I can't speak for every gamer out there but the main reason I play games is to have fun, have some sense of accomplishment at the end of the experience and to enjoy those pivotal moments in between. This game delivered this and more in spades. Brilliant characters, excellent story, so many good things that I fear mentioning all of it could spoil it for those that have not played it yet.

The game has a few minor bugs, a few flaws with the inventory system in that you can only carry a very limited amount of items and the combat difficulty does seem to be 'challenging'. That said, if I gave the game a score lower than 10 for these minor flaws I think I'd be doing a great injustice to this work of art and to the people that created it.

If you enjoyed Witcher 1 you will enjoy this game, heck if you did not enjoy Witcher 1 you probably will still enjoy this game. This game definitely lands a spot in my personal top 5 best RPGs of all time ((In no particular order) Baldur's Gate 2, Morrowind, Planescape Torment, Knights of the Old Republic, Witcher 2)… Expand

This game could have been great. Bad controls, terrible combat and a rushed 3/4 game which is much too short. But it's great crime is to pretend to be deep. In reality, it is a shallow action game.

Looooooots o f bugs, game crashes to windows, DLC doesnt work. Wait till patch (a big one) before you buy this crappy game. Graphic's are good until game crashes, story is good, fight mechanic is totally arcade just clik fast and jump on left and right.

Amazing!! I'm not a big RPG fan, but I bought this game on a whim and I can't seem to stop playing. It's refreshing to play a game that actually challenges you during combat. There's very little hand-holding in this game and occasionally your character **gasp** dies from your mistakes! The graphics are also top notch and will set the new benchmark for PC punishment... the "Uber Sampling" option can bring any current GPU to it's knees. The only negative is the fact that you can't remap some of the keys for combat (a stupid oversight by the development team), but there's an update on the way to fix this issue.… Expand

New to the series. Still early on but im really am quite happy with it so far. I dont own the first game so some parts are confusing. I clearly missed a lot of stuff and delving straight into the second game wasnt as easy as I thought it would be. To be expected I know, but I didnt expect it to this level. Anyway guess I should have spent my free time over the past few months getting into this series rather then hyping myself up to being bitterly disappointed with DA2... oh how I got that so wrong =P Anyway I digress. Graphics are great and the environments rich. Interacting are awesome and I find myself smiling a lot at some parts. The game has froze up on me several times though, but nothing that hasn't sorted itself out several seconds later. Combat was a little awkward at first and I was sure there was a better way to do it. But its all in the learning curve. Fun experience so far, not sure its Game of the Year as some people are already saying, but I can easily understand why they are saying it. =)… Expand

The game would have been pretty good (certainly not 10/10 that people are excitedly scoring) but it's just so incredibly rough around the edges. The game I will no doubt have these ironed out with mods and patches but I would suggest waiting for that time rather than a purchase now. And as for why only pretty good, the game has lost the atmosphere of the first game - crypts caves swamps forests - they don't feel intimidating places to be anymore.… Expand

Though I could probably point out a hundred flaws in it, overall the game is amazing. That sort of game where you can feel that the developers honestly put their hearts into making it.

My only big gripe in this game was the combat. The basic concept of the combat mechanics is fine, especially in the context of the game world. However the execution is flawed; many enemies are able to kill the player's character in two-three hits even on normal difficulty, which is not a problem by itself, however when unresponsive controls start getting into the way this becomes rather annoying. In addition, the balancing between the skill trees is far from perfect, as some abilities are absolutely critical to survive on harder difficulties while many others are pretty useless.… Expand

An absolute flawed gem of a game that no serious RPG fan or PC Gamer should miss.

Yes, there are issues with the narrative, especially towards the end, but the overall experience is one for the ages!

So, Metacritic, can you please somehow balance out the "0" scores to reflect a true user score. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but "0".....really? More like the too cool for anything crowd weighing in. Loved "The Witcher", and "Witcher 2" is of he same or better quality, originality, and overall fun, as the original. Bad story line, boring graphics, old gray haired scarred man - huh? I have an HD ATI 5770 in a mid range Asus duel core machine dual core with graphics cranked up all the way with awesome performance and with some of the best graphics of any game out there. Game play is a little complex and a little different that the original, but within an hour or two (I guess if you have a short attention span, this may be too much to ask) you are cranking through some great individual and group battles using both long swords and/or Witcher powers such as fire balls, electric fields, mind control to name a few.

I am not a big RPG fan, more on the action shooter side of things. From the RPG perspective, Witcher allows you to make the game what you want it to be. As you advance through the levels you can assign attributes to customize "The Witcher" making him proficient in, magic, potions or as a sword wielding bad ass.

If you are on the fence on this one, and like Action and/or RPG games, could "tolerate an hour so" of getting the feel of the game, and have a good mid range PC (or better), you will not be disappointed. IMO, Witcher and Witcher 2 are in my top 5 games....up ther with Bio Shock, Dead Space, Modern Warfare...........it,s a great game.… Expand

One of the worst games I have ever played. It only works on the low spec, despite having a really good computer, half of the tips are completely useless since they show up after you have performed the action and the overall game experience is really ****

Wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

Absolutely stunning, movie-like experience. The game looks gorgeous even on low graphics settings. Pacing is good and story is brilliant. GOTY for sure.

I' ve just played for about 8 hours without a brake. This game is truly amazing. Why would anyone give a masterpiece like that a 0?I feel sorry for you. Get a life. adfasdfasdfasdf

This is amazing game. I am not remember when i play in so excting game.

I registered just to tell the world what a massive enjoyment this game is. Absolute, total 10 for one of the best RPGs since Planescape. It looks awesome, it sounds awesome and, damn, it plays awesome and tells you an awesome story!

Fantastic games!
Probably the best RPG in the world ;]
Games of the Year 2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. 10+AwsomeStuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and 10+… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Game looks absolutely fantastic. Best RPG i ever played. The graphics are amazing, everything is made with passion, so deep and immerse. Great game, congratulations to the CDP. 10… Expand

At first I wasn't sure how new tweaked combat would turn out, or even if they could reproduce the excellent story-driven plot of the first game. Now that I've played it for a bit any doubts I've had have been put to rest.

Is M_Stannard another one of BioWares people voting on metacritic? Anyways, this game is super fun and hard. It looks and play amazingly. Some changes are a little awkward at first, like having to meditate before using potions, but you will get the hang of it.

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. One of the most immersive cRPG games ever made. If your are fan of Dark Fantasy Worlds, you must own it. I didn't have so much fun with RPG game since the last Witcher or even better .... Planescape Torment!!!… Expand

Awesome game. that is all. If you love amazing graphics and great story lines stop reading and go buy this! You should know going in that this game has some steep system requirements! If you have the system to handle it get it! if you have anything less than a nvidia 470 or equivalent it may be time to upgrade.

Best RPG that came out in years, worthy sequel to already great game. Everything about this game is great and to enjoy it you'll need a good computer. GOTY easily for any PC gamer and RPG fan.

