Customer Reviews

The Witcher Enhanced

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

Were I a member of the gaming Industry right now, I would be shamed to be taught what gaming should look and feel like and how it should be marketed by a small Eastern European company. Who of the multi-billion gaming "giants" ever went back to improve a released game? Yet, there you have it: thanks to CDPROJECT gaming as an art-form is still alive and kicking!

This was the most awaited fantasy cRPG in the past 3 years. Not only did the original deliver, but even more work has gone into truly improving it.
THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL cRPG GAMES I HAD EVER PLAYED - AND NOW IT IS GORGEOUS!

The environments are detailed, realistic, and can be experienced from up close. Grass, flowers and tree branches moved in both FABLE and TITAN QUEST as well; these, however, seem so true I caught myself reaching for my...antihistamines! Weather affects and day-night alterations (you have to see the elongating shadows to believe them!) are just gorgeous! More importantly, these are not just eye-candy: certain NPCs and monsters appear only when the correct combination of time-of-day and weather coincide...The horizon is far and the clouds move in endless variations. It reminded me of the sky of the original UNREAL, another visually ground-breaking game at its time. PURE VISUAL MAGIC!

The character (Geralt) can master both sword-fighting and magic spells (what is known as a Warlock). To some die-hard RPG fans this may seem like heresy, nevertheless, keep in mind that multi-classing is not unheard off. The movement repertoire for both practices are impressively designed. Especially the sword-fighting, it is at par to any console action game. And the spells (both offensive and defensive ones) are not less impressive.

Free roaming? Yes and no. One can decide which parts of the map he will visit but loading is still needed to travel even annoyingly short distances. And since quests and side-quest still have to be completed, yes, eventually a subtle, yet ever present, directionality is present.
Looting and bartering? Aaah...yes, sort of. You practically never change the sword you start off with (although you do get to improve its abilities), whereas good armor is only a little easier to come by compared to PLANESCAPE. On the upside, you get to gamble, have romantic relationships (FABLE was full of great ideas after all!) and bribe for information, so trinkets have other uses as well.
Detailed character modifiers? Nothing like the AD&D rules. You gain talents (gold, silver & bronze) which you can spend to improve your fighting or magical abilities. Pretty much like the DIABLO or the TITAN QUEST abilities systems.

So, apart for the slight action-cRPG handicap, I have only two other objections. First, the...camera placement. Once more the atrocious Aurora Engine (remember NWN2...?) will keep auto-placing it where it is bound to get on your nerves - as it targets your character even if that is not the most logical option. Yes, this has indeed improved compared to the original but one cannot teach an old dog new tricks.
Second, the controls. They need getting used to as the fighting combos are still easily ruined by clicking out of sync. You do eventually get the hold of it, however it keeps glitching.

Nevertheless, its shortcomings are not enough to diminish the breath of fresh air this release brings to the scene. The Enhanced edition not only is a truly reworked game but it also comes full with detailed Manuals, beautiful Maps and all the extras that games used to come with in the good old days...

Whereas the BALDUR's GATES saga was story-heavy but (by today standards) visually wanting and the NEVERWINTER NIGHTS series was found, well, wanting in all aspects, THE WITCHER is the dream cRPG that BIOWARE was supposed to be capable of releasing all along but never did - and its current EA bedfellows surely put a stop to such aspirations now. That game, however, is finally here - and not from whom you would expect.
A tip of my hat to CDPROJECT for keeping the ART-FORM of Gaming alive. Well done indeed!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

You are Geralt, the wife wolf, biologically enhanced with super reflexes and healing powers, magic, alchemy and the sword are at your disposal, and there are monsters everywhere, which is good for you, it's your to kill them.

The first "Witcher" released last year turned a lot of heads and turned a lot of gamers off as well. Sure the graphics are hyper-realistic, the fighting system dynamic blending RPG and Action together in a way similar but superior to "Diablo" or "Neverwinter Knights" and the story is epic, complex and ripe with side-quest, complex characters and decisions that really make a difference in how the game unfolds, but the glitches. The first Witcher was a mess of ultra long loading times, cloned NPG's, annoyingly repetitive and stifled dialogue that cloaked the brilliant game and sent some gamers back to the store for refunds.

