The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings – A Tightly Woven Tale of Intrigue and Consequence
9/10

As an RPG fan, The Witcher 2 left a lasting impression on me—not because of flashy gameplay mechanics, but because of its incredible storytelling. The combat is solid and serviceable, but it’s the narrative that truly shines here.

Clocking in at around 40 hours, not once did I feel bored or disengaged. The story is immersive, filled with political intrigue, moral ambiguity, and plot twists that keep you guessing. The dialogues are sharp and meaningful, with well-developed characters who actually feel like they matter to the world around them.

While The Witcher 3 is often hailed as the franchise's high point (and rightfully so), the second installment deserves credit for its tighter, more focused narrative. The branching paths and decisions in Witcher 2 carry real weight, making each playthrough potentially very different.

If you love rich, story-driven RPGs, The Witcher 2 is a must-play. A gem in its own right.

I just played this game because I wanted to get into The Witcher 3. Overall, it's good, but it's not exactly a fully open-world game. The open-world aspect feels a bit limited, and it's absolutely story-heavy — not ideal for sleepy gamers or anyone whose first language isn't English. I recommend watching a summary of The Witcher 1, unless you're okay with playing a 20-year-old game — that's up to you. Maybe it's a 6/10 for me, to be honest.

The Witcher 2 is only very very barely worth playing as a sort of 20~ hour prologue to Witcher 3 if you've already played that game. The story is great, the writing is great the characters are great, and it gives context for the third game that truly is great. But the gameplay. My god, the gameplay . The combat in this game is, no word of a lie, THE worse combat I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. Its genuinely impressive how thoroughly miserable they managed to make it, you will be hit without any visual connection of sword to body, you will be hit tracked and killed despite dodging, your sword will go straight through enemy models without damage being dealt, you will be fighting hordes of sword sponge enemies with only single target damage options. Its baffling how a series with combat so utterly disgraceful even managed to get a third instalment, but I'm so glad it did anyway.

I wanted to play it. But man combat is just weak point. Feels slow,clunky and not great. Casting sign feels unresponsive. They fixed that in TW3 with instant cast but here it is just awful. Too bad i will not experience this awesome story but playing for hours with this kind of combat is just not for me.

The Witcher 2 is a game where you play as Geralt of Rivia — a mutant monster slayer with the emotional range of a brick and the voice of a tired gravel pit. He’s got white hair, yellow eyes, and more unresolved trauma than a mid-season finale.

The plot? Oh, just your typical story: assassinations, political backstabbing, dwarves with bad attitudes, elves with worse ones, and enough branching choices to cause commitment anxiety. At one point, I accidentally started a war just by choosing the wrong dialogue option. Whoops.

Let’s talk combat. It’s like trying to duel a werewolf while solving a Rubik's cube — beautiful, stylish, and occasionally a total disaster when you accidentally roll off a cliff mid-sword swing. Pro tip: dodging into fire is not a great survival tactic, no matter how cool it looks.

And then there’s the romance. Geralt’s idea of flirting is staring blankly at someone until they remove their clothes. It somehow works, because... Witcher magic, I guess. If you don’t end up in at least one awkward love triangle, are you even playing correctly?

Graphically, it’s stunning. Every scene looks like a painting, if that painting included 1,000 shades of brown and occasional shirtless sword fights. The armor? Amazing. The inventory system? A hellish jigsaw puzzle designed by sadists.

The game also loves decisions with “consequences,” but they usually hit you 12 hours later when you’ve completely forgotten what you did. “Why is this entire village on fire?” Oh right, that one guy I didn’t help because I was busy looting cheese wheels.

Final Rating: 10/10 monster contracts, 0/10 ability to carry more than five swords without becoming over-encumbered
The Witcher 2: Come for the monsters, stay for the royal drama, and get slapped by a ghost because you looked at it funny.
Highly recommend for anyone who likes brooding, chaos, and very dramatic bath scenes.

