The Witcher

Brief Description

Geralt of Rivia
the White Wolf

In this game, you are Geralt a witcher. Witchers are mutants, their speciality in life is to slay monsters. Geralt begins the game with a bit of a problem, he has lost his memory. Witchers as a group also have a problem. Even though they are dedicated to destroying monsters, some humans are dedicated to killing them in an effort to take their secrets.

The introductory movie is cinema quality. It's amazing to watch. As you would expect of a modern RPG, it's a 3-D experience with intricate detail in the plants, animals and surrounds that you will discover. The music is fine, the voice actors are quite good for the English version.

Game play and hints

Geralt the blur
of motion

Combat

Geralt primarily fights his opponents with swords. He carries two swords; one is steel and the other is silver. There are three styles of sword combat; strong, fast and group. Strong style is used whenever the opponent is armored. Fast style is for agile opponents. Group style is for those times when Geralt faces multiple opponents. One of the things that Geralt can do when leveling up is use the talents to improve his sword techniques. But he has to separately improve techniques for each of the types of swords and each of the styles of combat. Your responsibility is to time attacks correctly so Geralt gets extra moves from combo attacks. If your game is in easy or normal mode, you need to click the opponent when the sword icon changes to flaming to move to the next attack. If you can chain them together, he becomes a moving blur, he is both very fast and quite powerful.

The second ability that improves Geralt's combat capabilities is using alchemy. Geralt will learn early in the game how to create potions. Later he will learn to make oils and bombs.

• The potions are a speciality of the witchers, one of their key mutations allow them to drink things that would kill humans. Potions can make them faster, heal quicker, make them more likely to have a critical strike, etc. Potions add to the toxin level in Geralt's blood (except one which removes all toxin from his blood but also removes all the abilities gained from the potions.) Each potion has a duration time and toxicity.
• Oils are used on the sword blades. They can make the weapon more effective for a time.
• Bombs are explosives which can be used to effect more enemies at a distance.

The final main skill of the witcher is magic. Geralt will eventually learn how to make 5 signs. Each sign has a different effect.

Inventory and equipment

Geralt's inventory

There is a small area separate from the rest of the inventory for quest items. The quest item area isn't limited in space, it scrolls if you get too much stuff. Geralt can carry two swords, one dagger, one heavier non-witcher weapon. His satchel has a limited number of slots. I find that every now and then I have to either have him make several potions or drop a couple of things to make room for either very valuable or very useful items.

Earning money - Spending money

The world is an expensive place. Geralt needs to earn money. The main way for him to earn money is by finding Witcher's work. He can check notice boards and ask people for work killing monsters. It's dangerous but profitable and literally what a witcher was meant to do. Some people ask him to do things that aren't witchers work but he doesn't have to take every job offered.

Other methods of making money are to play Dice Poker and Fist Fights. Dice Poker is a best two of three game. You roll 5 dice, bet, reroll which dice you like. The better hand after the second roll wins the round. Most pubs have an area for fist fighting. Geralt can just walk up to any of the potential opponents and agree to fight.

Visual Effects

Geralt after
several drinks

One of the things I've really noticed about this game is that as Geralt reaches certain conditions, the game visuals change.

• When he loses too much vitality, the world goes grey. If you notice this, drink a potion or run from the battle quickly, Geralt is dying. If the world is grey and slow moving, he is nearly dead.
• When he gets drunk, the world looks very different plus he staggers a bit when walking.
• Drinking potions usually leave toxins in the blood. As the toxin level rises, the first visual effect is that Geralt sees red spots. As the toxicity rises, the effects get worse. Geralt can die from drinking too many potions and getting too much toxin in his blood.

Gripes about The Witcher

Loading times are slow. Don't wander too far away though, you don't want Geralt to die before you get back.

Geralt spends a lot of time going from place to place.

Conclusion for The Witcher

Board for the dice game

Looking for an excellent single player RPG? You should seriously consider The Witcher. The Witcher has an excellent story line, great graphics and a very interesting combat system. The combination of sword use, potion use and magic allows you to develop your combat style.

If you are only interested in MMORP, you should not buy this game. There is no online component at this time, definitely no massive multiplayer options.

Overall rating 5 of 5 stars. I am impressed by the quality of the game and the story behind the game.

Additional Thoughts About The Witcher

I really like Geralt's style. I don't know if it's the white hair or interesting scars, but I think he's a handsome guy. Bonus is that I really like the voice.

The story line behind the game comes from novels written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. I hadn't heard of the books or this world before, but I'm certainly interested to learn more now.

Handy Guide to Interacting with Role Playing Games