Might as well throw my two coppers in: After about 12 hours of play I think the Witcher is the best First Person RPG I've ever played, including Oblivion, Gothic 3 and NWN/ NWN2. It's staggering that this company made a better looking and playing game with NWN's engine than that of NWN2's engine.
It's not as sandboxy as Gothic or Oblivion, but not a PowerPoint presentation for toddlers, like NWN2 either. The combat is simple, but fun and not reflex based. Obviously you do have to HAVE reflexes, but I'm completely useless at FPS games and I enjoy Witcher on normal difficulty.
Other than the horrendous load times, my only complaint is that the U.S. version was censored for nudity and violence. If I'd done a little more research before buying I would have ordered the UK version.
The Witcher
It's not that I can't see nipples elsewhere, it's the principle of it.Gothmog wrote:I dont think you miss that much screeg.
Also I like to see corpses still lying where I killed them after it's all over.
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Cyclopean - an HP Lovecraft inspired Role-Playing Game
Cyclopean - an HP Lovecraft inspired Role-Playing Game
FWIW, there are no corpses as such in the European, noncensored version either. There is a generic "pile of remains" where your foe(s) fell and it's only for those foes that dropped loot (those that didn't, just vanish). It looks like a mess of meat and bones.screeg wrote:Also I like to see corpses still lying where I killed them after it's all over.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
![Officer [Platinum Rank]](./images/ranks/officer4.png "Officer [Platinum Rank]")
Ok I broke down and bought this game.
I have to say its really pretty good so far. The world has a real dark fantasy medieval feel to it. The music is very good and I think the dialogs and voice acting are pretty well done. That's saying alot because im not a big fan of voice overs used in games, but its actually pretty well done. (Im a bit fond of English accents in games though)
Im amazed at the look of the game considering its using the NWN engine, hard to believe. I really like the gathering off info on monsters and learing their lore to be able to know how to defeat them. Seems to be a good amount of background story and info on the world and creatures so far.
Only complaints so far are as follows;
1) There are looked doors with no way to open them in some places.
2) The load times are pretty bad, especially the outdoor area. I have a medium speed PC, 1 GB ram and 256 Mg video card, 3.2 mhz processor and it takes approx 30 to 40 seconds to load outside areas. Kind of a pain when exploring the village since all the hut's and buildings are seperately loaded.
3) You can loot people's homes and they don't react at all. Seems silly.
4) I hate real time combat, yea the timing factor is less a click fest then other real time games, but I still would rather have turn based.
Im not very far into it, but Im pretty impressed with it so far, you can tell the Dev's really took their time making this game and world pretty detailed.
Now with Eschalon coming out Nov 19th, the Witcher and NWN2 MOTB we could have 3 very good RPG's all in the same 6 months! Sadly probably not another for years though
I have to say its really pretty good so far. The world has a real dark fantasy medieval feel to it. The music is very good and I think the dialogs and voice acting are pretty well done. That's saying alot because im not a big fan of voice overs used in games, but its actually pretty well done. (Im a bit fond of English accents in games though)
Im amazed at the look of the game considering its using the NWN engine, hard to believe. I really like the gathering off info on monsters and learing their lore to be able to know how to defeat them. Seems to be a good amount of background story and info on the world and creatures so far.
Only complaints so far are as follows;
1) There are looked doors with no way to open them in some places.
2) The load times are pretty bad, especially the outdoor area. I have a medium speed PC, 1 GB ram and 256 Mg video card, 3.2 mhz processor and it takes approx 30 to 40 seconds to load outside areas. Kind of a pain when exploring the village since all the hut's and buildings are seperately loaded.
3) You can loot people's homes and they don't react at all. Seems silly.
4) I hate real time combat, yea the timing factor is less a click fest then other real time games, but I still would rather have turn based.
Im not very far into it, but Im pretty impressed with it so far, you can tell the Dev's really took their time making this game and world pretty detailed.
Now with Eschalon coming out Nov 19th, the Witcher and NWN2 MOTB we could have 3 very good RPG's all in the same 6 months! Sadly probably not another for years though
Hmmm. I've heard there is an edited version in the U.S. and an unedited version internationally.
Is there any substantive/meaningful content excluded from the U.S. version? I'm not talking about pixilated boobies. I don't care about being denied the ability to see pixilated boobies. I've been married for 10 years and therefore can be denied the ability to see real boobies whenever I want.
Is there any substantive/meaningful content excluded from the U.S. version? I'm not talking about pixilated boobies. I don't care about being denied the ability to see pixilated boobies. I've been married for 10 years and therefore can be denied the ability to see real boobies whenever I want.
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Funny Fred....Mr. Fed wrote:Hmmm. I've heard there is an edited version in the U.S. and an unedited version internationally.
