The Witcher 2: 1up for CDprojekt Red

   It is amazing how technology changes between a game and its successor and this goes without saying for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings! This time 'round, CD Projekt RED has opted for a new engine of their own and some major overhauling of what they wanted The Witcher to Play like, and Feel like as a fantasy adventure RPG. However, while exploring the game, I did notice a few things that made it not as easy to play as I had hoped. First of all, I noticed that the fluidity of the controls did not match up with the fluidity of the game...now, this could be due to my not so great graphics card, but still, it felt disjointed with regards what Geralt of Rivia was doing on the screen. I also found it odd not to have a pause button this time (not that it needed it) and I also found it silly that you couldn't drink potions on the go - you had go into the meditation menu to drink which took up a lot of time. The main map was hard to read as well. They said nothing about the scroll wheel making the map bigger in the tutorial which I didn't figure that out until I was half way through the game making me feel like an idiot and that is NOT what a video game should make you feel....you should always feel like a bad ass when playing ; ). I also found some of the QTE silly, especially for PC....and the icons for them were way too small. I couldn't see what I was supposed to press half the time, even if they made it bright orange. Maybe they should slow time in game to give the player time to react or at least find the button they need to press?  Another unhappy surprise was the fact that my romance with Shani didn't get imported with my game...in the first 20 minutes of playing, I was back sleeping with Triss and no other mention of Shani occurred! I was kinda upset at that. Where did Shani go? Why did they take her out and leave Dandelion in? Weren't they both key players in the first one? I guess I'll never know.

 I have to say on the upside, the sex scenes in The Witcher 2 out do anything the Witcher could have possibly come up with. I did find the sexy trading cards unique and I will miss them, but the new scenes they replaced them with....ARE AWESOME! : D The fighting was much better this time around too(regardless of the game not having to choose styles). I also found the menu options easy to navigate and very intuitive....I loved the new quick menu to speed things up! Finally, meditation does not have to happen at a campfire either, another big bonus in my eyes. I don't know how many times in the original Witcher game I had to search out for a campfire so I could meditate and regenerate. Another big surprise was importing my Witcher 1 saved game! I loved that they took the idea from other great gaming companies on this one. Speaking of saves, CD Projekt RED has made the auto saves MUCH more frequent and loads are sped up ten fold! I am also AMAZED by the music in this game. It has to be one of my favorite things...besides the absolutely gorgeous graphics and epic storyline with intelligent choices that effect how the game plays out. Overall, I found this to be a great game and definitely one that moves in the right direction for being a sequel (UNLIKE DA 2). Even though this game series does not have a customizable character like in Skyrim, I do think it still contends well with it and many other big ticket games my making it up with its epic storyline, snazzy graphics and wonderful replay ability. (Personally, I find if you were able to fully customize Geralt of Rivia, it would not only take away from who Geralt is but it would also take away from the storyline too...I mean, he his known as the White Wolf for a reason.)

I give The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - 8.5/10

Skyrim: The game I had been waiting for...

  I had been waiting for this game to come out ever since I watched the announcement for it at the VGA awards last year. Skyrim has been an object of my obsession for many months and now I have gotten to play it, I can honestly say it is WELL WORTH IT!
   In my opinion, Bethesda, reigns over the fantasy RPG genre with its attention to detail and having endless possibilities at your disposal, which makes it not only re-playable but you feel as if you never play the same game twice. The epic proportions of the map gave me the ability to immerse myself in every aspect of the journey through wilderness and towns alike. I was also happy about the new updates on the NPC's faces and catch phrases which looked as well as sounded much more natural than in Oblivion (one of my pet peeves of the elder scrolls iv). 
  The most epic part of the game has to be the dragons and the shouts. The developers spent numerous hours making the dragons move and act exactly how we would expect them to through research with bats, birds and reptiles. I doubt if any other game developing studio has made dragons in this way and it shows...again with the attention to details. The shouts also have their own fantastical quality that feels like a combination between Star Wars: The Force Unleashed and Dragon Ball Z. Every time I used a shout, I felt like a bad ass and that is exactly what you want to feel in a game of this magnitude. I also got up to a little bit of mischief with using it to FUS RO DA my companion or an unsuspecting villager off a cliff or bridge. These shouts prove to be hours of fun whether you are fighting with it or getting into trouble!
 
  No matter how much I may love this game though, I still have a few minor details to contend with. I find that because of its expansive nature, the game play takes weeks to complete. This is always the downside of a game like this and even if it cannot be helped, it makes me loose some interest in playing it. (I do have a life outside of gaming, you know...). The other thing that gets me is the aiming for the bow and arrows. If you choose this long range weapon, make sure you understand where the cross-hairs should be pointing in order to get a good shot. I found that I needed to position the cross-hairs at the opponents chest in order to get a head shot...which is silly if you ask me. I should be able to aim at the head and get a head shot right away, not miss by 2 feet and it going over my opponents head! I also had many clipping issues where I would get stuck in rocks or in walls if I wasn't careful as well as many glitches. Of course, that should be no problem to fix with a patch or two. Other than that, I have to say that this still takes the cake for best fantasy RPG of the year. GREAT WORK BETHESDA!

I rate The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim  - 9.5 out of 10