Witcher 2 was actually my introduction to the whole series, and I genuinely loved it. I think being unfamiliar with the setting and politics has it's advantages because Witcher 2 was unlike anything I had played before visually and stylistically. Witcher 2's big selling point back when it launched (from what I remember) was that it was a mature, adult RPG, and it really is in more ways than just sex and violence. Witcher 2 is a lot bleaker and more cynical than basically any other RPG (including other Witcher games), but it doesn't feel myopic, it's just genuinely dark. I think that was what really invested me so heavily in a game that really didn't care whether or not I was familiar with the setting or characters.
I just replayed Witcher 2 recently, and uh, yeah, definitely agree with you. I don't really think any game honestly handles sex very well. I think the one thing I like about the way Witcher 2 handles it is that Geralt's relationship with Triss is pre-existing so you never have to romance her and then get "rewarded" with sex like in so many other games. That's really about it, though.
@GiRayne It's just the way sorceresses are depicted in the witcher books. Though most of them are past 100, they look like early 20ies to 30ies. They wear robes that leave little to imagination. During the Thannedd banquet there are the following description for three different sorceresses. One wears a white chiffon blouse, so transparent one can see her nipples, another one wears a similar black chiffon blouse with some additional embroiderie, that leads the glance even more towards the nipples, the third is wearing a skirt with a slit. Whereas fashion demanded the slit to end up mid thigh, this sorceress had a slit up to the waist. I, as a woman myself, don't mind this, as the sorceresses use their looks to their advantage and are (as some other women like Suleyka Thyssen of Kovir, Meve of Lyria and Rivia, Shani, Cantarella, Milva and Angoulême, i.e. most other important female characters) depicted as very strong, truely emancipated women. I'd prefer to look at a completely naked Geralt instead of one in pants though. But I take, what I can get.
@GiRayne LOL i love how people are going crazy over Saskia's cleavage when there are games that show so much more. Like anime and those fighting games like dead or alive those are wayyyy worse. In my opinion CDPR does it in style and I'd like someone to mention games with better sex scenes.
@GiRayne sex as a reward? I fail to see how The Witcher uses sex as a reward. In no way does the game reward you if you do decide to romance a woman and it's always optional. And almost everything in life skimps out on male nudity not many people wanna see a penis or a hairy ass that's just the way it is.
58:00 If I remember correctly, Foltest and the La Valettes are fighting because they are holding his children ransom: Foltest wants to legitimize Boussy as his heir instead of Adda, because she is either dead or still cursed and married to Radovid; and either way a prince would be a preferable heir. But the La Valette "family" (actually it's a group of once loyal bannermen and nobles who are actually in charge and are now turning on Foltest, like Count Echevarry who Foltest nails with ballista) are seeking "privileges that would weaken the crown", which you are led to believe is just garden-variety greed but is later revealed that they were working with Nilfgaard to attempt to undermine Foltest's power in anticipation of their invasion. So basically the whole conflict was set up by Nilfgaard in the first place.
I love replaying this game and noticing all the details pointing to Nilfgaard as being behind everything that happens. I also love splattering Echevarry, I'm glad the game lets you aim the ballista instead of just showing you a cutscene. Much more satisfying when you hit him.
Regarding the plague thing... 1:58:58 There was SUPPOSED TO be a string of side quests in The Witcher 3 that would focus on curing an outbreak of the plague in Novigrad with Iorveth helping you out... but it was cut. Time constraints and all that.
God damn it, that sucks...instead he just doesn't exist. I was looking forward to seeing him, and I just never got too. Was hoping he would be in a DLC.....nope. It just turned out that the path I took in Witcher 2 just gets entirely ignored, and the main character I rolled with doesn't exist anymore either.
"There's a hidden stat system whereby Geralt's ability to do any one of these [persuasion] options depends on how much he's used it ... unfortunately you aren't given any way to keep track of what you've used and how strong that ability is." I'm pretty sure you do. If you go into the Character Abilities menu it should show you the "Axii Sign Hex", "Intimidate", and "Persuasion" abilities, and which level each one is at. I think using one of these options once increases it by one level, and each caps at level 3.
same, it's a good warming up, provided that the stories are so complicated that it's better to see them twice in order to understand. Honestly, I found the vid average at best, it's not clear, not very well paced or explained, and 95% of the story content is description, not commentary, but it makes the job in introducing the story, it will be easier to follow and appreciate J.A's vid after that.
1:37:26 Stennis getting arrested is a result of your choice. You can get his blood if he gets lynched. And you still need to cross the mist to find Triss.
@Chris Davis, I have seen 30 minutes so far and I absolutely love it. I especially like the background information you provide and the extra research you have done. Also the way you criticize something feels more reasonable and in general not nitpicky. Many other popular video game critique youtubers go to far on criticizing the negative side of games and can create a negative vibe in their videos by doing it. However i have one issue with this video. 2 hours of content is really long and most folks would not be able to watch it in one go. The different parts in your videos seem to transitation well into eachother and therefore it could be difficult to make chapters. However, some time stamps could help a lot. Not only for watching parts of the video in multiple sessions but also the rewatch the video and look again at a certain topic (for example to watch your critique on witcher 1 combat vs witcher 2 combat and compare them to eachother without having to search those parts in their video). I don`t think a lot of time stamps are neccesary, if you look at the dark souls 3 critique of joseph anderson there are only 4 time stamps in an one hour video which is great. curious about your thoughts about it.
The "Witcher Code" is made up nonsense by Geralt himself. To have excuse for anything really :-) Taking job, not taking a job, whatever he feels like. Very flexible go to BS. It seems like you read the books, so i assume it got lost in translation. Jokes are after all very hard to translate.
He also invented it after hearing a mention by a vesemir (or sb else, or the Geralt himself came to that conclusion, can't remember it clearly), that it makes him (Geralt) more trustworthy in the eyes of his contractors, bc, the witchers, while abominations/mutant/genetic freaks, still follow some kind of code, just like a knight, or a priest would do, making the withcers a bit more human.
