The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

Longer review is here: http://pastebin.com/FHtsbxPY . Cliffnotes version: Gameplay: Much more refined and overall better than W1's gameplay, enemies and bosses are better, although bosses could have been a bit less cinematic and a bit more fun. 8/10 Story: Much more focused storytelling over W1's kinda generic "grimy medieval" setting. Dual paths seem to be a lot more impactful than in W1 as well. 8/10. Graphics: Art style is much more consistently good than in W1, optimization is fantastic despite a couple of laggy areas. 5/5. Sound: An occasional VA disappointment, although otherwise very spot on. OST is a bit less medieval-y than W1, but because of it has a lot more epic orchestral songs. 5/5 Overall scores are: 8/8/5/5; 8.7/10.

The second game in the trilogy, is even more beautiful, much like the ladies you get to romance. This game has everything working out for it, except the combat. It doesn't matter if you use "Full Combat Rebalance 2" mod, spamming fast attacks is usually viable and fights are not really challenging, you'll rarely need to use bombs/traps and other enhancements. The maximum difficulty level is "Insane" where "opponents deal very high damage and no saved game can be loaded if Geralt dies"; maybe this level couldn't exist if combat was generally more difficult. *Editors' Pick* Pros: rich story and lore, nice graphics, cool combat animations (made even better with with FCR2). Cons: with some exceptions, combat is not really challenging. Rating: one cat, not sure if the potion or the animal. http://pixelloot.com

This game was surpassed by The Witcher 3 in many ways. But that doesn't mean it is outdated or bad. It is still a very good game that will have you keep playing just one more hour. And one more. And then play it again in a different style with different choices. It is aimed at adult players and has some dark parts - and some erotic ones. And it does a good job of portraying the characters from the books.

I liked The Witcher so much, I went and bought this game as soon as I finished it. And I really really wanted to like this game too. On the plus side, it has a much better interface that the original Witcher, the graphics are improved, and the story looks as good. That plus nostalgia for the old game is why I didn't one star this effort. I only managed six frustrating hours with this game before giving up. The controls are so complex and so unwieldy it completely ruined this game for me. They also are not intuitive, so I had to unlearn as well as learn. I spent the first two hours with wildly zinging camera angles until I learned to control that, though only partially. I still spent a lot of time looking at my feet or the sky. Even six hours into the game, I couldn't remember how to activate half the controls and pressed wrong keys often. And why on earth the developers thought the game would be improved by having to use both hands at once most of the time, and having to use your LEFT hand for some of the more complex stuff is beyond me. (Most people are right handed, so I can only presume that the developers and testers were left handed.) Yes I could have got myself a controller, but I play for fun. I don't have special hardware for what is an occasional pastime. If you have hours to spend learning how to not suck at an unnecessarily complex combat system (when the first game did pretty much the same stuff WITH ONLY THE MOUSE), working out how to not bang into walls and random objects, and get familiar with a range of function keys is so large it's an advanced memory test, you'll probably enjoy it. Me, not so much. It's a game, not driving a car. Actually, driving a car is easier.

A little more confined than Witcher 3 with "artificial" open world, but zones are amazing and you don't feel restricted at all. Writing is on top as always, characters and their stories and enchanting. Visuals may seem a little unusual and it doesn't run that well, but it is gorgeous nonetheless. Music is as fantastic as always, breathing life into this world. Combat might be a little tricky at first, especially with awkward alchemy, however by the end of it you'll find yourself spinning through numerous foes with ease and pleasure. Great game, as always.