GotG Round 1: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings vs. Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Can't fault people for voting Witcher but... I had more of an attachment to Deus Ex even if the endings were awful.

Deus Ex: HR was really good, but the Witcher 2 was amazing.

I quite liked both of these games, but I have far fonder memories of Witcher 2. And now that I'm breaking it down, I feel like I basically liked every individual aspect in Witcher 2 just a tad bit more (except for maybe the overall aesthetic - fantasy RPG stuff is a little played out in comparison to the number of games that go the cyberpunk route).

In Witcher 2, the choices had more effect on the world/story and more interesting grey areas to consider. Geralt is a more interesting and fleshed out character than Jensen. The combat is far more engaging, and I liked the planning/tactical aspect of it.

I've only played a little Witcher and that was enough for it to be clear to me that it's the "better" game but I REALLY liked Deus Ex...

TW2, without a doubt. CDPR could bomb an orphanage and they'd still be the best, most down to earth developers this generation.

Even divorcing it from all that and looking at it solely based on its own merits, the moral choice aspect of TW2 is leagues ahead of anything else. My friend and I played through it around the same time and every time we'd try to talk about it we'd either have completely different experiences to share or were able to shed some insight onto aspects and events that weren't as readily apparent on the other person's path.

The Witcher 2 is a "better" game, and I know it's going to win, but my heart is with Deus Ex.

"I never asked for this."

Also, to the people saying that The Witcher 2 did moral choice stuff better than Deus Ex, I think you need to go look at the true master of moral choice in games.

Human Revolution might be my favorite game of the generation, but that may be because Deus Ex 1 happens to be one of my favorite games of all time, and I thought HR did an amazing job at capturing what made the original so great at the time.

I wasn't in love with The Witcher 2 past the amazing first act, but it certainly is pretty great, too.

I went back for Witcher 1 and I read the Witcher Last Wish because the Witcher 2 was that damn good.

Never played Witcher 2 (don't have much interest in doing so), but I really enjoyed Deus Ex: HR - I really got into that game big time.

Its a really hard choice for sure....

Man, these poll are getting tougher and tougher for me. I went with witcher 2 though.

You're fucking killing me with this one. I never finished Witcher 2, so I guess Deus Ex by default. It also surprised me more. But, man, those boss fights. I'd go either way on this one. Both great fucking games.

Witcher 2 should have gone against Dragon Age and Deus Ex should have gone against Mass Effect 2.

Goddammit Deus Ex is losing?

ughh both games are fantastic, but i cast my vote with the losing team, deus ex human revolution.

@mooseymcman: I absolutely won't argue with you about Alpha Protocol being the best example of moral choices in games. I think that's why so many (including me) remember it fondly in spite of its other faults. That, and my favorite Nolan North performance.

Witcher 2 is good, but a tad bit overrated in my eyes. The story felt like a spoof of high fantasy, and the world exploring was a step down from a title like Dragon Age Origins.

Deus Ex was just a fun cyber themed thriller for me.

I played both games all the way through three times. I hated Witcher 2 by the third playthrough, but DX:HR was still interesting because of the different ways to approach each level.

Played less than 3 hours of both of these games, voting for Witcher 2 anyways cause I consider this Fantasy vs Sci Fi.

Witcher 2, no contest.

The newest Deus Ex rang hallow for me. I couldn't even finish it.

... why vote again?

Me too and Deus Ex is my favorite game ever. The biggest issue was the environments were tiny and very bland and predictable in their design. Plus the boss fights and a story that wasn't as compelling as the first game. I always hear people love it but I don't see where they were coming from... maybe if it had been called something else, I don't know. Just not even on the first game's level in a lot of ways. The level design in particular which may be the original game's greatest strength was amateur by comparison.

As far as the story goes, Witcher 2 might have had the most entertaining one this generation. It was deep and really kept you guessing. The art is absolutely fantastic and it is technically amazing. Really great game.

Because Fantasy must win! That being said, I enjoyed the first 3 hours of Witcher 3 a lot more than the first 3 hours of Deus Ex.

I voted for Deus Ex Human Revolution because I felt it was more consistent. The Witcher 2 started out pretty well, but it's second half kind of left me disappointed. I think both games are fucking fantastic.

I wonder how many people have actually managed to finish both games?

@artisanbreads: Completely agree. I suspect, but cant prove, people who really like it didn't play the original when it was new. Just saying that because if so I can see how they'd like the new one so much.

There are elements that are as compelling as the original but they just didn't click right for me. I don't know, maybe I'm just getting old =P

To their credit they definitely earnestly said "Lets try to make a new Deus Ex" and all the elements were there. I just think they failed to execute on a number of them, in particular the level design. I don't know why the levels were so cramped but it really killed a lot of the exploration, multiple paths, sense of discovery... I don't know. I just remember starting to turn on the game when I went to the club and the guy wouldn't let me in and I said "Lets look in this obvious alley, there can't just be a vent in here can there?" and there was, like 5 ft away that got me right past the obstacle. Just lazy and uninspired stuff like that throughout.

man this is hard

both have their points, ack

The best thing about this match up, it could actually be prelude to the next GOTG finals. Easily 2 of my most anticipated games of 2014-15.

How good it looks early, CDProjekt might be their own competition. Don't forget Cyberpunk!

