I'm not saying they're hard, I just find them boring.
GasBandit
Staff member
Heh, The Witcher (the first one) either really didn't age well, or just had some major growing pains to work out. I'm playing through the first one because the second one apparently takes your save from the first one. But the first one is... well, the graphics have this wierd series of horizontal lines over 90% of the conversation scenes that make it look like you're trying to view the game through a dodecahedral prism or something.. And they are big on the "you just passed through a door so you can't possibly have your defenses up yet QUICK EVERYBODY DOGPILE HIM" dynamic... and it is just WAY too easy for escorted NPCs to up and die on you with the slightest damage. Mook mobs are too easy, boss mobs get too much "I win now ha ha" bs, half the NPCs move and talk like overstarched marionettes and OH GOD THAT INVENTORY SYSTEM
But I'm going to try to soldier all the way through it. The rampant sex with everything is really eyerolling, too. heh.
But I'm going to try to soldier all the way through it. The rampant sex with everything is really eyerolling, too. heh.
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My favorite part about the game is still the ability to change everything about your character at the plastic surgery place.
I went from an unbelievably buff brown haired dude with a super high pitched Troy Baker voice to an ultra chesty female wrestler with a low pitched russian voice to a fat guy with Nolan North's voice and now currently I'm a super buff female who's face looks like Famke Jannsen's and I sound like an obese Nolan North.
I went from an unbelievably buff brown haired dude with a super high pitched Troy Baker voice to an ultra chesty female wrestler with a low pitched russian voice to a fat guy with Nolan North's voice and now currently I'm a super buff female who's face looks like Famke Jannsen's and I sound like an obese Nolan North.
GasBandit
Staff member
Did they keep the Zombie voice option? My SR3 guy was a super-obese made-man zombie voice guy. It was hilarious. "BLEAH BLIBBA BLEAH RAGH" "You said it boss"
Also, boy oh boy does Witcher 1 crash to desktop a lot.
Omg,that made me snort.Thank you,GB.
I love Fire Emblem Awakening conversations so much. They always make me laugh.
And then cry when I get people killed
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And then cry when I get people killed
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I did that before, but when I started over I decided I was going to take my lumps and that was going to be my punishment for sucking. Not to say there isn't merit in reset vs Casual mode. Resetting forces you to get smart enough with your tactics to get through a battle without a loss, even when they start getting monumentally unfair, like 40 enemies vs your 11. But I wanted to do it this way this time.
Goodbye Lissa, Vaike, Virion, Libra, Ricken, Cordelia ...
Since all that mess, my main character has been sweeping through enemies. I can pretty much just throw her and Tharja (with partners) into a mess of enemies and watch the losers fall on the ladies' swords.
I can basically have Donnel wipe out 10+ enemies on his own in a single turn, thanks to Sol. It really is worth suffering with him til he hits Lvl 10 and then you can turn him into something that isn't complete crap.
There are a total of, what 6 or 7 missions where you don't use super powers? Storywise, it makes sense because you aren't in a part of the simulation that Kinzie can't control.
GasBandit
Staff member
Ah gahd the witcher is aaah hah hah hah hawwwful. All the backtracking. All the timewasting. The whipsaw rollercoaster of enemy strength. The fact that you basically got all your combat moves in the first 2 minutes of the game. I think I've put it aside indefinitely, and I'm cleansing the palate with a much better aging game: Prototype. It's a couple years newer, but even it shows its age a little around the model polygon count/building detail pop in while travelling. But all that is forgivable because the controls are so good, the development is so right, and you only have to faff about if you want to (and ironically, even though I just got done griping about the timewasting in Witcher, I willingly went back and forth between two military bases like 7 times blowing them up for exp). A fast travel system is like... electricity. You know people did stuff before it came along, but you can't imagine going back to it.
Maybe once I'm thoroughly scrubbed, I'll go give Witcher 2 a try and see if it's any better.
And just for the record, I'm not naturally biased against older games. Until Skyrim came along to give me the same experience in a nicer, longer, better package, I still was routinely playing Ultima Underworld just because it was so very good.
