The Witcher

The Witcher (Polish: Wiedźmin [ˈvʲjɛ̇ʥ̑mʲĩn]) is an action role-playing hack and slash video game developed by CD Projekt RED and published by Atari, Inc.

The game is based on the book series of the same name by Polish authorAndrzej Sapkowski. The Witcher takes place in a medieval fantasy world and follows the story of Geralt, one of a few remaining "witchers" – traveling monster hunters for hire, gifted with unnatural powers. The game's system of "moral choices" as part of the storyline was noted for its time-delayed consequences and lack of black-and-white morality.

The game utilises BioWare's proprietary Aurora Engine. A console version using an entirely new engine and combat system, titled The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, was to be released in Autumn 2009 but was suspended due to payment problems with the console developers, Widescreen Games.

On September 18, 2009, CD Projekt RED officially confirmed that they began working on a sequel, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which was released on May 17, 2011 for the PC and on 17 April 2012, for Xbox 360. The third game of the series has been announced and titled The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and is set to be released May 19, 2015.

Gameplay

There are three camera styles available in The Witcher: two top-down perspectives, where the mouse is used to control everything, and an over-the-shoulder view, which brings the player closer to the in-game combat, but limits visibility. In all three views the controls can be changed to be primarily mouse focused or a combined keyboard and mouse approach.

The combat system in The Witcher represents a different gaming experience from most RPGs. Players can choose one of three fighting styles to use in different situations and against different foes. The fast style allows for faster, less-damaging attacks with a greater chance of hitting faster enemies; the strong style deals more damage in exchange for a slow attack speed, and a lower chance to hit faster enemies; and the group style features sweeping attacks best used if Geralt is surrounded. The player can switch between the styles at any point. Both of Geralt's main swords also have distinctively different combat styles from other weaponry, and serve specific purposes. The steel blade is used to fight humans and other flesh-and-blood beings, while the silver sword is more effective against supernatural monsters and beasts (against some of which steel may have no effect whatsoever). With precise timing, the player can link Geralt's attacks into combos to more effectively damage enemies.

Alchemy is a major part of gameplay. The player can create potions that increase health or endurance regeneration, allow Geralt to see in the dark, or provide other beneficial effects. The recipes for these potions can be learned through scrolls, or by experimentation. Once the player creates an unknown potion he can choose to drink it, but if the potion is a failure it will poison or have other harmful effects on Geralt. Each time Geralt drinks potions they increase the toxicity level of his body. This can be reduced by drinking a special potion or by meditating at an inn or fireplace. In addition to potions, the player can create oils used to augment the damage done by weapons. They can also create bombs for use as weapons in combat. Neither can be created until talent points have been allocated into the corresponding skills.

A time delayed decision-consequence system means that the repercussions of players' decisions will make themselves apparent in plot devices in later acts of the game. This prompts the players to put more critical thinking into making each decision, and circumvents a save-reload approach to decision making. It also allows the game to have a unique approach to replay value, as the consequences resulting from the player's decisions can lead to great difference in the events that take place later, and ultimately a very different gameplay experience than in prior play-throughs.

The nature of the options faced when playing the game rarely falls into the typical black-and-white morality present in most computer RPGs, and the players often find themselves choosing from the lesser of two evils rather than making a clear choice between good and evil, a situation more reflective of real life morality.

plot

The game tells the story of Geralt of Rivia, who is a witcher – a genetically enhanced and trained human with special powers. The Witcher contains three different paths, which affect the game’s storyline. These paths are: alliance with the Scoia'tael (also called the Squirrels), a guerrilla freedom-fighting group of Elves and other non-humans; alliance with the Order of the Flaming Rose, whose knights protect the country of Temeria; or alliance with neither group to maintain 'Witcher neutrality.'

At the game’s opening cutscene, Geralt is tasked with curing the king’s daughter of a curse that transforms her into a feral monster. This device introduces the player to the nature of witcher-work.

