The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

Playing through my first time with the v2.0 patch (Chapter 3) Have bought the game twice to support CDPR, once retail, second time on GOG. Have played through the first game once and hold it in a similar light. Here are my thoughts in (somewhat) short form. The good: Great aesthetic sense. Not only are the graphics technically astounding, they also evoke the low-fantasy setting wonderfully: this is not a beautiful game in the conventional sense. The setting and its characters are not designed to instill awe and wonder. The environs are more muddy than fantastical; its architecture more practical than fanciful; its inhabitants are often grubby, sometimes good hearted, many times superstitious, and almost always self-centered. This is a very colourful game, one that distances itself from the generic fantasy trappings of its peers with its tone, its palette, and its ability to take itself seriously as a mature tale while demanding that you do the same. The plot concerns political intrigue, and for the first time we see the world of the Witcher expand to include the Northern Kingdoms heretofore only mentioned in lore books. In short, its a more involved quest-line than usual for games of this sort, one that has makes more sense and impact than a generic "save the world" arc. The idea of multiple loyalties and perspectives in the continent-wide conflict is reinforced in The Witcher 2's radical decision making branches and by letting you play as different characters in some scenes. Most dialogue options will have admittedly negligible consequences for side-quests, but not so come Chapter 2: you'll be playing an entirely different second-half depending on your choice of ally. The Witcher 2 tells its story in a refreshing fashion. These are its strengths, in addition to other improvements over the original game that I won't mention here. It's the flaws of the Witcher 2 that keep it from achieving 4+ stars. As a game, one that seeks to entertain before all else, it falters in some niggling, but persistent issues. Some are engine-related: Doors only opening for one person at a time is silly; looting crates can be awkward depending on the angle you're facing; some audio drop-ins and drop-outs; persistent mouse lag on game menus, etc. More importantly, some are design related: 1) While I appreciate the aspect of Geralt having to prepare ahead of time for battles, you often initiate combat without warning and without time for preparation, not without reloading a quick save you made yourself (not enough checkpoints). I don't mind having to drink potions before battle, just give me better indication for when I'm going to fight. 2) A very attractive and mostly functional menus, but 'mostly' can be improved. Many have complained about this too, so I won't reiterate as it wasn't a huge issue. 3) A very attractive and somewhat functional map. Sometimes the waypoints get confusing (Do I go to point A or point B first?) or don't update properly (I thought I was just at point A?). 4) Though I suspect Version 2.0 alleviated some of this, much of the game's mechanics can still be poorly explained (this is where the "oldschool RPG" cred comes in, I suppose) Concluding: For everything it does wrong, TW2 does two if not three things right. It is still a wonderful game, and one that with much more QA testing could be excellent.

