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Playing the roche questline made me realize how much better iorveth questline is. If you are playing the game for the first time definitely side with iorveth.
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Apr 30, 2012 19:00
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keyframe posted:Playing the roche questline made me realize how much better iorveth questline is. If you are playing the game for the first time definitely side with iorveth. edit: yeah, Roche is a better friend to Geralt than Iorveth, even when you're on Iorveth's side. He talks tough but he's really a cuddly teddy bear underneath. Samurai Sanders fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 19:09
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Really? I'm coming towards the end of Chapter 2 with Iorveth, and although I still find him an interesting character, he seems quite distant from Geralt and the dialogue I've had with him has mostly been expository. Roche, on the other hand, has a clear rapport with Geralt, and it's clearly in evidence even during their brief meeting in that chapter. Those events have certainly whetted by appetite for a future Roche play-through.
Veeta fucked around with this message at 19:17 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 19:14
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I went Iorveth first because I wanted to see if he would ever take off that eyepatch-scarf. I was not disappointed.
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Apr 30, 2012 19:16
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I played the Iorveth side the first time around and I didn't like Act 2 as a whole back then. Vergen has a nice atmosphere but other than that I had a really hard time getting through that Act, just didn't stick with me. On the other hand, going with Roche had me much more interested (except for the overarching plot element that can be found in both 'versions' of Act 2, I really dislike playing through that part) when I did my replay. I just finished up a replay of the first game. There are things that I really think it does well overall but I think it's a game that is a bit too long for its own good also. I admire the ambition but it resulted in too many fighting sections (especially in the final act, makes me realize yet again how much I hate the "must have loads of fight in the end!" thing that we see so often in RPGs) I think and a lot of running around. But the choices are really good and interesting. And again, I really miss the great music in Witcher 2. Not that it has bad music but I think it lacks that special... folklore-ish feel of the first game.
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Apr 30, 2012 19:17
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Is the Operator available in the Epilogue? I'm considering to do everything except the optional final boss before him because gently caress that tiny room full of crap designed to snag rolls, exploding enemies and fireballs that cover the entire room, the fucker himself knocking me down simply by walking or teleporting near me and straight out telefrags by gargoyles that have three times as many health as those on the surface and punch me in the face for more then my entire health bar. Is he immune to instant kills from the Dark Mode swords? Statistically I should have gotten him with it a few times by now.
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Apr 30, 2012 19:45
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I've never read the novels and was just wondering, how many of the characters are in that? I assume Dandelion, Zoltan, Yennefer and Triss a few others are, but I dunno about the rest. edit: Also it still shocks me how they made the old amnesia shtick actually enjoyable to read in these games. Samurai Sanders fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 19:49
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The sorceresses, the kings, the Nilfgaardian ambassador, Yarpen Zigrin. These are the major book characters that come to mind. Iorveth is mentioned in the books, but his characterization is drawn from an entirely different character. Letho, Vernon, and Saskia are inventions of the game. Saskia's father on the other hand...
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Apr 30, 2012 19:58
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Samurai Sanders posted:edit: yeah, Roche is a better friend to Geralt than Iorveth, even when you're on Iorveth's side. He talks tough but he's really a cuddly teddy bear underneath.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:00
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Torsade de Pointes posted:A big cuddly teddy bear who tortures people to death. He also murdered women and children. edit: besides we have to think relatively here, it's a dark fantasy middle ages where everyone with any kind of power is a pretty terrible person. Samurai Sanders fucked around with this message at 20:15 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 20:04
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Samurai Sanders posted:I've never read the novels and was just wondering, how many of the characters are in that? I assume Dandelion, Zoltan, Yennefer and Triss a few others are, but I dunno about the rest. Dandelion definitely, Yennefer and Triss, yes. I don't remember Zoltan anywhere, but that could be my memory. Foltest is in there -- the Striga cutscene that opens the first game is from one of the short stories in The Last Wish. I only just finished the Elven Bath scene in Witcher 2, so I don't know how much detail the game will get in to, but Ciri's story is fairly prominent in Blood of Elves. The books are actually pretty good, at least coming from someone who doesn't read much from that genre -- and relatively inexpensive if you buy them from the Kindle store. I've only read the two that came out in English (The Last Wish and Blood of Elves). As best I can tell, we'll get more books in English approximately never, which is a bit of a bummer.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:09
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Man I just got to the final Mist quest (the one where you actually break the curse), and I can't believe that I forgot how idiotic this quest is. I've been dying on the first part several times, and so I've had to view the same cutscene and loading screen every single time.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:23
