So, last week I went to Best Buy to pick up a copy of Spore. While I was there I figured I should get a second new game that Throbble and I could play while the other one of us is glued to Spore. So I picked up The Witcher.
I've only played it a couple days but I'll say this one thing about it: The Witcher is what NWN2 was suppose to be! I highly recommend this game to anyone who was disappointed by NWN2.
I got a copy of the original game, but the "Enhanced Edition" was released in America today and it features a remastered version of the game, new improved models, voice overs and textures as well as some tweaks to the storyline and quests. Also, the most recent patch gives you some new mini-adventures and you can even download a toolset from their web site.
There are a couple drawbacks however, but they aren't a big problem:
The game takes forever to install (requires 8.5 Gigs of hard drive space) and the patch is just over 300 MB so it took me 1 1/2 hours between the time I opened the box to the time I started playing. This doesn't include the 30+ minutes of introductory movie and opening cut-scenes.
I also ran into a problem at the end of chapter 1 where you have to go through some 15 minutes of cut-scenes before getting your ass handed to you by the boss monster, you can't save during the battle so if you die you have to go through all those cut-scenes preceding the battle. AND even if you win the fight with the boss, depending on your choices, you may be in another battle immediately following without a chance to save or rest.
Which brings me to my last problem with the game, Throbble's compy meets the minimum system requirements but the game defaults to 1280X1024, 16X Antistropic Filtering, 8X Anti Aliasing and all the other video settings at max. Since you can only change the settings from within the game that means I had to sit through a half hour of very choppy cut-scenes before I got the option to crank the graphics down.
These are all minor complaints and they are greatly overshadowed by the amazing storyline, attention to graphical and audio detail, and compelling characters and settings. This game storyline and setting are a bit reminiscent of Planescape: Torment while the character level system reminds me of the SPECIAL system used for the Fallout series. Also, the combat is a lot of fun, you can do real time combos (and pause combat at anytime) and learn new fighting techniques when you level. If anyone has been hurting for a good CRPG story get this game.
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