they continued to improve it long after it was already a success. I just wanted to reward them, and hope that others in the industry follow their example.

[Smoove_B]

It's coming out at a really busy gaming time for me (Brink, LA Noire) but I think I'm going to need to support them as well given how much I loved the original. I've been trying to stay away from recent previews but it's been difficult. One that had my eyebrow raised suggested it was one of the most beautiful games the previewer had ever seen.

The Witcher 2 may well be one of the best-looking games in history, and not purely on a technical level. In addition, the vast bulk of the world streams quietly in the background, mean you can wander across huge areas of beautiful landscape without encountering any loading screens. On that level, it's been very strange to have played Witcher 2 preview code in the same week as I played Portal 2…

[Nightwish]

Did any of you play the added adventures of the Enhanced Edition? I never went back to play them and haven't found any mention of their quality.

[AWS260]

Did any of you play the added adventures of the Enhanced Edition? I never went back to play them and haven't found any mention of their quality.

Did the Enhanced Edition add quests? I thought its only major change was to improve the dialogue/translation.

[Sarkus]

Did any of you play the added adventures of the Enhanced Edition? I never went back to play them and haven't found any mention of their quality.

I played around with some of them. Not all of them are voiced, though, which makes it a bit odd. The only downside is that each one is at different starting levels and you have to build your Geralt each time based on the level you start at.

[Smoove_B]

I believe this is the first review - from a Polish gaming magazine.

I think there are some story spoilers in there, so tread lightly.

If I'm understanding the Google Translation, it looks like it should be about a 30 hour experience, though maybe that's just for the core game.

Although the release of the first Witcher passed just four years, and we are still the same generation of consoles, is a technological leap it has made ​​by Studio RED, is simply incredible. The quality textures and models in combination with relatively large sites, lighting and special effects to create breathtaking views. Nothing, however, the technology, if not for a team of artists responsible for the projects site and the character. Attract attention to details - the dirty clothes, smeared lipstick on his face madams, scars on the faces of the soldiers. Each character seems to look the other way - forget the elves and beautiful wymuskanych parobkach. The latter is a thick, dirty, with big bellies obdartusy on top and the dirt under the fingernails.

In summary:

PROS:

addictive, well-told, non-linear story;
intransigence and attention to detail;
superb dialogues;
variety of side quests;
beautiful graphics and visual art;
scalable difficulty level - everyone will find something for everyone.

Cons:

the end leaves a huge unsatisfied;
minor technical Tourneo.

[silverjon]

I refuse to buy games that don't have wymuskanych parobkach. Forget it.

(fyi, because i'm soooo nice: "dandified farmhands")

[tgb]

I swore off games with technical Tourneo a long time ago.

[AWS260]

Cons:
the end leaves a huge unsatisfied;

If my wife can deal with it, so can I.

[TiLT]

The game just unlocked on Steam a few minutes ago. Servers are too busy to let me start the download, but I'm sure it'll get better pretty fast.

[cicobuff]

Just installed. Let's see how this goes.

[Jag]

I feel an illness coming on suddenly...

[Tscott]

Impressions so far: Those three beautiful words...

Spoiler:

"Out for delivery"

[rrmorton]

Over at Qt3, folks are complaining about the difficulty level, the changed combat system, the high-end system demands, and various bugs and glitches preventing the game from downloading/installing/loading... All of which adds up to I NEED TO GET THIS NOW!!! That's everything I love about PC gaming. Plus the first game was pretty great.

Since I have no funds available for gaming at the moment, Steam is out... but I might trade in some old console titles and pick up a boxed copy at Gamestop. I haven't bought a PC game at a brick and mortar store since Starcraft 2 and before that... hmm...

And word has it that Nvidia released new drivers for The Witcher 2 today.

[Turtle]

The difficulty level is a bit expected. They tended to balance the game so that you have to explore and prepare, rather than balancing for casual players. But, what was nice was that all those preparations would last a long time, so you only had to prepare once.

Blizzard potions got a little annoying in the original though.

I'm holding off on this for LA Noire and to finish a play through of the original. I figure by that time I'll have enough to upgrade my video card.

[Fitzy]

I've played a couple hours. Performance is surprisingly good and I have the minimum GPU. It even looks good with every option at minimum and running at 1920x1080. I haven't tried turning any of the options up.