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I hate that part of the game, easily one of the worst things about the Witcher 2 if you ask me.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:25
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Zoltan does come from the books, although Geralt does not meet him until Baptism of Fire, the third novel, which has not been translated into English.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:28
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Samurai Sanders posted:edit: besides we have to think relatively here, it's a dark fantasy middle ages where everyone with any kind of power is a pretty terrible person. Honestly replaying through The Witcher 2, I'm noticing they really lean hard on the whole crapsack world thing, it's just a relentless downer all of the time. They probably should lighten it up a touch just so the atrocities actually seem like atrocities and not "oh things got a little out of hand there". I play the Witcher with a sort of detachment because everyone is so poo poo all the time and constant horrible fates await just about everyone. If they gave even a little bit of genuine, simple hope to the world it would seem a lot more engaging to me. But hey, even your good intentions have bad results and the nobles are just going to run over the common folk regardless, so gently caress it. Let's slay a few monsters, maybe make this village a better place until it's inevitable pillage/sacking. Bleh.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:28
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:Honestly replaying through The Witcher 2, I'm noticing they really lean hard on the whole crapsack world thing, it's just a relentless downer all of the time. They probably should lighten it up a touch just so the atrocities actually seem like atrocities and not "oh things got a little out of hand there". I play the Witcher with a sort of detachment because everyone is so poo poo all the time and constant horrible fates await just about everyone. If they gave even a little bit of genuine, simple hope to the world it would seem a lot more engaging to me. But hey, even your good intentions have bad results and the nobles are just going to run over the common folk regardless, so gently caress it. Let's slay a few monsters, maybe make this village a better place until it's inevitable pillage/sacking. Bleh. It's not though, it's just the situation we see. Foltest was a good/great king who was widely loved by his people, the people who live in Nilfgaard have pretty ok lives, it's just a totalitarian dictatorship where racism is punished by death, many parts of Redenia/Kaedwan are somewhat nice places to live, the Elven Capital is a beauty of it's own, same with Makham, etc. In Witcher 2 though, all we see are a shithole trading post in the middle of the rear end in a top hat of Temeria, a warzone full of angry soldiers, and a summit to announce everyone's political ambitions, and everyone hates us because we are supposedly the Kingslayer, and are not helping their goals. Even Witcher 1 was similar, it was a little racist hole in the ground, Vizima during the worst time in its history, and a bunch of warzones, look at Murky Waters for example of a nicer place. I actually really liked how Roche evolved through the course of the game, in the beginning he makes it clear he neither trusts nor really likes you, but deals with you because Foltest did trust you, and you'd likely be of some help, by the end however his entire character has changed, and he basically becomes Zoltan p2 human edition. Also only the Iorveth path really builds itself on/ends on a negative note. If you go with him, the nonhumans in Aedirn will likely just get slaughtered by the incoming Nilfgaardians as they use that as their passage into Redenia, Geralt will forever be banished from the North as he'll never lose the Kingslayer title after killing Henselt, and the North has no chance of surviving the incoming army. If you do the Roche path though it does end on a good note, the North is prepared for Nilfgaard and you get several "after the war this country was still around" popups, Geralts name gets cleared, and Roche basically joins Geralts band of merry misfits as they go hunting for Yennefer/Ciri to keep them from the Emhyr.
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Apr 30, 2012 20:52
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Well I didn't know a lot of that, because it never gets shown in the game proper and they do a really piss-poor job of explaining the context of...well...just about anything. It's all raping and murdering and having to choose between the known quantity of a terrible tyrant or a possible civil war. Either way the common person gets trampled underfoot. And please don't think I'm saying I want the Witcher to be a happy game or have fairybook or conventional hero with a fun "saves the world" storyline. I'm just saying that CDProjekt won't get the player engagement with the world that they seem to want if they don't work on clarifying their narrative and at least make the world seem like an occasional place worth fighting for, rather than enduring.
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Apr 30, 2012 21:05
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Rookersh posted:Also only the Iorveth path really builds itself on/ends on a negative note. If you go with him, the nonhumans in Aedirn will likely just get slaughtered by the incoming Nilfgaardians as they use that as their passage into Redenia, Geralt will forever be banished from the North as he'll never lose the Kingslayer title after killing Henselt, and the North has no chance of surviving the incoming army. If you do the Roche path though it does end on a good note, the North is prepared for Nilfgaard and you get several "after the war this country was still around" popups, Geralts name gets cleared, and Roche basically joins Geralts band of merry misfits as they go hunting for Yennefer/Ciri to keep them from the Emhyr. Are you certain about this? As far as I could tell there is no opportunity to kill Henselt in Iorveth's path. And depending on how you play out the scenario, Saskia will lead the Pontar valley, Stennis the rest of Aedirn, and Redania and Kaedwen will be probably be strengthened by the partitioning of Temeria. Whereas in Roche's path Stennis will always fall in the mist, leaving Aedirn in disarray. If you slay Henselt the same goes for Kaedwen, and Sakia might be killed or still under Philippa's spell.
