The Witcher

[minus_273c]

It's bloody awesome. Get it.

 

[spinFX]

Great game! My only gripe is the translations... If you take them out of context (hell that's almost how they are anyway) they make sense as a single statement, perfect grammar, perfect voice acting, perfect pronunciation. But when you have a long run of sentences you realize just how poorly translated it is.

As I say though, great game.

 

[Vrach]

Being a big lover of RPG games , I find this game to be a very big piece of crap.

This. The camera and the combat alone are just bloody awful in every single respect imaginable (it's a Diablo-style click-repeatedly-to-attack mixed with a bit of QTE-like timing with clicking to gain bonuses, extremely boring and unsatisfactory). The story also didn't amaze me much at start (I couldn't get more than half an hour into the gameplay without my brain saying "fuck this" and ditching me to go play Tetris by itself) and from what I heard, it's quite bollox on the overall as well.

Check out the Yahtzee's review. He's more more skilled at flushing the game down the toilet where it really belongs than any of us here

Oh and... sorry to be a buzzkill. I know what you were after when you wanted to pick up the game, thinking "BioWare RPG, woot", but this one's just not up to their standards, not sure what happened to it :\

 

[More Fun To Compute]

If you want to play hours of boring sub standard game with a gritty unreconstructed setting in the hope that you will see some "choice and consequence" in the plot then this is the game for you.

 

[Lost In The Void]

Being a big lover of RPG games , I find this game to be a very big piece of crap.

This. The camera and the combat alone are just bloody awful in every single respect imaginable (it's a Diablo-style click-repeatedly-to-attack mixed with a bit of QTE-like timing with clicking to gain bonuses, extremely boring and unsatisfactory). The story also didn't amaze me much at start (I couldn't get more than half an hour into the gameplay without my brain saying "fuck this" and ditching me to go play Tetris by itself) and from what I heard, it's quite bollox on the overall as well.

Check out the Yahtzee's review. He's more more skilled at flushing the game down the toilet where it really belongs than any of us here

Yes because Yahtzee is God when it comes to deciding what games are good and what aren't. Just go with the flow right? Whatever right Yahtzee condemns it so thus it must be shit.

 

[Zani]

It is awesome, one of the best RPGs this generation, it has a steeper learning curve than most other recent RPGs, but it's worth it, while the combat isn't all that great the other parts adds up to an amazing game.

 

[Yossarian1507]

Good sides:

Great grey-and-grey moral choice system which easily owns every other RPG except maybe Alpha Protocol in that category.

Nice plot.

Fun with skills and mixing mixtures.

Combat (your mileage may vary)

Decent graphics, good music

Bad sides:

Looong loading time

Lots of walking

Combat (your mileage may vary)

-----

I personally liked the combat which was something refreshing after clicking the enemies to death in other RPGs, but I know many people ***** about so I think it's up to individual taste.

Anyway, I think that pros outweigh the cons in about 100:1. If you're looking for interesting story and you are tired of 'Mother-Theresa-or-Hitler' moral choice system in RPGs - this is the game for you.

 

[Vrach]

Being a big lover of RPG games , I find this game to be a very big piece of crap.

This. The camera and the combat alone are just bloody awful in every single respect imaginable (it's a Diablo-style click-repeatedly-to-attack mixed with a bit of QTE-like timing with clicking to gain bonuses, extremely boring and unsatisfactory). The story also didn't amaze me much at start (I couldn't get more than half an hour into the gameplay without my brain saying "fuck this" and ditching me to go play Tetris by itself) and from what I heard, it's quite bollox on the overall as well.

Check out the Yahtzee's review. He's more more skilled at flushing the game down the toilet where it really belongs than any of us here

Yes because Yahtzee is God when it comes to deciding what games are good and what aren't. Just go with the flow right? Whatever right Yahtzee condemns it so thus it must be shit.

