I knew it wasn't, but the voice actor was spot on to make it very easy to miss. Though the real life references give it away instantly near the end. I honestly can't say which all in the middle is in the game and not it's that spot on.
It was great way back when at release, cause you had an actual motivation to get that silver sword back. The enhanced edition etc. took that away completely :(
@@bludtinge I should point out Mercey's mod, which fixes a lot of little mistakes like that. You properly lose your sword at the dragon, and the import/pre-order armor is stuff that you find in Act 1 so it doesn't interfere with those Prologue cutscenes.
Reminds me Fallout NV DLCs that adds various items at the beginning, like goddamn grenade launcher and metal armor when you should run in Vault suit and hold 9/10 mm pistol. In a post-apo game that throws balance out of the window...
@@SpecShadow Correct me if i am wrong, but our character in Fallout NV is not a 'vault dweller', so he should not run in vault suit. With that said, i agree, DLCs adding powerful items ruins the progression.
This is my first video from this channel and instantly subscribed when I got to that part. I legitimately cackled LMFAO, and the “Iorveth - regular son of a whore” was the cherry on top.
@@asteelfoldingchair3093 Most Elves are. And not because how humans treat them, in Sapkowski's works they tend to look down on other sentient races.. In case they don't genocide them outright or turn them into slaves.
If you got the Aerondight sword in Witcher 1 and transfer your save, the part where Geralt sticks the sword into the dragon's mouth is when you actually lose it and Geralt is supposed to just have a normal silver sword after. It's cheekily mentioned in Witcher 3 if you get that sword again.
@@arx3516 well, yeah. Could you imagine if you actually lost that sword after all the work you put into getting it in 1, the. Transferring it over to 2? It would have been immersive, but damn would it have been a kick in the shins.
@@charlieflight6124 it's already a kick in the shins since Aerondight is total crap in W2, as it's a starting level silver sword, and you are FORCED to replace it if you don't want to suffer. Having Geralt lose it after the prologue would have been the best choice, far better than having him discard it like junk to get a better sword. They could have solved any balance issue by having Aerondight level up along Geralt. And the same applies to Raven's armor.
That’s probably the best editing I’ve ever seen. Getting the Voice actor of that elf to make various of slide remarks towards him was absolutely hilarious. Like Anonymous dragon age 2 defender on /v/ got me there.😹
That was actually the incredibly talented Gianni Matragrano- ua-cam.com/users/GianniMatragrano Dude's incredible and I'll probably try to fit more stuff like this in my videos in the future
@@LoacVideo I actually did piss my pants! I mean, that's normal for me, though. Not like I'd actually get all the way up and walk all the way to the bathroom when a Salt vid is playing, psh.
It is amazing the Joseph Anderson's Witcher 2 video is actually longer than Salt's Witcher 1and 2 videos combined. It is sad the I have watched all of them multiple times.
One detail I really love is when retrieving the Dunn Banner and the ghost quizzes you on his brigades’ service at the Battle of Brenna; if you read the books it’s an incredibly easy quiz that rewards you for readership. I felt so smart when I caught his trick question and pointed out that Field Marshall Menno Coehoorn was in fact dead. I really appreciated that attention to detail from the developers.
Talking to people/reading stuff inside the game itself also gives you answers to that "quiz". So diligent non-readers can still have this feeling :) (myself included)
I just finished reading the books because I wanted to play the 4 witcher games having my book knowledge kinda fresh and when I played that part I felt the same way. Pretty easy quiz because the chapter that narrated the battle of Brenna was awesome and very memorable. Tbh I didnt like TW2 as much as I likes TW1, but I kinda feel like the books are very important on the second game since it is all about politics
Not gonna lie, laying seige to a castle is the best prologue to any game that I've played. And that bit of Roche's various titles was hilarious. Awesome work, Salt!
Everybody discussing humans and elves but can we just take a moment to appriciate the dwarves? Literally flawless. Sturdy, humorous , elite warriors, master craftsmen, noble - Yarpen, zoltan, sheldon skaggs, dennis cranmer, barclay els, addarion bach... You just can't hate these guys.
Witcher 2 was nice experience. Played it multiple times years ago. Still remember few iconic dialogues. Foltest giving his "speech" in siege tower, Vernons reaction to punching the nobleman in prologue, Zoltans lines before crossing the mist, Geralts and Lethos first conversation. (All of that in proper language, not sure how these were delivered in eng version)
Don't remember the Zoltan part much, but those were easily among the most memorable parts in the English version. I personally think Witcher 2 pales in comparison in every aspect to part 3, but the story and dialogue were indeed engaging
I'm pretty sure if I remember the books properly it was the elves who actually started the war, they also supposedly wiped out a lizardman race. So they aren't much better then humans they are just the losing side I guess
I haven’t read all the books, but from what I can tell, there is no real “good” sides in the whole universe. Almost everyone and everything are some sorts of scum.
It’s ability to cast everyone in morally grey areas is one of the great things from the series imo (though I’ve only played the games and watched the Netflix show). The idea that everyone is flawed, prone to corruption and even those who are abused don’t always take the moral high ground when they fight back is really interesting. Even the “good guys” are likely to have done questionable things, even for perhaps the right reasons.
@@Incoherent-excitement The books are so much better at this then the show, im rather disapointed with the show imo the second season isnt an adaption and more of its own show with the same names from the witcher universe
Letho probably didn't tell Geralt everything before Loc Muinne because of his proximity to kings and sorceresses, the people he is trying to currently trick. If Geralt told Triss, it could have blown Letho's cover very early.
Sorry, I’m sure this is a great video but i only watch Witcher videos that take me the better part of a day to watch and take multiple years to produce.
If Iorverth's speech to Roche does not deserve a like and a subscription, i sincerely don't know what does. God tier voice acting, editing and writing (as expect from you master of course)
Finally someone understood my gripes with the combat in this game! When I was younger, the game absolutely destroyed me and all my friends in later years had nothing but praise for it. Glad to see you’re covering it! Still a great story underneath it all.
I started a playthrough of TW2 six years ago, then gave up on that game because of how awful the combat was and also because I was doing my degree and simply had no time for gaming. I resumed the game about a week ago, the combat is still abysmal, I stuffed my points into the magic tree and usually just spam igni over and and over unless I stumble into a boss fight that forces me to completely change my playstyle.
These videos are kind of a cool reminder that many of us had games we all played around the same time as kids/teenagers. The Witcher, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fable; you’re literally going through my childhood lol
The quality of your editing and script writing gets better and better with each video. I even found myself watching the last several in one sitting dispite them being multiple hours long. I cant imagine its easy and I apreciate all your hard work. I look forward to your next project.
So the elves are a shit ton worse in the books. Cdpr played it down alot tho for some odd reason. But like humans the elves are conquerors and slavers but they did it to multiple different planets
Yeah, Elven ruins are pretty and all, but Loc Muinne is itself the ruins of an older civilization that the Elves destroyed, then built on top of. No one is really worse or better morally, as a species, the Elves are just the defeated party on the continent.
Then it is obvious why CDPR changed it. Much more Basis for morally difficult decisions when one faction is simply the underdog that was almost brought to extinction and you still having to decide to work against them, then when the elves would be just another murdering faction, which the Witcher franchise already has enough of.
@@rollingslothmachine3431 issue is dragon age did it better. Since the elves are so different from the slaver immortal elves. Witcher elves act like the slaver elves and have the wild hunt randomly happen. Sure the humans are pricks but the elves genocided the lizard race that ruled before hand and are still dickish to the gnomes and dwarves for no reason.
@@westrim while you're obviously right i think the downwashing of the sins of the species has a reason: Geralt is trying to paint the world black and white when it's a horrible of unspeakable gray. Everything in that world, EXCEPT the monsters, is evil. And it is hard for all the races to be pieces of shit, so they downplayed the whole shitiness of the elves... But you can still see it when siding with them, it's just that they needed a race to call "good"
Nice history lesson in the intro, especially since I lived through it and it made me feel nostalgic. Especially mentioning of voice actors from Baldur's Gate like Piotr Fronczewski, an absolute LEGEND in my country. Dude is an outstanding tv actor, theatre actor, voice actor and has the most recognizable voice here. And back in the day (early 2000s) CDProjekt was every gamer's friend here. They distributed many, many games (usually older classics) for absurdly low prices. We're talking 5$ - 8$ for a game. Thanks to them I was introduced to Battlezone 2, maybe even Freespace 2, Destruction Derby, Aztec, Worms, Colin Mcrae rally and many other my childhood classics. Too bad they flopped with Cyberpunk to the point where they lost respect of gamers after building it for decades.