Game of the year IMO. This game has awesome graphics even for some older VGA moving plot, fast pace and a pretty challenging combat system. It actually had me going for about 3 hours without even considering to stop. If you're saving up for Fable III, buy this one instead!
Worth registering to Metacritic just to give it a 10/10

One of the best RPG games ever made. The amount of effort that CD Project RED put in the game is seen all over, from what is a Standart 50$ with all the additional content put in the box to what the CE is. The amount of work put on the details in game is also amazing. The story feels epic and the quests must be example for every new RPG that will come n the future. Yes the game is not without its problems, but you can overlook them if they don't break the experience for you. The game will be of cult status, like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the RED's promise serious support for the game in the future.… Expand

I signed up, just to counteract those insane low scores. This is an incredible game, you can see so much love poured in, from the npc's who live out their lives, to the buildings that have very detailed interiors. It seems as if the first city was literally cobbled together with a hammer and chisel. The combat is a little tough until you get used to using your brain (other RPG's make you click so was not used to it). Interactions with other npcs is great, you can craft weapons Armour and make potions, all of which can help or hinder you. There are consequences to drinking to much potions do to toxicity, plus every potion has pros and cons eg cats potion which lets you see in the dark does not help you see in the light. Everything in the game can be enhanced which is a must when versing some foes. There is so much more to talk about, like all the free dlc thats coming, to the amazing box you get with lots of goodies at a normal price great side quests no fetching missions. Don't believe those 0/10 scores, I don't know why anyone would give this game a score like that, the only thing those people are doing is just making others sign up to give it a good score. Go buy the game, btw I can run most options on high except textures which are at the maximum, yet I only have an 8800GTX.… Expand

In my opinion is Game of the Year. Fantastic world, dialogs, combat ... all is fantastic. Story is the best of all games ever! Sapkowski is master of fantasy. I must read him books, not only The Witcher.

First, this game is awesome. If you don't play this game you are truly missing out on one of the Best RPG games ever. It amazes me when I look through the reviews and you see some guy give a seriously low score. Some of you must have no lives that you have to write low reviews of an awesome game. I can understand someone maybe giving this game an 8 or maybe even a 7 but any lower than that you are just letting everyone know that you are a moron. This Game is a definite 10. I know that no game is perfect so in reality no game should ever get a 10, but any game that is so awesome and fun to play deserves a fat 10.… Expand

This is the perfect sequel of the one best RPG game on 2007! If you are the Rpg lover game you don't forget this new story of Geralt of Rivia! The best character in the videogame industry!

Combat/Difficulty = 10: This game is incredibly challenging. Many users will be put off by the lack of help or kindergarten button mashing. At any level above easy this game requires a combination of preparation, strategy, action style timing, and patience. There is a sense of discovery when figuring out how to take down a monster or well armored and shielded characters.

Gameplay = 9.0: The various mini games are a riot. They offer a nice break from fighting and make me think of games like Ultima 7. This game is polished and relatively bug free. The only real knock against gameplay is the targeting system, while better than most, it can be hard to lock on to certain objects.

Story = 9.5: It isn't the epic feel, incredible polish, or voice acting that stand out here. It is the dark and brutal atmosphere in a world where you are both loved and hated that bring this game alive. Motivations aren't simply good or bad, they are neither. Characters are fleshed out, actually most are fantastic, but Geralt takes the cake. He is the quintessential tough guy. I want to be Geralt! Thank you Andrzej Sapkowski! DA:2 tried to play the middle ground, but at the end of the day everyone was just an evil one-dimensional punk...The Witcher 2 truly succeeds here.

Graphics = 9.5: The graphics are stunning, the environments are beautiful, the main characters are absolutely fantastic. I do take a little bit of fault with some of the character animations which is why I slipped this one to a 9.5. Other than that little bit, this is the best looking game I've seen in a RPG.

Sound = 10: The musical score in this game blows me away. I feel like I'm listening to Wing Commander 3 for the first time again. I sometimes just sit back in my seat and listen to the music.… Expand

the best rbg in my life . all site give this game review less then 95 . there are wrong
The characters are deep and complex, the storyline develops depending on your actions and choices. It takes what was good from every single RPG released in the last 15 year

I have played many RPG's in my life, but i have to say, this is the best yet. I won't go into details as the many other positive comments echo my sentiments. Those who moan about the combat, you need to learn how to play. The controls are responsive, and the player needs to use ALL his abilities to survive, this is not a hack-and-slash. Get lost in this game, you will love it!

The best RPG game i have ever played. This is truly a epic masterpiece. The environment is so amazing and and mind blowing, its just blows all the other RPG games out of the water. The villages / cities are so alive and full of life that you can spend hours just walking completely immersed in the game.

Terrible and booring game.. i want my money back :( Optimize in this game is not good, typical port from console. Animations and controls is really bad.

What can you expect from the game: a fantasy world that feels real, living and breathing. Stunning visuals, awesome voice acting, quite challenging (if you set it on normal or above) combat. Good involving story that changes so big time you will replay it at least once. Also this is a mature game that really treats you as a mature adult and not an American teenager who has to be protected from life. The only disadvantage I can mention are small glitches (omg the dooooors), nothing game breaking, but some part feels a bit less polished (including the last chapter). They promised FREE DLCs to even it out. It is a bit hard to adapt how the combat works, but if you actually read it up from the manual it is not hard to catch up. The game itself never freeze for me even once and runs smoothly with high graphics (I consider my i5, NV GF460 average).
After how messed up DA2 was I was actually afraid that the RPG genre is dead, but I am VERY happy I pre-ordered it after all. This game is easily the best RPG game since the planescape torment! I really hope BW will learn from them, because this is the way to go.… Expand

un rpg a la vieja escuela q no defraudara a nadie asi no te guste el genero, serio candidato a juego del año el cual dudo q pueda ser superado por sus competidores en juegos de rol, creo que solo Dark Soul podra estar a la altura de este..

OK, maybe this is a little off topic. But why in hell didn't IGN and Gamespot review it the very first day it was released? Whilst lame but corporate-supported Dragon Age 2 gets a top-notch review the very first moment it hits shelves? Do you thin you damn idiots that this masterpiece of a game will get its sales hampered just because of your bribed asses? Not to mention the idiotic 1/10 user reviews...

Anyway - the game is the best thing that ever happened to us since Arcanum. Nuff said.… Expand

I am seriously annoyed with how many people have actually just made new accounts out of jealously for how great this game is. Sure it does have it's flaws, but they are so few and devalued, that it is next to zero effect on gameplay. Being that this engine was made specifically with PC's in mind and not a console port as some moronic reviewers have put it, it is going to be more difficult to optimize for everyone's machine. I myself can play the game on max settings with very few framerate hiccups, but I can understand the frustration. I don't have a review as of yet, but I will tell you so far this second trip to the world of the witcher has been worth the wait and definitely outweighs the hype.… Expand

Pros: Visually stunning(even on low settings). Much better written than the first game(or possibly better translated?) Your choices mold the story. Combat is proactive, you can switch targets very quickly and Geralt is designed to cover ground just as quick. You can play a swordsman, a alchemist, or a spellcaster, even though Geralt is mainly a swordsman you can get through just about any encounter if you decide to focus on just one skill tree. You'll care for your friends, they're well written and voiced. Cons: Recipe ingredients slowly crawl up, making crafting a little tedious. Enemy AI a little clunky. Opening doors and using environment ledges and ladders, also clunky. Some bugs involving inventory and traps/bombs. Game is a brutal teacher, you'll get your ass handed to you while learning the game(read manual). Insane difficulty permanent death, they could have had Insane difficulty and then Hardcore difficulty.