The new "Witcher" is free to customers with the original disk, I opted however to buy it again. Why? Because the "Enhanced Edition" comes with a 112 pg guide (which is unfortunately small enough to fit in a DVD box) as well as a nice fold-out map. A game editor, new quest and two CD's of music from or inspired by plus a print book of a short story from which the game and characters arose. Again, all this is available in digital form for free to those who purchased the old version, but I wanted the print copies.

So, the pros? Well, the loading times are vastly cut, but the game takes up to a WHOPPING 13 GIGS of HD space and a minimum of 9. Most of the dialogue has been re-written and re-recorded to great effect, this is all good. The cut scenes are still boring to watch, though a little more movement has been added. Overall, the presentation and loading issues are all solved and extra quest are always good and welcome. If you're in the middle of the game you can update now and keep playing your old saved games, you don't have to start over. They also added and auto-sort system for you items and alchemy ingredients.

The Cons? The game takes up 13 gigs of space on a full install and still requires the disk to run. The game claims to be optimized for x64 and dual processors, but I have to make sure everything on my notebook is shut down to run the game with decent frame rates, version 1.3 ran at a better frame rate for me. This version seems to take more resources, I don't know why.

Now, what systems am I running on? I have two. The first is my notebook. I run a Turion x64 dual-core @1.8 X 2 ghz, 4 Gig 4-4-4-12 ram, 7200rpm sata 100gig hd, on a 1680 X 1050 hi-def monitor but I have the Witcher settings @ 1280 X 800. Runs 25 - 45 FPS as long as all other programs are shut down, including the side-bar and back-ground programs.

My other system is a custom desk-top I built myself.(updated 10/20/09) I have an ASUS M3N HT DX MOBO with a Phenom Black x64 2.6ghz true quad-core, 8 gig 5-5-5-15 ram and 2 GTX250 SLI cards with 2gig DDR4 Ram. Running at full graphics at 1440 X 900 resolution the game is smooth and frame rates are 60fps steady. Still, the video cut-scenes look jagged (there are verticle lines on the people.)

As for the gameplay? This looks a lot like a "Diablo" style game, but it's not. "The Witcher" is a game about story and characters, an old school RPG. The Witcher is what gamers who are tired of MMOG and FPS games are looking for. This is definitely a game for fans of "Final Fantasy" or even "Zelda". This game is an addiction, it sucks you right in and keeps you hooked. The game has three levels of difficulty and I highly suggest starting with "easy" so you can focus on the story and exploration and save the harder levels for you second time around. Why? Because the harder levels require more alchemy and fighting skills, it's longer and more frustrating and if you want to experience the narrative without being hindered by trying to become stronger and better stocked constantly, then easy is the way to go. I also prefer the OTS mode, I use an optical track-ball mouse that gives me great 360 degree movement.

Overall, excellent game, just exceptional, but a huge resource hog that needs a powerful PC to look really good and will translate well to a PS3 if they ever go that way. If you like RPG's then this is the must own this year, if not this decade.

This is the best cRPG of all time. No joke. With the Enhanced Edition out, the flaws that detracted from the gameplay, and gave games like NWN, (only because of the vast user-created modules), and Planescape a chance to compete, there are no longer any RPGs in the Witcher's class, let alone with a similar grade. Okay, bad analogy, but it works.

You play as Geralt, a white-haired witcher, (read- monster slayer), who has lost his memory, and has apparently been raised from the dead. Despite this non-original start, the rest of the game seems to go out of its way to make up for it. (Don't worry about spoilers, you find this out in the opening cutscene.) The sheer enormousness of the world, and the multitude of NPCs, (which is my one and only gripe with the Witcher, that their aren't enough models, and you end up having someone talking to themselves), that you interact with on a frequent basis, makes you feel like you know them.

The world that The Witcher is set in is a dark and gritty world, with racism and genocide in it, along with language that would curl your mother's hair, and quite a few unnecessary sex scenes. Pretty much every woman you meet is trying to jump your bones. That said, there is a believable reason for this promiscuity, besides simply attracting the 13-year-old Nerd demographic of gamers, which, however, I will not share here, as it would be a moderate spoiler, and some people might not like me for that.

The fights are simply awesome, whether you are chopping a character's head off, or slitting his throat from a stranglehold, or repeatedly stabbing him with a dagger while he writhes on the ground, well, you get my point. The combos make combat interesting, while not too hard like some button-mashing excuses for gameplay that pass as good RPGs nowadays, (Read- Too Human), and yet keeps the combat from becoming a simple point and click, (Neverwinter Nights).

