The Witcher 2 is a strong sequel to the original game, but I feel it has higher highs and lower lows. In terms of general presentation it is a huge leap forward and is very comparable to first party RPGs of the early 2010s. NPCs look much better and there is a very solid voice cast. Like the first game the writing is the strongest point, with compelling characters and, in my opinion, an even stronger narrative hook. Quests can be adventure-game like, requiring the player to investigate people/areas without always using a big glowing "go here, do this" marker.

One of the main downsides I see with this game is that it feels made for console, rather than for PC. The introduction of some radial UI and the constant use of doors to hide loading, making areas claustrophobic. Maps are, for better and worse, more intricate, mostly being a series of many corridors. Traversal feels like even more of a slog, you will have Geralt rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin' (what) everywhere.

Gameplay is a mixed-bag. The first game was fairly mindless, with simple rhythm-based combat. This game introduces, essentially, Dark Souls-style dodge roll combat (this did come out before the Souls games blew up, so I have no idea if that was actually an influence). Giving the player more control over Geralt does make it a much more engaging experience, but there are some fundamental flaws. One being that the dodge does not have I-frames, so you will get hit when rolling and must essentially use it to only create distance. The combat also bears some similarity to the Batman Arkham games freeflow style, in that Geralt selects attack animations randomly. So there are no combos or deliberate moves. These factors in combination with the Quen spell for blocking one enemy hit means the most straightforward method of fighting is spamming attack and dodging backwards to reapply Quen. Rinse and repeat. So now combat requires more of the player's attention, but still cannot support player expression or in-depth mastery.

That seemed like a lot of complaints, and they were, but as I stated in the beginning, the writing and narrative are very strong to make the tedium of combat worth it. If you enjoyed the first game then this one is a must play.

ocando especificamente em The Witcher 2 e tentando deixar de lado tudo que foi construído com The Witcher 1, os desenvolvedores foram ousados. Preciso rejogá-lo para falar mais especificamente sobre a história, então me concentrarei na construção do jogo aqui.

The Witcher 2 traz consigo uma mecânica que, por mais estranha que pareça nos dias de hoje, se torna muito divertida após algumas horas.

O jogo também apresenta ótimos gráficos para o seu ano de lançamento; os desenvolvedores fizeram mágica com a engine aqui utilizada.

O cerne do jogo se encontra nos dois atos, embora o desenvolvedor principal já tenha comentado que fazer dois atos inteiros não tenha sido a melhor ideia. Foi algo extremamente corajoso para a época e garante ao jogador uma experiência incrível, além da vontade de jogá-lo novamente.

The Witcher 2 é um ótimo jogo, com certeza está entre os melhores que já joguei. São no mínimo 30 horas de boa diversão.

Dê um trocado pra o seu bruxo
Ó, Vale Abundante
Ó, Vale Abundante
Ó!
Dê um trocado pra o seu bruxo
Ele é quem nos garante

What can I say that hasn't been said many times before? The writing is top tier. The voice acting is great. The choices you make have surprisingly big effects on how the plot plays out. The entire middle act of the game is totally different if you side with Roche instead of Iorveth or vice versa. The art style is interesting even if the graphics haven't aged all that well. The gameplay is passable. Just buy it and play it, ideally before The Witcher 3. But even if you've already played TW3, this game is still definitely worth your time.

A bit hard to rate this generally, it’s clunky and somewhat annoying at times but the foundation for an amazing story and excellent game are still there.

The Witcher 2 is CD Projekt Red’s turning point in creating what would soon become their magnum opus and, in its own right, a game that stands pretty well on it’s own two legs.

While it’s definitely flawed in the combat and exploration department, it undeniably delivers on the writing department with a good story and CD Projekt Red’s trademark RPG charm. I love when RPG games give you actual morally conflicting decision instead of “be nice or be evil”.

There are a few things that hindered my enjoyment here though. For starters, the difficulty curve is kind of crazy, this is by no means an impossible or hard game, but during the earlier levels it almost feels unfair how tanky some bosses and enemies are compared to Geralt. I spent a good chunk of time locked in a save, with sub optimal preparation having to power through a group or enemies or boss that would take me down in 2-3 hits.
Granted this may just be a skill issue and a lack of dedication on my part but considering most of the mid/late game challenges can just be powered through with one potion and spamming attacks, I did find it noticeable enough to make mention of it.

There are a few other elements that could have benefited from some fine tuning, and one such aspect that definitely shows its age are the forced QTE and stealth sections. I’m no stranger to linear gameplay and even I have to admit I’m a sucker for QTE’s and stealth sometimes.
Sadly I just thought it did not fit here and both mechanics suffered from a lot of jank. It kind of breaks the immersion but for a game released in 2011, I appreciate the effort and definitely understand the influence of the times when every game was trying to be a third person action/adventure title.

Overall, maybe didn’t like this as much as I thought I would but I can’t say I was disappointed. Despite a few hiccups in the side quest and gameplay departments I was fairly engaged with the main story and enjoyed most of the twists and characters.
Some sections are definitely stronger than others, but the Witcher 2 still delivers a pretty satisfying roleplaying package complete with action, romance and adventure. It may not be great just yet, but it sets an excellent foundation for fun gameplay loops and story denouements, which would soon be picked up, upgraded and expanded on all fronts by it’s legendary sequel, The Witcher 3.

Would recommend this to any RPG fan looking for a fun side adventure, or to any Witcher fan looking to get a deeper experience before they inevitably replay Witcher 3 for the 4th time.

A massive improvement over Witcher 1. The combat is way more engaging, the writing is even better, the voice acting is improved, and the music is fantastic.
The Witcher 2 is definitely my favorite out of the three, it has its flaws sure. The backtracking is still there but its more bearable than 1, The combat while more engaging has massive difficulty spikes across all the difficulties (I finished it on normal, but tested it on easy, hard, and dark because I was baffled by how much damage I was taking), and graphically the game has a weird yellow filter that makes me nauseous at times.
I highly recommend this one over Witcher 1 and 3, but if you are starting the franchise for the first time skipping both and going to Three will be the best experience!