So far so good, just beat the Kayran Boss.
Story I am really liking, not sure about the combat and controls much. May get more used to them sooner or later.
The need to keep saving I feel is high as to not lose progress. Also, the need to keep running from here and there sometimes feel annoying but sometimes u just enjoy the birds chirping and keep gathering whatever you find.
Coming to gathering, ah... the storage is slowly starting to feel an issue.

But overall, I am enjoying this game. Good for potato PCs as can run at high graphics without much issues.

Witcher 1 has a thumbs up from me - no idea how this is so much worse than the first game.

Keybindings are awful, feels like a bootleg/pirated PC port. You even can't modify all of the controls, and the ones that you can, don't make much sense. Difficulty is all over the place and the whole gameplay/combat/progression feels forced and doesn't work, at least for me.

There is a bit of tutorial but the most important things you have to search online (while for instance, you get a lenghty explanation of how you need to press left click multiple times to activate the ballista in the beginning, doesn't make sense at all)...

Menu/Inventory/UI is also awful, like no one play-tested it at all. I hope it's better on consoles.

I really wanted to finish this game before jumping into Witcher 3, but it just felt like a chore. Not recommended and will not return to it.

Each time I play the Witcher, this game is always a standout. Not as ambitious as 3, more polished than 1, not too long, and, most importantly of all, Geralt is ugly in this one, a highly important detail overlooked in 3.

Game repeatedly crashed on the first main boss. Restarted the game over and over and just kept crashing. CD Project Red absolutely needs to work on the performance for games on PC. Terrible. Until game crashing is fixed, will be a down vote for me.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☐ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☑ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☐ Old Fashioned
☑ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 15% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☐ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☑ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☐ Good
☑ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☑ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☑ Worth the price
☐ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☐ 7
☐ 8
☑ 9
☐ 10

---{ Author }---
☑ https://vojtastruhar.github.io/steam-review-template

Just finished the game at 40 hours. I chose Iorveth's Path in this game play hence for my next one I will follow through with Vernon's and complete the remaining achievements. I like how the game really plays out according to your choices and here the BIG choice you'll make is weather to follow Iorveth or Vernon.

Compared to the first Witcher game, there are a few improvements and slight decline to quality of life game play. In the first one you can spend ability points without having to meditate, no more sword style switch using the keyboard just use left/right mouse (group attack is unlocked by the skill tree), crafting items/armour/weapons/traps/legendary items, no more lighting up campfires using flint to meditate lol, you would have to use your medallion to detect ingredients for potion (if you do not have eyes like an eagle), dodging is easier than the first game, can use jedi mind tricks here as well in conversations should you choose to and a few other things. Those were the ones that popped up as I'm writing this.

Time to head to Witcher 3 next!!

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is such a wonderful RPG game with great storytelling. The combat was fun, and the political aspects of the story were really engaging. I love how it maintains continuity with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The graphics were decent for the time, and the soundtrack was excellent—it really made me feel like I was Geralt of Rivia.

Everything was running smooth til partway through Chapter 2 / Part 2. Ran into a game breaking bug. Did some research. Reloaded an older save. Got past that bug only to run into a second game breaking bug in the same chapter. Uninstalling.

This fucking game crashed 20 times in a row and when it crashes you have to close to steam to play the game again or when it crashes it automaticly crashes steam aswell fix this god damn game its not a bad game buty it is annoying ass fuck

If you're coming from Witcher 3, it's harder to play. The controls just don't feel intuitive any more. But it's a solid game and worth the investment once you can get around that.

Playing The Witcher 2 was a distinct experience. Coming straight from the first game and carrying over my save file, I expected a familiar journey—but what I got was something quite different. Despite the game only having three chapters, regardless of whether you choose Iorveth's or Roche's path, the pacing felt surprisingly fast. This was a bit disappointing, as it made the game feel shorter than expected. However, this isn’t entirely a negative. In fact, the short length ended up being a positive in its own way—it left me wanting more from the franchise and more time in this world. The story throughout is exceptionally well-written and adds a lot of depth to the Witcher universe. It also sheds more light on Geralt's past, which really helped me understand his character better.