Maybe once I'm thoroughly scrubbed, I'll go give Witcher 2 a try and see if it's any better.
And just for the record, I'm not naturally biased against older games. Until Skyrim came along to give me the same experience in a nicer, longer, better package, I still was routinely playing Ultima Underworld just because it was so very good.
@GasBandit: first off, I'm a Witcher fanboy, but I'll try not to have that influence me too much.?
*ahem*.GAAAHHH WRONG WRONG WRONG. *cough*
Okay, with that out of the way....
1. If you have visual glitches and CTDs, that's some sort of driver/hardware problem. I've ran TW on everything from a Pentium 4 1.7 GHz to an i5-3570K and all kinds of graphical cards. There are quite a few glitches/bugs with newer hardware, though; perhaps you're suffering from those....But in 3 playthroughs, I've had exactly one CTD. Fault the game for being buggy or unoptimized, though, that it sure as hell is.
2. What *version* are you playing? If Steam, err, yeah. If GoG, you shouldn't be having that much trouble.
3. The difficulty of enemies is a very, very smooth curve....IF you use the right weapon/magic/potion combination for the right enemy. It's not a game where you can choose between one or two swords or magic - you will need all three. Unless you're playing on easy, but even then, some enemies are horrible buggers if you insist on using the "wrong" type of sword (if they're not straight-up immune in the latter parts of the game)
4. You get your silver sword in Chapter 2, a few hours in, and the last type of magic (and there's only four!) in Chapter 2 or 3. Even for your steel sword, you can't unlock most of the "good" combos until you have silver or gold talents. You get access to your powers at a much slower rate than almost any other "Western" RPG, so I really wonder if you just didn't go very far, didn't bother to ever read/figure out the enemy types and attack types, or what you're talking about. I mean, I understand a lot of critiques on the game, but this I just plain don't see at all.
5. The inventory system is beyond irritating and crappy. Yes it is. Absolutely. The only saving grace being that you don't really need to carry much of anything - ingredients and potions, and you're set. If you enjoy switching around, you'll *maybe* equip new weapons 5 times in a full playthrough, and taking enemy weapons along isn't worth the time for the money.
6. The bosses...Well, I understand a lot of critique there, though I don't quite agree with what you're saying. Every boss in the whole game has a gimmick or special characteristic. The idea is to make you think and understand your enemy before taking them down, by doing (in-game) research. Some can't even be taken down without it. Of course, this day and age, everybody just goes to look at the Witcher wiki and instantly knows what to do. I like the idea, but it doesn't always work - man, I got tired of that fight against the Kikimore Queen - until I gave up, looked it up and realized you're not supposed to be able to win, but to run away
7. The thing is that, in many ways, this is not a typical role playing game. You're much more restricted in the character you play, and in choices you can make. While you can make story-important decisions (and they can change a lot - most of chapter 4 and 5 depend on earlier choices, really), you can't make character-changing choices. In most modern Western RPGs, it's the opposite. Also, TW requires a lot more reading. The different tabs of the journal aren't just for show and for "more info" for who wants it, like, say, the Codex in ME. If you don't read up on your quests and enemies, you're dead. Probably several times over.
8. The fighting system...Well, a lot's been said about it. I quite like it, myself, because it doesn't rely on player precision or skill as much, and more on Geralt's. Most people hated it, though, and TW2's is completely different (note that I don't say "better", that's a personal preference).
*ahem*.GAAAHHH WRONG WRONG WRONG. *cough*
Okay, with that out of the way....
1. If you have visual glitches and CTDs, that's some sort of driver/hardware problem. I've ran TW on everything from a Pentium 4 1.7 GHz to an i5-3570K and all kinds of graphical cards. There are quite a few glitches/bugs with newer hardware, though; perhaps you're suffering from those....But in 3 playthroughs, I've had exactly one CTD. Fault the game for being buggy or unoptimized, though, that it sure as hell is.