CD Projekt Red are inexperienced amateurs and scammers.the Witcher 1 and 2 released broken and unfinished too. Just not so much as Cyberpunk. CDPR will go bankrupt soon because almost everyone refunded Cyberjunk
@@exysa2798 Witcher 1 was fine, it was a big project and the story was well crafted, combat and related mechanics were a bit wonky but I played it on the release day and it wasn't crashing or full of bugs honestly. As for the bankrupt thing- doubtful but I have no idea what happened recently- their stock values dropped immensely for some reason
I love Letho's character. I don't know why, but I just do. Probably because he's not what he seems initially, not just some bulky peace of meat murder machine on a killing spree. And I like that there's an option not to fight him. I just wish there was an option of sort of a friendly brawl, one last dance between the two witchers before saying their goodbyes and going on their separate ways, with Leto either complementing our fighting skills or saying that we still need to learn a lot, depending on who wins. I know that it probably sounds anime-ish, but I still believe it would've been a nice conclusion to the game.
He is directly responsible for bringing war over an entire continent just so he has the possibility of rebuilding his school. What a "great" character.
@@sobsag IDK why you're quoting a word the op didn't even write lmao. FYI a character can still be well-written and even cool even if they're the villain.
I know the games are RPGs so you can sort of change Geralt’s character depending on your play style, but in the books he is never depicted as being greedy. He wants to get paid when he kills a monster, but that’s about the extent of it. He’s completely broke more often than not, but we never see him exploit someone for money. It feels silly picking the “evil” options in these games, since Geralt is a fleshed out character with canonical motivations and values, and they often don’t mesh with the “evil” choices.
I appreciate the dialogue choices though. I like games that have established characters but still let's you shape them the way you want so it's perfect for me
@@bubalfred260 I agree, there are a lot of choices in the games that fit the overall theme of the books, which is that being neutral isn’t always right or even possible. When the game makes you make hard decisions that Geralt might make, and face the consequences, I like it. But choosing to extort peasants for gold not only feels weird as Geralt, it doesn’t impact the game in any meaningful way. And the game isn’t subtle about what choice Geralt would make, as it gives you more experience for picking the “good” option.
@@mr_bohan Yea but that a generell problem of the Witcher games as an adaptation of the books. To make an RPG you have to be able to make choices. And Geralt as Charakter would make his own choices, so sometimes as a player you probably make Geralt different from how he is in the books just by choosing. I mean in Withcer 3 for example he wouldnt care about any side Quest, or very few and just try to find Ciri. What makes the games a great adaptation is the amount of details in worldbuilding (history and maps), all non playable charakters and the generell atmosphere of the Witcher world that comes straight from the books. The sorceresses behave like the do in the books, the world and people can be terrible and dark, but there are always other that stay funny and nice. Like Zoltan in the 3ed book was funny and nice while a terrible war raged, like the dwarfs in Vergen. I started with Witcher 3, then read the books and the Charakters feeled almost the same. And when I played Wither 2 it was just full of book lore. I just love the world. And the games nailed it, especialy compared to the show.
@@janorlowski2761 I played Witcher 2 before I read the books and tbh the amount of lore, names and politics involved was overwhelming. Now that I read the books twice it would be much easier to digest
@@blurryperson2685 Joseph's Witcher 3 video is stuck in developmental hell. It'll be a miracle if he's actually able to release it, at least the way he intended.
Witcher 2 has some of the most bizarre design choices and difficulty spikes I've seen in an RPG, but it also has fantastic writing and was an incredibly ambitious title. You can tell that parts of it lacked budget, but it was still an enjoyable ride from start to finish, and having two distinct paths was a great idea that added more replayability. I would even argue that the writing is a lot stronger compared to Witcher 3, especially in the case of the characters.
I mostly prefer it over Witcher 3 because the length is just about right. Witcher 3 is too long. Yes much stuff is optional, but then I end up under leveled for the main missions, so it's not really optional.
This game's combat... Holy shit. The start of this game is honestly harder than Dark Souls. But the end? If you specc in potions and is able to go crazy using them before a fight you're actually invincible.
Just curious, what parts lacked budget? I played it after the witcher 3 and loved it. The only thing that pissed me off was accidentally finishing it. I didn't know the end was just about to happen and it sucked not being able to keep playing after investing so much time into it.
love Letho, he's by far my favorite character from all three games. And not jsut because he's big beefy and sexy, he's just a very interesting character and an interesting display of how different from Geralt another witcher can be, yet still share some similarities. He's like the Faith to Geralt's buffy.
That's very interesting. Mind elaborating on being like Faith? Because I have seen Buffy season 3 several times and I really don't see the connection. Letho isn't Geralt's "path not taken", he is just a different character with few similarities that mainly stem from witcher trade and mercenary life. Don't get me wrong I think Letho is cool, he is quite an interesting take on a witcher and one of the parts of this game that I think is mostly well written, but Faith and Buffy are lot more similar than Geralt and Letho.
@@troo_6656 He's a rival counterpart with the same strengths and skills. They share a detatched sense of kinship but fight against eachother and are both evenly matched to the point fights between them could really go either way.
@@juliankanzuki2013 So that's expertly superficial. All that's meaningful in Buffy-Faith is entirely different. Faith is Slayer, true, but unlike Buffy she has no friends, she's controlling, unwilling to take responsibility and incapable and unwilling to show restraint in almost all parts of her life all because of the choices she made and didn't make. So to speak her relationship to Buffy is about how different they are despite the superficial similarity. That's why it's called a shadow self. Letho-Geralt is defined by uncertainty and comradery. Letho doesn't have many similar characteristics to Geralt and when he does it's things like 'they are both pragmatic' or 'they both fight well' or 'they have friends despite the pragmatism'. Simply put Letho isn't a reflection for Geralt to think on where his path could have lead if just a few things went differently the way Faith is to Buffy. They are just 2 guys of the trade who were comrades in arms at one point but one has amnesia and the other is killing kings for hire.
I have been obsessed with the Witcher since January as I've been replaying the Witcher 3, and finally reading the books. I was delighted to see this drop today
Read through all the books, watched the show, and played all the games after the first video. Was literally just thinking about when you were coming back to it!
@@zayah4838 I had a hard time with them. Never read a European book before (Slavic or Russian specifically) and the writing style was so weird to me. I did like them though
The Alchemy tree was basically useless. You had to go through this unneeded meditation mechanic for some reason. What’s worse is that timer for how long that potion lasts exists even during the cutscenes!
The thing about the alchemy tree was that it sucked until you maxed out the very last skill, after which it became OP as hell. But doing that would mean that you'd hobble yourself throughout most of the playthrough by having to spend your points on the useless stuff in the early alchemy tree rather than the actually useful stuff in magic and swordsmanship.
@@Muninnnr Yeah, endgame Alchemy makes Geralt a walking battle tank, but before that you have to gimp yourself early on by ignoring incredibly powerful core tools in other skill trees, while your own selection of alchemy items is sub-par. Alchemy's power is also the least interesting of the bunch; magic and swordsmanship get flashy things, while Alchemy goes "NUMBERS = BIG"
@@rasmus90 didn’t know that. Although most people wouldn’t know since alchemy is already so frustrating to deal with. If it was like in the first game where you use Quen to defend yourself while you go through an animation of drinking a potion
Alchemy is actually OP. Even when the game launched it was common knowledge. If you can buff up, you're pratically invincible and the rest of the game is a breeze.
As someone who finally played through the Witcher 2 this week, I'm really glad you went down Roche's path in this video because I picked Iorveth and it's actually crazy to see how different the game would've been had I chosen the other path. I didn't expect it to branch so much there. I enjoyed it but not really inclined to play through it again so it was nice to see how things would've unfolded.