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Apr 30, 2012 21:27
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My initial playthrough was with the Iorveth path and I really preferred that side of the story. For some reason I align myself with the non-humans more because I feel like they have more justification to fight than Henselt's group. I really got a sense that non-humans were fighting for their very lives while it seems like Geralt's human allies were just doing things for the pursuit of power. I think there is some sympathy in Roche's character, especially after learning a bit more about his past. In the same way, Iorveth's ruthlessness counterbalances the positive traits I see in him. I think most of the characters are well written, mostly because I can at least find the positive points behind most people, excepting Loredo. Megaman's Jockstrap posted:And please don't think I'm saying I want the Witcher to be a happy game or have fairybook or conventional hero with a fun "saves the world" storyline. I'm just saying that CDProjekt won't get the player engagement with the world that they seem to want if they don't work on clarifying their narrative and at least make the world seem like an occasional place worth fighting for, rather than enduring. I would counter this statement by saying that I can see CDProjekt trying to focus the real struggle in the games around Geralt coming to grips with his personality and choices. There's a sort of fatalism that surrounds the whole Pontar Valley struggle and really the entire Witcher world. Yeah it's a terrible place to live and there's a lot wrong with how things are, but then again, isn't our own reality the same? You could say that the whole amnesia thing is a cop-out to better exposition, but I felt a stronger bond with Geralt based on the notion that he doesn't really know more than I do and by extension, his choices are my choices. You do bring up a good point though. I guess it just depends on what aspect of the narrative you prefer. Vargatron fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 21:34
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So, did they really lower the rate of mutagen drops in a patch? I haven't seen a single greater critical effects mutagen and I figure I'm probably 2/3rds of the way through Roche's Act2. By this point at release I'd had about 10. Figures, if they did, since I finally decided to make an alchemy character at it seems a shame to waste all those slots.
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Apr 30, 2012 21:49
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Vargatron posted:Yeah it's a terrible place to live and there's a lot wrong with how things are, but then again, isn't our own reality the same? There aren't elves or dwarves or cat-eyed monster killers in our world, so I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say. "It's good, because it's like reality," doesn't actually make any sense. I hope that's not coming off as harsh or lovely, I'm really not trying to come across that way.
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Apr 30, 2012 21:56
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Holy poo poo the final act 2 boss is so bad it has completely destroyed any loving desire I have of playing this game. It's so atrociously bad that no amount of free content could ever redeem CDProjekt from this abortion of a boss battle. I'm stunned this ever made it into the game, surely SOMEONE had to have played this and warned the devs how bad it is. I'm willing to forgive them the possessed soldier battles because at least with riposte you can cheese it but this? Nothing is redeemable. The trebuchet's impossible to avoid fireballs, the bosses enormous attack range, dying putting you within inches of him and getting a free hit on you that can kill you in one hit, etc. I'm spamming maxed Quen which helps but even then my vigor is bound to run out and between the massive weapon strikes and fireballs the size of cars I lose the battle of attrition. *edit* and I just discovered he can hit you through Quen. That a bug? Red Mundus fucked around with this message at 22:25 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 22:22
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Megaman's Jockstrap posted:There aren't elves or dwarves or cat-eyed monster killers in our world, so I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say. I guess I was trying to say that there's a lot of situation in the game where no choice provides the best outcome. I know other games give you scenarios like that, but a lot of newer RPGs usually offer resolution in either best/worst terms. I'm sure there's been decisions you've made in your life that have had no real "good" outcome, but you had to make it and live with it. That was the parallel I was trying to make.
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Apr 30, 2012 22:24
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Red Mundus posted:Holy poo poo the final act 2 boss is so bad it has completely destroyed any loving desire I have of playing this game. It's so atrociously bad that no amount of free content could ever redeem CDProjekt from this abortion of a boss battle.
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Apr 30, 2012 22:29
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Yeah, Yrden is the way to go on that boss. I think if he just walks over it, the sign won't have any effect, but if he triggers it in the middle of an attack, it will stun him.
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Apr 30, 2012 22:30
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Seriously, I Yrden'd him on Hard and took him down with strong strikes in a flash. He's a wimp.
