To be honest, hard games are something of the past, I think that's a good thing.
I can't believe I'm reading... then again I shouldn't be surprised on a website about a genre that's dominated by the most casual MMO on the market...
Does no one enjoy the satisfaction in overcoming a hard boss/encounter anymore? Without challenge, what's the point to playing a game? I could just watch a movie.
To be honest, hard games are something of the past, I think that's a good thing.
I can't believe I'm reading... then again I shouldn't be surprised on a website about a genre that's dominated by the most casual MMO on the market...
Does no one enjoy the satisfaction in overcoming a hard boss/encounter anymore? Without challenge, what's the point to playing a game? I could just watch a movie.
In hard or nightmare mode, yes it should be challenge, but on easy and u still die in a few hit that wrong.
It's a good game with some flaws. I do think the difficulty of the game could be tweaked a bit, especially on easy. The only thing I really don't like is the QTE gameplay though, it's like a console game in the respect. The camera needs a bit of work and same with the looting. Other than that it's a pretty fun on rails game. Is it RPG game of the year? That remains to be seen as there are some nice games coming up such as Skyrim and Dues Ex.
if you don't like games beeing about challenge and feeling proud about your acomplishments maybe you aren't a gamer, it's not a crime, just get some wow or other casual buttonsmasher and go with it, in solo-games you could also try cheating if they are too hard for you, be happy the casual crowd is the majority and you get a increasingly larger part of new releases
To be honest, hard games are something of the past, I think that's a good thing.
I can't believe I'm reading... then again I shouldn't be surprised on a website about a genre that's dominated by the most casual MMO on the market...
Does no one enjoy the satisfaction in overcoming a hard boss/encounter anymore? Without challenge, what's the point to playing a game? I could just watch a movie.
In hard or nightmare mode, yes it should be challenge, but on easy and u still die in a few hit that wrong.
Honestly, I didn't enjoy the game that much. The whole thing felt really buggy to me - cutscenes freezing for a bit, trying to loot/go through doors, sounds getting looped during cutscenes so you can't hear anything, and many other little issues that just made it feel really unpolished.
I didn't feel the sidequests added much either - most of them were just "go kill xx, then blow up/burn/dispose of xx"; I felt like they were just there to make you feel less annoyed by the constant mob attacks in the wilderness. I was hoping the sidequests would be like they were in DA:O add something to the lore of the world.
My biggest gripe has to be the artificial lengthening of the game - they reported 40 hours or so of gameplay with all sidequests....I feel like they factored in that you spent 10 of those hours walking somewhere. Clear a whole cave out, get to the end to meet your quest guy, and then just walk all the way back to town though an enemy-less cave.
I finished the game on normal difficulty and I think the problem is not the game being too difficult, but being totally unbalanced: regular fights are a stroll in the park, while boss fights require multiple attempts to finish. One can play through whole chapter one for instance without running into any problems, but nothing prepares you for the challenge of kayran or Letho fights. On top of that the items upgrades do not mean a thing: I don't know how the game calculates damage done, but using a new sword that deals 2x more dmg than your old one is barely noticeable.
As much as I like this game I have to admit, that combat is terribly designed and unbalanced, looks like poor's man console port. Overall the game is overhyped, although still a good one.
I found this game to be one of the best RPG's I've played in a long, long time. Story is very good, I'm actually enjoying it more so than the story in DA:O. Combat at first I really didn't like but I've grown into it and now love it.
Graphics and art are simply amazing. I've read a few people complain its in DX9 but honestly, when it looks as good as it does why care what DX it is? DA2 has DX11 but this looks 100x better. I love it when they really put a focus on the lighting, you can have the best textures in the world but some good lighting will always make a game more visually impressive. The sounds are really great to, adds a lot to the atmosphere.
Unlike the OP, I can recommended this game if you are interested in a decent RPG.
if you don't like games beeing about challenge and feeling proud about your acomplishments maybe you aren't a gamer, it's not a crime, just get some wow or other casual buttonsmasher and go with it, in solo-games you could also try cheating if they are too hard for you, be happy the casual crowd is the majority and you get a increasingly larger part of new releases
Gamers are people who play games and enjoy games. It has NOTHING to do with challenge levels unless, of course, in order to have fun, you feel you need a challenge. That's your preference though, not someone elses.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
Generally, Witcher 2 is a nice game. It looks good, it has a nice grim humor... but overall, I regret having bought it. There are a few reasons, which just drag down the game in my personal opinion.