Compared to the original, The Witcher 2 completely overhauls its combat system. It introduces real-time combat that relies on timing and smart preparation, which I found both fun and rewarding. One major improvement is how the game encourages you to make full use of Geralt’s signs. In the first game, it was easy to stick to one or two abilities, but here, the variety of situations makes each sign useful in different ways, depending on your playstyle. This made the combat feel much more dynamic and strategic, and I saw it as a huge step forward.

The introduction of new puzzles in the franchise was another standout feature. Runic symbols used to decipher poems, riddles, Witcher senses, and dialogue puzzles were a fantastic addition. These elements made the player engage more deeply, encouraging them to listen carefully and think critically, which I see as a huge positive.

Overall, The Witcher 2 is a remarkable step forward in the series. It refines and expands upon the elements that made the first game great while introducing exciting new features that make the experience feel fresh and engaging. While the story's short length might leave you craving more, it ultimately makes the journey all the more impactful. Whether it’s the deeper combat system, the improved visuals, or the new puzzles, The Witcher 2 provides a compelling experience that left me eager to continue the adventure. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a rich, narrative-driven RPG with challenging combat and immersive storytelling.

A brilliant game which takes the compelling world building and grey choice story telling from the first game and builds on it with a complete overhaul of the combat system resulting in a great experience.

After suffering through the endless bugs, glitches and clunky gameplay that depends entirely on being a bowling ball on the ground for a while now, and doing almost every single quest in the game, I reached the dragon, kept fighting it for a couple of hours, won, was about to finish the game, finally, and then died at the hands of the marauders while seeking to find letho, guess what? This piece of shit of a game that needs a remake even more than The Witcher 1 (which was way better on a technical level BTW) refused to fucking save my progress due to a bug that requires me to delete old save files and stop steam cloud sync which OFC was not mentioned anywhere up until I fucking encountered it.

The story of the game is top notch, the side quests are great, and I literally just spent hours and hours doing them alone, enjoying every single line with the every character I encountered, specially since I'm a fan of the books (read them all before playing) and I had already finished the first game, so I really went into this one with lots of faith, I gave it ton of time and chances, I ignored the bad gameplay and and the clunkiness of the game, I kept giving its bugs and crashes multiple chances, but no.

This game, even though it has some fun in it and the story is great, the game itself is by NO MEANS worth playing, specially if you are playing on modern hardware like me, the game is simply unplayable at times, and it's on a technical level WAY worse than The Witcher 1. Actually since I mentioned it, The Witcher 1 was way more enjoyable in every single aspect than this game lol.

Seriously, I'm a patient gamer, an old guy who played the ps1 games before the current stuff, not some clown kid who only plays Assassin's creed and praises GTA V. Take it from me, THIS GAME IS NOT WORTH IT, go read the books, play the first game, and watch a youtube video for this one or read the story, but don't waste your time or money on it.

I really wish I could recommend it just for the story, but it's just a big waste of time and I would be a Reddit boot licking fanboy if I ignored all its issues just because it's a Witcher game.

very shorter than first The Witcher game, but more intruing.
such as fighting mode and especially the adorable womens, looks very real. :P
also shorter, but enough immersive. very safisted for trying amazing this new experience.

really fun game and as its the second game in the franchise i love its got its charms and it has its down sides like all old games have but still holds up

The game is definitely a bit clunky but I still enjoyed it. I played this before playing Witcher 3 so it was cool to see the story progression.

Honestly I would play this today on an easier difficulty to just be able to enjoy the story. Combat was fun back in the day, but with playing newer titles I feel that if I tried to play this again I wouldn't have the same experience as I did back then.

The Witcher 2 builds on its predecessor with a darker, politically driven story and a much more polished presentation. Its branching narrative leads to two entirely different mid-game paths, giving real weight to your choices—even if they converge later. Geralt is surrounded by a strong supporting cast, and the writing delivers sharp, memorable dialogue with well-placed humor.

