Posted May 21, 2011
There's a lot to like about The Witcher 2, so assume things not mentioned here are just peachy.
Combat: it seems to have been designed around the top-tier skills of group finishers and slow-motion inducement. Group fights without these skills, and even with the skills but without the required adrenaline to use them, are mundane and commonly lethal.
Hit-and-run seems to be the style encoraged by the game designers, but a very large percentage of the more difficult fights take place in close quarters with very little room to maneuver. On top of this, artificial and immersion-breaking gameplay elements are put in place to keep you trapped in close quarters. For example, you will often open a door, step into a room, see a bunch of monster spawn, then try to back out of the room through the still-open door, only to find an invisible barrier in your way that leaves you running in place with your back to the monsters.
Further, both enemy and friendly NPCs completely block your movement. If you become surrounded, there is no escape and death is almost certain. You cannot jump over, push through, or otherwise maneuver around an encompassing mass of foes - nor friendlies. Many times, it was the friendly NPCs that blocked the avenues of escape, leading to yet another death. At LEAST one, if not all these issues with combat must be revisited and resolved in future games.
Quick Time Events: these break immersion - I am forced to miss watching the movie to make sure I hit the right button or click the mouse at the appropriate time, which spoils whatever cinematic effect was intended. Thankfully, I suppose, I'd almost always end up failing the QTE and end up repeating it several times over, though I imagine this also spoils the desired effect.
Saving: as long as I'm not dead or in the middle of combat, LET ME SAVE THE GAME, DAMMIT! Couple the issue of denying the player the ability to save for significant periods of time with the above combat and QTE issues, and your desired dramatic tension instantly transforms into annoyed frustration. Last I'd checked, computers aren't video games consoles - don't artificially restrict a critical capacity just because someone thinks it might be "neat".
Lip-synch: all characters lack proper facial movements during speaking scenes; mouths often "snap" open and shut, and even when such behavior is not blatant, it is still noticeable. This detracts quite a bit from the otherwise impressive character models.
Rear channels for 5.1 surround-sound are broken, in that no sound is output on those channels.
My final quibble is that the playtime of one playthrough seems quite short; I do hope I'd missed a lot of items for my subsequent playthroughs (likely all as magic/sword due to combat issues). It felt like I'd just been introduced to some of the very interesting characters when the epilogue started.
Overall, highly recommended for The Witcher fans, even with some of the horrid new warts.
Combat: it seems to have been designed around the top-tier skills of group finishers and slow-motion inducement. Group fights without these skills, and even with the skills but without the required adrenaline to use them, are mundane and commonly lethal.
Hit-and-run seems to be the style encoraged by the game designers, but a very large percentage of the more difficult fights take place in close quarters with very little room to maneuver. On top of this, artificial and immersion-breaking gameplay elements are put in place to keep you trapped in close quarters. For example, you will often open a door, step into a room, see a bunch of monster spawn, then try to back out of the room through the still-open door, only to find an invisible barrier in your way that leaves you running in place with your back to the monsters.
Further, both enemy and friendly NPCs completely block your movement. If you become surrounded, there is no escape and death is almost certain. You cannot jump over, push through, or otherwise maneuver around an encompassing mass of foes - nor friendlies. Many times, it was the friendly NPCs that blocked the avenues of escape, leading to yet another death. At LEAST one, if not all these issues with combat must be revisited and resolved in future games.
Quick Time Events: these break immersion - I am forced to miss watching the movie to make sure I hit the right button or click the mouse at the appropriate time, which spoils whatever cinematic effect was intended. Thankfully, I suppose, I'd almost always end up failing the QTE and end up repeating it several times over, though I imagine this also spoils the desired effect.
Saving: as long as I'm not dead or in the middle of combat, LET ME SAVE THE GAME, DAMMIT! Couple the issue of denying the player the ability to save for significant periods of time with the above combat and QTE issues, and your desired dramatic tension instantly transforms into annoyed frustration. Last I'd checked, computers aren't video games consoles - don't artificially restrict a critical capacity just because someone thinks it might be "neat".
Lip-synch: all characters lack proper facial movements during speaking scenes; mouths often "snap" open and shut, and even when such behavior is not blatant, it is still noticeable. This detracts quite a bit from the otherwise impressive character models.
Rear channels for 5.1 surround-sound are broken, in that no sound is output on those channels.
My final quibble is that the playtime of one playthrough seems quite short; I do hope I'd missed a lot of items for my subsequent playthroughs (likely all as magic/sword due to combat issues). It felt like I'd just been introduced to some of the very interesting characters when the epilogue started.
Overall, highly recommended for The Witcher fans, even with some of the horrid new warts.