The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition

Blog Post: Good but not great.

Rob27shred — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:15:00 GMT

The Witcher 2 is a solid & unique RPG but I can't give the 360 version a great rating many for technical reasons. The game play is solid, navigating the world & fighting feel smooth & responsive. I really like the way they setup the combat system so you can fluidly use your melee & magic attacks without much interruption in the action. But I feel the poor graphics, constant loading, & somewhat confusing inventory system stop it from being a top tier game on the 360. If the 360 is your only option to play this game I wouldn't let these issues turn you away from this game. But some people might find these issues detract from the game enough to make playing it on the 360 a very frustrating experience.

Blog Post: The Witcher 2: Assassin of Overwraught Design and Pretentious Difficulty

Paradigmthefallen — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 18:45:00 GMT

Never let it be said that I won't be honest about a game in a review. If you didn't grasp from my first review, of Uncharted 2, I take after Zero Punctuation, in that I don't give a crap about what people say in response. This is my opinion, I may make jokes or odd observations, I may be unsettling in how much I dislike a game, and even my most liked ones will get criticized for flaws. I won't, however, try to curse every thirty seconds, so at least you've got that on your side.

Anyway, Witcher 2. I'd like to say I beat the game but actually I didn't. If a game can't get me interested within five hours of playing, and I know I could enjoy better types of the same mechanics elsewhere, I won't keep on trying to find enjoyment. In this case, Arkham Asylum, Darksiders, The Force Unleashed II, KotOR 2, and Mass Effect all offer better alternatives for, in the same order as the games: on-the-ball reflex tactics, battles requiring planning and thinking, creative abilities and opponents to use them against, epic storylines, moral choices.

It should be noted however that the reason it took so long to get this review was by memorizing all the buttons and things you can use. Apparently there is some rule that most games from Eastern Europe have to be difficult, as this, like Death to Spies, and Crytek's Warface, is a game made to be difficult, but not in any fun ways.

I realize GI's reviewers have claimed the slow dodging mechanic to not be a bad thing -- but it actually is. It's like Geralt has no sense of direction. His sword swings work fine but even they seem to move slowly. Also, there's a pause-and-play option but it only slows things down. So in other words, someone finally figured out how to stick bullet-time in an RPG....

The story felt pretty standard, all things considered. Most of the universe felt very generic medieval, and the characters didn't convey themselves that well or make themselves in any way appealing. Triss was immediately more of an annoyance than a help, Geralt complains a good bit but apparently doing that in a gravelly voice means you don't get branded the same way Red Faction Armageddon's protagonist was. The sequel supposedly is a great entry point, but for the most part I felt like I was missing a great deal of what had happened in the last game. However, I had heard the last game was even more tedious, so I was stuck either feeling lost in this game or frustrated by the first one -- this is not how to make someone feel welcome, CD Projekt RED (also, quite a mouthful for a studio name, don't you think? How about we drop either the CD or the Projekt?).

Navigating the levels feels like an awkward mix between Arkham Asylum and Dragon Age. Also, there are certain moments where the game tries to freshen gameplay, but for the most part the mechanics aren't that interesting. Fist-fighting has no lasting appeal (especially when compared to Mafia II's brilliant melee combat), targeting medieval weaponry feels even more one-note, and attempts at make the player feel like they're platforming are just boring.

So in reality, we have a very average RPG game with mechanics and story hindered by how "mature" and "intelligent" it's supposed to be. You know what game required some intelligence to make it through? Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II. And I'd say it's mechanics were rather simple by comparison, but still, more of a challenge.

That's about all I have to say, so summon the flameshield because you know some dunce is going to come along and half-heartedly tell me I'm wrong without giving an argument or any valid reason other than that their opinion differs!

Blog Post: Non child game.

Maki — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:59:00 GMT

Warner bros made a mistake this is a adult game not a child game its sad to see 13 and under playing this game.

The begining of this game makes me want to throw it out,Nothing more to say.

