The Witcher is one of the best games for fans of role-playing and action. It mixes hack-and-slash combat with the deep stories of open-world Western RPGs. Even today, it holds up well. It also led to a popular Netflix series starring Henry Cavill as Geralt and Freya Allan as Ciri. At first, I didn’t expect Cavill to do well, but he truly impressed. Freya Allan’s performance as Ciri stood out even more.
I did something many fans might call “wrong.” I played The Witcher 1, skipped Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, and jumped straight to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The reason? While I enjoyed the first game, it had too many bugs. One major glitch in Act 2 made it impossible to continue the story if you did certain quests too early. Sadly, I had already overwritten my save file, so I couldn’t go back. That pushed me to stop playing.
In Act 2, a quest involving Raymond could lock you out of the game if you made certain choices earlier. The worst part? Most players wouldn’t know until much later, and by then, it was too late to fix unless you had an old save. CD Projekt Red still did an amazing job, but that bug was a big problem.
The game world isn’t fully open like Skyrim or Elden Ring. Instead, it’s made of large zones you can explore—like Mass Effect or Dragon Age. Combat was tough. I often had to run away to heal or meditate. Geralt used two swords: a silver one for monsters and a steel one for humans. There were also magic-like powers called Signs. These abilities could be leveled up to deal more damage.
One of my favorite features was the dice game. It was a simple way to bet and earn gold. It wasn’t deep, but it was fun and unique. Many games have mini-games, like Blitzball in Final Fantasy X, but dice poker in The Witcher really stood out. Later in the series, Gwent became the main card game, but the dice game had its own charm.
I plan to go back and play the whole Witcher series one day. It still offers a great world, deep stories, and cool gameplay. For now, I’m excited to see the next season of the Netflix series.
