The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

The Witcher is a game that has been split into two entities. One is the game you will find discussed on forums. The game with amazing atmosphere and deep RPG mechanics unrivaled its own sequels don't match. The other is the game you play. The one were you go insane from navigating the same map back and forth with no plot progression. Hyperbole, but this game has issues preventing it from being some masterpiece. There are facets that make those individual parts a masterpiece, but, holistically The Witcher has tangible problems that affect the enjoyment. In the good Witcher, there's a setting and tone unrivaled. The level of immersion and atmosphere was masterfully done ought to the complexity of the writing and ability to interact with the setting. Everyone's favorite term "choice&consequence" is fantastically done. The choices are kept personal, not affecting the plot in major ways, but rather several small ways. Keeps the plot coherent while giving a degree of reality and tangibility. Small choices from Chapter 1 and chapter 2, spiral throughout the whole game. The RPGing is perhaps as complex as there has been in any game. The level of depth in the RPG mechanics is beautiful. Alchemy has multiple potions with various ways of making each one. The game leaves you to your own devices to solve many quests, which would be a nightmare if it weren't for the detail and interactivity allowed by the setting. When the game not only lets you get drunk with others, but encourages it ought to the secrets it may reveal, its difficult to not get enthralled. In the bad Witcher, combat consists clicking on enemies with minimal strategy from start to end. Enemies have stun and knockdown affects that are annoying. The story has one-dimensional, mustache twirling villains. The game has you holding W for minutes on end, multiple times over the same quest. I'm hitting the character limit so look at the negative reviews. The game has major design problems that hold it back.

- It did not age well - The story telling is somewhat decent and the plot/side quests are pretty good - Graphics were probably really good at the time the game was made but now they look pretty bad - The music and sound design is great - The combat and movement are just a pain

This RPG classic needs no introduction: It made Geralt of Rivia famous outside Poland. It is also "a game with a soul", unlike most video games. The game is more or less a standard RPG with exploration, questing etc. and the story somewhat above average. This is a one-character RPG, playable with either isometric or 3rd person camera. The combat is essentially point-and-click (like in baldur's gate or neverwinter nights), not reflex-based like in action games. But you also need well-timed clicks for extra hits in a combo, and you also use signs (jedi powers, witcher version, you cannot be a pure-class mage). Things like alchemy, mini-games (dice, fist-fighting and drinking), etc. spice up the game. The graphics was pretty good in 2007 (and still looks beautiful). Why not perfect score? First, the "quicksave" is actually a full save. Translation: you have to regularly delete (and backup, if you want) by hand, otherwise thousands of saves fill your disk. You must also disable GOG cloud, because of that. Second, the "Cannot load module - invalid IFO file" bug is VERY nasty. It can be cured with some "delete temporary .sav file" trick, but I prefer games which can be actually finished without hacker skills.

And by get it, I don't mean buy it, or have it in your library. Virtually everyone who has even typed GOG.com into their browser should have a copy of this game. I truly mean if you understand it. One of the best RPGs I've played. Your choices matter, your character grows, the characters are (mostly) true to their origins, except where they are stand-ins for other characters. Too many set pieces are ripped directly from the books, including conversations lifted word for word. It is a game that retcons the end of the books, then relives many of the moments in them again as our protagonist has amnesia. Apparently, the exceptionally important characters of Ciri and Yennifer were left out, when they were central to the plot of the books, this was later remedied in the Witcher 3. The combat is a weird mix of rhythm game and RPG, with timing your clicks to get stronger combos. It feels extremely hit or miss, though because the game arbitrarily decides that you were not in the proper window to click when you did, and finding the proper timings is a chore (the colored prompts don't line up). Ideally, this system would have more resembled the system present in Legend of Dragoon or Vagrant Story, or even Shadow Hearts. Overall, the game is a good get to play. I bought it MANY years ago and I loved it. But around chapter 3 it starts to drag so much that I've never finished it. I did make it to chapter 4 once or twice. It has potential, but it falls short. I paid $40 for this game. It is easily worth the $5, $0.99 or free that it is often offered for on here.

The mechanics of game play are very odd and takes some time to adjust. Pressing the space bar in the game puts you into active pause where you can then call up several screens to aid the Witcher in combat or learn something about a new character or monster or navigating the game world via a map or the journal entries that track the quest discoveries and makes notes of your progress in the game. Character abilities are extensive but as to which to develop for your Witcher are not very clear. The GUI screens are over sized but cluttered and not very enlightening. Combat is via simple L R mouse clicks that are furthered by watching a visual cue of your mouse cursor indicator lighting up with a flaming sword to indicate to press the L button to string the next combo of blows and parries providing you have bought the right abilities via talents you acquire as you level up. Odd indeed and it takes getting used to and a sense of timing and anticipation to know when to press the button to be effective in combat. Be prepared for a bit of frustration when fighting powerful monsters or opponents and be prepared to get mowed down unless you learn how to concoct the Witcher's special Alchemical brews to survive the heavy bosses. Another weirdness is the fact that sometimes you'll get penned in by the physical environment as experienced in the swamp cemetery. The last bad thing is the Witcher is super unstable with frequent crashes so save often.