Combat is horrible. Terrible. Or I just suck. I think I've died more already than I did in the Witcher 1. One on one I'm fine, but any group is going to crush me into little bitty pieces within seconds. I'll keep pushing through hoping that leveling up will help, but right now combat is killing this game for me.

There are a lot of people running around and I haven't found a way to tell which ones will actually talk to you. Nor can I see any way to tell which barrels contain something without running up to each one.

The conversations are good so far. Voice acting isn't bad.

The changes are highly similar to those from Dragon Age to DA 2. Hell there's even time shifting (though on a much smaller level).

I didn't import a game from Witcher 1, it's disappointing that there is no way to pick the path you want.

[Jajusha]

I've played a couple hours. Performance is surprisingly good and I have the minimum GPU. It even looks good with every option at minimum and running at 1920x1080. I haven't tried turning any of the options up.

Combat is horrible. Terrible. Or I just. I think I've died more already than I did in the Witcher 1. One on one I'm fine, but any group is going to crush me into little bitty pieces within seconds. I'll keep pushing through hoping that leveling up will help, but right now combat is killing this game for me.

There are a lot of people running around and I haven't found a way to tell which ones will actually talk to you. Nor can I see any way to tell which barrels contain something without running up to each one.

The conversations are good so far. Voice acting isn't bad.

The changes are highly similar to those from Dragon Age to DA 2. Hell there's even time shifting (though on a much smaller level).

I didn't import a game from Witcher 1, it's disappointing that there is no way to pick the path you want.

Well, in groups i found out that space is my best friend. Dodge Dodge, hit the squishiest oponent, dodge dodge. Do that until only the armored/shielded dudes remain. On these, burn them with sign and hit them in the back after they charge.

You can see what barrels contain something by pressing Z. It will show all items you can interact with.

[Smoove_B]

No problems with the GOG preload over the weekend and this morning it only took a few minutes to get the remaining portion of the game via the GOG Installer. Took about 10 minutes (I think) to combine everything and then another 10 minutes or so to install it all.

I wish I knew exactly what the save game from the original enabled. I might have to dig out my old PC and hunt for the folder. Regardless, I put about 30 minutes into the game and I'm blown away. It looks absolutely amazing. Pentium i7 w/ an ATI 5870, 6 GB of RAM. I think it's on High settings at 1680 x 1050. The character models look extremely detailed. Not like "paper dolls" fitted with generic armor or clothes.

I want to play more this afternoon but between a rambunctious 5 year old and LA Noire, it's going to be a busy, busy day.

EDIT: Heh. I guess someone already found an Easter Egg making reference to a certain hooded assassin.

Spoiler:

[TiLT]

EDIT: Heh. I guess someone already found an Easter Egg making reference to a certain hooded assassin.

Spoiler:

Yeah, I noticed that one too. If you look up, you'll see a typical leap of faith location from Assassin's Creed, and the guy was clearly attempting to dive into a cart with hay from some height. Unlike in AC, things ended rather realistically here.

[hepcat]

5 o'clock can't come soon enough with stuff like this being brought up.

[Smoove_B]

I currently have it set for "Normal" and I'm thinking of dropping it back down to "Easy". I had the same problem (I think) early on in the original, but as I recall it was a matter of getting used to their combat system. They've changed it up a bit for this version so it might just be another matter of getting used to how things are handled. All I know is that by the end of the first game, I was a walking bladed killing machine - and it was awesome.

[snoleopard]

I just got back from picking my copy up at GameStop, (yeah, I still buy at brick and mortar stores mostly). Can't wait to get into the game, but have to find my old save from the first one. I too have LA Noir, but PC is my preferred game machine, so Witcher 2 is first.

[Mr. Fed]

I currently have it set for "Normal" and I'm thinking of dropping it back down to "Easy". I had the same problem (I think) early on in the original, but as I recall it was a matter of getting used to their combat system. They've changed it up a bit for this version so it might just be another matter of getting used to how things are handled. All I know is that by the end of the first game, I was a walking bladed killing machine - and it was awesome.

Can you describe what the combat system is like? I'm really not a twitch-gamer. Is it more action-y or more rpg-y?

