Sashalalas.
First of all, what's up with my LJ being flooded by lots of cute-looking female LJers recently? Not that I don't mind the attention (I actually got to talk to a few of 'em when they contacted me, and they turned out to be very nice people, some of whom I've already befriended) but it's still quite surprising. Have my talks of the Witcher 2 and its sexy protagonist Geralt of Rivia suddenly attracted people to this LJ, or is some other mysterious force at work here? Perhaps it's better that I don't think too much about it, so I'll just continue this entry as usual (and my apologies to any of the lovely ladies who might be reading this; I mean no harm, I'm just confused as usual). I guess I shouldn't post right after witnessing some rather dramatic stuff in a computer game...
Well, what can I say? The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has been a blast so far on Roche's path. Just as I lulled myself into a false sense of security after doing a few minor quests and admiring the beautiful scenery, Wham Moments happened one after the other.
It all began with me entering the deadly fog of specters where ghosts (whose constant "shashalala" sounds are kinda funny, albeit not as funny as the game's classic phrases "People! The mutant's pursuing me!", "Plough the lilies!", "Wanna dance, white teddy?" or "Odrin!" have been) possessed Geralt and made me play as them as they reconstructed the famous scenes from an earlier battle. I was impressed by how the symbols of hatred, courage, death and faith (subquests which I completed earlier as I searched for those famous symbols with which I could end the curse of the specters) were interweaved into this battle and how I got to relive those events and take part in them by deciding the fates of the armies and their heroes.
This eventually led me to confront one of the hammiest villains (and voices) I've heard in a long while in either movies or video games, and I don't mean this as an insult because that villain was awesome. Let me introduce you to the Draug, the Prince of the Damned:
The Draug's limited screentime doesn't detract from his sheer awesomeoness. Gotta love DAT VOICE and the character design.
Sadly the boss battle against the Draug has apparently been nerfed from the alpha build. From what I could see in earlier promotional vids, the battlefield was a lot bigger and more open, and the Draug used more devastating attacks. I wonder if the devs thought it was too challenging so they toned it down a little.
Despite this "flaw" the released game's Draug battle is still fairly challenging even on normal difficulty. I kept my word on not using the overpowered quen sign so I just resorted to dodge rolling, using riposte and the aard sign as well as the occasional yrden sign. I liked the way the Draug summoned trebuchets and arrows to fire at you so you had to be careful how far to move from him. I was impressed by his creepy whirlwind attack where he disassembles his body in order to move all over hell's acres. Too bad there wasn't more buildup and scenes with the Draug because he was definitely one of the more memorable monsters and boss battles in the game.
The Draug battle's aftermath finally dispersed the creepy fog which had prevented King Henselt's army from invading the dwarven city of Vergen where defenders led by Saskia the Virgin were preparing the city for the upcoming onslaught. I was busy with another quest, however, as I could finally track down the shady people who were conspiring against the king. It turned out that Roche himself was the leader of the plotters, which didn't really surprise me for some reason (although it did surprise me that he had managed to keep the whole thing hidden for so long despite his fiery temper).
This, however, had unfortunate consequences as I later learned. Henselt and his delightfully funny and creepy mage advisor Dethmold had found out that Roche was behind the conspiracy, and made their move while I was away. When Roche and I got back to the camp, we were ambushed by a lot of Hensel't soldiers whom we defeated after a hectic battle. Once we reached the canteen, we found that all of Roche's men had been hanged. Only Ves, his second-in-command had been spared but from her story we could figure out that the king had raped her before leading the rest of the army to besiege Vergen. This whole grisly stuff obviously made Roche go ballistic and he swore to kill the king.
What surprised me, however, was that Geralt said later on as we left the camp that Ves was lying. I interpreted it as Ves not being forcibly raped but that she had willingly slept with the king in order to spare Roche's men, but this plan hadn't worked out. I don't know if this was the devs' intention, but there had to be a reason why Geralt specifically mentioned something about a lie.
Anyway, Roche and Geralt ended up right in the middle of the siege of Vergen. Sadly we only got to see glimpses of it, and I assume that the siege portion will be more epic during Iorveth's path. After some hectic battles and a particularly brutal fight against a surprisingly tough golem, I nearly got to a certain sorceress who had doublecrossed me earlier, but she managed to slip away just before I was about to reach her. To make matters worse, King Henselt himself arrived in the scene, and I ended up dueling him and his bodyguards in this act's final "boss" battle. Obviously I beat the snot out of him to vent out my frustration for him slaughtering my comrades who I'd grown to like (even though that bunch were also pillaging and murdering rapists, but hey, that's life in the grey Witcher world!).
Henselt was now at my mercy, and Roche showed up, willing to kill him for all the suffering the Kaedwenis had caused. This gave me a lovely yet difficult scene where I got to decide whether I'd let Roche kill Henselt or spare Henselt. What was my decision, you might ask?
Here's the answer.
