The Witcher On Amazon
Those that aren’t familiar with the expanded universe of The Witcher likely don’t know how popular it is in its native Poland as well as Europe in general. The games themselves take place in the series continuity after many books and short-stories, and the two games that have been released so far build a fair bit on this. In fact, one of the mysteries that is prevalent in both The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is what happened to Geralt of Rivia after his “death” in a particular scene at the end of one story and how did he get where he is in the “present.” Also, there is another underlying mystery about a former lover of his and her current whereabouts, and the end of the second game gives a teaser which may imply her role in May’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

One measure of the game’s story-telling appeal is how the game stands up if you remove all of the gameplay elements from it. If you go on YouTube and search for something like “The Witcher 2 movie” you will find videos put together where people have done just this. They’ve removed all of the game-play and focused only on recording the major dialogue scenes and the cinematics and put it all together into a movie-like video for others to enjoy. And, in the case of both games in the series, this does hold up pretty well in my book. The story was done exceptionally well, and it truly does shine through.
Don’t be fooled though: The games are worth playing for the sake of playing, too. The gameplay is outstanding, particularly in the second title, and I had a lot of fun running around the dark, gritty worlds and meeting all sorts of interesting, seedy, and powerful NPCs along the way. The combat can be particularly epic, especially in certain battle sequences (the siege scene in the sequel stands out, as does the fight against the Kayran), but all-in-all the games create what appears to me to be a very living world.
These games are rather stark in many ways, though. I would certainly rate them for an 18-years-old and up audience, myself, but although they are set in a fantasy world, I would say they are accurate to life in the late-medieval period.
Yes, women are treated as second-class citizens and minorities (Elves, Dwarves, etc.) are treated like the plague, but this is simply something that was true for the times. And, for those that say this is unfair, I should point out that there are a fair number of women in powerful positions in these stories, so it isn’t exceptionally one-sided or anything like that.
While I personally have spent a fair amount of time reading up on the expanded lore on The Witcher wiki, I must admit that I’ve not really read any of the books (the ones that have been translated, at least) or sought out where to watch the movies or TV show that aired in Poland. Part of me is certainly curious to see some of the things that are referred to in the games but would likely make far more sense to someone who read the books, and I think the show and movies have the potential to be entertaining if they were done correctly (but isn’t that always the case?).
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[ The Witcher On Amazon |
Yes, I do agree with them that the graphics could have been cleaned up, and that the character models could have had more realistic eyes. But the story for me was also very deep and drew me in to the Margraviate of Warunk and the wider world around it. And that game is another I’d recommend if you catch it at a good price and are looking for another game with a strong story appeal to it.
The third Witcher game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, was originally set to release in February but now is expected to see a May 19, 2015 release. The game is said to be much more open-world in style and to contain over a hundred hours of game-play, so needless to say it is a game that I am highly looking forward to and one that I think you should pick up if you enjoy good RPGs.
Well, that’s my two-cents at least! Give the games a try and see how you feel about them! Jessica's Journey. Over and out.
THE WITCHER - A CINEMATIC GAMING EXPERIENCE
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
February 02, 2015
Rating:
