After playing through to the conclusion of Act I in Witcher 2:Enhanced Edition on 360 I now see why there has been so much pomp and circumstance surrounding this title. This executes on just about every level better than any Bioware or Bethesda RPG I've played in recent memory. First off ....choices. Choices matter and the thing about the way they lay the choices out is there is never really any implied good or evil. Its just choice and concequence. The final choice you make at the end of Act I so dramaticaly changes the course of the game that you instantly get curious about what the other side of the fence is like.

And thats the thing that is amazing. The story is Mature and not just "M" rated with superfluous tits and blood although there are plenty of both. Which leads me into another point. This is the first game where the sex scenes didn't make me absolutely just cringe at how corny and awful they were. I mean I'm sorry Dragon Age I love you but your cheesy ass fireside "sex" scenes in DA:O were particularly awful.

The story is dense with lore and politics and while it can get confusing at times keeping up with all the jargon I find it refreshing that a story so makes me have to work for the satisfaction of "getting it" not many games are that dense with story. The combat is equally amazing. Like Dark Souls you have to strike with purpose and will get instantly chewed up if you try to button mash. They also did an amazing job making a very deep yet really easy to learn alchemy system. It seems daunting at first but it soon becomes second nature. Its that rare kind of game that will make you think about it constantly even when your not playing it.

I've got to really take my hat off to CDProjekt Red the fact they got the RED engine to scale to the now 7 year old hardware of the 360 and still look as good as it does is nothing short of black magic. And these guys are generous too. A soundtrack and a quest handbook all for free with the game? Amazing.

These guys know whats up and I can not wait to see what Witcher 3 looks like assuming that is happening. So uh...now that I'm done typing all of this nonesense out I think its time for more Witcher!

Different games different times.

and it has swords, ME didnt have swords so it couldnt of been a proper RPG

Different games different times.

I think Bioware are fine, drinking wine on their Island-yacht.

Really? I mean, really?

i WANT to feel like i'd enjoy this, and everything about your post says i would... but i don't know if i can deal with its preparatory style of play the guys were talking about on the bombcast.. choosing your potions before each battle and whatnot. i feel like i'd just want to rush through battles so i could go explore, pick up damsels and such.

Yeah, it's hands down a way better RPG but it's actually written for people over 16 so it doesn't have the massive teenage gamer hype surrounding it.

@killacam said:

i WANT to feel like i'd enjoy this, and everything about your post says i would... but i don't know if i can deal with its preparatory style of play the guys were talking about on the bombcast.. choosing your potions before each battle and whatnot. i feel like i'd just want to rush through battles so i could go explore, pick up damsels and such.

the potion stuff is only for like really hard battles and generally you'll know when those are coming. I mean I died a couple times on normal when I first played it on PC, but now they have a fairly decent tutorial so it's not hard out of the gate like it was.

Thats nice

Hey guys, only BioWare makes WRPGs anymore.

I doubt Bioware is crying about not making the Witcher, we know which game has sold more copies. As Jim Rome says, scoreboard.

Different strokes for different folks. I'm enjoying the game myself, but it's a pretty different game from what Mass Effect or Skyrim is.

@Demoskinos: I'm glad the game is getting increased exposure via the 360. It made some waves on PC when it was released, but I don't think it has, even to this day, achieved the consumer recognition it deserves. Head and shoulders above many, many other RPGs. I hope it sells well on 360 and spells great news for CD Projekt.

i feel like its an apples and oranges thing but both make awesome games so im not going to complain.

@blueduck said:

Yeah, it's hands down a way better RPG but it's actually written for people over 16 so it doesn't have the massive teenage gamer hype surrounding it.

^^

I agree. Also the sex scenes are better!

@killacam: The story is fantastic, and the combat isn't boring on easy, but you'll die less. I think it's one of those games where there's nothing shameful about playing it on easy.

@Animasta@ztiworoh

well i'm sold. thanks for the push.. now the issue of fitting it in with everything else that needs playing. i guess my ps3 disc drive picked a good time to die.

Gonna wait for a price drop. I just got burned by kingdom of amalur and don't feel like throwing money at an rpg I know nothing about.

A lot of people instantly jump to "Apples and Oranges", but I think it's fair to claim that the choices are handled significantly better. I have never played a game where choices had such an immediate and dramatic impact on my story. Modern Bioware games offer important choices at very dramatic and emotionally impactful moments, but there's always a clear good and bad choice in ME, and the pay-off for the choices is always disappointing.

Dragon Age did offer some great "grey" choices, but again, their long-term effects were a let-down.

@killacam: Also, if you do find it too easy - I'm into Act 2 and as I level up it definitely seems like I'm having to use less strategy - you can switch the difficulty on the fly. But it's a gorgeous game, has a really well written, rich, mature story, and other than some weird interface design choices, I love it.

@S0ndor: Theres also the fact that Mass Effect is a horrible role playing experience because you are consantly playing for Paragon/Renegade points. Knowing that your always going to pick the paragon choice because you need the points is utterly BORING and one of the big reasons I kinda got fed up with the Mass Effect series.

@laserbolts said:

Gonna wait for a price drop. I just got burned by kingdom of amalur and don't feel like throwing money at an rpg I know nothing about.

This game shits all over Kingdoms of R A Salvabore.

I'm really glad that the game is getting a good reception on 360 and I mostly I agree with what you said, but I think you're selling BioWare a little short. Yes, there is a lot they could learn from CDProjekt, but in my opinion the opposite is also true. While Witcher 2 has some great characters the game never explores them as much. Roche has the potential to be as awesome as Garrus, but there's simply not enough of him in the game to develop him that much. For all their faults BioWare still does characters really well.

I think Witcher 2 has much better story than any BioWare game (their stories are never that good actually, it's usually "save the world from an unknowable evil) but I'm still more attached to the characters in Mass Effect.

@Demoskinos said:

@S0ndor: Theres also the fact that Mass Effect is a horrible role playing experience because you are consantly playing for Paragon/Renegade points. Knowing that your always going to pick the paragon choice because you need the points is utterly BORING and one of the big reasons I kinda got fed up with the Mass Effect series.

Well, I dunno about that. It did inform the small decisions, sure, but I played through Mass Effect about 4 times and I never, ever, had the stomach to kill the Rachni queen, or sacrifice the council. Those were great moments in gaming, I thought. They basically forced me to pick between my hunt for points, and my own morals. I also never gave the Collector base to TIM.

it's a very good world, something that feels grounded in reality even though there are elves dwarves, dragons , magic and shit..... 

@SeriouslyNow: Your not kidding. That game is so boring.

@Dagbiker said:

Different games different times.

pretty much this

@Marz said:

it's a very good world, something that feels grounded in reality even though there are elves dwarves, dragons , magic and shit.....

and alcohol trolls who are contracted bridge builders. :)

Is it mandatory to play and understand the story of the first game to jump into the second game?

@ElNeebre said:

Is it mandatory to play and understand the story of the first game to jump into the second game?

Nope, the story is more of a follow up to the series of books.

Good, powerful post. Sadly I've had a shitty experience with the game for the past 10 months and I slowly turned into an angry Witcher 2 hater, but your post reminded me of just how outstanding the game is. Witcher 2 is a fucking gaming achievement, no question there. 
Hopefully one day I'll revisit it and have a better experience. Glad you're enjoying it!

I didn't even realise the Act 2 split thing was so dramatic until seeing people discussing it after I'd finished the game. Pretty amazing really considering the production values. I can't see Bioware attempting something quite like that anytime soon, but I don't think they can really be accused of a lack of ambition either. Granted it didn't exactly come off as well as it might have in the end for Mass Effect, but what they set out to do with that franchise was pretty ballsy.

Oh buuuuuuurrrrrrrrnnnnnnn.

I just have too many games to play right now. Like I still have all of Skyrim. Too much fantasy for now. Eventually when I run out of games I will get it.

@ElNeebre said:

Is it mandatory to play and understand the story of the first game to jump into the second game?

Not mandatory, but I'd say it's recommendable just for getting a handle on Geralt's relationships and some of the factions and themes involved. Also just because The Witcher 1 is fantastic.