59:55 - as someone who read books... Elves definitely asked for this. Those fuckers deserved every bit of what happened to them. It sucks that dwarves and gnomes got some of that hatred towards them too, but i can't have any sympathy towards the elves. I mean, you can even see that in games, especially in second one in Loc Muinne. The aftermath of them slaughtering vrans and unleashing biological warfare on them. Humans persecuted them too, granted. However if we compare apples to apples, elves have no moral high ground over humans, unlike other races who genuienly wanted piece and got attacked first by elves and then by humans.
Hey salt just wanted to say, your videos always help me get through a long day of work, just listening to the audio is enough, keep going and I'm looking forward to your Witcher 3 video
I always get super excited when Salt uploads a new video. It may be a long wait in between videos but it’s always well worth it, please never stop making these!
I watched a TW2 recap right before TW3 launched and the guy had a long detailed description of Iorveth’s side and how exciting it was. He referred to Roche’s side as a “spooky ghost story” and then moved on lmao. I’ve only played it once and went with Roche.
@@Outerwebs that's they way they pronounce it in polish version. I found out that a lot of the pronounciations differ in polish vs english version of games, and that continued on to the series as well.
The handle of the sword on Geralt's back at 16:40 makes it look like Geralt has a crowbar on his back, which honestly seems like a far more terrifying thought as I think about it 😅
I love this channel. I’ve been having some trouble keeping my depression under control lately. I just want to say thank you. Things like this give me at least a little bit of time to ignore everything and have a moment of nostalgia. I hope your channel blows up and you can keep doing this for the long term!
@@stevenparker9911 depression is a bit like tunnel vision: there are good things just outside of view, but you can only see the bad right now. Don’t forget and take care!
As someone who hasn't played a lot of these games, but finds just as much enjoyment about watching a full playthrough by someone else, these videos have been great for me. Thank you.
Man seeing how many issues (both in continuity and otherwise) pop up between the 3 games in this series, especially when you import your saves between games, really just makes me appreciate how damn well the Mass Effect trilogy handled its continuity and save importing by comparison.
Yeah, Mass Effect is a GIANT at this departament. As much as I love the Witcher games, it's really frustrating how many inconsistencies there are throughout the trilogy. The biggest one I think is the fact that siding with Iorveth in Witcher 2 is just pointless because he doesn't appear in W3 and most of the choices you make during his path do not transfer to W3. It's more or less the same with Roche but at least you can meet Roche in W3, unlike Iorveth who was just thrown into the rubbish bin. Overally most choices you make in W2, have no real value and consequences in W3.
Been waiting for my salt factory fix, I watch all these videos before bed and I gotta say they keep getting better. This is one of my top 3 favorite channels on UA-cam.
You know I thought I had missed some stuff when Iorveth was listing all that stuff about Roche, then he said 'captain of temeria's dodgeball team' that was hilarious!
While 2 might be my least favorite title in the series, it's still the most "interesting" and I do love it, I'm really happy about all 3 games being pretty different in style, I could easily play all 3 in order without feeling too burned out and ... damn, does it build an amazing world and atmosphere, it might be my favorite world and cast of characters of any franchise, you just feel like you're part of it after spending 300+ hours with geralt and friends. All 3 games are amazing, but them all in combination is what makes them a masterpiece IMO
Apparently Iorveth’s quest line that manowar here mentioned was deemed as not a good fit for the atmosphere of the game. It’s a great shame, I personally think Iorveth is one of the best characters in all 3 of the games, and now we’ll probably never see him again as by the time the new trilogy starts coming out, it will have been over a decade since his appearance:(
The witcher 2 is my favorite of the series. Even if it's the shortest. It's focused and tells a very nice story. And really needs to be played twice or at least the second act needs to be seen from both sides.
Can’t really say I “loved” it, but I surely found it manageable and I was growing more and more bored to listen to the guy bitching so hyperbolically about it.
I didn't mind it ether, although I chose to ignore alchemy in Witcher 2 altogether, because it was to bothersome. If you got the timing right, single enemies were much easier then to fight groups. I don't remember Letho being much of a challenge ether, at least not the way Salt makes it sound in this video.
@@rollingslothmachine3431 I played this game a few years ago for the first time. I did really use alchemy, and did not upgrade my weapons/buy new ones. I also think I did not really unlock the best skills. Letho was really damn hard to beat. The kayran, too, was incredibly difficult for me, it took around 25 tries before I killed it. Now, I tried the game again, and this time I found a sword at a blacksmith that did more than double the damage. In chapter 3 I still not have found a better sword. I also used potions before battle. I beat both Letho and the kayran on the first try.
@@thebansheesheriff9029 Yeah, it is entirely possible, that I found that exact sword or at least a similar one and that's why I had less problems with both the Letho and the Keyran.
On my way do I picked the helix fossil. I knows if I didn’t tell you you’d all ask, actually now that I think about it everyone ask anyone. Comments are good for the UA-cam algorithm
My memory of this was seeing an Xbox game for $20 with all sorts of extra stuff packed in and thought “why not?” Then years later I got the books and played through the first and most of this game. Sadly never finished it or 3
I discovered your videos while playing the 1st game (I also started reading the books) and now I am currently at Blood and Wine DLC. I am so happy you will cover the whole franchise, it has been such an amazing and unique experience watching these videos especially since it was quite the trip for me playing the first one in 2021.
"Time to go to bed on time for once and start tomorrow off rig-" *DING* Salt factory has uploaded a new video and it's on the Witcher .... Gonna be a rough morning tomorrow
I love watching your reviews, they’re high quality, always helps me make my decision if I want to spend time playing a game or not if I was on the fence.
@@nickblack2006 I mean, you'd have to say the same about humans if that's your standard. There's negative racial biases on both sides, and just about everyone is worse off because of it. Inherently, elves and humans aren't that different, but they've ended up on opposite sides of a historical conflict. Humans in the Witcher world would act in very similar ways if a new group came and conquered them.
@@nickblack2006 Is that so? All elves? Sentiments like that are exactly what the Witcher series tries to put a finger on. Stop generalizing a whole group of people or in this case, species.
@@matthiasthulman4058 The humans are currently doing a genocide. Part of the point is that the horrible actions of either group isn't because of anything genetic in either race (dwarves in the setting who know their history will be quick to tell you that humans are doing exactly what the elves did when they arrived, if I'm remembering correctly) but a problem of how powerful groups can use racial differences to justify doing anything to others for their own benefit. The elven empires were definitely bad guys, but it's the empire-ness not the elf-ness. The evil is in what they shared in common with humanity, not in their differences.
I just played on Easy. Basically heard everything is tedious on higher difficulties. I enjoyed the story. The ending is pretty sick. Iorveth edit there was ploughing hilarious.
i am SO looking forward to this. i am one of the few people who enjoyed 2 more than 3 (CHILL: objectively, 3 is of course the better game und i loved it, just for me personally 2 offered so much immersion and a feeling ive rarely experienced in gaming- also, the cinematic trailer/intro is just so freaking awesome)
I was listening to this while working, so I wasn't paying 100% attention. It got a chuckle out of me when I misheard that "Roach was the one who started the conspiracy under Foltest's orders." Damn horse!
To be honest, that stuff you added to Iorveth's diologue is actually pretty close to the witcher book dialogue. I can very easily see someone calling Geralt a simp
The Blasphemer armour set and all subsequent sets for the hardest difficulty made it really easy although that fucking screen goop when you draw the swords killed me
19:32 There is an error in the programming for Radovid's speech check. The persuasion level required to succeed was set to "-1" instead of "1", which is why that particular check fails every time. There is a mod that fixes that though.
Loved thos video. A lot more humour than your regular videos. I loved this game. I played through it 4 times at launch and once before the witcher 3 came out. It does have issues, and I love how you tackled and mixed your love for the game while also tackling its issues. Nicely done.
TW2 may have been my favorite gaming experience ever, definitely top 3. The first time I played I couldn’t get into it. I got lost a lot, confused, and frustrated. I quit about a quarter of the way through. The second time I played through I forced myself to get immersed. I paid close attention to all the lore, forced myself to learn the map locations, and was smoking weed throughout which sucked me way more in. I love the Witcher universe and it’s now my favorite universe in all fiction.
i hope you know every little addition of editing and time you spent even the little ones were so worth it. thanks for making this it was a blast and funny
I only remember 2 things from this game when I played long ago. One was romancing Ves, that was a neat tattoo she had, and the other was losing so much to letho in the very first fight against him I quit and never played again
I don't get this complaint, when I played it I beat him in either the first or second try (it's been awhile), it wasn't super easy but it never even occurred to me that people were having so many issues with him. Was it an issue with PC or PS only? It's not like Im some pro gamer so I don't think thats what happened.
