First the bad. The game is a bit dated, and the combat could have used a bit more polish. When playing a game, the first thing that I always ask myself is, "are you having fun?". If you like dark British humor and wonderfully ridiculous weapons you will have a ton of fun in this game. The levels are challenging and it's worth a play through just for the cutscenes if you don't fancy a shark launcher that has stuck in my memory as the coolest thing in gaming history for many years now. Not for everyone, nothing is, but I dare you not to have a real laugh at some point during the campaign.
First, let me say I love The Witcher series, but I love the series starting with TW2. The first Witcher game is more of a test of dedication. It begs you not to play in almost every way, but some people are just gluttons for punishment. It's overly complex where it doesn't need to be, and overly simplified in things you have to do a lot, like fighting. The voice acting is terrible, the character reactions are off, and the narrative drags in multiple spots way longer than is tolerable. I genuinely think that those who praise it are either elitist or have Stockholm Syndrome. However, without The Witcher we wouldn't have the other two wonderful games that were tailored off of the feedback from it. While I may not like it or recommend it, it was the seed that grew the greatest RPG series we are likely to ever see, and for that it deserves something. Not a playthrough, but at least a watch on YouTube.
After playing The Witcher 1, I almost walked away from the series altogether. I'm extremely happy that I gave the sequel a chance. I will say that TW2 does have quite the learning curve starting out, much like the first, but after investing the time to get the hang of things the game becomes an amazingly immersive experience that you can be proud to get lost in. I'm about 8 hours in and so far I've enjoyed every moment. The lack of arbitrary morality (good/bad) is amazing. For once it is the player that decides in the moment what to do and simply lives with the consequences of that particular action. You aren't 'bad' because you did a bad thing, and you aren't 'good' for doing benevolent things, you are simply a person making choices. I have always hated stealth with a passion, but I was so into my character that I intentionally cleared an entire dungeon with stealth when I could have gutted everyone and been on my merry. That this game could invest me enough in my character to feel that killing needlessly would ruin him is truly the greatest compliment I could ever give. *Unless you are an extreme Witcher fan, I don't think anyone should be subjected to the first game. You can watch the story from the game on YouTube and it will still be painful, but you'll be all caught up in a couple hours.
