The Witcher is a really action-oriented RPG, IMO. Of course, I can only speak about the first game, but the second promises to be even more action-packed. I've seen many people complain about the sword combat in the first game, since it's just timed clicking. Honestly, though, given the really cool moves Geralt can eventually do, I don't see a problem with it.

You can make potions with very different effects. There are sword greases with very different effects. Even various bombs, which I'm just now trying (e.g. ones that induce fear and pain, which, among other things, give you a great opportunity to do one-hit kills). You can do primary or secondary quests in almost any order you want, and some of the secondary ones aren't at all obvious. For example, in the options, you can set it so that names/labels float above people and objects all the time, or you can set it to where they only appear with the press of a button. If you do the latter, you might miss getting a quest, since, often, quest-givers have different labels or differently-colored labels. There aren't that many character models, which is another reason I always keep the labels on.

There's a dice poker mini game. Five dice per person, and it works similarly to poker. There are different difficulties, and you have to play against the lower-difficulty opponents before moving on. I've both bankrupted myself and more than doubled my money doing this. There's also fist-fighting, which is actually really simple.

Silver sword for monsters, and a steel sword for... bipedal monsters, if you get my drift. You can have 2-3 extra weapons, but most of them can't perform witcher combat styles (Strong, Fast, and Group). Your main swords can be permanently modified by taking ores and magic seals things to weapon smiths. The extra weapons often have some nice effects, like providing increased chances for bleeding and dislodging shields, but I find that the same things can be done effectively enough with Signs.

Signs are similar to magic. Witchers are magically simple people, though, so the Signs are the closest to magic they can get. Here are the five Signs from the first game:

1. Aard: Throws people away. Can be upgraded to cover a wider angle, stun, and knock people down. The latter two effects make this Sign great for doing one-hit killing moves.

2. Igni: As you might guess, this is a fire Sign. Can be used out of combat to ignite fires for meditation. For combat, it obviously does damage. It can be upgraded to cover a wider angle, to incinerate (sustained, albeit steadily decreasing, damage) and to induce fear, I believe.

3. Yrden: I don't use this one much. It sets a trap on the ground that does damage to enemies passing over it, as well as, when upgraded, causing things like fear and pain, or a drop of attack and defense stats.

4. Quen: Using this one more on this playthrough. Generates a temporary, damage-absorbing shield around Geralt. If he attacks before its normal duration ends, it automatically goes down (applying sword grease also causes it to go down, which is irritating). You can use this Sign to heal a bit before entering combat, taking a percentage of enemy health the first time they hit it, and some other effects I can't remember.

5. Axii: The power of this Sign is called "Hex", but I'm not sure what it does. I think it might induce fear, but I've also heard it turns an enemy (or, when fully upgraded, two) to your side temporarily. I know it has the latter effect in the second game.

The Witcher 2 has a sixth Sign, but I'm not sure what it does.

Unlike BioWare games, your actions don't get judged as good or evil by some meter or metric in the game. You choose what to do, and you have to deal with the consequences. I really like this system.

Also, if you're a fan of game music, The Witcher has a SUPERB soundtrack. Easily one of my favorites.

That's it I'm done with GAF.

Amir0x was going about his usual trolling derailing bullshit and when I, along with someone else, called him out on it, I get banned.

"You have been banned for the following reason:



False troll accusations; discuss positions, not posters.

Date the ban will be lifted: 06-15-2011, 02:00 PM"

This site has really gone to shit.

Seriously read this shit, how is this NOT trolling?

Yes I know its "against the rules" but how is a fucking MODERATOR trolling and derailing a thread for hundreds upon hundreds of posts not ban worthy or at least demotion worthy?

...

phantom_leo said:

I used to be offended I was never accepted into GAF for whatever reason...

...but after years and years of witnessing their collective elitism, immaturity and overwhelming nerdiness, I am sooo happy I never was!

They are everything that is embarrassing about the gaming industry.

They used to be an invaluable resource for technical info and such, but now that there's Google, they have become obsolete.

No offense to some of the people here who are still members there!

The site USE to be good but has recently been at a steady course of shThe sites co-owner actually left the site due to this. Not only that but recently a wave of "creme de la crop" well known posters left the site due to it going to shit as well.

I mean really click the link and read the thread. Its embarassing.

GAF is still great for news, but thats it.