firecracker22

@kishinfoulux: I'm used to it, really. I've played enough RPG's that have quest bugs, and glitches, and jank that I've just got a tolerance with it in RPG's. Oblivion got me with a pretty bad quest bug where I was stuck on a boat for a certain quest, and couldn't get back to shore. I had to use a rollback save that was like 10 hours back. Ever since then, I've just learned to have ALOT of save files. Though, for the most part Fallout 3 and Skyrim worked fine for me. I didn't run into many glitches or have anything major happen on the Xbox 360.

Fallout New Vegas on the PS3....now that fucking thing crashed on me an insane amount of times. To this day, that's been the only game I've ever had to put down and wait a while to come back to because of it. Having the game crash on me as many times as New Vegas did was a deal breaking type thing for me.

I have to say, too, that Todd Howard's straightforward approach to the Pipboy was pretty great, too, wasn't it? I don't even know if he was allowed to say 'fuck' on stage (because the Doom guy said "F'ing").

Todd Howard said that each of the voices for both protagonists have been recording in the studio for two years, with it being about 1300 lines of dialogue each.

I don't think there's anyway they're making it optional.

Just saw Todd Howard on the post-show with Sessler and Webb, and he made a good point about having a voiced protagonist. He said if you hadn't played or seen any of their previous games, you would immediately expect the playable character to be voiced.

And it opens up the possibility for better storytelling. It's not impossible to have good storytelling with a silent protagonist. But, it is harder. Hopefully having them voiced will lead to better storytelling, ontop of the crazy shit we see within Fallout already.

I dunno...I think that Metal Gear Solid 5 iDroid case was going for like $80 or $90, I think. And that thing was essentially a walkie talkie iphone case from Ground Zeroes. That Pipboy phone case is much larger. But, It can't be too much more expensive. I'd be shocked if it was $150 or something.

I think I'll pre-order it. I only pre-order games I really want, from developers I really trust. And Bethesda is one of those developers I really trust.

@qrdl: Honestly, the option to respec makes it okay since we can figure out what we want later on and build into that. And being able to swap out abilities in the slots works for me, too. I swap out Sun and Stars with Axii whenever I finish a fight, and swap it back once I've recovered my health. So not being locked down entirely to those slots has been useful for me, especially with having more abilities than I have slots right now.

@zeik:That letter was amazing, and had Geralt regretting every other word he'd written in his letter because Yen had thrown each word (like 'friend'). I was really happy to see another version of that letter show up in Geralt's inventory with Yen asking Geralt for help this time.

@dkwildz: Hmm, far as what came from Letho, it didn't sound like Yen had slept with anyone. He mentioned that she tried to seduce them, and divide them so she'd escape. Didn't sound like anything had happened, really. Plus if you're talking about some serious Witchers, who'd gone through the trouble of journeying with their fellow Witcher cousin, Geralt, to save his beloved...and with how honor bound, and cold ass people, Witchers can be...seems even less likely that anything had happened. Letho had mentioned that they wanted to abandon her every chance they got, but knowing everything they and Geralt had endured would be made meaningless.

I do think that even with the amnesia, Geralt having a relationship, and it not just being casual, with Triss hurt Yen. Ontop of it being her best friend, but it'd happened before. So the feeling of deja vu must feel like knife being twisted, because it's gotta feel like he's already got a replacement set up for you. I feel for Yen, it's a shitty place to be and a shitty thing to feel. I find myself blaming Triss more than anyone else, even going as far as back as the books.

@raspharus: I haven't finished the game yet, not even at Skiellage yet. But what I've seen of Yen I've loved. She seemed like herself, that is like Yennefer from the novels.

The first thing to know about Yen is she is nothing like Triss. Not even remotely. They're complete opposites even in how they show affection, with Triss being able to be very open and vulnerable with her affection while Yen can seem guarded even in the most relaxed situations (ie: Kaer Morhen dream sequence).

Personally, I like her better. Geralt can be so precise, and contemplative with usually measured responses and reactions. Yen is smart and clever, but she has a temper and can be much more reactionary and aggressive.

But, I've still got a ways to go with the game. So far, she seems spot on though.

Sad news. The man was an absolute showman. He knew how to cut a promo.

Oh, okay. Democracy was restored. It makes sense, actually, that people who once lived in a Democracy would want to restore it since so often it seems like nations that never had democracy are far less welcoming to it. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

@novadth: There's alot of context, mostly from the novels, that you're missing. But, I think the storytelling does a good enough job of conveying what you need to know.

I've got to push back, a little, though on the "We love Geralt! We'll help!", though I'm not as far as you I think. I haven't gotten to Skilleage, yet. But, I Yennefer (similar to her book's counterpart) isn't all that affectionate with Geralt. She seemed kind of cold towards him when they finally met after so many years apart (which, again, is appropriate to the character).

But, so far it seems that Geralt is the one being used by all the female characters I've run into. Geralt spent months chasing Yen's shadow trying to desperately reunite with her only to have her, effectively, get him to go after Ciri at a whim without having a heart to heart conversation. Yen's the one who asked Geralt for help, and he accepted wholeheartedly (because of Ciri). Kiera was using Geralt from the jump, to the point where he actually seemed like an errand boy. She asked for Geralt's help a number of times, giving very little information in return. Nothing, really, since we just stumbled into the masked Elf's cave. But, even then she wasn't there to help Geralt as much as she was there to take the artifact that the Elf owed her. Kiera (if you go that route) used Geralt for sex as well as to get access to the tower. Kiera kinda ran roughshot over Geralt throughout her questline. She was almost like James Bond, with Geralt being the Bond girl, in how she used him for information, to get shit done, and for sex. Kiera's kind of a boss, when you think about it.