Needless to say, this was a difficult choice. On the one hand I was angry at Henselt who, despite being a king with some noble ideas and codes, had slaughtered Geralt's friends and (presumably) raped Ves, a likable female character. However, the fact was that if Roche killed Henselt, he'd only aid the kingslayers' agenda as well as finally jump off that slippery slope of heroism and villainy where he had always been standing. I figured that the scene would haunt Roche, and Kaedwen did need a king in the meetings in Loc Muinne so that the Northern kingdoms could unite and fully face the threat of the advancing Nilfgaard Empire.
So, I put the fates of the nation over the revenge of two men. Henselt may be a dick, but he's a king in uncertain times, and I just couldn't let Nilfgaard dominate the meeting where the fate of the known world would be decided. You can say it was quite gratifying to watch a following scene where Geralt explained that Roche (who had chosen to spare Henselt in my playthrough) had chosen the tougher yet more rewarding option because instead of easily taking revenge he had conquered a far worthy foe: himself. There was poetic truth to that, and perhaps in the end Roche will learn to appreciate the fact that he chose to not descend into villainy.
Will this decision come back to bite me (and Geralt) in the butt, though, as so many other choices I've made have done so far? Act 3 is about to begin in the game, so I'll find out soon, but I'm sure it'll have repercussions. And I'm certain Henselt won't be happy seeing me in Loc Muinne during the meeting. I love choices like this because they force you to evaluate not only Geralt's morality but also the consequences on the world at large and the characters themselves. In general I prefer playing the heroic type even though in this game it isn't always the best path. I look forward to seeing the kingslayer plot (and their multiple associates) finally revealing their true colours, although I already have an idea how the endgame might play out. We'll see.
My apologies for such rambling, but the events in the game have shaken me emotionally so I can't quite write coherently at the moment. Let's just say that since the shocking twist in Kohan 1 (your beloved wife turned out to be the one who killed you, which was one of the biggest player punches I've ever experienced in games I've played!) it's been a while I've felt this way about a game's characters and its world. The Witcher 2 has definitely pulled the right strings by drawing you into its complex and well woven narrative of political intrigue and personal stakes. It'll be interesting to see how it'll all turn out in the end.
I kind of wanted to write a few movie reviews as well, but that'll have to wait for another time because the events of the Witcher 2 are still weighing on my mind. So instead I'll briefly discuss a lovely scene from Alpha and Omega: the Love Train!
I'm a hopeless romantic, so that scene was particularly powerful for me. It might not look that special when viewed by itself, but if you watch the whole film, the interweaving scenes of the two couples become all the more relevant and touching. Shivers go down my spine every time at 1:13 when Kate joins in on the howling. Chris Bacon's music is such a perfect fit for the scene, and the score's love theme blossoms in it to perhaps its greatest height. Every average movie has scenes of greatness, and Alpha and Omega is no exception to this rule. ^_^
Yours,
Mikko
Well, what can I say? The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has been a blast so far on Roche's path. Just as I lulled myself into a false sense of security after doing a few minor quests and admiring the beautiful scenery, Wham Moments happened one after the other.
It all began with me entering the deadly fog of specters where ghosts (whose constant "shashalala" sounds are kinda funny, albeit not as funny as the game's classic phrases "People! The mutant's pursuing me!", "Plough the lilies!", "Wanna dance, white teddy?" or "Odrin!" have been) possessed Geralt and made me play as them as they reconstructed the famous scenes from an earlier battle. I was impressed by how the symbols of hatred, courage, death and faith (subquests which I completed earlier as I searched for those famous symbols with which I could end the curse of the specters) were interweaved into this battle and how I got to relive those events and take part in them by deciding the fates of the armies and their heroes.
This eventually led me to confront one of the hammiest villains (and voices) I've heard in a long while in either movies or video games, and I don't mean this as an insult because that villain was awesome. Let me introduce you to the Draug, the Prince of the Damned:
The Draug's limited screentime doesn't detract from his sheer awesomeoness. Gotta love DAT VOICE and the character design.
Sadly the boss battle against the Draug has apparently been nerfed from the alpha build. From what I could see in earlier promotional vids, the battlefield was a lot bigger and more open, and the Draug used more devastating attacks. I wonder if the devs thought it was too challenging so they toned it down a little.
Despite this "flaw" the released game's Draug battle is still fairly challenging even on normal difficulty. I kept my word on not using the overpowered quen sign so I just resorted to dodge rolling, using riposte and the aard sign as well as the occasional yrden sign. I liked the way the Draug summoned trebuchets and arrows to fire at you so you had to be careful how far to move from him. I was impressed by his creepy whirlwind attack where he disassembles his body in order to move all over hell's acres. Too bad there wasn't more buildup and scenes with the Draug because he was definitely one of the more memorable monsters and boss battles in the game.
