From the minute i picked up THE WITCHER 2 i was amazed at everything about it. From the fantastic packaging with tons of goodies inside like a intricate detailed metal coin medallion and huge map to the free DLCs THE WITCHER 2 shines with the caring artistic glory of rpg legends like the ULTIMA and TSR rpg series of old. And this is before seeing the game itself :D
THE WITCHER 2 is no holds barred roleplaying with fantastic graphics which look gorgeous even at the lowest settings. At the moment am playing at medium settings with no lag at all on my Intel 2.5 quadcore,2gigs memory,Radeon 5770.
Gameplay is thick with adult themes portraying a realistic living world with no unrealistic keeping it safe nonsense. Theres violence,sex with all out nudity, high quality voice acting, detailed inspiring graphics with no sense of repetition in landscape and character design. Combat is intuitive with a top notch tutorial brilliantly implemented to the start of THE WITCHER 2 to learn the game mechanics and become familiar with the world which aids in immersing the player quickly to the world of the Northern Kingdoms instead of feeling like an alien just dropped down on a strange planet one supposedly spent ones life in.
Combat is brutal and rewards strategic thinking. One can just charge into the fray of choatic fighting but usually the results will not be so pleasant without proper preparation. It takes more then just brute strength to win the day in THE WITCHER 2. Combat controls are easy to learn thanks to the wonderful tutorial and never frustrating.
The soundtrack to THE WITCHER 2 is epic in its perfection. Fitting in completely with the setting and what is going on at the moment. It did not distract me with boredom but instead made the gameworld even more alive in a already vibrant living environment. Layers of greatness indeed.
Voice acting is as perfect as it possibly could get. I can walk up to anybody and everybody in THE WITCHER 2 and get a response sometimes comical other times telling me to bugger off. The main characters in the world feel realistic and not over the top. Even the royalty have a down to earth quality to them while still feeling separate from the peasentry. No fake Shakespear here :D
Theres already a patch on its way to fix some minor hiccups which further shows the dedication CD Projekt Red has in making this golden treasure of rpg delight even more rich with gaming pleasure for us all.
THE WITCHER 2 a true blue sequal which satisfies. Buy it and enjoy the pride of CD Projekt Red.
Thank you CD Projekt Red for the happiness.
EDIT: After a few months of play some of the annoying CONS that have emerged are-
1. Too easy battles even against bosses. Once you hit them the first time they seem too stunned to get back into the fight. This is fine for weaker foes but with main villains and bosses it seems unbalanced.
2. Way too much walking back and forth trying to do a quest goal with nothing to do and hardly an enemy to come across. When one does come across an enemy the battle is over too quickly. Soaking in the buetiful environment can only do so much til boredom sets in.
SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!
In one scene when the towns folks turn on the "mutants" and proceed to slaughter them wholesale my character Geralt goes walking through the whole town without once encountering a single angry mob wanting to kill him. Considering i ran into plenty of drunken groups i would have expected a fight or two in such a chaotic murderous turn of events.
3. Opening doors and selecting items can be a pain since you have to be in just the right spot to do it. Alot of times i have to walk back and forth a few steps just to open a door.
4. Theres no penalty for picking up anything in the gameworld. You can rob to your hearts content with no consequences. Thief characters will truly find this aspect boring. Its as if the world was stuffed with real world items which serve no purpose but to look buetiful and be sold without any worry of having stole them.
5. Sleeping with prostitutes never pisses off your female companion who gladly gives it up. Would have been nice if Geralt had to choose between being a whoremonger or a faithful lover instead of like other aspects of the game where you can do as you please without consequence. Whats the point of being naughty without the punishment :D