Man I cannot wait for your video on Witcher 3. I find it kind of funny we both shared the same intro to Witcher 2. Witcher 3 was coming out and I remember arbitrarily deciding I needed to be totally immersed in the story before Witcher 3 came out. So I spent ~2 days watching videos on Witcher 1's story, playing Witcher 2, and the finally sinking into Witcher 3. Granted I gave myself a decent amount of time so I was able to savor all the side content the first time around, not really having to rush per-say, just had to make sure I'd finished the game within a month. Easily doable.
Honestly had a lot of fun with the combat in this game, it might be my favorite in the series. I loved how it kinda forced you to use all your witcher tools in order to succeed, or at least in the earlier levels when you are not adept at a particular witcher skill to solely rely on it.
Amazing, loved your analysis. I originally chose to kill Letho, despite their past and his answers I considered the fact Letho used Geralt, pinning the slaying of Kings on him DESPITE the fact Geralt saved his life prior. Then when forced to confront he very callously considers them 'even' when they're far from it. Geralt did come to see Foltest as a good and true King and even a 'friend', in TW3 this is reflected on more with Roche.
@@zayah4838 The war with Nilfgaard, yes. The war in the north, not so likely with Foltest on the throne. He was a well respected king, even from his adversaries. Maybe the sorcerers would have killed him anyway, but that also isn't very likely, as they had no problem with all kings of the north and as far as I know, Foltest was one they tolerated.
@@rollingslothmachine3431 Yeah I get what you mean but I still think it would have happened regardless. Considering the sheer amount of expanding Nilfgaard has done them stopping just cause Foltest was still alive does not seem likely to me. If it wasn't Letho it would have been someone else. He was just a pawn at the end of the day.
Damn bro. I just found your channel like...a week ago and I watched EVERYTHING. Your videos are so well put together. Like at first I was not sure how I was gonna sit thru an hour of someone talking about a game (sometimes two hours). But you waste no time and have no fluff, it's so good. Can't wait for more. Maybe some more isometrics? Either way, you're killer.
Interesting. I wasn't aware of how Radovid was in the first part. It's actually interesting how he changed over the games. Getting more and more paranoid and unreasonable.
The details, settings, characters, and plot were great. The combat was clunky and frustrating, and the exploration felt like it was designed to waste your time. I feel like my favorite parts of this game were generally in flotsam and the war camp just taking in the atmosphere.
i feel like you would really enjoy Divinity 2. It has a fantastic world and a lot of great writing, but also a lot to complain about. Perfect for a 2 hour video essay. :)
Uh oh. I look forward to watching this, i love your content. But this is one step closer to witcher 3. I need you, noah caldwell, and joseph anderson to all give your opinions and thoughts on it lol
Really enjoy these videos you're making! It's all the joy of replaying an old game I liked that I'd never have time for normally, and gives a good perspective on "was the game actually good or was that just who I was back then". Person taste preference, I enjoyed having to plan and anticipate encounters by potion prepping. Like that part immersed me in the monster hunting side of researching and prepping for the battle, but game mechanics I can see how it's annoying. But that comes down to a taste thing and none of us are going to be the same!
It took me waaaay to long to realise that Iorvith's description of Roach wasn't the actual game dialogue.
Literally same
I knew it wasn't, but the voice actor was spot on to make it very easy to miss. Though the real life references give it away instantly near the end. I honestly can't say which all in the middle is in the game and not it's that spot on.
Samee
@@ShadowAvatar I love how after all the descriptive and unique insults it ends off with just "... Racist"
Perfection.
The "high level World of Tanks pvp enjoyer" woke me.
Iorveth roasting Roach in increasingly more bizarre ways is the most I've laughed in a good long while.
Roche.
What's his beef with Geralt's horse?
My dumbass thought it was real until the world of tanks part😂
Is it Gianni?
This @@Dark_knightNL
finally a game based on my favorite fictional fantasy world, poland
Heh that made me chuckle. You earned a like my friend
Poland is real. And if you hang around outside the bars late at night, you’ll be confronted by most of these monsters.
u got me and made me laugh out loud, good one
Land of the blooming onion
I wish it was not real :(
Masterclass editing for Iorveth's introduction. You got me in the first third and I was rolling with laughter for the rest.
you are actually meant to lose your silver sword at the beginning, but you had 2 in your inventory due to the imported witcher 1 save.
It was great way back when at release, cause you had an actual motivation to get that silver sword back.
The enhanced edition etc. took that away completely :(
@@bludtinge I should point out Mercey's mod, which fixes a lot of little mistakes like that. You properly lose your sword at the dragon, and the import/pre-order armor is stuff that you find in Act 1 so it doesn't interfere with those Prologue cutscenes.
Reminds me Fallout NV DLCs that adds various items at the beginning, like goddamn grenade launcher and metal armor when you should run in Vault suit and hold 9/10 mm pistol.
In a post-apo game that throws balance out of the window...
@@SpecShadow Correct me if i am wrong, but our character in Fallout NV is not a 'vault dweller', so he should not run in vault suit. With that said, i agree, DLCs adding powerful items ruins the progression.
@@fartloudYT Correct but doc mitchell gives you a vault suit at the start
I lost it at the plastic recorder bit at 26:33 but i was not prepared for Iorveth to call Roche a cuddle monster lmao
This is my first video from this channel and instantly subscribed when I got to that part.
I legitimately cackled LMFAO, and the “Iorveth - regular son of a whore” was the cherry on top.
THE Cuddle Monster sir. Respect the title lol
I didnt know Roche was a racist too
don't forget 29:14
@@asteelfoldingchair3093 Most Elves are. And not because how humans treat them, in Sapkowski's works they tend to look down on other sentient races.. In case they don't genocide them outright or turn them into slaves.
If you got the Aerondight sword in Witcher 1 and transfer your save, the part where Geralt sticks the sword into the dragon's mouth is when you actually lose it and Geralt is supposed to just have a normal silver sword after. It's cheekily mentioned in Witcher 3 if you get that sword again.
Except that after the prologue Aerondight is still in your inventory.
@@arx3516 well, yeah. Could you imagine if you actually lost that sword after all the work you put into getting it in 1, the. Transferring it over to 2?
It would have been immersive, but damn would it have been a kick in the shins.
@@charlieflight6124 it's already a kick in the shins since Aerondight is total crap in W2, as it's a starting level silver sword, and you are FORCED to replace it if you don't want to suffer. Having Geralt lose it after the prologue would have been the best choice, far better than having him discard it like junk to get a better sword. They could have solved any balance issue by having Aerondight level up along Geralt. And the same applies to Raven's armor.
@@charlieflight6124 they should have made it stronger and lock it behind a certain mission for you to be able to get it back again.
@@charlieflight6124 .assassins creed brotherhood literally stripped you naked and took away the ultimate gear and most upgrades from 2.
26:33 That Iorveth speech was truly a work of art.
That’s probably the best editing I’ve ever seen. Getting the Voice actor of that elf to make various of slide remarks towards him was absolutely hilarious. Like Anonymous dragon age 2 defender on /v/ got me there.😹
That was actually the incredibly talented Gianni Matragrano- ua-cam.com/users/GianniMatragrano Dude's incredible and I'll probably try to fit more stuff like this in my videos in the future
@@LoacVideo I actually did piss my pants! I mean, that's normal for me, though. Not like I'd actually get all the way up and walk all the way to the bathroom when a Salt vid is playing, psh.
I was listening to that thinking, "Ummm... was that on a harder difficulty level?"
it got me good, it just kept going
@@TheSaltFactory big pp man
My favorite part was when Hagrid busts in and says "You're a Witcher, harry." Fucking legend.
And now we await the 12 hour long Witcher 3 video, Salt and Joseph Anderson can compete for who had the most Witcher content
It is amazing the Joseph Anderson's Witcher 2 video is actually longer than Salt's Witcher 1and 2 videos combined. It is sad the I have watched all of them multiple times.