The plot is incredible, and I had to play through it twice before I understood all of its ramifications.

The fact that CDRP took the time to re-release the entire game, fixing all of its flaws, and most importantly, ALLOW ANYONE WITH THE ORIGINAL GAME TO UPGRADE TO THE ENHANCED EDITION FOR NO COST, says a lot positive about this small company.

This brings me to a practical point. If you want to save $7, buy the original Witcher, then go the site and download the EE for free. Of course, then you don't get the EE's extras, but now its up to you whether they are worth $7.

Back to the final component of this review, the D'jinni adventure creator, which to my knowledge, has already been used to create 3 add-on modules, (granted they are the official ones, but it shows what can be done), and given the Witcher's enormous fanbase, i wouldn't be surprised to see something like NWN's immense and varied community of module builders spring up for the Witcher, so that you can have limitless adventures playing as Geralt, or even as another character, perhaps one of your own making, in future modules.

Fun- 6/5
Overall Rating- 5/5

As a postscript, some people have been spreading the rumor that this game comes with DRM, its not true, well, not in the way you are thinking. It comes with Tages, which is a program that is designed only to check to make sure the CD is in the drive before you start the game up, to prevent cracked copies, and is nothing like an invasive protection system such as Starforce. I am pretty sure the new patch even removed this feature, but don't quote me on that.

I was about 10 days into casual playing through the original Witcher and as soon as I heard there was an Enhanced version to be released I stopped playing (somewhere in the swamp level). As soon as pre-order was available I placed an order.

UPS dropped off the package right before lunch time today and I quickly (as quickly as one can install 13GB worth of game) installed it. I've been glued to it since then. The game is MUCH improved: better voice acting, a more polished feel to the interface, and best of all: FASTER LOAD TIMES!!

The Enhanced version actually comes with a LOT more than I was expecting. I would have been happy with a DVD and manual - There are two manuals, a sheet on how to install it, and 5 discs. One manual is a excerpt from Witcher book, the other is a full on game guide detailing levels and missions - just a quick thumb through it and it seems fairly detailed. There is also a map of the world - Just playing the first couple chapters of the original I had no idea that the world was that large.

The 5 discs are: game DVD, bonus DVD, making-of DVD, and two audio CDs.

I bought the original version of the game, and I'm more than thrilled to have also purchased the Enhanced version - this is a very nice upgrade to my newest favorite RP game.

I hated, hated, hated 'Aurora Engine', the very culprit that caused all the pain and disappointment I suffered for getting this game on the day of its inargural release last year. After having played through couple of chapters while mastering the art of profanity, I finally lost the will to play and gave up.

CD Projekt, to my pleasant surprise, eradicated as much mistakes they've made as possibly can without creating the game from ground up by this rare impressive CRPG collector's set exclusively for PC gamers in reminiscent of old school CRPG box sets like 'The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall', 'Ultima IX: The Dragon Edition', and 'Neverwinter Nights: The Limited Collector's Edition'.

Contents of the game are indeed outstanding, not seen in the present days. It contains the enhanced edition of the game that includes new translation and voice-over, better graphic and more animation, better in-game menu and inventory management, and extra missions and quests. It also comes with D'jinni Adventure Editor, the very construction set used to create the game by the development team. It also comes with 'Making-of' documentary, soundtrack, and music. They are spreaded over 5 discs. It goes even further by including full-fledged game guide, stand-alone story book, and maps along with manual. All of these for price of $40. Amongst all the overpriced ripoffs labeled as so-called collector's edition to make up for the higher-than-ever development cost released these days, this one actually is really worth it, even if you already purchased the original. Best of all, if you already purchased the previous version of the game, the new contents can be downloaded from the official website for absolutely free. If you are a fan though, this one is really worth re-purchasing.

Gone are the painfully long loading time, frame issue, and ugly bugs that marred the gameplay. I can't believe it's the same game. They really really cleaned up the game that wasn't really terrible to begin with. However the few flaws of the 'Aurora Engine' still come intact.

I hate Bioware Software for selling out to EA, but I hate them even more for 'Aurora Engine' and their similar counterparts used in such game as 'Neverwinter Nights', 'KOTOR', 'Jade Empire', and 'Mass Effect'. Back in the old days, Bioware's own classic 'Infinity Engine' used to create many CRPG classic such as 'Baldur's Gate' series and 'Planescape: Torment' was quite impressive and charming considering the technological limitation in the days when the art of video game was in its infancy. But to use isometric camera angle these days outside TBS / RTS / RTT games and Diablo-esque clickfast action RPG is just beyond obtuse. Although you get two more camera angles beside the isometric one, none of them are quite right in context of its combat mechanics. Refined and more responsive free-camera would have been much better than the one we have in the game.

