Already made up your mind on difficulty?

[DelighfulMcCoy]

Already made up your mind on difficulty?

What will be your poison on May 17th?If you like, tell us if you played any diffiuculty mod on the original Witcher.There were different informations regarding the insane difficulty, someone said it might be available from the beginning, but I guess the former statement might be right, which was that you'll have to finish the game on hard before you can play on insane.And lastly, what do you think about the insane feature of "if you die, you're dead for good"?Personally, I don't like it. I want a challenge, but I can only learn from experience, so sometimes you have to get defeated, before doing it the right way. But if I had to start from the top, I wouldn't have a lot of fun with that. So that will be the first mod I'm hoping for, an insane difficulty without permanent death, but severe punishment for dying (like XP loss, skill loss, money loss, break your favorite sword until you find the next crafting master etc.). That way, the fear of dying would still be present at the back of your neck and the incentive to stay alive pretty intense. But one failure wouldn't ruin your game completely. I know that is not "realistic", but I'd like a compromise in that issue.What are your thoughts on that?I've allowed for two votes in the poll, in case you'd like to i.e. say option 3, but additionally agree with option 5.

 

[fchopin]

I always play games on normal the first time.I want to try all the different ways of playing the game before going for the insane difficulty and i love that when you die you are dead.My Geralt will become indestructible.

 

[luscsul]

First time on normal-medium, mainly to see how combat and abilities work and to get accostumed to the new system without caring much for health management ...if I like it I'll deinitely try hard on the second go

 

[moutch2]

So that will be the first mod I'm hoping for, an insane difficulty without permanent death, but severe punishment for dying (like XP loss, skill loss, money loss, break your favorite sword until you find the next crafting master etc.).

It couldn't work because if you die, you have to load your last save right ?So the only way to make it insane is to delete this save.

 

[secondchildren]

Insane is accessible only after you finished the game on hard.Anyway, I always play on normal\hard, because I don't like hardcore playing. You know, I have never finished Diablo 2's Inferno (but I've finished toom many time AMAlice's Nightmare mod) LOL

 

[DelighfulMcCoy]

So that will be the first mod I'm hoping for, an insane difficulty without permanent death, but severe punishment for dying (like XP loss, skill loss, money loss, break your favorite sword until you find the next crafting master etc.).

It couldn't work because if you die, you have to load your last save right ?So the only way to make it insane is to delete this save.

I'm not sure I get your meaning.If you mean to say, when you load the last savegame, that is before death and punishment, yes, I get that. But we still don't know everything about the save system of TW 2. They seem to be very unwilling to share specific information about it. So, gleaning from the little info we have, it might be that the game has checkpoint saving plus quicksave. If you go back to your last checkpoint, the game might very well know that you just died. Like Titan Quest, for example. But that's just speculation, of course. We'll have to wait till release to know that for sure, I'm afraid.

 

[Musashi]

I always play on hard now just seems like you accomplished just a little bit more i guess haha

 

[darksavior]

When I first play a game, I always start on normal. Then, move onto the other difficulties.

 

[altaniv]

I usually start with medium difficulty.

 

[Vlk5]

First time on normal-medium, mainly to see how combat and abilities work and to get accostumed to the new system without caring much for health management ...if I like it I'll deinitely try hard on the second go

the only difference is that i might change to hard during the game.I don't think it will be you die and have to start all over again, to much punishment, i think it could to be something similar to Demon's Souls, where there is no optional save, only auto save, so you can never take back what you done.

 

[Corylea.723]

The first time through TW2, I want to concentrate on 1) Story and 2) Exploration, so my first play-through will be on the easiest setting. I'll want to get deeper into the combat on my second play-through, so my second run will be on Normal. Depending on how difficult Normal is, I might play on Hard the third time or might stick with Normal. Then there's the fact that I adore games, but that's not the same as being good at them. I'm good at remembering plot points and which characters have said what; I'm bad at anything involving hand-eye coordination. Also, I find isometric mode works better with my dismal hand-eye coordination, but that mode won't be in TW2, so I'll have to play in a format that leans heavily on my weaknesses....

 

[username_2090361]

Medium for me too. Maybe I'll try hard later...I mainly play RPG for story and interaction.Concerning combat, usually in games I like to have a difficult combat from time to time, but when every fight is a challenge I become quickly bored.

