by Siegfried. Thu Oct 11, 2012 2:35 pm
For the uninitiated, The Witcher was originally a series of books, starring Geralt of Rivia. He's one of the last witchers; an ancient order of warriors bred specifically for hunting monsters, with a mandate against encroaching upon human affairs. There just aren't that many witchers left in the world, especially after their stronghold, Kaer Morhen, was destroyed. Furthermore, they're not true sorcerors -- they only wield a facsimile of magic, being instead expert swordsmen who enhance their abilities with toxic potions that would kill a normal human being.
The games pick up after the books, and you play as the same Geralt of Rivia. Since the remaining amount of witchers is a known quantity (give or take a few) and most of said witchers are identified, there's not much room to create your own character. Unless you don't want to be a witcher in a game entitled "The Witcher".
Like I said, it isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. But it does what it does for good reasons, and I can tell you that it's very faithful to the literary source material. If you go into The Witcher expecting an open WRPG, then you're barking up the wrong tree. But rest assured that your choices do absolutely have significant consequences, often unlike those of other games. One of the great things is that you don't always know when your choice will have said consequences, and even if you do, you may not know when the repercussions will come to pass.
The games are very character focused, which I think is good. There's quite a lack of quality character-focused games that tell a good yarn, and many of the examples people often recite benefit from nostalgia goggles. The unfortunate truth is that, as charming as SNES-era JRPGs are, the cracks are well and truly showing right now, and not many games have stepped up to take their old position. The Witcher games are two examples, and they don't have much competition.