Speaking of combat mechanics, if you click it once it, not only it doesn't do any damage but you are left vulnerable to the counter attack. You have to constantly chain combo. And the combo system is timing-based so instead of you putting the input directly at will to execute the combo, you solely have to rely on the signal on the screen to click the mouse. Very fresh idea to innovate CRPG combat, bad execution in my opinion.

But the biggest of all, as in all 'Bioware' games, you just don't feel like you are in the huge open world due to the modular nature of the engine. Well, the game world is actually quite huge but it is made up by all these small areas that are connected by the loading screens. The confined area that only have couple of exit points all connected by the loading screens, even if the loading time is very fast, isn't just immersive. Granted, even free-formed CRPG like 'Oblivion', 'Two Worlds', and 'Gothic' series all have hidden loading time but in those games you are not environmentally restricted except unclimbable high cliffs, and you don't see any loading screen. You can go anywhere anytime. Well, beside the fact that 'The Witcher' is structured in linearity plotwise, in this game, despite its beautiful graphic, if not overtly impressive, you can't even jump over the shallow fence to go to the area just around the corner. So you have to go all the way around and go through loading time to go to the same area right around the corner. Geralt is a master swordsman but he has to go around the stone right in front of him to continue his journey. You are not even allowed to set a pinky toe in the river, so what does he have to do? Go through a few loading screens to go right across the river of the same area. Every move you make feels so restrictive and confined. Tons of branching dialogue options that directly affect the outcome of your action and complicate plotline are constantly marred by the this shortcoming of the engine. Hopefully CD Projekt will create their own engine to put their impressive ideas into reality instead of using any Bioware leftovers.

But despite these several fatal flaws, this is a very strong and solid CRPG that presents great RPG experience set in morally ambiguous world rarely seen in video game these days with dynamic interaction and quest system within the confinement of linearity of the game. The game gives you more focused character-driven story than other free-formed CRPG. Music is excellent, and combat, when it works, is very fast-paced and exciting. This is very well-polished game and overall production values are very high. It's been a long long time since CRPG offers intelligent dialogues and this many choices that all have consequences.

If you are a long-time CRPG fans who long for the glory days of old-school classic CRPG, this is definitely a must-have game. After all there are not many good RPG comes to PC any longer.

'The Witcher: Enhanced Edition' is an impressive CRPG and an outstanding package.

Let's list the innovations/elements in this game that make it the best RPG, probably just a bit below Baldur's Gate 2, but obviously better or at the same level as Knights of the Old Republic, Diablo 2/3, or Neverwinter Nights.

1)You can choose three paths. In true role-playing form, the choice you make at one point in the game will show its consequences several hours into gameplay later. And the choices are not that minor either.

2)The game would also show you beautiful hand-drawn paintings of your past choices or current consequences. What game does this? All future RPGs should do this since it makes the games very immersive. There is no need for expensive and complicated cutscenes.

3)The intro and outro movies are the best, on par with 3D animated movies. Better than those by Blizzard's Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3. Just contrast the fighting movies of Illidaan/Arthas or Tyrael/Bhaal with this one.

4)Combat is motion-captured with real stuntmen and wire-fu, making it a pleasure to watch the fighting styles. Future role-playing games should do this. Contrast this with the fighting graphics of NWN (simple hitting of sword) or Diablo 3 (the barbarian just whirls around with whirlwind).

5)The music is orchestral and epic and is definitely one of the best in games. You wouldn't want to turn it off the whole game even after 100 hours of gameplay (except maybe the battle music in swamps).

6)The sex cards that you get are an art form much like those medieval paintings by famous painters.

7)Potions last a long time to make them worthwhile, and the toxicity level gameplay mechanic is very clever. You don't have to keep on wasting time buffing, unlike Dungeons and Dragons, only to fight better with buffs for one battle/a few seconds.

8)Play the game on HARD level immediately after you get used to the fighting moves thru audio/visual cues in the easy mode. The battles with some monsters and villains will make your gaming experience more memorable and adrenaline-filled. And of course, use your potions and spells.

