@@Venched That got me thinking, and now I've looked it up and realized ... nobody runs this game. The only entries on speedrun.com are all from the same guy, corpseflesh, from like four years ago. A couple other people have a pb video or two on youtube, but there doesn't appear to be any sort of community. Same with Witcher 1. People only seem to run 3.
What sort of man says "sheday preyacht" if he's not polish, an annoying as fuck wanker that's who. Couldn't concentrate through the whole video due to his wankery fuck They are called CD Project, not fucking sheday preyacht
DarthFennec probably because speedrunning this game is like trying to speedrun bethesda games, there’s a high chance that bugs and jank will mess up your run. And while the 3rd game has some strategies and techniques that allow you to speedrun it, Witcher 2 doesn’t have that many and it’s just run to x location, spam through dialogue, and repeat. While this game has a ton of choices, it’s pretty linear for speedrunning up until loc muinne as the only major choices that effect you right after choosing them are the ones that get you killed or the ones that trigger a quest event (like drawing the ritual sign on the ground when breaking the curse). Witcher 2 has more long term effects that matter to people who care about the story while Witcher 3 and Witcher 1 have more instant reactions to your choices with Witcher 3 having the most as you can start a lot of fights and sometimes completely optional quest events if you pick the wrong dialogue choice
Ach, Vernon Roche, the ultimate perfectionist... I remember playing a build fully focused on signs, including completely decked out Igni. When I was doing a mission in Loc Muinne with Roche, there was a part in which you're attacked by a whole squad of top-tier heavy knights, each of them being basically a mini-boss in itself. At this point, though, my magic was so overpowered, that I just spammed the fireball Igni into them several times, wiping the entire squad in *exactly* 3 seconds before triggering a cutscene in which Roche stated: "We've wasted too much time!" I mean, dayum... 3 seconds for dispatching what essentially amounts to a Death Squad is too long for Roche? I'm starting to fear that bastard...
Surprisingly, I had the opposite experience with Igni in the second game and only found it OP in the first one (And sometimes third). Maybe it's just the highest difficulty being poorly balanced.
@@zeratulrus142 nah, I focused on signs too and played on the highest difficulty to unlock the cool gear and by the endgame I had trivialized most encounters.
@@RagingRugbyst weird. Maybe I was just bad? But that wouldn't explain enemies feeling like damage sponges that you can barely kill with Igni spam. It's the same button. How did you get past the ghost part where, from what I remember, you have all your combat buffs, but no signs?
@@zeratulrus142 maybe it was the OP base stats of the special gear? It was a long time ago, but I remember a definite breakpoint where I could just igni and clear shit. And that could also mean my memory forgot all the trauma inducing trial-and-error fights I might have ancountered.
Witcher 2 was my first introduction to the Witcher Universe, back in 2016. I was totally blown away by the character depth, decisions you could make which actually impacted the game and the over all tone of the game. So far I thought every RPG was like Skyrim, uninteresting characters, a forgettable story and meaningless decisions (they end up being the same either way). This game was something completely different. At every point I was introduced to places, people and conflicts that just seemed so much bigger than me. I kinda felt like a 5-year old kid again, following my parents through a sprawling world, admiring the people in it, the scenery, just waiting to grow up so I could understand it for myself and play a part. When I then learned of the book series I borrowed the first book from a local library and was captivated by this too. I read a lot of fantasy, but this was different. The stories had meaningful dilemmas that made you think and questioned yourself. The inspiration from fairytales was just a cherry on top. That said, I devoured the books and then went on to play Witcher 1 (fantastic game if you see past the superficial), I played the Witcher 2 again (on Roche's Path this time) and this time I actually understood what was going on and knew the people involved. Then I waited for Black Friday 2017, and bought parts for a new PC that could run The Witcher 3. The first game I installed and played was the Witcher 3 and after all the hype it was finally time to enjoy the masterpiece everyone had told me about. But apart from the vast majority, I now had extensive knowledge of the Witcher Universe and therefore the experience was even better. When the game ended, I cried, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. The journey I had started on over a year earlier with my first trembling steps in the Witcher 2 had now come to an end. It was over. And it was beautiful. I didn't even touch my pc for a week, because I just felt hollow inside, nothing else was worth playing. Over time the feeling recides and you get over it, but damn I love the Witcher Universe. Awesome Video, really hit the nail on the head with this one!
Yeap I had a very similar experience to you, except I played the The Witcher 2 back in like 2012 on xbox 360 and the only books I could get back then in english were the Last Wish and Blood of Elves ... Was much later I could finally finish the book series and then finally play through The Witcher 1 and 3... The Witcher 3 had some minor inconsistancies with the book, namely Emphyr and Avallac'h, as well as not giving as much time with Ciri as I would of liked to fully realise her character, but overall was such a great adaption. It an amazing job including a tonne of stuff for book fans and fans of their previous games while still making it easily accessible to noobies. It really was a great conclusion to Geralts journey.
Probably because people’s attention spans are less then ten fucking minutes. Don’t worry I watch till the end. But the long videos probably scare the brainless hive that is the TH-cam viewers
@@braedenconti36 Sorry, that was too long and I wanted to let you personally know that I didn't read it... like... I NEED you to know... it was far... far too long and you have verily inconvenienced me in how unreadably long it was. SO, you know... Just so YOU know... It's, It's, too long bro... Like help me, help you here... WHY DID YOU WRITE THAT SO FUCKING LONG SO I DIDN"T READ IT YOU INCONSIDERATE FUCK! ...just sayin.. like... wayyy too longnnnngggggeh...ehhh... -Terrance Langford De'Roselyn
Art direction in 2 is by far my favourite in the series. Character designs are really intricate, and artists played a lot with colors and different decorative patterns. Man-made and natural enviroments are both beautiful.