Combat is a significant improvement over the first game, though still occasionally clunky and punishing. The limited skill tree forces meaningful decisions that impact your playstyle. Despite some rough edges, the game excels at world-building and political nuance. It's a must-play for fans of the series, especially since your choices and allegiances here can shape how you view factions in the next entry.

If i'm being honest I wouldn't waste your money or time on this game, 20 hours of it will be fixing and or restarting due to a bugs. If you do get to play the game you'll end up dying from something that isn't even there or get hit by something that wasn't even next to you. I do not recommend this game, just go watch a youtube video for the amazing story

I really appreciated how, by the end of the tutorial, they've efficiently communicated which parts of the game are completely broken, poorly designed, or just unusable. Notably, the menu system is poorly designed, alchemy is poorly designed, the inventory is poorly designed, the quick menu is only half implemented, the default controls are poorly designed, the AXII sign is completely broken, and throwing knives are unusable. Also apparently you can't view or edit the key/controller mappings while in-game, and the user interface makes no effort to communicate how to interact with it.

It is unclear why they thought it was necessary to wave all of this poorly implemented crap in your face as part of the tutorial.

On the other hand, with ultra graphics enabled, there's a marked improvement over the Witcher 1 Enhanced Edition graphics. Although again, it is unclear why they've chosen to go in a more cartoony, child-friendly direction for their colours and effects.

I do not recommend this game for anyone. Play the witcher 1, the only real problem with that game is how poorly thought the traversal and fighting mechanics are, otherwise it's a fairly enjoyable game. Skip the Witcher 2; maybe watch a summary video so you can simulate the game choices for the Witcher 3.

Edit: also, I ALT+TAB-ed out of the game to start writing this review and it would appear the game is unable to resume. I was able to switch windows during the tutorial to search for a control mapping cheat sheet, so there's apparently some fairly bad resource management going in either the game engine or the game itself. It IS CD Project Red so I'm not too surprised, just compounded disappointment.

Edit 2: Windows task manager, steam, powershell and Sysinternals tooling are all unable to kill the witcher2.exe when it's in this unrecoverable state. So they've created a game that becomes Kernel-Hung with a standard user action. I guess that means you can't safely play this game in fullscreen mode. Don't risk opening this game unless you have more than one monitor, as it takes full control of the display away from the operating system, and limits user input to some windows UI functions. Full OS restart required to get this POS to close.

Edit 3: Game is unplayable in borderless window mode due to severe input lag. It's likely the game is just unplayable in Modern windows environments. Do not waste your time or money on this.

It way better than TW1 but has some flaws. As always the story, characters, music, atmosphere, i love it. I wish it was a little longer but the adventure continues in TW3

Very good, has eurojank but can be forgiven for the scope of the game

Playing in 2025. Still one of the best RPG's of all time. This game shows how a game's story should be. RPG elements that actually mean something. Decisions you take actually matter in such broad aspect. With every year I find myself even less and less game being able to match with the RPG's of old times.

im still getting used to playing on pc, but the game itself is better than i thought it would be, as far as looks and fps. i would recommend this. thanks

I remember the first time I played The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
It was the spring of 2011. I was seventeen, still searching for something darker, more complex than the simple worlds I had explored before.
I had heard whispers about the game — about its world, its choices, and its haunting tale.
I opened the box, installed it, and soon I was stepping into the boots of Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter in a world stained by blood and politics.
But it wasn’t just a game.
It was a journey into a broken world.
It was The Witcher 2.

I loaded up the game, and suddenly, the world came alive in dark, twisted colors.
I spent hours exploring the war-torn lands of Temeria, meeting sorceresses, assassins, and kings whose destinies were intertwined by betrayal and bloodshed.
The choices, the gray morality, the weight of every decision — it consumed me.
I wasn’t playing it.
I was shaping it.

