- 2,216
- Queenstown, South Australia
- guska_Cryotank
- guska1984
I have been playing this game for a couple of weeks now, and quite honestly, I'm impressed.
To put it simply, this game is quite large compared to most single player RPGs that I have played.
You play as Geralt, a Witcher (Monster Slayer, once human, but through the use of secret 'mutagens' has become something 'different') with Amnesia (How convenient...) who has to find the guys who stole the Witchers' secret mutagens, remember who he is, and relearn all his once formidable skills. The amnesia also allows for lengthy bits of back story from those characters who apparently knew Geralt before he lost his memory. Unlike most RPGs, there is no option to choose Race, Style, Gender or anything else, you are simply Geralt, Witcher.
So far I have been through 6 areas, including Kaer Morhen, which acts as an introduction to the controls, views, spells and fighting styles of the game - but more on them later -, The Outskirts, The Temple Quarter (slums) of Vizima - The capital of Temeria, the land in which this game is set -, The Trade Quarter of Vizima, Vizima Cemetary and The Swamps.
The weapon array is, while complete, lacking in imagination and contains only melee weapons. You start with a Witcher style steel sword, and later in the game obtain a Witchers' Silver Sword for improved monster slaying. These 2 weapons take up 2 of your 4 weapon slots. The silver sword cannot be gotten rid of, however the Steel sword can be swapped for any other steel sword you wish. There is also another slot for swords, mace, morning star etc. I would give a full run down on each weapon, however I have not tried them all, I kept the Witchers' Steel sword, and added a morning star club-like weapon in the 3rd slot. The 4th slot is for either a knife (to slice open dead monsters, people, remains of anything really, or as a backup weapon - quite redundant as weapons in Thw Witcher sustain no wear or damage) or a torch (for seeing in those dark places where monsters have a tendency to come out of nowhere).
There are 5 Witcher signs, Aard, Quen, Yrden, Igni and Axii. These signs are very basic spells which require you to 'learn the related hand signs to perform. I won't go into depth about the effects of these signs, as it is fun to discover what they can and can't do/affect throughout the game. The signs are mostly kinetic or mind-controlling, and are easyily cast by selecting the sign you wish to use (using the number keys) and clicking or holding and releasing the right mouse button depending on the streth and type of cast you wish to perform.
There are 3 different fighting styles that can be used with all swords, including the silver sword. These are Strong, Fast and Group style. The strong style is best for large or armored opponents, while the fast is great for those nimble little sods who can duck and weave out of the way too easy. The group style is indispensable when surrounded, as while in the group style Geralt basically swings the sword like a madman belting the crap out of anyone who happens to be close enough to get belted. The only way to work out which style is best for a particular type of monster or person, is trial and error, or if you have a glossary entry on that monster.
You can choose between an Over-The-Shoulder view, or an Isometric veiw, depending on you're personal preference. The veiw can be changed at any time via the options menu ingame. Controls for the OTS veiw are the WASD keys, with weapons being Q (Primary Weapon), E (Silver Sword), R (Secondary Weapon), U (Knife/Torch). The options menu mentions a 4th weapon (T) but there is no visible 4th slot on the character part of the Inventory screen. I personally found the Isometric veiw to be a tad confusing, but you are welcome to give it a crack yourself should you get this game. Esc brings up the pause menu, while hitting SPACE gives you an "Active Pause" which enables you to easily change fighting styles (also changeable by pressing the corresponding weapon key to toggle through styles), change weapons, change signs or drink a potion, quite handy when in the thick of a very uneven fight.
The alchemy side of things (potions, bombs, weapon oils etc.), is also a large part of the game, with the Intermediate and Hard difficulty settings pretty much requiring it for survival. I also won't go into too much detail about this, as not only am I still abit confused by it, it is also great fun experimenting with different combinations, and learning the ins and out of what really is quite a simple, easy to use system.
Along the way to finding the jerk who nicked off with your crap, you will meet a very colourful array of people, with even more colourful language. This game really does carry a language and nudity warning, and sex is easy to come by, although being rather pointless, as all you get is a still picture of that particular person (or class, in the case of prostitutes and villagers), and a hazy generic animation in the background, along with the fact that all Witchers are sterile due to mutation. You will also face a good many choices, all of which can, and do affect aspects of the game, even apparently spanning the entire game itself, although I can't confirm that. I have had many a lucrative quest compromised and ultimately failed because I said the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time, or something. Think carefully, and choose wisely. Choose your friends, screw over your enemies, but remember, your enemies may be friends with the friends of your friends, and words spreads quickly in Temeria.
The only have a few niggles about this game, the first being the very obvious, and rather annoying skin/model duplication. You can have 5 people standing around, 1 being a main character, and the others being randoms, but they ALL look identical. There is very little in the way of diversity in each area, making that side of things rather boring after a while. Another is the very limited amounts of random chatter about. Every second person will say "Oooh, your weird" or "I've got my eye on you" or something equally as boring and repetative. There is also the issues of random crashes, however I saw *somewhere* that the developers are aware of this and are working on a patch. My advice? SAVE! The game does have quite a good autosave feature, but still, for your own piece of mind, save!
The graphics in this game are, in my opinion, awesome. For a game of this size, there is plenty of detail, and I have yet to find a badly rendered building or other piece of scenery. Hell, I spent 15 minutes the other day just watch a flock of birds I disturbed fly around, land on random buildings, fly off again, fly in circles, all seemingly without a definite animation loop. The Witcher, however, does hit your system resources quite hard, although most modern systems shouldn't have too many problems playing it.
Overall I would give this game 8/10. I am thouroughly enjoying the gameplay, story twists, and character interactions this game has to offer. Highly reccomended. 👍
Review by Tristan Lovett
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Please be nice, this is my first ever review of anything. Let me know what you think.