Wiki: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition Guides

Anonymous — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 23:22:00 GMT

Guides for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition

Blog Post: A Fantastic Experience, A Few minor Missteps

doomhunter13 — Tue, 29 May 2012 00:37:00 GMT

There is a purpose to every game, an intention that every developer pursues. Some are just quick cash-ins, and others are highly polished and thought out pieces of art. The Witcher 2 is definitely in the latter category.

First, on the difficulty. The game is very difficult for most gamers today. Even the "weakest" enemies can overwhelm and kill you, but this is not a mistake of "unbalanced AI" it is completely intentional. The level of difficulty makes every decision you make even more important, but more on that later. Combat requires a defensive mindset, patience, and strategy. Don't let this deter you, it becomes much easier after the first third of the game.

This is one of the best RPG's I've played from a choice perspective. Every choice you make can lead to difficult combat or a peaceful resolution. Leveling choices are diverse and set up for diverse gameplay styles. The story is fantastic from start to finish, and I cannot wait to play a sequel.

There was some poor decision making on CD projecktred's part in the crafting/alchemy parts of the game. Inventory management is terrible and what plants and monster parts correspond to what alchemy ingredients is pretty hit or miss, or requires use of computer guides. The mapping system also leads you in the wrong direction frequently.

But overall this is one of the best RPG's I've ever played, blowing anything else out of the water.

Blog Post: Very Fun! I'm on board for Witcher 3 as long as it gets a console release

Chris May — Sat, 19 May 2012 20:16:00 GMT

The game was very fun and the story was incredible! but at some points the cutscenes seemed to drag on a little long and it was easy to get lost . Also with the graphics sometimes you would have to wait for the graphics to catch up with everything else but other than that it was a very engaging ride and i look forward to the next installment

Blog Post: Awe-inspiring

Sean Hudson — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:46:00 GMT

This game is my first dive into the Witcher's rich and deeply detailed world. While I was lost at the beginning of the game since it apparently takes off right where the last one ended, I stuck it out and found myself loving the lore, characters, combat, missions and over all flow of the game.

The diverse nature of the missions is fun. Everything from sneaking missions, to difficult combat, to remembering a drunken night of debauchery keeps things fresh and interesting. The combat as stated is difficult at points, but rarely did I feel like it was anything other than my own carelessness that got me killed.

The pop-ins are slightly frequent, but short and don't really mess with the flow of the gameplay at all. I found them to be more during the cut scenes rather than during combat or something of that nature where it might be a bother.

A few issues that slightly irk me is the sound quality with the voice acting. The acting itself is stellar, however some characters when they speak don't sound like they were correctly mastered. Geralt's voice never has this problem. Also, the menu navigating is a bit annoying. Since you'll find yourself often going through your crafting materials, or swords and armor, as well as opening the map to see where the objective is, you would hope it wouldn't be such a long process as it is. It's not as bad as the Force Unleashed 1 but, it's still has enough of a load time lag that it's slightly annoying.

Overall, this game is amazing. The small problems I have with it are absolutely no reason not to pick this up if you're a fan of RPG's. The combat is rewarding, the graphics are gorgeous and the storyline is in depth and intense. If you are over 18 (as stated, it's very vulgar and sexually explicit), this is definitely a must buy.

Blog Post: Needs to be on PS3

shiss27 — Sat, 12 May 2012 00:41:00 GMT

I have never played this game. Just writing the review because I couldn't comment. NEEDS TO BE ON PS3! You would have a customer in shiss27 for sure.

Blog Post: Not bad

lostinutah — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 15:59:00 GMT

Overall, I enjoyed the game. I however did absolutely HATE the save function. The automatic saves are WAY too far apart requiring that you manually save regularily to save yourself sometimes an hour or more of game time you have to reply should you die at some point.

A lot of the combat is out of balance as well with overpowering AI etc.

I like the game play and mechanics, just hated the out of balance issue and save point problem.

Blog Post: HOLY HOLY MUFF MUFF!

RSTAR7824 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 00:47:00 GMT

MY NEW FAV. RPG THIS GAME IS JUST THE BEST. I WISH I UNDERSTOOD IT MORE BUT ITS ONE OF THOSE GAMES THAT IS JUST TRULY FUN TO PLAY, YOU WILL ENJOY IT. ITS A MUST!!