I think @xLetalis has them both beat
Best videos to fall asleep
@@bolokowsky ikr- I thought I was the only one listening them to sleep
With J.Anderson's rate Salt will probably beat him to it
One detail I really love is when retrieving the Dunn Banner and the ghost quizzes you on his brigades’ service at the Battle of Brenna; if you read the books it’s an incredibly easy quiz that rewards you for readership. I felt so smart when I caught his trick question and pointed out that Field Marshall Menno Coehoorn was in fact dead. I really appreciated that attention to detail from the developers.
Talking to people/reading stuff inside the game itself also gives you answers to that "quiz". So diligent non-readers can still have this feeling :) (myself included)
You can get that info from NPCs too
I just finished reading the books because I wanted to play the 4 witcher games having my book knowledge kinda fresh and when I played that part I felt the same way. Pretty easy quiz because the chapter that narrated the battle of Brenna was awesome and very memorable.
Tbh I didnt like TW2 as much as I likes TW1, but I kinda feel like the books are very important on the second game since it is all about politics
The most memorial quest for me, out of many games!
@@toomuchradiation994 witcher games?
"President Obama gifted The Witcher 2 from Polish Prime Minister" is not a sentence I expected to encounter today.
Speaking of which, The Pope was given a copy of Undertale too. On top of that, he actually had the song Megalovania played live for him too.
@@utisti4976 you forgot to mention he was also smiling the entire time listening to megalovania
Sadly, it was the worst gift that he received according to media
@@histhoryk2648 They should've give him the Playboy issue with naked Triss.
What's more, Obama was later gifted The Witcher 3 too 😂
Never apologize for the length of your videos! Always a pleasure
Never apologise for the length of your wang either
Tis true 👍
Then: Thank you for watching
Now: I'm sorry for ...
I've been waiting for this since the first one! Nothing hits me harder than Salt's dry humor and a 2 hour+ video
Praying he does a dark souls video at some point
That exact description is why I watch him at work. He’s so entertaining and keeps me on my toes
@@bbk4497 imagine his takes on the best DS (DS2)
Not gonna lie, laying seige to a castle is the best prologue to any game that I've played.
And that bit of Roche's various titles was hilarious. Awesome work, Salt!
I wish a dung eater one got in there though.
Everybody discussing humans and elves but can we just take a moment to appriciate the dwarves? Literally flawless. Sturdy, humorous , elite warriors, master craftsmen, noble - Yarpen, zoltan, sheldon skaggs, dennis cranmer, barclay els, addarion bach... You just can't hate these guys.
"Can I have ye, Chivay? Can I ploughing have ye!? Why, I'll make you a fucking commander, ye c**k sucker!"
No I can. cuz I hate fucking drunkards. literally only reason why I didn't kill Henselt was because he promised to rid the world of them.
Witcher 2 was nice experience. Played it multiple times years ago. Still remember few iconic dialogues. Foltest giving his "speech" in siege tower, Vernons reaction to punching the nobleman in prologue, Zoltans lines before crossing the mist, Geralts and Lethos first conversation. (All of that in proper language, not sure how these were delivered in eng version)
Don't remember the Zoltan part much, but those were easily among the most memorable parts in the English version. I personally think Witcher 2 pales in comparison in every aspect to part 3, but the story and dialogue were indeed engaging
Was looking forward to this one. Can't wait for the DA 2 video, too.
Played through both origins and 2 just to watch him post a video on them, can’t wait
I'm pretty sure if I remember the books properly it was the elves who actually started the war, they also supposedly wiped out a lizardman race. So they aren't much better then humans they are just the losing side I guess
I haven’t read all the books, but from what I can tell, there is no real “good” sides in the whole universe. Almost everyone and everything are some sorts of scum.
@@adaptorperish1322 yeah thats the whole point of the books I guess everyone are pieces of shit. Geralt does try tho
It’s ability to cast everyone in morally grey areas is one of the great things from the series imo (though I’ve only played the games and watched the Netflix show). The idea that everyone is flawed, prone to corruption and even those who are abused don’t always take the moral high ground when they fight back is really interesting. Even the “good guys” are likely to have done questionable things, even for perhaps the right reasons.
@@Incoherent-excitement The books are so much better at this then the show, im rather disapointed with the show imo the second season isnt an adaption and more of its own show with the same names from the witcher universe
@@zayah4838 I can't know for sure as I've yet to read the books, but it feels like the show focuses more heavily on political intrigue.
That Iorveth intro was brilliant
Holy shit it took me a minute to realize the elf's lines were being done by someone else. Incredible, God I love your videos.
Letho probably didn't tell Geralt everything before Loc Muinne because of his proximity to kings and sorceresses, the people he is trying to currently trick. If Geralt told Triss, it could have blown Letho's cover very early.
That Iorveth bit is gold
Sorry, I’m sure this is a great video but i only watch Witcher videos that take me the better part of a day to watch and take multiple years to produce.
As Melitele intended.
Joseph Anderson?
If I'm gonna click on a video it better be at least 8 hours long, otherwise its a tedious waste of effort
@@TOGYS7 hey bruh I get what you saying but it’s good to get different perspectives too plus salt’s reactions to stuff is funny as shit
@@SwooshJush83 r/,whoosh
If Iorverth's speech to Roche does not deserve a like and a subscription, i sincerely don't know what does. God tier voice acting, editing and writing (as expect from you master of course)
45:53 - first time I learn that the woman "spared" by the soldiers was actually Loredo's mother. Fascinating!
Finally someone understood my gripes with the combat in this game! When I was younger, the game absolutely destroyed me and all my friends in later years had nothing but praise for it. Glad to see you’re covering it! Still a great story underneath it all.
Would definitely recommend installing some combat mods for witcher 2 the experience is way better because of it.
Yea, combat was for sure a bit janky. I still love this game, but I definitely tend to only really play on lower, more forgiving difficulties
I started a playthrough of TW2 six years ago, then gave up on that game because of how awful the combat was and also because I was doing my degree and simply had no time for gaming. I resumed the game about a week ago, the combat is still abysmal, I stuffed my points into the magic tree and usually just spam igni over and and over unless I stumble into a boss fight that forces me to completely change my playstyle.
These videos are kind of a cool reminder that many of us had games we all played around the same time as kids/teenagers. The Witcher, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Fable; you’re literally going through my childhood lol
The quality of your editing and script writing gets better and better with each video. I even found myself watching the last several in one sitting dispite them being multiple hours long. I cant imagine its easy and I apreciate all your hard work. I look forward to your next project.
So the elves are a shit ton worse in the books. Cdpr played it down alot tho for some odd reason. But like humans the elves are conquerors and slavers but they did it to multiple different planets
Yeah, Elven ruins are pretty and all, but Loc Muinne is itself the ruins of an older civilization that the Elves destroyed, then built on top of. No one is really worse or better morally, as a species, the Elves are just the defeated party on the continent.
Yeah that’s what the Wild Hunt is
Then it is obvious why CDPR changed it. Much more Basis for morally difficult decisions when one faction is simply the underdog that was almost brought to extinction and you still having to decide to work against them, then when the elves would be just another murdering faction, which the Witcher franchise already has enough of.
@@rollingslothmachine3431 issue is dragon age did it better. Since the elves are so different from the slaver immortal elves. Witcher elves act like the slaver elves and have the wild hunt randomly happen. Sure the humans are pricks but the elves genocided the lizard race that ruled before hand and are still dickish to the gnomes and dwarves for no reason.
@@westrim while you're obviously right i think the downwashing of the sins of the species has a reason: Geralt is trying to paint the world black and white when it's a horrible of unspeakable gray. Everything in that world, EXCEPT the monsters, is evil. And it is hard for all the races to be pieces of shit, so they downplayed the whole shitiness of the elves... But you can still see it when siding with them, it's just that they needed a race to call "good"
Nice history lesson in the intro, especially since I lived through it and it made me feel nostalgic. Especially mentioning of voice actors from Baldur's Gate like Piotr Fronczewski, an absolute LEGEND in my country. Dude is an outstanding tv actor, theatre actor, voice actor and has the most recognizable voice here. And back in the day (early 2000s) CDProjekt was every gamer's friend here. They distributed many, many games (usually older classics) for absurdly low prices. We're talking 5$ - 8$ for a game. Thanks to them I was introduced to Battlezone 2, maybe even Freespace 2, Destruction Derby, Aztec, Worms, Colin Mcrae rally and many other my childhood classics.