I will send Joseph Anderson an email and ask him to endorse your channel in one of his videos. Your content is good enough that you deserve more viewers.
Well i really appreciate the sentiment but i think Joseph is, understandably, a busy guy who can't always check things out. I am trying to promote my content as i can, which includes posting to Joseph's discord in the share you content section. I think gaining views and subs is hard when you start at the bottom. However i am getting some growth, even if its really slow, and all it takes is for one video is get a bit lucky and get promoted by the youtube algorithm a bit and then things could get a bit easier. But i'll keep trying to promote my stuff and keep trying to improve in quality and we'll see. If the views never come i won't be too unhappy because i've had fun making these videos and i never expected this to be a career or anything. And the positive comments i do get, like yours, make me really happy. So thanks for that and i hope you enjoy future content too.
Iorveth's path is so much better, it's not even close. It's a shame he's a jerk, though. Saskia was one of the best characters in this game, and you only learn more about her with Iorveth.
Saskia's great, but there are great things in Roche's path too, and I personally think they're equally good. Iorveth's not that much of a jerk, there are much worse jerks in this game.
@Deborah Meltrozo yes but in this one you don't fight for the squirrels you go with them to fight for a cause that is actually worth fighting for. This isn't like the Witcher 1 where they were robing Banks and holding Innocents hostage.
I just came back to this game after years and in have to say graphics look really good, Even in the Xbox 360 version. But man, that freaking map... So confusing and sometimes useless! Good thing the story is so good. You deserve more subs, keep the good work sir! Greetings from Chile.
I really like it. Though one thing you said intrigued me, that Witcher 3 was moved to 2. I read that CDPR always intended for a trilogy which would end with the story of Ciri, which conflicts with the notion that that's what the Witcher 2 originally was. Also, I think that a bit more could have been said to explain why Letho sought Iorveth. I know, Letho wanted to kill human kings and Iorveth would be more than happy to kill major human figures, and had the small but well-armed force to suitably assist, but people who don't know anything about the series might be confused. Did they know each other from before? Are they on the same team? If they are on the same team, why did Letho betray them? Questions like that would affect someone's viewing experience. I do think that this is significantly better than the first video, since basically every plot point was followed by some sort of commentary, making it very interesting and informative. Good job!
At that point in time both the witcher 2 and 3 were so early in development that i don't think the change of plans would have effected much story wise. The work on the witcher 3 would have been not so much work on a game as it was work on an engine. My source was www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-06-seeing-red-the-story-of-cd-projekt but it doesn't include much more details. Although on the topic of story i heard the witcher 2 story was meant to end differently. The cut content (chapter 4/dol blathanna) would have featured the wild hunt and ended with you meeting Yennefer. I can't find any official source for that now that i'm looking for it though. I would love to know more about what parts of the story were originally planned from the start and what was changed though. It's really interesting to me. As for the story recap in this video... I think you raise a valid point and i bet its not the only thing that isn't clear. I'd thought of a few other things as i was editing the video as well, like Phillipa/Sile's motivations (I never even mention the lodge). There's just too much of the witcher 2's story. Too many characters, too many agenda's etc. I think i just have to accept the recap isn't perfect for someone who hasn't played the game and to make it so would have made the video too long. Overall i'm happy with how the video turned out although there's some things i want to do differently with the witcher 3 video when i get to it. Thanks once more for the feedback, it's always helpful.
Best game in the series, don't care what anyone else thinks Letho is the best antagonist in any game ever. A mirror to Geralt and one which synthesize heavily with the main theme and premise all throughout the game.
39:50 when I first play the game the fight with letho was so hard that at the end of the game when given the choice to fight him i let him live because I didn't want to go through it again
This 1 is my favorite, I wish witcher 3 had a similar structure Stannis is actually not guilty if you do the quest properly. Its his priest who poisons her. Stannis knew, but refused to join the plot and told the priest to not do it. You need a letter from a locked haunted house.
Amazing retrospective. I really like how you decided to compare between both this and the first game through multiple instances. I'm glad that that sekiro video on easy difficulties was recommended to me when it allowed me to discover the channel.
One of the most interesting video i've seen so far - and i'm afraid i've seen a lot. The most appreciated was the commentary on the last Letho's encounter, at the end. Brilliant. Thank you :)
Witcher 2 was pretty much one of my favourite games of all time when it came out. It is still great game with a great story, but tbh after Witcher 3, it just isn't as good. It also is very hard to go back because Witcher 3 is just better in all the aspects. I'd enjoy a remake of 1st and 2nd game to be made to the engine of the 3rd game.
I have to say The Witcher 2 holds a special place in my heart. Like Dragon age Origins it was my first major RPG as a somewhat adult being 17 when it was released. I was able to play it with a knowledge of game design and how the sausage of video games where made. It set it's own path and unfortunately being released in 2011 it was over shadowed by skyrim in the mainstream gamers eyes I do like to image a world where this was a hit and the elements of this game where what inspired future AAA RPGs instead of skyrim
This game was such a pleasant surprise for me lmao, I played through TW1 and found it kinda tedious but I was interested enough in the lore to continue and TW2 was so damn engaging that I could barely put it down until I finished it. Also Roche is h o m e b o y
I just beat this game for the first time on a blind playthrough. Put it on Dark mode cause of the unique gear and apparently because I hate myself. Decided to do the a full mages path build. I have to say I found this game especially the boss fights exceedingly satisfying. I raged at literally every bossy fight, kayran, first letho, the Draug, and the dragon. The Draug tested my fullest extent of patience. I loved this game and it exceeded my expectations.
I think the channel is a bit small for a patreon. If you want to help support me just share the video with any friends you have that may be interested, that's more than enough by way of showing appreciation. Anyway thanks for the comment, it made me really happy.
