Hopes And Fears of The Witcher 2 Assassin’s of Kings
Alright I know this late and I already have the game and can tell all of you that it does in fact reek of amazingness, but I feel like I should still write this up to give you what I hope and fear now about the game and what a Hope and Fears write up would look like
Hopes
1.That the Witcher 2 will live up to my own expectations
Ever since I first saw reviews about the PC release last year, I’ve been salivating to play this title. I have been green with envy of anyone with a PC that can run this title, (or a decent PC in general as I have Mac and feel very meh about it) and couldn’t wait until I could buy such a computer. So when I heard about a Xbox 360 port I was counting down the days until the release. Everything from the story and setting to the fluid combat and choices seemed tailored towards a wet-dream game for me. Playing through it now I can say that so far it ahs lived up to my hype that I had for this game but hopefully it continues to do so.
2. That the combat stays fresh and challenging
I love deep combat systems and The Witcher 2 has just that. The light and heavy attacks with a sword give the game a pseudo hack and slash feel, but the magic and bomb system gives the combat a strategic element that hack and slash games don’t have. Also the preparations that Geralt makes before each battle by oiling his sword with oils and poison that give it added effects as well as potions that give him personal buffs before battle make the game one of the deepest combat systems I’ve seen in years. Strategy plays an important role in The Witcher 2, which is a huge plus in my book.
Geralt isn’t alone in using as enemies will flank and try to overwhelm him. If Ezio from Assassin’s Creed II ever saw Geralt in a fight, he would thank his lucky stars that he doen’t fight the enemies of the witcher as they don’t stand menacingly as their buddy goes one-on-one with you and wait their turn to attack. As I grow older I love hard games that require your mind to beat and The Witcher 2 seems to be such a game and I hope that it stays that way and doesn’t divert in any way
3. It give that “Game of Throne” feeling I’m looking for
I love fantasy games, from Dragon Age to Skyrim I love them all, but none really give the feeling of a truly harsh gritty realistic take of a fantasy realm that I really want. One reason why I love Game of Thrones so much is because it does seem like a realistic world with all the characters having qualities and flaws and the politics are ever presents. In other words the setting and characters seem more like real characters than some fantasy setting that give idealize characters who are one note and there are a clear good guy vs bad guy dynamic.
I want to have to make agonizing choices that I am not sure what the best course of action is. I also want to feel the main villain faction as legitimate reasons to go against Geralt, like so many of the factions have GOT. But most of all I want to feel like the world that I am playing in seems like a real breathing world with all the highs and lows that come with that. So far I have that, the atmosphere of the game gives just that. Even the sexy-time scenes feels organic and real. It is a nice change of pace to see sex dealt a little more maturely than the exploitation in God of War, and hopefully this more mature feeling stays throughout the game,
Fears
1 It is too short
Although I normally don’t omplain about the length of the game, I’ve seen around the Internet that some people feel like The Witcher 2 is too short of a game. Most sites give an estimate of 25-30 hours of gameplay , which is solid in my opinion, but the fact that many people are complaining gives me pause. I feel like I’ll be left wanting more after completing the game, which could be a sign of its quality. Quality always trumps quantity, but sometimes more quantity helps.
2. The ending
I hear that the 3rd act of the game ends too abruptly and is the least satisfying. Hopefully the ending doesn’t pull an Mass Effect 3 and leave me wanting for more explanation
3. CD project starts to charge for dlc because of Microsoft.
One of the collest things about CDprojekt, the makers of The Witcher 2, is that they feel like charging for dlc is a crime and don’t do it. They are offering the Enhanced Edition upgrades to those who bought the game on PC free of charge and always gave dlc and updates to improve and add to the game free as well. If this game sells well and they feel like they can expand it on with dlc I hope CDprojekt won’t give in to pressure from Microsoft, because that would happen, and charge for it. Heres to free DLC!!!!
There you have it aour first Hopes and Fear, The Witcher 2 seemed awesome for the get go so I talked more about the hopes as I had little to fear. Expect an impression podcasts soon and a full review later
Ryan
