1. Gameplay
The Witcher 2 is a great game marred by frustrating mechanics that are oversimplified in the important areas and overcomplicated in things that should be less important. The writing in this game is more than enough to drive a player forward and make this game an absolute blast, but the gameplay can keep players from seeing through to the greatness. Which is very unfortunate, because this game includes some of the best writing I have ever seen.
The greatness of the writing is in its subtlety and attention to detail. While many of the plot elements would come off childish in the hands of another writer, the mature elements of this game only add to the grittiness of the society in this world. Characters are open about their opinions, about their flaws, about their prejudices, and about their personal lives. It comes across as a bit strange to me, given the generally puritanical nature of American society, but this game treats sexuality in a way where it’s enjoyed but not perverted. Prostitution is just another profession, and its workers are often treated with more respect than non-humans in the society.
The subtlety in the writing came across most notably in one scene. Geralt and a sorceress must find and kill a giant kraken-like monster in a swamp. When Geralt arrives at the kraken’s nest, the sorceress takes a moment to clear the low mist from the imminent battlefield. This element of the writing does nothing to forward the plot or show of the true power of the sorceress. It’s merely included as an additional piece that adds to the detail of the event.
Quests in this game are not as straightforward as other RPGs. It contrasts starkly with Dragon Age: Inquisition, where most quests would be some form of “go here, kill this, report back for reward”. While the Witcher 2 did include somewhat basic quests (i.e. “win the combat tournament”), almost all of its quests included some sort of twist that kept me from knowing exactly what the outcome would be. Each of these quests is its own individual story, with characters that have depth and situations that require careful consideration of the different elements before a decision is made. Do you help the soldier kill a wraith, or do you believe the wraith when it says that the man killed her when she was a human? Do you destroy the phantom or give war criminals to the phantom to satiate its lust for vengeance?
But, as I said, the mechanics get in the way of all this. The numerous different “signs” (spells) and potions are very intimidating in the early game, a fact only compounded by the fact that the names and symbols associated with these spells and potions have nothing to do with what the spell does. Igni could have been symbolized by a flame (since that’s what it does), but instead it’s symbolized by a triangle. The potion Cat allows the player to see in the dark, but such an ambiguous name makes it difficult to know that without making the spell and/or reading its description.
The worst part for me is that almost every action is tied to a single button. Talking to a person, opening a chest, collecting an item, entering a building, vaulting down/up a rock, and attacking an enemy are all tied to the left mouse. This leads to plenty of situations where I try to pick up an object but instead end up walking into another room or talking to a nearby character. On a console I might consider the excuse that there aren’t enough buttons for all of the actions the player can do, but on the PC there are more than enough keys to separate some of these actions to different buttons.
I highly recommend this game, but have no problem understanding why someone would stop playing after the first few minutes. I played this game on easy with a number of mods applied to help make the combat more enjoyable, and definitely feel rewarded for my efforts.
My playthrough took me around 22 hours to complete, but the replayability in this game could easily allow for another playthrough. There are plenty of additional quests and conversation options that I either missed or was unable to complete because of story-related choices. Provided the player can overcome the issues I had with the gameplay, the story provides a ton of great content.
The game also includes an arena mode where players that enjoyed the combat system can try additional challenges, but this isn’t the kind of thing I expect most players to try.
As I mentioned before, the mechanics of this game can be extremely frustrating. Even playing the game on easy with mods applied, there were still sections where I felt like the game was too difficult to be enjoyable. Difficulty in combat can spike considerably, and the inability to quickly switch between a normal and silver sword can lead to situations where the player is completely outclassed not because of his lack of abilities but because he is using the wrong weapon. This was especially obvious when human and monster enemies were within the same combat zone.
Any new player that doesn’t apply mods or put the game on easy is going to be in for a difficult time. The combat can get very complicated, and higher difficult levels require the use of traps and potions. This required a bit more preparation than I was willing to give it.
2. Parental Notices
Violence must be divided into two categories, violence in gameplay and violence in cutscenes. The violence in gameplay is fairly minor. The player can use a variety of bladed weapons and spells to slash, stab, electrocute, and ignite enemies. Hits from all weapons involves some blood but no gore at all.
The spells can have a small number of different effects, but the most violent one is the “igni” spell which can igni-te (GET IT?!) enemies. This effect is most obvious once the player fully upgrades the igni spell and in certain, more cinematic instant kill animations.
There are also some instant kill animations involving swords. Frequently this includes Geralt impaling the enemy on at least one sword. There is definitely blood in these scenes, but never any gore.
Cutscenes can be significantly more violent, however. For example, in one cutscene the player can see the severed head of a king laying on a stump.
Animated cutscenes are even more graphic. The amount of blood and gore included in these scenes can get extreme, especially when compared to the rest of the game.
This game includes a ton of sexual content, but in a way that isn’t Duke Nukem levels of trashy. I’d describe it as “adult”, but not immature. The developers clearly like the female body and have no problem putting it on display in many situations.
The prologue should give an excellent idea of what I mean by this. Geralt wakes up in a tent next to a naked Triss. The game does not hide any part of her nudity. They discuss their relationship in a very open way. Geralt is also mostly naked, although he usually wears small underwear. While the female groin region can be seen occasionally in this game, Geralt’s manhood is never visible.
Many female characters in the game do little to hide their breasts, instead practically leaving themselves exposed.
Prostitutes also play a fairly prominent role in certain sidequests and conversations. The player can hire their services in at least one location (mentioned below in the “Miscellaneous” section).