If you ask anyone who's played The Witcher 1 if they expected this from The Witcher 2, I can guarantee you that most of us are surprised with how much better this game is than we expected and that CDProjectRED didn't drop the ball, but they outdone themselves with this one.

Let's hope The Witcher becomes a franchise!… Expand

Best RPG game ever, definitely candidate to GOTY 2011!! I can't say any bad word about it its truly masterpiece. This game have a soul!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've played many RPGs in my life, and The Witcher 2 is one of the best! This game has attitude, and is challenging, with both a strong story and awesome graphics. Its also very immersive, because of the attention to detail and love of the game clearly shown by the developer. If you buy any game in 2011, this would be the one. I sincerely hope other game developers learn from this . . .

- Tim… Expand

Mature, intense, non-linear story, what else do you need? Well, the combat mechanics are a vast improvement over the first Witcher. However, mind you, the combat is extremely difficult, although realistic. A few swings from a swordsman can kill you, easily. I'm not going to dwell too much into the game, you have play it, but, so far, this is Game Of The Year. Skyrim might steal that crown, but then again, Skyrim is a completely different game; sure both are RPG, but the mature, gritty nature of the Witcher is not comparable to the more fantasy-like characteristics of the Elder Scrolls.

Again, non-linear, mature story; difficult, but excellent combat system; 4 beginnings, 16 different endings, over 40 hours of gameplay, plus the developer has officially announced that the upcoming DLCs will be absolutely free of charge, there's really no excuse to not pick this one up if your an RPG fan. This game is one of the greatest of 2011, BioWare and Bethesda should take some notes.… Expand

This game exceeds every expectation you may think of, amazing story, amazing characters and the game is just plain good. The gameplay is awesome and the choices you can make are, well just great for every personality out there!

I recommend this game a 100% as it is one of the best RPGs I've played. So why are you missing an amazing game?

Finally I've played the game which make me really happy because of knowing that I live in Geralt's world full of intrigues and betrayds. Story? Amazing. Graphic? Spectacular. Combat system? Hard and really epic. Fun? For 200% ;)
That's how the RPGs should look like and I hope it will be Game of the Year 2011.
PS. Dragon Age, Mass Effect? Not any more.
10/10

Awesome game, a little on the tough side (which is fine with me) but I take off one point for the horrid quick time events, it might be just me, but I can't stand them. Otherwise awesome game :)

One of the best RPG I have ever played. Fantastic graphics, engaging combat (albeit a bit too difficult, but that's good for me) and a wonderful story.

If you love gorgeous engrossive environments, characters with rich backgrounds and well fleshed out dialog, quests with multiple paths to take allowing for you to carve your own version of a hero and a dynamic combat system that requires precison planning and preparation before you head into the fray, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is for you.

Built from the ground up with an enirelyly new (and incredibly advanced) engine, The team at CD Projekt have come into their own with this masterpiece - that makes such works as Bioware's Dragon Age pale in comparison.

At launch, it does have a few teething problems, and this was to be anticipated - but with an easy patching system built into the launcher and a promise that all future DLC will be absolutely FREE for players, CD Projekt have excelled even Bioware with this iteration.

This is definately one to buy!… Expand

One of the best RPG's I have ever played. The games combat does take some getting used to, in the early hours of the game you are faced with fairly large groups of enemies and the tutorial tips are not very helpful.

However once you get into the swing of things, it really starts to make sense. Personally i like the more difficult combat its refreshing. In a lot of games recently you can just run into a bunch of enemies and wave your sword around like crazy with little consequence.
This is not the case with The Witcher 2, to defeat packs of enemies you usually need to use everything in your arsenal, traps, signs, dodging, potions, oils etc...

This game is very re-playable as there are many choices throughout the game and often the consequences are not realised until later in the story. Most of the choices you make are not very "black and white" It is very engaging.

The story is pretty mature, I wouldn't recommend this game for a younger audience. Not only because of the sexual scenes in the game but also because the story is quite political.

The graphics are simply amazing, CDProject Red has done an amazing job crafting the locations. There are slight issues with graphical problems at the moment, for example the shadows on my game have some weird dithering effect but i expect it will be sorted out in patches.
Obviously these high graphics mean you will probably only be buying this game if you have a good graphics card, the game still pretty good on low settings however.

All in all, an amazing game with a combat system that requires some thought about the fight beforehand and crazy through the roof production values.
A must buy for any hardcore PC gamer in my opinion.… Expand

Complex storyline, engaging detailed world, what more could you ask for in an rpg? Some minor problems with item and target selection but nothing too distracting.

The Witcher 2 utilises a combination of factors to deliver a compelling game, with a solid central story fleshed out via the numerous side-quests. Whilst flawed in places, the undercurrent of excellent game-play decisions make for both a unique and compelling experience. To go into detail about this game's downsides - this game requires a somewhat beefy PC to run at a solid 30 frames per second. The narrative of the game can jar a little at times. The original series of books by Andrzej Sapkowski is a combination of complex politics and quite a few jokes inside a largely serious world that combines a medieval setting with references to far more modern science, and this has been transplanted into the game and can catch you unaware. The game does not walk you through the tutorial, and does expect you to read a large amount of text to grasp the game's concepts. The Witcher 2 centres around Geralt of Rivia - a "Witcher" - a genetically enhanced warrior with access to useful magic and potion-crafting. Geralt is refreshing as an RPG hero who is well defined by both narrative and game-play. One of the game's under-sung strengths is that the developers did not use the Bioware trick of repetitive good/evil options, yet the options in conversation do frequently give you the chance to change the conversation, or to attempt various risky strategies inside those conversations (one of these, comparable to Jedi Mind Tricks, is exceptionally fun to pull off). To give an early example - on confronted with his jailer, who makes a joke at his expense, the player is offered the chance to take the joke in good or bad humour. In my play-through, I selected "Very funny" - the bad humoured response - and Geralt instead replied **** you". Whilst coarse, this really sets up the character who you have only just been introduced to as someone who gets blunt when he's angry. There's numerous more events like this in the game, and this underlines the storytelling skill of this game's writers. Combat is certainly the Witcher's weakest area of core gameplay, but it nonetheless is a solid experience. The combat is sometimes reminiscent of Assassin's Creed 2, but with more technical skill required. Geralt has access to his magic in combat, but by no means is the magic overbearing, rather really acting as tricks to even the odds in large fights. Like Assassin's Creed 2, their is an underlying current of block-and-punish. Unlike Assassin's Creed 2, the blocking is limited and certainly not instant. A badly timed sword swing cannot be rectified easily, and Geralt can be punished in turn. This matters because Geralt is not endlessly popping potions to stay upright - potions can only be drunk in a meditative state prior to combat, and they're more about buff/debuff than your typical tropes of red healing potions and blue mana potions. This helps reinforce the realism of the fight, and prevents Geralt from looking like an unstoppable death machine, or your typical RPG hero that thinks nothing of drinking an entire keg of health potions whilst fighting. Enemies are still relevant and still need to be fought legitimately. This makes the game hard, and prior to the player getting to grips with the combat it's in fact very hard, yet far more involving and rewarding than a great many other RPG combat systems. Like much of the rest of the game, this involving and narrative-reinforcing style is the very best thing about it. To summarise - this game is the most significant PC game this year, and possibly one of the most important RPGs across all platforms. If you have the PC to run it, go pick it up. 9/10.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The witcher 2 is great, the graphics are the best that I have ever seen in an rpg, the story is great and most of the characters have a personality. Without a doubt this game is light years ahead of that gimmick of an rpg called dragon age 2.
But the game isn't without its flaws like most of the people seem to describe it here. The ui is very clunky for a keyboard + mouse user, we cannot rebind many of the functions like a way to switch signs fast without using the quick menu, instead we are either forced to use the slow "quick" menu or use the next sign function. (which is far from efficient when we have to hit it 4 times to get to the sign we want and horror if we hit it 5x by mistake we have to do it all again). We can also bind some direct cast key for the signs but that isn't efficient either.
Another flaw is the inventory system without any way to store our items like in the witcher 1 where we could store our items at the inn.
My biggest problem is with the game length though. The game is about half the length of the witcher 1 and I have personally finished the game doing all the possible sidequest with the plot I had chosen in about 25 hours. This is a huge letdown when we see how great the chapter 1 and 2 are and when we expect the game to get even better on chapter 3, we just meet an abrupt and rushed ending there. I feel that there should have been at least 2 more chapters with as much content as in chapter 1 and 2.… Expand

