The Witcher Series

AlBQuirky · September 2020

I've had The Witcher 1, 2, 3 on my PC for ages. I've tried 1 a few times and never got far. The combat (QTE flaming sword icon) and I did not see eye to eye

I've also tried 3 a few times, hearing how great it is. The very first time I couldn't even finish the race at the beginnng with Ciri

I'm wanting to give it another go now.

Does playing the games in order help with any lore/story or connections to NPCs? Would I miss much by just jumping into 3?

What are your thoughts or recommendations?

AlBQuirky · September 2020

parrotpholk said:

Have you tried 2? You did not mention it and it is quiet good.

Interestingly enough, I've never even installed 2. I got both 1 and 2 in a package from GOG and my disappointment in 1 stopped me from installing 2

Sovrath · September 2020

AlBQuirky said:

parrotpholk said:

Have you tried 2? You did not mention it and it is quiet good.

Interestingly enough, I've never even installed 2. I got both 1 and 2 in a package from GOG and my disappointment in 1 stopped me from installing 2

2 plays very different from 1.

It's not perfect and I had to force myself through one section but it's actually pretty good overall.

Three is great but I would put the difficulty on easy until you feel comfortable to raise it (if that's even necessary).

I would also play it more like a quest based game over a "exploring elder scrolls like game" because that might impede your playthrough and cause you to drop it.

When I first started 3 I read "open world" so I played it like an elder scrolls game but it wasn't very engaging. Then when I just concentrated on the quests it became more engaging.

cameltosis · September 2020

I tried 1 on the 360 - hated it. movement and combat were so clunky that it put me off, plus i don't really enjoy the corridor-style design.

Watched my brother play 2 for a bit, combat looked just as bad and it still had the corridor style design, so i skipped it myself.

I have 3 for the PC and I've managed to get about 10 hours into it but no further. Combat seems better and I like the open world, it all looks pretty. But, i don't play for story, so that didn't motivate me, and the open world just didn't seem to have enough to do. All I wanted to do was explore and kill interesting shit, but there was hardly any interesting shit.

That said, 10 hours isn't all that much, maybe the game gets a lot better later on. I do love the TV series, some of the locations looked great, so i keep meaning to go back and give it another go. It's been installed for nearly a year lol

Arglebargle · September 2020

While many didn't care for it, I got real good at W1's timing combat system. Played the hell out of it, and then the hell out of the mods for it. W2 seemed a little to consoley to me.

W3 should be fine to play without having gone through the others. You'll miss a few bits, but otherwise it hangs together reasonably well. Though I also read a bunch of the books in the interim, so that may have helped.

cheyane · September 2020

I liked Witcher the first game and I also managed the combat after a bit of practice. Played it on normal and I enjoyed the story. 3rd was very good. I haven't tried the second.

Sequriem · September 2020

I'm playing through witcher 1 right now and it takes a bit of time to get into, but imo you should just start with the third game.
Witcher 3 was the first one I played and I had fun with it. Sure it will also take bit of time to get into, and feel sometimes awkward as you don't know the characters, but just go along with it and eventually it won't even matter too much as you get invested into the story.

[Deleted User] · September 2020

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Iselin · September 2020

If you can play them in order these days you're a better man than me

I played them and liked them all in their time but they are all so different and each one improves on the previous one so much that when I recently finished a playthrough of W3 and decided to play 2 again, which I hadn't played for quite a while, I just couldn't do it.

Compared to 3 it feels so clunky in every conceivable way that I only lasted a couple of days before quitting and going back for another replay of 3

So in my very biased opinion read a summary online of 1 and 2 and then just play 3.

YashaX · October 2020

My advice would be to just play Witcher 3, its a really amazing game- the others not so much.

Tokken · October 2020

I dislike the controls for the game. It makes it hard for me to play. I wish there was a universal system of control for PC keyboard..... like wasd

AAAMEOW · October 2020

playing them in order really help with story.

and the main selling point of witcher series is the story.

