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11) It still doesn´t have achievements on GOG.
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DanielDudek: 11) It still doesn´t have achievements on GOG.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhh!
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DanielDudek: 11) It still doesn´t have achievements on GOG.
Wait is that true lol
high rated
12) It's the only CDPR game to have a Linux Build.
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GOG.com: 2) You can import your saved game from The Witcher while starting to play the game’s sequel. This will not only bring to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings some of the items you gathered in the previous game, but also affect the reactions of a few NPCs to your character as the story progresses.
2.5) Depending on your choices, a character from The Witcher 1 might make a surprise appearance if you import your savegame, which otherwise wouldn't happen if you just start a new game.
I'm playing Witcher 2 at the moment. I'm a few hours into Chapter 2.

So far I am enjoying it, but imo it's inferior to the first game. My biggest gripe is that I don't like what they've done with the combat. I liked the combat styles in W1 and the combos you could build up and make more powerful through the character development. The difficulty balance also seems a bit 'off' in general. The Prologue and Chapter 1 both seemed very unforgiving. The main culprit for that imo seems to be that blows in the back do double damage (initially); however, it isn't possible to back away from an enemy whilst facing them, even if you are 'locked on'. So, to move away from an enemy, you have to expose your back and risk taking an unlucky blow there. That coupled with removal of the group style means you can get murdered fast by groups.

Also, the thing where blocking requires a vigor point seems weird, especially since every thug with a sword in the game seems to be able to block you without restriction.

It's a good game, but imo it's let down by the combat mechanics. Although it is redeemed by the storytelling, roleplaying and meaningful choices (which are really well done).

(also, killing off one of my favorite characters from W1 and the distinct reduction in casual sex makes me sad :,-( )
Post edited July 08, 2021 by Time4Tea
its the best Witcher game to me, has a better sense of focus than 3
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DanielDudek: 11) It still doesn´t have achievements on GOG.
It still hurts to think about it. We should never forget that CD Projekt RED never did anything to correct this second-class treatment for GOG users.
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Time4Tea: ...
I find it far superior to the first game, except alchemy (which was unfortunately streamlined).
Combat can be brutal at times, especially in the beginning. I like the fact that you always have to be on your toes, there is little to no room for error.
I had two problems with TW2: QTEs and boss battles.
I'm curious, how did you fare against Letho and the Kayran?
Wow, 10 years since I brought this full price boxed collectors edition. Now I have a 3080 machine, perhaps I will finally be able to play it. Doubt it will be any improvement over the first Witcher game, 3 wasn’t.
low rated
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DanielDudek: 11) It still doesn´t have achievements on GOG.
does it have on steam ?
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nightcraw1er.488: Wow, 10 years since I brought this full price boxed collectors edition. Now I have a 3080 machine, perhaps I will finally be able to play it. Doubt it will be any improvement over the first Witcher game, 3 wasn’t.
I'm playing it on a GTX 1050 (non-TI) in Linux and it seems very playable. Although, I'm playing in 1080p and I may have a higher tolerance for lower FPS than you do (although, as far as I can tell, the frame rate seems fine).
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nightcraw1er.488: Wow, 10 years since I brought this full price boxed collectors edition. Now I have a 3080 machine, perhaps I will finally be able to play it. Doubt it will be any improvement over the first Witcher game, 3 wasn’t.
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Time4Tea: I'm playing it on a GTX 1050 (non-TI) in Linux and it seems very playable. Although, I'm playing in 1080p and I may have a higher tolerance for lower FPS than you do (although, as far as I can tell, the frame rate seems fine).
When I got it I had a lower card than that, and it barely ran. Later on when I got a 1080 I saw the reviews were not great so I didn’t bother, then I picked up w3 and whilst it’s not a bad game, I really don’t see why everyone raves about it. So never bothered to go back to 2.
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patrikc: I find it far superior to the first game, except alchemy (which was unfortunately streamlined).
Combat can be brutal at times, especially in the beginning. I like the fact that you always have to be on your toes, there is little to no room for error.
I had two problems with TW2: QTEs and boss battles.
I'm curious, how did you fare against Letho and the Kayran?
So far, I haven't had any major problems with only being able to use alchemy during meditation (which seems to be a common criticism). I also don't mind the inventory UI changes. Although, one thing about the alchemy I do find annoying is that you can't see on the alchemy screen how many of each item you already have in your inventory. So, you can't easily see which things you are short of.

I agree it is good they've made the combat more challenging, as it was too trivial in W1. Although, imo (especially in Chapter 1) it is difficult for annoying reasons, like the hit-from-behind thing. I feel like with the combat they have thrown out some things that made W1 distinctive and are chasing after games like Dark Souls/God of War. I.e. imitating, rather than innovating.

** Possible spoilers, for anyone that hasn't played it **

The Kayran I didn't find too difficult, tbh. I beat it on about my 4th or 5th try. I found it quite a bit less challenging than the troll and the endrega queens (which I found insanely hard at first). I found the QTEs near the end to be a little annoying, but easy enough to deal with. A bit of a shame the combat ended that way, rather than letting the player finish it off with skill.

I thought Letho was easily the hardest boss in the first chapter - he was very challenging and it took me many attempts to beat him (I lost count). He seemed a bit OP tbh - I'm not sure why he would be so much more powerful than Geralt and able to take so much more damage. Eventually, I just played him so many times that I learned his attack patterns. His attacks seem to depend on how far away you are from him. If you are far from him, he tends to use signs/bombs, but if you go in close, he almost always uses a slow sword attack. I found the best way to beat him was to wait for his Quen to wear off, then Quen up, go in close, dodge his sword swings and keep stronging him in the back (with a bit of Igni mixed in).

(I am playing it on hard, btw, so that might be skewing my view regarding difficulty)

So far I haven't found the combat in chapter 2 to be anywhere near as challenging. I assume I'll have to face Letho again at some point, but I haven't got there yet.