As an American I don't know much about what gaming/game companies are like in Europe. I might vaguely hear that a game was developed outside the U.S. One game that was created in Poland has landed firmly on my radar; The Witcher.
The Witcher is a Polish RPG based on a series of short fantasy stories by author Andrezj Sapkowski. The story follows Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster hunter known as a "witcher," on his adventures. Witchers are specially trained and must undergo mutation to develop their monster slaying capabilities. These mutations grant the witchers extremely fast reactions making them deadly sword fighters.
Geralt of Rivia is a particularly well known witcher, whose exploits have made him somewhat of a legend. But like all witchers he is an outcast. Humans distrust witchers and their mutations and non-humans, like dwarves and elves, don't consider him one of them either. This makes for some interesting story lines. As the player you are often presented with decisions that favor humans or non-humans and can choose which side you want to support.
The Witcher is set in a medieval world filled with monsters, sorceresses, knights, and peasants. The world seems to be inspired by Eastern Europe and I felt like I was getting a peek into the stories and traditions of that region. The game opens with Geralt wounded and fleeing through the forest. He collapses but is rescued by two of his fellow witchers. They load him onto a cart and take him to the dilapidated castle, Kaer Mohren, which serves as their base. Geralt wakes up, but finds that he has lost his memory. You play through a series of early tutorial type quests that teach you the basic controls and movement of the game as you help the witchers defend against an attack. The main plot is revealed as you complete the tutorial--a mysterious mage accompanied by someone known as "the professor" have stolen the witcher's secrets (herbs and mutagens). Geralt must find them to learn why.
The combat seemed very odd to me and took awhile to get used to (it's very simple--I think that's what threw me off). You simply point and click to attack a foe. There is some minor timing involved to perform a "power attack." but you will spend a lot of time left-clicking with the occasional right click to block. The more attacks you land results in a chain of moves--complete with Geralt whirling around and doing flips. At points I thought it seemed a little ridiculous, but it is entertaining to watch and really makes the player feel like they are this character with these amazing talents.
There are tons of side-quests and random tasks that you can do to help Geralt earn some money. Dice poker is a mini-game that can be played against certain NPC's in inns and other places. There is an entire questline around defeating the dice playing NPC's. If games aren't your thing you can participate in some good old-fashioned fistfights (for gold, of course). These little side-tasks are a fun little distraction from clicking on monsters.
You're looking at a good 40-50 hours of playtime if you pursue all the sidequests. I have played through the Witcher several times and still haven't gotten tired of it. Pick it up on GoG DRM free or on Steam.
Geralt of Rivia is a particularly well known witcher, whose exploits have made him somewhat of a legend. But like all witchers he is an outcast. Humans distrust witchers and their mutations and non-humans, like dwarves and elves, don't consider him one of them either. This makes for some interesting story lines. As the player you are often presented with decisions that favor humans or non-humans and can choose which side you want to support.
The Witcher is set in a medieval world filled with monsters, sorceresses, knights, and peasants. The world seems to be inspired by Eastern Europe and I felt like I was getting a peek into the stories and traditions of that region. The game opens with Geralt wounded and fleeing through the forest. He collapses but is rescued by two of his fellow witchers. They load him onto a cart and take him to the dilapidated castle, Kaer Mohren, which serves as their base. Geralt wakes up, but finds that he has lost his memory. You play through a series of early tutorial type quests that teach you the basic controls and movement of the game as you help the witchers defend against an attack. The main plot is revealed as you complete the tutorial--a mysterious mage accompanied by someone known as "the professor" have stolen the witcher's secrets (herbs and mutagens). Geralt must find them to learn why.
The combat seemed very odd to me and took awhile to get used to (it's very simple--I think that's what threw me off). You simply point and click to attack a foe. There is some minor timing involved to perform a "power attack." but you will spend a lot of time left-clicking with the occasional right click to block. The more attacks you land results in a chain of moves--complete with Geralt whirling around and doing flips. At points I thought it seemed a little ridiculous, but it is entertaining to watch and really makes the player feel like they are this character with these amazing talents.
There are tons of side-quests and random tasks that you can do to help Geralt earn some money. Dice poker is a mini-game that can be played against certain NPC's in inns and other places. There is an entire questline around defeating the dice playing NPC's. If games aren't your thing you can participate in some good old-fashioned fistfights (for gold, of course). These little side-tasks are a fun little distraction from clicking on monsters.
You're looking at a good 40-50 hours of playtime if you pursue all the sidequests. I have played through the Witcher several times and still haven't gotten tired of it. Pick it up on GoG DRM free or on Steam.
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