Wiki Page: random

arthufart — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 01:20:00 GMT

random

Blog Post: Witcher 2 Review

Vaas — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 01:45:00 GMT

I never played the first witcher so i was going into the game not knowing what happened in the first game.The first few hours of the game were slow but it picked up after the prologue.The combat is awesome and actually requires tactics against the enemies you face. The graphics are great so far although i have seen a few people walking through others during a conversation. This is the most deserved M rating game that i have ever played.

Blog Post: A detailed review from a lucky, thankful, early reviewer

StevoNDaHoodson — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:03:00 GMT

As the title says, I was one of the lucky 1000 chosen to review The Witcher 2 for Xbox, and I am really appreciative of the chance. Even though The Witcher 2 has not become my all-time favorite game, CD Projekt Red is now one of my all-time favorite companies. After listening to developer diaries, seeing them interact with people on the site, and (obviously) getting a chance to get a great game for free made me a HUGE fan of the company and its people. So I'm proud to continue supporting these fine ladies and gentlemen.
I got my copy of The Witcher 2 on the afternoon of April 16th (about half a day before it released) so I didn't have the opportunity to come anywhere near finishing this expansive adventure yet. I did want to uphold my end of the bargain with CD Projekt Red though and put my opinions of the game into a review. Even though I haven't come close to finishing the game, this is (if you haven't already noticed) a detailed review. If you want a quick glance about the game, I recommend checking elsewhere.

8.0

The Good:
fantastic world of lore; majority of characters are very entertaining; embraces its mature rating… maturely; morality system is more than good/bad and has meaningful results; looks fantastic

The Bad:
probably better off played on the PC; a lot of weird inconsistencies; combat takes a lot of getting used to; likely won't appeal to most non-RPG fans

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings: Enhanced Edition for Xbox 360. The game's title hints at how complex and involved the game is; there is a lot to this edition. There are a few bad qualities that you have to overlook from time to time, but overall this is a very good game.

Storyline and Characters
I'll start with the best: The Witcher 2 houses an incredible world and seems to be an incredible journey. I've never played The Witcher 1 or The Witcher 2 before (sadly, fancy computers are pretty expensive…) so I was going into this game almost blind after watching a few cursory videos from CD Projekt Red. The first cutscene (new for the 360, I believe) when you turn the game on is brilliant and sets the tone for the game fantastically; an epic adventure with some dark, dry comedy and very mature themes. I haven't had time to finish much of the game in only two days, but I can already tell it is going to be a thrill ride from what I've seen so far. I've seen brutal assassinations, giant monsters, epic battlefields, sarcastic humor, and all of that was just in the Prologue. As I didn't know much about the background before playing, after finishing the tutorial and populating my journal with characters, I took time to read about them and enjoy their humorous descriptions from Dandelion. I would highly recommend checking the journal when you get a chance, and you'll soon find yourself engrossed in the thrilling world.
The characters in this engrossing world are just as enjoyable to spend time with. Nearly all of the characters I've met so far have entertained me with their spot on voice-acting, witty dry humor, well written dialogue, and bold personalities. The King Foltest was my personal favorite so far. Rarely will you find yourself tired of chatting with a character.

Still a PC Game
One of the biggest problems I have with The Witcher 2 for Xbox is that it still feels a lot like a PC game. I completely understand that it was a PC game so it makes sense in some cases. And don't get me wrong, a lot of it has been updated with new controls, a new targeting system, quick menu in battle, tutorials and more (or so I've heard, I've never played the PC version). However, most of these things have been the downsides of the game so far. If you were to play the game on PC, you could find it at a cheaper price, and all of the content new for the Xbox 360 version was made FREE in a PC version 2.0 download. So because of some poor design sensibilities and lack of anything meaningful new, I'd recommend playing the PC version of The Witcher 2 if your computer is up for the task.

