The Witcher Preview

The guys at GameZone have whipped up a fresh preview of The Witcher, based on their time with the game at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo.

The combat is timing based, but it is not a button masher by any means. You can swing too fast and not trigger the combos. There are three basic stances in the game and two sword types, which lead to six unique animation sets. Players will make choices that will result not only armor and weapons you can gain, but the NPC that may join you in the journey. As players level, there are points gained that can be applied to trees that cover 15 areas. There is a possible 250 nodes on the trees, but players will only fill something like 170 of the nodes, meaning that customization is important and replay value kicks in by choosing different skill traits.