I played The Witcher on and off, and finally finished it 6 months back. I like the feel of the first, story, characters, but the game part was lacking. The Witcher 2 fixes all of these things, offering even more compelling story. It's more balanced, more thought out. There not as much back and forth as in the first game. Everything just is it should be. The Witcher 2 is harder game than it's predecessor. Lack of real group sword style from the beginning make mobs far more potent if they are in a pack. You are more inclined to use your other skills to survive which is only good. The story is well written, voice actors are superb - there isn't much to complain. The tone is of course very similar to The Witcher, but in this game everything seems more refined - everything. I already said the game is hard - it truly is. Even on normal, me a seasoned gamer had few situations where I had to replay those sections multiple times. Most of the times this was my lack of preparation, but equal part those sections being hard. There is quite clear divide between the sides you can choose, but their intentions aren't so clear. Your actions will affect the story, constantly. It's surprising in how many ways the story can pan out even in the first few hours of playing. Not as long as the first game in the series, The Witcher - but that's not a real downside. A lot of The Witcher's playtime came from running back and forth, there is much less of that in The Witcher 2. It's an adventure like no other :)
