Witcher fz.se gives it 1.5 of 5

[mute]

Don't judge all swedish people now. If itsn't labeled Valve or a kiddie rpg from Japan - or have a big gun anywhere - then at fz.se these games sucks. They do not know how to approach other types of games then games with no brain.

Good thing however is the viewers vote 4/5.

 

[KazikluBey]

The good points are mentioned in half a paragraph each, while almost one quarter of the review is used to complain about the game's horrible sexism.

Crashes are mentioned, loading times are not.

 

[mute]

All the negative points he puts up is really what i feel is important to the character. For once, all isn't black or white.

its good to know that eternal sonata got 3.5/5. *cough*...

 

[KazikluBey]

I haven't played and won't play Eternal Sonata, so that score tells me nothing, but I'm guessing from the tone of your post that the scores should be at least swapped?

 

[mute]

I only played the demo and i got bored with the style of the game within minutes. It was repetetive. But also, thats more of a kiddiegame.

Fun to read all the 129 comments so far. They are all bashing the reviewer. It really reminds me of the review of NWN2 when it was released (don't remember the site).

Altough, in that case the editor pulled the review. In FZ.SE one editor is defending the reviewer by saying all reviews are personal preferences. I can buy that, its just good to know that in the future, reviews of that site are pointless. They should really have some context into which they review and mark grades. 1.5 is really unworthy of the game.

3/5 is perfectly alright. cause its not a bad game. (Some design choices though are).

The reviewer also complains at the lack of multiplayer options. One funny comments was about the "sex" part of the game. He wondered if the reviewer knew that he didn't NEED to sleep with every women. You could CHOOSE to do it. You had FREEDOM to do as you fit.

FZ.SE is taking a high moral stance against sexism in games. I think its great, but i would rather see that it was spent elsewhere like FIFA, Soccer Worldcup (women played in china this year, EA - wheres my game). Taking this moral stance FZ is currently taking would pose some problem against movie, mtv and such - which in my view is a problem. If the game "The witcher" would in its entirity be a book, a novel, no one should have minded. Now its a game.

A game with a 18 year sign on it. If i have to deal with somebody elses morality, make it in game - like the withcer does.

Metacritics lowest grade is currently 60 with an average of 81. User score is 9.5/100 with 166 votes. So...

What really bothers me is that here is a game that let me do choices i don't really know what they imply. I feel like i part of the game, and it gets bashed for try doing it. Well, good to see fz.se is alone out there.

The sweden sin seems to die with the new generation.

---
I think this is a fun read, reading the comments, and seeing two sides of the game. I think its interesting from a social point of view. FZ is entitled to its point of views. And i don't mean to take that from them. This is probably somethign i should discuss with all of you over a beer, cause, i feel like my above text could be missinterpreted.

 

[Prime Junta]

The question of sexism in The Witcher is a legitimate and, IMO, interesting one.

It's clear that Geralt's world is sexist.

It's also clear that there's the occasional bit of pretty juvenile stuff in the game. (Someone should tell Triss that plumber's butt is *not* sexy.)

But how sexist is the game itself? How does it approach this stuff? What options does it leave the player?

IMO, not very, compared to most of the stuff that's out there.

For example, it's very hard to argue that GTA: San Andreas isn't sexist, even misogynist -- women are just about exclusively portrayed as sex objects, the protagonist cheerfully murders prostitutes to do a favor to their pimps, and so on.

But The Witcher? It has several strong female characters portrayed in a sympathetic light. It allows you to pursue actual relationships with them, with complications and problems even, as opposed to simple tail-chasing or the fairytale happily-ever-after-at-least-until-the-sequel type of romance you usually find in games.

IOW, it makes an honest attempt at tackling some pretty heavy issues in a non-trivial fashion. It doesn't always succeed completely, but it's a far cry from the kind of juvenile sexism or misogyny that we pretty much take for granted in games.

 

[KazikluBey]

For example, it's very hard to argue that GTA: San Andreas isn't sexist, even misogynist -- women are just about exclusively portrayed as sex objects, the protagonist cheerfully murders prostitutes to do a favor to their pimps, and so on.

Funny you should mention that, as GTA: SA got a 5/5 from FZ with not even the slightest mention of sexism - different reviewer though.

I have long wondered why I bother with FZ: I often disagree with their reviews, I find their news posting priorities questionable, I don't care for their console reorientation (used to be a Quake-only site, turned into PC-only and now most of their coverage is for consoles) and juvenile/retarded/useless posts abound.

 

[mute]

Prime Junta, i agree what you write. Funny thing, this has made me thinking a little more elaborated about the subject. I wrote about movie violence in my essay during university, today i think i would have gone for the sexism in the world. Trying to put it in place.

FZ as a site would have been more beliveable if they condemned killing in games.
But, thats not likely to happen!

 

[fatBastard()]

Someone should tell Triss that plumber's butt is *not* sexy.

Hey, speak for yourself ... *silence* ... oh crap, did I just say that out loud?

 

[azarhal]

Did they review the Gothic games?

I don't read Swedish and can't seem to find a score on the games specific page.

 

[mute]

http://www.fz.se/artiklar/article.php?id=1834&page=2

The grade in red is the reviewers, the grade in grey is the viewers of the site. 166 vote puts the game in 4.05 range. (there is a link below that grayscale where you all can vote! *cough*).

Don't remember if they reviewed them. Searching the site i don't get the impression they reviewed any of them.

The most fun is the comment part currently. Most interesting reading people views and the pack mentality that usually forms. Both from player played, and player shocked by the review about sexual content. Some people believes just about everything they read and act accordingly. Its an interesting phenomena.

 

[KazikluBey]

No, they haven't reviewed any of the Gothic games.

 

[Zaleukos]

Hehe, I think that the reviewer is a former classmate of my brother. If it is I'm genuinely unsurprised by the weight given to the "sexist" side of the game