Finally, a story-driven game that delivers a complete story-based experience, rather than just a plot line and some well developed characters , stuffed haphazardly into the framework of a game.

Graphically, the game is simply gorgeous, and highlights what can be done with a top of the line card these days. The music is solid and sets the tone of the game play well without being so intrusive that it makes me stop what I'm doing just to listen (or to turn it off in the case of games with musical scores that I don't particularly enjoy). The characters I've met so far have been engaging and believable, but my highest praise so far is reserved for the world itself: The world of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings simply breathes life, and the attention to detail that has gone into it makes everything built upon that world so much more compelling. The graphics are a part of that, but with respect to soldiers being rallied by their King or merely siting by the fire and chatting each other up, all the way to the in-game cut-scenes which show an interrogator pouring a drink, complete with animations, there doesn't appear to be any aspect of this game that has been cut down for the sake of convenience. As far as story-telling in the gaming medium goes, this game is unsurpassed. No longer just plot points strung together by filler combat, this game shows the true potential of gaming as a vehicle for escapism and engagement like no other game in the last 10 years.

Compared to The Witcher, combat in the sequel has also been refined, the result being more engaging than simply waiting for the string of attacks to end before clicking to add another link to the chain. However, while it is more immediate, there are not so many moves for the player to make that it becomes a frantic button-masher. Timing your parries and rolls (and yes, there is a lot of rolling... perhaps too much for my taste, exciting though it can be at times), as well as making judicious use of Signs, is crucial in this game, but success hinges upon a player identifying and reacting to the styles of attacks (and defenses) used by enemies, rather than on the mechanical style of the first game. In other words: You've got to pay attention to how your enemies are attacking, rather than focus solely on what your Geralt is doing.

The one true criticism I have for this game so far lies with the quick time events. Frantically right-clicking in response to a mouse-icon on the screen to winch an arbalest, or waiting for the appropriate letter key to begin flashing on the screen during a boxing match, adds little to the experience and nothing to the story, and hearkens back to the emphasis on mechanics, rather than characterization or story (or "immersion", or however you want to label it), that was prevalent in the first game in this franchise.

Beyond that, however, lies a true gem of PC Gaming, and one that no fan of the genre should miss. But for my own belief that no game is or ever can be perfect, this is surely have been the game that would have earned that score from me.… Expand

I have played this game into the second chapter and while I've run into a few fights that were pretty tough I have no complaints, the game runs smoothly and is absolutely beautiful to look at, the sweeping vistas and grand scale are marvelous, the game play mechanics are easy to master and soon your lobbing bombs and using fire signs with the best of them.

The characters are well portrayed, voiced and animated, the side quests are fun and varied (I love beating people up bare knuckle style so I'm glad that's still in the game) and the NPC's aren't as annoying as they are in other games.

If your like your Rpg's immersive, fun, mature and beautifully made then the Witcher 2 has everything you need.… Expand

I beat the game and i have to say that this game WAS amazing, up until part 3. RED did well on making the game, but 16 endings is a little too much i think. If any one of you think that after u finish exploring the city you go to after chapter 1 (Futsome or something like that, i forgot) that is the only unique city you going to go to in your playthrough. Right after that, you don't go to any other city, instead, u go to the Gathering and end the story. There is no sense of epicness at all, where something big happens, you pretty much go straight to chapter 3, the shortest chapter, around 2 hours long. It seem like they focus their energy on Chapter 1, then they make 16 otehr places you can go to in chapter 2. At first i think u will play all the places and finally go to chapter 3, nope, you only get to do one land per playthrough. it is pretty, pretty sad. Right now this game will be among the greats, but after a week or two, when people start beating the game, you will start seeing it fall down and down, probably to among the 7-8s.… Expand

I'v finished the game on hard level. My system is Win7 64. Game never crashed, tiny bug in inventory (bombs in slot). I bouth my computer 1yr ago and im playing on high options and it goes fluently (without camera mblur). Its beautiful game, great story, characters and plot. I reccomend it to everyone.

Thank you CD Project RED for making an RPG just the way I like it: immersive, beautiful, and challenging. It is clearly the product of people with love for the genre. For any RPG fan out there: don't just sit there. Buy it. Now.

this game is an absolute masterpiece...i have cried because it is that awesome....the beginning can be a little hard for noobs, since the game doesn't hold your hand in any way. Combat is challenging, voice acting is top notch, specially for the main characters. The other npcs's could use a little animation work, but who cares, because once you get into the cities you will be blown away. I cried when I got to Vergen. You thought Orzammar was nice in Origins? wait till you see a real dwarven city. Bioware, learn you stuff...in terms of decision making and story, you do not hold a candle to the witcher 2. The music, it is one of the most breathtaking pieaces you will hear in any game. It is not a ripoff of Lord of the rings, or some this like that like dragon age. The world is a living masterpiece. From npc's to birds, to the level of detail which, i dare say, looks dx11 sometimes. In terms of graphics, this game destroys crysis 2 and sometimes even crsysis 1. If you have the pc to run it, like I do, consider yourself lucky to be playing such a beautiful game. I am almost done with chapter 2, and the build up, is one of the most rewarding experiences in any game. The witcher 2, is now, my GOTY choice and it will stay like that, because no bioware game will ever come close to this, ever.… Collapse

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Best game ever. I never play such a good rpg since BG2. This game have everything. Realistic world, nice graphics.I love geralt and CD projekt.

Realy good work. Thx… Expand

I find it very strange that aslkaz has written the exact same review for the Witcher 2 and Dragon Age 2, just changed a few words here and there? In both of the reviews he says the game is rubbish and you should get the other one instead. Yet he has only given The Witcher 2 a 2 rating and Dragon Age 2 a 4 rating? Weird. I think someone is trying to rile up the natives.