Prologue – Kaer Morhen

A group of witchers finds Geralt unconscious in a field and take him to the witcher stronghold of Kaer Morhen. Geralt remembers almost nothing of his life before that point. The castle is attacked by a gang of bandits named the Salamandra. The witchers and sorceress Triss Merigold battle the invaders, but the mage Azar Javed and the assassin Professor escape with the mutagenic potions that genetically alter the witchers. The witchers head off in different directions to find information on the Salamandra.

Chapter I – Outskirts of Vizima

Geralt heads south to Vizima, capital of Temeria and where King Foltest reigns. On the outskirts, he meets a magically gifted child called Alvin and an old friend, Shani, whom he does not remember. He finds out that Vizima is in quarantine, and learns about a conflict between the Order of the Flaming Rose and the Squirrels. After a number of quests and choices, Geralt gets a pass to enter Vizima but is arrested.
Chapter II – the Temple Quarter

Geralt volunteers to kill a Cockatrice in the sewers in exchange for his freedom from jail. In the sewers he meets a knight of the Order named Siegfried, who not only helps him kill the monster but also directs him to a private investigator who can help Geralt defeat the Salamandra. Geralt spends the rest of Chapter II chasing the Salamandra and working on quests. In the final fight, Geralt is knocked unconscious as Javed and the Professor flee again.

Chapter III – the Trade Quarter

Geralt awakes in Triss Merigold’s personal chamber in the rich quarter of Vizima. The rest of the chapter is spent uncovering the Salamandra’s bases in Vizima, and finding out more about Alvin's powers and visions. He also begins uncovering another conspiracy concerning forgeries of the royal seal. During a party of high-standing officials, Geralt meets Princess Adda, and then discovers she is connected to the Salamandra.

Geralt finally attacks the Salamandra’s base in Vizima with the help of either Siegfried and his Order or the Scoia'tael. After the battle, he finds himself surrounded by royal guards and Princess Adda, who declares that she must kill him to conceal her treachery. However, Triss teleports him out of the situation and to a village on the other side of Vyzima Lake.

Chapter IV – Lakeside

Geralt and his friend Dandelion find some unsteady peace while taking care of Alvin, helping with problems surrounding an ill-fated wedding, and negotiating between the village and the inhabitants of an aquatic city. Eventually, however, the conflict between the Order and the Squirrels threatens the village. The player can be neutral (leaving the inhabitants to their fate), or finally take the side of either the knights or the non-humans. The scared Alvin mysteriously disappears in a flash. Geralt and Dandelion decide to sail back to Vizima.

Chapter V – Old Vizima

King Foltest has finally returned and retaken control of his castle, but at the same time civil war has broken out. The Squirrels have caused an uprising, and the Order of the Flaming Rose responds by killing non-humans with little discern. Depending on which side Geralt took in the previous battle, he can either be neutral and help the wounded get to hospitals with Shani, or help the knights or the elves in the battle. He also cures Adda once more from a relapse of the striga curse (or slays her), after which the grateful king discloses clues about Azar Javed's location. Storming a hidden base with his allies, Geralt finally kills the evil mage, but also learns that the Grand Master of the Order betrayed the king, since he is the real mind behind the Salamandra's mutation program.

Epilogue

With most Knights of the Order and their mutants now entering open rebellion, the king again turns to Geralt with a contract to kill the Grand Master, while also asking about what to do with the various factions. Depending on which side Geralt took in the first battle, he can convince the king that the Order, under Siegfried's rule, can still be loyal, convince him that the Squirrels are right, or convince him that they are both enemies. Consequently, he either takes Siegfried (Order), Yaevinn (Squirrels), or Triss Merigold (neutral) with him on the hunt for the Grand Master, encountering either Yaevinn, Siegfried, or both as enemies on his way through the war-torn city. Geralt enters the Order's citadel alone after leaving his wounded ally behind (or using a ruse to keep Triss out of danger). Inside, the Grand Master tries to persuade him of his "greater plan" to save humanity from prophecies of world-consuming ice. The sceptical Geralt is cast into an icy wasteland illusion, and must hunt and kill the Grand Master before escaping back to the real world.

In the ending cut scene, a man with a witcher’s vertical pupils attempts an assassination on King Foltest, but is thwarted by Geralt, thereby setting the stage for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.