The Draug battle's aftermath finally dispersed the creepy fog which had prevented King Henselt's army from invading the dwarven city of Vergen where defenders led by Saskia the Virgin were preparing the city for the upcoming onslaught. I was busy with another quest, however, as I could finally track down the shady people who were conspiring against the king. It turned out that Roche himself was the leader of the plotters, which didn't really surprise me for some reason (although it did surprise me that he had managed to keep the whole thing hidden for so long despite his fiery temper).
This, however, had unfortunate consequences as I later learned. Henselt and his delightfully funny and creepy mage advisor Dethmold had found out that Roche was behind the conspiracy, and made their move while I was away. When Roche and I got back to the camp, we were ambushed by a lot of Hensel't soldiers whom we defeated after a hectic battle. Once we reached the canteen, we found that all of Roche's men had been hanged. Only Ves, his second-in-command had been spared but from her story we could figure out that the king had raped her before leading the rest of the army to besiege Vergen. This whole grisly stuff obviously made Roche go ballistic and he swore to kill the king.
What surprised me, however, was that Geralt said later on as we left the camp that Ves was lying. I interpreted it as Ves not being forcibly raped but that she had willingly slept with the king in order to spare Roche's men, but this plan hadn't worked out. I don't know if this was the devs' intention, but there had to be a reason why Geralt specifically mentioned something about a lie.
Anyway, Roche and Geralt ended up right in the middle of the siege of Vergen. Sadly we only got to see glimpses of it, and I assume that the siege portion will be more epic during Iorveth's path. After some hectic battles and a particularly brutal fight against a surprisingly tough golem, I nearly got to a certain sorceress who had doublecrossed me earlier, but she managed to slip away just before I was about to reach her. To make matters worse, King Henselt himself arrived in the scene, and I ended up dueling him and his bodyguards in this act's final "boss" battle. Obviously I beat the snot out of him to vent out my frustration for him slaughtering my comrades who I'd grown to like (even though that bunch were also pillaging and murdering rapists, but hey, that's life in the grey Witcher world!).
Henselt was now at my mercy, and Roche showed up, willing to kill him for all the suffering the Kaedwenis had caused. This gave me a lovely yet difficult scene where I got to decide whether I'd let Roche kill Henselt or spare Henselt. What was my decision, you might ask?
Here's the answer.
Needless to say, this was a difficult choice. On the one hand I was angry at Henselt who, despite being a king with some noble ideas and codes, had slaughtered Geralt's friends and (presumably) raped Ves, a likable female character. However, the fact was that if Roche killed Henselt, he'd only aid the kingslayers' agenda as well as finally jump off that slippery slope of heroism and villainy where he had always been standing. I figured that the scene would haunt Roche, and Kaedwen did need a king in the meetings in Loc Muinne so that the Northern kingdoms could unite and fully face the threat of the advancing Nilfgaard Empire.
So, I put the fates of the nation over the revenge of two men. Henselt may be a dick, but he's a king in uncertain times, and I just couldn't let Nilfgaard dominate the meeting where the fate of the known world would be decided. You can say it was quite gratifying to watch a following scene where Geralt explained that Roche (who had chosen to spare Henselt in my playthrough) had chosen the tougher yet more rewarding option because instead of easily taking revenge he had conquered a far worthy foe: himself. There was poetic truth to that, and perhaps in the end Roche will learn to appreciate the fact that he chose to not descend into villainy.
Will this decision come back to bite me (and Geralt) in the butt, though, as so many other choices I've made have done so far? Act 3 is about to begin in the game, so I'll find out soon, but I'm sure it'll have repercussions. And I'm certain Henselt won't be happy seeing me in Loc Muinne during the meeting. I love choices like this because they force you to evaluate not only Geralt's morality but also the consequences on the world at large and the characters themselves. In general I prefer playing the heroic type even though in this game it isn't always the best path. I look forward to seeing the kingslayer plot (and their multiple associates) finally revealing their true colours, although I already have an idea how the endgame might play out. We'll see.
My apologies for such rambling, but the events in the game have shaken me emotionally so I can't quite write coherently at the moment. Let's just say that since the shocking twist in Kohan 1 (your beloved wife turned out to be the one who killed you, which was one of the biggest player punches I've ever experienced in games I've played!) it's been a while I've felt this way about a game's characters and its world. The Witcher 2 has definitely pulled the right strings by drawing you into its complex and well woven narrative of political intrigue and personal stakes. It'll be interesting to see how it'll all turn out in the end.
I kind of wanted to write a few movie reviews as well, but that'll have to wait for another time because the events of the Witcher 2 are still weighing on my mind. So instead I'll briefly discuss a lovely scene from Alpha and Omega: the Love Train!
I'm a hopeless romantic, so that scene was particularly powerful for me. It might not look that special when viewed by itself, but if you watch the whole film, the interweaving scenes of the two couples become all the more relevant and touching. Shivers go down my spine every time at 1:13 when Kate joins in on the howling. Chris Bacon's music is such a perfect fit for the scene, and the score's love theme blossoms in it to perhaps its greatest height. Every average movie has scenes of greatness, and Alpha and Omega is no exception to this rule. ^_^
Yours,
Mikko