The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

Bought this game ten days before the Summer sale. Still totally worth it.

Best game ever.

This game was as beautiful as the first, and always left me wanting more. The only small problem I had was the hours of gameplay - didn't seem like enough to me, because everything suddenly became abit abrupt. But, still, well up there as one of the best RPGs.

In 2007 little known Polish developert CD Projekt RED burst onto the scene with The Witcher. While the game had many flaws it also did a lot of things right, and the things it did right, it did really really right. The Witcher was a breath of fresh air inthe increasingly stale fantasy RPG genre. In 2011 CD Projekt RED followed up with The Witcher 2. The sequel kept everything that was great about the first game and addressed virtually all the problems. Back again was Andrzej Sapkowski's terrific low fantasy world. His world and The Witcher games alike break many of the fantasy tropes that dominate the genre. While the vast majority of fantasy RPGs use some variation of the tried and true (and rather stale) formula of noble humans, elves, and dwarves banding together to fight some ancient evil awakened The Witcher 2 instead thrusts you into a dirty, corrupt world full of political intrigue, power struggles, debauchery, and discrimination. Elves and dwarves live in poverty in the downtrodden slums of human cities, and those that choose not to subject themselves to such a life are terrorists slaughtering human villagers in their "fight for freedom". Human nobles of the northern kingdoms squabble among themselves and plot assassinations to gain power while the southern Nilfgaard Empire bides its time to strike at them again. Sorceresses and mages plot behind the backs of the very rulers they are sworn to serve. It's a dark, grimy world and The Witcher 2 shields you from none of its ugliness. While many developers have claimed in the past that choices would really matter in their games, the changes these choices bring usually winds up being superficial (a cutscene here, a few lines of dialogue there). In the Witcher 2 choices really do matter, in fact there is an entire chapter (about a third of the game) that is completely different depending on some earlier choices. Different location, different NPCs, different quests. Talk about replay value! What's more, the choices are difficult and not black and white, but shades of grey, Also the choices may have unforseen consequences some of which do not occur until much later. The fighting system, which was one of the weakest aspects of the first game, has been completely overhauled. The combat is now fast and exciting and there are many ways to go about it depending on what skills you selected to build your character around. Visually this is one of the most amazing looking games ever made. The graphics (provided you have a rig powerful enough) are jaw dropping, the animations silky smooth, the effects amazing. What's more the level of detail is incredibly impressive, from the architecture, to the flora, to the clothing, jewelry, and insignia that characters are wearing. The music is great, the sound effects meaty and impressive, and the voice acting is top notch all the way around. What's more all the character, even lesser important ones have a personality and you grow attached to them or to hate them. In conclusion this is one of the most impressive games ever made, not just in the RPG genre. This is truly a remarkable achievement and one of the best RPGs ever made.

After playing Witcher 1 and putting up with the gameplay at times and loving its amazing story, I decided I would buy Witcher 2 after beating it and I definitely do not regret it. The game itself is extremely polished which is definitely a huge plus over the original which had huge overhauls and still wasn't polished in a ton of areas. The game's combat is nothing like the original's in any way and it compares more to games like Demon's Souls or Gothic 2 in that it is more skill and action based than the original's time based combat. The combat feels perfect in how it flows due to the responsive controls and the variation in it due in part to the improved magic signs that are a lot more useful than in the first game because you are forced to do more than spam the strongest spells. The only issue with the combat is the difficulty, due to the difficulty you have to resort to doing things that mostly keep you out of combat such as spamming your shield spell quen and roll dodges waiting for an opening just to attack without instantly dying. Because the combat is so hard, it makes the balance of the game seem unforgiving and can be extremely frustrating at times. The story of the game is very compelling and is introduced very well even if you have not played the first game or have read the books. Coming from someone who has not the read books the game really does its job with introducing the characters and giving you a connection with them. It helps that the game has the the books' lore as the game has many items to read such as in game books or the bestiary to read which expand on the story and make you feel like it is a real world. The biggest complaint about the story other reviewers seemed to have is the ending, I liked that the ending tied up many loose ends but it did leave a lot to be desired and I cannot wait for a sequel to expand upon it. Though the game has some issues with the difficulty and balance, it is an amazing game that I can most certainly recommend be bought at full price. The Witcher 2 is probably my favorite game of the year thus far and I don't believe any game other than Deus Ex: Human Revolution can hope to top it.