The Witcher
Bumping this because I've got to admit I was wrong about this game.
First off, I dunno if you're talking the original or the enhanced version, but the enhanced version seems pretty solid and bug free.
I first tried this game a year ago, on a way under spec system, and I wasn't impressed. It wasn't the bad performance for me, it was the tutorial and combat and honestly the characters and the writing. I did 1/2 the tutorial and said "screw this, I don't know what people saw in this game."
Now I'm playing it on a good system, and I made myself get through the tutorial...and you know what, this is actually a damn good RPG.
-It's got a pretty complex character system. (Almost like it was designed specifically to
seem complex though.)
-The alchemy is very nicely done. Lots of flavor (historical names of ingredients) game play extended to the logical conclusion (parts to find off of monsters, plants, experimentation) all that jazz. That getting better in alchemy requires you to learn about the world and monsters was a smart move.
-The flavor and the story are quickly growing on me. While the world feels pretty generic in macro (it's got the issues of "these names sound like they came out of a fantasy name generator"), in detail it's pretty good. It's got a lot of classic RPG feeling to it, and I like the bestiary, as each description is like an actual hunting guide for monsters. You get a sense of European attachment to myth and lore, which is why I always enjoy fantasy games from Europe. They seem to connect to the setting in a genuine way that often eludes some American devs.
-The voice acting isn't the greatest, and half of villagers and guards sound like they came straight from Fable. A minor complaint though, the voice acting is passable.
-The combat is still....meh. I just don't like how it handles and I don't really like the combo system. But I've barely even gotten started unlocking stuff.
-The sex and "hurr hurr Man-stuff" is alright, a little over played. I'm starting to enjoy Gerhalt as a hero though and the dialogue is improving over the rushed introduction in the tutorial. Is it just me or does no one's tone seem all that surprised that Gerhalt isn't dead?
-The game has some beautiful UI work. It's NOT intuitive and NOT readable, and in some screens there's way too much going on, but the art is delicious.
-Little touches. The people moving around each area give it some nice life. The meditation to gain levels and the camp fires is cool (although please stop giving me flint.) The weather effects are cool. At night it's FUCKING DARK, dark like I have not seen dark in a video game for a long time. It really adds to the atmosphere, and makes stuff that helps you see in the dark actually useful.
I still have some lingering "there's a reason I didn't like this game when I first tried it" feelings but I can see now why people liked this game. The theme may be hit or miss, and the RPG aspects may be as well at times, but there are a lot of good things going on in this game. I sort of chalk it up to it being a European game maker and them having their own interpretations of what works and what doesn't. (S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is sort of the same way. The UI screams "we're not a AAA American game company!"
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Topic: Worst Games You've Ever Played? (Read 50386 times)