The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

It's been some time since the game were released, so you can take this review as a good start point to the answer to a question "Is the Witcher 2 still worth to play". First, the game length of game is very satisfying. It took me over 60 hours to finish the camping, tasting both patches and different decisions (and they change the story line drastically!). Comparing to some of newer games, this is an impressive result. The gameplay is immersive, the control is well designed (at least on Xbox controller). The artistic part of the game should also be mentioned: the landscapes are beautiful, and the soundtrack pleasantly caresses the ear. Now you could ask me why I give 4 instead of 5 stars? The game is so nice and perfect, doesn't? To answer it, I have to elaborate. First, the regular fight is very good designed, you really feel Geralt. But the bosses are disappointing. Only the first in Chapter 1 is done with contrivance. The rest of them are just annoying, spamming skills, with a lot of HP, and all you need is endless patience: attack, dodge, attack, dodge, attack, dodge, dodge, dodge... 0 skill required. And because of a bit unbalanced way the armor work you can build so big tank in end-game that you will just stay in place spamming attack button and win the boss fight. This is really not the way it's meant to be. The second flaw is about the storyline. At some point you have to chose the allay. If you decide to go to Verden, you can expect nice fantasy plot. But if you decide to stay loyal to Temeria... you will be punished. Why? I can't understand the developers penalize the player for this, and gives him situation where he can do some new decision but all anyways will go bad. Very bad. That was the biggest disappointment. But if you go into this trap, you can reload your save and change the decision. Maybe the second option was added later, and that's why it is so weak? Anyway the game is worth to recommend. The graphic and gameplay is still fresh even now.

I played The Witcher II with several graphical and quality of life and the Full Combat Rebalance 2 mods. The combat mod was created by a dev who also created combat in The Witcher III. It is supposed to be an upgrade to the original Witcher II combat. My personal feeling towards the system is mediocre at best. You hammer the attack button and start rolling on the floor when too many enemies get you surrounded. Medium difficulty is a laugh, while hard means you die after a few hits, which are registered by your health bar, but not so much by visual and sound feedback. The basic rule is to not get surrounded, and if you do, start rolling, hoping to not get stuck on hidden objects. I preferred the clunky Witcher I combat. The graphics on the other hand are stunning. The rpg elements and story has two faces. As Geralt, you make a dozen story changing decisions. Act 2 is even completely different depending on the faction you side with at the end of act 1. Decision having impact is major in rpgs and The Witcher II achieves some personalization to Geralt. Yet, The Witcher II plays very linear. Maps are linear paths with a lot of inaccessible side show graphics. Besides following branching story lines, the game is tight together by scripted events. Making decisions in The Witcher II is like selecting which faction to play in a strategy game. You pick Harkonnen, but eventually you want to replay as Arteides. I liked the story where you followed an honest but brutal king, but had my doubts about the quality of the story when siding with the non-humans. The inspirational speech: “You may not all see the light of dawn, but the king himself honours us with a visit!” did not really set me up for a medieval “power to the people” storyline. That storyline also included some of the worst back-and-forth fetch questing. Instead of going through 10 hours of walking simulator, do yourself a favour and watch an edited clip of the non-human path to fill yourself in on the story.

The Witcher series is cult - without any question. And the second part of the trilogy has some real goods like a complex and surprising story, a better combat system compared to part one and eye catching landscapes. Also interesting characters. Still, here comes a big But: Its in parts a very linear game, which gives you sometimes no choices. So you encounter several times beasts or dangerous characters by a kind of minigame, where you have to react or move in a strictly defined patern or on a predicted way. Its also not possible to travel back to areas, that you have completed due to the story line. Well. All together it remains a visually impressive and virtually narrated game (exept of the very Ending) ;(

PROS: • Pretty environments. • Cool cutscenes. • Decent plot and worldbuilding. CONS: • Until endgame, Geralt feels like a total weakling. Both magic and sword blows have little effect on his opponents. Too much grind is required to defeat them. You always have to roll around them and try to hit them in the back. You can’t break through the armored enemies’ defense stance. • The game forces you to abuse Quen (magical shield) a lot, since Geralt is incredibly vulnerable to damage. You have limited opportunity to cast other signs (spells), since stamina regeneration is blocked while it’s in use. This translates to a monotonous gameplay. • Unfair character progression. The skill-tree makes it seem like you should focus on one of three paths (mage, alchemist, swordsman). If you don’t invest talents into certain abilities (e.g. riposte—counter-attack), however, you’ll put yourself at a big disadvantage and might have trouble with completing the game. • Half-way through you’re required to play as different characters. They share stats with the witcher; they cannot use his fighting skills, however. All of your previous strategies become useless, which results in an extremely frustrating experience. • Geralt moves like a puppet. His animations have no weight. • Potions have to be consumed ahead of time. Their duration is far too short. You have to wait until their effects expire until you’re able to choose other ones. • Traversal is constrained by invisible walls. • You can only roll, not dodge. • The music is too pompous and sounds generic. • No fast travel, which results in lots of backtracking. There’s no sprint. • The fistfighting mechanic has been reduced to a QTE sequence. • Boring arm-wrestling. • Horrible stealth. • Mutations are irreversible meaning it’s only worthwhile to do them at the end of the game, when more powerful mutagens become available. • Annoying death-screen. • Confusing map.

I even could say that it's the best rpg i have ever played