Then came the long nights, the quest for truth, the endless battles against monsters and men alike.
I knew every twist of the plot, every faction's secret, every battle that could change everything.
And with no help — just the choices I made and the sword in my hand — I carved my path through a broken world.
It was my story.
It was home.

Every now and then, my decisions would weigh heavy on me — each one pulling me deeper into a world where every ally could be a traitor, and every foe a friend in disguise.
I still remember that one choice, at the end of the game, when I had to decide whether to trust a king or abandon him to his fate.
It felt like a moment of true power — and true loss.
It was my sacrifice.
It was my test.

And now, fourteen years later, I go back.
The world has changed. I have changed. I’m thirty-one now.
And that world, that journey? It's faded, buried under the weight of time.

Yet booting up The Witcher 2 feels like stepping into a dream — one that lingers in the back of my mind.
The graphics may be rougher now, the world quieter, but the heart remains untouched.
Every battle, every decision, every haunted glance from a character speaks in a language I will never forget.
It’s the voice of regret.
It’s the weight of a legend.

The Witcher 2 isn’t just a game.
It’s a time machine.
It’s a second chance to walk in the footsteps of a monster hunter, and to feel the weight of every choice.

And as the cold winds blow across the war-torn lands of Temeria, I remain there.
Fingers on the mouse...
And a tear I cannot tell — whether it’s sorrow or gratitude.

Primeiro jogo que joguei, e continua sendo muito divertido. A história foi meio confusa na época (mas eu tinha 10 anos, talvez foi isso) mas agora faz muito mais sentido. Escolhas extremamente impactantes, no geral um jogo incrível que serve de base pra o melhor jogo da franquia.

"The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings" is an atmospheric and dark fantasy. A gripping, non-linear plot with serious political intrigue and complex moral dilemmas. The combat system has become more tactical, and the world is deep and elaborate. Less open than the third part, but with a focused and tense narrative. An excellent game with a strong story and memorable characters. Recommended for all fans of adult fantasy and quality RPGs. I advise everyone to start playing the first part to fully understand the essence of the game. I recommend it to everyone!

A cool story of Geralt of Rivia, an absolute classic of the gaming industry. Great story, interesting dialogues and characters, not bad graphics for a 2011 year. Both Roche's path and Iorveth's path are interesting and different from each other, which allows you to understand the plot from different sides. Overall, a very solid game for the Witcher universe.

But it should also be noted that the game is difficult to play in 2025 year, despite the nice graphics. Regular crashes, not the best optimization, not enough gameplay opportunities from The Witcher: Wild Hunt, so be prepared for such unpleasant moments.

Underrated game. Just because it doesn't look like TW3, has a janky combat system or doesn't have a huge open world people overlook this masterpiece. If you like Geralt and company play this for the story, characters and choices.

I don't think this game aged greatly. My experience was ruined by many bugs and flaws (listed below). You can get confused or lost trying to understand the story as there's so much dialogue to get through. To help modernize my experience with the game, I had to rely on several mods to keep it palatable. Lastly, I don't recommend this game for anybody chasing achievements. I can attest that this will be an incredibly difficult, exhausting, and defeating achievement run experience. I've never played TW3 as of writing this review, but I would hope that it would be a better experience.

- enemies are able to attack before the game can let you see what's happening or before you can take control of Geralt
- Geralt automatically sheathes his sword after a group attack in the middle of battle, leaving you vulnerable for enemies to hit you
- You sometimes receive damage after you dodge but while the enemy lands a hit where you were before the dodge (think of a trailing hitbox)
- enemies can sometimes attack-cancel in the middle of their animation just to attack again shortly after. This messes up your parrying or dodging timing and is demoralizing during higher difficulty playthroughs.
- You can't adjust Windows volume while in-game
- There's a scene where you have to avoid traps in a dark cave while the screen in black and white, but the traps blend with the ground. You had to guess where to walk instead of just trying avoiding them.
- The HUD minimap is often confusing and doesn't properly represent accessible terrain in towns or forests. You would think you can visit some similarly drawn spaces like where you're standing in the minimap only to know that other space is just there for design

Very Good game story but graphic can be improved

Just Witcher

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---{ ? / 10 }---

I have played 9 hours and barely passed the starting area.
To bee honest the navigation was so weird that i couldn't handle it.
for me the controls are so ground breaking issue that i cant play the game.
for game content i can't say a word

Long story short,

Art direction in this one is insane, arguably a good story and charming characters. Triss, my beloved.

