The Witcher (PC RPG)

[Mazakiel]

Finally had time to finish the game today, and...wow.  Hard to sum it up with any other word.  Pure excellence all around, and some of the turns at the end, especially after the last boss, were very fun.  I really, really hope we see a sequel/continuance from these guys. 

[Rasix]

Just through chapter 1. 

This game really reminds me of KOTOR, but with an adult slant and a lot more morally gray.

The combat isn't fantastic, but it is interesting looking.  It's not really a better system than one found in NWN, KOTOR, Oblivion or your average MMO, but at least it's different.  Actually, I think it's better than Oblivion.  This sort of automated hit/miss is better than half-assed FPS style combat.

Character advancement is interesting, but you can somewhat gimp yourself.  I wasn't built that well for dealing with the Beast, but with alchemy up-the-yin-yang it was possible.

The loading times are brutal.  Just brutal, it really slows down the action at times and makes it difficult to get something done in a small chunk of time. And the game doesn't run that well on my machine, but this is the first PC game that has me thinking about some budget upgrades until I can build/buy a new one.  Fuck Crysis and its bleeding edge ilk, but I want to run this thing a little better and bonus if TF2 runs a little smoother.

I'm excited for the rest of the game.  The first chapter just sets the tone for the game so well , and I'm very interested in seeing how your choices affect the game later.  This is a game that may push everything out to the periphery, even with the amount of good stuff abounds. 

And... poontang quests ftw.

[bhodi]

I'm probably near finished in chapter two. I'm becoming paranoid about finding all the girls and there's no FAQ out there.

Also, I can't find the missing boy in the swamp. Help! Is there a way to fight some underwater boss in the swamp? I did the negotiation route with the axe.

How many girlies did you find in chapter 1 and 2? I'm suspecting I'm missing some, especially in chap 2, and I want to get them before I leave. I got the peasant (gossip), the nymph, the main girl at the party forget her name, a hooker (but not THE hooker who you help clear the streets for, no option there?). For chap 1 I got the witch, poor peasant, and the barmaid girl at the mill.

Currently have all but the last tower thing, I've figured out what was going on with the detective, exonerated everyone and gotten extra XP for it, only thing left is I haven't found the boy, anyone else to fight, anyone else to gamble with except for one person all chapter. I'm waiting for the next step, not sure where to go or what to do, everyone's gonna get back to me or something. Just finished the party and got me some tail. I took the hooker just for fun, but then reloaded and took the dwarf :)

I played the beast fight for about 2 hours. I have a superfast brand new raptor 10k drive so the load times aren't brutal, but when you're retrying like that it's ugly. I picked the non-lynch ending so I wanted to play until I could beat it without her dying. I figured it would make a difference, though later I found companions just fall over and then get back up after the battle. Wish I had known.

As far as combat goes, I'm gaming it pretty hard. I put points into the primary stats first since they give a lot of bonuses, maxed out the fire spell, then spreading them out evenly over the combat styles with a slight favor towards the group styles. I started getting silver points to spend midway though act 2. So far, there's been no combat that's come near the difficulty of the beast. I think I was just gimping myself. Using the right sword, right style (defaulting to group generally) and opening with fire goes a long way. Incineration is just devastating especially when you get the 'add damage when incinerated' talent.

The only thing that's really annoying is all the alchemical items.. There are so many I have to store them at the inn and then walk through and pick out the ones I want when I want to craft a potion. Ugh. I'd much rather have had a separate backpack type thing and have them auto-craft from it, or be able to auto-brew from them while at the inn.

[Sky]

I couldn't find the boy, either. He'll show up, I forget where. I wrote off that quest and he turned up after the story progressed.

The women, I don't really remember. I'd have to load it up and run down the list. We should've had cards like that in the band days.

Also, my hdd is also a 10k raptor and the load/save is obnoxious. I'm taking a short break from the load/save to play Kunark and GH3. Love the game, but it's tough to play after a while.

