I've bought this in GOTY twice now. [Not here]. I played it for months on end and never found everything. First, go get the Ornithopter Overhaul. It's easy to install and has all the best mods to upgrade this game. For more play, add Tamriel Rebuilt. Are you a God-King? Are you faking the role for Fame or Power? THAT is what makes this game special. And once you beat the main quest, people treat you differently. Some quests break others. If you kill the wrong NPC you can break a quest. Pay attention to what you are told. There's actual RPG immersion to be had, here. I know people complain about the combat. If you are not experienced with a particular weapon--you WILL miss your swing. In real life, if you don't know how to use a sword and you are in front of Jackie Chan in full armor--you still won't be able to damage him with it. If you view the combat that way, you won't be disappointed. THAT is why this game is so immersive. Because there are real consequences to your actions and how the NPCs will treat you--not just some tacked on different ending. And be warned, the enemies will not scale to you, thank Vivec. Work your way up to the Power of a God-King or die like a worm.
This game is a broken mess. I want to like it. I really do. The visuals are stunning for its age. The story line sounds fascinating--at least what I saw of it. The controller maps all the wrong buttons even though my controller is listed. When I manually set them up--the game promptly forgot them. I did this several times with the same crappy results. And please, don't tell me k/m--I can't physically use them any more. I now only purchase games that use a controller for that reason. It's impossible to exit. I had to *reboot the computer* just to turn it off on a number of occassions. This happened so often that it is too much of a PITA to play. For some insane reason it is set-up to assume that you have nothing better to do all day than play this game or else it is irretrievably broken. I know from the gaming forums online, this is not uncommon. I think the reason this game gets crappy reviews isn't the game so much as the tedium in trying to get it to work properly.
I'm probably one of the few who liked this far better than Witcher II. Why? Because I am a Sapokowski fan and I liked my third option of being neutral between rebellion and authoritarianism which didn't exist in TWII. Geralt spends much of the book time avoiding politics although not always with much success. The decisions had impact on the world around Geralt, sometimes less, sometimes more but I always felt they mattered somehow and I'd best be careful what to choose. And never knowing when a decision was going to come back to haunt or help down the road. One portion that wowed me was detecting the *wrong* killer in Ch2 and still being able to complete it all wrong with a harder boss fight. And no QTE's. I hated those in TWII. My rage at the misogynist cleric in CH1 was palpable. I was so enraged I didn't care what the consequences were if I saved the witch. Now that's emotional depth in a game! Yes, the sex cards were a bit silly. The environment was beautiful in it's day and it stills hold up reasonably well although the character models of course look aged. For some reason my old DVD copy won't load onto my new hard drive [one of the few games I paid full price for, too!] so I guess I will pick up a sale copy here on GOG so I can virtually hug my old friends in it and maybe play it through again. If you have an old machine or just want to play the entire series, for the few dollars you will get plenty of entertainment value out of this game. I thought it was well worth the full price when I bought it 'way back and there's very few games I can say that about!
The music stuck in my head. It's addictive. While derivative of Diablo clones I did find it more fun than most. It was simple enough from potion making to killing and eating your own meat [I slaughtered one NPC'S hogs and healed with the ham while killing him when he objected to my theivery] to crafting weapons without a lot of hooferaw that winds up boring me to head banging in a lot of newer games. If I want to spend half an hour crafting something, I'd do that in real life, not a game. Thankfully, crafting in this game is not tedious. Finally, a game where the rogue gets some really worthwhile and interesting traps. Sneak in, drop 'em in and run away--let the games begin! Whoopee! There's a variety of settings within it. It's mainly open world and you can steal/take anything. The custom characterization can lead to some pretty amusing hybrid characters for replay value. Where else would you see two skeletons arguing philosophy in a dungeon or an easter egg weightless bed to tuck in your backpack and nap whenever you need it? Providing of course, something doesn't jump out of the walls and eat you in your sleep. The fast travel stones are a load of fun too. Pay attention and don't lose them. I'd love it if someone could do a mod to upgrade the graphics that look so poor on newer systems. On my old small one with small monitor, it looked pretty decent. It's an entertaining game. A few puzzles, nothing too frustrating, lots of combat, some really odd loot and the ability to build dozens of different kinds of characters to suit your style of play.