Uhhh it doesn't just look good. The graphics are Crysis quality and top anything ever seen in a PC rpg. On Uber it's almost like a Pixar anmation.
(SOME SPOILERS)
- essentially almost everyone is evil, an asshole and a traitor, down to almost the last person; while I don't need unicorns and rainbows, I just lack the motivation. I KNOW in the end, no matter whom I trust, no matter what side I fight for, ALL will be evil, traitor using me for their power games. It is a VERY bad Dragon Age 2 deja vu, where I ended up with the same bleak feeling like "ok, why again did I stay here??"
Not true
- EXTREME difficulty: some fights are VERY tough, even on the easy setting, I had to reload PLENTY of times and when you hit reload button so often, I sorta lose the fun
L2P!!!!
- console-type timed reaction boss fights: I REALLY hate these; I suck at them, and the last thing I expect and want in an RPG are those timed reaction boss fights.
They aren't that hard.
- I had to give up the game due to difficulty: in the last 3rd of the game, there was a boss fight... I just could not win it. You know there is a walkthrough in the game box, but still... I tried it netto over 3 hours, again and again... but I just wasn't able to defeat this boss. So, sadly, the story ended for me. Geralt is dead, his mission failed and the entire lands are in flames. How fun.
Again - L2P!
Why again did I pay this??
Probably because it is the best effort put forth by a dev for an RPG since the late 90s.
Witcher 2 - 10/10 - 2011 RPG of the Year and candidate for PC game of the year - nuff said
I finished the game on normal difficulty and I think the problem is not the game being too difficult, but being totally unbalanced: regular fights are a stroll in the park, while boss fights require multiple attempts to finish. One can play through whole chapter one for instance without running into any problems, but nothing prepares you for the challenge of kayran or Letho fights. On top of that the items upgrades do not mean a thing: I don't know how the game calculates damage done, but using a new sword that deals 2x more dmg than your old one is barely noticeable.
As much as I like this game I have to admit, that combat is terribly designed and unbalanced, looks like poor's man console port. Overall the game is overhyped, although still a good one.
Not sure if it's unbalanced. The devs have said all along that unlike many games to come out recently, including all the way back to Oblivion, the monsters DO NOT level up with you. If a fight is too hard just level up, get better gear and go back later. Don't confuse a lack of balance with a monster that stays at "level 5" regardless of your level.
Boss fights better be hard... that's why they have earned the title BOSS.
I finished the game on normal difficulty and I think the problem is not the game being too difficult, but being totally unbalanced: regular fights are a stroll in the park, while boss fights require multiple attempts to finish. One can play through whole chapter one for instance without running into any problems, but nothing prepares you for the challenge of kayran or Letho fights. On top of that the items upgrades do not mean a thing: I don't know how the game calculates damage done, but using a new sword that deals 2x more dmg than your old one is barely noticeable.
As much as I like this game I have to admit, that combat is terribly designed and unbalanced, looks like poor's man console port. Overall the game is overhyped, although still a good one.
I agree this is 100% console game with stupid push buttons to win fights like popup W or right mouse button or left or S rediculous gamepad design for console, while im bloody playing a PC game i thought:(
So many annoying gameplay that i quit. Why they claim freedom there is almost NONE.
Ive uninstalled the game is its just another dumb console rpg they try sell it to pc gamers.
After almost finish game my final conclusion is 6/10 score for terible combat and limited freedom as in console games.
If you played the first game (and everyone should, as it's a story that picks up right after) you should be more than fine - importing a save game lets you bring your (overpowered) weapon along.
Yeah, I hope this thread is convincing more people to play, because the OP made all the positive things about rpgs sound like bad things. So, OP: most people *like* the things you described, and I'm not sure how you can ignore some of the hypocrisy in your post (can you at least decide whether you want to complain about the game being "only a story and not an rpg" or whether it's "too hard (because of the gameplay that it does have)").