[Tscott]

Damn it. It finally arrived for me and it won't install. I get the error:

Feature Transfer error

Component: Data

File: E:/data2.cab

The only fix suggestions I've seen so far are to clean the DVD or exchange it where I got it. The DVD is perfectly clean, fresh out of the case. And I ordered from Amazon, and since other people are having the exact same problem, I figure the chances are good that I'll have the same issue if I exchange when I get the new one in the mail.

[Gryndyl]

Damn it. It finally arrived for me and it won't install. I get the error:

Feature Transfer error

Component: Data

File: E:/data2.cab

The only fix suggestions I've seen so far are to clean the DVD or exchange it where I got it. The DVD is perfectly clean, fresh out of the case. And I ordered from Amazon, and since other people are having the exact same problem, I figure the chances are good that I'll have the same issue if I exchange when I get the new one in the mail.

Try this:
Copy the contents of the DVD into a desktop folder
Get someone who owns the game to send you the data2.cab file.
Replace the one in the folder.
Install the game from the desktop folder.

No guarantees that will work but if it's a simple matter of a corrupt file then that should do the trick.

[Skinypupy]

I currently have it set for "Normal" and I'm thinking of dropping it back down to "Easy". I had the same problem (I think) early on in the original, but as I recall it was a matter of getting used to their combat system. They've changed it up a bit for this version so it might just be another matter of getting used to how things are handled. All I know is that by the end of the first game, I was a walking bladed killing machine - and it was awesome.

I have no qualms about playing on Easy. I gave up harboring any delusions of gaming l33tness years ago. Enjoying the story, world, and characters without having to put my fist through the monitor in frustration is a win-win.

Of course, Mrs. Skinypupy decides that she wants to do a family date night tonight, so I won't get to play this until late tomorrow after the little one goes to bed. For not paying any attention to my gaming habit, she has this amazing ability to pick release dates to schedule these sort of things.

[Smoove_B]

Can you describe what the combat system is like? I'm really not a twitch-gamer. Is it more action-y or more rpg-y?

It's definitely more action-y, but you get to sort of pick the type of style you'd like. I think this video shows off the basics real nice. I was a big fan of the first game and from what I've seen so far, the combat (while difficult) seems like an improvement. I cannot emphasize enough just how ridiculous I felt at the end of the first game. The way they had Geralt just flow through moves while fighting waves of enemies was awesome. I didn't use all that much magic in the first game - I focused mostly on sword styles and attacks and it worked out fine for me.

I have no qualms about playing on Easy. I gave up harboring any delusions of gaming l33tness years ago. Enjoying the story, world, and characters without having to put my fist through the monitor in frustration is a win-win.

Yup -- I think I'm in the same space now. I figured since I was used to how it worked in the first game I could just step right back into it, but it's just different enough that I'll probably bump it down to easy.

Of course, Mrs. Skinypupy decides that she wants to do a family date night tonight, so I won't get to play this until late tomorrow after the little one goes to bed. For not paying any attention to my gaming habit, she has this amazing ability to pick release dates to schedule these sort of things.

The wife came home like 2 hours early from work today and I seriously almost gave her a $100 bill and said, "Just take the kid and go. Today is my Superbowl."

[Tscott]

Damn it. It finally arrived for me and it won't install. I get the error:

Feature Transfer error

Component: Data

File: E:/data2.cab

The only fix suggestions I've seen so far are to clean the DVD or exchange it where I got it. The DVD is perfectly clean, fresh out of the case. And I ordered from Amazon, and since other people are having the exact same problem, I figure the chances are good that I'll have the same issue if I exchange when I get the new one in the mail.

Try this:
Copy the contents of the DVD into a desktop folder
Get someone who owns the game to send you the data2.cab file.
Replace the one in the folder.
Install the game from the desktop folder.

No guarantees that will work but if it's a simple matter of a corrupt file then that should do the trick.

Good idea. Only problem is that data2.cab is pretty large; 7.8 GB. I copied both DVD contents to my hard drive and got an error again when it was in the middle of copying data2.cab. Everything else copied over just fine. I wonder if any of my 'friends in Torrance' have a data2.cab I can borrow - I hate to go that route though, because they can be unreliable and they're always getting in trouble with the law.