 

[DelighfulMcCoy]

I don't think it will be you die and have to start all over again, to much punishment, i think it could to be something similar to Demon's Souls, where there is no optional save, only auto save, so you can never take back what you done.

Unless they changed that between recording the dev diaries and now, you will be dead for good. Hence my question how many people really like that (not very many comments regarding that, though).

Also, I find isometric mode works better with my dismal hand-eye coordination, but that mode won't be in TW2, so I'll have to play in a format that leans heavily on my weaknesses....

Yeah, I know. I hate it when I can't use the camera the way I want to. I like to be able to zoom out and in as much as I want to - when I can't do that, I feel very uncomfortable, claustrophobic really. But devs don't seem to take that into consideration, they are confident that it feels always best the way they intended it. Would be nice to have a choice, though, since the gamer will have to get along with their camera. One person might be perfectly comfortable with fighting in the mud crab view of Oblivion, while the other might feel like stung by a scorpion and writhing on the floor, blind and paralized, waiting for their death. I rather prefer having an overview of my situation. Well, it it's too bad, there's always modding.

 

[edk]

I'd definitely start with the hardest available difficulty so that I have a reason to explore and do every quest/prepare for every fight.

 

[ammadim]

Hard for me.I usually start a new game on hardest if its not locked to get the most out of the difficulty (after 1st playthrough theres no surprises so you lose a big chunk of difficulty on a 2nd playthrough no matter the dif.setting),but I also want to get the most out of the story,which doesnt seem to be possible due to the insanes fumble halfway=start over.As for the death=gameover of insane...Well,I really like the idea of being forced to fully prepare and stay focused for even the smallest of battles,to make sure you avoid that one little mistake that costs you the whole game .However,I would also prefer there rather be some heavy,heavy,HEEEEAVY penalty for dieing rather than game over right away.Not so much because of difficulty,but rather because of a possible technical error like game crash.Receiving handycap at final chapters of the game because your game crashed and you died would be cool,but having to start the whole thing over because of the said crash...not so much.With that said,if I dont get any technical errors on my 1st playthroughs then I'll defo go for the insane.Like I said I really like the one mistake=game over concept (as long as the mistake is mine to make and not my computers or the games).

 

[e-ahmet.823]

First run on normal/medium after that go my way up gradually because I focus on challenge only after my first play. I generally like to look around, take my time and savor the story on my first playthrough.

 

[archaven.84]

I'll start with normal/medium on most games to not dumb down the gameplay experience. May try harder difficulty after complete the 1st playthrough.But insane/hardcore is definitely NO for me.. Too huge of punishment that players DIE and it's game over. They should make it like 3 deaths = Game Over.

 

[sweeper41]

This reminds me of that game Steel Battalion.If you didn't eject before you mech exploded you died and the game erased your save game.Now that is hardcore to the bone.I'm looking forward to playing on insane.Yeah its going to suck when you died 20 or 30 hours in and have to start over but I'm going to play there on hard a few times to find my groove. I plan on being sword master most the time but I'm sure for insane I will need a little of everything.I admit that Ive never played Witcher 1 on hard mode.I may do it before the 17th.Wonder if there will be a big difference between hard more in witcher 2 and the one in witcher 1.

 

[DelighfulMcCoy]

I admit that Ive never played Witcher 1 on hard mode.I may do it before the 17th.Wonder if there will be a big difference between hard more in witcher 2 and the one in witcher 1.

Oh, but you might wanna try FCR mod - not neccessarily the insane option, because iirc the easiest setting of FCR is harder than vanilla hard.I also play the game mostly for story and exploration and the reason why I like FCR is that it doesn't just make the game harder, it makes it richer and changes gameplay profoundly. It completely rearranges the talents and it forces you to use everything you possibly can. You often need to go back to find a recipe for example, because you can't defeat a certain enemy without a potion or oil. In easy vanilla setting, you might never need to use a sword oil or a potion, because you can manage without. In FCR, you'll be glad for the additional little buff that food and beverages can provide. ~°~Since it's been said that we can change the difficulty in TW 2 in the middle of a playthrough, I will start on nomal difficulty and adjust as needed. I just wonder about>>Insane is accessible only after you finished the game on hard.

 

[Garrison72]

Medium difficulty at first, cause I'm a slow learner. But by the time I understand the leveling mechanics, I'll have the reflex part of combat down I'm sure. Playing SF4 makes all other combat systems seem like child's play. So I'm throwing down the gauntlet CD red!