In summary, The Witcher is definitely a classic. Buy the game and support the company. We'll have another Bioware, Blizzard, and Bethesda in the future to keep us entertained for our lives. The system requirements can be pretty high and the non-enhanced version would crash once in every 30 minutes and has long loads, so you might want to consider this enhanced edition.

"The End of The World is Nigh! The likes of you is proof enough. Nothing personal." - Grandma

I have been playing RPGs since the pre-Baldur's Gate days and I think The Witcher is one of the best to date. It is a story-driven RPG based on an excellent series of Polish fantasy novels. In the game you play the protagonist of the books - Geralt, The Witcher. The game captures the spirit and atmosphere of the books amazingly well and that is a good thing because Geralt lives in a fantasy world that is altogether more interesting and realistic than your standard fantasy fare. In The Witcher monsters are not just something that any old farm boy with a sword can practice his combat skills on - they are super fast, super strong, supernatural beings that no normal human can possibly hope to beat. They require a super fast, super strong, supernatural hero to slay them, and that is where Geralt comes in. Of course, Geralt also has to face wicked human opponents, and that plays nicely into one of the main themes of the fantasy series: appearances can be deceptive. A beautiful princess or a charismatic prince are often more evil and dangerous than a fanged hairy beast, and fairytales are not as simple as they seem. All this results in a very engaging story and quests that have a purpose and a choice of outcomes.

There is no good and evil in this game, just factions with differing points of view and a hero who is often asked to decide which option leads to the greater good or - more typically - the lesser evil. One neat feature is that your journal/quest log is highly non-judgmental: whatever option you choose, the log reads as though you made the right choice. And your choices have consequences in this game. Admittedly, whatever you choose, the game always ends in more or less the same way, but the path you take to get there changes. Every so often, usually at or near the end of a chapter, a narrator breaks in on the action with a painted splash screen and a summary of the story and choices so far, almost like someone reading an epilogue from a novel. This is a great feature and serves to remind you that the game is a story where your decisions directly influence how the story develops.

But The Witcher is not some tepid adventure game. It is foremost a fantasy action game, with real-time combat featuring razor-sharp swords and their consequences, namely heads flying from shoulders and a huge amount of blood fountaining in all directions. Since monsters are meant to be much tougher than humans and Geralt was created to kill monsters, he tends to slaughter large numbers of human enemies with ease. This is very satisfying and leads to many movie-like encounters where the bad guys mouth off about how they are going to make Geralt pay, only to get annihilated in a lightning fast display of bloody martial arts. I particularly like how the super confident enemy bosses gradually become less and less sure of themselves as Geralt destroys their minions. Just like in the novels, Geralt has a two-handed steel sword that he uses against humans and a one-handed silver sword that is more effective against monsters. He also fights with magic and alchemy, using potions to augment his own abilities, oils to boost his swords and bombs for crowd control. What you have Geralt use depends on how you want to play him: both magic and sword are very strong if you specialize in them, or you can use both and they will be less powerful individually but can be combined in interesting ways. The character development system is one of the best I have seen, making the many D&D based systems look like so much garbage. You can see a very visible improvement in Geralt for every skill point you spend, and the game does a great job of making Geralt seem much more powerful as he advances through the story.

There is so much more I could compliment this game on - almost every aspect of a RPG game is rendered in a better manner than the standard Bioware and Bethesda fodder. In fact, I am absolutely certain that developers at those companies love The Witcher and have been busy borrowing its best features for their newer games. It often takes some innovation by a lesser known developer to show the big guns the way to go. Perhaps the best aspect of The Witcher from a RPG-innovation point of view is the quest system, which manages to weave multiple main quests and side quests into a seamless story, so that you rarely feel like you are doing a quest just because it is there and the choices you are given actually have meaning. The quest log manages to keep the less alert player on track with what to do next without leading everyone by the hand whether they want it or not. There is also a huge amount of journal information that adds to the back story but can be safely ignored if you are in a hurry. Add to this the fact that many quests can be completed in multiple ways and that some quests are mutually exclusive - you cannot do every quest - and you have a large replayability factor.

