The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition
8.8
10
78
78
Up there with ff7
Okay so I just started playing the game a bit confusing and there is a learning curve. The main character is instantly likeable which makes the game all that more appealing. From the get go this game was a master piece I recommend this for any rpgr's.
5/4/13
Is this truly 'Enhanced'?
The Witcher 2... I will admit, I was worried about the game. I have never played the first game, but I have heard many good things about this, so I decided to try it out. And... well...
It's complicated.
The Witcher 2 has won many awards for it's story and gameplay, thing is, I don't really see why...
Starting with the plot, the main character, Geralt, starts out running from guards, having been framed for killing a King. Sure, it sounds interesting, and it even lets you play flashbacks as to what happened. But...
It would only make real sense to people who have played the first game. It has Geralt having a lover already, Triss, yet you don't know why, how they met, or really anything. It's like you have to accept it. This is fine for those who have played the first game, but it should still explain everything, or have the option for players to have the game explain it. For about a third of the time, you will feel lost as you meet characters in the game, having Geralt greet them like they were old friends while having you clueless.
The events that happen, though, are VERY interesting and will catch your attention. This helps with you being slightly clueless to the details, making you want to know what happens next.
The choice system itself will truly make you think long and hard of what to do. Choosing to do one thing in the game can literally change how the story is played out. Most noticeably in Chapter 1 at the end, where a certain choice will decide where you go from two areas, of who your enemy will be and who will be your allies. And, unlike in other games, there is no clear 'good guy and bad guy'. It's all about your point of view, how you feel, etc. This is perfect. There are FAR too many games that have an obvious good side and a bad side for a quest. This is refreshing in itself and will make you stay alert.
The ending is... ugh... despite everything that happens, there is no closure. No satisfying feeling. You are left wanting more. MUCH more, and not in a good way. It sets up for the next game very well, but in a bad way, especially if you decide not to fight the final boss.
I understand setting up a cliff hanger for the next game, but don't do it to where the story suffers from it.
The gameplay is simple, yet fun. You have a light attack, a powerful attack, and a magic attack, along with a dodge, with lock on and guard.
This sounds good, but it has issues. With dodging, you will feel like you should NOT have been hit by an attack when you did, in the middle of dodging, as well as having a chance to get stuck in a corner, or sometimes glitched, as either a ton of smaller enemies attack you at once or a single powerful enemy continues to attack you, not allowing you to even get up and do ANYTHING or do so much damage that nothing you do matters, resulting in you watching your character's health disappear.
Now, for glitches... ugh...
There are many in the game. I will list the ones I had happen to me, but feel free to google them up if you are thinking of buying the game.
I have been glitched into a wall, in a corner behind broken posts that prevented me from moving, which meant that I died as the enemy was, of course, able to go over the glitch while I could not... glitch proof enemies???
At the end of some quests, and when you win something from a person from a minigame, sometimes the reward item won't appear in your inventory, meaning you did all of that for nothing. That's not exactly a good feeling... especially when you were supposed to win an awesome sword from a game of dice poker and you never get it... gah... I wanted that sword...
This is the worst of the glitches, and is unacceptable to me. It only happens in Chapter 3 of the game, where you CAN NOT DIE.
At all.
Ever.
The glitch happens where your heath reaches zero... and yet you do not die, no matter what. Your magic meter also does not recharge as it should, meaning this is basically god mode with a trade off.
This breaks the game. It offers no challenge if you want to abuse it, and saving and reloading does it fix it. I have even restarted my console multiple times to try to get rid of it (because having it on is no fun at all to me). No other game, at least in my knowledge, has a glitch like this. You can wait in a spot to have your health come back, where it seems like the glitch as been fixed. However, the same thing happens again when your health reaches zero.
This glitch has been in the game for A YEAR, by the way. I have looked up comments about this, and some came from 2008, which might suggest it was in the original version as well.
A glitch like this is unacceptable. I understand clipping through a wall sometimes, or having something happen, but this? It ruins the game, the immersion, basically everything. I don't know if it will be fixed, but I doubt it. I do know one thing for sure, having that glitch makes me less likely to play through the game again.
Anyway. This game, when it is working properly, is hard. VERY hard. Even on normal. At least at the beginning, where you have poor armor and weapons. I was force to switch it to Easy because I kept on dying in a quest from just three hits. I had to keep it on that setting until I had better equipment! Be wary of that.
For some of the quests, they are... well, poorly done. The first thing that comes into mind is the Gargoyle Contract. It's an optional quest in the game, but it has some nice rewards in the chests it offers. It si where you have to go into three areas (one has a very hard enemy that can kill you in one motion, by the way) and undo 'runes' that are set on the walls and floor, which unlocks a chest in the same room. Doesn't sound hard, right? Well, you have to undo the runes in a specific order, having four different runes in total, meaning about 36 different combinations, if my math is right, along with each time getting it wrong, you suffer damage. It is essentially guess work unless you buy some books which automatically unlocks them, which you were never told about, or look it all up online. But even then I've read that sometimes the games changes the order they are in, meaning it could be a multiple amount of sets of orders.
