Skyrim or The Witcher 2?

[Gideon Rogers]

I've only played Skyrim, so take this opinion with a grain of salt. It feels like an insult to my intelligence when a game includes sex scenes for no other reason than to appeal to gamers who had to stop paying subscribtions for "less respectable websites" in order to afford the game. Gameplay seems solid though.

 

[jackinmydaniels]

I HATE that this topic keeps coming up, the games aren't even similar outside of their fantasy settings.

 

[Epona]

Really, two RPG's are as incomparable as you can get? How about Witcher 2 vs Mario Galaxy, wouldn't that be MORE incomparable?

If you lack the ability to compare two RPG's, then why even respond at all?

I agree, this is getting silly, while they aren't the exact same game they are similar enough that people will sometimes make comparisons between them or have to choose just 1 to pick up.

Indeed, and if they were close enough to be comparable to these people, then they would be complaining because they weren't different enough.

My god folks, you compare games everytime you look on the shelf and decide what to play. It isn't hard to compare games of the same genre.

 

[Joccaren]

Ok, to everyone saying "They're totally comparable", they're not in this context.
In an argument over which is better, you can't compare them to come to an answer.

"Witcher is better because its combat is better".
Its combat isn't better [Though I find it to be more enjoyable]. Its combat is different. You can prefer the style the Witcher goes for in its combat, or the one Skyrim goes for, but you can't say overall "This is the better combat".

This is why they are, in this context, incomparable. You can look at them both and say "This is different", but not "This is better", which is what this thread is, vaguely, asking for.

If someone were to ask you which were the better RPG, Skyrim or TW2, you couldn't give a flat "This one" answer because they are not immediately comparable overall either. You would have to ask "Do you prefer open world questing, or a more fleshed out semi-linear set of quests" among other questions.

No, this does not mean you can't compare the games at all. You can. In this context, you can't do it properly. If it were changed to "Which game has the better open world mechanics", then sure, you could compare the features from each game easily enough and come to a conclusion.

Granted this is mostly OPs fault thanks to a lack of clear direction for the thread, but TW2 vs Skyrim makes it pretty apparent that its asking which one is better. In this case, they are not directly comparable, but which is better is entirely dependent on the tastes of what an individual likes in RPGs, as they are different beasts along those lines.



OT: The Witcher 2 for me, easily.
Combat I find more entertaining and engaging.
The story is better told and IMO more interesting.
The characters are far more fleshed out and alive.
Everywhere you go feels alive [or dead] and has some sort of atmosphere, as opposed to Skyrim where it usually just existed.
Its graphics are far, far better.
Whilst the choices don't necessarily have a ton of consequence, they can lead to a different experience in playing through, giving it IMO more replayability than Skyrim.

Its also less buggy, at least for me, and more polished.

 

[Zhukov]

[snip]

Lengthy discussion time!

No, it really, really isn't.

Sorry, but I have no interest in getting into lengthly exchanges about whether or not a game is good. Hence why I kept my first post vague and spoiler'd my reply.

You enjoyed the game (or so I presume) and I did not. Doubtless there are games out there that I enjoyed that you did not. I see no point in arguing the matter. You won't change my mind and I have no need to change yours.

 

[Imbechile]

Both of them are pretty mediocre games....
So I would say that the Witcher is the less mediocre one

 

[Starke]

Skyrim because I hate the Witcher.

WTS a thread full of bias.

Yeah, but who'd want to buy a thread full of bias? I mean, it's not like they're actually worth anything.

 

[BoredAussieGamer]

I'm with the swarm who say they're incomparable, but I'm gonna go with Skyrim.

I prefer the organic open ended gameplay that's reasonably intuitive. Sure the Witcher has sex, but Skyrim has nudity mods (I don't use them, I'm just aware of their existence).

 

[BroJing]

Skyrim will always be my favourite, I loved everything about the world, the story and yes even the combat mechanics.

I didn't play the Witcher 2 because I don't like RPGs with default characters, yes I understand the emphasis on a linear story but then it's not really a RPG its just a normal game(Yes you are playing the 'role' of Geralt but by that logic you're playing the 'role' of Pvt. Billy in every COD game ever).

Also, the world and the visual style didn't appeal to me as the Renaissance/High Medieval vibe wasn't something I could get excited about. I didn't like Oblivion for much the same reason.

 

[Joccaren]

I didn't play the Witcher 2 because I don't like RPGs with default characters, yes I understand the emphasis on a linear story but then it's not really a RPG its just a normal game(Yes you are playing the 'role' of Geralt but by that logic you're playing the 'role' of Pvt. Billy in every COD game ever).

This is why I like to refer to Witcher 2's story as Semi-Linear.

Its linear in the sense that Skyrim's war between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials is linear. There is a linear set of missions for each side, and you get to choose a side.

You Role Play as Geralt as it isn't a set in stone "This must happen every time" sort of thing. Geralt is a pre-defined character, but key conversations are interactive, and allow you to choose how his pre-defined character reacts to certain situations, whilst still keeping in that character. You can't go around and slaughter a village because you felt like it, but you can decide whether to help one set of potential allies, or the other, whether to let people who cross you go, or whether to kill them, to deceive some, or to help them.

Its not like CoD where everything that happens will happen the same way in every playthrough. It actually does react to the way you RP Geralt, IMO more than Skyrim does.

 

[Krantos]

Both of them are RPG's in a fantasy setting. In both games, you play as someone who is close to being the last of his kind (Witcher or Dragonborn). Both have dialogue options. I could go on, of course. I fail to see how they are so mind-blowingly "incomparable". Maybe if these are the two only games you have ever played in your entire life, but otherwise...

What you're talking about are superficial similarities. The two go for very different engagements.

The Witcher is much darker, has a much more structured narrative, focuses on player story choices, has a much smaller world, is more character focused, and limits the player to playing a single character, it also gives the main character much more personality.

Skyrim is much more light-hearted, has almost no narrative structure, allows for (almost) no player story choices, has a huge world filled with unrelated stuff to do, allows the player to play any of 10 races, male or female, warrior, thief, mage, or any combination, but gives that character no personality of their own, relying on the player to provide that.


In short, the Witcher presents the player with a very refined and structured story. The player is allowed to make choices which affect how the story unfolds, but it's always the same story.

Skyrim on the other hand simply presents the player with a multitude of possible stories (sometimes only the barebones of a story), and then lets them loose to do and be whatever they want.

The Witcher 2 can also be completed, with all the side quests, in about 25-30 hrs. 500+ hours into Skyrim, and I'm still finding new shit.

Both are great games, but they do and provide very different things.

 

[Dark Prophet]

You can't really compare those two, they have only two things in common they are both RPG's and both have fantasy theme going on for them and that's all.

 

[themyrmidon]

Reading through these posts I can't help but think that the internet is missing the point of doing a comparison. Yes, you compare things when they are similar to highlight the differences, but you also compare vastly different options to determine which you like more. Saying that Skyrim and Witcher 2 are incomparable is just false, while I can't pick as I *still* haven't played Witcher 2 yet I can say I much prefer Skyrim to Dragon Age: Origins, despite their differences in almost all but setting. This is due to story, quests, feel of the world, gameplay, and pretty much everything (yeah, I really didn't like DA:O). I also liked Avengers more than TDKR, despite their "lack of comparability".

TL;DR: stop whining about things not being comparable and make a choice!

 

[Dendio]

Gonna throw in my vote for witcher 2. Both games are good, but witcher 2's characters are much more memorable than skyrim's. As such the witcher 2 story is stronger. The refreshing maturity level of witcher 2 is another feature worth mentioning