Except... that if you read more than one line of my post, you'll see that I have played the game myself and my brain couldn't tolerate the bullshit that was supposed to be the combat system for more than 30 minutes and the story wasn't any remedy to the fact, an opinion actually shared by a good amount of players, as you can see by certain user reviews in various places, try Metacritic or even these forums, they have a section for that. All I mentioned Yahtzee for is a source to say the same thing I would've said, but in a more amusing way.

And the fact that I gave you a good reason why I, as well as many other players wouldn't like the combat, even though of course, if you were a fan of such a system, you could take what I said as a recommendation to play the game and enjoy it.

And yes, Yahtzee is a God when it comes to deciding on a lot of the games I've played (and I don't just skip a game cause he said it's shit), but it could be just that my taste is compatible with his or that I'm able to see through the amusing assault of insults into the actual insight he gives onto the games in his own way.

editted for clarity

 

[Lost In The Void]

Being a big lover of RPG games , I find this game to be a very big piece of crap.

This. The camera and the combat alone are just bloody awful in every single respect imaginable (it's a Diablo-style click-repeatedly-to-attack mixed with a bit of QTE-like timing with clicking to gain bonuses, extremely boring and unsatisfactory). The story also didn't amaze me much at start (I couldn't get more than half an hour into the gameplay without my brain saying "fuck this" and ditching me to go play Tetris by itself) and from what I heard, it's quite bollox on the overall as well.

Check out the Yahtzee's review. He's more more skilled at flushing the game down the toilet where it really belongs than any of us here

Yes because Yahtzee is God when it comes to deciding what games are good and what aren't. Just go with the flow right? Whatever right Yahtzee condemns it so thus it must be shit.

Except... that if you read more than one line of my post, you'll see that I have played the game myself and my brain couldn't tolerate the bullshit that was supposed to be the combat system for more than 30 minutes and the story wasn't any remedy to the fact.

And the fact that I gave you a good reason why I, as well as many other players wouldn't like the combat, even though of course, if you were a fan of such a system, you could take what I said as a recommendation to play the game and enjoy it.

And yes, Yahtzee is a God when it comes to deciding on a lot of the games I've played (and I don't just skip a game cause he said it's shit), but it could be just that my taste is compatible with his or that I'm able to see through the amusing assault of insults into the actual insight he gives onto the games in his own way.

Yes and managed to paraphrase his own review almost exactly too so forgive me if I take it with a full order of salt on the side. To be frank I'm also sick of the click combat argument too. What makes this any different then any other RPG that requires you to *gasp* click on your target, at least you have to pay attention to what you're doing and actually tests some sort of timing mechanism. I could care less about whether you like the story or not, but condemning the game because of click combat, when that is all RPGs tend to feature in the first place is a load of shit in my book.

As for Yahtzee being the God of deciding games, no he isn't. He's a critic, a good one mind you, but a critic none the less, specializing in humour and tearing the game apart for every flaw. He has to fit a review into what, five minutes of video all while throwing in jokes and overemphasizing the flaws of the game. Yes perhaps it is something can gauge a game by, maybe as a starter point, but he is not a God as I said before, he is just a man with his own tastes. Just like everyone of us and as such I normally wouldn't have such a problem, but as I said, since you pretty much paraphrased what Yahtzee said to the letter, it makes me wonder how much of a chance you gave the game in the first place.

 

[DSaB]

It's really bloody good, I'd strongly advise you to give it a go. I was a bit worried about all the sexism vibe, but you really have to "opt into" that aspect. The english translations of the books by Sapkowski are amazing too. I'm not a big fantasy fan but I loved them. I will say this though, like in every game: swamps suck!

 

[Zacharine]

*ahem*

Screw the negativity, The Witcher was brilliant!

But why you ask! No doubt shocked by my sudden enthusiasm towards a game when 'everyone' knows the popular thing to do on forums, especially these ones thanks to the ever-cynical Yahtzee's influence, is to bitterly bash games without remorse while pointing out otherwise minor flaws as though they were the devils own arse! How could I possible defend a game wholeheartedly? Why?