Is there any substantive/meaningful content excluded from the U.S. version? I'm not talking about pixilated boobies. I don't care about being denied the ability to see pixilated boobies. I've been married for 10 years and therefore can be denied the ability to see real boobies whenever I want.
It wasn't enough from what I read to worry about getting the UK Version.
Other than the stuff you mentioned above, apparently some of the dialog in the US version was cut (thanks Atari), but from what I read it doesnt change the game enough for me to pay shipping for the UK version.
Take a look at this link, there are some examples there.
http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=21134
To me, the permanently locked doors aren't as bad as the fact that you are "cordoned off" by low walls, fences and the like. I guess it's due to the limitations in the NWN engine. It's no biggie, but it just seems silly - you are this superhuman, one-man killing machine, but you can't jump over a simple fence. Perma-locked doors I can explain to myself as the lack of lock-picking skills by the character or those doors being bolted shut from the inside or something like that.Saxon1974 wrote:1) There are looked doors with no way to open them in some places.
3) You can loot people's homes and they don't react at all. Seems silly.
Heh, your item 3 is one of my pet peeves in CRPGs. It's so strange that you can just walk into people's houses, rummage through their belongings and steal them blind while they are watching. Of course you can choose not to do this, but still, a game where this wanton stealing is possible without any response from the NPCs is a bit disappointing as it breaks my immersion in the game (the NPCs are just pixels on a screen and I'm just sitting at home staring at the computer screen -- which of course is true, but I don't have to be reminded of it every two seconds).
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
The worst is still the loading times. Hope they will fix that. Maybe they fix the "stealing-problem" too. I heard new stuff for downloading is soon available.
But we should be happy. Enough to keep us busy during winter!
Your so right Saxon. There are long times nothing....NOTHING...and now...Now with Eschalon coming out Nov 19th, the Witcher and NWN2 MOTB we could have 3 very good RPG's all in the same 6 months! Sadly probably not another for years though Crying or Very sad
But we should be happy. Enough to keep us busy during winter!
"FUL IR"
I agree on the fenced in areas, is isn't real noticeable in this game compared to others, but I noticed that last night as well. There are fields in the outskirts that you cant walk through because they are fenced off and there is no jump option.Grue wrote:To me, the permanently locked doors aren't as bad as the fact that you are "cordoned off" by low walls, fences and the like. I guess it's due to the limitations in the NWN engine. It's no biggie, but it just seems silly - you are this superhuman, one-man killing machine, but you can't jump over a simple fence. Perma-locked doors I can explain to myself as the lack of lock-picking skills by the character or those doors being bolted shut from the inside or something like that.Saxon1974 wrote:1) There are looked doors with no way to open them in some places.
3) You can loot people's homes and they don't react at all. Seems silly.
Heh, your item 3 is one of my pet peeves in CRPGs. It's so strange that you can just walk into people's houses, rummage through their belongings and steal them blind while they are watching. Of course you can choose not to do this, but still, a game where this wanton stealing is possible without any response from the NPCs is a bit disappointing as it breaks my immersion in the game (the NPCs are just pixels on a screen and I'm just sitting at home staring at the computer screen -- which of course is true, but I don't have to be reminded of it every two seconds).
I would be happy if they at least had the NPC make a comment when you steal something...maybe "Hey, put that back or I call the guards", or something like that at least would be nice.Grue wrote:To me, the permanently locked doors aren't as bad as the fact that you are "cordoned off" by low walls, fences and the like. I guess it's due to the limitations in the NWN engine. It's no biggie, but it just seems silly - you are this superhuman, one-man killing machine, but you can't jump over a simple fence. Perma-locked doors I can explain to myself as the lack of lock-picking skills by the character or those doors being bolted shut from the inside or something like that.Saxon1974 wrote:1) There are looked doors with no way to open them in some places.
3) You can loot people's homes and they don't react at all. Seems silly.
Heh, your item 3 is one of my pet peeves in CRPGs. It's so strange that you can just walk into people's houses, rummage through their belongings and steal them blind while they are watching. Of course you can choose not to do this, but still, a game where this wanton stealing is possible without any response from the NPCs is a bit disappointing as it breaks my immersion in the game (the NPCs are just pixels on a screen and I'm just sitting at home staring at the computer screen -- which of course is true, but I don't have to be reminded of it every two seconds).
Been playing the witcher over the last few days....I think its a very good game but there is just something missing in it.....I can't quite figure out what it is....
I think it might be the fact that it feels more more like an action game with some rpg elements thrown in along with some choice and consequences. Probably should not have ignored the "Action\RPG" title
Example, you play Geralt and don't really have much say in how you develop the character. Sure, you can place skill points where you choose when leveling up, but the problem is you need all the skills to succeed, be it strong sword, fast sword, group sword etc....because you will face enemies that require all 3 skills so you can't really specialize and focus on one or the other. Also, the skill trees are linear as in some are bronze skills and you can only select bronze in early levels, then silver etc.....It doens't really let you play the game one way or the other for the most part. It might as well auto level up your skills and abilities for you.
One other issue I think is the closed off areas, you can't freely roam, you have to finish one area to get to the next so you never really run into any areas that look cool where you get your butt kicked by tougher monsters and just have to remember to return later when your stronger. Im playing on the hard difficulty and none of the fights except the boss fights are very hard to me.
So, I guess it's just not the type of hard core RPG I look for, but that being said it's still a very well made game. Fans of action RPG's will probably love it:) It's one of the best 3D action rpg's I have played so far. Im guessing once Eschalon comes out it will be ignored for a while.
I think it might be the fact that it feels more more like an action game with some rpg elements thrown in along with some choice and consequences. Probably should not have ignored the "Action\RPG" title
Example, you play Geralt and don't really have much say in how you develop the character. Sure, you can place skill points where you choose when leveling up, but the problem is you need all the skills to succeed, be it strong sword, fast sword, group sword etc....because you will face enemies that require all 3 skills so you can't really specialize and focus on one or the other. Also, the skill trees are linear as in some are bronze skills and you can only select bronze in early levels, then silver etc.....It doens't really let you play the game one way or the other for the most part. It might as well auto level up your skills and abilities for you.
One other issue I think is the closed off areas, you can't freely roam, you have to finish one area to get to the next so you never really run into any areas that look cool where you get your butt kicked by tougher monsters and just have to remember to return later when your stronger. Im playing on the hard difficulty and none of the fights except the boss fights are very hard to me.
So, I guess it's just not the type of hard core RPG I look for, but that being said it's still a very well made game. Fans of action RPG's will probably love it:) It's one of the best 3D action rpg's I have played so far. Im guessing once Eschalon comes out it will be ignored for a while.
For me, it's the combat system that is starting to irk me. To over-simplify, it's basically just a game of "whack-a-mole" in disguise, IMHO. Wait for the cursor to change, click, wait again, click, and so on. It aggrevates me, that you really cannot fight the way you want (e.g. attack, evade, attack), if you want to be effective. You basically have to go with the combo sequences and that means going with the preset moves, watching your cursor more than the fight itself. If you make a timing-mistake in the middle of the sequence, Geralt will usually just stand stupidly in his place and get hit (sure, he can automatically defend, but he ain't doing such a good job at it).
This is a shame, really, as I do like the game and would like to continue playing it. I just don't know how long my patience lasts with the combat system as is.
Once Eschalon comes out, the Witcher will be taking the back seat until I get Eschalon finished.
This is a shame, really, as I do like the game and would like to continue playing it. I just don't know how long my patience lasts with the combat system as is.
Once Eschalon comes out, the Witcher will be taking the back seat until I get Eschalon finished.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Grue wrote:For me, it's the combat system that is starting to irk me. To over-simplify, it's basically just a game of "whack-a-mole" in disguise, IMHO. Wait for the cursor to change, click, wait again, click, and so on. It aggrevates me, that you really cannot fight the way you want (e.g. attack, evade, attack), if you want to be effective. You basically have to go with the combo sequences and that means going with the preset moves, watching your cursor more than the fight itself. If you make a timing-mistake in the middle of the sequence, Geralt will usually just stand stupidly in his place and get hit (sure, he can automatically defend, but he ain't doing such a good job at it).
This is a shame, really, as I do like the game and would like to continue playing it. I just don't know how long my patience lasts with the combat system as is.
Agree, I dont like the combat either.....that being said even though there are some negatives about the game which I posted its still a very well made game. The artwork is very well done also, its definitely not a rushed product trying to sell tons to the console kiddies. I could use more games like this one.
Once Eschalon comes out, the Witcher will be taking the back seat until I get Eschalon finished.
The combat can get a bit repetitive at times... but the story will keep you going. It has that real "I'll just do this one little quest" feel - then realise its 2 in the morning.
Also bought the book "The Last Wish", which inspired the game. Its worth a read. It has a bit of Geralt's backstory, and some game characters appear (or at least get a mention).
The book has a bit of sex talk in it too... I suppose that explains where they got the idea for the "mini games"
Also bought the book "The Last Wish", which inspired the game. Its worth a read. It has a bit of Geralt's backstory, and some game characters appear (or at least get a mention).
The book has a bit of sex talk in it too... I suppose that explains where they got the idea for the "mini games"