Too bad they flopped with Cyberpunk to the point where they lost respect of gamers after building it for decades.
CD Projekt Red are inexperienced amateurs and scammers.the Witcher 1 and 2 released broken and unfinished too. Just not so much as Cyberpunk.
CDPR will go bankrupt soon because almost everyone refunded Cyberjunk
@@exysa2798 Witcher 1 was fine, it was a big project and the story was well crafted, combat and related mechanics were a bit wonky but I played it on the release day and it wasn't crashing or full of bugs honestly.
As for the bankrupt thing- doubtful but I have no idea what happened recently- their stock values dropped immensely for some reason
I love Letho's character. I don't know why, but I just do. Probably because he's not what he seems initially, not just some bulky peace of meat murder machine on a killing spree. And I like that there's an option not to fight him. I just wish there was an option of sort of a friendly brawl, one last dance between the two witchers before saying their goodbyes and going on their separate ways, with Leto either complementing our fighting skills or saying that we still need to learn a lot, depending on who wins. I know that it probably sounds anime-ish, but I still believe it would've been a nice conclusion to the game.
He is directly responsible for bringing war over an entire continent just so he has the possibility of rebuilding his school. What a "great" character.
@@sobsag IDK why you're quoting a word the op didn't even write lmao. FYI a character can still be well-written and even cool even if they're the villain.
@@rafalos-zx6go I don' think he is that well written either. His motivations are completely lackluster and undermine a lot of his traits.
@@sobsagWar would’ve happened regardless, Nilfguard was ambitious and so was Radovid
I know the games are RPGs so you can sort of change Geralt’s character depending on your play style, but in the books he is never depicted as being greedy. He wants to get paid when he kills a monster, but that’s about the extent of it. He’s completely broke more often than not, but we never see him exploit someone for money.
It feels silly picking the “evil” options in these games, since Geralt is a fleshed out character with canonical motivations and values, and they often don’t mesh with the “evil” choices.
I appreciate the dialogue choices though. I like games that have established characters but still let's you shape them the way you want so it's perfect for me
@@bubalfred260 I agree, there are a lot of choices in the games that fit the overall theme of the books, which is that being neutral isn’t always right or even possible. When the game makes you make hard decisions that Geralt might make, and face the consequences, I like it.
But choosing to extort peasants for gold not only feels weird as Geralt, it doesn’t impact the game in any meaningful way. And the game isn’t subtle about what choice Geralt would make, as it gives you more experience for picking the “good” option.
@@mr_bohan Yea but that a generell problem of the Witcher games as an adaptation of the books. To make an RPG you have to be able to make choices. And Geralt as Charakter would make his own choices, so sometimes as a player you probably make Geralt different from how he is in the books just by choosing. I mean in Withcer 3 for example he wouldnt care about any side Quest, or very few and just try to find Ciri.
What makes the games a great adaptation is the amount of details in worldbuilding (history and maps), all non playable charakters and the generell atmosphere of the Witcher world that comes straight from the books. The sorceresses behave like the do in the books, the world and people can be terrible and dark, but there are always other that stay funny and nice. Like Zoltan in the 3ed book was funny and nice while a terrible war raged, like the dwarfs in Vergen.
I started with Witcher 3, then read the books and the Charakters feeled almost the same. And when I played Wither 2 it was just full of book lore. I just love the world. And the games nailed it, especialy compared to the show.
Always preferred the "You deserved this" options. Geralt calling someone out on their stupidity was amusing.
@@janorlowski2761 I played Witcher 2 before I read the books and tbh the amount of lore, names and politics involved was overwhelming. Now that I read the books twice it would be much easier to digest
The fact that you are going to finish the Witcher series before Joseph Anderson releases his Witcher 3 video is quite something
Let's not get too crazy. It's going to take a long time to finish the Witcher 3 unless he just blazes through the main story
@@blurryperson2685 Joseph's Witcher 3 video is stuck in developmental hell. It'll be a miracle if he's actually able to release it, at least the way he intended.
@@Undivided-X 2 years already
Huh?
Witcher 2 has some of the most bizarre design choices and difficulty spikes I've seen in an RPG, but it also has fantastic writing and was an incredibly ambitious title. You can tell that parts of it lacked budget, but it was still an enjoyable ride from start to finish, and having two distinct paths was a great idea that added more replayability. I would even argue that the writing is a lot stronger compared to Witcher 3, especially in the case of the characters.
I mostly prefer it over Witcher 3 because the length is just about right. Witcher 3 is too long. Yes much stuff is optional, but then I end up under leveled for the main missions, so it's not really optional.
@@JimmyMon666 Indeed, W2 had much better pacing than W3.
I got so tired of the combat and just cheated...the story is very good tho
This game's combat... Holy shit. The start of this game is honestly harder than Dark Souls. But the end? If you specc in potions and is able to go crazy using them before a fight you're actually invincible.
Just curious, what parts lacked budget? I played it after the witcher 3 and loved it. The only thing that pissed me off was accidentally finishing it. I didn't know the end was just about to happen and it sucked not being able to keep playing after investing so much time into it.
love Letho, he's by far my favorite character from all three games. And not jsut because he's big beefy and sexy, he's just a very interesting character and an interesting display of how different from Geralt another witcher can be, yet still share some similarities. He's like the Faith to Geralt's buffy.
Word up, Letho imo is the best villain from any of the games
That's very interesting. Mind elaborating on being like Faith? Because I have seen Buffy season 3 several times and I really don't see the connection. Letho isn't Geralt's "path not taken", he is just a different character with few similarities that mainly stem from witcher trade and mercenary life. Don't get me wrong I think Letho is cool, he is quite an interesting take on a witcher and one of the parts of this game that I think is mostly well written, but Faith and Buffy are lot more similar than Geralt and Letho.
@@troo_6656 He's a rival counterpart with the same strengths and skills. They share a detatched sense of kinship but fight against eachother and are both evenly matched to the point fights between them could really go either way.
@@juliankanzuki2013 So that's expertly superficial. All that's meaningful in Buffy-Faith is entirely different. Faith is Slayer, true, but unlike Buffy she has no friends, she's controlling, unwilling to take responsibility and incapable and unwilling to show restraint in almost all parts of her life all because of the choices she made and didn't make. So to speak her relationship to Buffy is about how different they are despite the superficial similarity. That's why it's called a shadow self.
Letho-Geralt is defined by uncertainty and comradery. Letho doesn't have many similar characteristics to Geralt and when he does it's things like 'they are both pragmatic' or 'they both fight well' or 'they have friends despite the pragmatism'. Simply put Letho isn't a reflection for Geralt to think on where his path could have lead if just a few things went differently the way Faith is to Buffy. They are just 2 guys of the trade who were comrades in arms at one point but one has amnesia and the other is killing kings for hire.
I have been obsessed with the Witcher since January as I've been replaying the Witcher 3, and finally reading the books. I was delighted to see this drop today
Read through all the books, watched the show, and played all the games after the first video. Was literally just thinking about when you were coming back to it!
It’s hard to tell but I’m gonna guess you’re a little bit of a fan. ;)
The books are pretty amazing, I hated the second season tho
@@zayah4838 I had a hard time with them. Never read a European book before (Slavic or Russian specifically) and the writing style was so weird to me. I did like them though
@@JoshuaJacobs83 yeah i usually just read manga so was different for me to lol
Have you played thrownbreaker ?
The Alchemy tree was basically useless. You had to go through this unneeded meditation mechanic for some reason. What’s worse is that timer for how long that potion lasts exists even during the cutscenes!
Yeah, ridiculous. A Troll-mechanic. Or just made by (rather capable) idiots.
The thing about the alchemy tree was that it sucked until you maxed out the very last skill, after which it became OP as hell. But doing that would mean that you'd hobble yourself throughout most of the playthrough by having to spend your points on the useless stuff in the early alchemy tree rather than the actually useful stuff in magic and swordsmanship.
