This is a rare if not unique game, especially in the RPG genre, in that this is a seriously challenging game (but always exciting, often moving, or wryly humourous). It also allows the player to be an adult, swearing, sexuality, violence and moral ambiguity create a realism that fits what you might expect from a bawdy, brutal but beautiful medieval world view. I respectfully disagree with those who say this game is mysogynist or only appealing to men (I am female); the player controls the Witcher Geralt who chooses what actions or allegiances to make, he is largely what you make him, and he can express disgust or anger at the corruptness or cruelty he has to deal with. Above all he is by nature and profession (a human mutant monster killer) and is usually non-judgmental, he is often feared and disliked as he is both human AND non-human. This forms the basis of much of the moral ambiguity of the game, as Geralt sees both sides of the human/non-human racism. Your/Geralt's task is to choose "the lesser evil"; the world isn't saved, people don't always live happily ever after, characters have their own ethics and opinions and are usually out for themselves. The game is ravishingly beautiful, environments are filled with cinematic detail and light effects, characterisation and voice acting is excellent. The soundtrack is absolutely brilliant, adding enormously to the experience, and good enough for separate listening. The story is complex, well paced, and exciting, but you may often need to look up the in-game journal to remember who everyone is, and what is happening, it can be confusing but nevertheless this does not ever (for me) detract from the enjoyment of your Geralt's story. The combat is fun, Geralt's development is how you choose to combine swordplay, alchemy or magic abilities, an open ended choice as you cannot learn everything in a single play-through. The difficulty levels posed some problems for me (I died quite frequently, but I'm ok with that!) in that while easy is very easy, the prologue and boss fights are still pretty hard for less experienced players (like me), but I wouldn't say this is too much of a problem, you can easily adjust the difficulty level from the menu. A few minor gripes is you have no storage facility, you can't compare what you are wearing/using at vendors, takes a while to fish out junk inventory, and alchemy potions need resetting from the default option every time. I also found it easier to hone combat skills in chapter 1 rather than the prologue. Side quests fit very well into the game, if you do them all, and follow the different story paths available to you, this is a huge game with many hours of play, and contributes to the immersive feeling. Also, more good news is generous guide, map, soundtrack cd etc in physical edition, no DRM, no costly dlc (Personally, I like to buy a whole game, dlc should be free, I'll happily pay for expansions if the game is good). This is great value for money, I'll be replaying it for a while yet. This game shows what can be done with this media, not perfect but pretty close, congratulations to the developers, more please!