Anyway, this game is brilliant. The combat is better than in the first one as it is more intuitive. The graphics are amazing. Conversation options really help you to get into the story, I find myself doing 'just one more quest' before turning off my pc. I'm really enjoying the fact that you can change all Geralts clothing this time round and you can also make a lot of really good stuff. Anybody who is having problems with the weight limit, their is a fix you can download off the web which reduces all timber, iron, cloth, etc to 0.1 instead of 1. I found the link on gog.com.

I like the fact that you can eradicate monsters from an area this time round by destroying their nests. You feel like you are really doing something to help the locals rather than just 'kill drowner, rinse and repeat' ad infinitum.

I'm finding it very hard to make some of the big decisions, guess I'm just going to have to play it through a few times! There are 4 beginnings and 16 endings so plenty of replay value.

I would urge you to get this game, you won't regret it.

As a side note, I have nad no problems installing and running this game. Installation and online certification went smoothly, downloaded a small patch and installed, downloaded the Troll DLC and my free pre-order bonus with no problem. Have been playing now for 30+ hrs and had no crashes, no stuttering, just a beautiful game.… Expand

The game is gorgeous. It has always been my belief that for a good RPG, the game-play must be on top. The Witcher 2 proves that graphics - amazing graphics - can also be on top. The game looks incredible. Up until now I thought that Oblivion and Mass Effect was the top - not anymore. I don't even want to mention Dragon Age - that age (neverwinter knights engine on steroids) must go.

It is 2011 now. PCs are not the last-gen Consoles anymore. A medium GPU card has enough RAM to run Windows 7, and benchmarks showing stuff we never get to see in games. Up until now. Bioware should look very closely, because Low-poly and maroon color-pallete is soo yesterday!.

Project RED may have started with Withcher One on a Neverwinter Nights modified engine, but they show that evolution cannot be stopped by a "works fine this way" approach. You might have seen screen-shots, gameplay movies, it looks even better in reality :-).

I know graphics just look good, but RPG is not a scripted slideshow between chess-turn-based "battle" sequences. Oh no, Witcher 2 is very fluent and real-time. You are a powerfull, but there are even more powerful foes out-there. Besides swords you also have magic and alchemy to help you win.

Story-wise, decisions you make matter. They matter in such a big way, that all the game that follows that decision is different. And there are no easy decisions, no-one is bad and no one is the good-guy. You can be what you will dictates but know that in ONE gameplay you will only see 70% of what the developers have so crafty put into this project. This adds to replay, maybe next time you'll spare the boy, maybe you will not...

I see this a s a milestone in RPG gaming. YOU deserve this game if you love great RPGs.

As an ending, all the DLCs will be FREE and I can't wait for the first add-on and my next playthrough.… Expand

What I can tell ? This game is great for me. Dialogs, combat system, story, animations, graphics. On my old PC i can play with high details. Optimization is great. For me, game is candidate for Game of the Year. I think it can be one of the BEST PC game EVER.

GOTY 2011. I read through comments and i can only add that the game world artistic style is incredible. This is something that is rarely seen in any other game if ever, and it is all around you everywhere you turn. Get it and feast your eyes on the best looking world transferred into silicon chipsets

A GOTY Material!

This game is AWEESOME a must have for any mature RPG player.
Finally a game that is not afraid to show nudity because of some fake BS morals and cheap political correctness. Finally a game without pushing gay romance (yek) on normal people (I hated this part in DA game).
First this game shows the world like it was in middle ages, meaning woman was no-body, so criticizing this game about being misogynic is just pure BS and lack of history knowledge.

This review is more a replay to negative reviews, people complaining about graphical issues should check their antiquated PCâ… Expand

While The Witcher 2 does have some minor flaws, none of them is crucial enough to spoil it's perfect presentation and incredible gameplay. Interesting characters, challenging combat and decisions with a deep impact on the story told, make this one of the best RPGs that have ever been released. If you are in any way attracted to RPGs, you don't want to miss out on this game.

I was really hyped up for this game. I played through Witcher 1 three times when it first came out, because the game was so engaging and the combat so fluid. However, I have to say I am extremely disappointed in Witcher 2. For one, it feels like a console port. Moving with WASD seems more like moving with a D-Pad on a controller, than the smooth FPS style movement of the first game. The key binds are even setup outside the game in a console port style. The combat has been nerfed to the point of being trivial. In the first game you had three stances with stacking combos. In Witcher 2, you have two attacks. LMB is fast, RMB is slow. Also forget parrying or dodging in a sword fight, if you do not hit the button several seconds before being attacked, expect to be hit. What happened to spontaneous parrying and dodging that was so fun in the first game, and is expected in an action RPG? Only CD Projekt can answer that one. Game play aside, there are many game breaking technical issues. I have an i5 760, 4GB RAM, and an nvidia 460. I should be able to run the game flawlessly on High, or at least Medium settings. However, I barely get 15 FPS in Low settings. This seems to be an issue for many nvidida users, with no current fix from either nvidida or CD Projekt. Another troubling bug is if you have a 7.1 headset. The game is not compatible with these headsets and will result in no game audio. The only suggested fix I found from CD Projekt on the official forums was to disable 7.1 with the headset software, or use on-board audio. Unfortunately the G35 does not have any way to revert to or force stereo or 5.1 audio. Using on-board would be great, if I had it. I would not be concerned with this incompatibility if this was some obscure brand headset. However, this is a Logitech Gaming series headset. It is beyond me how this was not caught in internal testing.

Buyer Beware. The game is pretty, and from what little I saw, probably has a good story. Hard to tell with no sound though. While the Critical Reviews might be good, I'd strongly advise caution with game stopping bugs like these. In addition if you think it will play anything like the first game, you are in for a disappointment.… Expand

Well made story line, although does fall short at the ending. Good looking graphics. But thats about it for the positives. I had to spend a few hours just trying to get this game to work right. It would not play sound through my headset, and there was a random bug which cause my fps to drop into the single digit range (Radeon 6870). Also for the negatives, theres terrible mouse acceleration or something going on which causes the mouse to 'slide' around and making controlling anything, especially in menus, a pain. Also, the combat is horrid.… Expand

I have played every notablle crpg since the late 80s. I can tell you this: the game belongs to that small exclusive clubb of games that represent a quantum leap beyond what has come before it. Super mario 3, zelda link to past, ff-6, starcraft, counterstrike, mario64, baldurs gate 2, DA:O, and now The Witcher 2. This game is made for the intelligent gamer. I usually agree with professional critics but I suspect that thereis some very serious bias going on here as far as the scores this gamehas gotten from ign, and pcgamer and a few others. A 90 is a good score...but if u play this game it will be clear to you why that score is a threat to high quality productions like Witcher 2. It puts them on the same level as gammes like DA 2 and need for speed. Progress in gaming depends on recognition being given where recognition is due. That may be at the cost of say ign getting a Preview exclusive next time EA rolls out a big release, but honesty is what jnournalism, even gaming journalism needs to be about. Pretending like this game is just another aaa release like MW3 is not jjust a diservice to gamers, its a danger to the progression of gaming into an art form.