Normie plebs: Not saving Ciri because they were busy playing Gwent Me, an intellectual: Not clearing my name because I was busy getting lost in Loc Muinne
It's a great analysis - I've never heard anyone checking logs to complete their research so it's impressive. I'd advise adding some timestamps in the description or in the comments though - the video is long and the changes between topics are very fluent, but it would make it easier to watch it in parts, not to mention jumping to an interesting part of the analysis. Great job :)
I see one good reason why they changed the scene of Triss talking to someone via the megascope. It helps introduce the mage you'll most likely interact with in Act 2. If you sided with Roche earlier, it stands to reason you most likely will again so you'll see Dethmold ahead of your interactions later on (and vice versa with Philippa more heavily featured in the Iorveth storyline).
You brought up Triss's secret from the Witcher 1 and how the meaning is unclear. Forgive me from going straight from memory as it's been so long since I played the first game but I believe when you get out of bed in Triss's room you can inspect a nearby window and Geralt will remark on scuffled footprints that indicate someone left in a hurry. In the Witcher 3 when the Witchers bond at Kaer Morhen during the lifting of the Sage's curse, I believe Lambert will bring up a time he spent in Vizima where he has a secret that could hurt a good friend. I believe the secret was that while Geralt was unconscious or otherwise indisposed, Triss and Lambert had a minor affair that they both hid from Geralt. I heard this theory on a couple of Witcher 3 Easter egg videos a while back so I mistakenly thought it was the popular consensus as Triss is definitely portrayed as more sly in the games than in the books. Anyway that's the conclusion I believe and I also agree that it is a poor plot point that goes unused, unresolved and ultimate unimportant
While questionable, why would another witch care about something like that? Especially if it was a minor fling. Which makes even less sense, if you think about Geralts loss of memory and how little he would have cared about it.
The funny thing about the Witcher's code is that Geralt states in the book that he made it up to try and sound more respectable to gain more coin. He also found it useful as a way to refuse contracts he didn't want to do.
I think the idea bout not needing to research monsters is that Geralt is remembering his knowledge of those monsters. Xbox Owner: Yes we did get a physical map and a handy dandy quest book.
One thing you should mention is how the side quest are connected to the world an main story for example in that quest in the haunted mansion, if you go hand over Rupert and his friend to Loredo, you find out that his mother was the girl who made off with all the loot nilfgardians hid and used it to secure position for her son in Flotsam.
Loyal viewer here, reminding my favorite content creator of video game analysis, that we all egarly await the witcher 3 critique. This was the same as waiting for the mass effect 3 critique several months back. I just can't wait to hear your thoughts. Anywho dude, keep it up, your quality is exceptional. :)
I love ur videos, they help me go sleep. Not in a boring insulting way. I always pick up where I left off every night. Just soothing narration and critique about awesome games.
1:59:35 Someone else might have already pointed this out by now, but the real reason Sile came to Flotsam was to find Letho so she could get rid of him. Letho mentions this to Geralt during their final conversation. Anyway, love the videos! Keep it up :)
Exactly. After the assassination of Demavend, the Lodge was surprised that Letho also killed Foltest. They thought Letho either went mad or got co-opted by Iorveth. It was perfectly logical to want to eliminate him, as he could point the finger at the Lodge for the killing of Demavend.
In terms of combat I think most of it revolves around working around getting backstabbed, I never really skilled the backstab damage reduction but as you point out the roll distance is vital. When in a dark mode playthrough basically all I do is invoke the spinning attack that you use to finish off the nekker at around 16:57 and then put distance. To do to the spin attack just run towards the left of your opponent then do a fast attack. It'll rapidly apply like 3 attacks which is insanely powerful. I think the signs are some of the weakest upgrades in the game as they're very powerful unenhanced. The alchemy tree is insanely overpowered but each to their own.
Best video on the witcher i've heard so far. I recently installed the game again, i felt nostalgic about the game. This helped me enjoy even more what's awaiting me (again) :). Thanks for your efforts making this video.
31:20 In all your examples you can't use signs when you have only one vigor point. So I'm guessing that the shown vigor point system is only simplification and there is a posibility that it shows one vigor point even when it's not actually ready yet.
Maybe it was changed in later patches, but when I first played the game Quen was insanely overpowered. You could easily defeat the dragon at the end (even on the hardest difficulty) just by reflecting damage trough that sing. It took a Long time, but it was quite doable.
Excellent review! Extremely detailed and informative of both about this game and games mechanics in general. Very easy to listen to. Subbed - you shot up to top game reviewer. Very genuine and unbiased. Big Thanks for making this video!
"When I say 'risk', the chances of at least one die bouncing off are give or take about 100%, it's insane." Yeah no I just drop them every time. It's random enough if you do, and there's no chance of them leaving the board that way.
About saskia's side not needing to clear the mist. The mist is expanding and it will eventually cover Vergen if not stopped. That's why they have to clear it.
One of my fondest memories of this game was me and my buddy taking turns to try and beat Letho on the hardest difficulty. Took us a good 2 hours to do this. Quen-spam for the win!
at 1:11:30 dont you mean famous? 1:39:00 if you investigate the corpse in the crypt after you bought the pliers from the general goods vendor you can find out there are pieces of metal stuck in the claw wounds, indicating it was a metal weapon that killed him, not succubus claws. So yeah, the succubus is not evil. I personally like witcher 2 the best since its the most focussed of the bunch. Also I found the potion system a good middleground since meditating to drink took a lot of time while the W3 potions feel like regular potions. You still have to plan your stuff while being able to pick the right drink on the spot. Like when you plow through the dungeon to get to saskia and you run out of cat halfway. The dark weapon sets are a chore to grind since they are insanely expensive (so you do a bunch of boxing), you get them only at the end of a chapter, and the stat bump from each chapter's gear makes it kinda useless. They do look good though. One thing I missed is that you get perks based on your actions. Usually they are fairly small. But if you turn down triss in the elven baths you gen unenchantable, which is a 10% magic reduction which is probably one of the best of the game. I guess most people didnt see it though since they wanted to get down with triss. Lastly, after you kill the kraken you can go back to find a note in the crashed ship in the boss fight arena. This is a 3 chapter epic quest to get really good armor which gives +1 to your fatigue meter.