The game benefits a lot from being based on some very solid fantasy literature, a kind of Lord of the Rings meets Elmore Leonard, or - in video game parlance - Neverwinter Nights Vice City. The dialogue is well written, well acted and frequently hilarious without ruining the dark atmosphere of the game. Geralt is cynical, sarcastic and world-weary. He gets to say things to boastful villains, blustering merchants and sanctimonious priests that you just wish you could say to your boss/teacher, the sort of options you never see in Bioware dialogue. He interacts with some very well developed re-occurring characters, and if they feel like characters from a novel that is because they are. No prior knowledge of the novels is required, although you will recognize many of the characters and some of the situations Geralt finds himself in if you are familiar with the stories. The game is not a video game version of the books, it is an entirely new story set after the events in the fantasy series. The "memory loss" plot gimmick is employed here to allow characters to explain events to Geralt that he would already know but the player may not.

Much has been written about Geralt's encounters with women and the picture collection game that ensues. This aspect of the game is handled a lot more tastefully than most people claim. Indeed, even with the application of patches that uncensor some material, there is nothing to froth at the mouth about here. This is certainly not a game for kids or young teens, but I would be more shocked by the violence and foul language than Geralt's bedroom exploits. He's sterile and immune to diseases, so you can hardly blame him.

This game was released in 2007 and then "enhanced" by the developer - by free download - in 2008. If you start out with the Enhanced Edition then you have a highly patched version of the original game with some new content, so any comments about bugs and technical issues must relate to the original unpatched game. There are no performance problems or bugs in my version. The graphics - at their highest settings - are on par with the latest RPG games - better, in fact. The level design and art direction is far superior to most fantasy games, and - as is typical with European developers - the towns, forests and swamps just feel more gritty and realistic. The monsters are more H.P.Lovecraft than D&D; the weapons and armor look like medieval weapons and armor; the peasants and townspeople are different heights, weights and ages; the sunsets are glorious, the night is dark a dangerous, and the dawn is often a relief; the rain falls realistically and causes villagers to run for shelter.

All my criticisms are minor. There are a small number of translation errors, but you only notice them if you pay close attention, and the writing is otherwise superb. I found the game a little easy even on the hardest difficulty. The hard fights are all early in the game and the important story-centric battles towards the end tend to be a little too easy. The use of oils and potions, other than straightforward restore potions, is very optional, and this is a little disappointing because the game has a fairly interesting alchemy system and it would be nice to have a real need for all the ingredients you collect and things you can make. My main complaint is that the game mechanic where a quest requires action at a particular time of day is overused in places and I sometimes found myself with nothing else to do other than kill time hunting respawning creatures until it was time for the next quest advance. But overall, The Witcher is a superb game and a classic, ground-breaking RPG that other RPG developers could learn a lot from.

Although it's not without its flaws, this is a great game. And as a debut, it's sensational - I'll definitely be keeping an eager eye out for whatever CDProjekt do next. I found The Witcher to be an engrossing, atmospheric and fairly deep game experience.

There are many things to praise about this game. The graphics are very nice, the environments feel rich and varied, and the characters and enemies are well made. The music is first-class: rich, moody, and dramatic without being too cheesy; I've seen many a Hollywood blockbuster without music this good. The voice acting is superb (though I played it in Polish - the little bit of English dialogue I've listened to didn't sound as interesting and well-delivered as the Polish does). For the most part the characters felt real, each with their own biases and foibles, and when they speak they feel like real people (again, I can only speak for the Polish-language version here), which is refreshing in a genre that often reaches for cliches or black-and-white portrayals. And only the Poles would make a game where getting drunk is a major part of the gameplay! The story is intruiging, and relatively complex too, although it sometimes rushes forward a bit too quickly for it to feel totally natural, and I felt at the end that too much was left unexplained or unexplored.

I liked the combat system quite a lot. I felt it captured a good blend of action and tactics: your stats and level-up choices always feel important, but so do your reflexes and your need to think on your toes. Most the time, you can't just click away thoughtlessly and let your stats do all the work for you, nor can you charge in and use your reflexes to win fights that Geralt shouldn't rightfully win. Many fights require you to plan ahead, using the alchemy potions. This was one of my favourite parts of the game, and felt quite tactical, as several of the potions significantly change the way the combat works, looks, and feels. Overall, the difficulty of the game was good. On the hardest settings, I felt frequently challenged but never hopelessly outclassed. Towards the end though, some of the spells get too powerful in my opinion, and the fighting gets a little too easy.

There are imperfections too. My greatest complaint is that the character models get reused waaaay too often. Even relatively major characters use duplicated models. This really strains the immersion of the game, and makes it feel a bit undercooked.