M is for Mature
A lot of games nowadays get branded with a big letter M by ESRB. I'm not trying to criticize ESRB's ratings, but this much more handily earns an M rating than a sci-fi shooter with imaginative guns and masked characters that instantly respawn in multiplayer. However, it isn't just a sadistic sinful romp; the game presents situations that are appropriate and not meant for a shock. You'll see naked women while experiencing Geralt's closeness to them, people decapitated as a killer works hard for his goal, and obscenities spewed in the heat of battle or an intense situation. All of these things make you more immersed in the game world, and a mature person will enjoy.

Quirks/Inconsistencies
Why do I have to exit and re-enter the die-rolling minigame every time I want to gamble? Why do people magically appear and disappear in Geralt's jail cell? Why can you only walk behind Roche and Triss in the forest, when they can walk faster than you and must stop to wait for you every 5 steps? Why do enemies work hard to kill you for 5 minutes while their squad dies around them, and then stroll off as soon as Geralt's knees buckle? Things like these seem to pop up all the time and odd design choices and other quirks can present problems for the game if you're looking for them. You can always find more when you look for them. One loading screen says you can cancel detrimental potions such as Cat from the meditation screen, but that option is nowhere to be found. Characters occasionally trail off their lines in conversations as if someone had interrupted them, but then there is a momentary pause before the next character speaks up. All of these are minor issues and frustrations, certainly, but they do come together to detract from a world that is otherwise so pristine in its scope.

Moral Dilemmas
One huge draw to the game that I have not experienced much (and probably won't until at least a second play-through) is the moral decisions. The game can take drastically different turns based on your choices throughout. The middle portion of the game is supposedly completely different based on a single important choice, almost requiring you to play through the game at least twice. These aren't just be-the-good-guy or be-the-bad-guy decisions either. There is no "right" answer; you simply make the choice that feels right to you based on your experience with the characters and the world. Once again, this makes you more involved with the world and the characters and it certainly doesn't feel like an on-rails game.

Steep Combat Learning Curve
There, I said it; the combat has a steep learning curve. Not necessarily in how it works, that is easy enough to grasp (dodge/block enemies, hit them with magic or appropriate sword attacks, don't get surrounded). But the problem comes when you try to incorporate those moves. Take the Left-Bumper quick menu for example. The slow-down that occurs when you're in the menu is a very nice touch to keep you moving in battle; but it is very sloppy to move away from the enemies, try and select the spell/item, exit the menu, reposition yourself for the move, and execute while your enemy is slowly chasing you. It would have been infinitely easier and more intuitive to be able to use items or spells from the menu (a la Mass Effect), or to simply tap the control pad up to cycle through spells and down to cycle through items. Another big problem is how unresponsive/awkward simply attacking feels, it is hard to tell if it really is because it is hard to direct combat how you want. It seems you don't direct Geralt's every movement, only his general strategy, but this is never explained to the player. So a lot of times you'll move the Left Stick away from an enemy and Geralt will continue staring at it for a moment before moving. Or you might press the A button before your previous swing has completely finished and you'll stand there looking like an idiot. Or perhaps you delay pressing you're A button until you're sure you've finished your previous move, which leaves a few moments for you to stand like an idiot between moves. All of these things seem like they can be overcome with a lot of practice and patience, but they contribute to the very steep learning curve of combat.

Looks Fantastic
I've never cared too much about looks in a game, but this game does blow me away. Beginning with the first cutscene of the Kingslayer, you can see the incredible attention to detail in the scenes. During actual gameplay, most of the graphics still hold up fantastic. The lighting is a highlight; I found a beam of light from a crack in a dark room and spent a good couple of minutes playing with it. Wherever you stand and wherever you turn the camera, the shadow Geralt projects is perfect. The light beam also moves up and down Geralt realistically as you move, even when you let him stand and swing his arms around. A nice & thoughtful option is the ability to switch between HD and SD fonts; if you've played an HD game on a SD TV before, you know how it can sometimes be impossible to make out the smaller fonts on your old TV. One problem that does occur frequently is textures popping in after a scene has changed. But even though it occurs frequently, it doesn't detract from the experience much.

