New TW2 Presentation: Opinions (Pros & Cons)

[jharzowski]

New TW2 Presentation: Opinions (Pros & Cons)

Ok I've watched it and....Cons:1. The world seems to be too bright. The witcher world should be gloomy or at least closely related to the first game. The reason for this is it gives the world a "not perfect" feeling.2. The AI is not very good. Some of the enemies should at least block, strafe, dodge, and be more strategic. They should not stand there and stare at Geralt.3. Ok, I understand the corridors in the dwarven village, but in the forest. Oh nooo, it cannot be like this.4. The magic signs should not be "westernized". What I mean is the magic signs should not cause alot of chaos on the battle field. It feels like the magic is closely related to anime or to superhero games 5. The animations need to improve more. Especially, the way Geralt uses his sword and the way he runs. I mean come on, why does Geralt fight like a "tank" and not like a professional swordsman? To me, it felt like Geralt was chopping wood in the forest. Where are the piruets and other sword styles that Geralt used in the first game? The sword attacks should be more faster.6. If this is beta, then is this presentation a glimpse of the final product? Well I hope not 7. The magic sign that caused Geralt to turn blue should not be implemented at all. Instead, there can be a some kind of "force" or perhaps frizzles of blue flying or circulating Geralt. There shouldn't be a blue Geralt.8. I have read the news channel and I have to agree with Slimgrin. It also seems to me that the game is leaning towards the consoles. The inventory looks like c***. I mean seriously??? It doesn't look RPGish. There shouldn't be lists or scroll lists, but something should be implemented closely to the first witcher game. Pros:1. Graphics are amazing!!!2. I love the time-based pause menu 3. Locations look amazing4. NPC, creatures, and enemies are very well designed 5. I really like the customization. I just really hope that we can customize Geralt's hair.6. Looks very non-linear What are your opinions???

 

[Garrison72]

I have a question. Will they be porting this game to the pc?

 

[jharzowski]

Hehe, I think they will in due time sir No, it's just sad how pc gaming has changed. The funny thing is that they have already announced that the Witcher 2 has ended beta. This info was within their newest dd diary. I just hope that this new presentation is not part of the final version of the game. They really need to change alot of things. I laughed my a** off when you wrote about the screen turning red when Geralt got hit (CoD relation). That comment really made my morning

 

[freakie1one]

6. If this is beta, then is this presentation a glimpse of the final product? Well I hope not

Well, just a minor note: If you notice the message at the top of the video it says that it's pre-beta. It also says "this video is not a representation of the final product" underneath pre-beta.And in regards to the user interface I much prefer having your inventory sorted by categories (like it was in the video). I hated trying to prepare for fights in TW1 and browsing through everything that was all thrown together. It was hard to see what potions, bombs and other items you had and I spent a lot of time simply mousing over every item in my inventory to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. Having them sorted into sub-categories makes your inventory a lot more organized and easier to find what you need. It also makes it easier to quickly assess if you have everything prepared before you leave the inn (I hated leaving the inn and having to return later to take something out of storage that I'd forgotten).I also like the new radial menu. This is a much quicker way to switch between signs and what sword you are using and also makes accessing your quick slot items much easier. It was clunky in TW1 having to mouse to every corner of the screen to switch your sword, sign or use your quick slot items.In regards to combat, Tomasz Gop said that mages will teleport around, heal himself and use other abilities. I like this idea a lot. I hate it when all enemies in a game have the same basic attacks. Having enemies that use abilities makes combat less predictable and more exciting.

 

[Garrison72]

6. If this is beta, then is this presentation a glimpse of the final product? Well I hope not

Well, just a minor note: If you notice the message at the top of the video it says that it's pre-beta. The game is not yet in beta. It also says "this video is not a representation of the final product" underneath pre-beta.And in regards to the user interface I much prefer having your inventory sorted by categories (like it was in the video). I hated trying to prepare for fights in TW1 and browsing through everything that was all thrown together. It was hard to see what potions, bombs and other items you had and I spent a lot of time simply mousing over every item in my inventory to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. Having them sorted into sub-categories makes your inventory a lot more organized and easier to find what you need. It also makes it easier to quickly assess if you have everything prepared before you leave the inn (I hated leaving the inn and having to return later to take something out of storage that I'd forgotten).I also like the new radial menu. This is a much quicker way to switch between signs and what sword you are using and also makes accessing your quick slot items much easier. It was clunky in TW1 having to mouse to every corner of the screen to switch your sword, sign or use your quick slot items.In regards to combat, Tomasz Gop said that mages will teleport around, heal himself and use other abilities. I like this idea a lot. I hate it when all enemies in a game have the same basic attacks. Having enemies that use abilities makes combat less predictable and more exciting.