Because I thought The Witcher was a fantastic experience, and before people inevitably reply with the classic 'then you don't know any good rpg' response, I'll have you know I've played so many classic pc rpg your head would spin trying to count em all from the ol' Gold Box series to Ultima, Wizardry, Gothic, Elder Scrolls, Baldur's Gate and beyond! It's easily my favorite genre next to strategy.

As for The Witcher, here's why I defend it: This is an actual Role Playing Game! Sure you're stuck playing as Geralt, but simply being able to make a character means nothing when you're relegated to bland empty choiceless worlds in which you're never given a chance to 'expand' and truly breath life into this husk of a character. No amout of visual tweaking or fancy graphical mods will ever make Oblivion or Fallout 3 very interesting to me for that simple reason. But The Witcher, for all its flaws (And by no means am I saying the game is perfect!) provides that! Playing through the game it at first seems fairly typical, with choices that don't seem to have any immediate impact. But that's the key word there; immediate. Seemingly unimportant choices you make in the first Chapter will have an effect later on, just as what at first seems like a typical predictable fantasy plot unravels into a grand fantasy opera the likes of which very, very few other games can even hope to match.

Bluntly put, this is the sort of game world Dragon Age wanted but failed to create. A bitter, savage setting full of bigotry, violence, sex and racism. At no point are you faced with a simple linear line of Good/Evil decisions. No. Every choice has multiple angles to it, with characters doing things for genuinely realistic reasons beyond simply 'I r evil' and the like.

The result is that, without even realizing it, you're creating *your* version of Geralt. You're giving him motivations, reasoning, and a life beyond simply another useless protagonist in another silly rpg. Is he a just and fair person, trying to alleviate the pain of others when he sees it, or a truthful and honest character who does his duty for the greater good? The two can be a vast difference when faced with options such as helping out the scoia'tael, a group of downtrodden rebels fighting for freedom, or the Knights who serve to protect the townspeople at any cost! The issue isn't nearly as simple as it seems, with the rebels attacking and killing innocents to try and drive home their goals while the knights then use those attacks as an excuse to further hunt and destroy any who would oppose them. And that's only one of many issues, all of which can have multiple resolutions as well.

Game itself, most issues I had with the translation or dialogue were alleviated with the Enhanced Edition, available for free to anyone who bought the original game like I did. Not only were hundreds of lines of dialogue re-written after complaints from the community, but new voice-actors were hired and, if that still wasn't enough, options to play the game with subtitles in other languages such as its native Polish were allowed as well.

Very nice.

And as for the gameplay I enjoyed it! The clicking combat was much more entertaining than simply mashing keys like other games generally have you do, and on the harder difficulties not only does timing become imperative but a well used potion or spell can mean the difference between victory or defeat. True, it does get repetitive after awhile, The Witcher being a very long game especially with the short ten-hour story we've gotten used to most products offering these days, but I'd hardly count that against the game as more than a minor annoyance. Visually the environments I still find highly detailed and interesting, while the music is often breathtaking. Character models tend to be stiff and silly looking, but that's more an issue with the engine the game was built upon more than anything else. Hard to believe this is the Aurora Engine, yes THAT Aurora engine, the one from the first Neverwinter Nights game.

So obviously I loved The Witcher and can't wait to see what the developers end up doing with the sequel. If THIS was their first game, I'm pumped to see what time and experience could bring from such an already talented studio.

But then naturally this is all my opinion, and alas one game can't please everyone, funny that, so I'm sure there are plenty who'll disagree. But I felt in such an otherwise disheartening 'meh' topic this game could use a solid defense, and so here I am.

Damned good game. I say try it and judge for yourself! Can't be very expensive now anyway.

YES! Someone I totally agree with when it comes to Witcher. It is a damned good game that has flaws like any other game, but there are so many brilliant parts to counterbalance it.

It is most certainly worth a try, I heartily recommend it for all the above reasons.

EDIT: In fact, where did I put my disks on it... Perhaps I'll change my avatar as well...