[Deleted User] · October 2020

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Scot · October 2020

I think you maybe need to think about what is distracting you so much you can't finish them. Have you played other long games all the way through like Fallout? If it stays an issue just move on, not every great game is for everyone.

Someone was saying on here Cheyane I think, that Metal Gear Solid V's control system did not work well for them. That sort of thing just happens, the one thing I really disliked about TSW was the combat system, you get over it or bin the game.

DarkLight1337 · October 2020

I also got straight into Witcher 3 and still understood the plot very well. In order to understand the combat system, I would also advise you to set the difficulty level to easy first, in order to save unnecessary frustration. Especially if you want to concentrate more on the story and play more casually, that's enough at the beginning. If you are interested in the story you can then play the other parts. These give you a deeper insight into the respective characters.

AlBQuirky · October 2020

AAAMEOW said:

playing them in order really help with story.

and the main selling point of witcher series is the story.

That was my main wondering point. I think Triss and others are in all of them and I wondered how playing all of the games would affect that experience as I witness the NPCs growth with me.

The wiki/online ideas make sense. But reading about the games/story/lore and experiencing them are 2 very different experiences.

AlBQuirky · October 2020

Sovrath said:

AlBQuirky said:

parrotpholk said:

Have you tried 2? You did not mention it and it is quiet good.

Interestingly enough, I've never even installed 2. I got both 1 and 2 in a package from GOG and my disappointment in 1 stopped me from installing 2

2 plays very different from 1.

It's not perfect and I had to force myself through one section but it's actually pretty good overall.

Three is great but I would put the difficulty on easy until you feel comfortable to raise it (if that's even necessary).

I would also play it more like a quest based game over a "exploring elder scrolls like game" because that might impede your playthrough and cause you to drop it.

When I first started 3 I read "open world" so I played it like an elder scrolls game but it wasn't very engaging. Then when I just concentrated on the quests it became more engaging.

That's a very valid point. I came to The Witcher after enjoying The Elder Scrolls games a lot (Morrowind and Oblivion, pre Skyrim). There are a lot of differences in the series

Iselin · October 2020

AlBQuirky said:

Sovrath said:

AlBQuirky said:

parrotpholk said:

Have you tried 2? You did not mention it and it is quiet good.

Interestingly enough, I've never even installed 2. I got both 1 and 2 in a package from GOG and my disappointment in 1 stopped me from installing 2

2 plays very different from 1.

It's not perfect and I had to force myself through one section but it's actually pretty good overall.

Three is great but I would put the difficulty on easy until you feel comfortable to raise it (if that's even necessary).

I would also play it more like a quest based game over a "exploring elder scrolls like game" because that might impede your playthrough and cause you to drop it.

When I first started 3 I read "open world" so I played it like an elder scrolls game but it wasn't very engaging. Then when I just concentrated on the quests it became more engaging.

That's a very valid point. I came to The Witcher after enjoying The Elder Scrolls games a lot (Morrowind and Oblivion, pre Skyrim). There are a lot of differences in the series

If you focus on quests in W3 make sure you still do enough side exploration to find the Places of Power in each zone since those give you skill points you need to spend on bettering your skills.

The other important thing that exploration gets you although not as critical as Places of Power is Witcher gear sets. Those are best looked for "with purpose" since there are several sets that work best with some types of combat.

Personally I like the "Cat School" set the best since it's geared toward light attack which is my preferred combat style (with a bit of signs use and later on alchemy thrown in as well) but there are other sets that enhance heavy attack or other choices if you rather focus on another style. What you get when looking for them is crafting diagrams that will still need to be crafted by an armorer with sufficient expertise. They also come in different quality tiers but crafting higher tiers uses the gear from the next lower tier (as well as other mats) as a needed component so you can't skip upgrade steps.

