The Witcher 2 : Enhanced Edition - Any Opinions ?

[Trimble Bracegirdle]

The Witcher 2 : Enhanced Edition
This has just been released on the 17 th . for Xbox & PC.
As ither a full 13 GB download or a upgrade patch of (I think) 10 GB.

I have the Witcher 2 & enjoy playing it...though It often seems to be a
succession of Console type Mini Games with 'just Bash Away' combat. (fun!)
And it doesn't really have a 'Non-Linear' plotline ....
...you can go this or that way to the same result.

I keep on thinking 'dumbed down Thief 3'.
But the story & characters are good.

But a 10 GB patch for a bit more of the same ?? I don't know so much.
I'm in the UK with an 40 GB ISP monthly download cap.
I can't find any really full reviews of the new content.
Any opinions ?
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") mouse (There Might Be More Bare Bosom's !)

[Rin Stowleigh]

Inform your ISP it is 2012 and politely ask them go fuck themselves on
the download cap?

[Andrew MacPherson]

no-...@never.spam (Trimble Bracegirdle) wrote:

> I keep on thinking 'dumbed down Thief 3'.
> But the story & characters are good.

I enjoyed Witcher 1 for its gritty, unforgiving world, but it had its fair share of
gamey flaws.

I finally got round to starting Witcher2 a week or so ago...





Spoiler space











Spoiler space






I enjoyed the bit in the tutorial section where there's an Assassin's Creed type
body on the ground beside a tower and a hay bale, but after that.... well, I've
kind of struggled. Too many dead ends on maps which I have to back-track from; too
many characters which stand around 24/7 until you complete their sub-quest; and
I've now got as far as fighting my first obvious "boss"; the Karayan.

This clichéd bit of tedious formulaic monster bashing, complete with
tentacle-trimming from another game, has turned me right off.

I will one day try to jump through the hoops to get past this and move on with the
story, but at the moment I'm *really* regretting paying about 2/3rds full price for
this.

It's a lovely looking disappointment though. :-)

Andrew McP

PS I can't tell the difference between the game pre-patch and post-patch. Probably
because all I can see is poxy tentacles.

[Rin Stowleigh]

Its been a while since I played but I remember that big squid bastard
you're referring to. Its a little weird getting the vibe and timing
to kill him, but viewing a youtube video should help. Like most boss
battles, we are usually much closer to completion than we think we are
at the point of giving up.

Combat mechanics can be a little weird until you get into the vibe of
setting traps but I do like the Witcher series. I didnt finish TW2
but I do want to go back to it some day and complete.

[David Lamb]

On 20/04/2012 12:53 AM, Rin Stowleigh wrote:
> On Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:06:38 +0100, "Trimble Bracegirdle"
> <no-...@never.spam> wrote:
>> But a 10 GB patch for a bit more of the same ?? I don't know so much.
>> I'm in the UK with an 40 GB ISP monthly download cap.
>

> Inform your ISP it is 2012 and politely ask them go fuck themselves on
> the download cap?

If he only has one choice of ISP, or the others are equally bad, this
isn't going to work. IIRC download caps are still a thing even in (some
parts of?) the US of A.

[Rin Stowleigh]

On Fri, 20 Apr 2012 08:00:08 -0400, David Lamb <dal...@cs.queensu.ca>
wrote:

Perhaps, but he did ask for opinions.

[Andrew MacPherson]

dal...@cs.queensu.ca (David Lamb) wrote:

> If he only has one choice of ISP, or the others are equally bad,
> this isn't going to work

There is quite a lot of pretty reasonably priced choice in the UK (at most phone
exchanges anyway; some of the smaller ones are more limited).

I pay about 16ukp a month for an unlimited 20MB connection, but I suspect 40GB
would be more than enough most of the time. So I could probably save a bit more
money if I wanted.

Andrew McP

[Andrew MacPherson]

rstow...@gmail.com (Rin Stowleigh) wrote:

> Its a little weird getting the vibe and timing
> to kill him, but viewing a youtube video should help.

I'm sure you're right, it's just that I object to such horrible gameplay. I'd hoped
for better... though I may be guilty of forgetting just how 'average' a lot of the
gameplay in Witcher1 was. Its main appeal was always the gritty, complex world. And
the pretend sex, obviously.

At least the pretend sex in 2 is quite entertaining. No tentacles getting hacked
off there yet. However if I keep visiting the girls downstairs in the tavern I may
need to search the potion list for a cure for syphilis.

Andrew McP

[Trimble Bracegirdle]

>>>>"...PS I can't tell the difference between the game pre-patch and
>>>>post-patch...."

Do mean you have installed the new 'Enhanced Edition' Patch ?
I understand its around 10 GB. That surely should make some big differences.
Do it mean restarting the game ...with older Game Saves not working ?

I find its best to play on the 'Easy' difficulty level ..which is still not
very easy.

(\__/)
(='.'=)

(")_(") mouse (Are There More Bare Bosom's !)

[Rin Stowleigh]

In addition to the sex, do you not find the general dialog and humor
of TW2 amusing?