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Apr 30, 2012 22:32
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Yeah, I drop a Yrden when vigor allows it but it never stunned him so I assumed he was immune. *edit* Just used a trainer to give infinite health to beat him. Tried Yrden but still did nothing. Bug? He kept hitting me through quen too. Red Mundus fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Apr 30, 2012 |
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Apr 30, 2012 22:32
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Kopijeger posted:Are you certain about this? As far as I could tell there is no opportunity to kill Henselt in Iorveth's path. And depending on how you play out the scenario, Saskia will lead the Pontar valley, Stennis the rest of Aedirn, and Redania and Kaedwen will be probably be strengthened by the partitioning of Temeria. Whereas in Roche's path Stennis will always fall in the mist, leaving Aedirn in disarray. If you slay Henselt the same goes for Kaedwen, and Sakia might be killed or still under Philippa's spell. Well on my Roche path I gave Anais to King Radovid, so Redania protecting all of Temeria and Kaedwen is strong because Henselt is still alive. The way the game made is sound was that these states are powerful and prepared enough for war
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Apr 30, 2012 22:47
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Red Mundus posted:Yeah, I drop a Yrden when vigor allows it but it never stunned him so I assumed he was immune. I think if he's charging yrden does nothing but otherwise I got him stuck in it every time, was quite easy once I managed to load a save where he didn't hit me for 80% of my HP as soon as it loaded (what an awful design decision to have your sword sheathed after most dialogue) What exactly does sign intensity do? I figured it was damage or something but only two signs even do direct damage. I think at the mentioned boss I had around 6 sign intensity so maybe that made yrden more reliable? (I was mage specced too)
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Apr 30, 2012 22:59
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I think sign intensity increases whatever a sign does: damage, duration, special effect chances, etc. I imagine it increases the duration of Yrden at least, but I have no idea it affects snare chances. Maybe. But in any event, when I last fought that boss, I was using a Swordsman spec and Yrden worked on him just fine.
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Apr 30, 2012 23:16
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Alright, I'm lost on Iorveth's Act 2. Everything I need to do involves going into the fog which I can never survive from. Even with lots of health and tons of potions I cant drop the ghosts fast enough to not die from crossbow fire or just random ghosts taking a swing at me. Only once have I been able to go across and that's because of tits McLesbian sorceress lady. Whats the deal? How do I get to the areas for Hunting Magic? Through the mist or is there some super secret way I don't seem to see. :/
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Apr 30, 2012 23:43
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NuckmasterJ posted:Alright, I'm lost on Iorveth's Act 2. Everything I need to do involves going into the fog which I can never survive from. Even with lots of health and tons of potions I cant drop the ghosts fast enough to not die from crossbow fire or just random ghosts taking a swing at me. Only once have I been able to go across and that's because of tits McLesbian sorceress lady.
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Apr 30, 2012 23:45
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NuckmasterJ posted:Alright, I'm lost on Iorveth's Act 2. Everything I need to do involves going into the fog which I can never survive from. Even with lots of health and tons of potions I cant drop the ghosts fast enough to not die from crossbow fire or just random ghosts taking a swing at me. Only once have I been able to go across and that's because of tits McLesbian sorceress lady.
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Apr 30, 2012 23:50
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Samurai Sanders posted:No no, you don't need to go across the mist without Tits McLesbian's help. Everything you need for that quest is on that side. One of the items can't be gotten until you fix Saskia though. Ok, I'm missing the source of power for saskia no sex's cure. Doesnt that come from Hunting Magic though? Lycus posted:Look around town more. There's another exit that leads to another area. Exploring in this game blows donkey balls. My map is always off and never shows me in the right location, or shows pathways that are not there.
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Apr 30, 2012 23:52
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NuckmasterJ posted:Ok, I'm missing the source of power for saskia no sex's cure. Doesnt that come from Hunting Magic though?
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Apr 30, 2012 23:53
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I know there is another exit out of Vergen, its up by the mine you go into with the stunties to get the herb for the cure. Is that the one you guys are talking about?
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Apr 30, 2012 23:56
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Did you go to the quarry harpy cave yet?
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Apr 30, 2012 23:57
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NuckmasterJ posted:I know there is another exit out of Vergen, its up by the mine you go into with the stunties to get the herb for the cure. Is that the one you guys are talking about? folgore posted:Did you go to the quarry harpy cave yet?
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Apr 30, 2012 23:59
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folgore posted:Did you go to the quarry harpy cave yet? I have not been in the cave yet,I've been down there getting harpy giblets for a tasty harpy stew though. Hmmm, were the pointy ears are... I'll have to look around for them. Vergen is quite the... city.
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May 1, 2012 00:00
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Before you can get in that cave you have to go out into the hot springs or something that is to the northwest, I think. It's up near Iorveth's house. But once you're there it will take some careful looking to find the path up high where the item is.
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May 1, 2012 00:00
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