Summary
Overall, I would certainly recommend playing this game, but I can't picture everyone enjoying it to its fullest. I'd point you in the direction of the PC version first, if your computer is up to the task. Finally, since the greatest draws of The Witcher 2 come from the story, the characters, and the world itself, I would have a hard time recommending it to gamers who only like games for immediate action. If you aren't narrow-minded and you can't take a stroll with the PC version however, I highly recommend picking up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings: Enhanced Edition for Xbox 360.

Blog Post: An RPG for the darker man.

SgtCreamyDoughnut — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 19:10:00 GMT

Ok, so it's hard for me to be completely unbiased when the Witcher series is some of my favorite rpgs of all time. But to aid a prospective buyer like you, I'm going to give you the low-down on what console players are finally stepping into.

The Witcher world is J RR Tolkien's famous fantasy if it involved an extreme fetish for rape, racism, sex-jokes, and grim-darkness. This is Dark Fantasy where you aren't the world's savior, but a resident who must choose your own side on difficult choices. You play as the Witcher Geralt, a mutant who primarily is tasked to hunt monsters using traps, bombs, potions, and a silver sword. Unfortunately such an easy task was made complicated by the end of the first game when you became enraptured in politics.

The primary theme of this story takes a drastic shift from now on based on player input...

Many console players will likely be intimidated by the '2' in the title, but most of the connections between the original and this sequel are resolved in the first hour of gameplay and CDprojekt actually went out of its way to use and Enhanced Edition instead of a port. The Enhanced Edition has filled parts of the story up easily and will leave most player's satisfied at the intense opening. Like Mass Effect 1 the world is slowly fed to you in a single play-through and you're never bombarded by information that was already covered in the first. A returning vet from the first who didn't have the pc power to play the second will be glad to learn that they can once more be a monster hunter with morals in an amoral world.

Combat is the secondary concern most people will have who played the first and either loved or hated the system. The new style of combat is full-action, with no stances but now possesses a much more user-friendly interface with bombs and traps. In the original release of the Witcher 2 combat was a nightmare for anyone who wasn't used to hit-and-run tactics. But the steady stream of updates has rendered the combat system of Witcher 2 not just decent, but perfect for the nature of the gameplay. Both a challenge and tactical one at that. To help in your view, I'd liken it to Dark Souls with more leash-room on mistakes and less commitment to an attack.

The transition to the gamepad was also done with ease as the Witcher 2 already supported it with ease. The only dark spot is in inventory management, but I've always been the person who can overlook that. The inventory is far clunkier than Skyrim but is hardly as clustered as Dragon Age Origins could be. To me it's a minor issue that never impacted me during my play-through of the recently released Enhanced Edition.

Quick time events also make an appearance, but there's actually an option to remove them at the menu. This allows for more free-flowing action during several hallowing boss fights while still allowing you to perform 'interrupts' during conversations. These work on a fashion of punching a man who just said "Raped or not, she was an elf, a worthless b*tch.".

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Now the big issue here is the story. You'll hear fans of this game praise it as the second coming of Christ and most of 4chan's /v say it's garbage (they hate video games anyways). However, I won't beat you down with it or spoil anything. I'll just state an honest assessment.

The game is divided into three major acts. Each act has an overarching theme that tends to be related to the political nature of the main plot. However, the Witcher 2 allows players to switch the theme of the plot between racism or 'A Game of Thrones' political play. The resulting difference affects Act 2 and this changes the story for the next ten hours, and the location where the gameplay takes place.

This is the truth.This is a decision in the game that changes the next ten hours of your play so completely it will warrant a second play-through. Make of that what you will.

For my first play-through (PC release) I went with politics and found myself finishing the game with a completely different outlook from my best friend who chose the racism path. Upon playing the racism path I experienced an entirely different story that held it's own twists and turns. I also learned information that made me regret choices in the political path that felt right at the time.

And speaking of choice, the Witcher 2 offers it in a heavy dose. One would think the game follows a linear path due to a set protagonist but many decisions do lie ahead. and one of them is an event that requires a choice within five seconds that happens to change much of what's in the future.