HEY GUYS LET'S HATE ON BIOWARE AGAIN CAUSE THAT IS VERY ORIGINAL AND SMART RIGHT!??

@killacam said:

i WANT to feel like i'd enjoy this, and everything about your post says i would... but i don't know if i can deal with its preparatory style of play the guys were talking about on the bombcast.. choosing your potions before each battle and whatnot. i feel like i'd just want to rush through battles so i could go explore, pick up damsels and such.

Its not every battle, most of the potions last for 10 minutes, so its not as bad as it sounds. It even puts the timers at the top of the screen.

I definitely believe Bioware would love to craft their games like CDprojektRED does. They can't though. Politics. Of being part of corporate EA. Of targeting and answering to the somewhat prudish American mass market. To hit that more honest 'mature' note, rather than going for the hard PG-13 they aim for. I believe many at Bioware wish circumstances allowed for them to do that too. In that sense, you are right.

And that it feels structurally and mechanically very much like a Bioware game - better in many ways for sure. CDprojektRED follows Bioware's structural formula down to the underwhelming ending (even if that's a current trend with Bioware games, rather than a legacy).

Best RPG I have played since Baldur's Gate 2.

Gonna wait for a price drop. I just got burned by kingdom of amalur and don't feel like throwing money at an rpg I know nothing about.

@Seppli said:

I definitely believe Bioware would love to craft their games like CDprojektRED does. They can't though. Politics. Of being part of corporate EA. Of targeting and answering to the somewhat prudish American mass market. To hit that more honest 'mature' note, rather than going for the hard PG-13 they aim for. I believe many at Bioware wish cicumstances allowed for them to do that too.

In that sense, you are right. And that it feels structurally and mechanically very much like a Bioware - better in many ways for sure. CDprojektRED follows Bioware's structural formula down to the underwhelming ending (even if that's a current trend with Bioware games, rather than a legacy).

'Underwhelming' is about right for The Witcher 2's ending, but extremely generous for Mass Effect 3's ending. TW1 has an awesome ending.

I agree the witcher 2 is better than Mass Effects. To be honest though, both are overrated.

It's like saying one midget is taller than the other. At the end of the day, they are still small.

Personally, I think Shogun 2 has better RPG elements. It's more balanced, it's requires tactics, you really do make your own story.

Also I just want to say, the reason Biowares games dropped in quility was because of console focus. If you look at Baldurs Gate and then KOTOR onwards, there games became super simplfied.

Dragon Age wasn't like that (it was built for pc) but it still had it's problems. Dragon Age 2 (console built) was terrible. When the Witcher 3 ends up like Crysis 2 and Dragon Age 2, you choosing to play on the Xbox360 will be the reason.

@Jimbo said:

'Underwhelming' is about right for The Witcher 2's ending, but extremely generous for Mass Effect 3's ending. TW1 has an awesome ending.

I think the pacing is off, which is why it might not feel great right when you finish it, but I think the way everything plays out is fine when you take a step back and look at it.

Hey look, it is the same thought people had when this game first came out on the PC.
 
Different games are different.

@kyrieee said:

@Jimbo said:

'Underwhelming' is about right for The Witcher 2's ending, but extremely generous for Mass Effect 3's ending. TW1 has an awesome ending.

I think the pacing is off, which is why it might not feel great right when you finish it, but I think the way everything plays out is fine when you take a step back and look at it.

The main difference between the ending of ME3 and TW2 is, that ME3's ending gets worse the more you think about it. TW2's just feels a tad bit flat and a little off.

@whyareyoucrouchingspock: are you being paid by Sega to mention Shogun 2 as often as possible? I mean come on.

@SeriouslyNow said:

@laserbolts said:

Gonna wait for a price drop. I just got burned by kingdom of amalur and don't feel like throwing money at an rpg I know nothing about.

This game shits all over Kingdoms of R A Salvabore.

No question. This is the game most WRPGs strive to be. And if they don't they should.

@SlightConfuse said:

@Animasta nothing is better than shogun 2 bow down to its greatness

Hey guys did you hear about this game called shogun 2? It slices! It dices! It does your laundry! Buy from the Sega store today!