The Witcher games, with all the tits and ass, have been a refreshing
series for me. Not only does it make Geralt easier for me to relate
to on a personal level, but his poon-hounding habits kind of set his
personality apart from other game story heroes, making the series
unique in that way.

I just fear that for all things desireable, there exists a mandatory
counterpart that is less desireable. Like maybe there is some
brilliant game designer out there creating the next phenomenal title,
yet he is gay and finds the hetereosexual portrayal of Geralt's
character offensive, therefore decides to respond by designing things
into his storyline like forcing the player to endure gay prison rape,
or tolerate a dangling pair of balls in the face or similar. Something
that would just make the average straight guy wish they'd never bought
the game.

Maybe I'm paranoid, I've just found that in life, tits and ass almost
always come with some unforeseen price or consequence. Maybe that
consequence is, as you said, simply a case of syphilis.

[David Lamb]

I suppose he should have asked for *helpful* opinions, if he wanted one
of those. :)

[Rin Stowleigh]

On Fri, 20 Apr 2012 13:46:25 -0400, David Lamb <dal...@cs.queensu.ca>

Yeah, it was left a bit open and I'm not one to let opportunity pass
me by :)

[Andrew MacPherson]

no-...@never.spam (Trimble Bracegirdle) wrote:

> Do it mean restarting the game ...with older Game Saves not
> working ?

The download didn't seem to break anything... or obviously add anything. :-) But I
guess the "patch" was pretty much the whole game, tweaked.

And thanks for reminding me about the difficulty setting. I think I started out on
Normal for a change. Normally I chew through things on Easy to avoid all the
reloading which could be challenging when I was younger, but is less so once the
grave gets closer than the cradle. :-)

Andrew McP

[Andrew MacPherson]

rstow...@gmail.com (Rin Stowleigh) wrote:

> In addition to the sex, do you not find the general dialog and humor
> of TW2 amusing?

The problem I've had with the dialogue so far is that much of it seems to have been
done by the same actor. Or actors whose 'peasant British' accents all merge into
one. So I'm probably guilty of letting that niggle get in the way of what they're
actually saying. My "blah, blah" filter kicks in and I'm looking for the next
dialogue "switch" to move the story on instead of letting the plot unfold
immersively.

I may also just be having a bad year for games. Nothing has really grabbed me
properly for a long time, and I doubt that's their fault. I am probably guilty of
searching for the rare gaming equivalent of The Wire or The Sopranos, when it's a
hobby not designed to deliver that kind of deep satisfaction. Not and appeal to the
broad audience necessary to make money (though Fallout3 managed it).

But then that's why generally I wait and pay as little as possible for games.
Witcher2 was an exception because I paid very little for Witcher1 and felt I owed
them something for the unexpected enjoyment 1 gave me.

So I guess I don't begrudge them the cash, and I'm sure that once I can be bothered
to get that overgrown calamari out of the way I'll be able to get a bit of momentum
back.

Or I might go play Plants v Zombies yet again. I still worry that there's a gaming
arc I'm following... starting with Pong and returning, eventually, to Pong as my
brain gives up the will (or ability!) to face a challenge. :-)

Andrew McP

[KCB]

"David Lamb" <dal...@cs.queensu.ca> wrote in message
news:jmrj4b$pnp$1...@dont-email.me...

Mine is 250GB, but I rarely come close to it.

[Rin Stowleigh]

There's no shame in Plants v Zombies. Indie tower defense games with
cartoonish graphics don't appeal to everyone, but it had what it takes
to define a classic. And lucky they have not yet sullied the
franchise by releasing a thousand lookalikes and re-hashes of same (at
least that I'm aware of).

There are many reasons smaller, simpler games sometimes make you want
to pick them up instead of a game with deep story. Games with deep
stories force you to invest time and mental energy to follow some plot
that's mostly a victim of design-by-committee rather than a single
talented writer with a cohesive vision. Every once in a while a plot,
setting, acting etc comes along that appeals to you as an individual,
but probably the majority of the time it won't. Unlike a TV series
where you can just change the channel, or a movie that you wished you
could like but instead are just waiting for it to end, a game is
usually a more costly investment of money and time before you realize
that its not to your taste. Smaller casual games are much easier to
jump into and enjoy without the investment in story.

Casual games don't offer the realism / technology / depth of big
budget games, but I find that the execution is more important than the
plan when it comes to gaming, and for that reason big production games
are a coin toss. When they are good they can be REALLY good. First
person 3D can be very immersive. But at least with small casual
games, they are probably never going to appear on your radar unless
the execution of one guy's idea (or a very small team's) is top notch.
It might not be to your liking, but at least execution is tight.

I've been spending more time in MAME than anything else lately. I
find a lot of older arcade games not only still hold up, they hold up
in a way that the younger competition cannot even begin approach, even
with all the multi million dollar budgets and polygon pushing graphic
capabilities, if your metric is pure gameplay and fun factor over
story and eye candy. The intensely visceral 8-bit sounds and tight
control over sprites that the design simplicity affords is rarely seen
in today's games. But yes, I know if I was born 15 years ago, there
would probably be a certain WTF factor to them and I might not ever
give them a chance.