 

[Vrach]

Yes and managed to paraphrase his own review almost exactly too so forgive me if I take it with a full order of salt on the side. To be frank I'm also sick of the click combat argument too. What makes this any different then any other RPG that requires you to *gasp* click on your target, at least you have to pay attention to what you're doing and actually tests some sort of timing mechanism. I could care less about whether you like the story or not, but condemning the game because of click combat, when that is all RPGs tend to feature in the first place is a load of shit in my book.

Whether you believe me to have played the game or not is none of my concern, I can't do more than tell you cause I deleted it off my PC a while ago, partly cause I didn't enjoy it and partly because it had a lovely SecuRom issue that caused my W7 to get a BSOD once in a while so I wanted to get rid of any and all trace of it from my computer.

The point is, combat doesn't feel involving to me. As I said, it may well appeal to people who like that sort of combat and from your arguments, I'm guessing you're one of those people, I have no problem with that and as I said, you can read my words as I often read Yahtzee's - a personal dislike with an insight into what the system actually is and decide for yourself whether it's something you want or not.

Again, personally it just doesn't feel satisfying to me, and there is a fundamental difference between binding an action to a key and mouse-clicking with a pointer to tell the character to perform an action. Whether that difference does anything to spoil your gameplay or not is up to you, for me it does, especially when the pointer-clicking is something you do for a huge amount of gameplay as it's literally all the combat boiils down to.

Also as I said, I bloody hated the camera. The OTS view felt very unnatural and the game really looked unappealing from there. It felt like someone took a NeverWinter Nights kind of game and forced your camera all the way close, where the graphics and the action just wasn't designed to support that camera angle for actual gameplay. I mean it worked, it was just unappealing to me. Of course, you could zoom out to the above view, but that gave me some of the worst movement control I've so far witnessed in a game. Personally, I was hoping the game came with a NWN/DA:O sort of modifiable birds-eye view, it seemed it would fit there much better than the cameras you had available.

I didn't mind the style switch much that Yahtzee hated (as you saw above, I'm a fan of Jedi Knight games, so it kinda reminded me of the good old blue/yellow/red style kind of thing), but again the mouse-clicking combat just ruined it for me. Oh and sorry to say this, I could be terribly wrong and it's actually a part of some sword-fighting style, but the way he holds his sword (and attacks with it) seemed completely unnatural.

As for Yahtzee being the God of deciding games, no he isn't. He's a critic, a good one mind you, but a critic none the less, specializing in humour and tearing the game apart for every flaw. He has to fit a review into what, five minutes of video all while throwing in jokes and overemphasizing the flaws of the game. Yes perhaps it is something can gauge a game by, maybe as a starter point, but he is not a God as I said before, he is just a man with his own tastes. Just like everyone of us and as such I normally wouldn't have such a problem, but as I said, since you pretty much paraphrased what Yahtzee said to the letter, it makes me wonder how much of a chance you gave the game in the first place.

I'm not gonna feed you anymore here, but suffice to say that was a joke, made to present how well I think of him as a critic, not just as a comedian. I have to intention of responding to your posts anymore however as you seem to just be fishing for a flamefest here that I have absolutely no interest in, I merely expressed my opinion on the game, which is what a few people in this thread asked for.

 

[Lost In The Void]

Yes and managed to paraphrase his own review almost exactly too so forgive me if I take it with a full order of salt on the side. To be frank I'm also sick of the click combat argument too. What makes this any different then any other RPG that requires you to *gasp* click on your target, at least you have to pay attention to what you're doing and actually tests some sort of timing mechanism. I could care less about whether you like the story or not, but condemning the game because of click combat, when that is all RPGs tend to feature in the first place is a load of shit in my book.

Whether you believe me to have played the game or not is none of my concern, I can't do more than tell you cause I deleted it off my PC a while ago, partly cause I didn't enjoy it and partly because it had a lovely SecuRom issue that caused my W7 to get a BSOD once in a while so I wanted to get rid of any and all trace of it from my computer.

