The Witcher

The Good
I finished The Witcher for the first time 3 days ago and it's still "with" me - in my thoughts and in my dreams. As the title of this review suggests, I was thoroughly pleased with the game. While I'm going to give it a rest for a bit, I do plan to keep it installed to play at least once more.

In every respect, this is a truly great game. I'll explain more in the conclusion section.

The Bad
My computer is 3 years old, so it is not surprising that I had some problems playing The Witcher. Most of it seemed to be related to video, so I'm sure that my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro video card should be ditched and replaced with a newer, more powerful model. For instance, I was thrown out of the game and my computer rebooted when I started my first new game. Then, in early chapters, I experienced random freezes, black screens, movement lags and hang-ups. However, with tips I found in the Witcher forums I was able to do some tweaking which helped. During the frustrating times, though, I never gave up. I loved it so much that I was determined to get through it. Just when I thought I could never continue, all the problems mysteriously disappeared. I was estatic when the game played flawlessly and I was able to finish it. Saving often literally kept me sane.

Speaking of saved games, you'll find out soon enough that your saved game files are huge and can quickly fill up your hard drive. Quick Save doesn't overwrite the old file, rather it adds yet another new file. It helped to know that older games can be deleted safely and doing that actually helps problems like the ones I was having. I hope that the developers will change the Quick Save in any expansions or sequels.

During some of the story, especially in Chapter 2, there was an excess of travelling long distances back and forth between NPCs. But, I realized that much of this was to make sure I faced enough monsters and quests to level up. So, although it did become tedious, it was not a big deal.

The European version has more nudity than the US version, or so I've heard. Instead of censuring, I say - give us the choice! I'm over 21 and have no minor children in my house. Add an option - let us choose the maturity level we want to see.

Finally, when the game was over I felt there were some story threads left unresolved. For instance, the fate of a young boy, Geralt's love interest and his full memory. Hopefully the sequel will address those issues.

The Bottom Line
In every RPG gamer's mind is the dream of their perfect role playing game. That game would transport them into a realm so fantastic that they could lose themselves in it and feel as if they'd become part of it. Decisions made within the game would result in consequences that affect everything around them - politically, socially, theologically as well as personally. The world must be beautiful; there must be unique NPCs with meaningful, informative conversations; the scenarios should be challenging and absorbing; the interface intuitive; the story deep with numerous sub-plots and unexpected twists; and, lastly, an ending that is both satisfying and fulfilling.

For me, The Witcher fulfilled my vision of MY ideal role playing game. But I must admit that technically speaking the game did not run flawlessly on my machine, as I explained above.

The opening intro movie clearly shows us that Geralt, the witcher, is no ordinary fighter. He shows no fear when facing the monster. In fact, he relishes the battle. The monster is his prey and he is in complete control. Using his extraordinary reflexes and cunning, he watches and learns its moves, picking the right moment to strike. He uses his fists first, knocking it off balance and causing the beast confusion and anger. Then, when the time is right, he draws his mighty sword and finishes it off. After the movie is over, it is utterly apparent that this is not just another hack-'n-slash game.

Gals take note - Geralt is one of the most extraordinarily masculine game characters I've ever seen in a game. He looks strange with his white hair and cat-like yellow eyes. And yet he is handsome, charismatic and sexy. His voice is deep and his physique, movements, stance and body language give him the appearance of absolute virility. Mmmm.

As the game begins, you'll learn that witchers are mutants - genetically altered humans designed for one purpose - to kill monsters. You'll also discover that there are few of them left to handle that task. They are not just a bunch of blood-thirsty killers. They are friends and comrades who truly care about each other and believe in their profession.

All throughout the game excellent cinematics like the intro movie are woven in. Close-up cut scenes during important conversations brought me closer to knowing the individuals involved in the story. The music was so beautiful at times that I turned it up and just sat still to listen to it.