I think one of the great qualities of Witcher 2 is how it presents you information. If you have not read the books or played the previous games there is a lot of stuff you do not get. However you get enough to be really invested in the story. And then on multiple playthroughs you can piece everything together yourself and that includes the main events and character backgrounds (on of the biggest for me was that Saskia is the dragon, which is only revealed if you side with Iorweth which I didn't during my first go). But you also find out more about Geralt's mysterious backstory with Yennefer and the Wild Hunt. I learned of ALL these things from the memories of Geralt during Witcher 2 which was a phenomenal experience. btw the love this game. I bought it on my 16th birthday first things first and played it at least 4 times.
My take on The secret that Triss was not telling is about Ciri rather than Yen, but it was my own interpretation knowing nothing about the books. It may have been left open for the players to fill, which is a good whicher thing to do.
I'd like to add I think the Witcher's code is simple and brutal (don't kill other witchers, remain politically neutral, always exact payment for your duty), and Geralt's Code is used either to discourage curiosity and spies ("we can't talk about my work") or to uphold his morals (I will say the Code allows X, so I can do good. I won't leave someone behind because of the Code). His Code would be a political tool and means to force himself to do good. It's something to get past academics and officials, and a shield to hide his hidden nobility.
I think what I am most impressed by with the Witcher games is that they are genuinely something I can respect creatively. Most larger gaming projects might be entertaining, but only in extremely rare cases do they ever seem to have a real, original vision for what they want to be that's not built on focus testing and market efficiency - the Witcher games do. Creative integrity and passion, how often do you see that in gaming? And with a budget, even! Insane.
Anyone else find it difficult to reconcile the map at 1:52:11 with the world map of The Witcher III? I've spent literal minutes at a time trying to figure out how they correspond to each other - and while Verden and Skellige seem about right the land in between Verden and Novigrad seems a lot larger and Oxenfurt seems like it's moved completely. It's a bit of a headfuck.
Great stuff. Just a thought, timestamps might be a nice inclusion for these longer videos, for those of us who can't always get to watching the whole thing at once. I realize there aren't clean sections for this, so maybe it's just not really doable. Just a thought. Keep up the good work!
TW2 is definitely the part of the series I have the most trouble revisiting. The clunky controls and erratic combat make it a nuisance to play most of the time, but I also think that the writing itself has aged poorly in some parts. Granted, the same could be said about TW1, but that title carries a lot of charm with it, and I absolutely adore the stylized visuals. TW3 is a masterpiece, though, and no matter how many times I replay it, it never gets tiring.
Yeah, I'm the opposite. TW2 has by far the best writing and the characters are on par with TW3. TW2 has plenty of charm and great visuals, while TW1 is just plain ugly to me. TW2 has perfectly usable controls and combat, I have no issues with it, however TW1 has terrible controls and combat. TW1 is the one I have the most trouble revisiting, and TW2 is my favorite, but TW3 is also way up there.
I fucking love all Witcher games, they all offer something unique. I remember even beating the witcher 2 on insane mode. I played through it at least 5 times
Like which games? RPGs these days last way longer than 6 hours and generally more than 25-30. I don't think it should be compared to something like the story mode of an FPS since those games inherently have better replay value and are developed around multiplayer rather than single player.
Sheila being in flotsam is explained as her looking to contact Letho after he killed Foltest, because the sorceresses still thought that he was their ally and just got over enthusiastic. Kayran parts were just a bonus/cover. It definitely got explained somewhere in the game in at least one of the paths, don't remember where though.
Great video. On the point about not knowing what happens to the alternate set of characters in each respective playthrough: I think the whole poisoning thing doesn't happen, because Stennis doesn't make it back to Vergen if you side with Roach. Assuming that means the knights, including the brother of the great Seltkirk (the only non-welsh Aedernian), don't stick around. But I can't remember if you see them when you go to Vergen to kill Henselt.
A very reasonable critique. You definitely missed out on the succubus quest. A minor thing: there's no 'A' in Yrden and Shile even pronounces it during the Kayran battle.
> You definitely missed out on the succubus quest I did, too, due to the confusing layout of Vergen. I had no idea the area with the pond even existed for the longest time.
He probably didn't buy certain tools from the merchant. If I recall correctly, the game never yells at you that you need them in order to get the most out of the victim's corpse.
Very insightful and interesting commentary. I just finished my second playthrough of the Witcher 2 so this video came at the perfect time. Please keep it up! I absolutely love these long video essays.
Instead of a rock creating a wave, I think it's more similar to a lot of small pebbles been thrown into the water. Where Geralt isn't the only one who made a different decision to start the other path.
Witcher 2 holds a special place for me and is still my favorite game in the franchise from the cold and pallid art design to the design of the UI and skill trees being like a nervous system or a brain. It was the reason I built my first Gamming PC when I was 16. I had played on PC before but always on stock or professionally built machines.
I agree. Thinking of playing it again with mods. I played Witcher 3 with the “Witcher 3 enhanced edition” mods installed, and it brought it closer to W2, but the story and writing and vibe of W2 is just better imo.
"Leveling Up the Backstab damage reduction to 100% on Higher Difficulties feels like a necessity". I don't know If I finished this game too many times that I'm now fluent in all its mechanics and I can plow though even on Dark without the Dark equipment, but I *never* upgraded that skill. The backstab thing is not even such a big deal IMO.
really well put. I never got into the witcher 2, the combat really got to me and just killed my motivation to see it through. Which is strange because I loved the first game and it's way jankier. Looking forward to what you have to say about 3 after all this now.
I find it really interesting you view The Witcher games as good RPGs, as one of the most common complaints towards the games is that you'll always be playing as Geralt, inherently limiting your ability to role-play a character. I've played all three to some extent, and I really look forward to your eventual analysis of the third game. Thank you for all your hard work.
About thinking you register a hit because batmans fist connects with the enemy... I've never thought this less than in the batman games. I press button to inflict damage and then watch an animation of how that happens to occur.
"I am Henselt of Ard Carraigh, the last of the Unicorns. I won't beg for mercy." in the distance, hear the laughter, it's the last unicorn IM ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE IM ALIIIIIIIIIIVEEEE oh wait no I'm not
Problem with everyone talking about reliance on Quen is you then see them rushing headlong into combat and not at all using bombs/throwing daggers to control the battlefield. Due to the cadence of combat you kinda need to shuffle around making attacks at everyone without overly committing. This is compounded further by some absolutely *essential* skills being locked in the Swordsmanship tree; Position, Riposte and Footwork aka skills that will get you out of harm's way without needing to have Quen running 24/7.