Clunk, a lot of bad voice acting, awful ending, bad graphics vs. superb story, great voicework, incredible visuals and world building, fantastic characters, and uhm, well, the list can keep going.

I still loved Human Revolution but in comparison to The Witcher 2, well, it's like comparing the humour of Borderlands to Portal.

edit: and I'll never forgive them for putting those awful, pixelated, garbled messes of cutscenes in on the PC version. GROSS.

This is why i hate this stupid bracket system. Both of these games deserve to be higher up but ones going to get eliminated simply because of poor bracket design.

This whole thing feels like a bad gamefaqs poll.

Unfortunately I still haven't played any of the Witcher games, so I'm gonna have to go with Deus Ex for this one because it was still a pretty good game.

It's gotta be Deus Ex. There aren't nearly enough cyberpunk games, so Human Revolution was a breath a fresh air, and at the same time remained pretty faithful to the original, which is an all=time favorite of mine. I loved being in the world. Everything about it just looked awesome and had tons of great little detail crammed into it that made it feel alive and realized, even if the environments you were exploring weren't necessarily huge. The story was intriguing and went to some interesting places, too. The gameplay was solid enough but the world and atmosphere are what really make it. Plus the soundtrack is incredible. I would easily consider this one of my top 5 games of this gen.

As for The Witcher 2, I hate myself for never finishing it. I played most of the game, got well into the final act in fact, but then I think that's when Bioshock Infinite came out and I quit playing and haven't gone back since. I doubt I will since it's been so long. But I loved what I played, way more than I had anticipated. I kind of forced myself to start playing. I picked it up from GameStop for $10 from their Cyber Monday deal last year because "why the hell not?". I hadn't played the first game and was only slightly interested in seeing what the second was all about, but I had it sitting around for awhile and felt bad for not playing it. It really is a fantastic game, though like Deus Ex, not without its faults. I just think cyberpunk is inherently more interesting than yet another high fantasy RPG.

I've yet to finish either of these, but Adam Jensen's raspy batman voice compels me to go with The Witcher 2.

This was a tough one, but I ultimately had to go with the Witcher. The boss fights in Deus Ex were just kind of broken and while I haven't finished Witcher yet, there hasn't been any major flaws along those lines 2/3 through.

WITCHAAAA!!! Woohoo!

Would vote for Witcher1 but since that isn't there W2 is just as worthy <3

If people aren't complaining about this, they're complaining that a strong contender goes against a weaker contender and slaughters them. I think people just don't like seeing games they like eliminated (though I'm more of your mind, that it makes more sense to wipe out the weaker contestants earlier- still, as noones competing for second I don't see that it REALLY matters).

Tough call for me. But I voted Deus Ex as I absolutely love the world.

This was almost a tough call, but then I remembered how much I love The Witcher universe. Even if robo-Jensen is fun to use as a procedural fridge-thrower, I gotta give it to Geralt.

Every goddamn time.

No contest, the Witcher eats Deus Ex for breakfast.

This is probably the toughest one yet for me because I loved both. However, if I have to choose, I have to go with The Witcher 2. It is an improvement of the previous game through and through with little technical flaws where as Human Revolution had some pretty noticeable screw ups like the boss battles.

The Witcher 2, given it's such a great, great RPG. Looks beautiful, interesting characters, combat that's brutal but rewarding, branching narrative and actual impactful choices.

Deus Ex is pretty great too in most areas, but the endings were some of the worst examples of putting up a shallow choice simply to advertise you've offered choice I've ever seen in a game. Plus, the boss fights made certain builds and playstyles game breaking. In an RPG, where the emphasis is supposed to be on role playing a character, then using that character's strengths to succeed, to bottleneck players into a combat focused build without prior warning is pretty much unforgiveable.

With the boss battles in mind, I wonder if people should judge it based on the original version, or on the Director's Cut that fixed them.

@hailinel: Seeing as I haven't played the Director's Cut, I judged the version that I played. But that is an interesting point you raised.

You're a sick fucker putting these two against each other. DON'T MAKE ME CHOSE

Human Revolution has a lot of heart, but playing it now after the Director's Cut stuff came out, it still has some pretty noticeable problems. The voice acting is a lot worse than I remember, for example. Also Dishonored exists and is the far better "one of those games" than Human Revolution ever was.
By all accounts, The Witcher 2 dials up everything that made the first game good and brings it into its own. I should really get back to that at some point.

I think the only way you can vote for HR over the Witcher is by disliking fantasy, liking cyberpunk, or not having played all of both games. HR is a really good game with some flaws, but Witcher 2 is a great game from head to toe--the only criticisms I could think to level at it might be how difficult the combat is, but that just makes it all the more rewarding when you get the hang of it. Some people didn't like the end, but I felt the last boss had a whole lot more emotion and power behind it than HR's A B or C choice.

Deus Ex had multiple boss fights I hated, The Witcher only had one. Therefore, Geralt emerges as the victor.

As much as I think Witcher 2 is a phenomenal game, I think DE:HR is put together just a tad bit better. Some parts of Witcher 2 are really not explained very well and the first area tends to drag a bit at times. The pacing is a bit better in Human Revolution.

Well fuck, this is a tough one, at least for me.

This was a super easy choice. I've played both games on Xbox360 and only finished Witcher 2. I love the aesthetic of Deus Ex but it was so boring in the early game. Without having played the first Witcher the sequel is a fantastic representation of that universe as a video game.