CDProjeckt Red has very clearly raised the bar in a huge way. Its incidentally a welcome rebuke to the notion that x dollars = y quality game. For approx 10m in development costs these guys mixed in genius and have come out with the best game in years.… Expand

I was quite surprise how good this game is. Regardless what some sites, critics or DA2 fanboys(that are tring to bring the score down) say, its a great game that deserve more than a 89. Storyline, graphics, fun, it goes on.

The first hour or two of this game, I hated it. Sure the story was great, and it was absolutely beautiful (although demanding). The combat is hard initially, but can be loads of fun once you adapt and learn to plan out your approach. The story is full of multiple meaningful decisions that result in completely different games - taking you to entirely different areas and methods of plot progression. I highly recommend pushing through that initial learning curve, as you're then left with an awesome game to be immersed in.… Expand

This is the game of the year. I played it for long hours and I don't regret it. It's beautiful, the graphic is amazing, all characters have very deep build with hided problems, attributes. Don't wait! Buy it!

This game is NOT equal to its predecessor nor does it supersede the first Witcher title. Indeed it is a step backwards for the franchise.

The storyline is weak, sporadic, uninspired and incomplete.

The game engine is full of bugs or just plain bad designs. Scripts break, characters get stuck a lot, and controls are very cumbersome and response time is slow. The only decent "mini-game" is dice, whereas the fist fights are "press correct key at the correct time" and the arm wrestling is just plain goofy and uncontrollable.

The potions system is decent save for you have to be in meditate mode to use a potion and you can't meditate once combat starts so you'll often fine when you need the potions most you won't be able to use them without reloading a save, meditating to drink the potions, then continue to the fight.

The game is beautiful. Textures and environments are top notch, models and characters are nicely rendered, and animations are excellent.

But the aforementioned flaws will have you constantly reloading because of a broken quest, or your character is stuck, or you need to potion up before an unexpected fight. (You could always make sure potions are up but then you'd be spending most of your time foraging for ingredients to support that much use as potions run 10 minutes max).

All in all this game is an extreme disappointment from the first. It's sad to see the developers go from one of the greatest (if not the greatest) RPG to a sequel that falls short of the first in every way except for the visual and sound.… Expand

This is a my personal GOTY so far. This game has everything that any other game want and more. Graphics are beautiful, combat is involving and tactical, the story is non linear and just plain amazing. This and Portal 2 are one of my favorite games of the year. Now, this game has some small problems, such as clunky inventory. But these problems are completely overshadowed by the game's other amazing qualities. Coupled with the fact that devs are continuously supporting the game with patches and DLC makes this game a must BUY this year. I would give this game 9/10 but will rate as 10/10 to counter other 0/10 from haters.… Expand

Never been much of a fan of fantasy settings but The Witcher 2 had me intrigued and subsequently totally won over. Now here is a fine example of great story telling and immersive gameplay paired with lush eye-candy and a haunting soundtrack. Looking forward to the next instalment once I finish with this one.

This is a wonderful and engaging game. It's leaps and bounds ahead of it's predecessor. However, it's not a perfect game. This review was written after version 2.0 so some of the original clunkiness has been removed. What makes this game great is it's ability to draw you into the story. You never really have a sense of the underlying motivations of the various "warring" factions. This keeps you on your feet while making game changing decisions. The combat can be deemed visceral and fast paced; there's no pause button to queue attacks. While the original witcher employed this strategy, I soon became bored with it, but here I rather enjoyed it. I don't know if it was a lack of immersion or polish in the last installment that didn't excite me. It goes without saying that this game has brilliant graphics, top notch effort. I have some gripes about odd lighting but, it's not game breaking. I love talent trees and the ability to tweak my toon as I see fit; better yet, to fit my play style. Being able to mutate certain traits, while providing a negligible bonus in most cases, also gives you the feeling of character customization.

Now for the things that made this game an eight. Clunky combat in some situations. The battle with the Kayran really exposes the weakness in the combat. I will not spoil the fight but you will see. I wish they would have implemented tab targeting for a quick lock on the fly. Resale value in the game is terrible, money will never be an issue, but, come on it needs to be buffed 25%. I know this is a European game but some of the English translations are terrible; ie the 3 riddles in chapter 3 - they make absolutely no sense. The biggest fault of the game in my eyes is chapter balance. You spend so much time in the first 1-2 chapters that the final chapter just feels rushed. The last chapter baffled me altogether. I'm not sure if they ran out of time or money or both. The best way to put it is ANTICLIMACTIC. Overall, I would recommend this game any lover of RPG's.… Expand

Kudos to cdprojekt for creating this shining gem in a genre that is starting to become very stale and lowest common denominator. They've created one of the most enjoyable, beautiful, well written RPGs I've played in many years. If you're a true cRPG fan you need to play this game and the first Witcher as well. To those complaining about difficulty (including critic reviews), give it a rest. Games used to be about using your head, learning mechanics, trying different things to overcome an obstacle, not crying because you can't "one-shot" everything on the first try.… Expand

I'm not done chapter 1 but so far this game **** owns. Way better than DA2 and possibly GOTY for me.

There are minor complaints, but seeing as how they released an EE version of the witcher 1, I have high hopes they'll work on them.

The game is absolutely stunning. The production values are through the roof, and the combat is fun and challenging. The music is as always in the witcher series, wonderfully done. The cutscenes, the NPC interactions, the plot is all very engaging and interesting. There are tons of items, tons of neat places to see and things to collect and create.

The worst parts are easily: The UI (which has a very console feel), and certain aspects of the combat, but they overall are minor.

If I had to explain what this game is and what it stands for in the world of RPGs, it would be this.
Wonderful.… Expand

Almost completely flawless; a work of art and an RPG masterpiece. My only qualm is with the new clunky and overly simplified inventory/journal/quest/codex screen.

Absolutely not impressed! Frustrated and annoyed: that's how I felt during the first two hours of play. To me, this is NOT a good role playing game, but nevertheless, still a decent action/adventure game. I really don't see what could justify all these 9 and 10 ratings out there. This is probably the most overrated game of the year...

This is a good game, but it could have been great. When all is said and done, it suffers from the same problem as Dragon Age 2, although not to as great an extent. Pros: Amazing graphics. Every part of this game has been lovingly crafted to be visually pleasing.
Good story and characters. The major characters are very believable, and have very defined personalities.
Some parts of the combat system were great, most notably the difficulty at higher settings. You can't just expect to walk into a fight and mow down everything with your massive stats.

Cons: The game is on rails from the beginning. You can alter the storyline by your choices, but there's really no exploration to speak of.
The menu system is very aggravating, and you will spend much more time sorting through things than you should ever have to.
Other parts of the combat system are less than amazing. You'll need to remember the function of practically every key on the board. Forgot what one of them does? Tough. Go read the manual. Oh you can change the key mapping.....outside the game.....only to forget it later...... This wouldn't be as big a problem if there weren't so many keys you need to remember. There wasn't a single moment playing this game that I didn't yearn for the Over-The-Shoulder (OTS) system from the first game. Three separate keys for journal, character, and inventory? Really?...and I can't just switch between them in any simple way? You need to physically click exit every time you want to change one and then remember the key for the other menu that you want to go to. Seriously.

