This game is kicking my ass. I've just started playing it today, and I'm having a bear of a time getting a feel for the combat. I really like how everything feels, but I'm so used to just cutting down waves of enemies at a time at my will, that it feels odd having to, you know, think about my actions. I'm so used to being able to go into a situation guns blazing.

That said, I'm really liking how this is going so far, and feel this will be a nice replacement for the hole Game of Thrones is leaving.

It gets easier. Keep Quen active and roll around a lot. It's tough at the start, but once you're able to pump up Quen you'll be amazed at how much easier combat gets.

Ok, that's good to know.

Also, I really need to get over my indecision when making choices in this game. I have the "right way to play" bullshit so ingrained in me, I keep second guessing my moves. I was curious as to how varied things can be, so I played a section 3 different ways, and got 3 very different results. I'm going to just pick a lane and go down it.

This really is the best way..and even on that one lane, you need to sort of stick with one or two different ideas...so in the magic, stick with two spell types to level up...

How crucial are the sidequests in Witcher 2? Does doing sidequests open options in the story later, or are the sidequests pretty separate from the main quest?

I only ask because I'm doing a sidequest dealing with a troll now, and there is a lot of back and forth, and while that's all well and good early in the game, doing a lot of this can definitely burn me out on a game in the later areas (this happened with Mass Effect).

Best Buy has Witcher 2 (360) for $9.99 after using the $30 coupon that you can find under your rewards zone member coupons. You can be a free member and still get it.

I'm new to the whole RPG thing and lately I have had an itch to get into a game with a good story. This game looks freaking awesome!!!

I have Skyrim and played for a while but was never truely ever sucked in to were I needed to know what happened next.

I have stayed away from Dark Souls becaue frankly it sounded complicated and a pain in the ass when you died. Is this a bit less forgiving? Can you save anywhere you want?

The Dark Souls combat looks much slow than this and the hit detection looks much better in this.

Am I making the right choice? Anyone know of any good deals on this game right now?

This game received amazing reviews but I did not enjoy it at all. I thought it was clunky and generic from the beginning. The Elder Scroll games do everything better, IMO. Are you planning on getting a title for PC or 360?

For the 360 and I hear what your saying, but in Skyrim the gameplay is good but the substance is missing. The story here seems really deep and the cut scenes are amazing.

The cut scenes were good but that's where it ended for me. I had a hard time even getting through the intro parts. Have you played Kingdom of Amalur? I enjoyed that one quite a bit more than Witcher 2.

I don't know if there is one but I would suggest trying a demo first. I bought it on PC based on the reviews alone and ended up wasting my money.

I played the demo for Kingdom and I was not overwhelmed. The gameplay videos I have seen from Witcher 2 look great.

The story in KoA was bland but the game play was very fun.

I know I'm probably in the minority concerning W2. The combat system was terrible and not fun at all. I LOVED the first Witcher. It was more of a point & click combat system like Diablo.

From what I have seen and correct me if I'm wrong in the Witcher 2 you have to plan ahead and have more of systematic approach with lots of dodging sprinkled in.

Maybe but that wouldn't effect if I liked it or not. Demon/Dark Souls are two of my favorite games. I had no issues with the combat in those and played through each twice.

I'm not trying to deter you from getting the game; just giving my impressions based on the 6-7 hours I put into it before uninstalling.

Probably a minority, but I'm there with you. Solid story, great consequences of choices, rickety gameplay.

As I said above I personally loved the game, though it really did not open up for me until I put it on the hardest difficulty. I thought the combat was smooth and fantastic. You are very powerful as long as you don't mess up. The story is well done. It is not as good a game as Skyrim, but I would put it on the same level as Dark Souls...though it is different enough that you might not like one or the other.

Yes, you can! About difficulty, I wrote about it earlier in the thread. Hard at first, but gets a lot easier as you move on. And read earlier posts for good tips about managing combat

Don't see any good deals at the moment ... but I don't have a 360, so I don't follow that so closely.

You won't know if you'll like it unless you give it chance!

Thanks guys. I know the 360 got the Enhanced Edition. Is this title ok to buy Pre-Owned? Or did it come with special codes required to play or access special content?

Anyone? I'm getting off from work in an hour and was gonna head to the store.

The version I played didn't have any special things that would've provided a barrier to playing a used version. Maybe stuff like achievements would be messed up, but I don't see why the game itself wouldn't play just fine.

