Based on the books by the Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher is an addition to the RPG genre from Europe, starring the main character from the books - Geralt of Rivia, who is a "witcher" - a professional monster-slayer.

The story begins when Geralt is found unconscious by his fellow witchers. He has lost most of his memories of the past, and joins other witchers when their fortress, Kaer Morhen, is attacked by members of a mysterious organization known as the Salamandra. Most of the enemies are defeated by the witchers, but the two most dangerous ones - a criminal nicknamed "Professor" and the sorcerer Azar Javed - escape after having gained access to the witchers' laboratories. The witchers part ways, and Geralt heads to the capital city Vizima, hoping to find more information about the assailants.

The Witcher is a dark game with a dark world. War, murder, poverty, genocide, discrimination, torture, fanaticism - are just a few words that describe this setting. This is the world that the humans try to rule, and non-humans like elves and dwarves are subjected to suspicion and sometimes cruel treatment. Will Geralt be a victim to a few sentimental moments of kindness, or will he survive as a cynical bitter murderer? These are the choices that you'll have to make.

Using a heavily modified engine of Neverwinter Nights, the game implements an original combat system, which requires the player to click on the enemy at the right moment in order to help Geralt execute combo attacks. In order to defeat the enemies efficiently, the player must observe the movements of the combatants, and choose the right combat style: "quick", which is recommended to use against fast enemies, "heavy", with lower precision, but more damage output, and "group", which is effective when Geralt is surrounded. In addition, Geralt often has to switch between his two basic weapons: the steel sword, which is used against regular enemies, and the silver sword, which is more helpful against supernatural creatures.

Character growth is handled by allocating experience points into skills, teaching Geralt fighting styles as well as learning and improving his abilities. Alchemy is a skill that Geralt learns, allowing him to create his own potions, for healing purposes as well as for enhancing his witcher senses. Geralt can also learn and cast offensive and defensive magical spells.

The Witcher requires the player to make ethical decisions for Geralt, which often have "delayed consequences" - for example, sparing a character's life early in the game will eventually trigger a scene much later, in which said character appears and helps Geralt in return for his kindness. As the game's plot advances, the player learns more about the social and political life of its world, and is able to choose his/her own path and alliances to different organizations and ideologies.

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Alternate Titles

"巫師" -- Taiwanese spelling
"巫师" -- Chinese spellinge (simplified)
"Ведьмак" -- Russian spelling
"Zaklínač" -- Czech title
"Wushi" -- Chinese title
"Wiedźmin" -- Polish title

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Part of the Following Groups

User Reviews

Choose your path, Geralt	YID YANG (162395)
A grain of truth	St. Martyne (3562)
Possibly the finest RPG I've ever played	Jeanne (75620)
Every man wants to be like Geralt, every game wants to be like The Witcher	Melody (119)
[v1.1] Legendary as a story-driven adventure game; Dull as an RPG	Indra was here (15038)

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The Press Says

AceGamez	Nov, 2007	10 out of 10	100
Giery.eu	Nov 10, 2007	38 out of 40	95
Game Shark	Nov 30, 2007	A-	91
2404.org PC Gaming	Nov 21, 2007	9 out of 10	90
Pelit	Nov, 2007	88 out of 100	88
Gamers.at	Nov 05, 2007	85 out of 100	85
GamingXP	Dec 20, 2007	83 out of 100	83
TotalVideoGames (TVG)	Oct 29, 2007	8 out of 10	80
Tap-Repeatedly/Four Fat Chicks	Jul, 2008		80
GameStar (Germany)	Nov 28, 2007	77 out of 100	77

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Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
In this thread, you sell this to me	9	Dr. M. "Schadenfreude" Von Katze (588) Jun 06, 2011
Heads Up	1	Indra was here (15038) May 29, 2011
I want to make sweet love to a Dryad.	36	Indra was here (15038) Oct 03, 2010
Damn you Sigfried!	26	Indra was here (15038) Dec 26, 2008
Thge Witcher Enhaced	7	vedder (18686) Sep 01, 2008
Questions...[Warning Spoiler Alert]	5	Indra was here (15038) May 10, 2008
Yahtzee hates the Witcher.	83	NatsFan (133) Mar 22, 2008
F****ng barricade!!!! Please help!!	12	Indra was here (15038) Mar 19, 2008
Enhanced version coming in May	3	YID YANG (162395) Mar 17, 2008
Questions...	13	St. Martyne (3562) Feb 16, 2008

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Trivia

Localization

In adapting the dialogue from the Polish to the English version, certain parts were censored. An example:

Original version: Smith: Why do pricks go in cunts? It's the natural order of things. Humans have always disliked dwarves and elves. Not for me to know why.

Edited version: Smith: Humans have always hated dwarves and elves.

These censored parts were later added back with full voice acting in Enhanced Edition.

References

In line with the murky 'film noir' theme of good and evil largely depending on context and motivation, there is a tip of the hat to Raymond Chandler/Philip Marlowe as one of the pivotal characters is Detective Raymond Maarloeve, who speaks like a hard-boiled detective from any of Chandler's novels.
In the second act when you enter the city walls, you can sometimes hear citizens whistle a Star Wars tune, more precisely the "Imperial March" track. But that isn't the only reference to movies or actors. There is a knight in third act called Patrick De Wayze which is an obvious gag on Patrick Swayze (in the Polish version of the game, the name is spelled Patrick z Weyze and sounds exactly like the name of an American actor).

Sales

In October 2008, one year after the release, the development studio CD Projekt RED Sp. z o.o. announced to have sold one million copies of the game (including the enhanced edition).

Sephirot

At one point, Geralt will have to gather 10 sephirot (also transliterated as "sephiroth") to enter a magical tower. The sephirot in question are actually the ten spheres of creation in the Jewish mystical teaching, kabbalah. All the translated names of the sephirot ("crown", "kingdom", etc.) are correct; however, the original Hebrew names, which also appear in the game, are messed up nearly beyond recognition.