Also, there are lots of other games out there that aren't dark/gritty/realistic/actually inhabits a world that is all shades of grey - why not go play them instead of complaining about the ONE fantasy rpg that is the exception? (Yes, DA:O was touted as being a dark fantasy, but it wasn't for the most part, and as per Bioware games it also had a fairly clear good/bad system, although not as one dimensional than all their other games).
The quicktime event system (and especially mouse lag related to QTEs) IS a bit buggy, and that can be frustrating - but I have no idea how anyone can say that you're not prepared for any boss fights, when in the intro there are quite a few sequences that repeatedly kill you until you figure out the right inputs.
Anyway, the difficulty and twitch skills IS a personal preference, and the OP is all opinion, and the game has far fewer flaws than it's recent direct competitor (DA2, which I loved because of some of the characters, but which was an utterly trashy game in terms of gameplay and most of the story). The gameplay is varied, it poses a challenge, the world feels *alive*, there are TRULY actions that carry over from the first game and decisions unfold in wildly varied ways, etc. When the biggest complaint that I can come up with, after 18+ hours of gameplay, is that "my inventory is too small" (so I installed a mod) then that means the game is truly a lot of fun and well made.
(I'm not sure how you can say your actions don't affect anything? I've run into half a dozen quests which had multiple ways of finishing it, and some affected things way down the line?)
I finished the game on normal difficulty and I think the problem is not the game being too difficult, but being totally unbalanced: regular fights are a stroll in the park, while boss fights require multiple attempts to finish. One can play through whole chapter one for instance without running into any problems, but nothing prepares you for the challenge of kayran or Letho fights. On top of that the items upgrades do not mean a thing: I don't know how the game calculates damage done, but using a new sword that deals 2x more dmg than your old one is barely noticeable.
As much as I like this game I have to admit, that combat is terribly designed and unbalanced, looks like poor's man console port. Overall the game is overhyped, although still a good one.
I agree this is 100% console game with stupid push buttons to win fights like popup W or right mouse button or left or S rediculous gamepad design for console, while im bloody playing a PC game i thought:(
So many annoying gameplay that i quit. Why they claim freedom there is almost NONE.
Ive uninstalled the game is its just another dumb console rpg they try sell it to pc gamers.
After almost finish game my final conclusion is 6/10 score for terible combat and limited freedom as in console games.
Come on, that button mashing part is just a mini-game for bar brawling.
Plenty of freedom on my end, doing several quests at once. Many quests are found by randomly bumping into an npc... they are not advertised with neon lights.
It IS NOT a console RPG. While it may be PORTED FROM THE PC TO CONSOLES, there is no definitive answer on that yet.
I doubt you "almost finish game" to come to a conclusion like this.
Yea right, because games like Neverwinter Nights, the Eye of the Beholder series or even the acclaimed Baldurs Gate had so much more freedom. It's a story-driven RPG, like the first part was, it was clear from the start. No surprises at all. That doesn't make it a 'lol console'-game. Oh and about the quicktime events - they are something around 1% of the total game content, pretty much only used for bar brawling and some cutscenes. Judging the game based on those is ridiculous.
If you play on easy, you can take dozens of hits from monsters, your health bar regenerates automatically without any potions, cutscene quicktime events are mostly deactivated. In fact, you can play the game swinging your sword and not giving a damn. The only thing you can't to is charge into 5 monsters, pull a facroll-u-all and expect to stay alive. It's not Star Trek Online after all. If you play on easy and use all the tools you've been given though (potions, bombs, traps, signs) it's mindnumbingly easy.
In my opinion, this is the best RPG released in like 4-5 years - both Mass Effects and Dragons Ages are like child's play compared to this game, Fallout 3 being on par in terms of quality, though I hated it.
I only considered the game hard on normal difficulty during tutorial - switched to easy, then after 1-2h switched back to normal. Didn't have any problems except last fight in the game, which I'm not going to spoil :P
I'm not going to bash anyone, but failing the game @ easy means you've played MMOs too much
Also, you can easily finish the game 2-3 times and see the story from a different view-point every time.
