Well I did not expect to score this game the same as the previous one, but for all its improvements in graphics and storytelling, the combat system is simply abysmal and its not the only gameplay decision that leaves me baffled.
For one I just will never understand why devs feel the need to put carry limits in their RPG's. The only semi-plausible reason I've come up with, is that a player could pick up everything and become too rich too quickly. But merchants only having a certain amount of gold, like in Skyrim, would be an easy fix for that.
The handful of stealth sections in this game feel gimmicky and tacked on. I don't have strong feelings on them, just think they weren't needed.
Killing a monster that spawns in the wild, saving right after and reloading, will lead to that monster respawning immediately. Kinda shitty when some Monster Bossfights are near normal Monster Spawns. You have to clear them out every time you get killed by the boss.
The Hitboxes are about as reliable as Dandelions Ballads are at conveying the truth without exaggeration.
Small Bookreader nitpick, but I gotta bring it up since I read all 8 books just for this game, as I'd heard the book context adds much to the enjoyement of the Story of 2 and 3. The game really did reward me in that aspect, except for a single time. Killing off Assire var Anahid, one of the most important and interesting members of the Council of Sorceresses, so unceremoniously, just felt like a bad decision. Would've loved to see her in Witcher 3.
The Gargoyles are pretty much the worst enemy type I've ever had to fight in a casual action adventure type game. Every now and then they will block a hit and give back an attack that is too quick to dodge or block. If you play on the Dark Difficulty, this will turn a simple monster hunting sidequest into the hardest and most frustrating fights in the game, because you can take exactly 3 of those unavoidable and unpredictable hits, before you die. Seriously fuck that Enemy Type, nothing enraged me more in this game than them.
This game might contain one of the worst Dragon Boss Fights in a Triple A game. Underwhelming and frustrating on higher difficulties due to the aforementioned Hitboxes.
So after getting all that out of my system. Some things I really liked, to end off on a positive note.
The first game already had compelling characters, but this game went even farther.
Ioverth, despite his violent tendencies and hate for humans, was much easier to get behind than Yaevinn. I loved developing my bromance with him.
I also liked that Vernon, the leader of a genocidal Special unit that hunts non-humans, is actually a pretty cool and loyal dude. It reflects how racists aren't just raging assholes, but scarily human.
Saskia being a dragon and the daughter of Borch Three Jackdaws is so fucking cool and out there and it shows a type of love for the source material, that is getting me really excited to finally play the 3rd entry. Well that and everybody fawning over it for 8 straight years now.
Radovid and the way his relationship with Phillippa developed between the books and the games, was perfect. When he monologued about her stone cold demeanor and how he learned from it, subjugating everyone but Phillippa herself, my inner eye saw his story play out in vivid detail. Because it fit both their characters from the books so well.
Phillippa and Sile were written fantastically. They were very much the scheming sorceresses that I remembered from the books.
Letho was the perfect Witcher antagonist. Not really evil, but very much beyond the point of being redeemable. Like most Witcher characters, hes clad in shades of grey.
The Worlddesign was so good. I loved the woods with their enormous trees, Vergen with its Dwarven Architecture and Loc Muinne, the first big elven Ruin I've gotten to explore.
The Visuals hold up incredibly well for a 2011 game.
I haven't yet looked up all the endings and the effects that all my choices had throughout the game, but I felt like this game had more consequences for my choices than most RPGs I've played in all my years of gaming.
All in all, what could be a better follow up to Witcher 1, than another game that refuses to just be good or bad. Like its Prequel, the gameplay is so bad at times, you want to rip your hair out, while the writing and world building easily outdo most Triple-A RPGs out there. Because of all the hype over the years, I'm expecting Witcher 3 to finally be the one where CD Project Red manages to match its ambition, with the actual end product.
Except for the Combat System. From what I've heard, they still haven't gotten that one quite right... sigh. Well it surely can't be as bad as the one in this game... I hope.
For one I just will never understand why devs feel the need to put carry limits in their RPG's. The only semi-plausible reason I've come up with, is that a player could pick up everything and become too rich too quickly. But merchants only having a certain amount of gold, like in Skyrim, would be an easy fix for that.
The handful of stealth sections in this game feel gimmicky and tacked on. I don't have strong feelings on them, just think they weren't needed.
Killing a monster that spawns in the wild, saving right after and reloading, will lead to that monster respawning immediately. Kinda shitty when some Monster Bossfights are near normal Monster Spawns. You have to clear them out every time you get killed by the boss.
The Hitboxes are about as reliable as Dandelions Ballads are at conveying the truth without exaggeration.
Small Bookreader nitpick, but I gotta bring it up since I read all 8 books just for this game, as I'd heard the book context adds much to the enjoyement of the Story of 2 and 3. The game really did reward me in that aspect, except for a single time. Killing off Assire var Anahid, one of the most important and interesting members of the Council of Sorceresses, so unceremoniously, just felt like a bad decision. Would've loved to see her in Witcher 3.
The Gargoyles are pretty much the worst enemy type I've ever had to fight in a casual action adventure type game. Every now and then they will block a hit and give back an attack that is too quick to dodge or block. If you play on the Dark Difficulty, this will turn a simple monster hunting sidequest into the hardest and most frustrating fights in the game, because you can take exactly 3 of those unavoidable and unpredictable hits, before you die. Seriously fuck that Enemy Type, nothing enraged me more in this game than them.
This game might contain one of the worst Dragon Boss Fights in a Triple A game. Underwhelming and frustrating on higher difficulties due to the aforementioned Hitboxes.
So after getting all that out of my system. Some things I really liked, to end off on a positive note.
The first game already had compelling characters, but this game went even farther.
Ioverth, despite his violent tendencies and hate for humans, was much easier to get behind than Yaevinn. I loved developing my bromance with him.
I also liked that Vernon, the leader of a genocidal Special unit that hunts non-humans, is actually a pretty cool and loyal dude. It reflects how racists aren't just raging assholes, but scarily human.
Saskia being a dragon and the daughter of Borch Three Jackdaws is so fucking cool and out there and it shows a type of love for the source material, that is getting me really excited to finally play the 3rd entry. Well that and everybody fawning over it for 8 straight years now.
Radovid and the way his relationship with Phillippa developed between the books and the games, was perfect. When he monologued about her stone cold demeanor and how he learned from it, subjugating everyone but Phillippa herself, my inner eye saw his story play out in vivid detail. Because it fit both their characters from the books so well.
Phillippa and Sile were written fantastically. They were very much the scheming sorceresses that I remembered from the books.
Letho was the perfect Witcher antagonist. Not really evil, but very much beyond the point of being redeemable. Like most Witcher characters, hes clad in shades of grey.
The Worlddesign was so good. I loved the woods with their enormous trees, Vergen with its Dwarven Architecture and Loc Muinne, the first big elven Ruin I've gotten to explore.
The Visuals hold up incredibly well for a 2011 game.
I haven't yet looked up all the endings and the effects that all my choices had throughout the game, but I felt like this game had more consequences for my choices than most RPGs I've played in all my years of gaming.
All in all, what could be a better follow up to Witcher 1, than another game that refuses to just be good or bad. Like its Prequel, the gameplay is so bad at times, you want to rip your hair out, while the writing and world building easily outdo most Triple-A RPGs out there. Because of all the hype over the years, I'm expecting Witcher 3 to finally be the one where CD Project Red manages to match its ambition, with the actual end product.
Except for the Combat System. From what I've heard, they still haven't gotten that one quite right... sigh. Well it surely can't be as bad as the one in this game... I hope.