Hello, I’m back to the video games this week and I thought I’d go for another Witcher game that has been loitering in my steam library.
So I admit I bought this on an offer after playing The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt which I had an amazing time playing, so this was a must for me.
One more thing to do admit, I did mod the game. Couldn’t resist stick some sharingan eyes on the white wolf. It just looks so cool.
Onto the game, the Witcher 2 kicks off with poor Geralt being interrogated about the events which led the to the death of the King. First off is the character textures are on point. Geralt looks tired and scarred, eyes are vibrant and even his hair is looking flowy, which is good for a game released in 2011. The colour contrast is a little intense, especially with effects like fire where it has an ethereal glow. Also the interiors where there is no light are especially dark, which combined with the glowy fires means it’s a little difficult to see.
Onto the gameplay, and I only have the third Witcher game to compare it too, but my first thought is that it is a slower game. The movement speed is set to a never ending jog. Once you’re in combat, it is slower than I am used to and it took me awhile to adjust. Everything from dodging to swordplay and Signs had a more deliberate feel to it. Once you get used to it though, you tend to enjoy the back and forth. Signs are basically the cheat codes of magic, and you have access to 5. I can’t remember the names from the top of my head but the effects are push, fire, trap, stun and shield. These can be used as a fighting style, alongside swordplay (my default for any game) and alchemy, which basically is augmenting yourself using potions, bombs and oils.
Looking at the fighting styles, swordplay is what I always drift towards, which in this game focus’ on either tanking or hit ‘n’ runs. Tanks will favour blocking and heavy attacks, whilst the Hit ‘n’ runners will be about quick strikes and dodging. The skill tree will allow you to mix up your buffs like inflict bleeding damage or take less damage when hit from behind, so you can tailor your fighting style for this.
The alchemy style involves you using ingredients to create things that help you defeat creatures and people. You create oils to give you a bonus against the various creatures that populate the Witcher world, which against the tougher enemies can make the difference between dying and bossing the fight. You create bombs, which all have different effects and work against different foes. Finally you have potions, which I feel are the most varied of the alchemy trees, it grants you abilities like seeing in the dark to increasing your healing time to being resistant to poisons. The issue with alchemy is toxicity, whichis not so severe as Witcher 3 where health begins to whittle away, but once you hit your limit you are unable to drink anymore. This can be problematic in unfortunate circumstances.
The Signs style is all about the magic, where you increase the power behind them and the varied ways they can be used. Making sure you recover your energy so you can spam them out. The Signs interact with other abilities and environmental cues so keep an eye out and you can master this style.
Another thing to note is that there is a 4th branch on the skill tree and you have to pump a few points into it before you can unlock the others branches. I found this was less useful but that is just me really. So as you can read, the styles are varied but they do interact together very well so mix and match until you find a rhythm.
Looking at the story, this is a strong outing for the developers (CD Projekt), with characters that create moral dilemmas, emotional stress and you can’t help but invest in. An example of this is early in the game you go to Flotsham, where the commandment Loredo is a racist towards non-humans and makes questionable decisions but he can make your life easier at stages through the game so you have to way this up when dealing with him. Dandelion is as entertaining as he was previously, Zolton is your dwarf bro and Triss is your sorceress who practices proper magic and is your love interest. Roche is the spy that you work with and bounce between liking him and wanted to stick a sword in him. The game does an amazing job of having these characters influence your decisions and also changing your perceptions about how the world should be.
The mini games are great fun, playing dice being the most dependent on luck so I’d avoid that. Gwent is here for all of you card lovers, and though I never got into it, I know people are mad about this game. Arm wrestling challenges you to stay within a moving marker that shrinks, which takes a fair amount of skill. Lastly the fights are my favorite, with QTE’s being the way to win the fight and you get some awesome finisher scenes.
This is a more RPG type of game than Witcher 3 but it is a fantastic to play. You won’t regret sinking some hours into this and playing through multiple times.
Hints and tips to help with that pesky contract:
- The Quen sign is your shield. Use it! Considering the difficulty of combat compared to most games, I would suggest as a viable strategy that you roll away, use the shield, roll in to fight and once the shield goes down rinse and repeat.
- On that note, rolling is awesome. Rolling will not only make Geralt a Solid Snake pretender but it will keep you alive.
- Plan out your level up. You can’t max out Geralt, so plan what you actually need and build towards that.
- Harvest monsters and herbs so that you can make potions. Potions are handy and you will need them at some point so get into the habit of collecting ingredients.
- Rob people! Nobody cares so get them good loots son!
- Read the Journal. Aside from being informative, it is very funny. Have a giggle.
- Think on your choices, they will have far reaching consequences so make sure you consider it carefully.