this game represents the ground on which the witcher 3 will be made, so much of it is resembling its mechanics and gameplay designs as well as the narrative strucure. it greatly reinvents its prequel's game design in every almost every way though not always in a better way, for as much jank you can find in some aspects in the first game this one corrects them wether it be in combat, stealth, customization, dialogue and cutscenes. it also fumbles on other aspects like alchemy and the potion system, you can't eat food anymore for some reason, you can't drink potions whenever and whenever, and i also noticed that while the combat is improved it's also stiff and janky and suffers from a bad input lag. I can't quite deduce wether this game's story is better than the first because although this one has a more intriguing sequential story with lore revelations that keep you on your feet, the first game i think had a better flow to it from chapter to chapter, the characters you meet are more organically explored and developed whereas this one seem to do a lot of skipping in that regard. in any case it remains a solid entry and compared to the jump from this one to the sequel I think its biggest strength is in how reinventing it is of the first game's formula.
masterful storytelling, janky ass gameplay mechanics but they're fun once you get used to them, details are great and worth finding, but i absolutely loathe the way a certain chapter overstays its welcome, this game suffers from a bit of bloat and drag when it comes to mission design. oh and the music is awesome as always.