The nature of these decisions is also rightly judged as difficult. There is no good or evil here in major decisions. It's a choice between a secret policeman or a terrorist. You'll be asked on what you believe in, and who is in the right. Neutrality is impossible here which will disappoint some Witcher 1 vets, but never once will you be forced to make a choice at face-value. If you're given the choice to kill a king whose a raping, murdering psychopath, you'll learn that he's the only king holding back a civil war before you make the decision.

These decision requires moderate judgment (and bite you back in later acts), and not alignment gives you the freedom to decide your own ethics. Geralt's voice-acting also lends much towards this, when you're suspicious about an offer, he is, when you're threatening someone, he does so too.

As great as all this is, the story is hampered by it's ending. This is in no way the same as the Mass Effect 3 protests, but it is disappointing because of a different reason. For purposes of keeping spoilers away, I'll only liken it reading A Game of Thrones and stopping at Ed Stark's... *** forget I said that.

Basically the story of Witcher 2 ends, but it is so well-tied to a sequel that we're left wanting the Witcher 3 soon after the chaos closes down. I wasn't bothered by this but I'm one person out of two million that played the PC release. Some will love the ending for how much closure it provides to the antagonist's reasons and some will hate where it stops at.

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I've been long-winded so far, especially in regards to the story. For purpose of helping you decide whether to buy this product I'll reveal some facts the GI review only hinted at.

-This Enhanced Edition includes all the DLC and content from the PC version. (hair-styles, weapons, Troll Trouble, all the releases)

-This Enhanced Edition is also the latest patched version. (Comes with an arena score-mode, a Dark mode difficulty, combat improvements, and new armor/ weapons).

-This Enhanced Edition has similar graphics to a med-low setting on the PC. (This means that it looks better than many 360 titles currently out while still keeping the frame-rate at 30 consistently.)

-The Enhanced Edition includes the new content released with the PC patch. (the extra five hours advertised. Which a single play-through should take you 45)

-The Enhanced Edition is a regularly priced 360 title.

-It has a dwarf that says Lesbomancy is his favorite form of witchcraft.

-A mage has his balls ripped off and shoved into his mouth.

Blog Post: Great game marred by lazy port job

Stealth20k — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:39:00 GMT

The base game is wonderful for anyone whose played this on the PC, already knows that. Unfortunately the graphics in this port are significantly worse, the control options feel dumbed down from the PC version, and the extra content is minimal at best, and worst of all, it does have glitches and broken moments..........

Blog Post: Solid... it made me cry at the end...SNIFFSNIFF*

Grand Master Cobra Jedi — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:06:00 GMT

This game is very very good. The game play is sweet, the story is solid, and totally not for kids or anybody under 18. GO OUT AND BUY IT!... the reason why i cried at the end was because it ended, but i intend on replaying this for a long period of time.

Blog Post: The Brilliant Dark Fantasy Adventure Is Just As Good On Console

Adam Biessener — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:00:00 GMT

I’ve spent the last year holding up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings as a compelling reason to make the investment in a gaming PC. Its weighty combat, difficult choices with real consequences, and fascinating storylines are some of the best gaming has ever seen. I can no longer lord it over the console masses with this one, though, because this long-in-development Xbox 360 port is just as amazing as the original. It’s actually better than it was at launch thanks to the year of patching, refinement, and additional DLC content that this version benefits from.[Excerpt]

Main character Geralt, the eponymous witcher, is in his own words “a mutant created for swordsmanship.” As I look back on the game, I’m surprised to find that the “mutant” part of that statement is the most important. Tearing apart foes with Geralt’s acrobatic blade work and magical signs is fun, but taking on the role of a hated and feared inhuman adventurer in this rich world is so much more than that.