I can remember there was a time in my life where I considered myself an RPG fanatic. I played WoW, Final Fantasy, and a few others. Unfortunately, my obsession with the RPG dissolved over the years, as the FPS genre crept its way into my gaming nerve. No more than 6 months ago, I went and purchased another trophy for my "RPG" collection, in an attempt to revitalize the same feelings of exploration and mysticism that I once experienced all those years ago. It was The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I dumped a solid 100+ hours, questing, starting new characters, trying different factions, different classes and races, the list goes on. I could say that my old RPG itch had been scratched. Having set Skyrim aside, convinced that I had played a reasonable amount, optimistic that is was the single greatest game I had ever played, I moved on. Now, after 6 months and a steam summer sale, I'm absolutely positive that Skyrim IS NOT the single greatest game I have ever played. The Witcher 2: Assassin's of Kings has to be, by a landslide of a margin, the single most enriching, intriguing, and rewarding game I have had the pleasure of playing. To start of, the Witcher 2 is something of a gaming marvel, in that it takes nearly every element of the RPG experience that I have grown to love over the years, and combine them together, into some sort of all knowing, all seeing RPG hybrid god. There's an eloquence in the Witcher 2's gameplay and presentation that has been sorely lacking since that days of FFX (For me at least). From the real time/slow down/pick your weapon, action, to the diverse and intelligent dialogue, CD Projekt Red's attention to deal and dedication to telling a gripping and down right fun to play story really shows. Perhaps the second greatest aspect of the game stems from the previously mentioned dialogue. Every character within the game, major and minor alike, brings something fresh, unique, and often times unsettling to the table. There's no shortage of deep, complex characters to read into and attempt to understand. I often times found myself, scrolling through journal entry after journal entry, enticed by the need to understand the characters and their stories. Where other game have lost me in the past, The Witcher beautiful integrates into its experience. I can't count the number of times I'd skip over storyline base books in Skyrim, while during my time with the witcher, I'd take no greater pleasure than reading line after line of character development and text. It's a fine testament to the games expertly crafted storytelling. Finally, it is important to note that the game looks absolutely gorgeous. I can remember telling myself "Look at the mountain! It's so lush and beautiful" in Skyrim (And skyrim's graphics aren't half bad) But compared to the rendered magic that CD Projekt Red has given us, the distinction between "not half bad graphics" and borderline photo realism starts to become more and more apparent. This game is truly a sight to behold (even if you can't run it on make settings) The leaps and bounds that CD Projekt Red took after running The Witcher on the aurora (Morrowind) engine, to creating their own, that looks great and plays great, is staggering. That being said, this game is not for everyone. At times, I found myself dying to what seemed like insurmountable odds (I'm looking at you Nekkars), only to retry again and again, however, the Witcher 2 was never met with frustration, but with analysis. “What did I do wrong?” “What should I do differently?” “How can I mix things together to achieve a different outcome?” It forced me to slow down and think about fights, not just running head first into the fray.. The game takes a level of patience to understand and play efficiently. It's not something most people (if anyone) can just jump right into and play flawlessly. There's a noticeable level of finesse that evolves from the trial and error of the game. This leads the game to have a generally slower pace than most RPGs (and most games in general) on the market right now. It's not a bad thing, it's just something to bare in mind if you're migrating from Call of Duty or something over to this (Not sure why you would though.....) On an artistic side note, the soundtrack for the game is jaw droppingly epic, mixing both the tried and true medieval-esc orchestral arrangements, to the heavy metal accompaniments, the game covers a wide spectrum of music from emotional to rip roaring. It’s a lot of fun to listen to, and it further enhances the experience. It's been awhile since I've sat down at a computer (or gaming console) and felt the urge to play a game to it’s fullest extent. No skipping quests, not skipping cutscenes, not leaving any stone unturned. It feeds that RPG obsession that I’ve hungered for so long like nothing before. It's a challenging game, but one that rewards its players, and the sum of it's parts are 100% absolutely worth the price of admission. If you're a fan of RPGs, check this game out. If you're a fan of well crafted and intelligent games, check this game out. An absolutely treat that should be enjoyed by as many people as possible.

After enjoying Witcher EE, Witcher 2 is kind of a letdown, and it comes down to minute number tweaks and crippling controls. Witcher EE delivers based on classic RPGs, its weakness is based on limited tech of the generation, in turn W2 has amazing tech and some of the best art in the genre, but has terrible controls and an overall unbalanced game play. Where it goes wrong is breaking the game flow in favor of challenge, this is fine for those who play this game for that. Challenge is really not the generes focus, exploration, character progression, collecting crafting and enjoying the setting and story is. There are 1000s of better games for challenge, and 1000s of better challenge than games in general. My guess is someone on the team got infected by the Soulshype of the time, and decided to push for a selfish design, only to cater to hardcores. The incosistent difficulty, and the arcade controls with really bad angle connects and delays break this gem sadly, it is a shame the artists are disrespected with such a shoddy gameplay design. Artwork 10/10 Gameplay design: 2/10 Controls: 1/10

Every gripe I have about this game so far (I'm only on chapter 2) is covered by TigerLord's excellent and comprehensive review. Fans of the first Witcher game (which I consider to be a 10/10; and possibly my favorite game of all time) should take special note of his review, which covers some of the unwelcome changes beautifully. I'm not at all accustomed to needing a gamepad to play PC games, but I bought one especially for this game. I simply could not adapt to the console-style combat with my keyboard. I've never really owned a console past Ninitendo GC, so I've essentially been learning to use the modern dual-axis control system while trying to enjoy the game. It's been distracting to say the least. All in all, I'm really happy with the game. It's much prettier than Witcher 1, they just altered the gameplay to be more console-oriented, and it's a bit sloppy and frustrating at times. If you haven't played the first game, get it immediately (I envy first-time players). Witcher 1 will have you aching for Witcher 2 in no time.

First off this may be a non issue for most, but it's a literal game breaker for me. I'm disabled, my left hand does not have the manual dexterity to use WASD as standard movement, to get around this, I typically remap movement keys to the numpad 8, 4, 2, 6, keys. as the spacing is more forgiving and can actually work for me, but TW2, doesn't even allow mapping of keys to the numpad, this is the first, and ONLY game I've had that happen with, when the controls ARE remapable, I'm not sure why this is. Also, before anyone points out about the gamepad option I have a game pad, but it's not a xbox360 controller for windows, not sure why, but that seems to be the Only gamepad TW2 will recognize, in short I paid 50 dollars for a game I can't use..while I applaud the lack of DRM... I would really NEED an update where I can use the numpad to assign movement keys if I'm to be able to play this at all.