Any mission or quest that has literal guess work is just wrong to me. It takes me out of the experience and fun when I literally have to look up the answer. This happened before when I had to find a person near the beginning of the game, and find where the quest objects are, in a huge map.
Which brings up another thing... the quest log is terrible. Most of the time (especially in the first act), you don't really know where to go because the game doesn't point anything out to you, or even give you a good hint. I spent a good half day at least trying to find a quest location, where I had to destroy giant monster cocoons, because the ingame book said it was in trees. In my mind, that means they are in the air on a branch, not actually on the ground near the base of the tree! This happens once again in Chapter 3 as well...
The game's length is determined by how many side quests you want to do, and how much you know of the game. You basically go to three locations, the game only having three Chapters (again... the ending is very poor). To add to it, most of the game is on the first Disc, while only Chapter three is on Disc 2. This makes no sense to me... maybe they ran out of room for the first disc and had to make a second? I don't know.
In the end... it could have been a much better game if it didn't suffer from so many glitches and issues. I understand if they were working on it, like with Skyrim (a Bethesda game isn't a Bethesda game without many glitches!), but they have been on the Xbox version for a little over a year now. Chances are, they aren't going to fix anything.
Also, I would like the add that the only reason why this version is called the 'Enhanced Edition', is because it has a new intro, a new outtro, and cut scenes in between Chapters, which obviously should have been there in the first place. It also has two new quests only in the last Chapter, which they 'claim' will add four more hours... I did them both in under an hour. Unless they add a new Chapter or something substantial, it is not really Enhanced. And no, what they added, along with a few new weapons, doesn't count.
One more thing to add is that you cannot get all of the items unless you play on the 'Dark' mode. Meaning you cannot get the best armor, swords, items, things like that unless you play on the hardest difficulty. After what I have been through, I won't be playing that myself. I had a hard enough time in Normal with a good amount of what I call 'BS' moments and the horrible game breaking glitch in Chapter 3.
The story will suck you in, the characters will make you scratch your head in confusion, they expect you to know everything about the universe the game is in on the get-go...
This game is truly only for the hardcore gamers or gamers that are used to RPGs like this. Casual gamers will probably just give up after dying for the 20th time in Chapter 1. Despite everything I have said, though, I did enjoy the game, and I wish it wasn't so glitch and with so many issues. But I will admit, the load times are very quick, which feels nice and doesn't pull you out of the game. It's a small thing that can make a game feel like it could drag on (Skyrim for example. I hated how long you had to wait for the load times).
Take anything I said as you will. I just recounted by experience with the game and how I honestly feel. If you want to try it, give it a rent, because there is no 'New Game Plus', meaning you have to go through the tough learning curve in the beginning all over again if you want to really see everything the game offers.
Anyway, give it a rent of you want a challenge with a good choice system. Buy it if you really like it even, but beware of the glitches.
4/23/13
ARGH!!!
There are very few games that cause me to lose it, and want to throw the controller into the TV screen, and this was one of them. It may be the best game for a hardcorer, but for the casual player, you'll get lost in the infinite number of sequences of buttons you have to learn before you can even play. My experience featured a tutorial that was annoying and vague at best when describing what buttons to press for the effect they were trying to teach you. I couldn't make it through five minutes of the tutorial, before I wanted to throw the controller out the window and do something else. "Press the left button bumper, located next to the right of the left trigger, while holding the back button down. Now press the green button, while rotation of the left joystick is in play. Notice the character now draws his sword from the sheath. You are now ready to fight...(What?)" All the while they are battling you with sword swipes and magic fireballs, and you just figured out how to get the sword out?!... One of the directions tells you click on the symbol or , "sign" as they put it. They don't tell you where the sign is located until after numerous buttons, the wrong ones, are pressed by you, to which the tutorial pops up and blocks all the action. This you can not get rid of at the beginning of the game no matter what you press in the options menu beforehand. What ever happened to, "Green button fight, red button block, yellow button magic, and red button weapon change, etc...?" I for one do not enjoy a game of, "Twister-for the fingers" while playing another game at the same time...
3/24/13
Great game.
Great game so much lasting appeal that I can't finish this review, because I have to play it again...
3/10/13
Probably the best Rpg on 360
i think this game has alot of love from the makers put into it its so detailed the game play is awesome and what u do and say can changes the story abit the graphics are way above par this took time to make that is for sure i bought this game without knowing anything about it and will never take it back for trade do not overlook this game, i think due to skyrim being around people didnt give it too many chances...........
2/10/13
this game is great in every way.
the witcher 2 assassins of kings enhanced edition is an amazing game,with magic,fighting with swords or your bare fists,its all great.the graphics are better too because of enhancments,and even the gameplay is great.overall,awesome game.
