14 DAY TRIAL // Andrei Dumitrescu: It's time to go back to old games to prepare for new games, so I am playing through The Witcher, aiming to finish the game this time around.
The first Witcher, even in the Enhanced Edition version which CD Projekt put out to satisfy gamers who saw a lack of quality in the initial release, is a very good game that can be infuriating at times.
I like the mature nature of the narrative and the quick, concise yet clear characterization for most of the people Geralt meets as he progresses, although his own amnesia is such an overused role playing game trope that I am a bit turned off by every game that uses it.
But I hope that for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which arrived in May 2011, the developers will approach quest direction a bit different, offering the player more information about what he needs to do and what choices he has about a situation.
They should abandon designs such as those of the Mage Tower quest in the swamp in the third act of the original, which fails to guide the player around the game world, and create more encounter like the ending of the second chapter, which presents a significant moral choice in natural fashion and with a lot of gray morality thrown in.
Andrei Dobra: Most of my free time this weekend will be devoted to two very different experiences.
On one hand, I'll be continuing my playthrough of the original Mass Effect, after I've completely surveyed and charted all of the planets in the galaxy.
My ultra-paragon playthrough is a lot tougher than it sounds, as I'm not that accustomed with being the doormat for every non-playable character that needs his cat rescued from a tree or some expensive permit bought for him.
Still, it's fun to be back into BioWare's extremely immersive RPG, and I can't wait to make the jump to the second title soon enough.
Meanwhile, when I'm not making the galaxy a safer place, I'll be enjoying Bejeweled 3, PopCap's latest casual game sensation.
Actually, casual might be the exact opposite of what Bejeweled 3, or at least its Quest Mode is, as the requirements or timed events are downright ridiculously hard, even for some of the most hardcore puzzle solvers out there.
Let's just hope that I'll be able to meet PopCap's standards and unlock all of the relics and bonus features in the game.