The only things i dislike in the game are high requirements (or poor optimalisation, depends) and the fact that combat gets chaotic if you're fighting with more than 3-4 opponents at a time.
im not enjoying TW2 too much myself. i didnt think it was possible for something to be more on "on rails" than ME2, but TW2 is it. the environments are stupidly closed off. anyway, my main issues with TW2:
- combat: just...sucks. not only because it's hard, but because it's often glitched and random
- leveling up: in ME2 i was used to leveling up different aspects of my character - the actual abilities, dialogue sliders, my squad, my ship, my weapons; in TW2, you only level up your abilities through very limited talent trees
overall, TW2 has been an average experience, albeit quite immersive. but there's very little replayability and the combat system is definitely subpar, making the game stupidly frustrating at times. i will play through the entire game once, but i dont think it was worth $50 as i wont have the desire to play through again. there's a reason why i logged 175 hours in ME2 and beat it 7 times on insanity - the combat is extremely fun, the game is immersive and your choices matter.
It's a matter of choice. I loved both wtcher stories. The inventory system of the 2nd one and other nuiances from the first are gone, although in my opinion it still needs further improvements. The character development is also an improvement over the first game. So is the whole engine and overall environment of the game. The doors to move to different areas are still annoying, but there is no loading time like the first. The game seems to become heavier the longer you play it, so I suspect a memory leak somewhere as well.
Overall, both positives and negatives. The sum experience is definite positive and the story is truly awesome (and adult themed for a change).
In my first run I helped the elves. In the second I plan to side with the humans and see how it will go. What was missing and I kind of liked it from the first was the summary of all the changes that the character did through his passing in the world. Still, the connection with the first game (the start of the first game) was very nice and a very good way to further the plot in this game and into the next.
I predict that in the next game he'll go look for ... somebody (no spoilers) somewhere south.
PS: The funny bit is how there is plenty of sex going on in DAO but with people fully dressed as opposed ... hehe.
Bioware should learn a lesson from these guys about how DA2 should have been....
meh, they already made a vastly superior product recently. it's called ME2. i know... sci fi vs fantasty...but even though TW2 is a decent RPG, ME2 was multifold more fun and had more replayability.
It would be more appropriate to compare one fantasy game with the other. It is also noteworthy to mention that Witcher 2 was an improvement over the first one on many aspects, while DragonAge 2 was a step back in comparison to the first game.
In the same page, I think that the new Deus Ex could be compared to ME2. It certainly looks like a very interesting sci-fi game.
They are all good games and we're nitpicking here. I played them all and would recommend them all. The order would just be different.
Yea right, because games like Neverwinter Nights, the Eye of the Beholder series or even the acclaimed Baldurs Gate had so much more freedom. It's a story-driven RPG, like the first part was, it was clear from the start. No surprises at all. That doesn't make it a 'lol console'-game. Oh and about the quicktime events - they are something around 1% of the total game content, pretty much only used for bar brawling and some cutscenes. Judging the game based on those is ridiculous.
I guess we need to rewrite the history books; since Baldur’s gate did not have the freedom of Morrowind it is now a console RPG. After all it has as much freedom as TW2, who cares that they are designed completely different, they should both have the same amount of freedom. People expectations and willingness to pout because they cannot do something is completely outrageous. Reading comments on some forums makes me think we are 10 again, and the other kids are not playing the way we want to so now we are going to take our ball and go home.
On Topic: Here is a novel concept if you do not like RPGs that have more interactive action then do some researches before you buy the game and do not purchase it. Oh no the RPG genre is using things from other genres to make new RPGs, the world is coming to the end. /Chicken Little on
Generally, Witcher 2 is a nice game. It looks good, it has a nice grim humor... but overall, I regret having bought it. There are a few reasons, which just drag down the game in my personal opinion.
(SOME SPOILERS)
- essentially almost everyone is evil, an asshole and a traitor, down to almost the last person; while I don't need unicorns and rainbows, I just lack the motivation. I KNOW in the end, no matter whom I trust, no matter what side I fight for, ALL will be evil, traitor using me for their power games. It is a VERY bad Dragon Age 2 deja vu, where I ended up with the same bleak feeling like "ok, why again did I stay here??"
Did you read RR Martin books ? Game of Thrones (Also on HBO) , Song of Fire and Ice ?
Its a gritty dark fantasy. Much more mature and real world like.
