The Witcher catch-all

*edit* wrong thread!

Chaz wrote:

Finally into Chapter 4, and liking it a lot more. Not sure if it's that there are fewer threads cris-crossing, or if I'm just really happy to be out of that city. Still looking forward to finishing this one up so I can move on to 2 and 3.

I'd say you'll probably like the rest of the game more. A lot of people aren't big on the earlier portion of the game.

Warriorpoet897 wrote:
Chaz wrote:

Finally into Chapter 4, and liking it a lot more. Not sure if it's that there are fewer threads cris-crossing, or if I'm just really happy to be out of that city. Still looking forward to finishing this one up so I can move on to 2 and 3.

I'd say you'll probably like the rest of the game more. A lot of people aren't big on the earlier portion of the game.

I didn't mind the earlier part too much, it was the middle that bogged down soooo much for me. I've got nothing but admiration for Chaz for powering through these older games the way he is!

In the home stretch! I'm in Act 5, and I just

Spoiler:

Broke the curse on Adda and got the ingredients for the upgraded armor. I've got one more quest in the swamp that I could do (delivering money or something). I might actually do that because apparently you can get a bunch of XP for delivering the money, then kill the guy you turn it in to and get a better steel sword. I love upgrades, so I might do that, even though the swamp is super annoying to navigate.

Seems like I'll finish this up at around the 45 hour mark, which isn't too bad.

Ah nice, well done. What did you think of Act 4? It was one of the most poignant gaming experiences I've ever had.

Remember, you carry some gear across to W2.

Do you mean

Spoiler:

The quest line with the sisters who turned into ghosts? Honestly, nothing in Act 4 really hit me in the feels. That quest line could have been interesting, but I never got invested in the characters before things started going south for them, so when they did, it was just pretty meh.

I think this whole game's going to wind up falling pretty flat for me. It's a combination of the mechanics being so janky and the story lines being so disjointed that I had a hard time latching on to anything. Part of this is on me, too. I do badly at remembering things, so when stories are so heavily interwoven (but not necessarily interlinked), I lose the thread between bits. When I get back to the next portion, I kind of forgot why I cared before. I do better when I can just latch onto a quest line and finish it all the way off, but the game's structure didn't let me do that.

Also, SO MUCH RUNNING BACK AND FORTH. It drove me up the wall by the end of Act 4. Wasn't as bad as the swamp from before, but still.

So I just started the first game (the enhanced edition) after the yew year. Despite the boring combat system I'm loving this game. I got over 20 hours in to Dragon Age Origins and fell off it, and I didn't realize until recently that it's because I was looking for something more like the Witcher. I've finished up the major fight in Chapter 1 that sounds like it stops most folks, so I'm excited to push forward! Are there any other major things I should be watching out for so I can avoid major slogs in the latter chapters?

You'll get to a sizeable swampy area where drowners are popping out of the muck every 5 yards or so. You'll have to cross this area several times. Don't feel bad if you wind up just running past them instead of killing every single one.

gewy wrote:

You'll get to a sizeable swampy area where drowners are popping out of the muck every 5 yards or so. You'll have to cross this area several times. Don't feel bad if you wind up just running past them instead of killing every single one.

Awesome, thank you! My tendency is definitely to kill everything, so this is very helpful.

gravity wrote:
gewy wrote:

You'll get to a sizeable swampy area where drowners are popping out of the muck every 5 yards or so. You'll have to cross this area several times. Don't feel bad if you wind up just running past them instead of killing every single one.

Awesome, thank you! My tendency is definitely to kill everything, so this is very helpful.

Yes, please listen to this advice. Also, if any giant plants pop out of the ground and start shooting thorns at you, just keep running. This is the worst part of an otherwise great game. I'm jealous of the fact you get to play the Witcher series for the first time. You're in for a hell of a ride.

Having just played Witcher 1 around this time last year, I'll fourth the "run through the swamp" advice. You spend far too long traipsing through that place.

Yeah, the big speedbumps in this game are 1) the Barghest fight, well done for getting through that, 2) the plants in the swamp, as advised, run past them until you've levelled up a bit 3) Vizima can really draaaaaaagggggg. The investigation can apparently stall out, but there are other apparent side quests you need to do to move it on, and some quests in Chapter 2 resolve in Chapter 3 which can be a bit confusing. If you can get through Chapter 2 the rest of the game is really great, I picked away at if for a few days rather than brute forcing my way through.

I also really like the combat. Once you get a feel for the rhythm of it it's quite engaging.