Omg after so many years I still remember that Kayran - goddd it was scary and it was one of the hardest and most annoying and most time consuming battles for me. Not that it's bad - just being so hard and dying 283@!#@8 times in one boss battle can be kinda demotivational.
The potion system is an issue, in chapter 2 during the "reliving the battle" part you cannot once drink potions, if youre playing with an alchemy build then youre playing this part "naked" talent-wise which can be be quite tricky on the higher difficulties. Other than that I agree, its not too bad when you know where the fighting starts.
I spent so long getting the dark mode specific armor in the first town only to discover it puts this OBNOXIOUS visual filter on your screen and even plays an annoying sound the entire time you have it equipped.
I played The Witcher 2 for the first time on XBOX One and honestly, in terms of visuals, it far outdid most of the newer games I had been playing at the time. It also felt much more modern and forward-thinking than any game I can remember playing on XBOX One. As for the lighting issues on the PC version, I remember occasionally noticing a weird orange hue but I don't think it was nearly as bad as the footage in the video showed. I found myself almost never using quen because I realized that I could avoid a lot more damage by trapping with yrden or keeping someone busy with being on fire while I took out their friend.
When you talk about replay value you have to understand that our "must play before I die" list gets larger and larger each day, we are living in an age where playworthy games are released every week. Second playthrough? That's nuts.
Upgraded bombs and snares (well, bombs mostly) is THE most useful skill you by all means MUST invest in if you are playing on harder difficulties. However, it might not be the case if you're so reliant on the signs like you are, I rocked a swordsmanship-based build, and bombs were indispensable.
"Insane sounds much like the same as Dark, but with permadeath. That is 100% not my cup of tea, so I immediately wrote that one off." So, this game on Insane difficulty was for me the single most memorable and rewarding experience I've had in any Witcher game. I did three playthroughs (one of which was on Dark) before attempting this, and I knew before going in which route I was going to take, how I was going to spend my skill points, what gear I would use throughout the run, I had everything planned. I ended up dying maybe ten times in the prologue, and three times later in the game. The prologue is by far the hardest part, since you don't have any skills or gear yet, but it's definitely doable as long as you take it slow and careful. Most of the rest of the game is pretty straightforward as long as you don't take risks. The Eternal Battle (when you go into the mist and posses the ghosts of the past) in particular can really trip you up, though. You're very limited in what you can do (no signs, no dodge roll, etc) so it's best to put skill points in the few things that do affect this part before going in, like vigor, riposte, etc. Also there's a section where you're being bombarded by instakill arrow volleys. I'd say this is the only point in Insane that's actually unfair, but if you're careful it's not a problem. The most important thing to remember when playing Insane is to save whenever you can, and reload your last save as soon as things start getting a little out of your control. If you play this way, and don't take risks, and you're patient, it's a VERY doable mode.
iam surprised you didnt mention you can play neutral in witcher 1 and in witcher 2 you have to chose. i guess you didnt know its possible to play neutral in w1? because aloooot of people dont know that and its easy to fail. [edit] oh and its clear the roche side is canon (even while i liked the other side more) just look at witcher3
ImarBenIsrael it’s a mix. Witcher 2 is more focused, and some might say better. Where Witcher 3 is broad and less refined. I find Witcher 3 reaches some great highs but also has much more mundane times. Idk it’s give and take, depending what you value
I use these to fall asleep and I always end up three critiques ahead of where I started in the morning.
Slept for 8 hours, three videos have played in the meantime. #justchrisdavisthings ;)
Lol did that last night, woke up to this clip and read this msg,
If I was the author I would be slightly offended lmao
I do this too, wish there were timestamps on this vid
Ha thought I was the only one
Witcher 2 was actually my introduction to the whole series, and I genuinely loved it. I think being unfamiliar with the setting and politics has it's advantages because Witcher 2 was unlike anything I had played before visually and stylistically. Witcher 2's big selling point back when it launched (from what I remember) was that it was a mature, adult RPG, and it really is in more ways than just sex and violence. Witcher 2 is a lot bleaker and more cynical than basically any other RPG (including other Witcher games), but it doesn't feel myopic, it's just genuinely dark. I think that was what really invested me so heavily in a game that really didn't care whether or not I was familiar with the setting or characters.
I just replayed Witcher 2 recently, and uh, yeah, definitely agree with you. I don't really think any game honestly handles sex very well. I think the one thing I like about the way Witcher 2 handles it is that Geralt's relationship with Triss is pre-existing so you never have to romance her and then get "rewarded" with sex like in so many other games. That's really about it, though.
@GiRayne It's just the way sorceresses are depicted in the witcher books. Though most of them are past 100, they look like early 20ies to 30ies. They wear robes that leave little to imagination. During the Thannedd banquet there are the following description for three different sorceresses. One wears a white chiffon blouse, so transparent one can see her nipples, another one wears a similar black chiffon blouse with some additional embroiderie, that leads the glance even more towards the nipples, the third is wearing a skirt with a slit. Whereas fashion demanded the slit to end up mid thigh, this sorceress had a slit up to the waist.
I, as a woman myself, don't mind this, as the sorceresses use their looks to their advantage and are (as some other women like Suleyka Thyssen of Kovir, Meve of Lyria and Rivia, Shani, Cantarella, Milva and Angoulême, i.e. most other important female characters) depicted as very strong, truely emancipated women. I'd prefer to look at a completely naked Geralt instead of one in pants though. But I take, what I can get.
@GiRayne dragon age really??
@GiRayne LOL i love how people are going crazy over Saskia's cleavage when there are games that show so much more. Like anime and those fighting games like dead or alive those are wayyyy worse. In my opinion CDPR does it in style and I'd like someone to mention games with better sex scenes.
@GiRayne sex as a reward? I fail to see how The Witcher uses sex as a reward. In no way does the game reward you if you do decide to romance a woman and it's always optional. And almost everything in life skimps out on male nudity not many people wanna see a penis or a hairy ass that's just the way it is.
