choice actually mattered in the Witcher 2

[kalel78]

choice actually mattered in the Witcher 2

so i just finished the witcher 2.. yeah.. totally late to the party i know.. but those boss fights.. frustrating haha.. and it caused me to stop playing for a long time.

well, i finally decided to finish to prepare myself for the witcher 3... i did. took a bunch of deaths.. but i finally conquered those fights and finished the game

and in doing so.. i saw something that solidifies my opinion that this is the best RPG since KOTOR 1.

choice actually matters in Witcher 2.

how so? well.. at the end of act 1, you either save the non-humans or board the ship and work with the humans. that ONE choice changes the game completely.

if you side with the humans.. you dont get to see the real side of Phillipa.. you dont see her eyes get gouged out..and.. most imortantly.. you dont get to see Saskia.. and you dont find out she is the dragon you eventually fight at the end of the game.

just think about that for a sec.. if you went through the game without spoilers.. and you didnt read any guides.. no videos.. no nothing.. and you sided with the humans.. you would have just figured you were fighting a dragon.. you would have thought nothing of it.. thus, after the fight with the dragon was over.. how many of you would have gone ahead and killed the dragon? i might have. but i didnt because i saved the non-humans... and because of that i met Saskia, i knew she was the dragon, i knew she was being controlled, and thus i knew that there was so much more to the dragon and i would be killing one of the most important characters in the witcherverse. thus, i didnt kill it.

now maybe the codex and some of the books you find in the game talk about how witchers dont kill dragons, etc.. TBH.. i dont recall seeing that rule anywhere in game.. and because of that.. i would have figured the dragon was like any other monster... and i might have killed it. but again.. i didnt because of the path i chose.

now lets be objectively honest.. how many other games out there would have done that? not many.. and thats what makes the Witcher so special.. i hope we get something like that in Wild Hunt.

cant wait to find out

 

[luc0s]

now maybe the codex and some of the books you find in the game talk about how witchers dont kill dragons, etc.. TBH.. i dont recall seeing that rule anywhere in game.. and because of that.. i would have figured the dragon was like any other monster... and i might have killed it. but again.. i didnt because of the path i chose.

This is false. At the very beginning of the game Triss specifically states "witchers don't kill dragons, unless something has changed?" to which Geralt aswers: "nothing has changed.".

So the game very specifically mentions witchers don't kill dragons. If you read the books or the codex you know why. Geralt already knows dragons are intelligent beings and golden dragons are the most intelligent and capable of shape-shifting into a humanoid if they want. Saskia obviously is a golden dragon. She is in fact the daughter of another golden dragon that Geralt worked with and helped in the books.

Geralt might not remember his golden dragon encounter from the books, but he still remembers that dragons are intelligent, sometimes shape-shifting beings and he also remembers that witchers don't kill dragons for that very reason.

The reason why killing Saskia is even an option is because Saskia is cursed and under the control of Sile, which might be a good reason for Geralt to break his witcher code and kill Saskia anyway. In Roche's path you won't know that the dragon you fight is Saskia, but you still find out that the dragon is cursed and under the control of someone else.

 

[kalel78]

This is false. At the very beginning of the game Triss specifically states "witchers don't kill dragons, unless something has changed?" to which Geralt aswers: "nothing has changed.".

So the game very specifically mentions witchers don't kill dragons. If you read the books or the codex you know why. Geralt already knows dragons are intelligent beings and golden dragons are the most intelligent and capable of shape-shifting into a humanoid if they want. Saskia obviously is a golden dragon. She is in fact the daughter of another golden dragon that Geralt worked with and helped in the books.

Geralt might not remember his golden dragon encounter from the books, but he still remembers that dragons are intelligent, sometimes shape-shifting beings and he also remembers that witchers don't kill dragons for that very reason.

The reason why killing Saskia is even an option is because Saskia is cursed and under the control of Sile, which might be a good reason for Geralt to break his witcher code and kill Saskia anyway. In Roche's path you won't know that the dragon you fight is Saskia, but you still find out that the dragon is cursed and under the control of someone else.

all fair points.. i totally forgot about the conversation with Triss haha.

regarding "In Roche's path you won't know that the dragon you fight is Saskia, but you still find out that the dragon is cursed and under the control of someone else." i can see how it would be inferred that the dragon was under the control of someone .. but how would Geralt know the dragon was cursed? is that just implied since dragons wouldnt be controlled unless they were cursed?

 

[luc0s]

all fair points.. i totally forgot about the conversation with Triss haha.

regarding "In Roche's path you won't know that the dragon you fight is Saskia, but you still find out that the dragon is cursed and under the control of someone else." i can see how it would be inferred that the dragon was under the control of someone .. but how would Geralt know the dragon was cursed? is that just implied since dragons wouldnt be controlled unless they were cursed?

I can't remember if Geralt specifically finds out if the dragon is cursed, but he does realize she is under control of someone else in some way or form.

In any case, I always let Saskia live, no matter what path I play. In fact I played Roche's path first, I had no clue the dragon was Saskia, but I still let her live.

Though I can completely understand the people who decide to kill her. She's dangerous after all (as long as she is under that curse that is).

 

[GuyNwah]

all fair points.. i totally forgot about the conversation with Triss haha.

regarding "In Roche's path you won't know that the dragon you fight is Saskia, but you still find out that the dragon is cursed and under the control of someone else." i can see how it would be inferred that the dragon was under the control of someone .. but how would Geralt know the dragon was cursed? is that just implied since dragons wouldnt be controlled unless they were cursed?

Geralt also has some choice words for Foltest, when they are under fire from the dragon. And later in the Prologue, all three note that the dragon is behaving very strangely, as if it is acting purposefully (though it's not yet under the sorceresses' control).

 

[Lieste]

Hmm. Don't you meet Saskia/Saesenthessis in the tunnels behind Vergen even on Roche's path?

 

[dragonbird]

Hmm. Don't you meet Saskia/Saesenthessis in the tunnels behind Vergen even on Roche's path?

You meet Saskia, but there's nothing about Saesenthessis