[Engels]

I have 4 seagate cheetahs (7200 regulars) in RAID 0, and the load times are -still- gawd awful. I got stuck on the first chapter's boss mob and I had to reload that sonbish to many times I was ready scream. I was so frustrated I loaded a saved game from about 4 hours back and replayed it so I'd buy the motherforking Specter Oil that essentially changes the fight from nigh impossible to trivial.

[Sky]

Am I the only person who didn't have trouble with the Chapter 1 boss? He wasn't easy, but I did beat him my first time through. Maybe I had just minmaxed into a better early setup?

[Rasix]

Am I the only person who didn't have trouble with the Chapter 1 boss? He wasn't easy, but I did beat him my first time through. Maybe I had just minmaxed into a better early setup?

You can cheese him pretty effectively with the right set up.  Did you use the Blizzard potion at all or have any of the drinking talents (ignoring pain makes him a puppy dog, I didn't have it)?  Those can decrease the difficulty by a significant amount.  Also, if the girl stays upright (heh heh) you'll benefit from her healing the entire time.

I think spectral oil helps also in the encounter.  Once I used the appropriate potions/oil, I one shotted it.

[bhodi]

I thought I'd have time to prepare for him, so I didn't pack any oils. I did have the slo-mo potion, but that was it. Hampering me was the fact that all effects go away from when you exit the cave, so 'buffing up' before the battle was impossible. The only thing I could make stick was the grindstone. What was really stopping me was the fact I was trying to defend myself and someone else -- she wouldn't stay up. That, and the drinking talent (which I didn't realize would help and still haven't took) I didn't have -- I got pretty much destroyed every 5 seconds in the middle of my combo, then frozen for another 5.

[Nija]

You guys are doing way, way too much. It's like you're changing out injectors and the fuel filter and the fuel line before you open up the fuel tank to inspect the fuel pump, and only then do you realize the gas tank is empty.

Do you want to kiill the beast?

Push 1 to select that knockdown magic.

Get next to the beast. Right click.

push W for about 1 second to advance. Left click.

Congrats, you've successfully killed the beast.

[Engels]

You guys are doing way, way too much. It's like you're changing out injectors and the fuel filter and the fuel line before you open up the fuel tank to inspect the fuel pump, and only then do you realize the gas tank is empty.

Do you want to kiill the beast?

Push 1 to select that knockdown magic.

Get next to the beast. Right click.

push W for about 1 second to advance. Left click.

Congrats, you've successfully killed the beast.

Ya, this is pretty much the magic insta win combo for a bunch of the content through chapter 2.

[Rasix]

Beast didn't stay down very long. 

[hal]

What I have gathered from various forums and sites and is working well for me as far as talent progression.

1.) First, Intel, alc till you can make oil. Potions and oils are huge to the extent that if you know what your going to fight, you can prepair and make the fight much easier.

2.) Str, Dex stamina. Hit harder, dodge, parry more.

3.) AArd, you want the stun. YOU WANT THE STUN. Also your second (fire) sign. Late in act 2 your going to need to take out some bad ass plants in the swamp. The fire sign really shines here.

4.) Then your sword styles and in act 2 your silver sword styles.

You get enough bronze talents to do pretty much everthing you can do with them.

If your having trouble with the beast (act 1 boss) buy the spector sword oil from the witch. I hit him once, aard to stun and left clicked to pin his doggy but to the ground.

General notes: if you combo and did not hurt your enemy, change styles.

Girl notes: You can do a peasant girl in act 1, you need tulips. Find some on a corpse. You can do the gossip in act 2. You will need woman's gloves (any kind) in your inventory. You can find these for free in the hospital. Look in the laundry basket.

If you did not do Carmen's quest (the prostitute by the hairy bear) I think you are one of those girl mans. If you do not take the working girls money, they will all lay with you for the cost of a flower. At this point my quest progression slowed to a crawl.

I love this game 

Great RPG, great atmosphere, Great story.

[Mazakiel]

They are apparently working on a patch to be ready before Christmas that's supposed to solve the loading problems, and crash bugs.  I'll be holding off for my second play through to see how that patch turns out. 