I have been very late to the party for the Witcher 3 and the first two games in the series is why. The first one sure hasn't aged well and was fairly mediocre in comparison compared to other RPG's released at the time. But even though I wound this one a bit dry, it sure laid the ground work for what would become one of the most popular RPG's in history.

Look, everything here is fairly solid. The game-play is unique, lending it's own little spin to action RPG's. The progression system is pretty straight forward. And the world design is engaging and vibrant. My biggest criticism was the inventory system and UI, just a bit cluttered. But the main draw is the story, plot and world building. This here is a great introduction to the world of The Witcher, full of colourful characters and deep deep lore.

I never got around to finishing this one as I did find everything a little clunky. And of course, it was a little streamlined, which was not what I was looking for at the time. However, for Witcher fans, this is definitely worth playing just to eat it up for it's story alone.

My personal least favourite Witcher game. I am yet to complete the game on the "Insane" difficulty, but I can't imagine me liking this game more afterwards. The controls are a little clunky and both the story and combat are in this weird transition state between the original Witcher and Wild Hunt.

Definitely the weakest link in the entire trilogy, but if you want the full Witcher experience, do check this game out.

Great game with rich storytelling, cant wait to get into the 3rd part!

After abandoning The Witcher due to outdated gameplay mechanics, I really tried to see this one through. However, the combat in general in this game is abysmal and doesn't feel fun to play. Unfortunate that I passed on both of these games because I love the world of The Witcher, loved The Witcher 3, and I really wanted to see the narrative through. But the combat really is that bad. Would only recommend to die-hard fans of the franchise.

Playtime: 5 hours (PC, K&M, DNF)

Overall: DNF/10

Narrative: -/10

Visuals: 8/10 - From what I saw, a significant improvement over the first game with some really cool locations.

Audio: 7/10 - Music and soundtrack were alright at best which is surprising because The Witcher and The Witcher 3 both had amazing music. Voice acting, as usual with these games, is fantastic.

Gameplay: 2/10 - I simply cannot continue with this game after a few hours experimenting with the combat. Controls are extremely clunky, character model is nonreactive to controls a lot of the time, signs don't feel good to use and are largely ineffective, combat mechanics are often left unexplained. Perhaps I'm missing something but this game is annoyingly difficult even on easy. It's a shame such a great story (from what I've heard) is being skipped almost entirely due to the bad combat. Not to mention I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to get a silver sword/get enough money for a silver sword, meanwhile the game thrusts the player into hoards of monsters which take 65 blows each to kill with steel.

Character Design: -/10

Environment and Level Design: 8/10 - Made it to the first boss fight which had a cool little arena with scripted events throughout the fight. Towns and locations of interest are designed well and environments are expansive enough to not feel claustrophobic.

Personal Engagement: 4/10

Personal Replay Value: -/10

Performance: 5/10 - 2k~90 with highest settings save UberSampling. It seems the Enhanced Edition introduces more modern graphics effects but they don't seem well-optimized, almost at all. Some static assets drop ~70 frames during cutscenes, high-action combat scenes dropped me below 60 fps occasionally. After watching some gameplay of the original version of the game, the graphical enhancements are certainly not worth the cost to performance, especially for a game of this age.

CW: hangings, racism

i5-13600KF; RTX 4070 Super 12GB; 32GB RAM

I personally liked the combat style, although it obviously can't be compared to the third one. It has a fascinating storyline and I love how it lets players explore the world on their own and figure out every consequence.

