Review Eurogamer complains about The Witcher - 7/10

[Vault Dweller]

Tags: CD Projekt; Witcher, The

<a href=http://www.eurogamer.net>Eurogamer</a> has posted a <a href=http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=86156>review</a> of <a href=http://www.thewitcher.com/>The Witcher</a>, giving it 7/10 because it doesn't offer much to role-playing fans.
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<blockquote>So, by my reckoning, The Witcher is only half an RPG. The role you play is non-negotiable - you're Geralt, a white-haired growly-voiced amnesiac anti-hero. Nor can you choose his profession. It is, after all, rather set in stone by the verb-slaughtering title of the game. He's a witcher, a professional slayer of the supernatural, wandering from town to town ridding the countryside of foul beasts using swords, magic and a little bit of alchemy. You'll be using the same swords for pretty much the whole game (though you can augment them), your armour options are limited and you've got a fairly rigid vengeance-fuelled goal in mind. If you're looking for one of those games where you can craft your own jewel-encrusted golden armour, and spend months tinkering with optional side-quests, then move along. This one isn't for you.
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If, however, you're a fan of compellingly realised environments, commendably realistic social interactions and full-blooded fantasy storytelling then pull up a pew, since The Witcher has a lot to offer.
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The combat tries to find the middle ground between the turn-based approach of, say, Knights of the Old Republic and the mouse-mashing of Diablo II.
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Well-intentioned clickety combat aside, The Witcher doesn't offer much the dedicated role-player won't have already seen elsewhere, but that's not such a bad thing. CD Projekt has taken time-tested elements from across the fantasy-RPG spectrum and tied them to a solidly crafted story that includes elements of racial discord, religious fanaticism and sexual promiscuity in its adults-only mix.</blockquote>Another great review from Eurogamer!
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Spotted at: <A HREF="http://www.rpgwatch.com">RPG Watch</A>

 

[Volrath]

If, however, you're a fan of compellingly realised environments, commendably realistic social interactions and full-blooded fantasy storytelling then pull up a pew, since The Witcher has a lot to offer.

7/10 RIGHT THERE LOL!

 

[Texas Red]

Its good that we have titles like Oblivion and Mass Effect to balance out the generic games.

 

[Micmu]

So, by my reckoning, The Witcher is only half an RPG. The role you play is non-negotiable - you're Geralt

And by my reckoning, you're complete and utter moron.

turn-based approach of, say, Knights of the Old Republic

 

[ricolikesrice]

"If you're looking for one of those games where you can craft your own jewel-encrusted golden armour, and spend months tinkering with optional side-quests, then move along. This one isn't for you. "

no worries eurogamer. given EA bought bioware the realization of your cRPG dreams might come true soon enough:

The Sims: Medieval Fantasy Stories.

romance, crafting, months of sidequests.... roleplaying at its finest.

10/10 guaranteed.

 

[LarsWestergren]

Another great review from Eurogamer!

Sarcasm, I guess? I thought it was a pretty decent review, but I am still on the fence on this game.

This was a glaring mistake though -
"With Bioware's Aurora engine to provide the graphical muscle, the pieces are all in place for an above-average RPG-style experience."

Er, no. The Aurora engine is the one behind NWN1, the Witcher developers rewrote the graphics engine completely but kept the rest.

 

[MetalCraze]

In western media the lower the mark - the better the game I think.

 

[Oarfish]

The reviewer plainly dislikes the genre, except for the holy Oblivion. Most of his positive reviews are for Console action games and shiny bilge like world in conflict.

spend months tinkering with optional side-quests

There are crap loads of side quests. The game is chock bloody full of them. On hard you need to do them too, as the main quest isn't scaled.

 

[Rulion]

I didn't read the entire review - just the snippets VD posted - and it doesn't sound too stupid, aside from the "half an RPG" part. Really, is designing your own character that important? The fact that you'd be playing a role is made perfectly clear from the beginning, the hype, the screenshots, the previews - and people are still let down?

The only part I have a problem with, based on the snippets alone, is the score. The review doesn't reflect a 7/10. An 8/10 or 9/10 would be more fair.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Sarcasm, I guess? I thought it was a pretty decent review, but I am still on the fence on this game.

Actually, it was a very idiotic review, but that's the level of excellence Eurogamer is firmly committed to. One has no choice but to admire it.

 

[pug987]

It really seems reviewers dislike good rpgs. That's the only reason I can think of why MotB and The Witcher get so low scores.
I just love this game. I'm in the 3rd chapter at the moment and so far it's one of the best rpgs I've ever played. The gamepley strongly reminds me of Gothic while the story full of intrigue in a detailed world that isn't black and white brings to mind Betrayal at Krondor.

 

[Black]

<blockquote>So, by my reckoning, The Witcher is only half an RPG. The role you play is non-negotiable - you're Geralt, a white-haired growly-voiced amnesiac anti-hero. Nor can you choose his profession. It is, after all, rather set in stone by the verb-slaughtering title of the game. He's a witcher, a professional slayer of the supernatural, wandering from town to town ridding the countryside of foul beasts using swords, magic and a little bit of alchemy.

I realized that just now... Torment is also half-rpg! You're TNO, you can't change your appearance, your voice, you're pretty much grey, etc.
Shit, somebody call Chris Avellone, I think he might want to know about this...
Go gaming journalist, you oblivious pieces of shit!