Just finished your critique of Witcher 1. You have a gift for analyzing and conveying. Keep Up the excellent work! I hope 2022 finds you well and healthy. Subbed 👍🏻
I am kinda late to this party but it sure was an amazing one. Randomly (thanks youtube) stumbled across this game of a video and even greater channel. Loved the in-debt analysis & critique while also doing this great game justice
watching these retrospective after you played them is really good especially the paths and decisions you didnt make.Great work and for me witcher 2 was amazing however witcher 3 is still my fav from the series.
I wish I watched this before playing W3.. it adds so much context to a lot of the characters n also gives me a better idea of how I would’ve liked to answer the questions I was asked in vizima
I think the length issue is partly due to how linear the areas are particularly in the first half of game . I find I end up triggering story advances when I wanted to keep doing side quests and looting/farming . if you were a bit more free to wander it would help slow it down a bit and give time to absorb info, check journal and experiment with the systems a bit .
Yo can anyone tell me the piano song that starts playing at the end. During the letho explaining part. I watch all your vid btw and the one thing that pisses me of is you don't credit the song names in the tittle 😥. Please consider doing that its driving me crazy
I started reading the books in 2004 when i was 15, when the first games Trailer came out i was excited, when the game came out It was wonky, unpolished and a mess of Bugs, but enough fun to be excited for the followup... when the Trailer for 2 came i knew i was in for hell of a ride. TW3 is the only game that ever made me cry when i got the perfect ending (for me) of a series that had accompanied me for then all of my whole adult life.
The worst problem I had with this game (Enhanced Edition on PC) is that each time I saved, saving and loading got slower, until eventually trying to save or load just crashed the game. I had to go into the filesystem and clear out all my old save files. Since then I've been regularly deleting old saves in-game while playing, and it's been running just fine. It's a little annoying that this needs to be done, but it's not really a big deal.
"If you import your save from Witcher 1, you also start the game with your endgame swords, and the Raven Armor, if you found it at least." Yeah, you start the game with your endgame swords, including your Excalibur analog, Aerondight, which you IMMEDIATELY lose in a cutscene during the prologue. I bet Lady of the Lake is happy about that. I'm honestly surprised she doesn't say something along the lines of "and please, don't lose it this time" in Blood and Wine. EDIT: Turns out she actually does say this, my memory was just failing me.
I am so glad I stumbled on your channel and your amazing videos. I ended up staying up until 3 in the morning just to finish the entire 4 hours or so of the Witcher series critique. And I have to admit I agree with what you said and I really liked how you presented it. I have just one thing I want to add from a personal experience regarding alchemy in Witcher 2. On my first playthrough I, as you said, found it quite useless and mostly just used swallow. I had the problem that the potions would expire and I would lose their benefit in the middle of the fight, and seeing that I could very well manage without them I ended up skipping the entire preparation before the fight bit. But on my second playthrough I deliberately made an alchemy build and it was really awesome, it really changed how I approached fights and how they would play out. The alchemy system here is far better than the one in Witcher 3, which is a joke in my opinion. Also I ended up using the crafting system and it is quite fun and useful after you invest time in it. I still remember trying to collect iron ore, which was very heavy, and kept needing to store it. It was frustrating but fun. The crafting system in the Witcher 3 I find it completely useless, outside the witcher gear of course, but it was a major letdown. And for me, the story in the Witcher 2 is the best. I really like how the world exists around you and does not revolve around you, you are just a part of it and you can influence it, but it develops in ways which are out of your control, and it was a nice break from keep saving the world which you find in so many other video games. I think you did a really great job in pointing this out. Also I like having this more instanced and smaller explorable areas, as we have in Witcher 1 and 2, instead of the big open world. For me, the open world does not add much, and it actually makes the world feel smaller (for example in an open world you would know exactly what is between Vergen and Loc Muinne because you can visit it, but here you do not, and thus it keeps it's mystery and makes the world feel larger). But I know this is more to personal taste. Anyway, great videos, great job, and I hope you keep this up and you are successful.
I really liked this retrospective but I do have one critique. You commented multiple times on how it was annoying that you couldn't switch signs with a button press, but you can. They're bound to the number keys, 1 and 2 are for steel and silver swords, and then 3 onward are for your signs. Additionally the scroll wheel cycles between them. It is annoying that the game doesn't make this clear, but it is present and was a lifesaver when I did my sign focused run on my second playthrough. Other than that critique though, I love the video, and my timing on coming across it has been great as I've been replaying the series now in "preparation" for Cyberpunk 2077. Witcher 2 was my introduction to the series and has a special place in my heart for the difficulty, action, and very cool storytelling. Also the graphics, for something that came out the same year as Dragon Age 2 there is no comparison.
It would be so cool if Witcher/Witcher 2 enhanced editions would release on consoles! I do own a decent gaming rig and own these gems but playing on the big screen with a controller in hand while relaxing on the couch is the way to go for me.
I found myself choosing Roach only because I couldn't be bothered tracking all the way back to the other side of the map to where Iorveth was even though I was more philosophically inclined to chose him over Roach. And add to that the fact that I only wanted to check out the other option for curiosity's sake. Design flaw I guess,
You are 8.2k subs from 100k!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations brother, take you a day off and get a nice chocolate cake, with 100k candles. I'll see you at your 100k special.
Great video, Amazing analysis of the story, I love your conclusion at the end! I also really like your style and voice! Just one thing. Roche is NOT pronounced Roach. Roche is likely a french name, just give google translate a go and listen how it is pronounced correctly, please :D
I think this game could have benefited from a 'new game plus' feature, so you could expand on the skill tree and automatically setting you up for the path you didnt take in your first play through. Anyway, great job dude.
I remember playing this game on the hardest difficulty (the night before a CS college final in fact several years ago when both games went on sale on steam, and I had to choose between studying for that final, and playing both of these games from start to finish the entire weekend right before that final) and I had no trouble with the bald man fight, but I never saved in the game and had almost no hp in the tentical man fight so I had to do it flawlessly. Good times.
