The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
Playtime: 54 hours
The Witcher is a hard game to play, and it is also a hard game to review.
I first played this game in 2017. I finished the game and had fun playing it. That being said, it was one of the most frustrating experiences I had playing a game.
To start off, this game is very different to Witcher 2 & 3. The combat is completely different, the story isn't as strong and the game looks very dated. Where Witcher 2 & 3 are very pleasant to look at, Witcher 1 was designed to look dull and dark. This inherently isn't a bad thing, but that may stop a lot of people from playing it.
The HUD is atrocious. Using a controller for this game is handicapping you immensely. A lot of the combat if pointing at an enemy, wait, combo into second attack and wait again before doing your final bit of combo. I actually enjoyed the combat a lot, and I liked how you are given three different type of playing styles. One for groups, one for hard but slow hitting attacks and the final for one-on-one fast encounters. That being said, the animations can be very silly looking and a bit off putting.
I really didn't enjoy the story. While I understood what was happening at the start of the game, I got slowly more and more confused as I played. It was only until after I watched some videos on it did I truly understand what was happening. I appreciated the story more, but I don't think the game did well portraying that to me.
This is a very difficult game. The healing is very slow, and you sometimes have to go into combat, try get a kill in, stay outside of there range for a few minutes to heal up, then go back in to fight some more guys. Having potions using alchemy is a necessity for this game. This is the only game I have ever played where I had to make notes on how to make certain potions, and what ingredients I would need.
There is a lot of travelling in this game. The fast-travel is basically non-existent outside specific circumstances. This game is also my first experience with having a softlock, where I had to reload a save after 5 hours wondering what I did wrong. If you are using a guide, I doubt you will have this problem. If you aren't? You might end up like me.
Is it worth your money? Yes. I bought this game for 1.19 on sale a few years ago. This game gave me over 50 hours of gameplay. That being said, it's not a game I would recommend you play. What I suggest you do is wait.
The Witcher has a remake in development. It is expected to come out around 2026, and I have high hopes for the game. What we do know, is that it will be open-world and is a ground up remake, so it isn't using much code from the original game.
So while you shouldn't play this game, you should wait and see if the Witcher remake will deliver. Wait until the reviews are out. If it's good? Give it a shot! If not, I still wouldn't recommend this one, but maybe watch a Youtube video explaining the story of the game. Heck, you can do that now! It will save you from spending hours playing a game you probably won't enjoy.
I don't recommend this one.