2. What *version* are you playing? If Steam, err, yeah. If GoG, you shouldn't be having that much trouble.
3. The difficulty of enemies is a very, very smooth curve....IF you use the right weapon/magic/potion combination for the right enemy. It's not a game where you can choose between one or two swords or magic - you will need all three. Unless you're playing on easy, but even then, some enemies are horrible buggers if you insist on using the "wrong" type of sword (if they're not straight-up immune in the latter parts of the game)
4. You get your silver sword in Chapter 2, a few hours in, and the last type of magic (and there's only four!) in Chapter 2 or 3. Even for your steel sword, you can't unlock most of the "good" combos until you have silver or gold talents. You get access to your powers at a much slower rate than almost any other "Western" RPG, so I really wonder if you just didn't go very far, didn't bother to ever read/figure out the enemy types and attack types, or what you're talking about. I mean, I understand a lot of critiques on the game, but this I just plain don't see at all.
5. The inventory system is beyond irritating and crappy. Yes it is. Absolutely. The only saving grace being that you don't really need to carry much of anything - ingredients and potions, and you're set. If you enjoy switching around, you'll *maybe* equip new weapons 5 times in a full playthrough, and taking enemy weapons along isn't worth the time for the money.
6. The bosses...Well, I understand a lot of critique there, though I don't quite agree with what you're saying. Every boss in the whole game has a gimmick or special characteristic. The idea is to make you think and understand your enemy before taking them down, by doing (in-game) research. Some can't even be taken down without it. Of course, this day and age, everybody just goes to look at the Witcher wiki and instantly knows what to do. I like the idea, but it doesn't always work - man, I got tired of that fight against the Kikimore Queen - until I gave up, looked it up and realized you're not supposed to be able to win, but to run away
7. The thing is that, in many ways, this is not a typical role playing game. You're much more restricted in the character you play, and in choices you can make. While you can make story-important decisions (and they can change a lot - most of chapter 4 and 5 depend on earlier choices, really), you can't make character-changing choices. In most modern Western RPGs, it's the opposite. Also, TW requires a lot more reading. The different tabs of the journal aren't just for show and for "more info" for who wants it, like, say, the Codex in ME. If you don't read up on your quests and enemies, you're dead. Probably several times over.
8. The fighting system...Well, a lot's been said about it. I quite like it, myself, because it doesn't rely on player precision or skill as much, and more on Geralt's. Most people hated it, though, and TW2's is completely different (note that I don't say "better", that's a personal preference).
Not saying it did, at all. The fact they put out a second edition as update completely free helped a bit, but even that still has some serious issues.
GasBandit
Staff member
1) it's not so much glitches as just showing its age. The cutscenes often look like marionettes because that was all that could really be expected of a 2007 game using an engine developed in 2002. Really I try not to hold that against it.
2) 1.5 steam. I've only had about 4 crashes to desktop, so maybe I exaggerated that a bit.
3) Bullshit. The Hellhound was pretty much more random than the dice game whether you were allowed to win and keep the witch alive or not, but even worse - One word. Coccacidium. If you're going to try to tell me you believe THAT shit, which at the level you encounter it will always, ALWAYS eat you alive in 5 seconds and it just pops up EVERYWHERE, is "smoothly curved" I have some oceanfront property in switzerland to sell you. Had to beat it by cheesing it down by running in, ifni ifni, run away (but not so far away it despawns), heal up and do it again times about 12. That's an indication something's wrong with your encounter. And it pops up soooo many places in that stupid swamp you pretty much have to beat it before you can progress. And yet everything else dies in a couple clicks. That's not smooth.
4) And yet the silver sword has the same 3 styles, and the same "click when your cursor lights up" mechanic. Why even bother with it if it's just going to be a carbon copy of the steel sword?
5) I just want to know why alcohol, which is needed as a potion base, can't stack in the alchemy satchel with the other ingredients. I've learned to just ignore all the other drops that don't go into the quest or alchemy inventory.