2/7/13
10's...really??? Soooo happy I didn't pay retail
This is one, if not the worst RPG video gaming experience that I have ever been part of. The only reason I am still playing it is because I have this weird tweak that if I start it I should finish the game, and some small, yet dying, hope that it will get better. The voice acting is horrible. Two Worlds MAY be worse but I wouldn't really want to be part of a showdown to figure it out. The game play is atrocious. Very hard to use, and non-intuitive controls equals a game that I have "died" in more than any other. I am a very experienced RPG video game player and was shocked at how difficult this game is on normal game play.
One of the worse parts of the game is the saves. While you can do manual saves anywhere but in combat and during dialog, the game punishes you for dying with this save system. Also, when going into important combat areas many times it is trust upon you after lengthy dialogs, so when you die, and you will, you are respawned at a point before the lengthy dialog, that you get to meander through, again, and again, and again, and again to the point of controller throwing aggravation.
The worse aspect of the gameplay is the way that potions have to be used. You have to be in a safe location in order to meditate to be able to drink the potions. This results in the above stated major story point battles happening, and having no, possibly live saving, combat changing, potions applied to your character. Basically, if you want to be sure to have these effects in force, you have to continually stop to drink potions if you are in any kind of area where it would be possible to have encounters, and many times in areas that you deem safe. All of this detracts from the fun of a game for me.
Another aspect of the gameplay I did not like is that the skill trees seem to have mostly useless skill increases at the lower levels. I like to have balanced, jack of all trades, characters and the skill tree punishes you for doing that once you hit about level 30.
The storyline is bewildering and confusing and very hard to follow without having to delve into the games minutia of details and learning about the world like you need to know it for a history exam. I play games for fun, not to have to learn all about some world that doesn't matter about anything. I've had no trouble following the story for any other RPG I have played, but this one I am still not sure who is the ruler of what country, and since they seem to be dying off left and right, maybe it just doesn't matter.
The only reason why I can see that this game has such high scores is because it contains full nudity of females in it, and Geralt does seem to get plenty of action. I don't need a game for that either.
As of this writing I have not finished the game, but am fighting the dragon, over, and over, and over (after doing the lengthy dialog with Sile which occurs previous to the dragon fight with NO SAVES ALLOWED after we get done talking, over, and over, and over....) and am really wishing I never purchased this product. I just want it to end already....
1/17/13
One long, extraordinary, mature MASTERPIECE!!!!!
To start off, my expectations for this game were debating on if it'll be a slight disappointment or if it will be a remarkable journey, and when I passed the prologue of the game and got into what was truly going on I got more attached to the characters and see reason on both sides of the political issues that each race has. This is literally only about the 3rd game I've ever gotten a tight grasp on the story and characters and felt very connected and in sync with the plot's events and climactical moments. Most games out there are rated M for the smallest of things but this game if I was to rate it I would almost slap an AO+ rating on it. The "mature" encounters in this game not only happen frequently but also show plenty of nudity and ALMOST some nudity that would ONLY be able to be shown in an AO rated game. The violence isn't bad at all, in fact I think this kind of violence could be listed under a T rated game. But language and "maturity" definitely deserve the M rating. But when you look past those and don't really point out these things and just follow and love the story then you'll be dragged into the plot in no time. Some creatures I admit sound the same as some others, and I'll hear the occasional repeated line from a bystander, but hey what game doesn't have those? The combat system only takes a little getting used to and once you finally grip that system then you really know how to enjoy the combat a lot more and the more you upgrade Geralt then the more entertaining it can be. So, to conclude... Should you buy this game? OH YES. Should you be a mature gamer? Very much so, yes. Should you expect to pop the disc in and suddenly be into the game? No, but be mindful of the story, conflicts and history that truly makes this game's true beauty shine, then get a grip of the combat and all of the other epicness of this masterpiece and you'll fall in love. Buy this game guys. For real.
12/18/12
Perfect RPG
I love this game. I started playing it and I simply could not stop. I loved being able to enhance my weapons and armor making me unstoppable. I bought this game blindly because I was bored. Knowing it was an RPG, I was interested. Best purchase ever.
12/9/12
This is my Game of the Year... Game of the Console
I counted down the days for this game for a whole year. I watched the video review of the PC version for almost two years prior. I read all the books. I even bought the first game on my PC. In other words- My expectations were VERY HIGH. I spent $100 on the Limited Edition and it is by far, the single best purchase I've made for the Xbox. I'm a Halo Freak- a Mass Effect Fanatic- Gears Gearhead- Forza Tuner/Artist Nutjob and Fable Lover. All that and THIS is the game that defines the system. I love RPG's but I find console/computer RPG's to be boring or too linear. This changed that for me. A game that finally felt organic and true to the idea of table top rpg's. A story that doesn't have "good" or "bad" choices, just choices with results that TRULY alter the story and give you different experiences. The game is HARD and doesn't hold your hand on the Hard or Dark settings and you feel GREAT about it because you know you're getting better at the game. The variations of your character are awesome and satisfying with each play through. And the graphics! Wow- this is truly impressive visuals. You've never seen woods like these. The music and voice work are industry toppers. Finally, ALL games should be this replayable. This game requires at LEAST 2 plays so you can see both sides of Act 2.
11/26/12