39:00 Ironically enough, I decided to go through and do that quest alone, without Triss. And it was a literal "Walk and get Rose, Walk back" deal, I was bummed that it was so boring. Good to know I just made the shitty choice lmao
What's that music you used from 1:06:39 to 1:08:53? It's quite a nice theme but I can't seem to find it, at least not in TW2's soundtrack. Really enjoyed this, btw. You're like a cross between Joseph Anderson and Shaun and that's a mixture I can definitely get behind
It's an arrangement of Chopin's Nocturne Op. 55 that was used in this witcher 2 trailer: th-cam.com/video/g6e1Rzk3OrQ/w-d-xo.html And it is indeed a nice theme.
I think I saw this in a forum while struggling to defeat Letho in the first fight, but Yrden is a great sign to get a few hits in, as it paralyzes Letho sometimes (guess it's a dice roll or something)
I liked the Witcher 2 more than The Witcher 3 ! There was this arena mode... I dunno why but I loved doing that thing. And replaying the wticher 2 story cause its shorter
i swear this game has been in my steam library for like 10 years. I thought it was too hard in the tutorial and never gave it another shot. I'll fix that soon though
The one thing I won't forgive the second Wither for is the magic build. Every sign is weirdly different from both first and third game (Why is Igni a fireball now?), pure mage build is useless, enemies ARE damage sponges sometimes, and they take away all your signs in the ghost part while leaving melee upgrades, which makes playing through it as a magic/alchemy focused build impossible on higher(st?) difficulties. Also, optimization sucks, Witcher 3 had more frames for me on best settings w/o hairworks. Probably due to some specific parameter of the best graphic settings in W2, but for some reason, you can't set it up yourself, "best" graphics is a toggle that's either on or off. The game is really good otherwise, so it sucks that those things really hurt the experience of playing. I feel like the series had similar progression to Mass Effect: The ambitious concept -> The experiment -> The triple-A one.
24:30 Wrong, this flashback is of the pogrom in The Lady of The Lake where Geralt and Yennefer die and are taken to Isle of Avallon (Isle of Avallach in the games) by Ciri.This is the first of the flashbacks in the chronological time order.
@@NeverKnowsBest Then why not show that one? Showing the pogrom doesnt offer anything of importance, and actually can confuse viewers like it did for me. Great video by the way, really enjoyed it.
@@Viihdekanavaaaa Because i was structuring the whole video by going through the game chronologically and commenting as i go. And thanks, i'm glad you enjoyed the video.
What kind of mad man goes 15 mins without saving in an RPG?
@Hal Swan that is the nerdiest gatekeeping i have seen in my life
Speedrunners?
@@Venched That got me thinking, and now I've looked it up and realized ... nobody runs this game. The only entries on speedrun.com are all from the same guy, corpseflesh, from like four years ago. A couple other people have a pb video or two on youtube, but there doesn't appear to be any sort of community. Same with Witcher 1. People only seem to run 3.
What sort of man says "sheday preyacht" if he's not polish, an annoying as fuck wanker that's who. Couldn't concentrate through the whole video due to his wankery fuck
They are called CD Project, not fucking sheday preyacht
DarthFennec probably because speedrunning this game is like trying to speedrun bethesda games, there’s a high chance that bugs and jank will mess up your run. And while the 3rd game has some strategies and techniques that allow you to speedrun it, Witcher 2 doesn’t have that many and it’s just run to x location, spam through dialogue, and repeat. While this game has a ton of choices, it’s pretty linear for speedrunning up until loc muinne as the only major choices that effect you right after choosing them are the ones that get you killed or the ones that trigger a quest event (like drawing the ritual sign on the ground when breaking the curse). Witcher 2 has more long term effects that matter to people who care about the story while Witcher 3 and Witcher 1 have more instant reactions to your choices with Witcher 3 having the most as you can start a lot of fights and sometimes completely optional quest events if you pick the wrong dialogue choice
Ach, Vernon Roche, the ultimate perfectionist... I remember playing a build fully focused on signs, including completely decked out Igni. When I was doing a mission in Loc Muinne with Roche, there was a part in which you're attacked by a whole squad of top-tier heavy knights, each of them being basically a mini-boss in itself.
At this point, though, my magic was so overpowered, that I just spammed the fireball Igni into them several times, wiping the entire squad in *exactly* 3 seconds before triggering a cutscene in which Roche stated: "We've wasted too much time!"
I mean, dayum... 3 seconds for dispatching what essentially amounts to a Death Squad is too long for Roche? I'm starting to fear that bastard...
Surprisingly, I had the opposite experience with Igni in the second game and only found it OP in the first one (And sometimes third). Maybe it's just the highest difficulty being poorly balanced.
@@zeratulrus142 nah, I focused on signs too and played on the highest difficulty to unlock the cool gear and by the endgame I had trivialized most encounters.
@@RagingRugbyst weird. Maybe I was just bad? But that wouldn't explain enemies feeling like damage sponges that you can barely kill with Igni spam. It's the same button.
How did you get past the ghost part where, from what I remember, you have all your combat buffs, but no signs?
@@zeratulrus142 maybe it was the OP base stats of the special gear? It was a long time ago, but I remember a definite breakpoint where I could just igni and clear shit. And that could also mean my memory forgot all the trauma inducing trial-and-error fights I might have ancountered.
Witcher 2 was my first introduction to the Witcher Universe, back in 2016. I was totally blown away by the character depth, decisions you could make which actually impacted the game and the over all tone of the game. So far I thought every RPG was like Skyrim, uninteresting characters, a forgettable story and meaningless decisions (they end up being the same either way). This game was something completely different. At every point I was introduced to places, people and conflicts that just seemed so much bigger than me. I kinda felt like a 5-year old kid again, following my parents through a sprawling world, admiring the people in it, the scenery, just waiting to grow up so I could understand it for myself and play a part. When I then learned of the book series I borrowed the first book from a local library and was captivated by this too. I read a lot of fantasy, but this was different. The stories had meaningful dilemmas that made you think and questioned yourself. The inspiration from fairytales was just a cherry on top.