The 2nd entry of the Witcher trilogy game.

(Iorveth path run, will do a Roche path some other time)
Holy fucking shit, this games story is a fucking hellfire of greatness!
I love the entire setup as a following sequence from the first games ending.
Featuring a heck ton of world building around the franchise and some of THE best characters in this entire game.
Letho (he is best boi, shut up) *chefs kiss*
Saskia? *chefs kiss*
Radovid? (before going mad) also *chefs kiss*
Iorveth? *chefs kiss*
Philippa Eilhart (this woman needs serious help) *chefs kiss*

The multiple path decision to get different views is also a great idea implemented in this and allows for various playthroughs. Also dem consequences, wew.

The music is just *chefs kiss* and leave me at awe wanting for more.
The level design and style of the game is extremely well done and blends so well to the game, making it one of the better gems of the early 2010s.

Only issue I have with this is the QTEs (yes I know they were common during this time but it just feels weird in Witcher).
It just kills the mood and fun of some of the fights in the game.

All and all, an amazing entry and I'll enjoy replaying it again for the other perspective.

I think that people who love this game are looking at it with rose-tinted glasses. The graphics are great and the sex scenes are still there, but those are the only upsides. The combat is just boring and frustrating. there is little feedback to when you are taking damage beyond a few heavy hits or your life bar decreasing, meaning you may not notice that you are dying. Further, combat forces you to commit to actions you took that you may have thought better of, meaning it is very easy to screw yourself in large groups.

The game loves pitting you against large groups in small areas, making the above all the more frustrating. Winning can feel more like a matter of luck or simply being over-leveled than skill or proper planning.

The story is boring. Geralt is framed for the murder of King Foltest (sad that he dies so early, he is fun) and goes off on a quest to clear his name, cure his amnesia (again), and find Triss Merigold, who admittedly remains a great character. This is just a personal opinion, but Geralt is a very bland character, so enjoying personalities hinges on the supporting cast, but with the exception of the brief inclusion of Dandelion, the characters just aren't compelling. Kill a monster terrifying a town, help a King lift a curse on himself, none of this is particularly interesting nor backed up by interesting characters.

Unlike the first game, side quests are also boring. They can be difficult to find and usually yield meager rewards beyond completionism. They don't tie into each other very well for the most part and can, with few exceptions, be described as tedious.

All in all, on the merits of the first game I will play the 3rd, but I must say by the last 3rd of Witcher 2, I was only playing to finish it up.

i found it unplayable without performance mods, and that's saying something considering I'm a Nintendo console guy, but they're very easy to install and its worth it to experience one of the most 'deep' gaming experiences. By deep, i don't mean philosophically profound, but a lot of games (e.g. newer assassins creed titles) are very wide games with big maps etc, but they're not very thought out, but everything here has intent and purpose.

contracts are annoying as hell though

Honestly don't know how this game has such good reviews because apart from a good story the game mechanics are hot ass. You need to be saving this game every couple minutes in fear it will bug out. I've never had to reset a game so many times from npcs or objects getting in the way of my path by performing an action like climbing a ladder or entering buildings, so stupid there's no cancel buttons for this

The Wticher 3 is one of the greatest games of all time, still, The Witcher 2 will forever have an special place in my heart, probably being better than the third.

Finally finished the game after 12 years. It was a long break. But finally finishing it was worth it!

In many ways better than the first game. Though I missed the darker colors and much darker sentiment of the first game. This one is much more colorful. But it still has the many vile NPCs and stories one expects from The Witcher world.

I like the combat mechanics, the cutscenes, the story and the world. The primary characters are interesting. Nice side quests and a lot to discover.

Even today, Witcher 2 remains one of the most narratively mature RPGs out there. While it lacks the open-world freedom of Witcher 3, it more than makes up for it with its tight story, impactful choices, and political intrigue. The visuals still hold up surprisingly well, and the world is atmospheric, drenched in Eastern European grimness.