Thought you knew it from Witcher 1 ?
- EXTREME difficulty: some fights are VERY tough, even on the easy setting, I had to reload PLENTY of times and when you hit reload button so often, I sorta lose the fun
Well i am playing on Hard , and for one enjoy the challenge.
Dont you think most of contemporary games are to easy ?
- console-type timed reaction boss fights: I REALLY hate these; I suck at them, and the last thing I expect and want in an RPG are those timed reaction boss fights.
Its RPG/Action RPG , they took inspiration from Demon Souls. Perhaps action fights are not your cup of tea ?
- I had to give up the game due to difficulty: in the last 3rd of the game, there was a boss fight... I just could not win it. You know there is a walkthrough in the game box, but still... I tried it netto over 3 hours, again and again... but I just wasn't able to defeat this boss. So, sadly, the story ended for me. Geralt is dead, his mission failed and the entire lands are in flames. How fun.
You need to prepare for fights, drink potions, place traps...etc.
Why again did I pay this??
Its a great game. Probably among 10 best RPGs of all time.
And you know i am big RPG fanatic.
As I see your problem is action sided combat. Its a mater of taste
Comments
I can't believe I'm reading... then again I shouldn't be surprised on a website about a genre that's dominated by the most casual MMO on the market...
Does no one enjoy the satisfaction in overcoming a hard boss/encounter anymore? Without challenge, what's the point to playing a game? I could just watch a movie.
In hard or nightmare mode, yes it should be challenge, but on easy and u still die in a few hit that wrong.
It's a good game with some flaws. I do think the difficulty of the game could be tweaked a bit, especially on easy. The only thing I really don't like is the QTE gameplay though, it's like a console game in the respect. The camera needs a bit of work and same with the looting. Other than that it's a pretty fun on rails game. Is it RPG game of the year? That remains to be seen as there are some nice games coming up such as Skyrim and Dues Ex.
if you don't like games beeing about challenge and feeling proud about your acomplishments maybe you aren't a gamer, it's not a crime, just get some wow or other casual buttonsmasher and go with it, in solo-games you could also try cheating if they are too hard for you, be happy the casual crowd is the majority and you get a increasingly larger part of new releases
Pi*1337/100 = 42
You don't.
Honestly, I didn't enjoy the game that much. The whole thing felt really buggy to me - cutscenes freezing for a bit, trying to loot/go through doors, sounds getting looped during cutscenes so you can't hear anything, and many other little issues that just made it feel really unpolished.
I didn't feel the sidequests added much either - most of them were just "go kill xx, then blow up/burn/dispose of xx"; I felt like they were just there to make you feel less annoyed by the constant mob attacks in the wilderness. I was hoping the sidequests would be like they were in DA:O add something to the lore of the world.
My biggest gripe has to be the artificial lengthening of the game - they reported 40 hours or so of gameplay with all sidequests....I feel like they factored in that you spent 10 of those hours walking somewhere. Clear a whole cave out, get to the end to meet your quest guy, and then just walk all the way back to town though an enemy-less cave.
All in all, it just felt underwhelming.
I finished the game on normal difficulty and I think the problem is not the game being too difficult, but being totally unbalanced: regular fights are a stroll in the park, while boss fights require multiple attempts to finish. One can play through whole chapter one for instance without running into any problems, but nothing prepares you for the challenge of kayran or Letho fights. On top of that the items upgrades do not mean a thing: I don't know how the game calculates damage done, but using a new sword that deals 2x more dmg than your old one is barely noticeable.
As much as I like this game I have to admit, that combat is terribly designed and unbalanced, looks like poor's man console port. Overall the game is overhyped, although still a good one.
you didn't think upgraded equipment made any impact? I saw a huge difference when I upgraded my armor and swords.
BTW, for Letho if you use throwing daggers it makes the fight a bit of a cheese. Easy way to win.
I found this game to be one of the best RPG's I've played in a long, long time. Story is very good, I'm actually enjoying it more so than the story in DA:O. Combat at first I really didn't like but I've grown into it and now love it.