@@Muninnnr Yeah, endgame Alchemy makes Geralt a walking battle tank, but before that you have to gimp yourself early on by ignoring incredibly powerful core tools in other skill trees, while your own selection of alchemy items is sub-par. Alchemy's power is also the least interesting of the bunch; magic and swordsmanship get flashy things, while Alchemy goes "NUMBERS = BIG"
@@rasmus90 didn’t know that. Although most people wouldn’t know since alchemy is already so frustrating to deal with. If it was like in the first game where you use Quen to defend yourself while you go through an animation of drinking a potion
Alchemy is actually OP. Even when the game launched it was common knowledge. If you can buff up, you're pratically invincible and the rest of the game is a breeze.
As someone who finally played through the Witcher 2 this week, I'm really glad you went down Roche's path in this video because I picked Iorveth and it's actually crazy to see how different the game would've been had I chosen the other path. I didn't expect it to branch so much there. I enjoyed it but not really inclined to play through it again so it was nice to see how things would've unfolded.
59:55 - as someone who read books... Elves definitely asked for this. Those fuckers deserved every bit of what happened to them. It sucks that dwarves and gnomes got some of that hatred towards them too, but i can't have any sympathy towards the elves. I mean, you can even see that in games, especially in second one in Loc Muinne. The aftermath of them slaughtering vrans and unleashing biological warfare on them. Humans persecuted them too, granted. However if we compare apples to apples, elves have no moral high ground over humans, unlike other races who genuienly wanted piece and got attacked first by elves and then by humans.
Very true but I still love most elves :/
Hey salt just wanted to say, your videos always help me get through a long day of work, just listening to the audio is enough, keep going and I'm looking forward to your Witcher 3 video
I second this. I also fall asleep to repeat watches of these videos.
I always get super excited when Salt uploads a new video. It may be a long wait in between videos but it’s always well worth it, please never stop making these!
I watched a TW2 recap right before TW3 launched and the guy had a long detailed description of Iorveth’s side and how exciting it was. He referred to Roche’s side as a “spooky ghost story” and then moved on lmao.
I’ve only played it once and went with Roche.
Considering the name of Geralt's horse, Roche being pronounced 'Roach' - as opposed to how it is spelled - totally isn't confusing or annoying😅
is it like that in game? because as a french speaker that pisses me off 😂
How would you pronounce it based just on the spelling?
@@AnnaEmilka Ending with 'sh' and not the hard 'ch' they use in game, and with either a long or short 'o' sound.
@@Outerwebs that's they way they pronounce it in polish version. I found out that a lot of the pronounciations differ in polish vs english version of games, and that continued on to the series as well.
That’s how we pronounce it here in Ireland , Roche as roach I mean 🇮🇪
The handle of the sword on Geralt's back at 16:40 makes it look like Geralt has a crowbar on his back, which honestly seems like a far more terrifying thought as I think about it 😅
every time you hit someone the half life 1 crowbar sounds are played
Those extra voice lines for the elf were so good. I wish all the dialogue in Witcher was that funny
I love this channel. I’ve been having some trouble keeping my depression under control lately. I just want to say thank you. Things like this give me at least a little bit of time to ignore everything and have a moment of nostalgia. I hope your channel blows up and you can keep doing this for the long term!
Hope you're hanging in there. It gets better eventually. Take it one day at a time.
@@dirkevrard thank you. I appreciate that.
@@stevenparker9911 are… are you talking to your self? Either way lovely comment
@@stevenparker9911 depression is a bit like tunnel vision: there are good things just outside of view, but you can only see the bad right now. Don’t forget and take care!
As someone who hasn't played a lot of these games, but finds just as much enjoyment about watching a full playthrough by someone else, these videos have been great for me.
Thank you.
Man seeing how many issues (both in continuity and otherwise) pop up between the 3 games in this series, especially when you import your saves between games, really just makes me appreciate how damn well the Mass Effect trilogy handled its continuity and save importing by comparison.
SAME
Im play thru all the mass effect and its so much Better in that departament
Yeah, Mass Effect is a GIANT at this departament. As much as I love the Witcher games, it's really frustrating how many inconsistencies there are throughout the trilogy. The biggest one I think is the fact that siding with Iorveth in Witcher 2 is just pointless because he doesn't appear in W3 and most of the choices you make during his path do not transfer to W3. It's more or less the same with Roche but at least you can meet Roche in W3, unlike Iorveth who was just thrown into the rubbish bin. Overally most choices you make in W2, have no real value and consequences in W3.
@@MultiKamil97I think it makes sense considering Cd Projekt Red wasn't a big studio back then. There maybe was a lack of budget...
@@MultiKamil97 Iorveth was supposed to be included in Witcher 3 but it was cut due to deadlines, at least from what I remember.
Been waiting for my salt factory fix, I watch all these videos before bed and I gotta say they keep getting better. This is one of my top 3 favorite channels on UA-cam.
You know I thought I had missed some stuff when Iorveth was listing all that stuff about Roche, then he said 'captain of temeria's dodgeball team' that was hilarious!
While 2 might be my least favorite title in the series, it's still the most "interesting" and I do love it, I'm really happy about all 3 games being pretty different in style, I could easily play all 3 in order without feeling too burned out and ... damn, does it build an amazing world and atmosphere, it might be my favorite world and cast of characters of any franchise, you just feel like you're part of it after spending 300+ hours with geralt and friends. All 3 games are amazing, but them all in combination is what makes them a masterpiece IMO
Man witcher 2 has so many good characters that makes me sad cdpr didn’t brought Iorveth and Saskia back for witcher 3
Iorveth actually had a whole plague questline that would've involved him teaming up with Roche cut in development
Apparently Iorveth’s quest line that manowar here mentioned was deemed as not a good fit for the atmosphere of the game.
It’s a great shame, I personally think Iorveth is one of the best characters in all 3 of the games, and now we’ll probably never see him again as by the time the new trilogy starts coming out, it will have been over a decade since his appearance:(
It's a shame that they've wasted the opportunity to bring him back in the Next Gen version.
Weird how Senator Armstrong, Duke Nukem, The Postal Dude and Pocket Columbo is also the voice of Iorveth. Small world.
John Saint John?
The Iorveth bit is so good, would love to see that clipped. I wonder if the Witcher 3 video will come out before Joesph Anderson's
The witcher 2 is my favorite of the series. Even if it's the shortest. It's focused and tells a very nice story. And really needs to be played twice or at least the second act needs to be seen from both sides.
I guess my standards must be low from not having played too many games because I loved the combat in this game.
Can’t really say I “loved” it, but I surely found it manageable and I was growing more and more bored to listen to the guy bitching so hyperbolically about it.
I didn't mind it ether, although I chose to ignore alchemy in Witcher 2 altogether, because it was to bothersome. If you got the timing right, single enemies were much easier then to fight groups.
I don't remember Letho being much of a challenge ether, at least not the way Salt makes it sound in this video.
I agree. RPG fans have low standards to combat.
@@rollingslothmachine3431 I played this game a few years ago for the first time. I did really use alchemy, and did not upgrade my weapons/buy new ones. I also think I did not really unlock the best skills. Letho was really damn hard to beat. The kayran, too, was incredibly difficult for me, it took around 25 tries before I killed it. Now, I tried the game again, and this time I found a sword at a blacksmith that did more than double the damage. In chapter 3 I still not have found a better sword. I also used potions before battle. I beat both Letho and the kayran on the first try.
@@thebansheesheriff9029 Yeah, it is entirely possible, that I found that exact sword or at least a similar one and that's why I had less problems with both the Letho and the Keyran.
"Fair point, Dorito" I almost choked on my veggie straws and I blame you
On my way do I picked the helix fossil. I knows if I didn’t tell you you’d all ask, actually now that I think about it everyone ask anyone. Comments are good for the UA-cam algorithm
My memory of this was seeing an Xbox game for $20 with all sorts of extra stuff packed in and thought “why not?” Then years later I got the books and played through the first and most of this game. Sadly never finished it or 3
Lmao, the fact that out of all the titles given to Vernon, it was "Dragon Age II defender" that got a reaction from Triss.
2:15 to 2:45 is an absolute roller coaster of emotions. Talk about the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.
Absolutely
what animation is that clip from?
I discovered your videos while playing the 1st game (I also started reading the books) and now I am currently at Blood and Wine DLC. I am so happy you will cover the whole franchise, it has been such an amazing and unique experience watching these videos especially since it was quite the trip for me playing the first one in 2021.
