The Witcher

[CeeKay]

Cool, thanks!

Spoiler for Hiden:

I chose the path to help the Squirrels and I chose Shani over Triss. My ending was a wrap up of the events on a "painting" and the end cut scene showed Geralt taking his reward money and then saving the king from an assassin. The assassin's identity gave me the WTF? moment. Did you guys get the same ending cut scene? And what path did you guys take?

that's the same ending I got.  I think the end CGI is the same no matter what, setting up an expansion pack or sequel.

[ROTC1983]

BTW, I have my review up for the Witcher.  May I get some feedback from the masses please

http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=957

Thanks everyone

[Kevin Grey]

BTW, I have my review up for the Witcher.  May I get some feedback from the masses please

http://www.gamingtrend.com/Reviews/review/review.php?ReviewID=957

Thanks everyone

Good review!

A couple of corrections:

Opening paragraph- it's Geralt of Rivia, not Rivial

Near the end re: gameplay length- " Time to spend another around 60 hours playing through the game again"- Around should be removed. 

[ROTC1983]

Thanks Kevin...I will take care of those right now.  My eyes must be going bad from staring at computer screen for so long

[CeeKay]

what?  you didn't give it a perfect score????  that's it, I'm witdrawing my advertising unless they fire you!


 


kidding aside, great review.

[ROTC1983]

what?  you didn't give it a perfect score????  that's it, I'm witdrawing my advertising unless they fire you!


 


kidding aside, great review.

Darn it   

[map]

I would have liked you to make more of an issue of the loading times[autosave]. I really like the game, but the loading times stopped my playing and have me hoping for a patch.

[ROTC1983]

December, patch 1.2 comes out which is supposed to address that problem   Can't wait.

[Fellow]

Ayup, I've basically put the game on hold until next weekend when the new patch is supposed to pop up. Those loading times were really starting to be a bit of an annoyance.

[CeeKay]

I had (OK, still have) a stack of comic books I haven't gotten to read yet sitting by my PC.  Whenever I hit a loading screen I picked one up and started reading it, thus killing 2 birds with one load.

[Jag]

thus killing 2 birds with one load.

That's a hell of a load.

ROTC good review. Something you should also mention was the use of the Journal screen. The way it works itself seamlessly into the game is something more games should do. It really nails it. Also in using the Journal, by talking to people and reading books you expand your knowledge. This affects gameplay because you can use that knowledge to defeat monsters. It obviously is not critical, but really helps the immersion. Something I read in Chapter II suddenly became useful to me in Chap V. That was cool.

[unbreakable]

Thanks a lot ROTC.  I was considering picking this up as a holiday gift for my brother, but was worried.  I think he'll enjoy it, and not hate me for giving him another buggy game as a gift (I previously got him Pirates of the Caribbean and NWN2).

Long load times suck, but in the grand scheme of things, it's better way better than crashing or being a bad game.

[Kevin Grey]

Long load times suck, but in the grand scheme of things, it's better way better than crashing or being a bad game.

Make sure he isn't running Vista- evidently users have had a lot of crashes with Vista compared to XP (don't know if the patch will address that). 

[unbreakable]

No problem.  He's actually still on Windows 2000.

[ROTC1983]

thus killing 2 birds with one load.

That's a hell of a load.

ROTC good review. Something you should also mention was the use of the Journal screen. The way it works itself seamlessly into the game is something more games should do. It really nails it. Also in using the Journal, by talking to people and reading books you expand your knowledge. This affects gameplay because you can use that knowledge to defeat monsters. It obviously is not critical, but really helps the immersion. Something I read in Chapter II suddenly became useful to me in Chap V. That was cool.

Yeah, I should have also mentioned the birds in the environment and the awesome killing blows   (and the journal...it is very seamlessly built into the game)  In one of them, Geralt takes the sword by the blade and hits the guy hilt side and then pulls the sword through his body....I was amazed    Also, the voice acting is growing on me now and some of it definitely is better than others.  It is an amazing game

[Jag]

thus killing 2 birds with one load.

That's a hell of a load.

ROTC good review. Something you should also mention was the use of the Journal screen. The way it works itself seamlessly into the game is something more games should do. It really nails it. Also in using the Journal, by talking to people and reading books you expand your knowledge. This affects gameplay because you can use that knowledge to defeat monsters. It obviously is not critical, but really helps the immersion. Something I read in Chapter II suddenly became useful to me in Chap V. That was cool.

