The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition

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

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After abandoning The Witcher due to outdated gameplay mechanics, I really tried to see this one through.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.

Hits the mark right on! A must for any Witcher fan. This game has it all, the story, the cool mechanics, the art style. And who doesnt love the Witcher characters. Play it, you wont be sorry.

Witcher is very cool rpg games from poland CD RED PROJECT developerv lot of people love it and waits new, WItcher 4 :D .
You need to hunt lot of demons . Its like Gothic but little bit different and cool. Some people read books and watch movies about Witcher . Fantasy world when you can join and have fun with some of the free time. For example you like it you need have lot of free time pass all episodes of game but it worth of it i know there are very cool and enjoyble . For all people you can play your own story its not like Asssasin Creed but most has magic and fantasy demons ... ethc looks more like mix game of.....

Hesitant to recommend to a modern audience, while the story is good the controls just feel so clunky that I find it hard to play. If you can work through that then I would give this a solid 8 If you can't then watch a story recap and play witcher 3 instead

Incredible game. A massive step up from the combat in the first game. Highly recommend. Off to The Witcher 3!

recommending for now.. but that may well change! already had to avoid the tutorial because it is 'buggy'.. the riposte does NOT work as specified.. you need 'full' vigor for it to show the sword icon.. and you do NOT use block.. it just 'shows up'! morons.. then when it tells you to use skill points.. I only had ONE to use.. so it wouldnt complete the 'quest'.. the devs are completely FITH..cant even do a tute that works.. and the controls.. more stupidity.. double tapping the keys is a perfectly legitimate way to dodge.. but they want you to use space+.. which is just a stupid carryover from a controller.. absolute morons!

then there is the story.. once again.. a bit of a failure.. honestly, if the king knew the 'blind monk' he wouldnt confuse the 'man mountain' with the monk.. he'd know immediately that it wasnt the monk and it was 'fishy'.. so once again the premise of the whole game is nul and void.. just because of that! it just seems writers are completely lazy when it comes to games (TBH even movies!) because the 'SFX' is "all anyone cares about"! and overcompensates for the lack of the story.. NOT for me!

more to go..

The story is very solid. This game tells a very interesting and dark narrative without feeling too heavy handed or "edgy". My only major issue is the gameplay. This game has some of the most tedious combat I have ever played. The story is good enough that I could look past that, though that might vary for some

It's a good story that immerses you in a complex political world and moral choices. The relationship between Geralt, who has lost his memory, and Triss adds a special depth to the narrative, filling it with emotion. The game's atmosphere perfectly conveys the dark and gloomy mood of medieval fantasy.

Narrative and characters: B
Gameplay: B-
Graphics: B-

Disclaimer: I played Witcher 3 first and haven't played Witcher 1. If you're interested in the lore and want to see some characters you only got a glimpse of from Gwent cards, you'll enjoy this game. I like the varied story paths and may come back later to play through Roche's path. The narrative set up TW3 nicely.

I'm mixed on gameplay. The sword animations are cool, but the jank is real. Taking unavoidable damage (and deaths) at the start of battles and getting soft-locked in door-opening animations are but a few infuriating gripes.

Graphics are Xbox 360 grade - basically what you'd expect given the game's age. Take care to tune the graphics settings to your PC specs in the launcher. Otherwise your computer will melt or take flight when the fans go off.

I've completed this game in 2011, took the Iorveth path. Now I'm playing it again, just to see the Roche path. And this time I am jacked up to the teeth! I can do way more things than what I did previously.

The Witcher 2 is an outstanding RPG that masterfully combines a gripping narrative, complex choices, and beautifully designed environments. Its deep storytelling and challenging gameplay make for a highly immersive and rewarding experience. A true gem for fans of rich and engaging adventures!

Not as good as the first game, but still worth playing - especially for chapter 2.

The best way I can describe Witcher 2 is an amazing Choose Your Own Adventure game often interrupted by awful gameplay. The combat is boring and bounces between stupidly easy to stupidly frustrating. It feels like you are punished for using the more exciting parts like signs and items, especially early game, by the game constantly giving you no time to prepare or tossing dozens of enemies at you all at once. Don’t even get me started on the menus, the Inventory is one of the most annoying I’ve dealt with.

But behind the awful gameplay is a fun and exciting story full of drama, choices, and interesting encounters. Anytime I was outside of combat, I was genuinely enjoying myself and excited and intrigued by what could happen next. The story also has a lot of replay value due to the choices, but the thought of replaying the non-story parts makes it not worth it.