The point is, combat doesn't feel involving to me. As I said, it may well appeal to people who like that sort of combat and from your arguments, I'm guessing you're one of those people, I have no problem with that and as I said, you can read my words as I often read Yahtzee's - a personal dislike with an insight into what the system actually is and decide for yourself whether it's something you want or not.

Again, personally it just doesn't feel satisfying to me, and there is a fundamental difference between binding an action to a key and mouse-clicking with a pointer to tell the character to perform an action. Whether that difference does anything to spoil your gameplay or not is up to you, for me it does, especially when the pointer-clicking is something you do for a huge amount of gameplay as it's literally all the combat boiils down to.

Also as I said, I bloody hated the camera. The OTS view felt very unnatural and the game really looked unappealing from there. It felt like someone took a NeverWinter Nights kind of game and forced your camera all the way close, where the graphics and the action just wasn't designed to support that camera angle for actual gameplay. I mean it worked, it was just unappealing to me. Of course, you could zoom out to the above view, but that gave me some of the worst movement control I've so far witnessed in a game. Personally, I was hoping the game came with a NWN/DA:O sort of modifiable birds-eye view, it seemed it would fit there much better than the cameras you had available.

I didn't mind the style switch much that Yahtzee hated (as you saw above, I'm a fan of Jedi Knight games, so it kinda reminded me of the good old blue/yellow/red style kind of thing), but again the mouse-clicking combat just ruined it for me. Oh and sorry to say this, I could be terribly wrong and it's actually a part of some sword-fighting style, but the way he holds his sword (and attacks with it) seemed completely unnatural.

As for Yahtzee being the God of deciding games, no he isn't. He's a critic, a good one mind you, but a critic none the less, specializing in humour and tearing the game apart for every flaw. He has to fit a review into what, five minutes of video all while throwing in jokes and overemphasizing the flaws of the game. Yes perhaps it is something can gauge a game by, maybe as a starter point, but he is not a God as I said before, he is just a man with his own tastes. Just like everyone of us and as such I normally wouldn't have such a problem, but as I said, since you pretty much paraphrased what Yahtzee said to the letter, it makes me wonder how much of a chance you gave the game in the first place.

I'm not gonna feed you anymore here, but suffice to say that was a joke, made to present how well I think of him as a critic, not just as a comedian. I have to intention of responding to your posts anymore however as you seem to just be fishing for a flamefest here that I have absolutely no interest in, I merely expressed my opinion on the game, which is what a few people in this thread asked for.

Then I shall take Yahtzee out of the equation and say good day as that was my initial complaint with this. Now you've justified your response rather than echoing someone and I'm ok with that. You've stated your reasons for disliking the game in an actual in depth way and I'm ok with that. If you want to see my full in depth opinion on it, acknowledging flaws and all I have an excerpt from my review on this site in one of my posts in this thread.

As for starting a flame fight perhaps it looked as such but I had so such intention, perhaps instead using harsher language than I should have. As stated I just dislike Yahtzee clones who hail him as Jesus and repeat his opinion as fact.

As such thank you for actually having a coherent debate and I apologize that mine came off as more of a flame than anything.

 

[Patton662]

I'm going to defend the game with my life, I think it was an amazing experience and a really good extension of the books. The story becomes much more immersive once you read the Witcher saga. So yeah, buy the game and read the books.

 

[The Madman]

I don't really want to get involved in this particular debate between you and Lost, but I will comment on this:

Oh and sorry to say this, I could be terribly wrong and it's actually a part of some sword-fighting style, but the way he holds his sword (and attacks with it) seemed completely unnatural.

It's a real martial art. People tend to think of medieval combat as a sort of lumbering affair, with Samurai stereotyped as the swift and sure experts while their European counterparts are blundering tanks with legs for example, but that's simply untrue.