6) At no point in the game did it actually tell me I needed to look up boss weaknesses, that would have been a good thing to mention. Nevertheless the real "research" BS is that you can't gather components from monsters/plants without reading 11 different books.
7) That doesn't bother me. I don't have issue with the setting or the leveling or the decisions etc, I mostly take issue with the game mechanics themselves. The design decisions that doom you to running back and forth across the temple quarter 75 times to the same 5 locations. How chapter 1 was a big donut you had to run laps around just to pad out the content with repetitive travel time. How often you're attacked immediately upon loading into a new area before you can even draw your sword. Also, what's with all the dog killing?
8) I think the fighting system would have been better if they'd foregone a lot of the "proper timing click" combo stuff and let you queue up orders while paused, like NWN intended. Half my irritation in combat comes from not being able to draw/switch weapons or designate targets/combo while paused. It's a minor gripe I suppose, but one that shows how undeveloped RPG combat paradigms were just 5 years ago.
I'm interested in the story, but everything else has me hating the game. I don't even think I'd have liked it when it came out.
2) 1.5 steam. I've only had about 4 crashes to desktop, so maybe I exaggerated that a bit.
3) Bullshit. The Hellhound was pretty much more random than the dice game whether you were allowed to win and keep the witch alive or not, but even worse - One word. Coccacidium. If you're going to try to tell me you believe THAT shit, which at the level you encounter it will always, ALWAYS eat you alive in 5 seconds and it just pops up EVERYWHERE, is "smoothly curved" I have some oceanfront property in switzerland to sell you. Had to beat it by cheesing it down by running in, ifni ifni, run away (but not so far away it despawns), heal up and do it again times about 12. That's an indication something's wrong with your encounter. And it pops up soooo many places in that stupid swamp you pretty much have to beat it before you can progress. And yet everything else dies in a couple clicks. That's not smooth.
4) And yet the silver sword has the same 3 styles, and the same "click when your cursor lights up" mechanic. Why even bother with it if it's just going to be a carbon copy of the steel sword?
5) I just want to know why alcohol, which is needed as a potion base, can't stack in the alchemy satchel with the other ingredients. I've learned to just ignore all the other drops that don't go into the quest or alchemy inventory.
6) At no point in the game did it actually tell me I needed to look up boss weaknesses, that would have been a good thing to mention. Nevertheless the real "research" BS is that you can't gather components from monsters/plants without reading 11 different books.
7) That doesn't bother me. I don't have issue with the setting or the leveling or the decisions etc, I mostly take issue with the game mechanics themselves. The design decisions that doom you to running back and forth across the temple quarter 75 times to the same 5 locations. How chapter 1 was a big donut you had to run laps around just to pad out the content with repetitive travel time. How often you're attacked immediately upon loading into a new area before you can even draw your sword. Also, what's with all the dog killing?
8) I think the fighting system would have been better if they'd foregone a lot of the "proper timing click" combo stuff and let you queue up orders while paused, like NWN intended. Half my irritation in combat comes from not being able to draw/switch weapons or designate targets/combo while paused. It's a minor gripe I suppose, but one that shows how undeveloped RPG combat paradigms were just 5 years ago.
I'm interested in the story, but everything else has me hating the game. I don't even think I'd have liked it when it came out.
3. http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Coccacidium - I don't know at what level you encountered it, but I had no real problems with it. If you're a bit underleveled and/or never put points in Igni, I can see how that would be a problem. There's only one of them and he doesn't show up al lthat much, unless you've been spending waaaayy too much time in the Swamp. I'll admit the Hellhound was a bit random, though.