That said, I devoured the books and then went on to play Witcher 1 (fantastic game if you see past the superficial), I played the Witcher 2 again (on Roche's Path this time) and this time I actually understood what was going on and knew the people involved. Then I waited for Black Friday 2017, and bought parts for a new PC that could run The Witcher 3. The first game I installed and played was the Witcher 3 and after all the hype it was finally time to enjoy the masterpiece everyone had told me about. But apart from the vast majority, I now had extensive knowledge of the Witcher Universe and therefore the experience was even better. When the game ended, I cried, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. The journey I had started on over a year earlier with my first trembling steps in the Witcher 2 had now come to an end. It was over. And it was beautiful. I didn't even touch my pc for a week, because I just felt hollow inside, nothing else was worth playing. Over time the feeling recides and you get over it, but damn I love the Witcher Universe. Awesome Video, really hit the nail on the head with this one!
Yeap I had a very similar experience to you, except I played the The Witcher 2 back in like 2012 on xbox 360 and the only books I could get back then in english were the Last Wish and Blood of Elves ... Was much later I could finally finish the book series and then finally play through The Witcher 1 and 3... The Witcher 3 had some minor inconsistancies with the book, namely Emphyr and Avallac'h, as well as not giving as much time with Ciri as I would of liked to fully realise her character, but overall was such a great adaption. It an amazing job including a tonne of stuff for book fans and fans of their previous games while still making it easily accessible to noobies. It really was a great conclusion to Geralts journey.
Hey , I been trying to explain my Witcher experience in written text ... Ty you did it perfectly as if I wrote it myself :)
Skyrim was good
You have way too few views for the quality content you make. Don't let that discourage you. Keep doing this, you're good at it.
Thanks, I appreciate the support.
Probably because people’s attention spans are less then ten fucking minutes. Don’t worry I watch till the end. But the long videos probably scare the brainless hive that is the TH-cam viewers
@@braedenconti36 I think corona kind changed this. I've seen long form video game analysis with millions of views now. Funny how that changed.
This content is absolutely brilliant
@@braedenconti36 Sorry, that was too long and I wanted to let you personally know that I didn't read it... like... I NEED you to know... it was far... far too long and you have verily inconvenienced me in how unreadably long it was. SO, you know... Just so YOU know...
It's, It's, too long bro... Like help me, help you here...
WHY DID YOU WRITE THAT SO FUCKING LONG SO I DIDN"T READ IT YOU INCONSIDERATE FUCK! ...just sayin.. like... wayyy too longnnnngggggeh...ehhh...
-Terrance Langford De'Roselyn
This channel is a gem, thanks
expect for your canstant fucking use of sheday preyacht
They are CD Project, not sheday preyacht
sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht sheday preyacht
Fuck off, you're not polish
@@vonclaren1 bro are you okay? lmfao
There's still hidden gem youtube review/analysis channels, and yours is at the top
that's kind of you to say, thanks
Art direction in 2 is by far my favourite in the series. Character designs are really intricate, and artists played a lot with colors and different decorative patterns. Man-made and natural enviroments are both beautiful.
I will send Joseph Anderson an email and ask him to endorse your channel in one of his videos. Your content is good enough that you deserve more viewers.
Well i really appreciate the sentiment but i think Joseph is, understandably, a busy guy who can't always check things out. I am trying to promote my content as i can, which includes posting to Joseph's discord in the share you content section. I think gaining views and subs is hard when you start at the bottom. However i am getting some growth, even if its really slow, and all it takes is for one video is get a bit lucky and get promoted by the youtube algorithm a bit and then things could get a bit easier. But i'll keep trying to promote my stuff and keep trying to improve in quality and we'll see. If the views never come i won't be too unhappy because i've had fun making these videos and i never expected this to be a career or anything. And the positive comments i do get, like yours, make me really happy. So thanks for that and i hope you enjoy future content too.
@@NeverKnowsBest I would love to email you on a few topics including growth etc... can you contact me and send your email?
@@NeverKnowsBest plz send your email
Iorveth's path is so much better, it's not even close. It's a shame he's a jerk, though. Saskia was one of the best characters in this game, and you only learn more about her with Iorveth.
Is he that much of a jerk? I found his character ok.
Saskia's great, but there are great things in Roche's path too, and I personally think they're equally good. Iorveth's not that much of a jerk, there are much worse jerks in this game.
@Deborah Meltrozo yes but in this one you don't fight for the squirrels you go with them to fight for a cause that is actually worth fighting for. This isn't like the Witcher 1 where they were robing Banks and holding Innocents hostage.
Yeah Iorveth's path is noticeably longer and I liked chilling with the dwarves more than the kaedwen camp. But Roche is such a bro....
You are now officialy my favorite reviewer.
You are making points that i am thinking of when i play these games and no other reviewer addresses.
Thanks. Hope I don't disappoint you in the future.
I just came back to this game after years and in have to say graphics look really good, Even in the Xbox 360 version. But man, that freaking map... So confusing and sometimes useless! Good thing the story is so good.
You deserve more subs, keep the good work sir!
Greetings from Chile.
I really like it. Though one thing you said intrigued me, that Witcher 3 was moved to 2. I read that CDPR always intended for a trilogy which would end with the story of Ciri, which conflicts with the notion that that's what the Witcher 2 originally was.
Also, I think that a bit more could have been said to explain why Letho sought Iorveth. I know, Letho wanted to kill human kings and Iorveth would be more than happy to kill major human figures, and had the small but well-armed force to suitably assist, but people who don't know anything about the series might be confused. Did they know each other from before? Are they on the same team? If they are on the same team, why did Letho betray them? Questions like that would affect someone's viewing experience.