An example:
Of course in The Witcher they added in some honestly silly flips and such into the combo, but you only start seeing that when you're close to mastering a skill tree (As you gain more skill in a combat type, new animations for more complex combo do open up!) so you wouldn't have seen that, plus you could probably explain it as Geralts 'superhuman' abilities. But at a 'low level' it's all quite realistic actually, much moreso than most other games in fact obvious gameplay issues such as the continued flailing and health-bars aside.

And on another note the Enhanced Edition version of the game, or the upgrade patch if you only own the original, removes securom and all other DRM.

 

[Hawgh]

I will only say that The Witcher is a great RPG, and one of my favourites. You must buy it.

 

[Vrach]

Then I shall take Yahtzee out of the equation and say good day as that was my initial complaint with this. Now you've justified your response rather than echoing someone and I'm ok with that. You've stated your reasons for disliking the game in an actual in depth way and I'm ok with that. If you want to see my full in depth opinion on it, acknowledging flaws and all I have an excerpt from my review on this site in one of my posts in this thread.

As for starting a flame fight perhaps it looked as such but I had so such intention, perhaps instead using harsher language than I should have. As stated I just dislike Yahtzee clones who hail him as Jesus and repeat his opinion as fact.

As such thank you for actually having a coherent debate and I apologize that mine came off as more of a flame than anything.

Apologies at my end as well, just didn't like feeling dragged into a heated debate over being viewed as a Yahtzee clone/fanboi. I mean I enjoy his reviews, find him funny and find his reviews actually insightful and offering me a wide range of information as long as I look past his humour into the review part of his reviews. But that's still a far stretch from not being able to form my own opinion and taking his reviews as the one and only measurement of a game Just felt it was easier to reference his review, as my opinion was quite similar to his on the subject so was aiming at cutting down some typing time. But anyway, all's well that ends well, sorry I took you for a troll

It's a real martial art. People tend to think of medieval combat as a sort of lumbering affair, with Samurai stereotyped as the swift and sure experts while their European counterparts are blundering tanks with legs for example, but that's simply untrue.

Yeah I know, as I said, I can completely believe that, I was watching some videos of Kendo and some similar sword-fighting competitions on YouTube thinking "hmm, that doesn't look nearly as impressive as I had expected"

Perhaps it's better in the bigger picture, moving towards more realistic combat, but I still have to say I enjoy more the classic movie-stereotypical styles, as they just look more fun, even if they're less realistic. But hey that's just me

 

[ckriley]

*ahem*

Screw the negativity, The Witcher was brilliant!

But why you ask! No doubt shocked by my sudden enthusiasm towards a game when 'everyone' knows the popular thing to do on forums, especially these ones thanks to the ever-cynical Yahtzee's influence, is to bitterly bash games without remorse while pointing out otherwise minor flaws as though they were the devils own arse! How could I possible defend a game wholeheartedly? Why?

Because I thought The Witcher was a fantastic experience, and before people inevitably reply with the classic 'then you don't know any good rpg' response, I'll have you know I've played so many classic pc rpg your head would spin trying to count em all from the ol' Gold Box series to Ultima, Wizardry, Gothic, Elder Scrolls, Baldur's Gate and beyond! It's easily my favorite genre next to strategy.

As for The Witcher, here's why I defend it: This is an actual Role Playing Game! Sure you're stuck playing as Geralt, but simply being able to make a character means nothing when you're relegated to bland empty choiceless worlds in which you're never given a chance to 'expand' and truly breath life into this husk of a character. No amout of visual tweaking or fancy graphical mods will ever make Oblivion or Fallout 3 very interesting to me for that simple reason. But The Witcher, for all its flaws (And by no means am I saying the game is perfect!) provides that! Playing through the game it at first seems fairly typical, with choices that don't seem to have any immediate impact. But that's the key word there; immediate. Seemingly unimportant choices you make in the first Chapter will have an effect later on, just as what at first seems like a typical predictable fantasy plot unravels into a grand fantasy opera the likes of which very, very few other games can even hope to match.