5. Because it's not an ingredient it's a base
. Well, no, because it's not only an alchemical thing. You can't eat/drink/whatever any ingredients, while you can drink alcohol. I guess that's why, though I admit it made no sense. I'm certainly not defending some of their more out-there choices in regards to inventory management. 6. Sure it did - both in the tutorial, and in the loading-screen messages. Which are sort of important,but hard to even see on newer machines. The original version (before the 2nd edition) on an older machine and you hd plenty of time to memorize all of them. Because the waiting times were that long. And you had to enter/exit houses so often. Soooo often. Soo very, very often.*sigh*
7. Dog is a delicacy in Poland, didn't you know?
As for the running around uselessly - I don't deny it's there, but compare to such indesputable gems as vanilla NWN, KotOR or even Baldur's Gate, and there's as much or more of it. I admit, TW is newer and should've avoided it more. On the other hand, even some newer games still suffer from it heavily.8. Myeah, I think KotOR style is still my personal favorite - a good combination of real time and tactical order options and such. Of course, KotOR is older than TW....
As I said - I'm not trying to "convince" you at all; I agree the story and world are the better parts, and a lot of the mechanics left to be desired. Some of your gripes/problems I agree with, others less, but hey, free world. As long as you don't say you liked the dice game
GasBandit
Staff member
The Coccidium attacked me within 5 minutes of me entering the swamp for the first time, and I did EVERY OTHER QUEST first until I absolutely could not progress without going to the swamp, so I don't think level was a factor, as it would be pretty impossible for me to have been higher level without just grinding randoms at night for a year. Googling it, lots of people had problems with the coccidium similar to me, and it pops up freakin' everywhere.
From the wiki:
Yeah, see all those red dots? See how they're on the paths to ALL THE QUEST RELEVANT LOCATIONS other than the bricklayer's village and the clay pits? There's no avoiding it. If you take gramps' escort quest to the shrine when it's offered right at the dock, you're pretty much guaranteed to run into the Coccidium very shortly.
And the in-game dice game beats the hell out of most of the Final Fantasy side games. At least individual rounds are over quickly and you don't have to spend the entire game hunting down rare dice Other than that, yeah, it's kind of a tacked on, useless mechanic.
From the wiki:
Yeah, see all those red dots? See how they're on the paths to ALL THE QUEST RELEVANT LOCATIONS other than the bricklayer's village and the clay pits? There's no avoiding it. If you take gramps' escort quest to the shrine when it's offered right at the dock, you're pretty much guaranteed to run into the Coccidium very shortly.
And the in-game dice game beats the hell out of most of the Final Fantasy side games. At least individual rounds are over quickly and you don't have to spend the entire game hunting down rare dice
Other than that, yeah, it's kind of a tacked on, useless mechanic.
GasBandit
Staff member
Mkay, well I'll have to give it a shot then.
And really, I just chuckled at the graphics in 1, cause I'd previously been enamored by worse. It was the gameplay that did it in for me.
GasBandit
Staff member
So far the most prominent story aspect seems to be, if she has red hair you're supposed to have sex.
Which, come to think of it, doesn't deviate far from my real life expectations either.
And if she doesn't have red hair, well, that's what salons are for.
I've just come to realise that, while i still haven't actually played Saint's Row the Third, through the Humble THQ Bundle, I own SR3, and through the Humble Deep Silver Bundle, I own Saint's Row the Third: the Full Package. Huh. Didn't know I owned it twice. Oops. I may actually have to go and try it some day.
However, in Steam it still just lists SR3, not "the full package" or any DLC I'm supposed to have. That's normal, or am I supposed to see a list somewhere?
However, in Steam it still just lists SR3, not "the full package" or any DLC I'm supposed to have. That's normal, or am I supposed to see a list somewhere?
It's normal, click on the DLC, it'll tell you you own it. It autodownloads as long as you have the game installed as far as I know.
Can you tell I practically never bother with DLC?
The unit packs and such of Total War are more clearly visible in the game library list, hence the question. But good to know
Alright, so I finished Saints Row 4. As a full bodied open world experience, The Third is a much better game. As something that was more immediately fun and was fun for a while to fuck around, 4 is better. I probably won't play 4 again. 3 was the meatier game by miles. I should probably play 2.
4 was fun, was funny, I enjoyed the experience and it was definitely DLC with a bunch of padding.
4 was fun, was funny, I enjoyed the experience and it was definitely DLC with a bunch of padding.
You don't call Roddy Piper for help, he shows up where he's needed.