The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

So many good qualities about this game that others have already mentioned. This is an exceptional game on the whole though. It was suggested to not concern myself with W1 and W2 and just go to W3, but I am very glad that I played this game.

At first, I didn't expect the game to hit me since I played Witcher 3 before this but this game proved me wrong. Control is different, not quite as clunky as Witcher 2. Good story-telling, game mechanic base on quick-time-event to chain attack into combos, very old school and classic RPG. No need to hesitate, the game might be tedious at the beginning but you will get hooked up once you reach Chapter 2.

The beginning of a great series and a landmark of a great game studio. This game is fun, although in many aspects you can see it lacks polish. For example, sometimes you just feel the transition between loading screens and gameplays abrupt. The cutscene can end suddenly. The control, especially during battles, is probably the most annoying. I ended up using mods to finish the game as I just want to enjoy the story and overall presentation of the game. With the way the control is, I probably would never be able to finish the game without modding. That being said, this is still a good game. Over the past two weeks I played everyday and just unwilling to stop playing every night. And at the moment I finished the game I couldn't help downloading The Witcher 2 immediately. Graphical-wise, you can see it is severely limited by the game engine, but the art design is simply amazing and more than enough to cover the engine insufficiency. The music is also great. It is far from perfect, but it is a must play for sure.

If you're looking to play The Witcher series, don't go straight to Witcher 3. Witcher 1 and 2 are both great games. For a game released more than a decade ago and CDPR's first game, The Witcher is amazing even now. In some aspects, it's even better than Witcher 3. Witcher 1 has the best atmosphere from all 3 games, and the relaxing music in the soundtrack is memorable. What puts most people off is probably the combat, which uses different styles and timed clicks instead of just clicking for a heavy or light attack. While annoying at first, the combat style will feel satisfying after some time. In my opinion, the bad things about Witcher 1 are the voice acting and character models. The voices sound weird and off, like the actors are just reading a script. Lots of characters also have the same models, even some important NPCs. Other than those issues, Witcher 1 is still a good fantasy RPG, and the first game you should play if you're looking into the Witcher franchise.

If you like Witcher 3, play this one first, then the second one and afterwards the third one. Also read the books if possible. You will have the most complete experience this way. There are tons of subtle references in all the games to the books and the to the previous game titles that you won't realize when only having played Witcher 3 but that'll have you crack up in laughter and feel very satisfying when having played the previous titles and having read the books. Witcher 1 takes some time to get used to, especially when you are spoiled by the graphical fidelity and gameplay of modern titles. However, after some time you'll fall in love with Witcher 1. The atmosphere is amazing (best in the series) and the combat will be very enjoyable after being awkward at first. BEWARE! This game doesn't hold your hand. It doesn't give you directions and convenient quest markers floating in the world. You need to think and listen carefully to dialogues if you do not want to get stuck in the story without knowing what to do. For some that might be annoying but for others a big pleasure. To sum up: Play this game. Don't hesitate. You'll play a title beautifully crafted by fans for fans.