When you start a new game, you can choose how you prefer to play it. I chose the mouse-controlled medium difficulty in which magic and potion usage is optional. I liked my choice, but you might prefer the all-keyboard method. There are 3 modes of view too ranging from over-the-shoulder to almost top-down or isometric. These can be selected in-game at will. The advancement in levels is unique to my experience. You are awarded medallions in bronze, silver and, much later, gold. Choose which skills you wish to improve upon using the number of medallions you have earned. Explanations for everything are there to help you pick things that fit your idea of how you want Geralt to evolve.

Geralt's inner abilities are enhanced by drinking special potions. In The Witcher there's much more to this than increasing health or mana, like in other RPGs, and you won't find any of his potions sold by merchants. Recipes must be found in books or scrolls and, occasionally, verbally from NPCs. Ingredients are found on plants and fallen foes or purchased. Then when you "meditate", you can mix up your own potions. It is possible to overdose when Geralt's toxin level gets too high. This, too, is unique and different from any other game I've played.

I particularly enjoyed playing Poker against many varied opponents and eventually advanced to the top as a legend. Fist fighting, too, was fun and can earn money and prestige within the ranks of the elite. That too was easy and a fun diversion.

If you love RPGs, don't miss this one

There are rumors that there will be a sequel released within the next year or so. I've also heard that the books on which this was based may be translated into English. I look forward to both.

The Good
If someone told you that an unknown, inexperienced Polish developer would release an RPG that will instantly turn into a beloved cult item, claiming its place in the ranks of role-playing crème de la crème, you would probably heartily laugh at the good joke while greedily browsing the web for more news about that latest BioWare game.

That is, unless you happen to play The Witcher.

It turns out that you don’t have to be an experienced coding house from a country with rich traditions of video game-making in order to make a memorable product. I won’t say that you also don’t need a good budget; no, evidence of solid money spent on the technical aspect of The Witcher can be clearly seen (and heard). But – and I’m not afraid to sound corny here – what you really need is a soul. The collective soul of passionate game developers, who poured it all, unconditionally, into a game that shouldn't be ashamed of a comparison to the finest contemporary offerings of the genre.

Make no mistake here – the instant sympathy The Witcher has evoked in many players does not owe its existence to an advanced graphical engine, nifty gameplay gimmicks, or even controversial content in form of sex and drugs. It’s the wonderful personality of the game that ignited that spark. Players’ love to this game is not an irrational, hysterical passion that is sometimes caused by high amount of super-textured polygons or fifty thousand ways of customizing a sword. The Witcher is straightforward and honest in the way it treats role-playing mechanics: it's simple when it comes to basic gameplay, but deep when it comes to choices and decisions.

The Witcher is a game that poses difficult questions without nudging the player towards the obvious "good" choice. You don’t side with the Order or with the elves because you identify yourself with their ideologies. You also don’t choose between those two because one is good and the other is evil. You make the choice because your life – such as depicted in the game’s story - forces you to choose. It has nothing to do with following a certain set of virtues or with adhering to a certain philosophical system. This is not even a political or social choice; siding with the Order does not strengthen security, same way as siding with the elves does not bring freedom. Being neutral also doesn't solve the problem in a magical way, doesn't lead to a “best ending” or anything like that. As most choices in The Witcher, this decision is a deeply personal issue, in many ways similar to the decision to have relationship with certain women who appear in the game’s story. The game speaks directly to your heart, offering no false consolations or fake gameplay-related prizes. You choose, and you face the consequences.

On a more basic level, The Witcher can be a satisfying RPG as well - though it is clear that certain features were underdeveloped or omitted. The combat system is simple, yet elegant. Executing the combos is so fun that after a while I began to wonder why nobody else has thought of it before. Character development is interesting and proves to be effective for the most part. With two kinds of swords and three styles for each, there isn’t much complexity, but enough variety to keep the combat fresh and challenging (“damn it, I can barely scratch that guy… gotta use a different style”), and the upgrading is very entertaining, making you sit in front of the fire for hours, thinking about where to invest the gained “talents”, wanting to gather experience just to test those new abilities in a battle (“aaah, wait till I get that +30 Pain effect… that will show those bastards!”). Experience is richly rewarded for taking side-quests, so there is practically no grindwork involved.