Also, some minorly spoilerific advice for people starting chapter 5:


  When you can use Dandelion as a bank at the beginning, use that opportunity to make any potions you might possibly need for a long while.  I made the mistake of thinking that you'd have another option for storage, or a way to get back to him.  Unfortunately, unless I missed it, I did not, which made the latter parts of the Chapter alot more frustrating than they should have been. 

More general advice:  Stats first, always, then abilities.  Aard is a lifesaver magic wise.  To be honest, I wish there'd been more late game talents so I could play around with magic more. 

[angry.bob]

I Put my new PC together today and just got done playing for the first time - up to the part of gathereing the second batch of ingredients for Triss. My load times have al been under a minute - I'd be suprised if they were 30 seconds. THe new WD 750gig HD must be as fast as they say it is.

[Trippy]

The WD 750 GB is blazing fast. It's comparable to the 10K Raptor's in many benchmarks even though it's a 7200 RPM drive because of the much higher data density (more data on each platter means faster transfer rates).

[Chenghiz]

Oh god, I started chapter three (do you get anywhere with Shani after chapter two or did I miss the boat?) and the graphics are lagging to hell suddenly and it's crashing a lot more.   

[schild]

I just started this game.

This goddamn game. It's really good. Really really good. Not Uncharted good (the cutscenes are uber stiff and combat is innovative but wonky, you can tell it's a first try. But still, pretty awesome.

This year rocks my socks way too much.

[Sky]

I focused on Dex first, Str second, early on. Points went into fire, not sure if I used it. I did, however, dump points into silver styles. I also held aggro from Beast, and must've gotten healed? I don't really remember. I don't think I used any magic except maybe to open up. No potions and I've yet to make any oils, either. Must've gotten lucky.

[hal]

The witch will heal you if you sided with her.  So... ya, you probally got healed by her.

[Rasix]

I just started this game.

This goddamn game. It's really good. Really really good. Not Uncharted good (the cutscenes are uber stiff and combat is innovative but wonky, you can tell it's a first try. But still, pretty awesome.

This year rocks my socks way too much.

For the cutscenes, turn of depth of field.  It was making mine laggy as hell.  But I doubt they'd be PS3 quality anyhow.

Loading doesn't seem to be bad in Vizima (sp), but it's still bad.

[Medic975]

Am totally loving this game. Although, the long load sequences suck raging donkey nuts. The story is interesting, the combat does add a little change to the normal laziness game creators revel in.

On a side note anyone figured out how to attach the runes to the silver sword yet?

[Rasix]

On a side note anyone figured out how to attach the runes to the silver sword yet?

Need to get 3 runes and then reforge the sword at a blacksmith.

[schild]

Guys.

The UI makes me fucking hate this game.

I love the game. But the UI invades my motherfucking. I just can't ignore the fucking thing. It was laid out by a blind man. Does anyone know if any of those engineery dork type websites that might be redesigning it and hacking it apart? :(

I want to play this through :(

[rattran]

The poor UI and insane loading times have made me put this game down near the start of chapter 3. Nifty game, but taking a minute to load every time I go in/out of a house is just too annoying.

[Reg]

Same here. I hear the next patch is supposed to help with the stupid loading times so I've given up on the game until it's available.

[Nija]

Yeah, chapter 3 is where it expects you to go from one massive zone to another and back again every few minutes. Until Chapter 3 I wasn't sure why everyone was bitching about load times.

I'm fine with the UI in general. It works. What needs to be scrapped is the inventory system - completely. I've got no idea what is needed for each potion. I just gather everything I can, buy a shitload of booze, and ROLL THE DICE when I hit the campfire.

[geldonyetich2]

Something about this game drove me to reinstall KOTOR2.  The plot of the Witcher is good, to understate it, but the game mechanics are awkward and simple.  I might come back and finish this game just out of curiosity to see where the story takes me, but the story will be the only thing I'm enjoying.

[Yoru]

I have to agree, in general. The UI is utter crap, and the inventory system in particular was designed by someone with a serious case of the . I'm not particularly fond of the combat UI either; enemies keep moving out from under my cursor JUST AS I go to click for the next combo attack in line. So instead Master Swordsman Dumbass runs off into the woods with a pack of dudes beating on him.

