The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Preview

Ripten offers a last minute pre-review of the Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, a meaty 3-page read interspersed with (NSFW) gameplay videos. The author concludes that “[if] what I’ve played so far is any indication of what’s left to come, this game has the potential to be one of the greatest RPGs I’ve ever played. and I’ve played .m all”.

The HUD and inventory/menu systems of The Witcher 2 have all been streamlined. This is certainly for the better since the systems present in the first game were archaic to say the least. The menus themselves are gorgeous and the tooltips easy to read. Not to mention that Geralt’s quest Journal reads as if it were read by his dear friend Dandelion, the most famous (and spoony) bard in the land. I’m not going to show you the journal obviously, (no spoilers remember?) but as you complete each quest it will update in a way that is almost entirely new to RPGs and definitely entirely refreshing. I mean, when was the last time your quest journal read like a poem written by a sleazy bard?

Not only that, but the amount of weapon and gear options are vast in comparison to the original game. Crafting also plays a big part in the game and many of the better items Geralt can equip (which fully render upon his character) must be crafted from rare items and brought to only the finest armor and weaponsmiths for crafting. It’s a system that ensures you’ll almost certainly be picking up every piece of loot from every wretched corpse of the men and beasts you’ll slay along the way.

Speaking of quests, you’ll never be starved for them. You know you’re playing a proper RPG when every time you turn in one quest, two more pop up. You’ll have at least five active quests at all times, whether it be a main story quest that can branch in several directions, a supplementary story quest that will help to shed light on current events, or your run of the mill mercenary contract the likes of which can be found on the local notice board.