A massive step up from the first game in every way, this game picks up immediately after the last game's ending and doesn't bother to explain shit to you, so you'll be pretty confused if you try and start here. The improvements are immediately apparent though.
The combat here is a massive step up from the last game even if it's still pretty simple. There's actually a proper tutorial this time that teaches you how the main mechanics work and the graphics still look really good with you visiting a far larger amount of locations compared to the last game. But even the things I liked about the last game have been improved.
The story in this game is incredibly good, with it having two different paths that split during the end of Act 1 that completely change how the rest of the game plays out. Your choices actually feel like they matter and Letho, the new villain who serves as Geralt's rival, is a genuinely great character whose motivation gives him a lot of depth once you find out why he's doing what he's doing.
My only problem is that the game is pretty short since it expects you to play it twice to see all the important stuff, and it ends on a cliffhanger without resolving most of the important plot threads. I still haven't beaten the Witcher 3 since it's so Goddamn long but I know for a fact that one of the routse from this game is completely invalidated and Iorveth is just fucking gone (I don't even think anyone mentions him in 3), so that's incredibly disappointing right out the gate. I might go back and try to beat that one eventually, but on its own Witcher 2 is an amazing RPG that is a great example of how to make a traditional western fantasy RPG like this right.
The combat here is a massive step up from the last game even if it's still pretty simple. There's actually a proper tutorial this time that teaches you how the main mechanics work and the graphics still look really good with you visiting a far larger amount of locations compared to the last game. But even the things I liked about the last game have been improved.
The story in this game is incredibly good, with it having two different paths that split during the end of Act 1 that completely change how the rest of the game plays out. Your choices actually feel like they matter and Letho, the new villain who serves as Geralt's rival, is a genuinely great character whose motivation gives him a lot of depth once you find out why he's doing what he's doing.
My only problem is that the game is pretty short since it expects you to play it twice to see all the important stuff, and it ends on a cliffhanger without resolving most of the important plot threads. I still haven't beaten the Witcher 3 since it's so Goddamn long but I know for a fact that one of the routse from this game is completely invalidated and Iorveth is just fucking gone (I don't even think anyone mentions him in 3), so that's incredibly disappointing right out the gate. I might go back and try to beat that one eventually, but on its own Witcher 2 is an amazing RPG that is a great example of how to make a traditional western fantasy RPG like this right.