Gaming The Witcher Series (PC RPG of the Forever)

One lot of exploring, many dead Knight bandits and slain creatures later, I've covered the ? for Hearts of Stone.

The new Knight bandits are an interesting set of adversaries as they actually coordinate multiple assaults - one excellent counter strategy is to take out their crossbows first, bomb the mass of melee fighters and keep hitting and running.

The Arcachnomorphs - oh ye gods, of the vile things they could have added, these things take the prize. Never has something looked so vile you want it dead.

Also had a major punch-up with a Lv 38 Vnomous Arachnsa, 4 Lv 37 Aracnas and a Lv 38 Armored Arachnas. There's some seriously hefty adversaries added with the expansion. Also managed to take out a Lv37 Ancient Leshen and a Lv 39 Basilisk.

Haven't even got to the main expansion quests yet either.

Oh and running around Novigrad to hear cries of 'All hail Radovid' - I'm going to have to take that bastard out on another play-through.

 

I'm not going to say killing Radovid was the most satisfying thing I've done in a video game in years but... actually, wait, yes I am. I hated that guy and wanted revenge for the bull**** and plot immunity he pulled off in Witcher 2.

As for the expansions they seem likely to suck me in for a while so I think my plan is to wait for both and just make Witcher 3 my primary game for a while when that happens.

 

So I was looking forward to playing Hearts of Stone but when I loaded it up all the Wolf Armor DLC that I'd crafted for Geralt had disappeared and he was standing in a field in nothing by his pants. I keep waiting for a patch to fix this but none seems forthcoming.

 

At last! The werewolf is dead.

All hail update 1.11.

 

I have a question for all you Witcher fans. I've been on an RPG marathon lately, and have been considering picking up this series next. A friend gifted me The Witcher 2 on GOG years ago and I picked up The Witcher 3 in a sale a while back, but one thing that stopped me was the huge back story. Unlike most RPGs that I play, Geralt is an established protagonist, therefore if I am to role play him correctly I need to understand his history and mindset (I take RP very seriously). Which books in the series are the most important for understanding Geralt and are most relevant to the games? Also, do I need to play the Witcher 1 in order to understand Witcher 2 or 3? I tried to play the first one but it reminded me to much of the Neverwinter Knights series so I couldn't finish it.

 

Start with the beginning, The Last Wish, and go from there. The Sword of Destiny should probably come next, even though it has just been released in English.

 

For myself I just started with Witcher 3, got on fine.

 

The plot of Witcher 2 is literally Geralt slowly regaining his memories of the stuff that occurred before the first game, and everything you need to know about Witcher 1 is easy to pick up from Witcher 2. The first game is so mechanically different from the latter two I can only recommend it as a curio you really don't have to play through.

If you absolutely must read the books first, moosemouse's suggestion is a good one, but there's also a sequence of novels that aren't all officially translated yet, and the fan translations are... mercenary.

 

I started with Witcher 3 and never felt like I was missing out on something. The game does a great job of including new players. Now that I'm almost done the game, I read the Last Wish and am presently reading Sword of Destiny. Both books include material that are loosely referenced in Witcher 3, but only as a wink to book readers. Both are very entertaining reads as well.

 

Thank you all for the responses. I have decided that I will read "The Last Wish" and start the video game series with The Witcher 2. Two long RPGs and a novel should help me keep my mind off of Star Wars 7 until December comes around.

 

I've heard that Witcher 2 is fairly difficult.

 

It's more complicated than that. I'd put parts of its initial difficulty somewhere in between 3's hardest two difficulties (It eases off a lot when you get your level into the 10s), but oftentimes you can overcome obstacles by playing very conservatively and researching monster contracts before hand. Doing every sidequest that isn't dice poker (A minigame that is outright and demonstrably broken in favor of the CPU) can also help a lot since it'll buoy your level.

Basically, I read a lot of complaints about 2's difficulty but I've never thought of myself as some ultra fantastic gamer and I found it merely tough. It gets talked up a lot.

 

The first game is terrible from a gameplay POV. Never bothered with the second.

 

The second is mechanical kin to the third in a lot of ways that would make it kind of hard to go back to, I think. A fair amount of stuff that cheesed people off about 3 is a feature there.

And yeah the first game's engine is... not great. They basically pushed the Neverwinter Nights engine to its absolute limits and came up with this weird rhythmic clicking system. Having beaten it once back before I played 2 I now doubt I'll ever play it again, honestly.

 

Even on the easiest difficulty setting? I'm looking forward to a challenge. The last modern RPG I played was the newest Dragon Age and that game was trivial, even on the hardest difficulty. I won't be touching the Ironman option on Witcher 2. I never saw the appeal in that kind of difficulty mode.

 

I would just heed Ramza's advice.

 

I could see touching Ironman if this was, like, 2012 and you really, really had exhausted Witcher 2's content and you were posting a gimmick Let's Play of it on YouTube. With Witcher 3 awaiting these days, though, no real point.

 

Now that it's patched and all my gear is back, I'm really enjoying New Game Plus. Have now upgraded my Mastercrafted Wolven gear with Legendary Griffin gear, Gonna be a while before I can play the expansion though, sadly. Christ knows how long it'll take to get to the required level.

 

You don't have to do it the long way, there's an option that'll boost you to the minimum level recommended.

 

I'm really looking forward to getting this game once I get my Xbox One in a few weeks. I love open-world RPG games.

 

Remember to grab all the free DLC!

 

That's good to know. Truth be told I'm quite liking the long way round.

 

Oh man, watching Geralt kill Imlerith was incredibly satisfying. Telekinetic blast to Imlerith's weapon, Igni fire blast to his helmet, cooking his face off. Geralt is one serious fighter.

 

Isn't it? Mofo certainly deserved it.

 

Done the first part of Hearts of Stone.

The toad fight was well-done, the Ofieri mage fight, however, has the game engaging in some quite under-handed crap - though it seems, if you want to, you can leg it from the fight - not that it makes it that clear. Nor does it tell you that you can re-equip all your armour.

Also - what does a red boss health bar denote as opposed to silver ones?

Still, it's pretty good, it's just starting and I now know who that messed-up song the kids are singing refers to!