Those specific sets make a big difference to your combat effectiveness but are not 100% required except maybe in the higher difficulty settings but I still found hunting those diagrams fun.

AlBQuirky · October 2020

Ugh!

I installed 1 and gave it a go. I just can't cope with the combat, especially if I plan on playing any length of time (40-100 hours?).

Looks like I'll just go to 3 and do some reading

cheyane · October 2020

AlBQuirky said:

Ugh!

I installed 1 and gave it a go. I just can't cope with the combat, especially if I plan on playing any length of time (40-100 hours?).

Looks like I'll just go to 3 and do some reading

You don't have to hit the mouse at all until you see the sign(crossed swords or something with sword) that lights up on the side of your screen. Then you do a lot of damage and even one shots the mobs.

I bound all my Aard to the mouse buttons and the combat was very easy and not an issue. If you keep hitting the mouse then it becomes tedious. I found it a bit bothersome initially but it improved once I got the magic attacks too.

The first part of the castle where you are attacked is bad but once you reach the first town things regarding the combat improve considerably. If you just started the game don't give up so easily at least try it till you get to the first town.

Sovrath · October 2020

AlBQuirky said:

Sovrath said:

AlBQuirky said:

parrotpholk said:

Have you tried 2? You did not mention it and it is quiet good.

Interestingly enough, I've never even installed 2. I got both 1 and 2 in a package from GOG and my disappointment in 1 stopped me from installing 2

2 plays very different from 1.

It's not perfect and I had to force myself through one section but it's actually pretty good overall.

Three is great but I would put the difficulty on easy until you feel comfortable to raise it (if that's even necessary).

I would also play it more like a quest based game over a "exploring elder scrolls like game" because that might impede your playthrough and cause you to drop it.

When I first started 3 I read "open world" so I played it like an elder scrolls game but it wasn't very engaging. Then when I just concentrated on the quests it became more engaging.

That's a very valid point. I came to The Witcher after enjoying The Elder Scrolls games a lot (Morrowind and Oblivion, pre Skyrim). There are a lot of differences in the series

Yeah, as Iselin says, you should still explore. You can find all sorts of stuff and even a few points of interest. It just doesn't feel like exploring is the main thrust of the game.

rojoArcueid · October 2020

I couldn't get past the combat in Witcher 1, but I love the series so much i'll just get through it eventually just for the story.

Witcher 2 is really good. It is literally a smaller non open world version of Witcher 3.

Since the 3 games are just one big story i need to go back to 1, then play 2 and 3 again to see the whole story in order.

rojoArcueid · October 2020

AlBQuirky said:

Ugh!

I installed 1 and gave it a go. I just can't cope with the combat, especially if I plan on playing any length of time (40-100 hours?).

Looks like I'll just go to 3 and do some reading

I was reading a while ago that Witcher 1 was designed as a Diablo-like ARPG, so when they transitioned the game to third person they adapted the top down point and click gameplay to the new game instead of creating a new third person action combat.

I remember installing Witcher 1 for the first time and the game asked me how I wanted to play, third person RPG or top down ARPG. If that ARPG option is still there then i'd say go for it.

AlBQuirky · October 2020

cheyane said:

AlBQuirky said:

Ugh!

I installed 1 and gave it a go. I just can't cope with the combat, especially if I plan on playing any length of time (40-100 hours?).

Looks like I'll just go to 3 and do some reading

You don't have to hit the mouse at all until you see the sign(crossed swords or something with sword) that lights up on the side of your screen. Then you do a lot of damage and even one shots the mobs.

I bound all my Aard to the mouse buttons and the combat was very easy and not an issue. If you keep hitting the mouse then it becomes tedious. I found it a bit bothersome initially but it improved once I got the magic attacks too.

The first part of the castle where you are attacked is bad but once you reach the first town things regarding the combat improve considerably. If you just started the game don't give up so easily at least try it till you get to the first town.

Is any story worth that kind of headache? Not for me

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거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다

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