Witcher 1&2 are probably worth playing
I really enjoyed the Witcher 3 so I thought I would go back and play the first two games even though some people seemed to have mixed opinions on what they think of them both. Then after playing the first two games my partner got interested in W3 so we then played through that together. I feel like now I have some good perspective to offer on the whole series and what people should do if they really enjoyed 3 but haven't gone back.
Witcher 1
::: spoiler spoiler I think the biggest thing scaring people off of this game is that it is very old now and operates almost entirely with the mouse. Coming into it, I thought this would be a big deal but actually the gameplay is very simple and has aged really well for how old this game is. You should obviously be played the updated enhanced edition by the way, it really cleans up a lot of the old feel from what I could tell.
The combat is a bit clunky but if you've ever played an MMO or similar point and click combat system, its not hard. Using the mouse you can time out combos and parry but thats about it, its not very complex.
The world and story are pretty basic and again I would equate it to the light type of storytelling done in MMOs around the 2010s. If you really didn't want to engage with the combat, the game could be enjoyed through a cutscene movie and you wouldn't miss much. The characters don't have long conversations like in games since then and their personalities are somewhat lacking in depth. Also the levels are small so you really aren't missing much exploration here.
So my ultimate advice is that you will know if you like playing this game in the first hour or if you enjoy some dated MMO style games. The writing is decent and humorous as well so at the very least watch someone else play it. :::
Witcher 2
::: spoiler spoiler I have very mixed opinions on this game and I actually didn't like it as much as the first. It definitely felt like a much shorter game but it still looks great and feels really decent to play. Switching to a stick controlled 3rd person action game is a hard thing to nail the first time and CDPR did a good job with that. Geralt controls well especially for the time period in gaming we're talking about (early 2010s).
My main gripe would probably be the writing as the entire premise of the game and how it starts is just.. kind of stupid? At least how its depicted in the game it is. ::: ::: spoiler StorySpoiler Geralt having very little suspicion of a man in a cloak with his face covered and also walking away from the king and also being the only other person in the room for this exchange is just.. not believable. And somehow Geralt is able to remember important details and people from his past but for whatever reason his entire time working with the main villain is blanked.
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::: spoiler spoiler Aside from just the bad starting premise, I can't really say that the story ever hooked me or kept me all that intrigued. The locations are done a lot better and the characters are much better developed though so that is a big complement. Still the levels are pretty small and you'll spend a lot of time pacing back and forth in them. Also the humor is almost entirely removed from dialog for some reason, so it makes the writing very dry in my opinion.
Would I recommend this? Yeah I probably would. If you enjoyed the third game you'll probably enjoy this as the combat is very similar and decently well done and the characters are there that you will recognize. This game provides far more backstory for the third game than the first game does so yeah I'd recommend it. :::
Witcher 3
::: spoiler spoiler
This isn't a break down of the witcher 3 but playing through it after the first two gave me a lot more appreciation for it and for where CDPR was coming from. I really enjoyed how it blended the writing style of the first and second game while also fixing a lot of the missteps from the second game. Also the DLC for this game just has such good writing and I'd almost recommend them over the second game.
Hopefully that helps some people out if you were on the fence about trying either one of them. They are much shorter than W3 so giving them a go is not the same type of undertaking, I'd recommend both of them if you fit the demographic. Playing these also made me a lot more excited to play Cyberpunk 2077 and the upcoming Witcher release for 2025/26. These games are also probably a good idea to play ahead of the remaster of the Witcher 1.
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Thanks for reading and let me know if you've played these and what you think or if you want play these in the future!
The Witcher 3 is one of the best games I've ever played, and I do think The Witcher 2 is worth trying going back to beforehand, considering how much the previous experience enhances the third game. I usually tell people that Chapter 1 (not the intro, which is good) is pretty rough. It's a bit aimless and the first boss there can be too difficult for an early game challenge. After that, it really picks up and sprints through the finish line, in my view. I disagree quite a bit on the writing; I think there's some excellent writing to be found in the game, both with an interesting core cast that continues its level of quality banter and intrigue into the sequel, and also on the politics of neutrality and the ripple effects that a set of small changes can have on the broader power struggles of the continent.
