The Witcher

I bought this game on CD quite a few years ago for $2.50 from EB Games and the first time I played it I got stuck at the end of chapter 1 because I couldn't beat the Barghest. I also wasn't good at the combat system and wasn't using the proper sword or the proper fighting technique for the right enemies.

I ended up letting this game sit for a long time. Then the sequel came out and I ended up buying that game. For some reason I couldn't get far in that game either. But that was more due to not having time to play.

That game sat for a while too. I tried a few times to play through both games but never got far. Finally The Witcher 3 came out and I bought that too.... Though I decided that I was going to play through the series from the beginning so that I experienced all I could about the Witcher like I did when I was introduced to the Mass Effect series.

Well, I finally beat The Witcher. It took about 47 hours to complete and I loved it. I got the hang of the combat this time around and I loved it. Human enemies were weaker against steel swords while monsters were weaker against the silver sword. So you have two swords  on you at all times and each sword has 3 styles: strong, fast and crowd. Strong is for big tough enemies, fast is for faster enemies who can evade the slower strong style , and crowd is for when you are swarmed with 2 or more enemies.

You can also carry a third weapon. I carried an axe, but I never used it once in the entire game. You also have a slot for a 4rth weapon. Usually it would be a dagger or a torch for seeing in dark places. I did use the torch on occasion when I didn't have the "cat" potion which helps you see in the dark, but I don't recall ever using the dagger.

Speaking of potions, alchemy plays a big part in The Witcher. Lots of fights in this game can be really tough, but if you use the right potions or weapon upgrades beforehand then they can be quite a bit easier. There are potions that speed up your vitality regeneration, there are ones that make your weapons more powerful, ones that speed up your reflexes, ones that boost your damage against certain types of enemies and so on.

To make potions you need ingredients and those come from all over the game world or from merchants. Some require rarer ingredients than others but most of the time its worthwhile to make sure you have a good selection of potions ready for any situation.

This game came out in 2007 and while the graphics are dated I thought they looked really good for an older game. I'm not sure if it had a slight upgrade when it became "the enhanced edition" but I thought they looked good. I also liked that the game had a day/night cycle and even weather. There was even a mission where you needed there to be a storm. You could either get it done by magic or just wait for a storm and save some money from hiring someone to make a storm.

The music in the game is really good too and if you have the GOG.com version then you can download the music score, as well as a bunch of other cool extras like behind the scenes videos, maps of the world, interviews with the developers, and artbook and other things as well.

This game has tons of characters. Geralt Starts of with amnesia (original...) so you can go into the game knowing just as much about the world of the Witcher as he does. You meet people who know you, but you don't know. Some are friends, some are enemies and some turn out friends or enemies depending on choices you make in the game. You get to know lots of these characters through many interactions. There are also relationships that also change depending on your choices.

Geralt spends lots of time doing missions for other people, missions for himself, as well as lots of time drinking, playing dice, getting into fist fights and getting women into bed. Fist fights were pretty simple and also the most boring this in the game in my opinion. I enjoyed the Poker Dice game because at times it was a decent way to make money and it was actually fun.

Leveling up consists of spending bronze , silver and gold talent points to upgrade your weapon styles, the amount of damage you inflict, how well you can do alchemy, unlocking bomb making skills and to strengthen your sign usage (magic). I didn't unlock bomb making at all in this game, but by the end I had most things fully upgraded and Geralt was a total bad ass. Especially after getting the Raven armour in Chapter 5 which is the final chapter of the game. Though if you do finish the mission to get this armour, you can start the Witcher 2 with this armour which is pretty nice. I also noticed I started with the upgraded sword that I finished the first game with.

Missions are pretty standard for an RPG. They consist of taking quests and going off to find a lost item, or kill a monsters and so on, but I was rarely bored , even at parts with lots of backtracking. This game features politics and racism and as you progress you need to decide what side you're on. Though you can be neutral as well.

I'm glad I finally took the time to go through this game, it was really awesome and I enjoyed it a lot. I ended up starting up The Witcher 2 right away which is also a blast so far. I cant wait to finish and start the third game.

I recommend anyone start with the first game in the series so that you get more insight into the characters and motives of all the characters you'll come across in the third game.