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From one RPG to another, significantly larger and more complicated one... you don't do things halfway, do you Doc?  I hope you're able to break the curse on this one, though, because even with all its faults (some of which have been outlined- complication of the fighting and item menus, long load times, and a few other factors that make this kinda not fun to play, and you really have to push yourself through some areas) it's an interesting game to look at, and while it's not quite at the highs it will reach later, it's easy to examine the foundation that would eventually lead to Wild Hunt, a genuine watershed moment for western RPGs. If you get this one into the archives we'll be two thirds to having the Witcher videogames in there... and while the earlier games are not necessary to enjoy Witcher 3, they accentuate and complement each other, like good sequels ought to.
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Sep 26, 2017 12:36
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Doc Morbid posted:
Lord, I was hoping you'd be able to get this exact piece of jankiness at this exact moment; made me laugh like a loon the first time I saw it. This game is rough in all ways that are both good and terrible, sometimes at the same time. I usually completed the escort quest and the fire shrine quest at once too, often because I had no choice... I think it has to do with talking to Vesna in the Inn- if you don't do that, I think you can do them both separate.
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Oct 15, 2017 18:22
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Can't tell a story like this with pretty characters... ugly, dark persons to tell an ugly dark story. You saw this in the art style of Dishonored too, although this game goes places that one never does (and is much better written, despite clunkiness). In this update, we had our first instance of the consequence system, a replacement of the standard Bioware-style morality path. Instead of a light and some points toward one alignment or another, which may or may not translate to tangible gameplay benefits, we have instead a cut scene of Geralt reminiscing about the choice and defending it, as well as wondering what might have happened if he had made a different choice. I must say, it piques my interest in seeing the other choice a lot more than "+X Lightside/Renegade points, ______ dis/approves" does, and is more interesting in implication, as there is no tacit indication by the game about any "right" answer- because while Geralt is pretty good at justifying his decisions in hindsight, it will quickly become apparent that there is no right answer. Just what you do vs. what you don't, and whether you personally can live with that. In this instance, I'm with Doc here: the lab was more important, and it wasn't like there is any shortage of other witchers to fight the frightener. Besides, the enemy type that Doc alludes to here is at this point really tough, and can be a nasty surprise if you're unprepared (which you will be, unless you are truly insane with grinding).
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Nov 16, 2017 23:21
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Well, heck- I wake up to find Act I done, which is one of the first great hurdles of getting through the game, due to the slog of the sidequests and all the things you have to learn to play the game- as I recall, the last attempt to LP this only got a little bit farther than you did. I can't say it's smooth sailing from here, as this game even at its best is never smooth- there is one other rough patch upcoming that causes a lot of players to throw up their hands (it involves a swamp, and isn't that always the way- swamp or sewers?). But the Doc is doing very well, although it really doesn't seem that way from a plot perspective. Which leads me to take a leaf from achtungnight's unofficial poll (for the record, that questions a toughie for me- there are a LOT of good characters in this series- but I think if you put a gun to my head, I'd have to say that Geralt and his love interests, and the relationship between all of them, would have to be my favorite characters, as that relationship and the problems presented by it and the potential solutions to those problems, reaches a depth of maturity you don't really see that often in video games. At all.) and ask one of my own for any newbies to the series who might be following: regardless of whether he's your favorite character or not, what do you think about Geralt? I ask because when I'd begun these games myself, I went in cold, hadn't even heard of the series before, and by the time I'd dragged myself across the finish line of Act I, a very definite idea was occurring to me: Our boy... is something of a gently caress-up, isn't he? I mean, fair is fair- he is dealing with severe amnesia, and the pressures of running into all kinds of people he has no recollection of but seem to know him toe to tip cant be easy... but even putting aside the question of his memory, there seems to be more going on with him that signifies problems- a lot of problems. Even for an amnesiac, Geralt is very passive and reactionary, preferring to wait until problems present themselves before attempting to solve them, and said "solving" usually involves the business end of his blades. And he's not even consistent about it: I mean, take this last update- he knew that Mikul is a filthy rapist and not to be trusted, and he didn't have to just casually walk into the trap; it could have been the easiest thing in the world to just gank him and drop his body in the river and then go through the gates. (I mean, it might not have stopped him from getting arrested, but it would have removed one more rapist from the world, and really, after Ye Olde Village Massacre, what's one more?  ) Yes, yes, I know, he might have been tired of killing people after all that and just want to get things finished, but it would have been more proactive (or at least more cathartic, because seriously, gently caress rapists), and the weird thing is, Geralt doesn't seem an unintelligent character. His memory may not be all that much, but his knowledge of monsters (once he gets a refresher) is fairly encyclopedic, and he can be really perceptive sometimes- by all account he should be able to see some, or even most, of the fastballs life throws at him but... he doesn't. And then there's the addiction thing. Geralt's been kinda... really eager to jump in the sack with anybody willing to do so (even when it really isn't the time, as last update showed), and I think it's particularly telling that when Odo got him drunk last update, he didn't even attempt to say no before getting hammered- I mean, not even a cursory "Aw no, I really couldn't" which I am generally given to understand is polite to say at least once (or maybe things are different in Poland, I dunno)... which probably means alcoholism. So heavy substance abuse and dangerous passivity... it all paints a grim picture, doesn't it? One of somebody who, at least on a subconscious level, has stopped trying to defend or take care of himself... and may actively seek his own death. Not really the typical naive farm-boy that generally stars in fantasy, no?
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Dec 18, 2017 15:10
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Valiantman posted:Despite liking the game and how it allows you to do thing sort of out of order, this part is something I dislike exactly because of that. So many quests start almost simultaneously but the game seems to think you're doing them one at the time. At times I had the feeling that I was missing entire stages of ongoing quests. The warehouse quest is an example. Vincent Meis is thinking on his feet when Geralt shows up uninvited and that part is fine. Afterwards he's acting as if he and Geralt had planned it all along and I was really confused. He does say something happens "tonight" in the warehouse but the quest text doesn't convey that and I at least left the quest alone for like a week of in-game time. I was just about to post something to this effect, and it's right around here and in particular Geralt's interactions with Vincent that it becomes really apparent. There's also the part where Vincent says "all will be explained tonight" after Vincent asks him how the investigation's going, as if they had spoken about it before... but they hadn't, because Geralt was off killing a cockatrice. This bit, after Geralt arrives in Vizima, seems to have a litany of pacing and flow issues that I don't recall there being in other parts of the game- it feels particularly disjointed and awkward in a way that you can't really lay at the foot of translation issues. (Which have their own goofy charm, as in the pear/peach conversation between Geralt and Carmen, which is just kind of  )
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Mar 12, 2018 14:38
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