The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings deserves the highest honors in many ways. The non-linear, hellishly addictive storyline, touching on an issue that is quite difficult for game developers, i.e. politics, is a strong plus point. Amazing graphics, dynamic and character-dependent combat, extensive crafting options ... there are many advantages, moreover, we will tell you about all the advantages and disadvantages in turn.
First, however, a small technical issue: the game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which we find on boards in a box - by the way, the basic edition is richer than many special editions and comparable to cheaper "collectors" - is not a complete product. We need to download the patch, which currently also removes the SecuROM protection and tightens some data that allow the game to run. Let's add that removing DRM is a new solution, probably caused by the fact that the authorization server played tricks from the very beginning ...
Night vigilance, or sliding. All in all, the buyers of the Collector's Edition have the right to be the most dissatisfied. They were promised that they would sit down for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings much earlier than the rest. First, it turned out that it would only be the day of the forums against other players. Then came "zero hour" and problems began. As a result, thousands of players waited half a day for CD Projekt RED to solve problems with registering the game, downloading the required patch (anti-piracy protection), and promotional DLC. The problem with the latter has not been fully resolved to this day.
The very beginning of the game is based on the assumption of maximum non-linearity. By using the save file from the end of The Witcher game, we introduce changes to the presented world, although we do not immediately find out about it. Someone survived, someone, failed, certain people remember our actions and are willing to help ... there are several of these modifications and they are more important to the overall story than in the case of Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2. Moreover, many of these differences appear in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, thanks to our decisions in the first part, which will clearly play a significant role in the continuation of the series. You can end your adventure with Geralt in sixteen ways, of which at least four should be considered key variations. The creators set a great challenge if they intend to take full advantage of non-linear endings in the next installment of the series.
The most interesting thing is that we are often really unable to judge which of our decisions will be of great importance in the rest of the game. This makes life difficult for fans of "optimization" - who will go back to the saved state of the game from 15 hours ago, only to fix their mistake. Anyway, in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings it is difficult to talk about mistakes in decisions - there is no single path planned by the developers to be the right one. Just whatever we do, we need to be aware of the possible implications. In this respect, the new CD Projekt RED production refers very much to a certain cRPG assumption, i.e. empathizing with the character: it is simply best to think about how our Geralt should behave and follow this path consistently.
Character development in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is Talent-based, just like in the previous installment. However, there are fewer of them to give away than before - just one for each level of experience. It is not enough for everything, you need to think carefully about the development of Geralt. We have 51 special skills, each has two levels of development, and I finished the game at level 33, so I didn't even have the Talents to buy 1/3 of what I could ... This goes well with non-linearity because in the second pass you can play completely a different Geralt, dealing with problems differently. With advanced skills, there is also an option to strengthen them with a mutagen - and we obtain them from enemies (or as a side effect of alchemy, when we invest in it with Talents) and they are very diverse, so there is another piece of the puzzle.
Lucas' Path: I bet on fencing, leaving the signs (except Aard) completely undeveloped. Geralt, in my version, did not have to be afraid of blows in the back, he slashed several opponents at once, and in a rush of adrenaline he launched collective "finishers". Each blow ended with the immediate descent of the enemy. Of course, the damage dealt with the swords also increased accordingly.
Mousesack's path: I, as agreed, did the opposite. I was consistently expanding the character tree with the goal of achieving two things: AoE Igni and Heliotrope. Thanks to the former, I only used the swords to finish them off, and after unlocking the Heliotrope, the fight against hordes of enemies became child's play. The first ones burned happily around Geralt, and any reinforcements hit their "time bubble" slowing them down. These were not fights anymore - it was a slaughter.
One of the goals of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings was to make it difficult enough for demanding players to feel satisfied. At the same time, it was announced that the easy level would be friendly for people who play games occasionally. Well, according to forum feedback, the second assumption has been crushed. It's difficult for casuals and that's it. Even at the easiest level. Importantly, this difficulty does not result from the massive infusion of respawned enemies, but from the need to use something more than the left mouse button. In addition, as already mentioned, character development significantly differentiates the way the battles are played.
