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Breja: It's sequels not sequals for god's sake. How many times do I need to tell you? :D

Also, like I said, the Witcher 2 at least is definately a step down from the brilliant first game.

In terms of graphics? It definately is. You need to ease up on your hate a little at least. You're becoming entirely irrational.
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Lemon_Curry: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/definitely ;)
Uhm... yes? I'm afraid I don't quite follow.
Yeah, combat in W1 was terrible. Hang in there, though, the Witcher games get better with each installment.
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Breja: Uhm... yes? I'm afraid I don't quite follow.
I was merely pointing out the correct spelling of the word. Please ignore the definition. :)
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Breja: Uhm... yes? I'm afraid I don't quite follow.
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Lemon_Curry: I was merely pointing out the correct spelling of the word. Please ignore the definition. :)
Oh. I was looking right at it, and I still didn't see I made an error. Thanks :D

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227: The first Witcher game is a flawed gem, but like so many other flawed gems out there, there are elements raising it above most games. The atmosphere, the music, the gray morality. The long loading times and unreasonably large save files! Heh. It hurts to play at times—I've never wanted to punch my computer so badly as when I first faced The Beast—but sticks with you in a way most games don't.

It's one of those imperfect pieces of gaming magic that elitist gaming snobs like me tend to hold up as an example of all the little things gaming has left behind in the pursuit of mass-market accessibility. The sequels were designed to appeal to a wider audience, though, which actually makes them worse games (that's the elitist gaming snob speaking), but they have a better shot of inspiring that annoying "10/10 best game evar" zealotry in any given gamer. The second game in particular is a great middle ground between 1 and 3 and arguably has the best writing of all three. Hearts of Stone comes close, though.
This. It reminds me of an interview with the late Patrick McGoohan (creator of and lead actor in the famous The Prisoner) where he was talking about how there is nothing wrong with something being "not for everyone" and in fact nothing truly great can be made when the intention is for it to have mass appeal. I think it applies to games as much as movies or anything else- truly great work of any kind will be unique and different and will not be to everyone's liking. The wider the appeal the closer we get to mediocrity. It's something that gets forgotten way to often nowadays, when aggregated score on Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes and the like are treated as an actual measurement of quality.
Post edited April 18, 2017 by Breja
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Lemon_Curry: I was merely pointing out the correct spelling of the word. Please ignore the definition. :)
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Breja: Oh. I was looking right at it, and I still didn't see I made an error. Thanks :D

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227: The first Witcher game is a flawed gem, but like so many other flawed gems out there, there are elements raising it above most games. The atmosphere, the music, the gray morality. The long loading times and unreasonably large save files! Heh. It hurts to play at times—I've never wanted to punch my computer so badly as when I first faced The Beast—but sticks with you in a way most games don't.

It's one of those imperfect pieces of gaming magic that elitist gaming snobs like me tend to hold up as an example of all the little things gaming has left behind in the pursuit of mass-market accessibility. The sequels were designed to appeal to a wider audience, though, which actually makes them worse games (that's the elitist gaming snob speaking), but they have a better shot of inspiring that annoying "10/10 best game evar" zealotry in any given gamer. The second game in particular is a great middle ground between 1 and 3 and arguably has the best writing of all three. Hearts of Stone comes close, though.
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Breja: This. It reminds me of an interview with the late Patrick McGoohan (creator of and lead actor in the famous The Prisoner) where he was talking about how there is nothing wrong with something being "not for everyone" and in fact nothing truly great can be made when the intention is for it to have mass appeal. I think it applies to games as much as movies or anything else- truly great work of any kind will be unique and different and will not be to everyone's liking. The wider the appeal the closer we get to mediocrity. It's something that gets forgotten way to often nowadays, when aggregated score on Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes and the like are treated as an actual measurement of quality.
Great point! Not being for everyone is no vice; it's the case for anything good. Being liked by everyone is no recipe for success, whether you are talking about art, personality, or anything.
I love the witcher 1. But the first time I played it I was not into it... I suggest you to just play at an high difficulty level (because you will need to look at the real sword and hear the sound to combat) and to reach at least the end of chapter 2. I'm sure you will change your mind if you can change your opinion.
And when you will start to play the witcher 2 you will be upset about the change they made.
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Breja: I honestly think Witcher 1 aged very well. I don't see it as looking any worse then most games released back then. And I mean visuals, I don't see how it aged in terms of design at all. Unless by that you mean that it's not a streamlined console slasher like it's sequel.
I really mostly mean how you control the character, both during exploration and combat, as well as the world and quest structure. The combat, one of the key elements, is simply mediocre, and the gameplay is generally quite tedious, forcing you to travel the exact same locations a million times without any variation. Particularly the Vizima chapters are simply not really fun to play. It's also where I abandoned the game many times in the past. It also doesn't help that there's a massive reuse of interiors with comparably few distinct places so exploration is utterly unrewarding most of the time.
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F4LL0UT: I really mostly mean how you control the character, both during exploration and combat, as well as the world and quest structure.
That's the best part... It's original and made for mouse & keyboard.
Modern The Witcher, and others action rpg only copy "dark souls like console friendly games"...
I like dark souls but when everybody try to do the same shit it is really boring.