Also, the swamps in chapter 2 own my face off, meaning I either save every two steps (lame) or lose 30 minutes of progress when I run into YET ANOTHER spawn while chasing after one last idiot enemy, resulting in a face-torn-off-reload-you-know-what-FUCK-THIS-GAME-where's-my-DS-it's-Phoenix-Wright-time fit.

Oh, and another thing. I like how the journal sometimes gives you entirely misleading instructions. I'm in Dudeface's house, journal says "Talk to Dudeface about whatsis", I talk to Dudeface, "Yo." "Uh... nothing to say. Later." WTF. Okay, so I go out, wander around, do some other quests, come back later. Oh, hey, "Talk to Dudeface" just meant "go to Dudeface's house, but only and ONLY during the day, and get jumped by a cutscene". Or even when you track a quest for a dude, and the tracker points at the inn. Only Dumbass MacQuestgiver is only at the inn for 4 hours a day and the rest of the time is wandering the streets, so you end up visiting the inn repeatedly waiting for him to show up. Argh.

I want to like it, I really do, I like the story and the choices, but the UI and facerape make baby Jesus cry.

[rattran]

Get a little red ribbon for your finger, and Drowners ignore you. Then get the garlic, and vampires ignore you. Quite nice, as you can still kill them and get their bits.

[Sky]

Yoru, are you using the OTS view? I haven't had combat issues at all. Actually, none of the stuff you guys mention bothers me, except the loading time. I also stalled in Chapter 3, and that's why. During a load I would pick up my guitar and by the time it was loaded in I was more interested in playing guitar.

I have no idea why people seem to have so many problems with the swamps in Chapter Two, but it does seem common. I was pretty buff and found it almost trivial, though I did finally run out of heal potions at one point.

[Yoru]

Yoru, are you using the OTS view? I haven't had combat issues at all. Actually, none of the stuff you guys mention bothers me, except the loading time. I also stalled in Chapter 3, and that's why. During a load I would pick up my guitar and by the time it was loaded in I was more interested in playing guitar.

Yeah, I've primarily been using OTS because I'd rather use WASD than click-to-move over long distances, and trying to use WASD in either overhead mode actually also requires you to hold down the middle mouse button and guide yourself with mouselook. Terrible, TERRIBLE fucking UI.

Also, I have no idea how you don't have issues with the shit directions the journal gives, but maybe that's my quest ADD talking. I tend to do a stage of a quest and then re-examine my journal for whatever other quest I can do without meditating, since half of them seem to be "Okay, we're done talking, now go over here at (Nighttime|Daytime|Evening|2AM on the night of a full moon)". Overuse of scheduling mechanics for the lose.

[Sky]

No, I've found they queue up pretty good. Haven't had to rest just to move the game forward hardly at all. But then, I'll put things off, too. Like I know the bard is going to want to drink, so I wait until I've finished a bunch of stuff in the day and have to do something at night. Get drunk with him, stumble to a rest spot and rest off the drunk, and voila, time to do evening quests.

I dunno, I find it as odd as it must sound to all of you guys that I haven't had any of these problems, at all! Only the longish loads.

[Chenghiz]

I have no idea why people seem to have so many problems with the swamps in Chapter Two, but it does seem common. I was pretty buff and found it almost trivial, though I did finally run out of heal potions at one point.

I too had a problem with the swamp and I think it was because I was fighting one of the 'boss' killer plants of doom. After that it was pretty easy, with the exception of the wyverns.

[DarkSign]

Holy crap. Just finished it. Wow! Absolutely loved it. With MotB, this year has been great for RPGs. Was Gothic 3 this year too? I forget.

BTW on the hard drive front, I found a 150 gig Seagate 15K rpm HD on sale for $129. Im going to pick it up :)

[Trippy]

SAS drives do not work with standard desktop SATA controllers. You will need to buy another controller to handle that drive unless you happen to have a workstation or server motherboard with one already.