Remember, Quen is your best friend! Realize it gets a lot easier as your progress (and like Witcher 1, the early boss fights are much harder than the later ones). And have fun with making decisions that definitely impact the story ... and when you get to the big branching decision of , many of us (me included) recommend going with for the more satisfying story.

OK got the game and played a little last night. I ended up at the part where you storm the castle and I got up the fight with the guy dressed in green. I kept dying with only 2 guys left to kill. As I was playing my son came in and after my 3rd attempt he said "Dad have you checked if you leveled up to make your character better in battle?" Sure enough I had a point to assign. I'm new to RPGs.

I was using my Quen by pressing Y I'd glow blue for 30 seconds but what does that do?

Can I regenerate health while engaged in a battle?

I love the game so far after the tutorial it said I should start on easy but I started on normal. Everyone seemed pretty easy to kill specially when using the block and dodge until I got to where I'm stuck.

Quen lets you get hit without taking any damage. The amount of damage is based off the level of Quen (and your level actually) but at lower levels it basically allows you to get hit once free. At higher levels it also will stun and hurt the attacker. It is one of the best powers in the game...

I am going to quote myself from an earlier post...this is not the only way to play, but it worked wonders for me..

my tips to dark difficulty...

...roll...roll...roll.

Never get surrounded. I just finished on Dark and here are some tips that will make the game actually really easy.

I stayed away from Alchemy tree. Never spent one point. I did not want to worry about preparing myself for a fight, and many times you don't know what you are going to face.

So what I did was level up magic about half way and then went into Sword.

The 6 points I spent in the training were as follows...all points listed in the order I took them.

1-Vigor Regeneration

1-Parrying

1-Fortitude

1-Fortitude(max this out)

1-Arrow Red (can mutate it)

1-Dagger Throw (though I never used it..so this one is up to you)

Then I went to magic

1-Destructive magic

1-Enhanced Quen Sign(best skill in game..get out of jail free card)

1-Enhanced Quen

1-Venting

1-Magical Vigor

1-Enhanced Igni (this is why I never used daggers)

1-Enhanced Igni

Then I went to sword

1-Feetwork

1-Position

1-Schemer

1-Tough Guy

1-Hardy

1-Whirl

1-Fitness

1-Invincible

1-Invincible

Back to magic

1-Magic Intensification

1-Magic Intensification

After this you need to make up your mind if you want to upgrade your magic to get HELIOTROPE (slows down time) or the swords finishers. Heliotrope is the stronger choice, but it can take a while to build up...but comes in handy in boss fights...(I took Heliotrope)

Combat involves you putting down QUEN at the start. If you have a large group of enemies hit them with fire...a few blast even on dark difficulty will drop them quick...remember your vigor will not come back while quen is up...so if you lose it...roll away from the combat if you can and let it recharge before using quen again.

In fights where fire does not work...stay on the outside of combat...roll around and dive in for a quick strike...and roll away. If they do get a hit in, quen will hurt a big group...giving you time to get out and recharge quen. This works in just about every situation.

Not in the sense of downing potions (like most RPGs). Though your guy normally regenerates health over time. And potions (which need to be used before battle) can speed this up.

I don't have anywhere near as detailed a level-up guide as foxdvd. I played on normal. My preferred style of play is a front-line fighter who can wade into battles and deal out ass kickings. Advanced tactics are needed for higher difficulties, but I like my characters and gameplay to be low-maintenance.

I only used the Magic Tree to get to all the Quen-related skills (which I maxed out). I put nothing in Alchemy (potions are a pain in the ass since you can't drink them during battle). I didn't bother with Throwing Daggers. And I didn't get into blocking-related skills much. All the skills I put points into helped me dish out and handle damage. So the combat style I settled into involved me keeping Quen active (so don't forget about Vigor), rolling around, and hitting enemies (preferably from behind after a roll). It looked kind of silly, but it worked.

Well I got past that section I was having was having trouble with but only cause I switched up my dialog and the guy laid down his sword..... pussy

Got the gate opened and now I died trying to run from a fucking Dragon. Break time.

Ok loving the game. I noticed how much your choices really change this game.


Also I had totally forgot about the save feature in the menus after trying for an hour and a half to go far in a level die and have to restart from the beginning.