The Witcher 1 combat system is not the best thing ever made, but it is unique and, when you reach the end, you will undestand why it is fun (just don't play at easy or normal difficulty level because you will not understand why it is a great mecanic).
Post edited April 23, 2017 by LiefLayer
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LiefLayer: The Witcher 1 combat system is not the best thing ever made, but it is unique and, when you reach the end, you will undestand why it is fun (just don't play at easy or normal difficulty level because you will not understand why it is a great mecanic).
I played through the whole thing and have myself written a few things about the combat system in an earlier post in this thread which you probably agree with, including that one should play the game on hard. However:

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LiefLayer: That's the best part... It's original and made for mouse & keyboard.
No, the Witcher interface is literally not made for anything. It started out as a Diablo clone for mouse and was clumsily changed more and more into an action game because that's where the genre was already headed back then. And in TW1 they never had the time to finish the process so you're stuck with the half-assed third person mode that is still partially based on point and click, which is just a terribad combination. And alternatively you can still use the isometric mode which is actually more fleshed out but has its share of other issues between encounters. Ultimately they should have made the game use third person for exploration and automatically switch to isometric perspective during combat.

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LiefLayer: Modern The Witcher, and others action rpg only copy "dark souls like console friendly games"...
By now I really have to call bullshit on the "console friendly" argument considering that all these games follow standards established almost ten years ago and that are even used in PC exclusives by now. It has nothing to do with console friendly anymore, it's just that the games do play better this way if done right (admittedly in TW2 it was done VERY badly and I consider TW2 a much worse game than TW1). Anyway, there's simply no reason not to make an RPG with a single protagonist play like an actual action game.
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F4LL0UT: Anyway, there's simply no reason not to make an RPG with a single protagonist play like an actual action game.
I disagree.
the witcher 1 got a really good and original combat system. I think there is no other games like it out there.
And I really like the fact that it is not a diablo-clone, and it is still possible to use isometric view on a single player game.
I also love the fact that it's single player but not an action game.
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Reever: Heard that playing it in Polish with English subtitles is better than the English VO.
Thanks for the idea. I had not thought about it.

I will try it when I get back to the game. Left it after returning from the tower in the marshes a few months ago. This is another reason to get back.

As Breja suggested, if people find it too easy on easy, why not trying a difficulty higher than easy? Potion making can be fun. If the player is not using them, it means the game is set too easy... The player is missing much from the game then.

Nice story. Original. True choices, not easily made unless you get into character and pick by yourself.

A game for adults in the best sense of the word. Also sexy sometimes.
Post edited April 24, 2017 by Carradice
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Breja: an interview with the late Patrick McGoohan (creator of and lead actor in the famous The Prisoner) where he was talking about how there is nothing wrong with something being "not for everyone" and in fact nothing truly great can be made when the intention is for it to have mass appeal.
Do you remember this?


Then, poet Juan Ramon Jimenez's motto was "with the minority always". He made great stuff, one of the best loved writers in his country. Worth a Nobel prize, too (but who cares).

So, yes.
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Elmofongo: Character's have the faces of dolls, so unexpressive, mostly ameturish voice acting with an exception of Geralt and few, combat feels so different, if this is the whole game, just time 3 attacks at a time to win, than that's lame. Heck I am just playing on the easiet difficulty because I have no idea of this game's rules and systems.

So far this game is so clearly suffering from First Game syndrome as in this is clearly CDProjeckt first game they ever made.
The game was from 2007, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of The Betrayer released then, along with Titans Quest: Immortal Throne, Bioshock, Crysis, and Hellgate: London dropped as well... I think it was one of the greatest years in PC gaming history and they started a trend into not only RPG world crafting but story telling that has yet to be matched.

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F4LL0UT: Anyway, there's simply no reason not to make an RPG with a single protagonist play like an actual action game.
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LiefLayer: I disagree.
the witcher 1 got a really good and original combat system. I think there is no other games like it out there.
And I really like the fact that it is not a diablo-clone, and it is still possible to use isometric view on a single player game.
I also love the fact that it's single player but not an action game.
The game was created on the Aurora Engine, and they pushed it to its absolute limits. They were going so hard they had to write a new render from scratch to get it to do what they wanted. I mean they crafted a world by hand, no tilesets, no random generation... hand placed everything... dont get me started on the weather and lighting systems.

anyways, The Witcher showed everyone that story is key, that while action was fun nothing pushed you on more then a good solid story. Im rather happy with the game, one of the greatest RPG's i have ever played. 7 fully thought out chapters with a solid ending were so welcomed. I'm still amazed to this day every time I play though it.

Also this is the greatest song ever in the history of gaming, Shaent Blathanna by Adam Skorupa
Post edited April 24, 2017 by Starkrun
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Doc0075: I liked the first game, I enjoyed it a damn sight more than Witcher 2.
The combat system works fine but the game does start to drag a bit towards the end.
Damn that swamp to hell and back!
Yes. I managed to enter the tower, but left the game in stand-by afterwards.

The game is way better if the player has read Sapkowsky before. Else, it would be like playing the Lord of the Rings games without knowing anything about the story from the books or the movies.

I might get back, this time with Polish dialogues and English subtitles. They say that the Polish ones are better, and it makes sense, after all,