A quick bar likein DA:O is always better than a radial menu. For pc, anyway. And more easily recognized icons for potions and oils would solve your other problem. There are other solutions as well, but it appears we'll get a pc port from console. No matter, I'm used to this. It's what most developers do.

 

[netopier]

I would side with freakie1one, mainly because his is the word of caution.But if you wish to make a discussion about consoles, you should probably do it in a special topic about consoles. I think that teleporting is greatly overused in this game. I mean, it's supposed to be one of the coolest spells ever, but it seems every second tier mage will use it freely in battle. (Even Vilgefortz use teleport during battles as a tactical move).

 

[jharzowski]

6. If this is beta, then is this presentation a glimpse of the final product? Well I hope not

Well, just a minor note: If you notice the message at the top of the video it says that it's pre-beta. It also says "this video is not a representation of the final product" underneath pre-beta.And in regards to the user interface I much prefer having your inventory sorted by categories (like it was in the video). I hated trying to prepare for fights in TW1 and browsing through everything that was all thrown together. It was hard to see what potions, bombs and other items you had and I spent a lot of time simply mousing over every item in my inventory to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. Having them sorted into sub-categories makes your inventory a lot more organized and easier to find what you need. It also makes it easier to quickly assess if you have everything prepared before you leave the inn (I hated leaving the inn and having to return later to take something out of storage that I'd forgotten).I also like the new radial menu. This is a much quicker way to switch between signs and what sword you are using and also makes accessing your quick slot items much easier. It was clunky in TW1 having to mouse to every corner of the screen to switch your sword, sign or use your quick slot items.In regards to combat, Tomasz Gop said that mages will teleport around, heal himself and use other abilities. I like this idea a lot. I hate it when all enemies in a game have the same basic attacks. Having enemies that use abilities makes combat less predictable and more exciting.

Thanks freakie1one!!! I did not realize that pre-beta message on top of the video. Now that I come to think of it, I have to agree with you on the inventory. However, they don't necessarily have to stick to that inventory. Didn't they confirm that you can choose different variations of the inventory?

 

[freakie1one]

A quick bar likein DA:O is always better than a radial menu. For pc, anyway. And more easily recognized icons for potions and oils would solve your other problem. There are other solutions as well, but it appears we'll get a pc port from console. No matter, I'm used to this. It's what most developers do.

I disagree that a quickbar or hotbar approach is always better than a radial menu. A hotbar approach works well in games that are either turn-based or games that you can pause and you aren't having to press many buttons simulteneously. In a more action-oriented game (like we've seen in TW2) where you are pressing many buttons simultaneously, it's nice to be able to do 10 different things quickly at the press of one button (the radial menu button). Also, how would you quickly click on a hotbar or quick slot bar while in the middle of combat? How would you click on a hotbar or quick slot bar while dodging, choosing which type of attack (strong, quick) and what direction of that attack all while casting spells (since there is no pause). I do not see a way for them to implement a hotbar or quick slot bar in a way that would work with their combat system. Also, I like not having a hotbar always present on the screen. The less clutter on the main screen the better.And even if they did make better icons for the different inventory items (food, oils, potions, bombs) it would still get chaotic having them all thrown into the same spot. It's easier to see exactly what you have and how many you have by organizing them into categories. I don't expect you to agree with my opinions, but I prefer convenience over clunky. I thought TW1 was clunky. It was hard to see what you had in your inventory and it was annoying in combat having to pause and mouse all over the place to select what you needed. They've made TW2 easier to control and more convenient by adding an organized inventory and a radial menu.

 

[freakie1one]

Thanks freakie1one!!! I did not realize that pre-beta message on top of the video. Now that I come to think of it, I have to agree with you on the inventory. However, they don't necessarily have to stick to that inventory. Didn't they confirm that you can choose different variations of the inventory?

You are welcome, JaSkIeR3 I am not sure about being able to choose variations for the inventory. I don't recall ever hearing this. MM360 said that the inventory would be a hybrid between scrolling and drop inventory, which is all that I recall a dev saying about it.

 

[complistic]

Looked great to me. Radial menu doesn't bother me. Effects looked good, sword play looked like it had more umph.

 

[MichiGen]

Inventory desing looks very good and practical for me, I only hope that the graphics of the inventory will change, the art desing on the inventory and whole UI in the first Witcher was great !I don't like the radial menu, for gamepad it's OK but with keyboard and mouse I would prefer change signs with F1,F2,... or 1,2,3... keys. I don't like to slow down the game everytime when I like to change the sign, first witcher had signs on F1,.. buttons and it was great. Seeing the radial menu in the center of the screen everytime I want to change the sign is not cool, it's distracting, and the fight would not look so dynamic and fast as it should. p.s.: sorry for my english.

