Is it possible just to skip the witcher 1 and go right into 2 or will I miss a lot of story?

It is possible, no knowledge from the previous one is directly required to play the game. However you might find yourself wondering "who is this guy and why should I care?" a few times, so if this sort of thing breaks your immersion, then TW1 might be worth a look.

Also there are some very political plots in the game. While you usually have a choice between political and personal plot points, as well as for most of the time they will be heavily connected, but knowing more about the kingdoms of the North can be helpful to understand the big picture.

So if you are completely new to the Witcher universe, but care greatly about the plots and lore of a world in which you play, you should read most, if not all, journal entries and there are many of them, pleasantly written. It's a bit old school to read journals, but if your on GoG that might be right up your alley ;-)

The story in Witcher 1 is totally different than in Witcher 2 . Witcher 1`s story is about the witcher`s secrets being stolen and Geralt`s attempt to recover them . Witcher 2 `s story is more politically motivated .
So yes you can skip 1 and still be comfortable in knowing what is going on in the game .

I don't think anyone should skip The Witcher 1 because it's a fantastic game.

BUT...

Anything you'd need to know from TW1 is shown in a recap video in TW2 and/or is explained during the game.

If you've never read a Witcher book or short story, the first game does a good job of introducing what a Witcher is, the signs (spells) they use, the drugs they take and the way the world perceives them. Textbook anti-hero stuff. It is filled to bursting with exposition.

If exposition is not your thing, you can safely jump to the second game. In the second game Geralt's still chasing his memories, still being drawn into larger events against his will.

I would still recommend playing the first game because its a beautiful one. The care and talent that went into the world design, monsters, characters. It is exceptional. If you compare it to what was released at the same time and for some years after (to this day) its still phenomenal.

The first one is simply awesome, get it if you like serious dark fantasy and challenging RPGs in general.

You should absolutely play the first one, too! It´s dark and sexy and one af the games I most enjoyed ever! 10 thumbs up!

Witcher 1 is definitely worth playing, imo. One of the best RPGs ever made, even if it has some rough edges.

You can skip The Witcher 1 for the same reason that you actually shouldn't. You play these games for the story.

I disagree that it's "dark fantasy" tho. Geralt is a good guy and most characters are understandable: doing shitty things because they're in a shitty situation.

You shouldn't skip the original game simply because it's better than the sequel. The sequel is great too...it has more interesting characters but overall Witcher 1 is the better game.

Lots of opinions have already been posted ... I'm certain you'll weigh them all and come up with the conclusion that best suits your tastes. :-)

The Witcher (the first game) was a late find for me, and so I only came in when the Enhanced Edition was launched. It was a treasure of a game, and I just couldn't believe it hadn't been more of a ground shaker until I realised the launch might have been a bit more rocky than the polished product I was experiencing.

I thought The Witcher was a beautiful game, full of details, moods, and ambiances. The characters are great, the story is great, the music is great, the visuals are great. Although these days it's (unfortunately) far too easy to tab out and hit Google to find out what the consequences of your choices will be, it still ranks super-high as a game that should make you really soul-search about what to do not because you want the "best" outcome but because you're trying to make sense of outcomes that may both be bad.

Writing about this in 2013 suggests you'll already be aware of Telltale's "The Walking Dead" which has been lauded as a game which forced you to choose how to act when there was no simple or easy "optimum" outcome -- I'd say the original Witcher game deserves just as much praise for clearing a path to a gamescape whereupon others dare to release "difficult" games.

In short: I loved both games, and would gladly play through both again (and intend to do so one day -- waiting for a graphics card(s) upgrade, though, to add to the impact when I finally do so). There are differences between the two games which initially made some people feel as though the sequel had departed from the direction charted by the first, but ... honestly, that's all secondary. They're both fantastic games, and since you should really treat yourself to the pleasure of seeing them both, I'd suggest that you play them in the order they were released.

The first Witcher was a huge project made by what was then, I imagine, a rather undersized and underfinanced team. It came out with some flaws, but it can still create the magic feeling a good work of art does. Same thing applies to another personal favorite of mine, STALKER SoC.

My advice is to pick up the first game, play at least the first chapters and then, if you don't like the voice acting, combat system or, what made me abandon it in the end, the endless need to move around the same areas just to advance conversations, you can give up and move to the second, which is less than half of the first lengthwise but it's much more focused and well developed.

There are also some TV captures of the Polish Witcher TV series on the internet. They are definitely worth watching and are a perfect introduction to what the Witcher is about.

It is possible all right, but i would recommend you to play The Witcher 1, its worth every peny, and you will also get a better picture about the world of the witcher and about some of its characters...

I will even recommend you to read some, if not all of the 7 books, in what the games are based on... am not a great reader myself but i truly enjoyed all 7 them!

Its a story driven series so why you would want to jump into the sequel is beyond me.

It's is a well made game, a huge improvement in places to the original but thats not reason to miss out on a fantastic story and truly unique gameplay.

yes you could very easily play the sequel first but the question really is... why would you want to?!

Skip and play Witcher 3. I hope that one's good, finally.