The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

And by get it, I don't mean buy it, or have it in your library. Virtually everyone who has even typed GOG.com into their browser should have a copy of this game. I truly mean if you understand it. One of the best RPGs I've played. Your choices matter, your character grows, the characters are (mostly) true to their origins, except where they are stand-ins for other characters. Too many set pieces are ripped directly from the books, including conversations lifted word for word. It is a game that retcons the end of the books, then relives many of the moments in them again as our protagonist has amnesia. Apparently, the exceptionally important characters of Ciri and Yennifer were left out, when they were central to the plot of the books, this was later remedied in the Witcher 3. The combat is a weird mix of rhythm game and RPG, with timing your clicks to get stronger combos. It feels extremely hit or miss, though because the game arbitrarily decides that you were not in the proper window to click when you did, and finding the proper timings is a chore (the colored prompts don't line up). Ideally, this system would have more resembled the system present in Legend of Dragoon or Vagrant Story, or even Shadow Hearts. Overall, the game is a good get to play. I bought it MANY years ago and I loved it. But around chapter 3 it starts to drag so much that I've never finished it. I did make it to chapter 4 once or twice. It has potential, but it falls short. I paid $40 for this game. It is easily worth the $5, $0.99 or free that it is often offered for on here.

The mechanics of game play are very odd and takes some time to adjust. Pressing the space bar in the game puts you into active pause where you can then call up several screens to aid the Witcher in combat or learn something about a new character or monster or navigating the game world via a map or the journal entries that track the quest discoveries and makes notes of your progress in the game. Character abilities are extensive but as to which to develop for your Witcher are not very clear. The GUI screens are over sized but cluttered and not very enlightening. Combat is via simple L R mouse clicks that are furthered by watching a visual cue of your mouse cursor indicator lighting up with a flaming sword to indicate to press the L button to string the next combo of blows and parries providing you have bought the right abilities via talents you acquire as you level up. Odd indeed and it takes getting used to and a sense of timing and anticipation to know when to press the button to be effective in combat. Be prepared for a bit of frustration when fighting powerful monsters or opponents and be prepared to get mowed down unless you learn how to concoct the Witcher's special Alchemical brews to survive the heavy bosses. Another weirdness is the fact that sometimes you'll get penned in by the physical environment as experienced in the swamp cemetery. The last bad thing is the Witcher is super unstable with frequent crashes so save often.

I was terribly disappointed with this game. It looks interesting, the graphics are good for the time it was made, but the controls are hideous - ESPECIALLY the combat controls. You can't configure your mouse for movement, and the attack function is horrible.

The game is fantastic and beyond expectations — until the technical issues became too much for me. I've tried a few workarounds regarding the game not starting and crashes and whatnot, and I'm now re-downloading and re-installing the game. It's frustrating, so be warned if you're thinking of getting it — you may need to devote plenty of time to GOG support forum among others before you can get it to work. (I'm on OS X 10.9.3)

This game is a refreshing change from the norm and the setting is so unique and appealing that I am considering running a Witcher game for my Pen and Paper RPG group! The combat (which is generally never a major strength of RPG's anyway-certainly not the reason I play them) is solid enough and while both types of sword have very similar styles, it is at hte end of the day, a way of eking out a bit more choice when it comes to character development, even if the actual on screen effects are a bit repetitive. The storyline is fantastic - I will point out that I did a silent groan and thought to myself "Oh no-not another hero with amnesia plot!" but given the wealth of backstory, it is difficult to figure out how else they could give the player the freedom to mould Geralt to their own tastes without it running counter to canon for those who may have read the novels or are otherwise familiar with Geralt. It actually works fairly well in game anyway and very rarely does the amnesia mechanic spoil anything. In fact, coming to the Witcher universe fresh (as I did) was if anything probably more fun as you piece Geralt's memories together with him, and grow more attached over time, even if "your" Geralt turns out a bit different to the original! In short there are hours of gameplay here for a bargain price. The game pokes fun at both itself and standard RPG tropes and cliches and for all the darkness and grittiness of setting and tone, it also manages to not take itself too seriously and I have to say I had fantastic fun. As a final note on some of the mature themes and so on..... While people who are offended or otherwise upset by the content (particularly the nudity etc) are entitled to their opinion, at the end of the day it is stated pretty clearly on the box/store page that the game contains mature content. Furthermore, it's not like it has to be a major part of the game! Off the top of my head there are only around 2 or so characters in the game that you will see wandering around nude-anything else is as a result of collecting their romance card -which you can only have seen by CHOOSING to complete whatever prerequisites there are to get them to sleep with Geralt! Suffice to say you can ignore this aspect of the game if you like and miss nothing in terms of plot. In short, everyone should get this game and enjoy it their way-theres a lot of fun to be had!