One of the game's main selling points is its world. We've seen our share of medieval fantasy settings in games, from the historic realism of Darklands to the boundless imagination of Planescape: Torment; but none is as truthfully unpleasant, as grimly brutal as the world of The Witcher. Mature themes are treated with remarkable seriousness here. They didn't even need all the sexual and drug-using references (although they certainly add a very fitting edge to the story). Racism, fanaticism, political intrigues, greed, betrayal, cowardice – negative emotions surround the hero, who he has to find his path in a truly dark world. They didn't require an ultra-stylish post-apocalyptic setting to depict corruption, loneliness, and despair. On the bank of a peacefully-looking river, in broad daylight, you realize that the world and human beings are deeply flawed – without any hypocritical sighs and flat moralizing. The Witcher is a critique of human society such as rarely seen within the medium. The story betrays the Slavic origin of the game, being somewhat melancholic and having a brooding, but warm attitude.

The story is decorated by a strong character cast. Again, you feel the dark Slavic influence, which in this case translates into depth: most of the characters have several “layers”, and with a few exceptions, none is particularly “good”; most of the characters in the game are a very realistic mixture of good and evil – even though evil definitely prevails. The brooding, rough protagonist with his own personal problems is a welcome change from customized semi-silent heroes or youthful prodigies that have won the auditions for the main player character in so many other games.

I have heard many complains about the English translation. I think some of the dialogues are brilliantly written, even though a certain awkwardness is felt in many lines. It is a known fact that this particular translation has suffered at the hands of censors who removed many swear words and offensive lines in general. For that reason, I highly recommend the enhanced edition with its improved content and new translation that actually makes the infamous dwarven blacksmith curse properly instead of offering watered-down remarks concerning discrimination against his race.

The package comes with lovely and at times stunning graphics; while not everything looks equally great, some of the views have a serene and somewhat melancholic (again, typically Slavic) beauty. Character models, except for the sad duplicating I’ll refer to below, are generally very lively and expressive. The music is perfectly integrated with the rest of the game, rarely drawing too much attention to itself, but rather providing a fitting background and contributing to the atmosphere of the game.

The Bad
You’ll rarely hear me complaining about bugs; but there is a nasty, evil one in The Witcher. if you side with the Order, a certain barricade which must be destroyed in order to advance the story will remain magically indestructible. To be fair, this is not a complete show-stopping bug, since there is a (very tedious, unorthodox, and hard-to-find) work-around of sorts to this atrocity; but it is still terrible. It made me utter swear words that would have been censored by US authorities if they were included in the game itself.

For the record, patch 1.2 does correct this – the barricade broke obediently after I reloaded a nearby save game.

NPCs who look like twin brothers are not something uncommon in games – specially not large role-playing games like The Witcher. What occurs less frequently, however, is the absolute resemblance of unimportant NPCs to major characters of the game – and that is unfortunately what happens only too often in this title. Even before you realize that the merchant Leeuvarden does play a significant role in the story, you’ll find thousands of leeuvardens happily walking around. One will sell you armor, another one is an evil spy, yet another one is just a standard traveler, etc. The only thing that distinguishes them from each other and from their important “brother” is the color of their clothes. This is palette-swapping at its worst, because the faces in The Witcher (including this particular one) are very well-done and instantly recognizable; it’s therefore even more unforgivable to use them for key figures and generic NPCs alike.