Yeah, I should have also mentioned the birds in the environment and the awesome killing blows   (and the journal...it is very seamlessly built into the game)  In one of them, Geralt takes the sword by the blade and hits the guy hilt side and then pulls the sword through his body....I was amazed    Also, the voice acting is growing on me now and some of it definitely is better than others.  It is an amazing game

I love the hilt killing blow. I got giddy everytime he used it. I could almost hear the 'thwuck!!' as it stuck in the guy's neck. Unfortunately i finished the game, so more thwucky thwuck for me

[CeeKay]

thus killing 2 birds with one load.

That's a hell of a load.

ROTC good review. Something you should also mention was the use of the Journal screen. The way it works itself seamlessly into the game is something more games should do. It really nails it. Also in using the Journal, by talking to people and reading books you expand your knowledge. This affects gameplay because you can use that knowledge to defeat monsters. It obviously is not critical, but really helps the immersion. Something I read in Chapter II suddenly became useful to me in Chap V. That was cool.

Yeah, I should have also mentioned the birds in the environment and the awesome killing blows  

well played

[ScubaV]

Nice video review here: http://www.gametrailers.com/player/28558.html

(from OO)

[Bullwinkle]

Ayup, I've basically put the game on hold until next weekend when the new patch is supposed to pop up. Those loading times were really starting to be a bit of an annoyance.

Any word on that patch?  I'm locking up very early into the game and can't proceed past a certain point.

[USMC Kato]

I've noticed that we can spend a couple bronze talents on fist-fighting.  Is it worth getting these for the mini-game (I assume its for money and/or information)

[CeeKay]

I've noticed that we can spend a couple bronze talents on fist-fighting.  Is it worth getting these for the mini-game (I assume its for money and/or information)

I bought them so I could have a better chance at making money off of fist fighting- it really didn't penalize me in any way and by then end of the game I pretty much had every bronze talent anyways.

[Calvin]

Ayup, I've basically put the game on hold until next weekend when the new patch is supposed to pop up. Those loading times were really starting to be a bit of an annoyance.

Any word on that patch?  I'm locking up very early into the game and can't proceed past a certain point.

I was trying to figure this out the other day, and the guy from CDProjekt said it could be any day now.

[Fellow]

Yeah, the original date tossed around was apparently originated from a fansite as a rumour. On the other hand, as Calvin said, it's still excruciatingly close to release, and for me pretty much the only thing keeping me from returning to this excellent game. Come on patch...

[Calvin]

Yeah, the original date tossed around was apparently originated from a fansite as a rumour. On the other hand, as Calvin said, it's still excruciatingly close to release, and for me pretty much the only thing keeping me from returning to this excellent game. Come on patch...

Me too man. I have a beefy rig and the loads were taking 45 seconds so I shelved it until the patch but I really like it.

[IkeVandergraaf]

How far did you guys get into it before the loads started getting bad.  I'm just a little ways into Act 1 and so far they aren't bad at all.  I'm wondering whether I too should wait for the patch, or play a little further in.

[Jag]

How far did you guys get into it before the loads started getting bad.  I'm just a little ways into Act 1 and so far they aren't bad at all.  I'm wondering whether I too should wait for the patch, or play a little further in.

Play further on. It doesn't get worse and worse, but goes back and forth. There is an Act coming up which may slow it down and then it will speed up again. I kept meaning to put it down and wait for the patch, but i just wanted do one more thing. The next thing i knew, I had finished the game against my will. 

In the end the wait times really weren't that bad.

[Kevin Grey]

How far did you guys get into it before the loads started getting bad.  I'm just a little ways into Act 1 and so far they aren't bad at all.  I'm wondering whether I too should wait for the patch, or play a little further in.

It's highly dependent on some kind of magic voodoo- I'm about done with Chapter 3 and loading times aren't bad at all with the exception of the initial game load.  Seems to randomly hit some worse than others. 

[CeeKay]

How far did you guys get into it before the loads started getting bad.  I'm just a little ways into Act 1 and so far they aren't bad at all.  I'm wondering whether I too should wait for the patch, or play a little further in.

I finished the game, but I did have a stack of comic books sitting nearby that I'd grab during long loads.

