巫师2：国王刺客加强版

I almost quit Witcher 2 after tedious bossfight early on. What a mistake that would have been! It is an excellent RPG, which manages to be mature in terms of content and delivery. The reason it's short of 5 stars for me is that some early bosses are not very well done (I had a bug preventing me from beating the first and the second had bad scripting in my opinion) and that the last Act doesn't hold up to the rest of the game. However, if you like RPG in any way, shape or form this game is a must play!

I have been meaning to write this review for a while. I loved The Witcher. At a time when there when Bethesda was really the only other game in town, The Witcher managed to be new and interesting and really engaging. It wasn't perfect - the game had a lot of bugs and combat was only okay - but the narrative was superb and the setting was great. The Witcher 2 is interesting in that the combat, graphics, leveling and basic nuts and bolts have all been drastically changed and improved. The Witcher 2 has a really engaging and unique combat system that feel different from other games and, for me, feel more realistic and engaging. Leveling choices feel more important, and you definitely have a sense of character progression and development. While it takes a while to get used to, I ended up loving these changes to the series. Oh, and the game is gorgeous. Not just in its graphics, but in art design and the use of color in what is still a gritty, urban fantasy series. The narrative is also very good. I did feel that the first game told a more complete story, but I really respect the fact that a person can have two wildly divergent experiences based on their own decisions (especially in regards to Act II). But while the story does have a definitive end, they developers were also setting themselves up for a third game. I of course desperately want them to make it, so that I can continue, but the first game does shine a bit stronger here. There are still some bugs, but the enhanced edition cleared a lot of them up. Its not as bad as, say, Fallout: New Vegas, but it might bother some players. Overall, this is a great game, with a unique feel, complex game play and a good story. Fantasy RPG lovers need to play this game.

Graphics - Huge jump up from TW1 in particular with vastly improved character models and animations, something a bit strange about the lighting or colour palette can't quite put my figure on I didn't particularly like though. Ran fine for me no major bugs or crashes to report. Story - Focused on politics and intrigue departing a bit from the Witcher's path narrative, again avoids clear villains and consequence free decisions with few right or wrong decisions just actions and consequences. Didn't quite enjoy the central story thread and antagonist as much as the first game. One major branching story I was happy with my choice, found the main companion and their growth along with your actions brilliantly done and really enjoyed the location and themes explored in chapter 2. Gameplay - Departing from the rhythm based combat of the TW1 for a more generic third person action combat system. Found the combat fairly bland and unengaging . Was quite difficult at the start but became quite easy by the end, this was playing on hard difficulty. I basically just kept up the shield spell and spammed roll constantly and enemies couldn't damage me. Feel like the talent system is a bit of a waste or at least in my play-through didn't feel like there were many really viable options. I though the potion system was a major step back from the first game I loved the alchemy in The Witcher 1 but here you cant consume potions in battle which right of the bat drastically reduces their usefulness and the potions themselves are much more limited, don't have the same sense of exploration you had with mixing them in TW1. Conclusion: Only 3 chapters with 3 locations although there is plenty to do. I again played over 50 hours and enjoyed myself although this time did feel it starting to drag near the end. A good game and would recommend for fans of TW1,its certainly more modern and probably more familiar to most although personally I didn't quite enjoy it as much as TW1.

My old review is still present under this edit. Let us just say that the game made a lot of progress between the first time I tried it and a few months later. I sent a few emails to GOG to edit this review at the time (years ago) but the process then was tedious. It was still a pretty honnest review of what the game was back then, but it is not that anymore. Now it is a pretty good game, but you probably laready know about this. It is still hard and a bit frustrating at times (also I got old) and it is still a bit frustrating that you are one of the most fragile creature in this univers, at least at the start of the game. BUT it does not prevent the game from being quite enjoyable. The story is good, there is a lot of replayability (actually if you want the full picture on all that happens you need to replay - I think you need three full runs to get a decent picture of the situation) So now a good game, enjoyable and captivating, even if you have the reflex of an old man. Thanks to GOG for making this edit possible. ============================== I bought this game on GOG because it was DRM free, and that is a nice thing. I hate games that requires you to install tons of crap on your computer in order to work. So I thought it was a good idea to reward the initiative. Now for the game itself. I did not like it, at all. Here is what I felt of the game : In Witcher 2 you play the role of a crippled weakling whose delusion is to think he is a mosnter killer. Basically anyone in this world is way stronger than you. It takes you about seven to eight swords slash to bring down an unarmoured skinny bandit, while you can wistand about three or four from the same bandit. Most tougher opponents will bring you down in two to three blows. Geralt as many handicaps, the most frustrating being that he can hardly open a door unless he is at the right distance and at the right angle. This can leave him struggling at the front of an Inn for as much as twenty second while you try to gently make him take a walk around the door to position yourself correctly. Geralt also as a very bad vision, its depth perception seems to be completely off for example. When in a fight he will instinctivly choose the furthest less dangerous opponent among the pack. and jump at him (only to immediatly change target unless you lock your opponent at that moment). Doing this he will land right in the middle of the pack only to be hacked down since he is a weakling (most peasants, low soldier and even girls can survive for quite a long time in the middle of a pack of monster, Geralt cannot last more than 10 sec). Geralt also seems to be afflicated by some grave psychomotor afflication, once he starts a move he will finish it. If you click on the mouse button more than once and the first blow is countered, Geralt wil refuse to try escape or parry until the complete combo is done. This makes "strike once then run away" the most powerfull attack in the game. Expect for one detail, Geralt cannot back properly, if you tell him to move out he will also immediatly turn around, leaving his back open to enemies (who will then cause double damage). So you end up doing some kind of an awkward crab dance trying to keep one enemy in focus while praying not to get surrounded. Another technique consist in laying lots of traps, kitting enemies into them then runnig to the point where they will give up the chase and starting over. In both case you will have a lot of fun and feel like a real hero.... I stopped playing the game with the fight against the Kayran. The first time I fought the Kayran I would kill me in two attacks. So I went back to an earlier save, did all the side quests, upgraded my stuff to the maximum possible, gulped quite a few potion and then ... the Kayran would kill me in two attacks. After learning patterns by heart and slicing quite a few tentacles, I noticed a little something : a QTE challenge. It is quite hard to miss, because QTE informations are displayed in bright orange, so it really stands out against the bright orange Kayran skin, the bright orange herbs or the bright orange reflexion on the water of the bright orange sky. Add to this the fact that the camera is constantly changing against your will (new angle when you cut a tentacle, new angle when the Kayran strikes the bridge, new angle when you are done cutting a tentacle, new angle when the QTE comes) only to come back in the worst position making you go exactly at the place you were trying to avoid when the angle changed. Al in all it is painfull. If you try to do anything heroic, you get chopped down in a flash, and if you play to survive, you get bored. None the less you will end up saving a lot, by fear that something horrible (two bandits, including one with a buckler for example) might happen. I got bored....

This is prime example of a great game that was revamped instead of tweaked. The original wasn't perfect but it was still a great game. Unfortunately, the developers decided to rework almost everything and it's very obvious that this is no longer a PC exclusive game. They made extensive use of cut scenes which can be very irritating when they are in the middle of a fight with multiple enemies! Not all is bad though, the signs are a little more helpful in battle. Alchemy is not as complicated and more useful. I know I won't scare away any of the original Witcher fans with this review but if you are new to the series I can't fully recommend it.