 

[freakie1one]

Inventory desing looks very good and practical for me, I only hope that the graphics of the inventory will change, the art desing on the inventory and whole UI in the first Witcher was great !I don't like the radial menu, for gamepad it's OK but with keyboard and mouse I would prefer change signs with F1,F2,... or 1,2,3... keys. I don't like to slow down the game everytime when I like to change the sign, first witcher had signs on F1,.. buttons and it was great. Seeing the radial menu in the center of the screen everytime I want to change the sign is not cool, it's distracting, and the fight would not look so dynamic and fast as it should. p.s.: sorry for my english.

You still can bind keys (it was asked in the "ask the devs" thread). I'm pretty sure the radial key is what you use to slow down time if you choose to use it. If you don't like the radial menu don't use the radial key and simply press whatever key you have the sign(s) bound to.

 

[Pangaea666]

I'm very disappointed with the consolization of the game, and particularly the UI system. Instead of having all ingredients and whatnot in one place, we now have to click through a number of screens to see what we have. The whole thing just looks bad and is clearly made for consoles. Information divided up in many 'screens' with liberal use of submenus and many clicks to get to stuff. Don't like it.Do we even need to mouse on the PC version?Apart from the horrible UI, the game itself looks very nice. Great graphics and it looks like the enemies are more aggressive. This is (pre)beta. I expect the user interface to pretty much be set in stone now. What they will work on until release is to make the story flow better together, improve the small details of graphics, improve coding, remove small bugs, and make sure it doesn't stutter like it did in that video. I highly doubt there will be huge changes in the UI.I'll wait to after the game is released before I decide if I buy it or not, after checking reviews, and more importantly, user feedback and comments on how the gameplay and UI really work.

 

[freakie1one]

@Pangaea: No, we don't need a mouse or a keyboard for that matter. They said a gamepad is fully supported.

 

[ryuguitarfreak]

I'm gonna make the comments as I watch it.Man, this game looks so beautiful.Oh, so that's the "pause" menu, I like the simplicity. But I really don't understand why you can't just PAUSE like the first game and this just slow downs time, but well whatever, I didn't pause that much on the first one. Well, their design choice.WOW. The inventory. Separating the items by their type. God, thank you. I think I'll never be lost with the item again.I like what I see of the combat.Another score for the look on armors and the customization on Geralt.The finishers look really cool.Hum, I liked the investigation part like in TW1 and the supposed focus on the story on sidequests too.Looking forward to this game more than ever...

 

[zax19]

The footage is probably at least 2 months old, as I've read a preview based off this footage and they were invited to look at TW2 some time in December.I hope there will be as amazing side panel and UI as in TW1, very pretty .What I don't like is hit retaliation which in games like Assassin's Creed and also in the video looks not only unrealistic, but also feels like a stun lock. So I hope we will not end up just stuttering around, sometimes less enemies and more mortal strikes is better than swarms of weaklings .And about radial menu vs. quickbar, look at the "enginic" ancestor of TW1, Neverwinter Nights. You can easily have both, though I hope the UI will not be minimalistic to the point of uselessness (ME2), some skill mouse clicking should be supported.Biggest fear: inability to bind certain actions under separate keys (ME2 again).

 

[soldiergeralt]

pros:geralt can wear hoods. hopefully helmets as well cons:i didn't like the fact that the opponents were kaedwen soldiers. hopefully it has something to do with the story and you can avoid bloodshed.

 

[username_2091629]

Unfortunately, that demo was a huge kick in the pants for a lot of people. Like has been said, radial menus are for consoles, red-blood splash screens are for first person shooters, and the entire interface just looks sterile and boring now, compared to the gorgeous fantasy themed artwork of TW1. One of the marks of quality in the original was how much time CDP devoted to the art design, the attention to detail in the journal, how just reading through it was a pleasure because it looked like a living part of the game world.The interface in that demo looked like a damned PS3 gamepad. Seriously, hit TRIANGLE for Aard, SQUARE for Igni, etc. The combat wasn't even indicative of anything that we'll see in the final game, so it was kind of pointless to watch an unkillable Geralt run around without his real combat animations and attack mobs that don't react the way they're supposed to (teleporting mage sounds cool, but let's actually -see- it.)The quality of the video is terrible, but the graphics engine looks like it has potential to be amazing on a high-end machine. Customization looks great (it's cool that humans drop items now), and I like the idea of time slowing down when you bring up your inventory (or radial menu, as the case may be), although I would like it more if the other aspects of the game didn't look so action-oriented.