Secondly, I wish the game world felt a little bit bigger. There is plenty to do and see in The Witcher, and the game certainly feels satisfyingly long and epic, but you still feel fenced in a little most of the time, especially when you compare it to a game like Oblivion, which feels much more non-linear and vast. The fact that the enhanced edition comes with a giant map doesn't help either. The land covered on the map is huge, and includes many diverse regions and multiple cities, though in the game you only ever get to visit about 5% of the area on that map.

The 'love-card' system was an unfortunate addition too. Geralt seemingly can have sex with just about every female character he meets, and once he does, he gets a titillating illustration of that character, like a sort of belt notch. This feels ok for the women he can aquire a romantic relationship with, but when he starts to bed women he's known for 2 minutes and who didn't even seem to like him, it begins to feel like a parody of a 70s porno plotline. It's a shame, because there are female characters in the game who are intelligent and complex, and all of this just adds an element of sexism and immaturity to what is otherwise a mature and intelligent story. Also, there should be more women in the game in general, as the great majority of the characters are male. Sure, the story is set in a violent, medieval-esque world, so I expect it to be somewhat male-dominated, but more female characters would have made the story even more interesting.

I played this on a pretty good system with Windows 7 64bit installed. The game only crashed a few times during the whole playthrough, which I consider acceptable, and the loading times felt pretty short. I had an issue with the copy protection upon installation (despite having a legal copy), but the latest patch removes that copy protection system, so problem solved.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this. Its positive attributes well outweigh its flaws, and you're left with an engaging, exciting game set within an atmospheric, believable world.

The Witcher is a well supported story focused RPG. the original game has been updated and supported in ways that far exceed expectations for game companies these days. Even years after the games release, people who are just now buying can be secure in the knowledge that this product is still supported by the company that produced it. Even now, years after the games release, the company is still releasing new content, patches, director's cut content, and general product updates. Most gaming companies will not do this for you. They'll make a product, then toss it by the wayside after they have your money.

I recently bought it even though it's somewhat old now when I heard about all the new content that the company is still releasing for this game. There really aren't that many high quality RPG's being produced anymore, and this is certainly one of those few. The game's mature themes add a level of character and depth to the story and world that many other games won't even approach. This world is a world that is driven more by story and role-playing then by endless "grinding" and leveling like many other RPGs out there. Put more simply, this means that there is a lot more dialogue, and the game is less action oriented, at least during the early stages of the game.

The combat animations in this game are nothing short of fantastic. The longer you play the game, and the more feats and skills your character obtains, it appears that the combat animations get that much more impressive looking, as you might expect them to. Say goodbye to the boring, bland, and lifeless combat animations of older RPGs like Neverwinter nights, and say hello to what this game has to offer.

While it is single player only, The Witcher brings a lot to the table in terms of play time. Even though I was rushing through the game, I still managed to get between 90 and 100 hours of playtime out of this game. For a single player game, that is quite impressive. There is no shortage of game content in this game. if that isn't enough for you, it is worth noting that different ethical decisions you make as you play the game produce different outcomes later in the game. This helps lend greater replayability to the game.

On the whole, while this game is not my favorite RPG that I have ever played, it's easy to see that it is a high quality game, that it is well supported, and that it has more game content than most people could ever want. For people who prefer games would emphasize the story and role-playing aspects of RPG's with less emphasis on pixel bashing, this is the game for you. For those who prefer a greater emphasis on pixel bashing, you would probably be better off playing something like Dark Messiah of Might and Magic instead. How much you like this game will depend largely on which of these two different types of RPG you prefer.

For those unaware, the Witcher "Enhanced Edition," is probably the best computer RPG to come out since the 1990's. It's a tremendously long game, with with a great plot and a fairly witty protagonist. So many other reviewers have already stated so much truth about how good this game is, that I won't parrot their reviews any further.

One derogatory item for the kiddies and the uptight. Note the MA17 rating. Part of the hero's personality is that he's an unrepentant ladies man. As such, throughout the game, you can bed various women and get treated to a fairly artful nude of them. If that bothers you, now you've been warned. Though you try hard, I suppose you could avoid all the sex through dialogue choices.

Also another thing no one has really touched on... For once, a good game has zero-DRM to hassle you with. In the past year it's hard to think of a good PC title that didn't get tainted with DRM. I'll be glad to know that in 20 years and 10 PC's later, I'll still be able to play the Witcher along with all the other CRPG classics.