"Time to go to bed on time for once and start tomorrow off rig-"
*DING* Salt factory has uploaded a new video and it's on the Witcher
.... Gonna be a rough morning tomorrow
I love watching your reviews, they’re high quality, always helps me make my decision if I want to spend time playing a game or not if I was on the fence.
Elves are the baddies no matter how many times you try to make them seem like the victims.
Yea he skips the part that Elves look down on all other races as 2nd class.
@@nickblack2006 I mean, you'd have to say the same about humans if that's your standard. There's negative racial biases on both sides, and just about everyone is worse off because of it. Inherently, elves and humans aren't that different, but they've ended up on opposite sides of a historical conflict. Humans in the Witcher world would act in very similar ways if a new group came and conquered them.
@@nickblack2006 Is that so? All elves? Sentiments like that are exactly what the Witcher series tries to put a finger on. Stop generalizing a whole group of people or in this case, species.
@@thegrandwombat8797 the elves enslaved multiple planets. they're the bad guys here
@@matthiasthulman4058 The humans are currently doing a genocide. Part of the point is that the horrible actions of either group isn't because of anything genetic in either race (dwarves in the setting who know their history will be quick to tell you that humans are doing exactly what the elves did when they arrived, if I'm remembering correctly) but a problem of how powerful groups can use racial differences to justify doing anything to others for their own benefit. The elven empires were definitely bad guys, but it's the empire-ness not the elf-ness. The evil is in what they shared in common with humanity, not in their differences.
I just played on Easy.
Basically heard everything is tedious on higher difficulties.
I enjoyed the story.
The ending is pretty sick.
Iorveth edit there was ploughing hilarious.
Babe wake up new salt factory just dropped
Ok, that intro around 26:45 was pure gold.
i am SO looking forward to this. i am one of the few people who enjoyed 2 more than 3 (CHILL: objectively, 3 is of course the better game und i loved it, just for me personally 2 offered so much immersion and a feeling ive rarely experienced in gaming- also, the cinematic trailer/intro is just so freaking awesome)
I was listening to this while working, so I wasn't paying 100% attention.
It got a chuckle out of me when I misheard that "Roach was the one who started the conspiracy under Foltest's orders."
Damn horse!
To be honest, that stuff you added to Iorveth's diologue is actually pretty close to the witcher book dialogue. I can very easily see someone calling Geralt a simp
For a moment I thought it was in game dialogue and then it got weird.
The Blasphemer armour set and all subsequent sets for the hardest difficulty made it really easy although that fucking screen goop when you draw the swords killed me
God, that Iorveth dialogue was absolutely brilliant lmao
19:32 There is an error in the programming for Radovid's speech check. The persuasion level required to succeed was set to "-1" instead of "1", which is why that particular check fails every time. There is a mod that fixes that though.
This game looks really well *polished* for its time
Loved thos video. A lot more humour than your regular videos.
I loved this game. I played through it 4 times at launch and once before the witcher 3 came out. It does have issues, and I love how you tackled and mixed your love for the game while also tackling its issues. Nicely done.
TW2 may have been my favorite gaming experience ever, definitely top 3.
The first time I played I couldn’t get into it. I got lost a lot, confused, and frustrated. I quit about a quarter of the way through.
The second time I played through I forced myself to get immersed. I paid close attention to all the lore, forced myself to learn the map locations, and was smoking weed throughout which sucked me way more in. I love the Witcher universe and it’s now my favorite universe in all fiction.
Smoke weed everyday!
I hope witcher 1 and 2 get a remake. Witcher 3 is still my fav game ever!!
i hope you know every little addition of editing and time you spent even the little ones were so worth it. thanks for making this it was a blast and funny
I only remember 2 things from this game when I played long ago. One was romancing Ves, that was a neat tattoo she had, and the other was losing so much to letho in the very first fight against him I quit and never played again
I don't get this complaint, when I played it I beat him in either the first or second try (it's been awhile), it wasn't super easy but it never even occurred to me that people were having so many issues with him. Was it an issue with PC or PS only?
It's not like Im some pro gamer so I don't think thats what happened.
Man I cannot wait for your video on Witcher 3. I find it kind of funny we both shared the same intro to Witcher 2. Witcher 3 was coming out and I remember arbitrarily deciding I needed to be totally immersed in the story before Witcher 3 came out. So I spent ~2 days watching videos on Witcher 1's story, playing Witcher 2, and the finally sinking into Witcher 3. Granted I gave myself a decent amount of time so I was able to savor all the side content the first time around, not really having to rush per-say, just had to make sure I'd finished the game within a month. Easily doable.
I love Witcher 2. I played it for the first time in 2019 and was pleasantly surprised. Didn't play Witcher 3 until last year.
I really love this channel. Thank you for releasing continually great videos.
You didn't save the Baroness in the dungeons? She's not going to like that in Witcher 3.
Honestly had a lot of fun with the combat in this game, it might be my favorite in the series. I loved how it kinda forced you to use all your witcher tools in order to succeed, or at least in the earlier levels when you are not adept at a particular witcher skill to solely rely on it.
That iorverth scene. kudos
Can’t wait for your Witcher 3 video in 7 months.
Amazing, loved your analysis. I originally chose to kill Letho, despite their past and his answers I considered the fact Letho used Geralt, pinning the slaying of Kings on him DESPITE the fact Geralt saved his life prior. Then when forced to confront he very callously considers them 'even' when they're far from it. Geralt did come to see Foltest as a good and true King and even a 'friend', in TW3 this is reflected on more with Roche.
I chose to leave him as I thought it was outside Geralts character to kill him
I killed him cause letho just weakened all the nations causing a huge war which kill all the peasants
@@nateohoh6974 to be fair that war was going to happen regardless of letho
@@zayah4838 The war with Nilfgaard, yes. The war in the north, not so likely with Foltest on the throne. He was a well respected king, even from his adversaries. Maybe the sorcerers would have killed him anyway, but that also isn't very likely, as they had no problem with all kings of the north and as far as I know, Foltest was one they tolerated.
@@rollingslothmachine3431 Yeah I get what you mean but I still think it would have happened regardless. Considering the sheer amount of expanding Nilfgaard has done them stopping just cause Foltest was still alive does not seem likely to me. If it wasn't Letho it would have been someone else. He was just a pawn at the end of the day.
Damn bro. I just found your channel like...a week ago and I watched EVERYTHING.
Your videos are so well put together. Like at first I was not sure how I was gonna sit thru an hour of someone talking about a game (sometimes two hours).
But you waste no time and have no fluff, it's so good.
Can't wait for more.
Maybe some more isometrics?
Either way, you're killer.
Interesting. I wasn't aware of how Radovid was in the first part. It's actually interesting how he changed over the games. Getting more and more paranoid and unreasonable.
The details, settings, characters, and plot were great. The combat was clunky and frustrating, and the exploration felt like it was designed to waste your time. I feel like my favorite parts of this game were generally in flotsam and the war camp just taking in the atmosphere.
Finally someone put to words what Iorveth really wanted to say about Roche
Been excitedly waiting for this video, this series and joes witcher videos are some of my favourite witcher critiques/review
Yes! More Witcher video essays! I consider this game a guilty pleasure: fun but tons of issues
OMG feels like I’ve been waiting for forever for your next video. (even though it’s not been). Been really looking forward to this.
i feel like you would really enjoy Divinity 2. It has a fantastic world and a lot of great writing, but also a lot to complain about. Perfect for a 2 hour video essay. :)
26:26 - it took me til he mentioned dragon age 2 that it dawned on me it wasn't actual dialogue hahahaa! 😅😂🤣
Uh oh. I look forward to watching this, i love your content. But this is one step closer to witcher 3. I need you, noah caldwell, and joseph anderson to all give your opinions and thoughts on it lol
HOW DID YOU KNOW MY MOST WATCHED UA-camRS…are you the NSA?XD
Really enjoy these videos you're making! It's all the joy of replaying an old game I liked that I'd never have time for normally, and gives a good perspective on "was the game actually good or was that just who I was back then". Person taste preference, I enjoyed having to plan and anticipate encounters by potion prepping. Like that part immersed me in the monster hunting side of researching and prepping for the battle, but game mechanics I can see how it's annoying. But that comes down to a taste thing and none of us are going to be the same!