The general rule is to focus on what comes easiest for us and to develop Geralt's combat abilities in this direction. If we want to limit the number of buttons and buttons to be seized during the fight, it is probably enough to invest in dodging and damage to some extent. For others, it will be more fun than dodging to parry blows and deliver quick retorts. You can also play in the style of a magician from other games, mainly using characters (including a heliotrope, causing a kind of bullet-time). Units that value cunning and clean hands will set up complicated combinations of traps, drag the enemy into them and finish the fight with firecrackers and throwing daggers. Some will use such witcher potions (but beware - you have to swallow before the fight, during it is impossible), others will be completely different, or they will leave these "boosters" only for the most important battles ... Something nice for everyone, but without scratching in the head and tactical approach, do not move.
Admittedly, such a fight, difficult in an honest way, gives a lot of satisfaction. Even if we flake a few times, success will more than compensate for it. Well, unless we're playing on the Sudden Death difficulty level, when each Geralt's death means starting the whole game all over again ... yes, there's a place for hardcore like this too. I wonder if anyone except CD Projekt RED employees can manage this trick ... Visually, the fights are a feast for the eyes, the characters bustle on the screen and perform realistic attacks. The effects of witcher signs and alchemical inventions were also done very carefully. Boss fights are both a great challenge and a feast for the eyes (thanks in part to cleverly placed QTE). From the visual side, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is closer to the best slashers than to cRPG. I repeat: from the visual side so that there are no misunderstandings because you have to figure it out.
Another very important element of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is craftsmanship. Geralt of Rivia can deal with alchemy on his own, but he has to hire professionals for all armory and foraging. In each act, there are several craftsmen on hand and some sellers of various materials needed to create items. However, in order to order or make anything yourself, you need recipes or diagrams. We get them from traders, find them somewhere or get them as part of the plot. Of course, you have to pay for someone else's work - from five orens for a simple semi-finished product, to two thousand for the best armor.
Yes, semi-finished products - sometimes the necessary ingredients are missing and you have to invest in schemes for them. For example, such studded leather is a valuable ingredient. We need two pieces of hardened leather, a bottle of oil, and twine. The hardened leather is made of three pieces of genuine leather, and two bottles of oil are also needed. And the oil ... well, we either buy it or produce it from dead eaters (their skins and blood are needed). For the best armor, for example, you need different armor (also a considerable and unique gadget, by the way), and a specific and expensive armor reinforcement, not to mention a few ordinary components.
An additional difficulty is a fact that Geralt has a limited load capacity and we often end up in a situation when something needs to be removed from the inventory. After a few hours of playing, it turns out that this junk would be hellishly useful at this point. While leather, twine, cloth, and other ordinary materials are always picked up or bought somewhere, the ingredients from the monsters may not be recoverable ... so we also have to think hard if we want to properly dress and equip our character.
Okay, technical stuff is cool, but the most important element is the story anyway. We have already mentioned the fact that it is non-linear in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. It's time to move on to the plot details and dialogues. As for the latter, I risk saying that I have not seen a game in which they are more interesting and juicier. With one click on the topic selection list, we usually generate long statements, often involving several people. All this is filmed by dynamic cameras, just like in a good movie. An interesting solution is to present to us some side events, fictional backgrounds, not in the form of long films, but in interactive scenes in which we jump into the shoes of someone other than Geralt.
Importantly, this story is not an overriding value, so we are not forced to follow every fragment of it. The dialogue options sometimes permanently change the course of the conversation, the events take place differently. While on this topic, it is worth mentioning the audible aspect of the dialogues in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The Polish sound is amazing, the English are a bit behind it, but it is also happy. Our actors, led by Jacek Rozenek, did a fantastic job. I think that to some extent this is due to the text that they read. Lively, interesting, full of jokes and emotional elements. It encourages good acting, as opposed to short, clichéd phrases.
Nothing is perfect, however. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings also has a lot of minor flaws. Not all actors were chosen wisely, in both language versions there are weaker roles within important characters. In some places, the game does not allow us to save manually, and the automatic takes place very far (we die in a boss fight, so we return to the dialogue scene, a small fight, a bustle, a second small fight, a dialogue, a cutscene, a fight with a mini-boss, another cutscene. .. and only the key battle). It happens that scripts prevent us from further playing (something does not activate) and we need to look for an earlier save point. Well, there are a few such details.
Pros
- rich, comprehensive world
- the nonlinear storyline with politics in the background
- great graphics
- great animations
- colorful, lively dialogues
- challenging combat system
- no distinction between good and bad
- difficult ignition delay decisions
Cons
- so far no scaling to 16x10 monitors (stripes)
- occasional script errors
- a sloppy automatic recording system in places
- random inventory and save file problems
- Geralt wears pants too often
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