The drawn cutscenes also have no problem including nudity.
There are a number of sex scenes that the player can see throughout the game, and it is definitely possible to see multiple cutscenes in a single playthrough. For example, the player can have a sexual encounter with Triss in an underground bathhouse. Nudity and sex are both very obvious in this scene, although it never goes beyond what would be included in an R-rated movie.
This is definitely not the only sex scene the player can see. There is a later scene where the player can have a romantic encounter with a female soldier, Ves, and other scenes involving other women. If there are any scenes that involve Geralt sleeping with men, I never discovered them.
Substances play a much less noticeable role in this game when compared to the violence and sexuality, but they’re still present. Geralt can harvest various ingredients that can be used in potions. Potions have a dramatic but temporary effect on Geralt’s abilities. However, they are also toxic. If Geralt consumes too many potions in too short of a timespan, he will be poisoned and can die.
If Geralt takes on the quest to assassinate the leader of Flotsam, he will have a cinematic combat encounter with the leader’s mom. The woman is in the basement snorting lines of what is almost certainly cocaine (or some equivalent).
At the end of one of the brothel sex scenes, Geralt can be seen smoking a pipe.
Before one of the final battles in the game, Lethos offers Geralt a bottle of vodka for the two witchers to share. There are no adverse effects from drinking the vodka.
There were two gambling minigames that the player can play. The first is arm wrestling, which just involves the player keeping an icon within a colored bar as it moves along a slider. The second is dice poker, which is one of the most simple and entertaining gambling minigames I have played. It’s simply poker but played with dice instead of cards. This eliminates certain elements like suits and numbers above six, but adds the possibility of five of a kind.
Both of these games are present in every major location the player will visit and are tied to a number of small sidequests. It’s possible to completely avoid these games, and they were not a great source of income, but they definitely are present.
3. Other Factors
While this game is already rife with mature content, a number of the available mods leave little to the imagination. A good number of female characters can be stripped completely naked with mods, continuing their normally scripted gameplay events and activities as if nothing were different. There are even a few mods that add additional romantic scenes, especially scenes that involve two naked women.
That being said, there are plenty of mods that change the game in interesting ways without increasing the mature content. The majority of the mods available either increase the quality of the visuals or manipulate the mechanics in some specific way. Like I mentioned before, I applied a weight mod that allows me to carry as many items as I want. There are plenty of players that will have no interest in increasing the amount of mature content in this game.
The only obvious element of religion that I found in this game was in the prologue. The player eventually fights his way to a monastery, where monks are trying to create a place of refuge for survivors of the war. An assassin dressed as a monk eventually kills the king.
The plot of this game revolves around regicide. Geralt will be constantly searching for and chasing at least one person involved in at least one king’s death.
While Geralt might sometimes seem like he is above the law, there are plenty of situations where he acts directly against the local authorities in order to accomplish his goals. Most of the time these goals can be accomplished through non-violent means, but sometimes violence is inevitable.
There are no multiplayer modes for this game.
Geralt does not move particularly fast in this game, but there are a few scenes where he rides creatures like the best bull rider ever. This is as much “extreme sports” as this game can handle.
Magic is an extremely prominent element in this game. Almost every mission involves someone casting magic, being affected by magic, or combat that involves magic. Geralt will cast hexes during conversations as a means of persuasion. He will use weapons that can be magically enchanted and earn upgrades that can magically alter his abilities.
Magic is not subtle either. There are plenty of cutscenes where characters will use magic to visibly manipulate the world around them. This could be just about anything, from as simple as moving fog off a marsh to as complex as raising the spirits of dead soldiers to fight in continuous battle.
The player as the ability to use hexes to cast spells in combat, and will often make use of this ability to deal damage or stay alive for just a few more moments.
Prostitution Prostitutes are included in every major location the player will visit. However, while they are discussed in each location and have a minor role in a number of cutscenes and quests, I was only able to hire their services in one location. They are not a hidden part of society in this world.
Torture
In one potential scene, Geralt infiltrates the house of the leader of a small swamp town called Flotsam. After killing the leader, Geralt discovers a young elf woman. The leader held the elf prisoner for over a year, repeatedly torturing and raping her. She gives birth to a child soon after Geralt rescues her, but the psychological trauma proves to be too much. She kills herself after the child is born.
Rape
As mentioned before, the elf woman was repeatedly raped by the Flotsam leader.
Later in the story, the player can see a scene where a female character goes to a king to bargain for the lives of her troops. The king makes a deal with her and then proceeds to rape her (the specifics are not discussed and the player only sees the obvious lead-up, not the actual act). The king then goes back on his deal and kills the troops anyway.
Incest
One of the characters in the game, a queen to a murdered king, confesses to fathering two of her children with her adult son. This becomes a point of contention in the story, since the two children should be heir to the throne but can be excluded because they are not directly heirs to their kingly “father”. However, Geralt can argue that the king considered these children to be his own, and thus should still be eligible to take the throne.
5 Comments
PATRIOT32756
3/17/2016 10:28:54 pm
Do you think that this game is sexist in anyway?
Reply
Battlefield is better than COD
3/31/2016 03:31:28 pm
What about Language?
Reply
PATRIOT32756
4/9/2016 03:39:25 pm
Would be better without the sex.
Reply
PATRIOT32756
5/2/2016 07:24:06 pm
Also don't forget about the dark and mature storyline.
Reply
PATRIOT32756
5/4/2016 08:22:46 pm
Is this more or less mature than Witcher 3?
Reply
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