I'm not going to say someone is stupid because they don't enjoy the sex scenes in the game; that seems petty. However, if you didn't properly research the games maturity rating, and WHY it was rated that way, especially when the protagonist is a known womanizer in his own fiction, that's your problem. Whether you find the sex scenes awkward or not, it cannot be denied that they are a VERY bold move by a developer with only one other game under its belt.

I wonder if the people complaining about nudity in The Witcher would complain about violence in The Godfather?

I mean, for fucks sake, it is part of the world the game is set in. Don't like it, watch High School Musical instead of playing an RPG for adults.

I find it amusing that decapitation and dismemberment is okay, but a brief (and actually well-made) scene containing nudity evokes a puritan knee-jerk. And yes, it actually says that there's nudity in the game, right on the box.

Alright guys and gals. Seriously the dumbest part of this criticism is that the sexual adventures of Geralt are just like the rest of the game. It's all up to the player to decide.

The prologue scene you don't see anything! You saw Geralt stroke her waist and up her midriff. She sighed as she awoke and turned in bed. That is tasteless? Seriously? Every man in the entire world when they wake or in bed with their woman do this. This is just a loving caress of a man with a woman he is endeared towards, nothing more.

Anyway, the point I was making, the game offers the players the option to deny Geralt's sexual advances to all the female in the game. He doesn't have to plough Ves, Succubus, and the whores. You are even given the option to refuse Triss's sexual advances in Chapter 1.

This criticism is just horribly moronic in almost every way!

Okay, here's my take:

I think that the reason there's so little nudity in computer games -- almost universally none -- is this fear of censure from an overly prudish public. I'm glad Poland is not afraid of American audiences.

The censorship of nudity in relatively conservative countries -- particularly America -- is ludicrous, especially when balanced against the obsession Americans have with violence.

So... in computer games: blood and splatter and extreme violence = okay. Nudity = horrible.

And just what is wrong with the human body, eh? Something shameful about it? Get some perspective, Brem. ...And please don't think you're fooling people with your feminist stance: all this is is a cover-up for simple prudishness.

I'll insert only one thing: it is a little imbalanced when only the female is nude.

But... nudity is reality. So is soldiers and peasants swearing and making up bawdy songs to make the boredom tolerable, in reference to those who have brought up that issue.

It is not nudity that is immature but fear of it that is immature.

But if you're really that concerned... wait a few months. Just as with Bioware a few fans come along to make a mod to render your player & NPC's nude... someone always comes along to make a mod to censor any possible hint of nudity or sexiness. Patience. It'll come.

No pun intended.

Being male, I can't really judge if the scenes are geared towards men. I do think it's probably hard to admire Geralt's washboard abs given he seems to be head-to-foot scars.
Maybe some other female players can chime in and discuss that point.

I disagree that the sex and nudity in W2 is tasteless, though. I think it's very taste-ful.

For comparison, tasteless nudity and sex: wait for Duke Nukem Forever to come out ;).

I can so imagine the OP going

"OMG nudity! How base!"
*clicks on a hooker and pays her for sex*
"OMG more sex!"
*sexes up female*
"OMG she'll have sex with me if I sex her up! How rude!"

Really, the nudity is very similar to the sort you'll find in PG movies. Complaining about this is ridiculous.

Well, without trying to open the worm-can, most guys don't really mind a decent shag scene, soft porn or arty or otherwise, and it does fit with the story. Those "males" that say they find it offensive are either: a) Gay, b) in denial, c) pretending to be sensitive in the hopes of making women actually like them (SNAG's do not exist, it's a scam to get laid girls...)

Notice in my previous post I said "some" female gamers, because, again, a lot of women respond positively to tasteful nudity (and I have yet to see any gash-flashes in this game) and semi-erotic "love" scenes. The ones that do complain are either genuinely offended as they feel it is an objectification of women (justifiable, everyone has a right to their own opinion), or just soap-boxing man-hating feminists looking for something to bitch about...

I think the nudity was pretty tasteful, quite frankly. The scene in the bath was especially well done, excellent animation and even directing quite frankly (especially when Geralt loses it and starts struggling out of his clothes, really well done). It was funny yet romantic. I rather liked it.

Yup, Geralt makes love in the game, a few times if you let him. Good for him. He's not a prude, so why should the game be? The scenes are about as close I've seen to what you'd get in a mature movie, and was tastefully done.

Enough of this tiptoeing aorund the topic. Sex is something people do, let's stop pretending it never happens. So long as it's relevant and tastefully shown, there's nothing wrong with it. And it certainly is not in any way gratuitous or objectifying, as it sometimes was in TW1.

Remember, this is Geralt we're talking about: women want him, men want to BE him. :)



Yes, that last part was a joke. :)

Itkovian

My favorite kind of magic: Lesbomancy.

I don't know what all the fuss is about, I've been trying to sleep with the prostitutes, Tess, Sila (the sorceress who is helping you kill the Krayden), the inn keeper and basically any female that moves in chapter 1 since it started - To no avail I might add, so what's the problem? ;)

See this is the problem you guys. Your all so defensive about your poorly done and badly written sex scenes. The fact is they are just bad and jarring. Sure I'd be fine if they seemed sincere and not gratuitous, my problem is they seem a bit pathetic and nothing to do with not being able to cope with the scenes themselves.

To put it simply, showing full frontal female nudity at the immediate off set of the game (or any medium) is utterly bizarre. You could argue it sets up the main character nicely, but it is a pretty terrible way to do it. It all needs better pacing really, more tact. Of course I sense some people are knee jerk reacting to it as some kind of defence to the medium coming of age but displaying emotions like this so poorly just shows how little the game world has grown up.

Oh and in case anyone's getting the wrong idea here, yes I do like the game and in fact I'm playing it while I post. :p

lol

I'd love to see Triss and Saskia get it on.... tastefully of course....

@ Brem...

In all seriousness, I can see your point, and not to be defensive, but I feel that the opening scene is not gratuitous at all.... it sets the scene quit well as far as story goes. Geralt waking up next to someone he cares for, gentle caress that leads to a kiss, naturally ending in them being aroused sexually... then coitus interruptus....

Honestly I can say that many a time I have awoken with my partner or myself feeling amorous, and playfully arousing the other.... there is nothing gratuitous about that... in my opinion anyway.

Anyone applying the words "realism" and ""authentic" to those awkwardly rendered and thoroughly soulless excuses for "sex" are somewhat lacking in sexual experience.

Honestly. The encounters are primarily throw-away events that lend very little to the role-playing quality of the game. They add very little to the actual content of the books. (Unless the originals read differently to the translated version I've read).

If you want fake sex, the internet is clogged with it. If it's adding nothing to the story, it's put there primarily to appease the juvenile delinquents whose entire sexual history can be summed up in one lonely fist.

As an aside, hissy fits come across as childish pique, not well-constructed counterpoints... :/ ....

Actually, when I saw Geralt being not-too-covered as well, and prancing through the dungeon without a shirt, my thoughts were, "Hey, lady-porn!"

I do admit being a guy though, but frankly, even my girlfriend said that the scenes were well-done and for a change, not awkward in a game that actually features physical aspects of a relationship.

The male vs female nudity in visual medium never ceases to amuse me, really. Showing a female bare-chested, or bare-hinded is a blush-inducing taboo and objectifying a woman, but bare-chested men and their bare asses are either a norm or a "lol, they showed dude's ass" moment. I don't really want nudity to be everywhere, but in an adult game with adult subjects, uncensored erotica is much more fitting than Ken&Barbie or skin-tight spandex.