In the end, the Witcher 2 suffers from the awful gameplay holding back an amazing story. It perfectly, from what I can assume, sets up Witcher 3 and does make me excited to play a Witcher game that is fun outside of talking to NPCs. Play it on easy if you are interested in the story, otherwise just watch a recap.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is an amazing continuation of an amazing game from 2007, TW2 improves on TW1 by a long shot, the game feels very open for a non-linear story, the graphics still hold up for a game that released in 2011 and that's comparing to other games that came out the same year like Dragon Age: Exodus (Dragon Age II), Skyrim, Portal II, and L.A Noire just to name a few. The story of the game allows you to import a save from TW1 to TW2 which i always found great to continue where i left off from the first game. overall, The Witcher & The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings should be played before 3 in my opinion.

It's far better than its predecessor, but far inferior to its sequel.

It's an awkward middle child in a family with alcoholic deadbeat older sibling and a younger sibling that managed to bring about world peace on its way home from solving nuclear fusion.

If you're a fan of the books or the series and enjoy the world and tone, you'll probably like this game. I got to this after playing Witcher 3, and while it's showing its age a bit, that's not really as problem if you enjoy getting to explore the world and learn more about its characters. It plays well on Mac, though combat becomes much smoother if you map parry and dodge to your mouse. I actually am liking the story better than Witcher 3 so far.

Story and atmosphere are good. Game play / combat is scuffed

the game is so bad i couldn't even complete it
-combat: shit
rather play witcher 1 than this shit its a much more enjoyable experience even though the game is older

I very much like the story line behind the game.
The game is some what easy to work for people that have difficulty with controls like me.
I also like that the game transfers to the next game.

Only downvoted because I encountered a game breaking bug at the end of Act 1. The game froze preventing me from actually playing it beyond this point.

---{ 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

Quite better gameplay than Witcher 1 and I like that you can import your witcher 1 saves (If you have played the first game) and change dialouges depending on what you did in witcher 1. I played the whole game in Dark Difficulty and man I spent at least 7 hours arm wrestling just to earn money and get better gear, that kinda sucked.

10/10 If I ever wanna replay this game I will do normal difficulty I don't wanna spend hours arm wrestling with a dwarf again.

So goddamn good. after W1 i was so afraid, but holy sh*t is this game good. Its basically the "perfect" sequal. Its a step up in everything : plot/story, villain, gameplay (combat), setting, graphics, ...
Only little issues like no horse or not being able to jump, but fact is, the roach would mostly be useless anyway (tho my feet are goddamn numb after walking in all of W1 and W2)

I beat this 2x on the OG Disc version. I beat it 2x here. I bought several other copies for friends. This is my favorite game of all time. Despite being 14 years old and a dx9 game, it still holds up graphically. Unpopular opinion: Superior to Witcher 3. This is truly a Game of Thrones style game. "The flea has bitten a Lion." One of the most incredible lines I've ever heard in a video game. Buy it. Beat it. Play it a second time (or just choose the alternate main branch).

I can never get far past the tutorial, which is one of the worst tutorials I've played. Everything about the game and the way it plays just feels awkward and clunky.

This game somewhat surprised me with its quality, I had just completed the Witcher 3 and I got interested in trying out the older games to see if they withstood the test of time. This game definitely feels a bit dated at times, but overall it is quite an experience. I am currently trying to complete the 100% like I did with TW3 and have been enjoying myself so far. It is quite a bit shorter in terms of how long it takes to complete the story compared to TW3 but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The combat in this game is definitely different from TW3 and TW1 and feels a bit souls-like if I had to describe it somewhat, I am currently on an Insane-difficulty (hard-difficulty + permadeath) playthrough which is required for an achievement and the amount of dodges you do is somewhat akin to what I remember from some souls-likes. On the topic of this insane-diff. playthrough, there are definitely some bugs in this game that have been somewhat infuriating at times... I have been insta-killed a few times so far with no way to prevent these deaths and I can only pray that it doesn't occur this playthrough. Besides that though, I actually like the combat a lot. I feel like the difficulty level is somewhat above that of TW3 which I appreciate a lot. Combat can actually be quite challenging at times and you are not as OP as you can become in TW3. The movement in this game is one of my biggest peeves though, jumping isn't a thing in this game and you can't drop off of ledges freely. This makes navigating the map somewhat annoying, especially when you take away the comfort of a minimap that shows you the path to waypoints for example.

All in all, somewhat dated game in terms of certain mechanics with some bugs you will encounter over-time. Quite a bit shorter than TW3 and can reasonably be completed in ~40hours or less, somewhat challenging at times and some cool and unique mechanics, although those are subjective in terms of enjoyability. Exploriation isn't as big of a factor due to the smaller map-sizes and the more linear story progression, great story overall and definitely recommended to playthrough the game atleast once for the more dedicated Witcher-fans. This game offers tons of background info that will make your playthroughs of TW3 that much more enjoyable, TW2 does this well enough that its a fun experience and not as divisive of an experience as you will get when trying TW1 which is far more dated-feeling.