I do think that this is significantly better than the first video, since basically every plot point was followed by some sort of commentary, making it very interesting and informative. Good job!
At that point in time both the witcher 2 and 3 were so early in development that i don't think the change of plans would have effected much story wise. The work on the witcher 3 would have been not so much work on a game as it was work on an engine. My source was www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-11-06-seeing-red-the-story-of-cd-projekt but it doesn't include much more details. Although on the topic of story i heard the witcher 2 story was meant to end differently. The cut content (chapter 4/dol blathanna) would have featured the wild hunt and ended with you meeting Yennefer. I can't find any official source for that now that i'm looking for it though. I would love to know more about what parts of the story were originally planned from the start and what was changed though. It's really interesting to me.
As for the story recap in this video... I think you raise a valid point and i bet its not the only thing that isn't clear. I'd thought of a few other things as i was editing the video as well, like Phillipa/Sile's motivations (I never even mention the lodge). There's just too much of the witcher 2's story. Too many characters, too many agenda's etc. I think i just have to accept the recap isn't perfect for someone who hasn't played the game and to make it so would have made the video too long. Overall i'm happy with how the video turned out although there's some things i want to do differently with the witcher 3 video when i get to it.
Thanks once more for the feedback, it's always helpful.
Best game in the series,
don't care what anyone else thinks
Letho is the best antagonist in any game ever. A mirror to Geralt and one which synthesize heavily with the main theme and premise all throughout the game.
Yup. Including even get into Witcher 3.
I liked Witcher 3 better
bro we all know bowser's character design is 1million times better than letho
39:50 when I first play the game the fight with letho was so hard that at the end of the game when given the choice to fight him i let him live because I didn't want to go through it again
25 hours!? Damn, I must be really slow (or an insane completionist), because it took me 50-60 hours to finish this.
Ligma balls big guy
This 1 is my favorite, I wish witcher 3 had a similar structure
Stannis is actually not guilty if you do the quest properly. Its his priest who poisons her. Stannis knew, but refused to join the plot and told the priest to not do it. You need a letter from a locked haunted house.
Amazing retrospective. I really like how you decided to compare between both this and the first game through multiple instances.
I'm glad that that sekiro video on easy difficulties was recommended to me when it allowed me to discover the channel.
Love this game. Love your analysis. Thank you for taking the time to really dig into what made this game special!
Killing an alcoholic troll? You beast! There were other ways to solve that.
Helping or killing he said :)
Don't care + ratio
This game absolutely ate my graphics card alive, back in the day. What a gorgeous game.
One of the most interesting video i've seen so far - and i'm afraid i've seen a lot. The most appreciated was the commentary on the last Letho's encounter, at the end. Brilliant.
Thank you :)
My man has the best, smoothest voice ever.
"Mah fav'rite type o' magic... LEEESBOOMANCYYYY" I fucking love that dwarf xD
Witcher 2 was pretty much one of my favourite games of all time when it came out. It is still great game with a great story, but tbh after Witcher 3, it just isn't as good. It also is very hard to go back because Witcher 3 is just better in all the aspects. I'd enjoy a remake of 1st and 2nd game to be made to the engine of the 3rd game.
I have to say The Witcher 2 holds a special place in my heart. Like Dragon age Origins it was my first major RPG as a somewhat adult being 17 when it was released. I was able to play it with a knowledge of game design and how the sausage of video games where made. It set it's own path and unfortunately being released in 2011 it was over shadowed by skyrim in the mainstream gamers eyes I do like to image a world where this was a hit and the elements of this game where what inspired future AAA RPGs instead of skyrim
THAT scene with Triss was VITAL to the "Plot"! The world would be a lesser place without it in it. lol
The opening Cinematic in this game is my favorite of any game ... Letho killing King Demived on the boat is epic !
This game was such a pleasant surprise for me lmao, I played through TW1 and found it kinda tedious but I was interested enough in the lore to continue and TW2 was so damn engaging that I could barely put it down until I finished it.
Also Roche is h o m e b o y
Great video. Love the content and your narration is really easy to listen to.
as always quality content from this channel
"It's all planned..." - I crack every time...
Awesome job, bro. Keep it up!
I just beat this game for the first time on a blind playthrough. Put it on Dark mode cause of the unique gear and apparently because I hate myself. Decided to do the a full mages path build. I have to say I found this game especially the boss fights exceedingly satisfying. I raged at literally every bossy fight, kayran, first letho, the Draug, and the dragon. The Draug tested my fullest extent of patience. I loved this game and it exceeded my expectations.
Please make a patreon. I will gladly contribute to help make these videos even more of a joy to watch. Keep up the great work.
I think the channel is a bit small for a patreon. If you want to help support me just share the video with any friends you have that may be interested, that's more than enough by way of showing appreciation. Anyway thanks for the comment, it made me really happy.
now you can become a patreon ;)
You don't have enough subs man, your videos are great
thanks, glad you like them
Just finished your critique of Witcher 1. You have a gift for analyzing and conveying.
Keep Up the excellent work! I hope 2022 finds you well and healthy. Subbed 👍🏻
I am kinda late to this party but it sure was an amazing one. Randomly (thanks youtube) stumbled across this game of a video and even greater channel.
Loved the in-debt analysis & critique while also doing this great game justice
thanks man, glad you enjoyed the video
This was my starting point to the Witcher, and yeah, it's a bit tough to get into but I found it to be completely engrossing.
You got a like, a new subscriber, and I activated the notification as well.
Great quality content man, keep it up!
