Just got The Witcher. Help?

[Aotrs Commander]

I was just skullpalming amused that the cards were censored (in some (all?) versions of the Witcher) in the states...

I've not played much of W2 yet (I'm about to leave that first town), so I can't really speak to the combat engine; but then, I massively suck at reaction/skill based combat systems anyway (and onto top of that, rare is the game I play above easy or normal difficulty).

I didn't really, thus, notice too much about W1's sword combat engine, because aside from a bit at the start, I sunk everything into Aard (I think it's Aard, the TK one) and Igni and spent most of the game smacking enemies away and then exploding them 360º fire, with a bit of sword waving thereafter to mop up...

[warty goblin]

I was just skullpalming amused that the cards were censored (in some (all?) versions of the Witcher) in the states...

They uncensored them with the Director's Cut patch, which is free for everybody. It's sort of an end-run around the ESRB in the States; the game you buy is M, the patch you download is unrated and probably would be AO.

CD Projekt is awesome like that.

I didn't really, thus, notice too much about W1's sword combat engine, because aside from a bit at the start, I sunk everything into Aard (I think it's Aard, the TK one) and Igni and spent most of the game smacking enemies away and then exploding them 360º fire, with a bit of sword waving thereafter to mop up...

I've heard this works well. However I have a Pavlovian response to longswords and am pretty much incapable of not using them constantly. If you're running the game at max with gore on full, the sight of Geralt chopping an oberhau at somebody, blood flying from his blade, is simply too good to pass up.

[Eldariel]

I've heard this works well. However I have a Pavlovian response to longswords and am pretty much incapable of not using them constantly. If you're running the game at max with gore on full, the sight of Geralt chopping an oberhau at somebody, blood flying from his blade, is simply too good to pass up.

Another reason I like the Combat Rebalance mod; it makes Igni into Not Kill Everything-sign. Still useful for extra damage and so on, mind, but the game is no longer finishable without drawing your sword.

[Aotrs Commander]

They uncensored them with the Director's Cut patch, which is free for everybody. It's sort of an end-run around the ESRB in the States; the game you buy is M, the patch you download is unrated and probably would be AO.

CD Projekt is awesome like that.

Good for them! (Though given how awesome that were with Witcher 2 EE, it doesn't surprise me.)

I just thought it was kinda pathetic it had to be censored in the first place...!

I've heard this works well. However I have a Pavlovian response to longswords and am pretty much incapable of not using them constantly. If you're running the game at max with gore on full, the sight of Geralt chopping an oberhau at somebody, blood flying from his blade, is simply too good to pass up.

Yeah, I think what I gleaned from this thread is alot of the people talking about the sword-play are interested in sword fighting generally, or are at least educated on the subject. I'm not as such (at least not on the technical level), so I was quite happy to spam spells (as I tend to do in, well, pretty much every RPG...!) Like it was said earlier, one doesn't exactly play either Witcher for the combat engine; and in W1 the engine was challenge enough for me anyway (which is admittedly, very low challenge, but there you go...!)

[Morty]

I saw the rampant sex, especially the cards, as a not very successful and subtle attempt at showing how mature they are - as in, "look, this is an edgy mature game, it has sex!". Different perspective, maybe.
As for signs and swords, going full sword was a no-brainer for me, really. In the books, signs are much less powerful than in the games and strictly secondary to the witcher swordsmanship. The overpoweredness of the Igni Sign in Witcher 1 is funny if you know that in the stories, it was used for things like burning ropes and mending kettles.

[Tengu_temp]

Mend all the kettles within a 20 foot radius!

And yes, I am well aware that the cards are not real physical objects in the game world. That's the point. Yes, trading them with Dandelion would just be creepy. That's also the point.

[GolemsVoice]

Well, I didn't find the sex too much of an attempt at maturity, since it wasn't highlighted that much. It just happened, or it didn't, depending on how you played. But I DID find it strange just how easy some of the girls were. "Give me something sweet and give me a compliment and I'll sleep with you!" - Right.

[Eldariel]

Well, I didn't find the sex too much of an attempt at maturity, since it wasn't highlighted that much. It just happened, or it didn't, depending on how you played. But I DID find it strange just how easy some of the girls were. "Give me something sweet and give me a compliment and I'll sleep with you!" - Right.

Witchers have that kind of effect on women according to the source material tho.

[Avilan the Grey]

Witchers have that kind of effect on women according to the source material tho.

Yeah. That, in combination with the fact that witchers are sterile and immune to diseases...

[warty goblin]

Yeah. That, in combination with the fact that witchers are sterile and immune to diseases...

Think about it, suppose you're a woman living in say the outskirts of Vizima. Your husband smells like, and bears no small resemblance to, a pig. If you're not married yet, you will be, to somebody fitting the above description. Your days are back-breaking toil, endlessly repeated. You see the same people every day. Pretty much the only things that ever change are for the worse.

So if given the chance, why not have a go at the a Witcher? He's traveled the world, seen places more than thirty miles away. He's a skilled warrior in a society that still values martial skill. The risks are pretty minimal, he won't stick around, so things won't be complicated long term. It's a once a lifetime opportunity to have some fun for yourself.

[GolemsVoice]

True. He also seems to actually be a great lover, so that's that. Also, he doesn't jugde.

[warty goblin]

True. He also seems to actually be a great lover, so that's that. Also, he doesn't jugde.

Which is something I've always liked about the games, even when I didn't yet have the wit to see it.

[GolemsVoice]

Just finished the Witcher 2 again. Man. No matter what you do, everything goes to hell anyway. The game really isn't kind to you. But on the other hand, it treats you like an adult, I feel.

[Morty]

No matter what you do, Geralt is only one man in the middle of a massive socio-political upheaval. The level of influence you have on things is pretty appropriate, I think.

[GolemsVoice]

I'm not complaining!

[Anarion]

I really liked use of the magic signs in both games. In the original, you could get Aard and later Igni up to the point that the crushed everything. A maxed out, max power Igni with enhancing potions trivialized almost every boss fight.

In the second one, Quen is way too good. Enhanced Quen is just silly. It's basically you telling the game that you want to turn off the ability for enemy weapons to damage you. Because that's fair.

[GolemsVoice]

If you have a way to keep them at bay, yes. Because you need that precious second to cast Quen, sadly. And the lack of vigor regeneration hurts.