8.5/10 if you dont consider the poorly-aged mechanics/features, 7.5 if you do consider them imo. Definitely worth playing through, especially for fans of the Witcher / people looking to play TW3 afterwards.

The Witcher 2 is a fairly flawed sequel, and arguably the worst game in the trilogy. This is mostly a game you play for the story and characters, and to bridge the gap between the first and the third game.
The writing is still good, the plot is well paced and layered, with a lot of interesting plot points and political intrigue that unfortunately didn't get followed up on in the sequel. It plays around a bit with choices and consequences, both in the main story and in side quests, with some decisions leading to a drastically different latter half of the game.
Much like with the first game, you can also import your save into the third game, which can change how some quests play out, give additional side quests, extra dialogue lines, or let you meet some recurring characters.

Its visual presentation is also fantastic. It looked great for when it came out, and still looks great today. Cutscenes are more cinematic, character models are vastly improved, voice acting is much better, and it has some beautiful set pieces. Locations have a lot of personality to them, none of the villages in the third game were as memorable as Flotsam and its surrounding forests.

It's the actual gameplay part of the game that's not up to par.

This games iteration of the hack and slash combat system that most people know the series for is just straight up terrible. Weapon animations don't line up with the hitboxes at all, your attacks are randomized and inconsistent, enemies will animation cancel to block you. You barely get enough ability points to max out a single skill tree, but none of the skills help make the combat feel better. The one saving grace of this games combat is that it's so unbalanced that it's easy to just power through it.
People criticize the combat in the first game, but at least that games combat actually worked as it should.

The game is still a great time, just don't expect much from the gameplay. I'd recommend you get a few mods for the game to make it less frustrating, like increased carrying capacity, and more ability points per level. It's worth playing for the story, but the combat is not worth putting any more effort into it than necessary, you have a PC, that's what mods are for.

A bit buggy, but fun gameplay and a good story.

Continues the story from Witcher 1. The tutorial is important, since the game mechanics are different.

This game is a massive improvement to the first game. Everything is better, whether its the gameplay or the combat. 8/10 would definitely recommend.

awsome game with beautifull graphics enjoyed 100 %

great story love the story but too bad that i played the 3 first so the old game mechanics made the game play hard for me but its a really good game

The story is S++ tier.
The game play is ok, B tier.
The bugs are sometimes game breaking S tier.
S tier death traps.
S tier jank.
Roche is S tier.
Love myself an S tier Lethos.
The lodge is devinitely F tier.

Good game, still fun to play even years later. The 2 distinct story line paths allows for replay ability. Combat is a bit outdated, making some of the boss fights early in the game annoying, but the story is good and once you get some upgrades everything starts to flow more smoothly

The story is perfect, and in this episode, it is told from Dandelion's perspective. I like the aging of the characters and their new appearances (especially Triss, who looks even more gorgeous), but Zoltan's face has changed so much that when I first saw him, I couldn't believe it was him. Like in the first episode, the environment is fascinating, and the map system is the same. The gameplay has improved significantly, and the fighting system is much better. The choices you have to make are far more difficult, making you think for a long time.
*This episode's story is not related to the first one, but I highly recommend playing the previous game because it gives you an idea of The Witcher series and helps you learn more about monsters, potions, characters, and their pasts.

This game holds up just fine, and deserves a replay before your next time playing The Witcher 3.
-The Witcher being an amazing RPG series started here. Witcher 1 was a fine little niche RPG, that on a revisist feels like a janky side quest for what Witcher would become.
-The Witcher 2, however, has that same great writing and dialogue delivery present in Witcher 3. The combat is simple and certainly not the star of the show.
- Though not an "open world", Witcher 2's "Chapter" design is still a wonderful way to explore a world. Each chapter after the Prologue takes place in a nice, big area, full of interesting side quests and gorgeous environmental design. You also won't get bogged down by "tasks" and "points of interests", the side content here is just the meaningful, world-building stuff.
- Benefits from being in-between Witcher 1's complete "Amnesia quest" and Witcher 3's "Exposition dumps to catch you up with the books." The story focusing on the overall conflict of Nilfgaard and the Kingdoms, while still giving Geralt a completely non-book related reason for going on this quest.
It's a very comfortable length. You won't risk burnout before beating it, especially if you just want to experience the characters and story before diving into The Witcher 3 again.

combat system is ass but the story and overall game is fine do not play on dark that shit is impossible

Closer in game play to Witcher 3 than Witcher 1. Huge step up. But not as amazing as Witcher 3. Still worth a play through, especially if you're a fan of the books, lore, and all things Witcher.