58:00 If I remember correctly, Foltest and the La Valettes are fighting because they are holding his children ransom: Foltest wants to legitimize Boussy as his heir instead of Adda, because she is either dead or still cursed and married to Radovid; and either way a prince would be a preferable heir. But the La Valette "family" (actually it's a group of once loyal bannermen and nobles who are actually in charge and are now turning on Foltest, like Count Echevarry who Foltest nails with ballista) are seeking "privileges that would weaken the crown", which you are led to believe is just garden-variety greed but is later revealed that they were working with Nilfgaard to attempt to undermine Foltest's power in anticipation of their invasion. So basically the whole conflict was set up by Nilfgaard in the first place.
MrOrdinaryundone wow didnt know this! Thanks
I love replaying this game and noticing all the details pointing to Nilfgaard as being behind everything that happens. I also love splattering Echevarry, I'm glad the game lets you aim the ballista instead of just showing you a cutscene. Much more satisfying when you hit him.
Regarding the plague thing...
1:58:58
There was SUPPOSED TO be a string of side quests in The Witcher 3 that would focus on curing an outbreak of the plague in Novigrad with Iorveth helping you out... but it was cut. Time constraints and all that.
God damn it, that sucks...instead he just doesn't exist. I was looking forward to seeing him, and I just never got too. Was hoping he would be in a DLC.....nope. It just turned out that the path I took in Witcher 2 just gets entirely ignored, and the main character I rolled with doesn't exist anymore either.
@@Camelotsmoon wdym, I hear Iorveth everywhere while I'm playing tw3 XD
"There's a hidden stat system whereby Geralt's ability to do any one of these [persuasion] options depends on how much he's used it ... unfortunately you aren't given any way to keep track of what you've used and how strong that ability is."
I'm pretty sure you do. If you go into the Character Abilities menu it should show you the "Axii Sign Hex", "Intimidate", and "Persuasion" abilities, and which level each one is at. I think using one of these options once increases it by one level, and each caps at level 3.
I'm watching this because I can't wait for Joseph Anderson to finish up
lmao me exactly what the hell
same, it's a good warming up, provided that the stories are so complicated that it's better to see them twice in order to understand. Honestly, I found the vid average at best, it's not clear, not very well paced or explained, and 95% of the story content is description, not commentary, but it makes the job in introducing the story, it will be easier to follow and appreciate J.A's vid after that.
Joe is lazy af
same lol... still waiting
OOOF size: Extra large
but same
1:37:26 Stennis getting arrested is a result of your choice. You can get his blood if he gets lynched. And you still need to cross the mist to find Triss.
1:57:32 Geralt has his own motivation to lift the curse -- regaining his memory. Also, the mist is spreading.
This is a much, MUCH better critique than Joseph Anderson's. Fewer memes and nitpicks, more substance.
Really liked your review of the first game so looked forward to this, as the series gets better going on in my opinion.
@Chris Davis, I have seen 30 minutes so far and I absolutely love it. I especially like the background information you provide and the extra research you have done. Also the way you criticize something feels more reasonable and in general not nitpicky. Many other popular video game critique youtubers go to far on criticizing the negative side of games and can create a negative vibe in their videos by doing it.
However i have one issue with this video. 2 hours of content is really long and most folks would not be able to watch it in one go. The different parts in your videos seem to transitation well into eachother and therefore it could be difficult to make chapters. However, some time stamps could help a lot. Not only for watching parts of the video in multiple sessions but also the rewatch the video and look again at a certain topic (for example to watch your critique on witcher 1 combat vs witcher 2 combat and compare them to eachother without having to search those parts in their video).
I don`t think a lot of time stamps are neccesary, if you look at the dark souls 3 critique of joseph anderson there are only 4 time stamps in an one hour video which is great.
curious about your thoughts about it.
The "Witcher Code" is made up nonsense by Geralt himself. To have excuse for anything really :-) Taking job, not taking a job, whatever he feels like. Very flexible go to BS.
It seems like you read the books, so i assume it got lost in translation.
Jokes are after all very hard to translate.
Lmfao, that makes me love the character just a little bit more. I wouldnt have picked up on that on my own. Thanks for sharing.
Chris mentions this right at the end of the video, how the code is just a neither here nor there and made up by Geralt. Timestamp is 1:54:00
He also invented it after hearing a mention by a vesemir (or sb else, or the Geralt himself came to that conclusion, can't remember it clearly), that it makes him (Geralt) more trustworthy in the eyes of his contractors, bc, the witchers, while abominations/mutant/genetic freaks, still follow some kind of code, just like a knight, or a priest would do, making the withcers a bit more human.
thats so meta
Can't do the dishes, Witcher's code
Normie plebs: Not saving Ciri because they were busy playing Gwent
Me, an intellectual: Not clearing my name because I was busy getting lost in Loc Muinne
me, a philosopher: still stuck in vizima playing dice with thaler and drinking with shani and the boys
Fun fact: Loc Muinne is constantly changing layout and it is therefore impossible not to get lost.
Huh, I did like the backstory of Letho and Geralt; so much so I let the man live in my main playthrough.
I let him live because i was comming of a long play session and wanted to finish the game before going to bed and just didnt feel like fighting him
You need to clear the mist on Iorveths path because it is slowly expanding and eventually it would reach and consume Vergen.
Also, Cedric tells him a prophecy about his memory returning after he lifts the curse from that battlefield.
It's a great analysis - I've never heard anyone checking logs to complete their research so it's impressive. I'd advise adding some timestamps in the description or in the comments though - the video is long and the changes between topics are very fluent, but it would make it easier to watch it in parts, not to mention jumping to an interesting part of the analysis. Great job :)
I see one good reason why they changed the scene of Triss talking to someone via the megascope. It helps introduce the mage you'll most likely interact with in Act 2. If you sided with Roche earlier, it stands to reason you most likely will again so you'll see Dethmold ahead of your interactions later on (and vice versa with Philippa more heavily featured in the Iorveth storyline).
You brought up Triss's secret from the Witcher 1 and how the meaning is unclear. Forgive me from going straight from memory as it's been so long since I played the first game but I believe when you get out of bed in Triss's room you can inspect a nearby window and Geralt will remark on scuffled footprints that indicate someone left in a hurry. In the Witcher 3 when the Witchers bond at Kaer Morhen during the lifting of the Sage's curse, I believe Lambert will bring up a time he spent in Vizima where he has a secret that could hurt a good friend. I believe the secret was that while Geralt was unconscious or otherwise indisposed, Triss and Lambert had a minor affair that they both hid from Geralt. I heard this theory on a couple of Witcher 3 Easter egg videos a while back so I mistakenly thought it was the popular consensus as Triss is definitely portrayed as more sly in the games than in the books. Anyway that's the conclusion I believe and I also agree that it is a poor plot point that goes unused, unresolved and ultimate unimportant
While questionable, why would another witch care about something like that? Especially if it was a minor fling. Which makes even less sense, if you think about Geralts loss of memory and how little he would have cared about it.