NeverKnowsBest, Yay! I liked this video so much, it made me smile!
watching these retrospective after you played them is really good especially the paths and decisions you didnt make.Great work and for me witcher 2 was amazing however witcher 3 is still my fav from the series.
definitely agree about the bridge in kayran fight I'm not a fan of hand holding but I don't get how you should know to do that without any hint
You don't need hand holding if the level designers know their job.
What a great video this. Well done
Hey does anyone know the music playing around 1:07:40?
Arrangement of Chopin's Nocturne in F Minor, Op. 55 No.1 by Marcin Mirowski.
www.marcinmirowski.com/music 5th on classical ensembles list
Akılsız Bir Robot thanks a lot
Its really shame that Dol Blathana got cut, would love to see it.
I wish I watched this before playing W3.. it adds so much context to a lot of the characters n also gives me a better idea of how I would’ve liked to answer the questions I was asked in vizima
That Inn music was stuck in my head forever
I think the length issue is partly due to how linear the areas are particularly in the first half of game . I find I end up triggering story advances when I wanted to keep doing side quests and looting/farming . if you were a bit more free to wander it would help slow it down a bit and give time to absorb info, check journal and experiment with the systems a bit .
I never fight Letho in the end, I feel sorry for him and like him too much.
The woven bath house was beautiful and the love scene lovely moment of tenderness and comfort in a brutal world.
Yo can anyone tell me the piano song that starts playing at the end. During the letho explaining part. I watch all your vid btw and the one thing that pisses me of is you don't credit the song names in the tittle 😥. Please consider doing that its driving me crazy
I started reading the books in 2004 when i was 15, when the first games Trailer came out i was excited, when the game came out It was wonky, unpolished and a mess of Bugs, but enough fun to be excited for the followup... when the Trailer for 2 came i knew i was in for hell of a ride.
TW3 is the only game that ever made me cry when i got the perfect ending (for me) of a series that had accompanied me for then all of my whole adult life.
21:36 - "Anyway the dragon proves no match for a well-timed button press" yo damn right! :D
This game puts to shame modern RPG..... Such a masterpieces. I replayed it last year and it looks gorgeous. Love it.
C D Project red could probably do a remake of the witche 1,2 and sell ridiculously well.
What's the piano music used at the end? I know it and it'll drive me crazy trying to figure it out!
Better late than never, It's Nocturne OP55 No1 from Chopin
Love the Chopin Nocturne choice
sign usage was only problem if you played with controller.
The worst problem I had with this game (Enhanced Edition on PC) is that each time I saved, saving and loading got slower, until eventually trying to save or load just crashed the game. I had to go into the filesystem and clear out all my old save files. Since then I've been regularly deleting old saves in-game while playing, and it's been running just fine. It's a little annoying that this needs to be done, but it's not really a big deal.
I played it initially with KB and M I could have sworn the weapon/sign selection was the same way, bound to the 1-7 keys. No need for the menu
1:14:47 the flashing text reads "cynthia = best girl"
Nice contents, I wonder why there aren't more views :/
"If you import your save from Witcher 1, you also start the game with your endgame swords, and the Raven Armor, if you found it at least."
Yeah, you start the game with your endgame swords, including your Excalibur analog, Aerondight, which you IMMEDIATELY lose in a cutscene during the prologue. I bet Lady of the Lake is happy about that. I'm honestly surprised she doesn't say something along the lines of "and please, don't lose it this time" in Blood and Wine.
EDIT: Turns out she actually does say this, my memory was just failing me.
But she does say something like that. th-cam.com/video/I17QDatidfc/w-d-xo.html
@NeverKnowsBest Oh shit, you're right. That bit escaped my memory somehow, for some reason I didn't remember her mentioning it. Whoops.
Your videos are great. I do find myself wondering why it sounds like you pronounce "strength" as "stremth."
I am so glad I stumbled on your channel and your amazing videos. I ended up staying up until 3 in the morning just to finish the entire 4 hours or so of the Witcher series critique. And I have to admit I agree with what you said and I really liked how you presented it.
I have just one thing I want to add from a personal experience regarding alchemy in Witcher 2. On my first playthrough I, as you said, found it quite useless and mostly just used swallow. I had the problem that the potions would expire and I would lose their benefit in the middle of the fight, and seeing that I could very well manage without them I ended up skipping the entire preparation before the fight bit. But on my second playthrough I deliberately made an alchemy build and it was really awesome, it really changed how I approached fights and how they would play out. The alchemy system here is far better than the one in Witcher 3, which is a joke in my opinion. Also I ended up using the crafting system and it is quite fun and useful after you invest time in it. I still remember trying to collect iron ore, which was very heavy, and kept needing to store it. It was frustrating but fun. The crafting system in the Witcher 3 I find it completely useless, outside the witcher gear of course, but it was a major letdown. And for me, the story in the Witcher 2 is the best. I really like how the world exists around you and does not revolve around you, you are just a part of it and you can influence it, but it develops in ways which are out of your control, and it was a nice break from keep saving the world which you find in so many other video games. I think you did a really great job in pointing this out. Also I like having this more instanced and smaller explorable areas, as we have in Witcher 1 and 2, instead of the big open world. For me, the open world does not add much, and it actually makes the world feel smaller (for example in an open world you would know exactly what is between Vergen and Loc Muinne because you can visit it, but here you do not, and thus it keeps it's mystery and makes the world feel larger). But I know this is more to personal taste.
Anyway, great videos, great job, and I hope you keep this up and you are successful.
Thanks Alex
Just subbed, amazing review, and conversation about a game that is quite exciting, love ur honesty. 🙂
Ah damn.... What's the name of the piano song at the beginning? Making me insane XD
Anyway, love your videos. Great work!
Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne in Fm Op.55
But the specific version is from here th-cam.com/video/KIguEWfEJ-0/w-d-xo.html
@@NeverKnowsBest Thanks a lot!