I wonder what exactly it says about society in the Witcher that every swamp and shoreline is teeming with drowners. There must be hundreds of them easily. How many people are drowning to support such huge numbers? You'd think they would eventually make water off limits, or at least make swimming lessons mandatory.

Thanks everyone, this'll be helpful. I finally got back to it tonight and made my way through a bit of Chapter 2. I'm jazzed to explore Vizima.

gravity wrote:

Thanks everyone, this'll be helpful. I finally got back to it tonight and made my way through a bit of Chapter 2. I'm jazzed to explore Vizima.

Oh, you'll explore it. And explore it. And explore it. Then go away. And then explore it some more.

Chapter 2 took me four attempts to get through, and only with the aid of a walkthrough did I (barely) make it through that mess. Love the game, but hate that place.

Coldstream wrote:
gravity wrote:

Thanks everyone, this'll be helpful. I finally got back to it tonight and made my way through a bit of Chapter 2. I'm jazzed to explore Vizima.

Oh, you'll explore it. And explore it. And explore it. Then go away. And then explore it some more.

Chapter 2 took me four attempts to get through, and only with the aid of a walkthrough did I (barely) make it through that mess. Love the game, but hate that place.

I'm definitely getting the sense that this game has rough edges at pretty much every point. Is that accurate?

Yes, but it has a lot of heart. Where they went from 1 to 3 is simply jaw dropping. When I go back to the Witcher I feel like I'm seeing it through some unofficial fan translation from Polish to English. Normally this would grate, but in this case it lends to the charm. It's not the only way it was rough, but I think that sort of seeps into other aspects of the game.

Yeah, it's probably one of my top 5 games of all time and I'll admit it's about 65% rough edge. Where CDPR games shine though, and they somehow managed to maintain this as the games got more polished, is the heart and passion that just soaks through. It has all the hallmarks of a passion project, not just a consumer product.

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Yeah, it's probably one of my top 5 games of all time and I'll admit it's about 65% rough edge.

I absolutely love this

Yeah, lots of rough edges but absolutely solid heart.

Incidentally, I highly recommend playing in Polish with English subtitles. It takes some of the awkwardness and gives it a foreign-film flavour. For me, it makes the game just that much more atmospheric.

Yeah, I've been playing the Witcher in polish ever since it was the only way to get the non-butchered script.

I have heard I don't need to play through the series in order but I figure if I have not yet played through them I could and it could eat up a good chunk of game time this year. For PC I have the enhanced edition, do I need to do anything about some fix to the combat system? Any mod recommended or just start playing and see what works? Also, any note on difficulty level or funny bugs to watch out for?

I don't remember installing any mods when I did Witcher 1 last year. There is a pretty extensive combat revamp patch/mod for Witcher 2, but I don't think I did anything for 1.

There's a pretty severe difficulty spike with a boss monster near the opening. There's a few ways to cheese your way through, and I'd say do that without hesitation. It's nothing that you can't get past with some patience and some googling of strategies, but be aware it's there. Other than that, just be prepared for a dated game. It's definitely a product of its time, and the menus and systems feel pretty clunky by modern standards.

I did what you're about to do last year, and I don't regret it. Just know that Witcher 1 drags a bit in places, and then Witcher 2 is about half the length for a single play through. Then you get to Witcher 3, which is very possibly my favorite game of all time, so you have something to look forward to.

Thanks Chaz the Witcher 2 mod must have been the one I heard of. Yeah I look forward to playing them all as I have for a long time but each time I start I get annoyed with certain things in the beginning and quit. Going to hold my self to this an see if I can have some fun

Wow the controls are weird but really trying to stay in it. Any recommendations on difficulty? I do enjoy a challenge but would I be better off learning the game and then increasing difficulty later?

I stuck with normal or whatever the equivalent is. While you do develop an idea of the rhythm of the combat the visual prompts are helpful.

Well despite it's flaws the game is really sucking me in which is nice since I have bounced off of 2 and 3 previously. I have a lot of "need to be in the right headspace" to dive into a game issues. This is finding me quiet well so far. Look forward to seeing what trouble Geralt gets into next...or who.

It took me three attempts, I think, before I could really get into The Witcher and actually complete. Something kept drawing me back, and I'm glad of it.

Alright I am going through Chapter 3 and all in all this is a good game. Suffers from old mechanics and being both questy/grindy AF. However, it is scratching an RPG itch wonderfully. I am looking forward to both playing it more and finishing it. I just hate the few times I have died after 5 or 10 minutes of progress and no world teleport, or gate crossing saved my progress and quick saving slipped my mind. grrr. It just happened again and now to RL to relieve some steam.

Heh, old fashioned check-pointing made me walk away from Jade Empire a couple of times this month.