The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

Much better than I expected. I played on hard mode and won in 42 hours, 32 minutes. Good value, especially on sale. I finished probably 2/3 - 3/4 of the quests. The combat opens up considerably later in the game, although even then a smart use of alchemy makes even the toughest fights too easy. The hellhound fight at the beginning is probably the hardest in the game, especially if you think (like I did) that the death of an NPC in game will change the story outcome--don't worry, they come back if the get knocked out. The game's writing is irregular, but touches excellence several times, especially as you get closer to the end. The story suffers from the same problem that Baldur's Gate does--it expects you to complete certain quests in a certain order, and if you don't things don't always make sense. For example: there's a "twist" in chapter 3 that changes what you thought you learned at the beginning of that chapter. Somehow, I missed the twist. When the characters expound upon it later on, my Geralt spoke right along with them--even though, as far as my character was concerned, the twist had never happened. He should have been surprised/confused! Overall, definitely worth a playthrough, although I don't think I'll need to play again. I paid $0.03 per hour for this game, which puts it in one of the top value games in my opinion.

That was AWESOME adventure. Thank you very much CDPR.

I must admit, when the game was released in 2007, I was far from being convinced by the demo : I found the skill tree a mess, the combat system counter intuitive... But it became the success we know, so maybe I missed something ? SPOILER : YES ! As I finished the game, it means that I finally overcome my problems with those mechanics ? Well you guessed correctly. In fact the combat system is pretty unusual as it's a mix of hack'n'slash (you can do combos in real time) and turn based (you can pause the game to prepare a spell, a potion...). Same thing with the skill tree as it acts like a substitute for the absence of classes. Using token in intelligence will make you closer to a mage, in physical attributes to a tank... So even with an imposed character, you are free to decide what to do with it. Not to mention the alchemy system which is quite complex to handle but adds more variety to your arsenal as you can do potions (to heal, buff...but beware of intoxication !), oils (to repel specific monsters) or even...bombs. About the story, the most surprising point is that maybe for the first time, there is REALLY no black and white situation. Though I love Knights Of The Old Republic (the 2 is maybe one of my favorite RPG) and Jade Empire, playing the dark side in those games is not really interesting because you have to act like a selfish arrogant spoiled brat dips*** Here it's more subtle, as even your "good" decisions can lead to bad consequences (not necessarily because of you, but also because people around you have their own agenda)... Nontheless, the game is not perfect : the contract quests become boring quickly (it's always killing X monsters...), the secondary quests mix with the primary, which can be confusing, the romance cards are useless, the game crashes sometimes and the french subtitles miss some points of dialogue. Otherwise, I would like to conclude my review by saying that The Witcher finally bewitched me but only an idiot would say that...

"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 :)