Choice and consequence in The Witcher 2 isn’t the kind of moral absolutism that most RPGs featuring choice typically descend into. It’s helping a fanatical anti-human terrorist or an amoral spymaster, chasing down a murderer or saving (ahem) brothel employees, and punishing or profiting from ancient war crimes. Depending entirely on the player, Geralt can be a beacon of hope to the common people, a whimsical drunkard, a terrifying avatar of vengeance, or a selfish smartass. More importantly, the witcher has logical reasons for each action or response and the player simply decides which of his motivations has priority. Furthermore, the situations (treatment of minority groups, occupation by a foreign power, abuse of authority, etc.) have obvious real-world analogs that have far more emotional resonance than your typical save-the-world video game plot. It doesn’t hurt that the middle section of the game is radically different depending on one particular decision.

The tale is a thick web of politics, magic, love, and revenge that weaves interesting characters around historic events that could be medieval Europe with different names but for all the monsters and magic. The world, exquisitely detailed in the books by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski that The Witcher is based on, hangs together well enough to make the plotting of the various factions and nations fascinating. Powerful sorceresses, rival witchers, kings, and generals all have their own agendas and motivations, many of which will surprise you once you decode the truths, half-truths, and outright lies that the story is parceled out in.

The developers did a wonderful job decoupling narrative from mechanics, so you won’t make a decision based on which mission branch gives a more powerful quest reward. Even if the possible items for different paths were laid out up front, though, you probably wouldn’t care. The loot game is boring and has little impact on your combat performance so long as you remember to equip that new suit of armor you just got and mix together enough bombs and potions to keep your pockets full. This is an improvement over the original PC launch, which was irritating and mandatory instead of merely dull and trivial.

Geralt’s success in combat is predicated on player skill, not stats – though a modicum of thought into picking skills that complement your playstyle as you level up pays great dividends. The flipside of that is that the player is punished harshly for trying to button mash their way to victory. Keeping track of the positioning of enemies, avoiding being surrounded, and making good use of magic and consumables like bombs is a must unless you want to constantly be reloading. The tactical challenge is mostly entertaining, though a few horribly balanced encounters are beyond frustrating. The one consistent misstep in the scripting is in throwing the player directly from dialogue into nasty combat situations with no time to prepare or save and an autosave point too far back for comfort. I had to replay many sections of the game several times thanks to unconscionably absent checkpoints.

The Enhanced Edition bonus content is fine, but has little impact on the overall game and is nothing to re-purchase it for – especially since owners of the PC original are getting that as well as this release’s rebalancing in a free patch on launch day.

There are very few differences between playing this on 360 or a high-end PC. The graphical gap is noticeable but trivial, load times are short and infrequent on both, and the game plays equally well on mouse/keyboard and gamepad. Several complaints I had about the original – horrid inventory management, punishing early difficulty, targeting problems – have been patched away since launch, and those improvements are incorporated here (thus the slightly higher score). The few flaws I take issue with should in no way discourage anyone from playing this fantastic, unique RPG. So long as they’re over 18, anyway, because this is the most deserving M rating I’ve ever personally played through.

Blog Post: The Brilliant Dark Fantasy Adventure Is Just As Good On Console

Adam Biessener — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 18:00:00 GMT

Group: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:37:00 GMT

Forum: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition Discussions

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 17:37:00 GMT

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition

Blog Post: Good but not great.

Blog Post: The Witcher 2: Assassin of Overwraught Design and Pretentious Difficulty

Blog Post: Non child game.

Wiki: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition Guides

Blog Post: A Fantastic Experience, A Few minor Missteps

Blog Post: Very Fun! I'm on board for Witcher 3 as long as it gets a console release

Blog Post: Awe-inspiring

Blog Post: Needs to be on PS3

Blog Post: Not bad

Blog Post: HOLY HOLY MUFF MUFF!

Wiki Page: random

Blog Post: Witcher 2 Review

Blog Post: A detailed review from a lucky, thankful, early reviewer

Blog Post: An RPG for the darker man.

Blog Post: Great game marred by lazy port job

Blog Post: Solid... it made me cry at the end...*SNIFF*SNIFF*

Blog Post: The Brilliant Dark Fantasy Adventure Is Just As Good On Console

Blog Post: The Brilliant Dark Fantasy Adventure Is Just As Good On Console

Group: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition

Forum: The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition Discussions

Blog Post: Solid... it made me cry at the end...SNIFFSNIFF*