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.
