There's really two games to discuss in The Witcher.
The first is an incredibly fresh take on what a fantasy RPG can be in 2009. A captivating, mature world filled with grey moral choices between numerous political ideas and groups at odds with each other. This is the game that wows you in the first few chapters. This is adult subject matter -- drugs, sex, sin and virtue -- explored through quests that feel more like chapters in a book rather than errands to be done for rewards.
The Witcher immerses you in its world first and foremost -- this is not a stat-building RPG or a spreadsheet-posing-as-interactive-experience. This is a choose-your-own-adventure where the choices you make have real, substantive consequences. Many RPGs claim to give the player moral choices or branching paths, but most of the time, the game still basically plays out the same regardless of your actions. In The Witcher, your choices matter. Characters live and die by your decisions, alliances are made or discarded, significant story details branch and weave according to how you play the game. I've never seen a RPG pull this off as well as what transpires in The Witcher.
The conflicts and storylines are also mature and intelligent, sharing more in common with standout works of fantasy fiction like R.A. Salvatore's Dark Elf Trilogy rather than typical video game fare. If you like playing RPGs that feel serious and important, The Witcher does an excellent job of presenting an authentic medieval world with faction disputes that feel real. It's a fresh spin on elves, dwarves, monsters and humans trying to co-habitate in a fantasy world rife with racism, disputes over power and back-alley alliances.
It's unfortunate that what ultimately holds The Witcher back is the the "game" part of this experience. In a perfect world, many of us want games that are both rich with character and story, but also incredibly fun in the simple mechanics and gameplay. Combat is relatively simple and while somewhat unique and fun at first -- it's a spin off of Diablo's click-click-click combat model, with excellent animation that makes you feel like a total swordmaster bad-ass -- it quickly becomes repetitive. Combat grows tedious quickly because monster types also are repeated throughout the game with no real strategy involved. Just click and click til they die. Over and over and over. Granted, many of the fights will have a wonderful quest story carrying you through the action ... it's just too bad the combat itself wasn't more interesting or strategic.
Potion-making is a bit more involved than your typical mana/health dynamic ... it's similar to WoW with numerous oils and effects that throw a mild dose of tactics into combat, but it's not at all necessary on default (normal) difficulty. Gear is also a somewhat superficial part of RPGs, but it is one of the fun aspects of character building -- and The Witcher really doesn't offer much in the way of upgrades. You'll be wearing the same basic outfit and using the same basic swords throughout the entire game, so don't go expect to fool around with different combat techniques and weapons. You've got two swords and by god you'll use them for the entire game.
The Witcher does give me hope for future releases from CD Projekt ... this is a far cry from the wonky European releases of the past like the Gothic series. The Witcher is highly playable and an excellent franchise to build on and expand in the future. With a bit more effort on combat systems and monster design, CD Projekt could easily become one of the best RPG developers since Bioware's legendary run with Infinity Engine games.