 

[SimpleComplexity]

Isn`t Atari the license holder of Baldurs Gate or something, so actually they could hire CDProjekt to make another Baldurs Gate, $$$, multiplatform, of course. However, Atari won`t probably last long enough.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Like we need another fake RPG. They should give the license to Bethesda!

 

[cardtrick]

The role you play is non-negotiable - you're Geralt, a white-haired growly-voiced amnesiac anti-hero. Nor can you choose his profession. It is, after all, rather set in stone by the verb-slaughtering title of the game. He's a witcher, a professional slayer of the supernatural, wandering from town to town ridding the countryside of foul beasts using swords, magic and a little bit of alchemy

So, let me preface this by saying that I adore this game (most fun since VTMB for me) and I think the review is stupid.

However, he has somewhat more of a point with the above quote than it sounds like at first glance. I doubt most of us here care too much that you can't choose Geralt's looks/voice.

What might not be clear to those who haven't played the game is that there's a level at which you can't choose his personality, and that might legitimately bother people. Often your character will speak to people without your guidance, and many of the more inconsequential dialog choices from a Bioware (or even a Troika) game have been stripped out. As far as I can tell, dialogs never have two functionally equivalent ways of saying the same thing, so you're kind of limited to dialog responses that fit Geralt's hard-boiled, somewhat sarcastic, occasionally suave action hero badass persona. Occasionally you will insult people without having any choice in the matter, for example. Basically, you're taking on the role of an established character and are constrained to work within that role; you can make real, meaningful choices (although often with unforeseeable consequences), but you can't deviate from the character as established in the books.

In a way, that's kind of nice, but it's definitely not typical. On the one hand, Geralt has much more personality than most PCs in CRPGs, but on the other hand you have no control over what that personality is. But, I'm having fun playing as him, and the game has made me want to read the books.

 

[cardtrick]

Hey, VD, are you planning on writing a Codex review?

If not, I'd be kind of interested in cleaning up my mini-review in the Reactions thread and expanding it into a real review if you want it.

 

[Vault Dweller]

Hey, VD, are you planning on writing a Codex review?

Absolutely. However, it'll probably take another 4-6 weeks.

If not, I'd be kind of interested in cleaning up my mini-review in the Reactions thread and expanding it into a real review if you want it.

Sure, why not. Just make sure that your points are well explained.

 

[cardtrick]

Cool. I'll have it in today or tomorrow . . . you can decide whether it meets your standards.

 

[suleo]

Yea, torment is a half-rpg. And so is Ultima (all of them).

Yup, the reviewer is a moron.

Now about the game. I have to join the flock and say it's great. I'm playing it on hard which I find is the most rewarding because you need to use alchemy a lot and do all of the sidequests to survive. Combat is very nice and once you get the feel for it, combos come naturally. On hard, running away and dodging is important, otherwise you usually end up dead
There's a decent tactical depth to the combat: monsters have vulnerabilites and immunities and depending on their numbers and types, different combat styles help a lot.

The story is good and there is a decent number of choices to be made that have consequences. The world feels alive, gothic style, with some improvements, like people seeking shelter from the rain. Bethesda should get a clue on how to get "radiant ai" working (not that they care really of course).

Overall very good game. Better than MOTB (but I think I am just sick of D&D games in general).

Oh and one last thing: NO PHAT LEWT!

 

[Texas Red]

So do you or dont you get new weapons and armor? What for is money used?

 

[MasPingon]

Geez, I can't belive that such ignorant fuck is suppose to tell me iif this game is good or not. From what I have read, he didin't play the game more then 10 hours (probably about 5) .

 

[cardtrick]

So do you or dont you get new weapons and armor? What for is money used?

You do get new weapons and armor, but rarely, and it seems tied with story progression. You can only carry one of each type of weapon at a time, so you're not picking up tons of crap to sell. It's virtually identical to VTMB in this way.

You can upgrade your swords temporarily with various alchemical oils or permanently by reforging them with runes and meteorites that you find/buy. Damage depends more on your skills/stats than on your equipment.

Money is surprisingly tight, especially in the early-mid game. Admittedly, I was pretty wasteful with it; I spent it mostly on books, which are expensive, to learn lore, formula, and ingredients. I should have been more patient, since many of the books I bought could be found later in the game for free, but you live and learn. You also use it fairly frequently for bribes. If you don't invest character talents in alchemical skills and seek out knowledge, so that you can find ingredients easily on your own, then you would have to buy most of your alchemical ingredients, which could get expensive. Finally, you do need it to pay for reforging your swords and to buy new armors.

 

[Oarfish]

So do you or dont you get new weapons and armor? What for is money used?

Yes, there are lots of weapons and upgrades for your main swords. You can carry secondary weaponry along with your main swords. Armour can be bought from act II onwards.

I am only just into act II, and have spent most of my money so far on.. books

Oh and one last thing: NO PHAT LEWT!

Shame it doesn't have gothic style thieving detection to stop you rifling peoples houses for beer and muffins, though I'm not sure how that fits with the setting.

 

[cardtrick]

You can carry secondary weaponry along with your main swords.

Did you find much use for this? I just kept a torch in the small weapons slot, which was useful for light and for incinerating the otherwise annoyingly difficult plants. I've never used one of the large weapons, though; they just seem so inferior to your swords.

 

[Oarfish]

Used the axe a bit in the first chapter I think it makes a reasonable substitute for the strong style early on. Given humans usually attack in groups, steel group style ends up so much better.