Can TW2 be played as a stand-alone or do I have to have played TW1 first to make sense of the story? I bought the first game a while ago when it was cheap on Steam because I've heard a lot of good stuff about it, and the TW2 review I read in a magazine really spiked my interest, but... I dunno, I think I played for about two hours and then quit. The combat just... I couldn't get into it. It was annoying.
Is the combat still the same or has it changed a little?

I heard some people say it is different, and other people say is it is similar to AC combat.

All player reviews are love letters, I see nothing under 9/10 so far, could this be the long awaited messiah of rpgs?

I just wish we could have created our own character.

Yeah, the only complaint so far seem to be that it require relatively much power from the graphic card. But there aren't many who complain about that, only a few on the GOG forum in any case.

There are a few allusions to the previous game, but the story doesn't seem to build on it -.at least until the end of Act 1 where I am now.

The combat is more action-based, you have to time your attacks based on the situation now and don't need to switch style and click in rhythm only. It's only similar to AC in that it's in the same hack&slay combo-based genre, but that is pretty broad. I'd say it's like DMC, only less heavy in combo attacks.

I've found that the strangely titled "supersampling" option draws the most power. It's not only supersampling you switch on but various shading and smoothing option in one package. Doesn't make too big a difference either.
My new 6870 arrived, I'll install and report back later. ^_^

Possibly

I was expecting 80% from Bit Tech, but was surprised the game received 95%

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2011/05/17/the-witcher-2-review/2 :celebration:

A AMD 6870? Scary, thats the same card I ordered yesterday, so I can play TW2 with good graphs.

Best bang for the buck, as kids these days say. It wouldn't happen to be a Twin Frozr II... too?

Heh, yeah, one of the official GOG guys said "UberSampling" should be off, and really is a feature for cards 5 years from now. I'm not sure if he was serious or joking, probably both

My god.... Who are you?!

Nah it isn't, it's a XFX sadly. Would have been hilarious if it was

Well, you can get framerates in the 40s with x1200 resolutions when you have one of the newest shiniest 600 buck cards, but who would dare to get those when they are not needed in any other game?


Oh, if anybody finds the control weird, I found out this morning that you can switch off the very awful control smoothing in the user.ini under [install directory]\bin. If you don't play with a controller, it's a must. Even with it, the controls are somewhat weird on my XInput pad. Seems that CDPR hasn't gotten this kind of control engraved into their molecules yet.

Ultra settings with ubersampling disabled runs silky smooth on a HD 6970.

I hope my 5850 will play this at the highest settings.

I've got ultra settings on fine, and not a problem. I can't set the LOD to far though ie "max" everything on my rig. Though the game looks amazing already, oh well just a treat for later on down the line. Just woke up, will be playing soon again. I'm just passed the big fire bridge part of the intro and into the town.

How's the loot?

I decided to get the standard edition instead of the CE, since I'm a bit tight on cash.

Installing it now.... I hope my HD4890 can play on at least medium settings.

Okay, running at ~50fps at highest settings except for the UberSampling with the new card. Good investment. Now I only need a quad for Shogun 2 and the next years can come.

Oh, if my 3870 could, this one can, too. ^_^

I was pretty demoralized when I installed my GOG copy this morning and auto assessment rated my rig (with 5850) "low." I didn't actually fire up the game because I had to leave for work, so we'll see tonight.

:o

When is tonight for you? A couple of hours?

Please tell me how it goes!

Same here on an HD 5770, despite the auto-assessment recommending "low". Looks really nice and plays quite smooth. I was quite pleasantly surprised.

The free DLC on release day is a nice touch too.

Now I only wish it wasn't so bloody hard. I'm still playing through the tutorial, on normal, and being owned so hard I have to reload 3-6 times each battle. Either I'm missing something (not blocking, power-swings, signs or potions), or it's way harder than the first Witcher.

Oh really? I have that card too and I was quite surprised at how low it automatically set everything to, so that's encouraging.

Unfortunately I can't play the damn game until the weekend now, so it'll just sit on my computer, taunting me.

This game doesn't hold your [censored] hand. It takes your hand, chops it off, and forces you to reload. [censored]'s hardcoe foo. I'm finally starting to get better at the combat, now I'm only reloading once or twice per fight instead of six to eight from before. One thing that bothers me is block seems to be tied to the use of your powers, but it's such a cryptic thing figuring out if you can block or not. It really confuses me and gets me killed a lot, I find running around and dodging to be the better thing to do. With block only thrown in when in a small fight with one to two enemies.

Edit
Actually the only thing bothering me about the controls at this point is the wonky block. Why can't anyone do it right (like Arkham Asylum). One more thing to note is locking on to an off screen enemy you don't want to target and he flips across a courtyard to go attack him but gets sliced up by like a dozen enemies. Those are my only two complaints after several hours of play.

How's the world? Is it truly open?

No idea, been in a fairly linear Knights of the Old Republic style tutorial I am just getting to the end of. Even here though a portion of the city being sieged was explorable with plenty of gold and loot to satisfy people.

Edit
Open world? Witcher isn't open world, neither is this game from the impressions I'm getting in the tutorial. Just vast "chapters" to explore like the first game. IE in the first game Chapter 3 let's you explore the merchants quarter, sewers, and the swamp and travel between them to do side quests/story missions. So it's not open world, but neither was it anywhere as small as a Bioware games explorable areas. Think hybrid.

Edit
People who aren't playing this game because it isn't open world are truly denying themselves so much and missing the whole point of the series.

I'm only in the tutorial and I'm giving this game at least a 9/10. By the end of the game that is likely to go to a perfect 10/10. Then again I'm also a sadistic person who likes a challenge and am playing on Hard which is really hard. Insane sounds mind boggling, only one life.

[censored] you gamgee, it looks like you're having fun!