The Witcher 2 Review

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Man, I thought it was an open world game, but apparently it’s a pub-and-hub game
~ me, a little surprised, but still finished the game because the story is amazing

With The Witcher Netflix TV series gaining popularity, I decided to play this game because it’s been on my Steam library for quite a while. This is my first introduction to The Witcher series, low-key kinda like it, might play The Witcher 3 or watch the Netflix series later. I skipped The Witcher 1 because someone gifted The Witcher 2 to me, and my friend who actually played The Witcher 1 ranted about it a lot. Sorry if you love The Witcher 1, I might just watch Let’s Play of The Witcher 1.

The Witcher game series always do a great job to make it easy for newcomers to start playing the game from anything they want. So, you don’t need to play all previous TW game to understand the game. However, there are some moments where there are some characters that might be from previous game based on the dialogue and relationship with Geralt, trying to reference some events from TW 1, and I was just sitting there like:

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Story

Won’t give spoiler here, don’t worry.

I’m not familiar with games with heavy story like this, usually I prefer sandbox game. There are some times where I want to drop this game, but I cannot since the story is pretty interesting. It is a huge contrast from sandbox RPG like Skyrim, on TW 2 your choice actually do matter and contribute to the story. Meanwhile in Skyrim whether you choose Imperial or Stormcloak, they basically have the exact storyline, just reskinned a little for the other faction.

Because of my inexperience with games with choices like this, I’m always afraid of fucking things up, so I googled a ton of stuff. But if I knew about how TW did it, I wouldn’t google stuff to get more enjoyment. For game like these, sure there are some good choice and bad choice, but it isn’t like you press the wrong option and Geralt dies. All dialogue option is meaningful and you feel like you’re just experiencing the result of your action instead of being punished. The writer did a good job.

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Graphics

Can’t understate the graphics in TW 2. IT. IS. AMAZING! I often took a screenshot because how good-looking it is. And for story sequence, the shots is really creative and cinematic, as if you’re watching a movie.

I love the contrast of the graphics. Geralt and important men have sharp and memorable attire, monster looks gritty, ghosts looks really flowy (I suck at finding words lmao). Especially when you use cat potion you’re able to see in darkness and see people’s veins. Man, that was some good stuff. From start to finish, it is a pleasant experience for my eyes.

Music

Pretty good, I’d say. It got some cool medieval vibe to it. Dunno what to say.

Gameplay

It is a pub-and-hub game (like Dragon Age), but the world/level is pretty huge it almost feels like an open world game.

Generally I don’t like this kind of style because it feels really scripted, when you fight 4 people or 2 monster it’s because the writer put it there for you. I guess it’s simply the downside of a game with heavy story element. BioShock series did it as well. The enemy is definitely hand-placed, but it feels random instead of intentional. Heck, I guess almost every game did it, but TW 2 feels more jarring.

Enough rants about the genre. The gameplay loop is really good, I wish I noticed it sooner. On each level there are some stuff that Geralt must do, maybe killing giant monster, doing exorcism, and every mission and story will eventually lead to there. And for solving these problem, Geralt need some preparation, like reading information books and letters, gathering information, or creating some potions. It feels like you’re actually actively working towards a greater goal, instead of farming and leveling a bunch so the big bad boss would be easy to beat.

Bad Stuff

They reuse a lot of killing moves, so when you’re brawling or doing some critical hits, expect to see same set animation. At least they got some variation, on AC 4 they have 1 animation when you’re boarding enemy ships.

This game has a lot of missable if you don’t use guides. Usually, this is a major deal-breaker for me, but TW 2 did this really well. Some counterarguments:

  • There is replayability value since you must play the game at least 2 times if you want to try the other story branch. Even if you play blind on your first try, you can be a completionist on your second playthrough.

  • The game is not impossible if you miss some of these. Some good gear might require a walkthrough because it’s hard to get, but similar alternative could be easily craftable, and you can definitely beat the main bosses without having the best gear.

Conclusion

  • Story - 10/10
  • Graphics - 10/10
  • Music - 9/10
  • Gameplay - 7/10

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