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Nonetheless, there are many great qualities to this game if it runs well on your system: The adult themes and language, the genuine feeling of uncertainty of good and evil, excellent voice acting and music, the unique combat system, well-developed characters, and a strong story all make The Witcher one of the better role playing games I've played. I truly enjoyed this game until it started crashing continuously, somewhere in the middle of Chapter Two. The game is a lot of fun, but it's far too buggy in the end. The game suffers from somewhat lengthy loading times, too much time spent in towns where ambient characters mutter the same inanities over and over, an annoying and odd "white noise" sound effect upon entering and exiting doors (what's wrong with the sound of a door)., and stability issues. The latter experience necessarily colors my review. Being unable to finish the game due to buggy software is quite irritating, indeed.
now on to the good.The game itself is fun. Well as we all know, the original release had some bad translations which made the dialogue pretty tough to read at times. And the soundtrack is the best I can recall in any video game to date, which helps the experience. It's a real time combat system and just about everything you should expect from a RPG - crafting, combat, decisions to be made (that affect the future as well)., etc.The thing that makes the game really stand out however, in my mind anwyay is that the world of the Witcher was really nicely done. The Enhanced Edition does not completely fix it, but improves it by about 98%, so it's 99% the way there.The dialogue and delivery now is at least up to par with where it should be, and actually quite a bit better than several other similar games out there. The characters now move their arms or eyes when they speak, which is good too.Certain parts of the game run very choppy, regardless of how overkill your system may or may not be, with certain views in the Trade Quarter in Vizima being the worst.That should about cover the bad.
X-padder also works for any other games that are not controller ready. This makes the game more interesting because potion making becomes very important. I recommend using a controller, however, you have to download x-padder in order to use a controller. This game is well worth playing. I also recommend reading The Last Wish, this is the book the game is based on. The character control isn't the best, but not worth complaining about. The story line is great, the graphics are great. I recommend playing on the hard level.
Oh, one final comment. Not in anything he does. But never fear, choosing dialog options that can majorly impact the flow of the game is unimportant, right.When it comes down to it, how you do the killing is one of the most important parts of a game. The Witcher uses the same engine as NWN2, so the action is relatively similar, except you don't have the same diversity in character development. They can invent mutagens that increase strength and reflexes, but they can't invent hair dye. Of course, because the game is based on the NWN2 engine, your character won't react like a normal action RPG, and honestly, the Witcher IS an action RPG.
In the Witcher, you play a monster hunter mutated freak named Geralt, who, for the record, is the farthest thing from sexy (He has white hair, weird eyes, and a giant scar) you can imagine. The most frustrating thing is Geralt's delay in attacking enemies. Let's take a bit to talk about the "Sex Card" dynamic, a (censored) card Geralt will receive after he "does the dew" with one of the game's female characters. Picking leaves off plants to get enough ingredients so that my muscly hero can.brew things just isn't my cup of tea. Equally unimpressive, at least in my opinion, is the game's almost-required alchemy dynamic. Right after a cutscene or after zoning into an enemy lair, it takes Geralt some time to draw his sword and properly target the right bad guy, which makes me very seriously question if the Witcher's special "mutagens" gave him enhanced speed and reflexes or made him a bit lethargic. Keep that in mind as you read this review. First, despite being "Enhanced" the game still had a major bug, at least for me.
Nope, not at all, but then again I got it for $29. Further, the whole "feature" feels like a cheap trick to get excitable teenage males to play the game. Geralt, let me remind you, is not at all sexy. Sure, your home-made brews can give you incredible advantages in a fight, but if I wanted to pick plants I'd trim that weed that has grown to be the same size as my house and now calls himself Marvin.The game (other than Geralt's scarred face and freaky cat-eyes) is very pretty, so having a machine that can handle the nice environments is definitely a must. By the time you select the proper stance and enemy, the six armed men attacking you have already impaled you multiple times.
Is it worth $50. Some "Just for men" and a pair of shades and a haircut might make Geralt look presentable. Overall, the game is fun, but doesn't bring anything especially earth-shattering to the table. Even with updated video drivers and a fully patched game, I was unable to see all the dialog options. And again, Geralt isn't sexy.
So much for being a super-human, elite fighting force. To keep things interesting, you have to click at the right time to perform special sword combos, but this gets old real fast, and by the way clicking on an enemy while Geralt is attacking will make the old unsexy freak stop attacking, so you have to pay attention or he'll just stand there and take a beating like a mutated human pinata. It isn't always a problem, but I'd like Geralt to be a bit less sluggish when it counts.
The setting primarily consists of a city and a swamp with varying degrees of access to parts of those areas based on the storyline. However, it becomes apparent that each skill will eventually be assigned point(s) whether you want it to or not (aside from the pre-requisites) so the order in which the points are assigned is the only real decision that must be made.You cannot purchase a home - but you can engage in unprotected sexual encounters with practically any female in the game who can breathe. However, I found there to be too much running around.
cave is empty, until chapter x, then there's a scripted encounter in the previously empty cave).There was definitely NOT enough free roaming areas such as long dungeon areas, sewers, terrain. This is usually accomplished by giving gifts or choosing just the right conversation angle, thus reducing women to nothing more than objects available for our hero to bed. The game has these locations by name but much of the areas with them are blocked, locked, and not extensive enough to become lost or "get-into" the game.If the Witcher combat/animation mechanics had been combined with a REAL NON-LINEAR & character creation style game such as Oblivion-with it's incredible free roaming feel and extensive cave & ruin systems-The Witcher would have been incredible.Also, character development consists of being given bronze, silver, gold points to assign to specific skills in various trees.
Based on reviews of this game that I read online in conjunction with the many awards it received I purchased the software.I did not experience any bugs, the combat is first rate and the landscape/city graphics are very pleasing. (i.e. I suspect this appeals to 1 demographic of the population, hence awards and kudos from the predominately teen male gaming world.I will admit I did not finish the game as I became extremely bored with the lack of excitement & exploration and aggregeous void of items & creep types.This game may appeal to some - I suggest a demo before shelling out the money (not sure if there is one) OR just buy Oblivion, wait for Diablo III, or DragonAge and instead read a book.
The game is extremely linear and forces players to follow a set path without very much exploring. In many instances, the areas are simply rehashed - adding encounters consistent with the story in various places throughout the recycled maps.
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