The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

"Welcome to 2007, where the world economy hasn't crashed spectacularly yet and the Aurora engine is a viable tool for RPG developers to make actual games. Experience prosaic landscapes after spending 20 hours trying to make sense of the social cues that would almost certainly be lost upon you, unless you haven't completed an undergraduate degree in Eastern European literature studies. Receive sexual propositions from townclerks, while they are going about their work day, because you play as an exotic, and vilified, Witcher, named Geralt of Rivia." The Witcher is lucky that its developers cared for it as much as they did. If it weren't for the later games in the series, and the feature to import saves, this game might have been left behind in the collective memory of videogaming as an interesting, if very frustrating, example. The game reveals many flaws that CD Projekt Red have clearly taken to heart, having become one of the most beloved developers in the process. The interface, for one, is an eyesore. Green and orange, mixed together to remind you of vomit everytime you open your inventory, journal, pause, glossary or any other screens that are needed to play the game (except for the map). The combat is functional, if often frustrating. The quests are related to other quests, which should, in theory, make the game world more immersive, but the alien(ating) design just made me reach for the fan Wiki, especially for the ones that seemed to go nowhere. But the biggest hurdle was the horrible translation, something that I got over after the third time I started Chapter 1. The game can only be liked inspite of its faults. Fortunately, I enjoyed the game after reaching chapter four, quite liking the moral ambiguity and the open landscape that was neither dreary nor claustrophobic. I'm almost convinced that I want to play this game again later, but the first 20 hours had the least enjoyable time I have spent with a game. Maybe I'll overcome that hurdle too.

Best game until Cyberpunk 2077 comes out :)

(sorry for my bad english :)

Never gets old.

I still remember how excited I was when The Witcher came out. I bought its day 1 release, as well as the additional Extended Edition box set. It was a huge deal - so much so, even Vader recoded a single to promote the game. Today, all these years later, being more knowledgeable about gaming, I have to say, while it sure was a huge release, it's also one that didn't age very well. Don't get me wrong now - I liked, and still like the game, but it's long overshadowed by the second and third installments in the series. Especially the third, which turned the RPG world upside down for a long time. Gameplay feels clunky - not as much as in, let's say, TES: Morrowind, but it's far from being comfortable. For an RPG game, The Witcher also suffers from linearity problems - it's not just the story that pushes you in one particular direction, even maps themselves are constructed to be as limiting as possible. There's little to no room for exploration and freeroam, which can be a pretty big problem to those who enjoy having absolute freedom. What didn't age is the story - it's still very strong, and as a more mature player, I enjoyed it way more than my teenage self from all these years before. Characters are fleshed out, and do pretty good job introducing you to the game's setting. Sure, it's better if you know Sapkowski's works before you play, but it's by no means required. Do I recommend the game? Absolutely - for that price, come on, it'd be a shame not to give it a try. While dated, it's still a fun adventure, especially to someone who focuses on the story aspect. It was a humble beginning of The Witcher series, and a true piece of gaming history. It may not be as timeless as Heroes of Might and Magic 3, Gothic 2 or Diablo 2, but I can confidently recommend it to any fan of fantasy games. It may not be your cup of tea, and surely is not as accessible as its successors, but it's a game worth knowing.