The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Enhanced Edition (Xbox 360)

I have only played this game for a few hours and I am definitely in love. It's interesting, engaging (who doesn't love a bit of nudity in the first five minutes - DRAAAMA), the graphics and surroundings are superb for it's time, and so far it seems to be devoid of any cliché'd RPG elements. The battle system is a little bit difficult to master at first (after I took part in the tutorial, it was recommended that I play on easy difficulty) but with time I am sure it will be mastered and used to great efficiency. Also, if you are an enjoy and hoarder of loot, then this is the game for you. There are plants, coins and junk to collect EVERYWHERE and from the get go there is plenty of exploring to do (in and out of people's houses which I love cos I am nosy) without it being too intimidating and making you feel like you want to just run through an area. That being said, some people who REALLY REALLY love exploring open expanses might be disappointed. After all the gushing I guess I should point out some flaws. There has only been several tiny things that irritate me. 1: when you want to stop moving a couple more steps are taken meaning that if you want to stop to collect something chances are you'll have to gently backtrack a few paces. It will just take some getting used to is all though. 2: Just in case there is any confusion/rage, the tutorial glitched on me a couple of times and I could not move after I had finished reading a piece of advice. It was annoying to have to go out and start over but believe me the tutorial is worth it for first timers. Other than that, I feel like the menu system is just a bit clunky in comparison with other games. It just needs a small bit of a tidying up. Overall, despite the couple of complaints above, I think this is a well polished and well made game that has definitely gotten me very excited for the Witcher 3 and has made me wish I had played it sooner. If I was to compare this other games, I would say that it has better graphics and more appealing to the eye than Skyrim, like a grown up Fable, and the writing and dialogue is similar to the Dragon Age franchise. So if you like those game, this one is for you!

Just so there's no misunderstanding here, the Witcher 2 is an amazing game, and probably the best PC to console port ever. The fact that its flaws will take up a bigger chunk of this review is but a testament to its overall quality, as they are all the more galling when juxtaposed to the level of excellence it displays in so many areas. Thus, make no mistake: This is one game you absolutely must buy if you own an Xbox and are into RPGs. The Witcher 2 makes no excuses. It's as authentic as a fantasy world can believably be, gritty without being grimdark, mature without being exploitative or gratutious, and respects its audience's intelligence. In terms of narrative drive and character development, it manages to supplant its source material (the very good Geralt novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski) and boasts a very strong cast of loveable rogues, despicable scoundrels, misguided idealists and uncompromising pragmatists, always teetering on the grey line between light and dark. It's raw, in your face and doesn't pander to anyone but those who love a well-crafted RPG. The production values are impressive, both in the graphical and aural departments alike: This is one of the best looking games in console history so far, the soundtrack is sure to find its way into your music device, and the voice acting is top-notch (with the occasional hiccup). Gameplay is quite challenging, but far from unforgiving, and by the end of the game you'll have a veritable arsenal of tools to dispatch foes with in cinematic and satisfying ways. Now for the grievances which deprived it of that fifth star: - As an old-school RPGer, I love me some inventory management, but the loot system is just aggravating. You cannot choose what you want to pick up, which loads you up with plenty of junk, and there's an annoying blinking screen whenever you sell something and when you navigate through the menu tabs. - This is one of the stingiest games I've ever played, with measly monetary rewards for most quests, precious little gold to be looted from enemies (even those you'd expect to be carrying some money) and extremely underpriced loot. Not being a hoarder, I was constantly strapped for cash, and whenever I did manage to accumulate some wealth, all it took was a couple of purchases I'd been holding off to reduce me to two digits again. Said purchases were often no longer worth it by the time I was actually able to buy them as well. Such a system seems to encourage grinding, which is something I believe has no place in a single-player RPG. - In that vein, there's too much crap spread about. The Witcher 2 is not alone in that regard, but who goes inside a peasant's hut to steal two gold pieces, a chunk of red meteorite ore, an ell of cloth and a rope ladder, while said peasant has nothing to say to you? And who the heck leaves gold pieces inside a barrel in the middle of a military camp? It's about time this ridiculous stuff got removed from games altogether, as it only encourages scrounging instead of exploring and it's quite frankly just silly. - In a challenging game like this one, a long death animation and a slowly loading death screen is very, *very* annoying. I was often angrier at the screen than at the enemy that had just made me bite the dust. - Your character can be unresponsive at times, and some of the combat contrivances can be aggravating, such as having to unsheathe a sword before being able to use one of your magic signs. Often, when loading an automatic save before a combat, some enemies would be able to get a shot in before I could make my character react. - Call me picky or elitist, but in a game with AAA production values that has invested so much in good localization, the number of times the contraction 'it's' is confused with the possessive pronoun 'its' was simply unforgivable. *It's* a pet peeve of mine and *its* prevalence in this game was jarring. - The gameworld's vernacular is funny, very authentic and adequate to the setting for the most part, so hearing NPCs calling your character 'emo' is baffling to say the least. The main antagonist's voice acting and accent also leaved a lot to be desired, as he seemed quite out of place, especially before the final confrontation. - Lots of immersion-breaking texture pop-ins during dialogue and when loading saves, even with the game installed to the hard drive. - There's a lot of emphasis placed on preparing before fights, but such preparations aren't really encouraged. Most of the times you'll have no idea what you'll be dealing with, so you'll just chug generic potions before venturing forth, and the enemies' long field of vision isn't really conducive to trap-setting (setting traps during combat is silly and impractical). - The last chapter is short and very poorly structured. If one follows the story's flow, it's *extremely* short. If one suspends one's disbelief and makes time for, say, a game of dice and some walking around, it might last you more than an evening's gaming session. If one suspends it even further and indulges in some sidequests as if nothing special were happening, it's a little longer, but still rather short. A game should never require you to dispense with some questing so as not to break the narrative's flow. Very bad form from the designers' part. - This final criticism is more subjective, but I'd have preferred it if the developers had made the game longer by including the 'other' path one can take in the story, instead of closing it off. Sure, it increases replay value by providing you with a completely different second chapter, but I for one don't usually play games twice when they're story-based. The 'other' path could very well have been an extra chapter and more gaming fun instead of requiring you to do it all over again just to explore another side of the story, or loading up an older save to make different choices. I'm all for different decisions, different outcomes, and those permutations remain no matter which path you choose, as the game is all about choices and consequences, but I still felt my gaming experience was shortened because of that design option. That being said, it bears repeating: This is an outstanding game. You owe it to yourself to play it if you like RPGs, you owe it to the fantastic folks at CD Projekt for going above and beyond the call of duty to provide their customers with bang for their buck, and you owe it to the genre to show the developers they're on the right track by buying The Witcher 2. So what are you waiting for if you haven't done so already?