Since I didn't have a gaming pc I remember buying a used Xbox 360 just to play this game and it was worth every penny.
The funny thing about the Witcher's code is that Geralt states in the book that he made it up to try and sound more respectable to gain more coin. He also found it useful as a way to refuse contracts he didn't want to do.
I think the idea bout not needing to research monsters is that Geralt is remembering his knowledge of those monsters.
Xbox Owner: Yes we did get a physical map and a handy dandy quest book.
One thing you should mention is how the side quest are connected to the world an main story for example in that quest in the haunted mansion, if you go hand over Rupert and his friend to Loredo, you find out that his mother was the girl who made off with all the loot nilfgardians hid and used it to secure position for her son in Flotsam.
Loyal viewer here, reminding my favorite content creator of video game analysis, that we all egarly await the witcher 3 critique. This was the same as waiting for the mass effect 3 critique several months back. I just can't wait to hear your thoughts. Anywho dude, keep it up, your quality is exceptional. :)
I love ur videos, they help me go sleep. Not in a boring insulting way. I always pick up where I left off every night. Just soothing narration and critique about awesome games.
Sheela in Flotsam was looking for Letho. In her mind he went rouge after killing Foltest. She wanted to find him.
1:59:35 Someone else might have already pointed this out by now, but the real reason Sile came to Flotsam was to find Letho so she could get rid of him. Letho mentions this to Geralt during their final conversation. Anyway, love the videos! Keep it up :)
Exactly. After the assassination of Demavend, the Lodge was surprised that Letho also killed Foltest. They thought Letho either went mad or got co-opted by Iorveth. It was perfectly logical to want to eliminate him, as he could point the finger at the Lodge for the killing of Demavend.
1:59:34 Sheala is in Flotsam to find Letho as well.
Yes, he killed Foltest and went rogue, that wasnt in the lodge plan.
You haven't played the Witcher 2 unless you unequipped your boots by mistake and didn't notice Geralt running around barefoot for the last hour.
Absolutely loving this series, you are so underrated.
Wow seeing this upload has made my night. Can't wait to watch this!
it kind of ruined mine , i hope my boss will understand :o)
In terms of combat I think most of it revolves around working around getting backstabbed, I never really skilled the backstab damage reduction but as you point out the roll distance is vital. When in a dark mode playthrough basically all I do is invoke the spinning attack that you use to finish off the nekker at around 16:57 and then put distance. To do to the spin attack just run towards the left of your opponent then do a fast attack. It'll rapidly apply like 3 attacks which is insanely powerful. I think the signs are some of the weakest upgrades in the game as they're very powerful unenhanced. The alchemy tree is insanely overpowered but each to their own.
With dice poker, I never threw the dice I just kind of gently dropped them and still won really often 🤷
I loved this more than the 3rd
Best video on the witcher i've heard so far. I recently installed the game again, i felt nostalgic about the game. This helped me enjoy even more what's awaiting me (again) :). Thanks for your efforts making this video.
1:52:17 Yes, Xbox 360 version comes with a two-sided map. One side is the map shown here, and the other is a closeup of the Pontar Valley.
Chris, your stuff is great. Thanks, man.
31:20
In all your examples you can't use signs when you have only one vigor point. So I'm guessing that the shown vigor point system is only simplification and there is a posibility that it shows one vigor point even when it's not actually ready yet.
Yesterday I finished your The Witcher 1 video (it made me subscribe), so this is a nice surprise!
I played through the witcher 2 twice, and for the life of me cannot remember anything about the combat.
Maybe it was changed in later patches, but when I first played the game Quen was insanely overpowered.
You could easily defeat the dragon at the end (even on the hardest difficulty) just by reflecting damage trough that sing.
It took a Long time, but it was quite doable.
Excellent review! Extremely detailed and informative of both about this game and games mechanics in general. Very easy to listen to. Subbed - you shot up to top game reviewer. Very genuine and unbiased. Big Thanks for making this video!
"When I say 'risk', the chances of at least one die bouncing off are give or take about 100%, it's insane."
Yeah no I just drop them every time. It's random enough if you do, and there's no chance of them leaving the board that way.
About saskia's side not needing to clear the mist. The mist is expanding and it will eventually cover Vergen if not stopped. That's why they have to clear it.
One of my fondest memories of this game was me and my buddy taking turns to try and beat Letho on the hardest difficulty. Took us a good 2 hours to do this.
Quen-spam for the win!
at 1:11:30 dont you mean famous?
1:39:00 if you investigate the corpse in the crypt after you bought the pliers from the general goods vendor you can find out there are pieces of metal stuck in the claw wounds, indicating it was a metal weapon that killed him, not succubus claws. So yeah, the succubus is not evil.
I personally like witcher 2 the best since its the most focussed of the bunch. Also I found the potion system a good middleground since meditating to drink took a lot of time while the W3 potions feel like regular potions. You still have to plan your stuff while being able to pick the right drink on the spot. Like when you plow through the dungeon to get to saskia and you run out of cat halfway.
The dark weapon sets are a chore to grind since they are insanely expensive (so you do a bunch of boxing), you get them only at the end of a chapter, and the stat bump from each chapter's gear makes it kinda useless. They do look good though.
One thing I missed is that you get perks based on your actions. Usually they are fairly small. But if you turn down triss in the elven baths you gen unenchantable, which is a 10% magic reduction which is probably one of the best of the game. I guess most people didnt see it though since they wanted to get down with triss.
Lastly, after you kill the kraken you can go back to find a note in the crashed ship in the boss fight arena. This is a 3 chapter epic quest to get really good armor which gives +1 to your fatigue meter.
