The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

I REALLY REALLY hate the Quick Time Events (QTE). Having to rely on hand-eye coordination and twitch muscle reflexes should be left to "shooter" games. Skyrim and Fallout have vastly superior game interfaces. Perhaps I am too accustomed to those great games. The play-structure resembles Mass Effect in it's linear structure and hallway like paths. However, it is an extremely pretty game and the voice acting (in English) is stellar. If it were not for the QTE nonsense I would give it 5 stars. It loses at least one for the annoyance factor.

Witcher 2 is a tremendous upgrade from the first game if it goes for graphics and combat system. And although I've enjoyed this game by far, I've enjoyed Witcher 1 more. W2 goes two ways, so in order to get full perspective you'll have to play it twice. Which is a good thing for people who enjoy replaying their titles. There are two secondary characters who are opposing each other in a very colourful manner (Roche and Iorweth). Watching these two "exchange" words is a pleasure in itself. They both have different agendas and it's up to you what to do about it. This part of the game focuses a lot on politics, which again is a good thing, as this aspect of life is so rarely reflected in action-adventure-rpg games. The plot is nicely done, and you will yet again be forced to make some hard moral decisions. The inventory is a mess. Literally you'll have to spend some time to get it all organized in your head. Combat can be glitchy sometimes, but all in all - the game is very enjoyable. PS.: And Vernon is one sick son of a mother. He must have some +100 charisma though, for I find it hard not to like him. ;)

bought this retail upon release, just rebought it on sale because i liked it so much and not experienced the extended edition content(a free update btw) so that tells you a little i think of how much i liked this game. its an rpg that doesn't treat you like a child, it has adult theme's and politics but still retains the wonder and magic of a fantasy realm which isn't easy to pull off

A Hero? Pfff yeah right! A Killer? Perhaps.... A Witcher?......Bingo. 2 is better than 1 The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings is the sequel to the first installment by CD Projekt Red. Making drastic if not numerous changes on the original. With a much more expansive open-world, compared to the first a very large decrease in invisible walls, much more gestures when talking to the NPC's wherever Geralt travels, fast paced combat, no more of the ridiculous click to win like in the first. The styles of fast, group, and strong have all been discarded in favor of just fast and strong attacks with either sword. Dodging is more tactical and in fact encouraged due to Geralt not being someone who can roll over an enemy A.S.A.P. Potions make a return, as well as signs, oh and armor and weapons are even more extensive and wide ranging than the select amount you gain from the first game. All in all, the second game represents more in some ways the transformation CD Projekt Red has done, and this is displayed by Geralt's ageing self. The game in so many ways becomes unhindered by its limitations of old(usage of the old Bioware engine for the first.) Quests are even more diverse and can take a while to figure out which one you would like to do(what I mean here is there are a load of quests you can start and optional that can converge, so u can do a part of a quest here while also doing another part of another quest here and perhaps another). It's a complicated jumble of chemicals mixed into one potion with a wide variety of effects!(Get the pun?)

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.