Graphics and art are simply amazing. I've read a few people complain its in DX9 but honestly, when it looks as good as it does why care what DX it is? DA2 has DX11 but this looks 100x better. I love it when they really put a focus on the lighting, you can have the best textures in the world but some good lighting will always make a game more visually impressive. The sounds are really great to, adds a lot to the atmosphere.
Unlike the OP, I can recommended this game if you are interested in a decent RPG.
Gamers are people who play games and enjoy games. It has NOTHING to do with challenge levels unless, of course, in order to have fun, you feel you need a challenge. That's your preference though, not someone elses.
parrotpholk-Because we all know the miracle patch fairy shows up the night before release and sprinkles magic dust on the server to make it allllll better.
Wow i read his review and now I know I gave to get the game xD
Witcher 2 - 10/10 - 2011 RPG of the Year and candidate for PC game of the year - nuff said
Not sure if it's unbalanced. The devs have said all along that unlike many games to come out recently, including all the way back to Oblivion, the monsters DO NOT level up with you. If a fight is too hard just level up, get better gear and go back later. Don't confuse a lack of balance with a monster that stays at "level 5" regardless of your level.
Boss fights better be hard... that's why they have earned the title BOSS.
So in nutshell: Game is hard and everyone is mean to you?
That's like...single player equivalent of UO siege perilous!
I agree this is 100% console game with stupid push buttons to win fights like popup W or right mouse button or left or S rediculous gamepad design for console, while im bloody playing a PC game i thought:(
So many annoying gameplay that i quit. Why they claim freedom there is almost NONE.
Ive uninstalled the game is its just another dumb console rpg they try sell it to pc gamers.
After almost finish game my final conclusion is 6/10 score for terible combat and limited freedom as in console games.
If you played the first game (and everyone should, as it's a story that picks up right after) you should be more than fine - importing a save game lets you bring your (overpowered) weapon along.
Yeah, I hope this thread is convincing more people to play, because the OP made all the positive things about rpgs sound like bad things. So, OP: most people *like* the things you described, and I'm not sure how you can ignore some of the hypocrisy in your post (can you at least decide whether you want to complain about the game being "only a story and not an rpg" or whether it's "too hard (because of the gameplay that it does have)").
Also, there are lots of other games out there that aren't dark/gritty/realistic/actually inhabits a world that is all shades of grey - why not go play them instead of complaining about the ONE fantasy rpg that is the exception? (Yes, DA:O was touted as being a dark fantasy, but it wasn't for the most part, and as per Bioware games it also had a fairly clear good/bad system, although not as one dimensional than all their other games).
The quicktime event system (and especially mouse lag related to QTEs) IS a bit buggy, and that can be frustrating - but I have no idea how anyone can say that you're not prepared for any boss fights, when in the intro there are quite a few sequences that repeatedly kill you until you figure out the right inputs.
Anyway, the difficulty and twitch skills IS a personal preference, and the OP is all opinion, and the game has far fewer flaws than it's recent direct competitor (DA2, which I loved because of some of the characters, but which was an utterly trashy game in terms of gameplay and most of the story). The gameplay is varied, it poses a challenge, the world feels *alive*, there are TRULY actions that carry over from the first game and decisions unfold in wildly varied ways, etc. When the biggest complaint that I can come up with, after 18+ hours of gameplay, is that "my inventory is too small" (so I installed a mod) then that means the game is truly a lot of fun and well made.
(I'm not sure how you can say your actions don't affect anything? I've run into half a dozen quests which had multiple ways of finishing it, and some affected things way down the line?)
Come on, that button mashing part is just a mini-game for bar brawling.
Plenty of freedom on my end, doing several quests at once. Many quests are found by randomly bumping into an npc... they are not advertised with neon lights.
It IS NOT a console RPG. While it may be PORTED FROM THE PC TO CONSOLES, there is no definitive answer on that yet.
I doubt you "almost finish game" to come to a conclusion like this.
@people complaining about "lack of freedom":
Yea right, because games like Neverwinter Nights, the Eye of the Beholder series or even the acclaimed Baldurs Gate had so much more freedom. It's a story-driven RPG, like the first part was, it was clear from the start. No surprises at all. That doesn't make it a 'lol console'-game. Oh and about the quicktime events - they are something around 1% of the total game content, pretty much only used for bar brawling and some cutscenes. Judging the game based on those is ridiculous.