I think one of the great qualities of Witcher 2 is how it presents you information. If you have not read the books or played the previous games there is a lot of stuff you do not get. However you get enough to be really invested in the story. And then on multiple playthroughs you can piece everything together yourself and that includes the main events and character backgrounds (on of the biggest for me was that Saskia is the dragon, which is only revealed if you side with Iorweth which I didn't during my first go). But you also find out more about Geralt's mysterious backstory with Yennefer and the Wild Hunt. I learned of ALL these things from the memories of Geralt during Witcher 2 which was a phenomenal experience.
btw the love this game. I bought it on my 16th birthday first things first and played it at least 4 times.
My take on The secret that Triss was not telling is about Ciri rather than Yen, but it was my own interpretation knowing nothing about the books.
It may have been left open for the players to fill, which is a good whicher thing to do.
I'd like to add I think the Witcher's code is simple and brutal (don't kill other witchers, remain politically neutral, always exact payment for your duty), and Geralt's Code is used either to discourage curiosity and spies ("we can't talk about my work") or to uphold his morals (I will say the Code allows X, so I can do good. I won't leave someone behind because of the Code).
His Code would be a political tool and means to force himself to do good. It's something to get past academics and officials, and a shield to hide his hidden nobility.
+
Duuuude. That hit detection explanation makes so much sense. I totally felt that but could never figure out what was up
I think what I am most impressed by with the Witcher games is that they are genuinely something I can respect creatively.
Most larger gaming projects might be entertaining, but only in extremely rare cases do they ever seem to have a real, original vision for what they want to be that's not built on focus testing and market efficiency - the Witcher games do.
Creative integrity and passion, how often do you see that in gaming? And with a budget, even! Insane.
Anyone else find it difficult to reconcile the map at 1:52:11 with the world map of The Witcher III? I've spent literal minutes at a time trying to figure out how they correspond to each other - and while Verden and Skellige seem about right the land in between Verden and Novigrad seems a lot larger and Oxenfurt seems like it's moved completely. It's a bit of a headfuck.
Also - 1:53:48 lol
Great video man. Keep up the good work
Great stuff. Just a thought, timestamps might be a nice inclusion for these longer videos, for those of us who can't always get to watching the whole thing at once. I realize there aren't clean sections for this, so maybe it's just not really doable. Just a thought. Keep up the good work!
But the video should just kick off where you left it.
1:34:19 Pretty sure the events you're referring to take place in the south, where Geralt wouldn't be recognized.
TW2 is definitely the part of the series I have the most trouble revisiting. The clunky controls and erratic combat make it a nuisance to play most of the time, but I also think that the writing itself has aged poorly in some parts. Granted, the same could be said about TW1, but that title carries a lot of charm with it, and I absolutely adore the stylized visuals. TW3 is a masterpiece, though, and no matter how many times I replay it, it never gets tiring.
Writing was the best in Witcher 2.
TW2 writing, character and plot were far superior. TW3 mainstory felt somewhat like a JRPG's..
Yeah, I'm the opposite. TW2 has by far the best writing and the characters are on par with TW3. TW2 has plenty of charm and great visuals, while TW1 is just plain ugly to me. TW2 has perfectly usable controls and combat, I have no issues with it, however TW1 has terrible controls and combat. TW1 is the one I have the most trouble revisiting, and TW2 is my favorite, but TW3 is also way up there.
@@HeelPower200 lol. Nice joke.
I fucking love all Witcher games, they all offer something unique. I remember even beating the witcher 2 on insane mode. I played through it at least 5 times
Crazy how we complain sometimes that a campaign is only going to be 25-30 hours with reply value, when most games nowa days barley make 6 hours.
Now days after 5 hours we are usually begging for the game to end. Its unusual to want more :p
Like which games? RPGs these days last way longer than 6 hours and generally more than 25-30. I don't think it should be compared to something like the story mode of an FPS since those games inherently have better replay value and are developed around multiplayer rather than single player.
53:55 Ciri is mentioned by a certain innkeeper when you choose a certain optional dialogue (iirc asking him to tell you a story)
comment for the comment algorithm.
I love your videos Chris, wish you all the success
Sheila being in flotsam is explained as her looking to contact Letho after he killed Foltest, because the sorceresses still thought that he was their ally and just got over enthusiastic. Kayran parts were just a bonus/cover. It definitely got explained somewhere in the game in at least one of the paths, don't remember where though.
Yet another incredible critique, fantastic work!
Great video. On the point about not knowing what happens to the alternate set of characters in each respective playthrough: I think the whole poisoning thing doesn't happen, because Stennis doesn't make it back to Vergen if you side with Roach. Assuming that means the knights, including the brother of the great Seltkirk (the only non-welsh Aedernian), don't stick around. But I can't remember if you see them when you go to Vergen to kill Henselt.
Will you make a Dragon Age: Origins retrospective?
No
A very reasonable critique. You definitely missed out on the succubus quest. A minor thing: there's no 'A' in Yrden and Shile even pronounces it during the Kayran battle.
> You definitely missed out on the succubus quest
I did, too, due to the confusing layout of Vergen. I had no idea the area with the pond even existed for the longest time.
He probably didn't buy certain tools from the merchant. If I recall correctly, the game never yells at you that you need them in order to get the most out of the victim's corpse.
Very insightful and interesting commentary. I just finished my second playthrough of the Witcher 2 so this video came at the perfect time. Please keep it up! I absolutely love these long video essays.
Instead of a rock creating a wave, I think it's more similar to a lot of small pebbles been thrown into the water. Where Geralt isn't the only one who made a different decision to start the other path.
Witcher 2 holds a special place for me and is still my favorite game in the franchise from the cold and pallid art design to the design of the UI and skill trees being like a nervous system or a brain. It was the reason I built my first Gamming PC when I was 16. I had played on PC before but always on stock or professionally built machines.
I agree. Thinking of playing it again with mods.
I played Witcher 3 with the “Witcher 3 enhanced edition” mods installed, and it brought it closer to W2, but the story and writing and vibe of W2 is just better imo.
Impressive video, even if it is hard sometimes to hear the weak sides of my favourite game. Keep up the good work!
"Leveling Up the Backstab damage reduction to 100% on Higher Difficulties feels like a necessity".
I don't know If I finished this game too many times that I'm now fluent in all its mechanics and I can plow though even on Dark without the Dark equipment, but I *never* upgraded that skill. The backstab thing is not even such a big deal IMO.