The Witcher 2 is also rare in that it has a genuine branching storyline. It's not quite to the insane degree that Baldur's Gate 3 went with it last year, but it's still very much the kind of design modern AAA publishers/developers shy away from, not wanting to invest resources in whole swathes of the game that half your players aren't going to see. Helps a lot for replay, especially since that first chapter gets smoothed out quite a bit once you know what you're doing.
Before I played any of the witchers, I thought I'd REALLY like them, as the concepts and theme are right up my alley. But ultimately, I came away from the series with... it's just alright.
The first game I bounced off many times due to how slow the start is, and it didn't help that I installed a combat overhaul mod which makes the game WAY too hard. Once I got into the city or chapter 2, I started to enjoy it, but ultimately gave up on it in the second city due to the combat (moral here, play with vanilla combat! Probably would've had more fun). The story was alright, but didn't grip me too much.
Witcher 2 I managed to beat. The combat was fairly decent, and I thought the story and pace were a good improvement, with a beginning that was interesting in its own right. I was quite impressed with how much your choices could change things, and really got into the dice poker. I don't have too much bad to say about it, other than being disappointed that so many of the choices didn't matter in the 3rd game.
3rd game I bounced off similar to the first. I completely cleared out the first area, which left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt the game had unfortunately inherited that sorta directionless feeling so many open world games have, and found a lot of the side content to feel like filler, while the main story was utterly failing to grab me, and I bailed only a few hours in with the baron that has a problem with the baby. I utterly hated that POS but was forced to help him to continue the story, only for him to give a breadcrumb at the end, sending me onto the next breadcrumb. Progress in the main story just wasn't feeling meaningful, and ultimately I just didn't care about any of the characters, and gave up to play something else.
I may have enjoyed the 3rd had I given it more time, and I may have gotten further in the 1st had I not modded it, but with the 2nd game just being 'good' but not blowing my socks off, I figured I'd experienced enough to not really have much desire to go back to it.
I actually agree that I enjoyed playing the first more than the second. In the second, the story just didn't feel very gripping, progression was slow and gameplay ended up quite complicated with weird mechanics. But in the first game, the atmosphere, story and more distraction-free gameplay made up for the overall age of the game.
Witcher 2 yay, Witcher 1 nay. IMO, the first one really didn‘t age well. It‘s been too long to remember the specifics but what I do remember is me dealing with the gameplay and visuals for the story‘s sake. The second game I started up and was awed by the visuals, the gameplay was much better too. Insane step forward. Again though, it‘s been many, many years so it‘s a blur now.
I played the first in like 2018. I agree with your assessment
I really enjoyed the Witcher 1. What really sealed it for me was the questline
::: spoiler Vizima Confidential The whole detective arc was very staisfying, and even if it got a little tedious, I felt like a real flatfoot running around the city chasing down leads.
Hell, you can't even solve the mystery by following the quest. IIRC it's only by talking to the undertaker at the right time that you discover Raymond is a fake.
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It beat the pants off of anything from Witcher 2. I also prefer the alchemy system from TW1.
I dislike that TW2 is basically half a game until you replay it. I'm all for branching paths, but compared to TW1 and TW3, TW2 felt way too short.
That was my impression. Not only was it shorter but I also didn’t feel like playing it twice so it just felt like I missed out on the story with Roche. I enjoy branching paths the way that W3 does it where you get different dialog and occasionally different events but having it be split down the middle is just annoying.
I was looking at these just yesterday. I've not played any (but have all 3 in my GOG from freebies) and the age and look of TW1 kinda put me off but you've convinced me to give it a go.
You really should. Like I said play the first hour and if you aren’t into it that’s probably a sign. But it’s very funny, I hope you have fun with it!
Witcher 1 is the only game in the franchise I've actually played. And I definitely agree, it's very worth playing. I was really enjoying it. The only reason I never ended up finishing was that at the time I was playing through a Wineskin, and...the damn game was crashing on me every hour at most. Which was pretty appalling considering I was playing on a platform that Steam said was officially supported...
But I have no doubt that if I had been running on Windows at the time I'd have finished it back around 2014 when I was first playing it, because I was really enjoying the story.
Witcher 1 is playable on controller if you take the time to configure it using a 3rd party software. I recently replayed it using Steam Input on my Steam Deck.
That is true and I played for a bit on the deck. People should be aware though that even when configured right it doesn’t play similarly to 2&3 though