Don't get me wrong, Witcher 2 is still a good game. It's just that this seems to be what happens to every franchise when they start to see a little success. They try to make everything bigger, louder, and flashier at the expense of key gameplay elements. Thankfully Witcher 2 still has some fight left in it, but I can't help seeing the flaming pile DA 2 turned out to be, and find a little bit of that here.… Expand

This game has good voice acting and an interesting story but in the gameplay department where it really feels like a bad console game ported to the PC. IF you like to run and jump off things, if you like to run, sneak, walk or any combination of those things, if you like to choose the direction your facing and choose the target your hitting, if like to hit enemies stood on the step above you or below you or do any of the things you expect to be standard affairs in any RPG, then your in for a massive disappointment here because the Witcher 2 is a carefully controlled game that chooses those things for you. One like cut scenes with gameplay breaks using its dodgy AI. This game will not even run unless you turn your desktop resolution down to below 1920x1080 and set the game to the same resolution as your desktop. The register game window that offers a free troll quest, does not even accept keyboard input, so you cannot actually register the game and from what the official website says, they seem to be having serious issues with the servers that handle that. Overall, not a good game, its almost entirely eye candy and cut scenes getting all the positive scores, the game play it self is badly letting the side down.… Expand

I'll try to make it short. If you enjoyed the first Witcher game, you will like this one.
The story is interesting and you have choices where your adventure leads you, who will be your friends and who will be your enemies adding more replay value. Dialogue is one of the finest parts of the game, although the voice acting can change a bit. At one point your main character might be whispering his lines for no reason and the character talking to him yells his lines back.
Combat is fun and engaging until up to a level in swordsmanship where you get to the point you can just buttonsmash enemies to a wall and not letting them even lift their sword in time until they recoil back in pain. It's quite balanced as when the enemy hits you even in the easiest difficulty they usually take 1/10th of your maximum health. Multiple enemies is where the combat is most fun, although the game suffers from awkward targeting system. Until you level your character with skill that lets you hit enemies who you aren't targeting with a sword, you'll be trying to hit the enemy in front of you only to make your hits go through that enemy because the enemy behind the enemy you are trying to hit is selected as target.

The games UI is probably the worst aspect of the game. You pick up enchantments early in the game even though you get armor that actually can be enchanted later in the game, but I might have missed something. The UI also doesn't tell you how to drink potions or how to throw throwing knives and bombs. Meditation and drinking of potions is only talked in passing in small tutorial window and if you run too far away from the trigger point or accidentally cancel it you won't be told about the button to get access to it. There isn't control re-arrangement that can be accessed from in game where you could check the buttons and re-arrange them. To this moment I don't know how to throw knives or bombs and I'm currently far in the 2nd chapter.

It's an okay game though if Witcher 1 was something you enjoyed. It's more polished than the first game, yet the game designers should have hired crack team of playtesters to polish out all the issues with the UI and combat.… Expand

Has to be a Ten for one simple reason. Cd Project have made the game both witcher fans and rpg fans have always wanted, not the game that the shareholders wanted released ASAP. I personnelly have not been so challenged by any game on normal settings in recent times as i have been with the witcher 2, the quick load button is almost destroyed lol But this is not like many others badly designed games that punish your mistakes. the simple fact is if you dont react correctly you get burned lol Also this has been welcome because of some of the combat issues i had in the witcher 1. I could complete the whole game only having to use a few health potions rendering Alchemy irrelivent which in the world of the witcher should be a must have. In terms of role playing aswell i love the fact not everthing is spoon fed to me. For example go kill x monsters. Most rpgs would be strait on the mini map showing you exactly were to go and tell you what to do. The witcher 2 makes you explore and makes you research ways of defeating monsters instead of running in hack and slash return to quest giver thanks for the gold!! last but not least the cinematics and voice acting are top class! CD Project have one problem now! How do they top the witcher 2?… Expand

I couldn't play the first Witcher just because of how unplayable it was gameplay wise, while I admit it had a great story, it wasn't good enough for me to struggle through the game to find out what happened.
This left me a bit confused in the Witcher 2, but I'm glad I played it and was incredibly disappointed at the end, for the sole reason there wasn't anymore to play. It has a fantastically complex storyline and character development with a choice coming up in quick succession leading to a completely changed world by your actions. The World is also very mature, racial discrimination, injustice, murder, suicide, these all make the game a very adult and enthralling story that gets you caught up in in very quickly.

The game does have a few annoyances (picking things up from bodies or using objects is rather difficult at times) but they can have absolutely no impact on an absolutely amazing game like this.
I hated the first one, but this one is possibly the best game I have ever played.… Expand

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings raises the bar for fantasy RPGs so high that I doubt any game, other than The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, will ever come close to touching it. The graphics are the best I have ever seen - blowing Crysis away - which helps make the world feel more real and instantly sucks you in to the experience. I won't spoil any story related points but while the ending is underwhelming the ride is absolutely worth it. The combat is vastly improved from the original, the animations are spot on, and the voice acting is top notch. All of this is capped off with an incredible soundtrack that really helps to set the tone of every experience in the game. This is a definite game of the year contender and I can't wait to see what CD Project RED does next. 10/10

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The one warning I will give players who are looking into getting The Witcher 2 is: make SURE your PC is far beyond the recommended settings to fully enjoy the game. As of right now I can barely run the game at an acceptable frame rate with most graphics settings on high + AA on (out of: low/medium/high/ultra) and my PC's specs are: GeForce GTS 450, 3.0GHz quad core processor, and 8gb of DDR3 ram with the most recent drivers installed. The graphics still look amazing on high but my PC's specs are far beyond the recommended and should be able to run the game at a higher graphic fidelity (in my opinion). I don't believe CD Project RED did a good enough job optimizing the game. Now, if you are on the fence and are unsure whether or not you should get it because of your PCs specs, CD Project RED has addressed the performance issues people are having and has stated that they will release a patch this week that should improve performance for most users which depending on how effective it is could make a big difference on who I would recommend this game to. But as of right now if you have a PC with specs slightly above minimum I would hold off and getting this game and would wait until the next time you upgrade so you can fully enjoy it. That's my only complaint though. -----------… Expand

This was a huge disapointment.. I knew nothing of the Witcher before I friend told me it was great while speaking about Oblivion (Elders scroll). So I watched some preview I tried it out.. But really there's nothing special about it.. Even worse, the average everybody wont be able to run it on PC, I got a 8k $ comp brought 3 years ago, so still pretty good, I i'm still getting lag on low graphics.. Plus there are some ridiculous part in the game that'll just make you rage, like inbeatable bosses or run away in straight line from a dragon that'll kill you 50 times.. wtf ? Just wait for Skyrim people.… Expand

this game is absolutely undeniably amazing. Blows dragon age 2 out of the water easily this is what an RPG should look like and Im happy that I finally have something good to waste my time with. This definately is worth a full nerd boner.