Okay, the hype. This game is NOT in any sense of the word, an "RPG". There's no "role" to play. Not good/evil, not skill class warrior/mage/thief--nothing other than a forced-decision, limited choices, ending. The only other choice to the player is which weapons they prefer to use most of the time. Period. Mind you, it does have a few fun weapons. Yes, this game is very pretty looking. The art work is lush and interesting. The reviewers are correct that the narrator is excellent--the sad part for this amazing narrator is that he actually has very little story to work with and he talks while you are fighting. For anyone with attentional struggles, it means missing what little story this narrator is narrating. It's a reasonable game for the physically challenged at lower levels due to the "die or fall off with no consequences" mode that's available. It's a decent game for kids or a quick weekend holiday game to give your brain a rest. For a few dollars it will amuse and entertain the player, which is the job of a game. I found it a good first effort for a brand new indie company and hope they continue making games and improving their abilities for more games in the future.
I thoroughly enjoyed this. The Good: Megatons of quests. No grinding--there are enough quests and interesting areas to level up without repeating oneself just to level. Pick a character and although you can mix 'n' match, if you do stick with one build, you won't be disappointed with some decent tactics and sensible fighting skills. Lots of flexibility in your ability to build your player character. The voice acting in both portions is excellent. The soundtrack is exquisite. Technically clean, I had no crashing although the odd time it all went rather swirly although some of that is a deliberate artistic choice, I suspect. It could use more "save game" slots. One of the reasons I have enjoyed the Divinity games over some others is that while the story may be dark, the player doesn't have to spend excessive time leveling up in gloomy dungeons. While you could whiz through the game, it can also play out for well over 100+ hours if you play it all through. Which is a great bang for your buck. The Bad: The second portion, Flames of Vengeance is full of fedex quests in Alaroth. Although the ending to Ego Draconis might have been considered unusual at the time, it isn't all that revolutionary or original a plot. The Interesting: The necromantic pet was weird. Kind of creeped me out. Turning into a dragon was great fun and added much to the game play. If you've played others in the series there are plenty of references and characters to catch up on. All-in-all an enjoyable experience and another WIN from the folks at Larian. ***NB: Because it can be paused during battle, for those with some physical or cognitive challenges, this game may still be playable.***
First the bad news. There isn't a single way I can figure to fix this game on widescreen decently. The constant combat and respawning are so rapid one can either see it as very challenging or very annoying. Some of the minor respawning random characters are over-powered causing you to die. A lot. Some of the quests are just plain silly. The lack of ANY ability to _pause_ the game to get a cuppa or use the washroom without reloading is frustrating beyond belief and small as that may seem--it adds up to a game that can be irritating to play for extended periods of time. Now the good news. Loot is substantial. It isn't hard to get into the game at all. Fun thing with the skills is that you can set them up anyway you like if you collect enough runes [and the runes don't have to be the ones for the character you are playing--you can trade them in for what you *do* want] It seemed to me more like Divine Divinity than Diablo in it's vastness and outdoor world. The whole map is open to you from the start if you want to beat your way across the world. That's fun. There are buckets of hidden caves and areas to explore if you take your time and enjoy the ride. The ability to combine a bunch of skills into one big chain of events is loads of fun to mess around with to get the best combinations. The skill system is well-thought out and easy to learn. All in all, this is an entertaining game providing you are not looking for an in-depth rpg experience and just want an enjoyable hack n slash adventure without too much thinking.
With today's engines, I'd love to see the Witcher Developers take a crack at this one. I got this game from a friend 10 years ago and I still play it once or twice a year--and I still haven't discovered every nuance. It's one of the few games that can be played as evil or neutral and has no expectation of "good" as many RPG's cut off the parts of the main story line when it happens. The language, resurrected from 1800's slum English is astonishing. The acting of Annah of the Shadows and Morte characters is superb. The music is both haunting and intensifies the emotional impact. It's not just the main characters--it's the NPC's. Ravel Puzzlewell is one of my all-time favorite complex characters. She defies all attempts to categorize good and evil. If I was lost on a desert island, fancy graphics or no, the two games I would want would be Torment and Morrowind due to their ability to play out in so many ways and their intersection of well-defined culture, politics and immersive story telling.