I am a big rpg fan, I have played virtually all of them from your final fantasys to dragon age, dark souls , skyrim etc. This game is a thinking man's rpg, you have to prepare your menu before the battle, like dark souls have to use strategy in battle, enemies are really hard on higher difficulty levels , enviorments have to be explored to find the way out ,it does not guide you like a baby like skyrim does sometimes. Graphics were hyped to no end, I admit that graphics are good but not ground breaking , story is very good and mature , I have played many rpgs but no one has grapped me from story point of view like this one , only Final Fantasy x had really good story in my opinion. So, dont buy it and keep sitting on the fence if you like really easy button mashers like kingdom of amalur but if you are fond of games that require thinking and have got combat that requires skill and strategy with good story then go for this game and also story changes a lot depending upon what choices you make which means you have to play it atleast twice to see most of it , replay value is great, great time for rpg fans with games like skyrim, dark souls , witcher 2 and dragon dogma coming out in may, I hope dragon dogma is as challenging as witcher 2 and not as easy as kingdom of amalur.

The 5 stars are for the game itself, but make sure you read the reviews so you don't buy the European version by mistake like I did PEGI 18 is European version. Easy to miss that bit. So I'm off to gamestop's lol

Geralt de Rivia nunca defrauda. Una historia compleja y bien narrada, siendo posible disfrutarla por distintos caminos, siempre a tu elección, haciendo que puedas disfrutar del juego varias veces y nunca sea igual. Uno de los mejores RPGs de los últimos años. Además en esta edición incluyen un mapa muy bien diseñado y la BSO, épica e inspiradora. Compra obligada para los amantes del género.

Senza alcun dubbio uno dei titoli più belli a cui abbia mai giocato. Trama azzeccata, ambientazioni a dir poco stupende (anche in versione xbox rendono davvero tanto), gameplay divertententissimo e longevo grazie alle missioni secondarie e alla possibilità di esplorare il mondo di gioco a proprio piacimento. Il gioco, in versione inglese, presenta comunque i sottotitoli e menù di gioco in italiano. L'audio resta inglese ma, a mio modo di vedere, è solo una nota positiva. Ovviamente amazon ci ha messo il suo: spedito ed arrivato senza ritardi e senza alcun problema.

Tout d'abord pour ceux que ça intéresse, malgré le boîtier anglais le jeu est en français si on le souhaite. Du coyp à ce prix ça vaut le coup! Bon jeu!

Hierzu sind nicht sehr viele Worte zu verlieren. Absolut rundes und durchdachtes RPG als XBox360 Version. Ich kenne das Spiel schon vom PC her und ich hatte sehr viel Spaß damit. Sehr gute Story und innovative Charakterentwicklung. Ein Spiel für Erwachsene würde ich mal sagen. TOP!