1:07:30 the arena's floor even looks like a chess board
I really liked this retrospective but I do have one critique. You commented multiple times on how it was annoying that you couldn't switch signs with a button press, but you can. They're bound to the number keys, 1 and 2 are for steel and silver swords, and then 3 onward are for your signs. Additionally the scroll wheel cycles between them. It is annoying that the game doesn't make this clear, but it is present and was a lifesaver when I did my sign focused run on my second playthrough.
Other than that critique though, I love the video, and my timing on coming across it has been great as I've been replaying the series now in "preparation" for Cyberpunk 2077. Witcher 2 was my introduction to the series and has a special place in my heart for the difficulty, action, and very cool storytelling. Also the graphics, for something that came out the same year as Dragon Age 2 there is no comparison.
It would be so cool if Witcher/Witcher 2 enhanced editions would release on consoles! I do own a decent gaming rig and own these gems but playing on the big screen with a controller in hand while relaxing on the couch is the way to go for me.
Well you could hook up your rig to a TV and a controller :p
Witcher 1 is getting a remake now.
I found myself choosing Roach only because I couldn't be bothered tracking all the way back to the other side of the map to where Iorveth was even though I was more philosophically inclined to chose him over Roach. And add to that the fact that I only wanted to check out the other option for curiosity's sake. Design flaw I guess,
You are 8.2k subs from 100k!!!!!!!!!! Congratulations brother, take you a day off and get a nice chocolate cake, with 100k candles.
I'll see you at your 100k special.
Great video, Amazing analysis of the story, I love your conclusion at the end! I also really like your style and voice! Just one thing. Roche is NOT pronounced Roach. Roche is likely a french name, just give google translate a go and listen how it is pronounced correctly, please :D
I think this game could have benefited from a 'new game plus' feature, so you could expand on the skill tree and automatically setting you up for the path you didnt take in your first play through. Anyway, great job dude.
When he says "Roach" during the video he actually mean "Roche" - This was quite noticable since Geralt's horse is named "Roach"
Bindge watching your videos they are awesomely cool
Great retrospective gracias
I remember playing this game on the hardest difficulty (the night before a CS college final in fact several years ago when both games went on sale on steam, and I had to choose between studying for that final, and playing both of these games from start to finish the entire weekend right before that final) and I had no trouble with the bald man fight, but I never saved in the game and had almost no hp in the tentical man fight so I had to do it flawlessly. Good times.
39:00 Ironically enough, I decided to go through and do that quest alone, without Triss. And it was a literal "Walk and get Rose, Walk back" deal, I was bummed that it was so boring. Good to know I just made the shitty choice lmao
What music do you use as background music? It sounds familiar somehow...
It's on sale on Gog idk if I should take the leap. Been playing WH on my 4th run
What is the music in the end of the video?
whats a stremp? @12:50
I never played The Witcher 2.
So i look at all these well-crafted characters and all i see is a recollection of my gwent cards.
Foltest was such an amazing character, so sad he had to go so soon.
What's that music you used from 1:06:39 to 1:08:53? It's quite a nice theme but I can't seem to find it, at least not in TW2's soundtrack.
Really enjoyed this, btw. You're like a cross between Joseph Anderson and Shaun and that's a mixture I can definitely get behind
It's an arrangement of Chopin's Nocturne Op. 55 that was used in this witcher 2 trailer:
th-cam.com/video/g6e1Rzk3OrQ/w-d-xo.html
And it is indeed a nice theme.
Tip for this game; make a manual save before each boss fight
I think I saw this in a forum while struggling to defeat Letho in the first fight, but Yrden is a great sign to get a few hits in, as it paralyzes Letho sometimes (guess it's a dice roll or something)
The way you pronounce CD Projekt sounds almost Hungarian lol, I love it. Took me a while, didn't even realize it first
Sounds polish to me
"Lesbo-mancy". Slayed me more thoroughly than fresh Nekker spawn in a Witcher's warm up training.
My favorite type of review, lesbospective!
I AM ENGAGED WITH THIS CONTENT
Great vid
I liked the Witcher 2 more than The Witcher 3 ! There was this arena mode... I dunno why but I loved doing that thing. And replaying the wticher 2 story cause its shorter
i swear this game has been in my steam library for like 10 years. I thought it was too hard in the tutorial and never gave it another shot. I'll fix that soon though
The one thing I won't forgive the second Wither for is the magic build. Every sign is weirdly different from both first and third game (Why is Igni a fireball now?), pure mage build is useless, enemies ARE damage sponges sometimes, and they take away all your signs in the ghost part while leaving melee upgrades, which makes playing through it as a magic/alchemy focused build impossible on higher(st?) difficulties.
Also, optimization sucks, Witcher 3 had more frames for me on best settings w/o hairworks. Probably due to some specific parameter of the best graphic settings in W2, but for some reason, you can't set it up yourself, "best" graphics is a toggle that's either on or off.
The game is really good otherwise, so it sucks that those things really hurt the experience of playing. I feel like the series had similar progression to Mass Effect: The ambitious concept -> The experiment -> The triple-A one.
I find this one better than the 3rd.
I always mod out item weight. Makes the game much more playable.
Never played the game but the story seems very convoluted, but very interesting.
24:30 Wrong, this flashback is of the pogrom in The Lady of The Lake where Geralt and Yennefer die and are taken to Isle of Avallon (Isle of Avallach in the games) by Ciri.This is the first of the flashbacks in the chronological time order.
I think i was referring to the first you see in game, not the first chronologically.
@@NeverKnowsBest Then why not show that one? Showing the pogrom doesnt offer anything of importance, and actually can confuse viewers like it did for me. Great video by the way, really enjoyed it.
@@Viihdekanavaaaa Because i was structuring the whole video by going through the game chronologically and commenting as i go. And thanks, i'm glad you enjoyed the video.
I like item weight.
Just don’t pick everything up. Makes you be judicious. Or be a trader (stasher).