[Fellow]

How far did you guys get into it before the loads started getting bad.  I'm just a little ways into Act 1 and so far they aren't bad at all.  I'm wondering whether I too should wait for the patch, or play a little further in.

I pretty much stopped at early Chapter 2. Or is it Act2? Either way, the first part was pushing it, but still manageable. Second? A little too much.

[Calvin]

How far did you guys get into it before the loads started getting bad.  I'm just a little ways into Act 1 and so far they aren't bad at all.  I'm wondering whether I too should wait for the patch, or play a little further in.

Mine was like that seriously from the very start.

[Bullwinkle]

Ayup, I've basically put the game on hold until next weekend when the new patch is supposed to pop up. Those loading times were really starting to be a bit of an annoyance.

Any word on that patch?  I'm locking up very early into the game and can't proceed past a certain point.

I was trying to figure this out the other day, and the guy from CDProjekt said it could be any day now.

I seriously am clicking the "Check for Updates" button a couple of times a day, hoping it's finally out.

[Jag]

Ayup, I've basically put the game on hold until next weekend when the new patch is supposed to pop up. Those loading times were really starting to be a bit of an annoyance.

Any word on that patch?  I'm locking up very early into the game and can't proceed past a certain point.

I was trying to figure this out the other day, and the guy from CDProjekt said it could be any day now.

I seriously am clicking the "Check for Updates" button a couple of times a day, hoping it's finally out.

You know this patch will break all your save games right?

[Kevin Grey]

You know this patch will break all your save games right?

Has that been confirmed?

[Jag]

You know this patch will break all your save games right?

Has that been confirmed?

Oh sorry, i was asking if it did. 

[davidf]

I've played up through mid act 1 (I assume its mid part since I've been trudging for awhile). Everyone raves about this title on other forums, and I really want to like it but I really dont see the appeal yet. Everyone keeps telling me by the time i hit act 2 it gets really good. I've already been playing 15+ hours, so if it takes that long for a game to get good. I got to ask, if it wasnt for the dirth for RPGs, would most people play that long to get to a good part on a game?

Ill admit the game is showing signs of getting better. However I far more enjoyed The Fall: Last Days of Gaia ( a german Party based rpg with a english mod highly reccomended IMO) than this title.

I do like the weather effects in Witcher though, seeing everyone run for cover when it rains, and complaining about it is a perfect example of a nice touch that could evelate a game from good to classic.

[Jag]

I've already been playing 15+ hours, so if it takes that long for a game to get good. I got to ask, if it wasnt for the dirth for RPGs, would most people play that long to get to a good part on a game? 

No. As one who sings the praises of Witcher, i'm going to go out on a limb and say if it doesn't grab you right away, it may not be your thing. That's what was so surprising. I didn't expect to love this game, but it grabbed me right away and demanded i play it! After 15 hours, you've experienced the gameplay, content and interface. That's basically how the game is going to play until the end. It does get much better as you go along, but the basic gameplay remains the same.

[lex]

I just picked up this game recently and I'm only in the first real town, but I'm hooked so far.  I don't really like most RPGs because of the overabundance of different items, weapons, skills, etc., but I decided to pick this up because most of the reviews said that this game was lite in these areas. 

I didn't really like the initial training area because I felt it just threw you right into combat, but after that, I'm slowly picking up on the little things.

The only other thing I'm having trouble with is the combat.  I have to learn not to keep clicking on a target that I want to attack, and there doesn't seem to be feedback in terms of if my attacks are hitting my target.

One quick question.  Can I sell books that I've read? or do I keep them?

[CeeKay]

One quick question.  Can I sell books that I've read? or do I keep them?

you can sell them to a bookseller without worrying about it.  when shopping the game will tell you if you've already read a book before you buy it.

[Kevin Grey]

One quick question.  Can I sell books that I've read? or do I keep them?

you can sell them to a bookseller without worrying about it.  when shopping the game will tell you if you've already read a book before you buy it.

Yeah, I usually do it in the same transaction.  As soon as it shows up in my inventory, I right click, read it, and then sell it right back to the merchant. 

[Hotfreak]

The only other thing I'm having trouble with is the combat.  I have to learn not to keep clicking on a target that I want to attack, and there doesn't seem to be feedback in terms of if my attacks are hitting my target.

Watch the damage numbers and the health rings rising from and glowing around your target(s), respectively.  There are also aural cues, like parrying and (whoosh) dodge sounds.  Takes some getting used to though.