The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

Me and my wife just finished Witcher 1+2+3 and we have plans to start them again. I've played and finished probably hundreds of games since the age of 15, and this is by far the deepest one i've ever played. So much thought has been done about the story, that it's absolutely amazing. You make choices, moral choices that make A HUGE difference on how the game evolves. The game is funny, thrilling, interesting, evolving ... Playing the witcher for the 1st time, was like seeing Lord of the rings for the first time. You KNOW you're in the middle of a "one of a kind" experience, and you cherish every minute. I highly recommend on buying Witcher 1+2+3. Enjoy

Considering season 2 of the TV series came out, I suspect interest in the games may rise and I thought I write a review despite the game's age. I think this is still a great RPG. I read some reviews that recommend going directly to Witcher 3, but if you like the Witcher story, and haven't played the games yet, that would be a mistake. The first Witcher game certainly has faults. It was written mainly for a male audience (it is rather sexist), the graphics cannot be compared to the Witcher 3, the combat system feels weird (though once I got used to it, I found it to be a rather refreshing change). And yet this is one of the deepest and most mature RPGs I have ever played. There is no hand-holding, as in the Witcher 3 (where the game even tells you what level you should be to attempt a quest), and my impression is that indeed it was made for serious and mature gamers. Let me explain what this game is and what it is not, so that first-time players can know what they get. It is not a textbook RPG. You can't choose your character or profession, and there isn't really any variety in terms of weapons and armor. But this is because it is based on the Witcher stories (you play as Gerald the Witcher, using witcher's equipment), and what you get in return is a very detailed and interesting world to explore. The story is original, as it occurs after the last book from the saga, but you are introduced to all the characters because it starts with Gerald having amnesia. As such it is a great way to get into the Witcher world. And let's be honest, it is thanks to this game that the books and the TV series became popular. Hence if you are interested in the Witcher saga, with all faults the game has (as many reviews have pointed out), I recommend that you try to ignore them in return for discovering the world of the Witcher. I think after playing it you will also enjoy the TV series more, as you will understand better some of the small details, such as when Gerald uses a sign.

The Witcher isn't quite a masterpiece but it gets close. The Enhanced Edition was a big improvement on the game that was originally released, but there are still a few irritations. Thankfully, these are few and far between, and the positives vastly outweigh the negatives. First off, the story is strong and gets better as it progresses. There is political intrigue, mystery and the choice is up to you which side you pick. Each chapter has a mostly self-contained storyline, but the decisions you make all culminate at the end of the game. Also, you don't often see the results of what you did until later on. The visuals are amazing, prepare to be blown away when you see Kaer Morhen or the Lakeside. The bad things about the game would be conversations which didn't translate too well. This makes the dialogue a bit awkward and forced. You could be speaking to someone, and then suddenly Geralt or the other person says 'Bye' and it ends. There isn't always a natural flow in conversations, which is a shame because it tears you out of the narrative. Also, some of the voice acting is bad, but this is to be expected since CDProjekt can't really afford to hire tons of professional voice actors. It would be unfair of me to penalise the rating of this game for these two points, because the rest of the game is so good. CDProjekt are proudly flying the flag of the true role-playing game, where choices have consequences and you shape the path of the character.

Bad voice acting, a very slow start for the first 5 hours or so, and a weak translation. Even so The Witcher is one of the finest RPGs ever made in which the choices you make have a real noticeable impact. These choices however, are never a clear choice between good and evil as there are only shades of grey in the world of the Witcher. Everything has its downside and every character its own self-serving agenda. The consequences of these choices are handled amazingly well, as they're never clear until much further along and they always have a very real impact on the story and how you are perceived in the game. Add to all this a great story that comes together brilliantly at the end, a great alchemy system, and a distinct lack of handholding in a game that trusts the player to be able to think for themselves, and the end-result is a brilliant RPG that does justice to the way they used to make RPGs.

From the bloated cutscenes, lacklustre dialogue, and uninteresting characters to the tedious control system, this is a dull, dull, dull grindfest from beginning to the point where I finally gave up out of boredom. Sword play takes up a large proportion of the game and is basically a matter of mouse-click, mouse-click [pause], mouse-click and so on ad infinitum in battles against various humans, beasties and boggarts that always follow a set routine of moves relating to their character or species type. You basically have one option when fighting which is click your mouse at the right time to watch your character (who by the way is a blank space that its hard to have any interest in whatsoever) deliver a blow. Fighting becomes very boring, very, very quickly. Outside of fighting you'll spend a lot of time endlessly running around the same bit of game world performing pointless side quests, and (I assume this was the game designers intention) taking part in the two god-awful side games of boxing and poker dice to raise cash. Just think of the endless hours of fun you can have playing a truly rubbish boxing game to earn enough oren's (the in game currency) to buy a book, in which the information contained will then allow you to run around killing monster after monster to harvest a brain, for example. The logic being that you cannot recognise, and therefore, are unable to see the brain of something you've killed, until you have read the right book. Fortunately, now you know about brains you can sell them to earn oren's, which ironically you don't really need many of to actually complete the game: To do that you have to basically whale on everything with a sword, and you get one of these for free at the start of the game. By your hundredth mouse clicking bashfest you won't really care about the cliched plot. Avoid: Like the plague in the game.