The main problem of The Witcher, however, is its relatively modest quantity of traditional role-playing features coupled with low interactivity. Perhaps the talented Polish developers could have studied the work of their German colleagues. There is no real continuous, fully explorable world in The Witcher. The fact almost the entire game takes place in and around one city is exacerbated by the absence of real physical connection to the surroundings. The lack of interactivity bothered me as much as the disappointing size of the world. Geralt cannot jump, climb, grab or push things (except with the very limited and scripted use of the Aard spell), or otherwise physically interact with the game world. The areas tend to be small and fairly linear, with a lot of places which are impassable only because the designers said so. Maybe they thought that physical immersion will distract players from following the tight story. It is indeed a matter of priorities, and mine lie with the gameplay in all cases.

The Bottom Line
There are more technically flawless, immersive, and complex RPGs out there, but you won’t easily find one that has as much soul and personality as The Witcher. The Polish developers put themselves on the map with this relatively modest, but fascinating and surprisingly mature game, imbuing it with burning passion for choice-based role-playing.

The Good
I want to talk about the hero first. The more you play "The Witcher", the more you can fall in love with Geralt. He is not a completely cold-blooded person, but he is always in a conflict. He also wants to have family, to live a normal life, but he is a witcher, he follows his profession. I think this game is a little bit too cruel to him... My feeling is that after you have played the game for a long time, you begin to really care for what happens to the witcher.

Already when I saw the intro, I thought that Geralt was very ugly; with a scar on his face, and white hair, I was sure that no girl would be able to fall in love with him. Then my husband told me that many women found Geralt attractive, and I just said: "Chyeahh!.." But the more you play the game, you will be attracted to his character, not his face. His expression is always the same: when you see him you think he is cold-blooded, but when you play the game, you will see he has a lot of feelings, passions, he can also fall in love with a girl. And he has a great voice.

In China there is an old saying: "英雄难过美人关" (yingxiong nanguo meirenguan), it means: no matter how brave a hero is in battle, he will be helpless against a beautiful woman. Like me! Let me compliment myself... Okay, just a joke. Anyway, Geralt is just like this.

Now about the princess. Actually, I think Geralt and the princess are the best couple! Because Geralt is cool as a man, and the princess is very beautiful. And I think her character is like "Shanghai princess"...

In the story there are many moments that will shock you. You'd think you are already near the end, but the story continues. Pity that the final battles were too easy. In this story, there are no perfect solutions, always conflict. Even the main villain has his own reasons. Actually his goal is not bad at all. But I really don't understand the final cut scene... About the main villain: I really hate such people in real life. People who do things behind you back, don't act directly.

In "The Witcher", you create your character by taking decisions in the game. Those decisions influence the story and the characters who appear in it. Like on that illusion island, where characters from the past come to meet you.

In the gameplay, the best part is that you have two swords, to fight different people. And you should judge them by their looks. There are also three different styles. You should have a quick reaction to choose one of those styles to fight different enemies. Also, the fighting is not like in other games, click the mouse and that's all; you can't click too much, you must decide when to click and wait until you have finished one action.

Because my English is not good enough, I never put those points to make Geralt stronger, it was my husband who did all that. In the beginning we played this game in Chinese, so I also helped him a lot! I can't say much about this system. In such a game, you always want to have all of those abilities, but of course you can't.

The graphics are amazing! All those islands, also the lake, it's very beautiful.

You don't notice much the music in the game. But the battle music was very good. Also, if you want to listen to folk music, you can click on the violinist, and he says all the time "Just listen"... "just listen"... "just listen"...

The Bad
The intro shows Geralt fighting a monster (who is actually a princess); so you expect the game to be a love story or some sad thing, but in the end it's all about the society, corruption, such things. This is not bad, the story is very interesting, but I feel it wasn't very related to the intro.

There are too many people who look the same, it always confused me! Like that old woman from the village, Vaska. There are a lot of those vaskas in the game! All old women look like her, in every village you find some who walk around.

There are many places that look like you can go there, but actually you can't. That's very annoying.

Also, there is a bug, when you can't go through in one place no matter what you do.

The Bottom Line
Thank you very much, Polish developers. You've created such a manly Geralt, and a great game. I'm lucky that my husband didn't kill me, he was always jealous of Geralt when we played!