Bluntly put, this is the sort of game world Dragon Age wanted but failed to create. A bitter, savage setting full of bigotry, violence, sex and racism. At no point are you faced with a simple linear line of Good/Evil decisions. No. Every choice has multiple angles to it, with characters doing things for genuinely realistic reasons beyond simply 'I r evil' and the like.

The result is that, without even realizing it, you're creating *your* version of Geralt. You're giving him motivations, reasoning, and a life beyond simply another useless protagonist in another silly rpg. Is he a just and fair person, trying to alleviate the pain of others when he sees it, or a truthful and honest character who does his duty for the greater good? The two can be a vast difference when faced with options such as helping out the scoia'tael, a group of downtrodden rebels fighting for freedom, or the Knights who serve to protect the townspeople at any cost! The issue isn't nearly as simple as it seems, with the rebels attacking and killing innocents to try and drive home their goals while the knights then use those attacks as an excuse to further hunt and destroy any who would oppose them. And that's only one of many issues, all of which can have multiple resolutions as well.

Game itself, most issues I had with the translation or dialogue were alleviated with the Enhanced Edition, available for free to anyone who bought the original game like I did. Not only were hundreds of lines of dialogue re-written after complaints from the community, but new voice-actors were hired and, if that still wasn't enough, options to play the game with subtitles in other languages such as its native Polish were allowed as well.

Very nice.

And as for the gameplay I enjoyed it! The clicking combat was much more entertaining than simply mashing keys like other games generally have you do, and on the harder difficulties not only does timing become imperative but a well used potion or spell can mean the difference between victory or defeat. True, it does get repetitive after awhile, The Witcher being a very long game especially with the short ten-hour story we've gotten used to most products offering these days, but I'd hardly count that against the game as more than a minor annoyance. Visually the environments I still find highly detailed and interesting, while the music is often breathtaking. Character models tend to be stiff and silly looking, but that's more an issue with the engine the game was built upon more than anything else. Hard to believe this is the Aurora Engine, yes THAT Aurora engine, the one from the first Neverwinter Nights game.

So obviously I loved The Witcher and can't wait to see what the developers end up doing with the sequel. If THIS was their first game, I'm pumped to see what time and experience could bring from such an already talented studio.

But then naturally this is all my opinion, and alas one game can't please everyone, funny that, so I'm sure there are plenty who'll disagree. But I felt in such an otherwise disheartening 'meh' topic this game could use a solid defense, and so here I am.

Damned good game. I say try it and judge for yourself! Can't be very expensive now anyway.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write an excellent and honest review of what you thought about the game. It is very helpful and is honestly what these forums are supposed to be for. In truth, that's why I make threads like these asking a question about a game, because I'm always hoping that out of the dozens of the prerequisite negative posts and troll posts, there will at least be one serious post that lays it all out. Thanks again!

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

For me, it's like a BioWare game only darker and somewhat more interesting. It's the same style of mostly linear plot but more than one way through most situations, but instead of having to choose between being Jesus or kicking an orphan's puppy all the time, a lot of the decisions are between things that all suck in some way or another, and you have to at best pick the least bad option or one that makes you least uncomfortable.

It starts out kind of slow, but once it gets going, I really enjoyed it. I was worried during the prologue/tutorial before the first real chapter of the game, because it seemed kind of meh, but once I got out of that and started running around finding an endless stream of interesting things to do, it got a lot more interesting. A lot of the characters and relationships and regions and conflicts and whatnot are pretty well developed, if you're into doing a lot of reading and talking to lots of people.

The combat's kind of mediocre, but it didn't bother me any more than most BioWare games, which generally have rather mediocre combat systems, too, particularly the more actiony ones. It's sort of like a half-assed Diablo-style combat system tacked onto an awesome dark fantasy RPG, just like how Mass Effect is a half-assed third-person shooter tacked onto a rather good sci-fi RPG. If you want a really good combat system/action game, this is not for you. If the setting and characters and exploring how all of the various parts of the world fit together are enough to keep you interested in a game, on the other hand, this is a perfect choice.