Yes, but that plays into "don't get surrounded" approach. It's not an issue if you don't expose your back to the enemy in the first place.
@Prince of Persia Sure, but he made it sound like a bigger issue than it is. You'd take a lot of damage in "any situation" if you're surrounded
1:37:55 that wasn't Zoltan.
I love act 2/Iorveth's path so much.
really well put.
I never got into the witcher 2, the combat really got to me and just killed my motivation to see it through. Which is strange because I loved the first game and it's way jankier.
Looking forward to what you have to say about 3 after all this now.
I find it really interesting you view The Witcher games as good RPGs, as one of the most common complaints towards the games is that you'll always be playing as Geralt, inherently limiting your ability to role-play a character.
I've played all three to some extent, and I really look forward to your eventual analysis of the third game.
Thank you for all your hard work.
Role-playing is not necessarily role-picking. I've never heard people claim genre disqualification from playing JC Denton or The Nameless One.
About thinking you register a hit because batmans fist connects with the enemy... I've never thought this less than in the batman games. I press button to inflict damage and then watch an animation of how that happens to occur.
Really good video. Subbed
*Dragon daddy Joe wants to know your location.
Gay
Fantastic video! Well done! =)
I like the Joseph Anderson reference. Everyone has been waiting on his review.
"I am Henselt of Ard Carraigh, the last of the Unicorns. I won't beg for mercy."
in the distance, hear the laughter, it's the last unicorn
IM ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE IM ALIIIIIIIIIIVEEEE oh wait no I'm not
I love these retrospectives and usually it only takes me like 5 days to finish one. FML.
Problem with everyone talking about reliance on Quen is you then see them rushing headlong into combat and not at all using bombs/throwing daggers to control the battlefield. Due to the cadence of combat you kinda need to shuffle around making attacks at everyone without overly committing. This is compounded further by some absolutely *essential* skills being locked in the Swordsmanship tree; Position, Riposte and Footwork aka skills that will get you out of harm's way without needing to have Quen running 24/7.
The Prime Minister of Poland giving world leaders a videogame he's proud of is just so fucking cute.
I finished a third run on this game yesterday (doing the trilogy in one go). Perfect timing !
Omg after so many years I still remember that Kayran - goddd it was scary and it was one of the hardest and most annoying and most time consuming battles for me. Not that it's bad - just being so hard and dying 283@!#@8 times in one boss battle can be kinda demotivational.
1:20:15 You actually can puruse Loredo and kill him here too. It's another choice.
Alvin: Yes?
Geralt: BE GOOD!
Didn't finish watching yet, but. When mentioning QTE you need to mention that you can deactivate QTEs in settings.
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Awesome video and W2 is my favorite. Especially pre nerfed combat was amazing, shame they changed it though you can play v1.0 if you own the box.
The potion system is an issue, in chapter 2 during the "reliving the battle" part you cannot once drink potions, if youre playing with an alchemy build then youre playing this part "naked" talent-wise which can be be quite tricky on the higher difficulties. Other than that I agree, its not too bad when you know where the fighting starts.
Can't wait for the 3 hour video on Witcher 3
I spent so long getting the dark mode specific armor in the first town only to discover it puts this OBNOXIOUS visual filter on your screen and even plays an annoying sound the entire time you have it equipped.
There’s a mod that turns Geralts dodgeroll into a pirouette. It’s pretty neat
I played The Witcher 2 for the first time on XBOX One and honestly, in terms of visuals, it far outdid most of the newer games I had been playing at the time. It also felt much more modern and forward-thinking than any game I can remember playing on XBOX One. As for the lighting issues on the PC version, I remember occasionally noticing a weird orange hue but I don't think it was nearly as bad as the footage in the video showed. I found myself almost never using quen because I realized that I could avoid a lot more damage by trapping with yrden or keeping someone busy with being on fire while I took out their friend.
Silé was in flotsam looking for Letho and the Scoiatael
When you talk about replay value you have to understand that our "must play before I die" list gets larger and larger each day, we are living in an age where playworthy games are released every week. Second playthrough? That's nuts.
I used the second playthrough to build a totally different Geralt. Made it seem like a different game.
Upgraded bombs and snares (well, bombs mostly) is THE most useful skill you by all means MUST invest in if you are playing on harder difficulties. However, it might not be the case if you're so reliant on the signs like you are, I rocked a swordsmanship-based build, and bombs were indispensable.
"Insane sounds much like the same as Dark, but with permadeath. That is 100% not my cup of tea, so I immediately wrote that one off."
So, this game on Insane difficulty was for me the single most memorable and rewarding experience I've had in any Witcher game. I did three playthroughs (one of which was on Dark) before attempting this, and I knew before going in which route I was going to take, how I was going to spend my skill points, what gear I would use throughout the run, I had everything planned. I ended up dying maybe ten times in the prologue, and three times later in the game. The prologue is by far the hardest part, since you don't have any skills or gear yet, but it's definitely doable as long as you take it slow and careful. Most of the rest of the game is pretty straightforward as long as you don't take risks. The Eternal Battle (when you go into the mist and posses the ghosts of the past) in particular can really trip you up, though. You're very limited in what you can do (no signs, no dodge roll, etc) so it's best to put skill points in the few things that do affect this part before going in, like vigor, riposte, etc. Also there's a section where you're being bombarded by instakill arrow volleys. I'd say this is the only point in Insane that's actually unfair, but if you're careful it's not a problem. The most important thing to remember when playing Insane is to save whenever you can, and reload your last save as soon as things start getting a little out of your control. If you play this way, and don't take risks, and you're patient, it's a VERY doable mode.
iam surprised you didnt mention you can play neutral in witcher 1 and in witcher 2 you have to chose. i guess you didnt know its possible to play neutral in w1? because aloooot of people dont know that and its easy to fail.
[edit] oh and its clear the roche side is canon (even while i liked the other side more) just look at witcher3
I wished they remastered the the witchers for consoles man. I love two and did think they did better than three in some parts
ImarBenIsrael it’s a mix. Witcher 2 is more focused, and some might say better. Where Witcher 3 is broad and less refined. I find Witcher 3 reaches some great highs but also has much more mundane times. Idk it’s give and take, depending what you value
Good stuff!