A personal review of The Witcher 2

Storyline
Whilst not taking on the same story construct , pattern nor exact atmosphere of The Witcher 1 , The Witcher 2's storyline has proven to be a pleasent change. From one to that of a civil conflict and the possible future of humankind to the pursue of a Kingslayer whom is killing off the kings of the Northen Kingdoms.
Minor plot elements may even be changed with a Witcher 1 Save File and what you did in the previous game may indirectly affect some minor plot elements in The Witcher 2 , such as a friend sending you a gift or some advice from the previous game.

Generally , the storyline feels slightly more well-constructed and the atmosphere is generally lighter compared to the sinful atmosphere of the previous game which had featured much of men's wrongs as the majority of the game is more focused on the hunt for the Kingslayer, though the matters of racial conflicts and political issues of the previous game was brought over to reinforce the overall structure of the game.

Gameplay
The Witcher 2 have faced some major hauls in it's overall gameplay system.
From a point-and-click RPG to a real-time action-based combat system.
Fans from the previous installment might find it a struggle to cope with the difficulty of handling an action game for they were used to the more RPG oriented setting of The Witcher.

There are also some changes which may prove to be for the better , or for the worse.
For example , Geralt can now meditate anywhere provided that there isn't any enemies around , which means he can perform the feats of meditation such as resting , potion making and Talent assigning anywhere the player wills it to be.

However , potion making have became more or less annoying for Geralt doesn't memorise the formulas of the potions and alchemical compose upon the purchase of the formula , which means you have to keep hold on these formulas in question if you ever want to compose an alchemical product.

The inventory system is transformed into a "weight-based" inventory system , which means it no longer takes on the form of the slot system in the previous Witcher but to a weight-based structure of which you can keep a certain amount of items as long as you can afford to carry them.

Also , the targetting system of the game may prove to be a pain at times , seeing that the swipes of the blade that Geralt made would not be capable of harming anyone or anything else other than the NPC he is targetting. Not to mention that the player may find themselves , from time to time , accidently shifting the mouse and losing the chance to attack the character whom you had intended to attack.

As for the roaming structure of the game , it is more or less similar to the first Witcher , where you move on from area to area but is free to roam within that area in question until the next Chapter.

Magic
Magic was not as impressive as it would be like in the previous game , where the variety of effects was indeed apparent.
In The Witcher 2 , using a variety of signs in a single battle may prove unneccessary as your blade alone can get you out of most situations , whilst certain signs aren't quite as capable as they were before.

For example , the Aard sign is now only capable of pushing a single enemy back and it can no longer perform a pushback within a radius like before.
Generally speaking , the effectiveness of the signs are greatly lowered and I rarely use anything else other than the Quad sign which is capable of providing the player with invulnerability for a few seconds.

Characters and Conversations
Generally , I do enjoy the changes in some of the designs of the characters though some of the changes may prove too drastic to stomach , like Zoltan Chivay's design. He now have more beard than he have hair for one.

As for the conversations , they feel , generally speaking , far more realistic compared to the mechanic speeches in the previous game. Sure , the voice acting need a bit brushing up for some of the characters , especially Geralt himself , but the way the characters talk is no longer done in a way which makes the entire scenario look incredibly awkward.

Not to mention that there are also timed choices to be made in some of the conversational options that the players have to choose. Generally speaking , the factor of "Decision and Consequence" is still there , so the player have to watch what they say - and fast , owing to the fact that some crucial conversations are timed and the player does not have the luxury to dilly dally as they did before.

Graphics
The Witcher 2 is.... graphically demanding. Perhaps even more so than Crysis 2. For one , my framerate isn't perfect even in the lowest setting of this particular game.

But truth be told , it is quite staggering to see the drastic differences between the first game and the second. The characters look far more realistic compared to their previous counterparts. For one , you can see every facial feature chiseled into form and every single scar was incredibly detailed and every ounce of marking on the character was brought out to the finest level.

Though there is one factor that displeases me , the swordplay motions.
I remember the stylish and unique swordplay that Geralt had displayed in the first game , which makes combat look elegant yet lethal at the same time , but now , the swordwork displayed by Geralt feels crude , generally more realistic but also crude.

The elegance of the swordplay the game had once displayed is now but a remnant in the second installment. Not to mention that Coup d' Graces doesn't look as impressive in this game.

Humor
Unlike The Witcher 1 , which only have a bit of humor here and there... if there is any at all , The Witcher 2 is have generally more jokes and amusing conversations between the various characters.
So , to put it bluntly , listening in to conversations and actually going through what they say isn't quite as boring as it was in the previous Witcher , where the characters were monotonous in their conversations regardless of the voice actor's potential.

Unsafe Scenes...
You get what I mean.
Geralt was a flirt in the previous game and he still is now.
Though the amount of "possible encounters" are lowered , there are actual animations of such scenes now , though of course , you can't see a thing but you can see the motion and what not.
In someways , it'll be worse than God of War XD

Overall
Buy it , or do not buy it?
Regardless of the fact whether your a fan of RPG or Action games , just get your hands on the game.
A cast of likeable characters , an intriuging storyline , decisions and consequences , a variety of quests and missions , various monsters and characters to fight against and alchemy , not to mention some minor ero scenes to boot if your a pervert , it's hard to pass up on this one that's for sure.

If your wondering whether playing the previous game is neccessary to boost the experience of the sequel , my answer is... no , though it is suggested that you do so , The Witcher 2 features another tale of it's own with little intergration of the previous game , though it is possible to port the previous Save Data of the first game to bring over some money and items , as well as some minor plot elements to the second game.