Im using a Galaxy Geforce GT 430 and running the game on high settings, in 720p the game is gorgeous, the combat is fantastic,the dialogue is smart aggressive and sometimes witty, i am not using the keyboard and mouse control i am using a razor Onza xbox 360 controller and am completely in love. If they can find a way to stabilize the graphics for the 360 and ps3, console gamers with be getting a rpg well worth the 60 dollars, CDproject know what they were doing with this game. im not a huge pc gamer, though im slightly starting to convert. this game will keep me busy for awhile as iv been exploring the area of chapter 1 for over 9 hours. Get this game its worth it.… Expand

This definitely is Game of the Year 2011. The single best RPG I have played since Planescape: Torment. The characters are deep and complex, the storyline develops depending on your actions and choices. It takes what was good from every single RPG released in the last 15 years and makes it into something better. The graphics are simply the best ever seen in an RP

This game is brilliant! Engaging combat, great story, awesome graphics, immersive surroundings, compelling dialogues, tasteful love interests... and I could go on and on with the praise, but I think I'll just go back to gaming.

Simply incredible! It's not perfect, but it is one of the the most well-designed games I have ever played. After that sorry excuse of a sequel, which was Dragon Age 2, playing this game is truly a refreshing experience. Buy it, play it and revel in the glory of the game.... then pray that CD Projekt will be an independent company in the future. (look at what BioWare had become...)

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. True evidence that "adult game" can rely on adult story not on sea of blood /DA2/. Excellent, beautiful, immersive RPG. Great atmosphere, great story, and nontrivial combats. Bioware please take your lesson before ME3 and DA3 hit the market. For today Witcher 2 is the RPG king of 2011.9 not 10 score because of minor flaws and complicated installation procedure. Hope that patch will solve most of this.… Expand

Okay, so here is how it is. This game is about as close to perfect as it gets. On Gameplay...
Combat is smooth as silk and very fast paced, and is actually fun compared to the QTE click-fest that was the first game. Changing (magic) signs on the fly with the new system makes for some intresting gameplay as well. The game places a high amount of importance of positioning for an attack, and using potions to prepare for a battle beforehand is useful however, not absolutly necessary. As a little note, the finishing moves are sweet to watch and the group finishers are even cooler.

On Graphics...
Amazing. Some flaws exist when the characters (especially minor ones) are talking and the mouth movements appear to be a little "off". However the character models, environments, and overall animation make this game one of the most beautiful out there today. (Running on a 560ti+Q9650 with no problems @ a solid 60fps most the time)

On story...
I won't spoil anything here but one thing did bother me, this was the "paraphrased" speech choices. about 25% of the time i unintentionally choose something that i thought meant something else. (Probably my own stupidity but i feel that the game could have been a little clearer on it.)

A minor note i want to make here with the game itself.
Installation was a hassle for me. Apparently because of the overall size of the DVD (8g) i did have a problem because my DVD drive was unable to install the program past 75%. Again, not CDPROJEKT's fault but if you are using an older DVD drive, (even one that can read dual layer dvds) you may encounter a few problems. Also, registering the CD key was a pain. You may need to install the "offline" patch to get your game to work. (CD key will be entered and then nothing will happen, and you keep repeating the process, over and over...lol) So if you are a fan of RPG's, Interesting Stories, Fast-paced Game play, and seeing Triss naked i would definitely pick up the Witcher 2 (even if you haven't played the first one)… Expand

A game with unique artistic direction and a mature story. And by mature I don't mean sex and violence, although the game obviously has plenty of these too. The only thing that seriously took a turn for the worse is the combat system. Because you'll be constantly kiting and rollin' rollin' rollin' even when fighting the easiest opponents. Which is NOT fun. Almost like they didn't playtest to check for combat balance. The whole game was apparently a little bit rushed and the combat is only one of the aspects that are unpolished. Still s**ts all over Dragon Age II.… Expand

Finally we have a real game being released in 2011. I was beginning to give up hope. This game clearly shows that if developers just put some effort into their games, instead of releasing the same game every year, they can easily be GOTY. The graphics are spectacular, even on medium mode. The storyline, the characters and the environment are so amazing, the entire atmosphere made me get really into it. Combat is better than the first one. I sort of wish you could drink potions in combat, since that kind of makes sense, but whatever.… Expand

The way I see it, CD Project has just raised the bar of CRPGs a lot higher. Replayability of the game is tremendous, the combat is way more challenging than in the first installment, character development gained strategy elements as during a single playthrough you'll be able to take only small subset of available skills. Other praises go to game graphics and animation, it's just topnotch. That said, I give the game 9/10 due to disappointing ending, it was too open-ended and unsatisfying to my liking.… Expand

A beautiful living world with a fantastic non-linear story, can't ask anything more from an RPG. Combat took a bit of getting used to, as it's unforgiving to mistakes, but it makes it all the more rewarding and immersive as you need to plan before, and make the right decisions during combat.

There's only one thing that can challenge Witcher 2, and that's Skyrim. But I'll love them both.

Short answer: Probably the best game of the year(at least until Skyrim).

Longer Answer: I played through it once so far. And absolutely love it. The graphic is amazing, even if i had to use low graphics due to crappy computer the game still looked very nice. Even if there are some flaws in the game the positive side heavily outweighs the negative side. After completing the game i felt quite satisfied. Sure it could have gone on for longer and there are still questions unanswered, but none of those have really anything to do with the main story in the game, even if some are a result of the main story.
A great thing with witcher2 is that it's made for adults. nothing is censored(unless you live in Australia). Wish more developers would go on that path, it sort of puts the realism at a higher level than in any other game.

A both good and bad thing in the witcher2 is that the game doesn't hold you hand and show you what to do. Some things you have to figure out yourself. It's not dumbed down and therefor can feel a bit challenging. But that is all the genre is about also.
Lets hope this is not the last we've seen of the witcher. The Witcher2 felt like a very welcomed game, specially after the big letdown after Dragon Age2.… Expand

Once again amazing character/development and writing but the main story feels lacking. I would like to write a large review and say a lot about this game but I would use up all of my available characters so I'll just say it fully deserves my 9. It loses a point for a number of reasons. Combat is perfect in every way could use a little re balancing especially the spells.

This game can easily match it with the best non-linear RPGs out there. A dark atmosphere and adult storytelling set it apart from most other games of it's genre. Good and Evil are so close together when you make your decisions that there usually is no "good choice" - its mostly about choosing the "lesser evil" - and that choice is nearly 100% up to you - and yes: Choose your words poorly and the game will instant-kill you!

With upgraded graphics it is a real beauty on a high-end PC. A tip for drastically improving performance is to turn of "Uber-Sampling" which makes the game unplayable on Single-GPU systems.

The only real problem I could find are some balancing issues that make the game's combat very hard while you are still try to learn it and gain your first levels. This is because the encounters do not scale with the players level. But it also means that game gets easier each level - which makes it almost too easy at the end (unless you skip all side-quests).

All in all the best RPG I have played since Mass Effect - even surpassing it (and I am a Sci-Fi fan). I did not encounter any game-breaking bugs/crashes but I had no sound with a 7.1 USB-headset. The game works at 5.1 and stereo though. Found no logic bugs either - sometimes a quest-NPC wasn't there but that was usually fixed by meditating 23 hours.

Any RPG-fan should own a copy of this game!… Expand