The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Reviews

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Written by WorstUsernameEver on June 1st, 2011

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Along with choice, crafting is another prevalent feature in the Witcher's world. Herbs and monster bits are used for alchemy, to make the all important potions that transform Geralt from a glass cannon into a bad-ass monster slaying machine. And all manner of crafting resources are scattered throughout the world for making better armor and weapons. While I found the crafting to be enjoyable (I love fancy loot), it has three ugly flaws that keep it from enhancing the game - an inventory screen that can't be sorted, crafting tool-tips that cannot be manually scrolled, and the prehistoric restriction of being overburdened from carrying too much weight. There isn't even a stash in which to store the abundant crafting materials - Geralt must lug them along with him all the time like a pack mule. I understand how such a system can be construed as adding realism to a game, but in practice it distracts from the rich world that CD Projekt RED has created by forcing players to spend seconds, minutes, hours staring at menus, managing their inventories so that they can move freely again.

As a prelude to a discussion about combat, let me reiterate - combat in the Witcher 2 is difficult. Go in expecting to die quite a bit if you're playing on any difficulty other than easy. The most frustrating part about the difficulty of the game is that it seems CD Projekt RED either had hard time finding a proper balance, or didn't care to at all. Not being a glutton for punishment, I started my game on normal as I frequently do. But I found it necessary to turn down the difficulty to easy to survive the Prologue with my sanity - a difficulty level at which enemies offer frustratingly little challenge. The difficulty levels out once you begin to develop Geralt's three skill trees and acquire better equipment, and I played the remainder of the game on normal - but the lack of adequate difficulty tuning was frustrating, especially combined with the absence of any type of coherent tutorial to help get you on your feet. To save you some of my pain, heed this advice: early on, your mantra should be Quen (the shield sign), Dodge, and Save. Remember that potions, bombs, and traps are your friends. In time, you can specialize your combat skills through the three skill trees (not counting the default tree you're forced to sink a few points into) - Magic, Swordsmanship, and Alchemy - allowing you to play how you want for the most part.

Choice was one of the big things about the first game. Decisions you made, which were usually morally grey at best (let the elven freedom fighters/terrorists take their food shipment, practically guaranteeing future attacks, or fend them off, causing them - and, in turn, their non-combatant families to starve to death?) had unforeseen consequences that would normally crop up a few hours later when it was far too late to reload.

This time around, the consequences of choices tend to be rather more far-reaching. Some are small, only impacting minor elements. Cumulatively, however, the decisions you make add up to a variety of different endings. Different characters might be alive, with different people in positions of power. Your choices may end up shattering or rebuilding entire kingdoms. You see what your efforts have wrought, first-hand.

Rather more important, though, is that half of the game plays out almost completely differently depending on choices you make. I'm not exaggerating; your decisions affect which town you're based in for the game's second chapter, which quests you can get, and which areas you'll explore. Minor characters on one route become major players in the other, and even smaller choices made will come back to haunt you in future quests. While the game makes perfect sense if you only go through it the once, you need to go through at least twice to truly understand the motivations and connections between all involved, and to fill in the last few blanks.

It's a weird thing. Depending on what you do, you not only change the fate of characters and the dialogue that occurs later, but you significantly change your own experience. Also weird is that the game makes use of your personal morality: much like Geralt, you yourself have little stake in the politics of the region, and choices are usually so grey that there's no "good" or "evil" option. The decisions you make are made because of what you think or believe and because of what's important to you, and not because you want to get five Interchangably Named Good/Evil Points.

After Act One, the game effectively splits into two branches, each of which only tells you half of the story. As in the original Witcher, you can side with either the Scoi'atel (a group of elven and dwarven freedom fighters), here led by the elf Iorveth, or the human establishment, this time represented not by the Order of the Flaming Rose, but by Vernon Roche and his Blue Stripes. This time around, the effects are not simply slightly changed lines of dialogue and prices, and the odd mission. Quite literally the entire game hinges upon one decision that you make. To be fair, it's not a spur of the moment thing: you have a chance to speak to both characters before coming to a decision. A handful of other choices you make do have reasonably significant effects on story progression, but nothing game-changing like the choice outlined above.

It is, however, slightly disappointing how little most of your actions affect the game. Usually, at best, you can hope for a line of changed dialogue; sometimes not even this happens. I have had characters describe to me in detail how to attain a piece of armour that I am wearing. I have had explained to me the best strategy for killing the man I've just explained that I've killed. This makes the game feel somewhat rushed, a feeling strengthened enormously by the game's ending. Some choices from the original Witcher, if you have imported a save file, do affect the game very slightly, but less than I was hoping.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is not perfect. Balancing, bugs, and small atmospheric breaks kept it from fully engulfing me. Still if you have the slightest bit of love for role-playing games and your PC, the Witcher 2 might be one of the best games you can play this year. There are small breaks, but in general the atmosphere is awesome, the fighting fluid, and the story engaging, fully immersing you in a world of monsters and crime. And though I am not completely satisfied with the ending, I am sure an expansion will follow where I will get the additional adventure I am longing for right now. While the first Witcher was very good, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is awesome. It's worth kings dying for.

Regardless of its few faults, The Witcher 2 is an action based RPG not to be missed. It truly exceeds its predecessor in every way and that is no small feat. I wholeheartedly recommend this game to any RPG lover out there. Well any adult RPG lover anyway. The content within the game is truly only meant for adults and I'm not only referring to the sex scenes. Also be sure to have a capable machine to run the game as the lovely visuals don't come cheap. I would say the game even justifies an upgrade if needed as it will surely be in the running for RPG of the year if not game of the year.

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