 

[Eri94_user70]

Cons:1. The world seems to be too bright. The witcher world should be gloomy or at least closely related to the first game. The reason for this is it gives the world a "not perfect" feeling.

Even a dark, grim and depressing fantasy world can be beautiful from time to time. It's in the middle of the day and I've never experienced the gloomy feeling in TW 1 when running on the crowded streets in Vizimia.

2. The AI is not very good. Some of the enemies should at least block, strafe, dodge, and be more strategic. They should not stand there and stare at Geralt.

Ai is never good. No matter which game or how good the programmers are, Ai is always poor to mediocre. It's a pre-beta video give them time to polish that.

4. The magic signs should not be "westernized". What I mean is the magic signs should not cause alot of chaos on the battle field. It feels like the magic is closely related to anime or to superhero games

We don't know how the Geralt in the video was designed, was he a swordsmanbuild, sign or in between.Personally I enjoy that signs get better. (remeber you still have only 6 so it's not like you will feel like a wizard) In TW 1 there were little use to them, and implementing signs in a game that lack meaning is quite dumb.

5. The animations need to improve more. Especially, the way Geralt uses his sword and the way he runs. I mean come on, why does Geralt fight like a "tank" and not like a professional swordsman? To me, it felt like Geralt was chopping wood in the forest. Where are the piruets and other sword styles that Geralt used in the first game? The sword attacks should be more faster.

Then post a video on how you run with leather armor and two swords on your back. Besides he doesn't run, he jog. I've never seen a game where your character doesn't look like an arse when jogging/running. He fights like a tank, cause if this was the normal game, that crappy player would have died already. They've made him into a tank not to demonstrate the reality with combat but rather how side quests and the world looks like.

6. If this is beta, then is this presentation a glimpse of the final product? Well I hope not

It's not. Don't you worry.

7. The magic sign that caused Geralt to turn blue should not be implemented at all. Instead, there can be a some kind of "force" or perhaps frizzles of blue flying or circulating Geralt. There shouldn't be a blue Geralt.

As I said before. Finally we have a Geralt who have more use of more signs than just spamming Igni like in TW 1.I personally disagree with your opinion on how it looks. It's a shield not an electromagnetic shield. I do agree though in some level, that watching a blue Geralt through the game could be a bit annoying... But then again, you aren't forced to use it are you? If you don't want a blue Geralt, become better on swordsmanship and slay them that way.

8. I have read the news channel and I have to agree with Slimgrin. It also seems to me that the game is leaning towards the consoles. The inventory looks like c***. I mean seriously??? It doesn't look RPGish. There shouldn't be lists or scroll lists, but something should be implemented closely to the first witcher game.

Well int TW 1 you had a limit on how much you could carry (and it was designed a bit like in Diablo). Since there is no limit a list would be more userfriendly. Honestly I don't know how they should re-do the inventory, please explain further on how you would want it done.

Pros:5. I just really hope that we can customize Geralt's hair.

Yes, we want a Geralt having pink punkhair with green spots.... Or how about a blonde Geralt?*sigh* I'm getting tired... Sick and tired on all this "old Geralt looked awesome, new Geralt looks like arse"They should just cancel the damned game, saying they don't wanna release a game no one likes cause everybody is busy complaining about Geralts look.

 

[freakie1one]

And about radial menu vs. quickbar, look at the "enginic" ancestor of TW1, Neverwinter Nights. You can easily have both, though I hope the UI will not be minimalistic to the point of uselessness (ME2), some skill mouse clicking should be supported.Biggest fear: inability to bind certain actions under separate keys (ME2 again).

You can't compare a game you can pause (where you don't control each individual swing and feels more turn based than real time) to a game like TW2, that is more action-oriented. If you had your combat options on a hotbar or quickbar in TW2 it'd be ridiculous. Click hotbar key one for strong attack, click second hotbar button for fast attack, click yet another for each sign... all while trying to make sure you have Geralt pointed in the right direction? Click another hotkey to dodge left or dodge right? Remember, there is no auto-targetting like in NWN. You can't lock-on to enemies... I'm not sure what skills you would put on your hotbar in TW2. NWN and TW2 have totally different types of combat mechanics. How TW2 is currently setup you can bind your signs and actions to whatever keys you want, and if you're already pressing too many keys simultaneously you can press a different key to slow down time and give you enough time to switch your sword, sign or use quick item via the radial menu. If you aren't pressing too many keys then simply press whatever key you have it bound to (ex: 1-6 on your keyboard to select whatever sign you want to use).Also, they've already said you can bind actions to keys.