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The Witcher 2's 2.0 Patch Changes Finalized, Huge
You should have already been playing The Witcher 2, because it's amazing. The enormous 2.0 patch coming Thursday should help you get the most out of the game on your second playthrough, though, and the finalized change list below is great news for Xbox 360 players, who will get the updated version on their discs when The Witcher 2 hits 360 early next year.
The full list of changes in patch 2.0 is a bit long to reprint here, but the significant rebalancing efforts to make combat more responsive are particularly of note. You'll no longer get interrupted out of your attack chains by being hit, and you'll be able to parry (at reduced effectiveness) when you're out of vigor. Targeting should be improved as well, so you won't ineffectually lunge at distant opponents while nearer foes tear you up. These are all fantastic changes to a combat system that I didn't have big problems with to start with, though I make no promises about not making jokes about how clearing out a cave of nekkers was so much harder back in my day and you whippersnappers don't know how good you have it.
A new tutorial should help players understand The Witcher 2's unique mechanics better than the current prologue, which throws you into the fire with a bare few text pop-ups to explain why you're getting killed so badly.
The new patch also adds a new Dark difficulty mode. In short, it's super-hard and full of unique loot. Perfect for that second playthrough you should be starting around now.
I still recommend picking up a mod or two to help with the obnoxious inventory management, since crafting is awesome but beyond tedious (though better now than it was at release).
The Witcher 2 is on my Game of the Year short list, and I highly recommend anyone with a reasonably competent gaming PC to play it yesterday. Xbox 360 owners will be able to get in with the upcoming early 2012 console port as well, which looks honestly outstanding – a welcome change from the many dumbed-down or technically questionable PC ports that make their way to home consoles.
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