@people who complain about difficulty:
If you play on easy, you can take dozens of hits from monsters, your health bar regenerates automatically without any potions, cutscene quicktime events are mostly deactivated. In fact, you can play the game swinging your sword and not giving a damn. The only thing you can't to is charge into 5 monsters, pull a facroll-u-all and expect to stay alive. It's not Star Trek Online after all. If you play on easy and use all the tools you've been given though (potions, bombs, traps, signs) it's mindnumbingly easy.
M
In my opinion, this is the best RPG released in like 4-5 years - both Mass Effects and Dragons Ages are like child's play compared to this game, Fallout 3 being on par in terms of quality, though I hated it.
I only considered the game hard on normal difficulty during tutorial - switched to easy, then after 1-2h switched back to normal. Didn't have any problems except last fight in the game, which I'm not going to spoil :P
I'm not going to bash anyone, but failing the game @ easy means you've played MMOs too much
Also, you can easily finish the game 2-3 times and see the story from a different view-point every time.
The only things i dislike in the game are high requirements (or poor optimalisation, depends) and the fact that combat gets chaotic if you're fighting with more than 3-4 opponents at a time.
Overall 9/10, Tadzio's Seal of Approval
im not enjoying TW2 too much myself. i didnt think it was possible for something to be more on "on rails" than ME2, but TW2 is it. the environments are stupidly closed off. anyway, my main issues with TW2:
- combat: just...sucks. not only because it's hard, but because it's often glitched and random
- leveling up: in ME2 i was used to leveling up different aspects of my character - the actual abilities, dialogue sliders, my squad, my ship, my weapons; in TW2, you only level up your abilities through very limited talent trees
overall, TW2 has been an average experience, albeit quite immersive. but there's very little replayability and the combat system is definitely subpar, making the game stupidly frustrating at times. i will play through the entire game once, but i dont think it was worth $50 as i wont have the desire to play through again. there's a reason why i logged 175 hours in ME2 and beat it 7 times on insanity - the combat is extremely fun, the game is immersive and your choices matter.
It's a matter of choice. I loved both wtcher stories. The inventory system of the 2nd one and other nuiances from the first are gone, although in my opinion it still needs further improvements. The character development is also an improvement over the first game. So is the whole engine and overall environment of the game. The doors to move to different areas are still annoying, but there is no loading time like the first. The game seems to become heavier the longer you play it, so I suspect a memory leak somewhere as well.
Overall, both positives and negatives. The sum experience is definite positive and the story is truly awesome (and adult themed for a change).
In my first run I helped the elves. In the second I plan to side with the humans and see how it will go. What was missing and I kind of liked it from the first was the summary of all the changes that the character did through his passing in the world. Still, the connection with the first game (the start of the first game) was very nice and a very good way to further the plot in this game and into the next.
I predict that in the next game he'll go look for ... somebody (no spoilers) somewhere south.
PS: The funny bit is how there is plenty of sex going on in DAO but with people fully dressed as opposed ... hehe.
meh, they already made a vastly superior product recently. it's called ME2. i know... sci fi vs fantasty...but even though TW2 is a decent RPG, ME2 was multifold more fun and had more replayability.
It would be more appropriate to compare one fantasy game with the other. It is also noteworthy to mention that Witcher 2 was an improvement over the first one on many aspects, while DragonAge 2 was a step back in comparison to the first game.
In the same page, I think that the new Deus Ex could be compared to ME2. It certainly looks like a very interesting sci-fi game.
They are all good games and we're nitpicking here. I played them all and would recommend them all. The order would just be different.
I guess we need to rewrite the history books; since Baldur’s gate did not have the freedom of Morrowind it is now a console RPG. After all it has as much freedom as TW2, who cares that they are designed completely different, they should both have the same amount of freedom. People expectations and willingness to pout because they cannot do something is completely outrageous. Reading comments on some forums makes me think we are 10 again, and the other kids are not playing the way we want to so now we are going to take our ball and go home.
On Topic: Here is a novel concept if you do not like RPGs that have more interactive action then do some researches before you buy the game and do not purchase it. Oh no the RPG genre is using things from other genres to make new RPGs, the world is coming to the end. /Chicken Little on