Before I start this review, I want to everyone to know that I played this game in January 2022 more than a decade after its release & mind you I have done 2 full playthroughs of the its Sequel the Witcher 3. I shall try my best to be unbiased and avoid any kind of fanboyism. Also, will NOT compare it to the latest gen games released in the previous 8 to 10 years.

The Witcher 2 : Assassins of Kings REVIEW

A decade ago back in 2010 & 2011
the AAA games of the RPG category were

2010:
i) Red Dead Redemption
ii) Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
iii) God of War 3
2011:
i) Batman Arkham City
ii) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
iii) Darks Souls
iv) Uncharted 3
v) Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Introduction:

Now let’s come to the actual review it leaves me utterly shocked that The Witcher 2 had to compete with such a list of legendary games of their time back in 2010-2011, each one of the games mentioned above were major hits, minus one or two.

Being a crazy Witcher 3 fan in the back of my mind I kept on comparing it with its sequel obviously which is unfair, I kept on telling myself NO just NO, but the more I played the more I wanted to play it further.

Story:

The story of Witcher world is without any doubt one the best fantasy stories written from its lore to its smallest character. The same is the case of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. It seems as if you are actually living the journey and believe me playing its sequel beforehand numerous times, it makes so much sense. It's mind blowing, almost like huge blanks of the Witcher 3 story are getting filled in your brain, From the origins of The Wild Hunt to the rarity and dying professions of Witchers. Then something which boggles your mind in TW2, is the two extreme sides of Witchers, one being Geralt a chivalrous Witcher who is all for good deeds and as he claims choosing the lesser evil, then we have Letho, Auckes & Serrit ex Witchers from the School of Viper who have become assassins & puppets of the power players of the Continent i.e. Kings & Mages etc.

I would give the story a solid 10 of 10.

Gameplay:

When it comes to gameplay mechanics in the beginning repeatedly I would keep on telling myself again and again, stop comparing it with The Witcher 3 and the newer RPG games which came after it. The gameplay to my surprise was quite good actually, you get used to Geralt kind of playing dance with his sword and whirling. The way Geralt ran / Walked it seemed a tad bit unrealistic, the Witcher signs and how they worked seemed even better than TW3. The monster attacks were almost at par to that of the TW3 I would say way less annoying. I like the random TW2 monsters they're way less aggressive and deadly, especially the Drowners. It's kind of a let-down how Geralt doesn't jump, which RPG games of 2010 & 2011 RPG characters did jump, also I missed not having roach and no fast travelling, which meant a lot time was spent just walking but at the same time it is not a full open world game like the countless games which came after it. A flaw which used to frustrate me was that Geralt would use the wrong sword and you had to switch to your other sword mid fight / combat.

I would give the gameplay 7.5 out of 10

Interface:

The interface of TW2 is probably the worst things about this game, don't even get me started how badly the map sucked. You literally had to zoom in and then it would be of no use would leave the player further confused and the legends / markers on the map made no sense what so ever. When it came to Alchemy, brewing & drinking potions it was not as easy as it should have been. Now let’s talk of the loot and crafting items. There was loot with you which made no sense what so ever as they were quests items which you needlessly held on even though that quest line was over ages ago. Thankfully crafting your gear was quite easy and not that complicated. The journal was quite simple and easy to navigate, to figure out your Quests and other important stuff.

I would give the interface a 4 out of 10

Optimization:

When it comes Optimization it's not just the stability it’s the entire graphical as well the technical aspect which I could understand or think off. My opinion is games and their stability / optimization should only be given a judgment upon on their initial release like a month or two Max, which is pointless after a decade. I have an i9 9900k, RTX 3070Ti & 32GB Ram, I play all my games at native 4K with G - Sync on. The game worked perfectly but in certain situations it felt as if it had a clash going on with my multiple monitor setup, then it has a bug in which after the end of chapter 1 the game gets stuck on the loading screen, it only gets resolved when you play that same quest on the windowed mode, then it never occurs again. Talking about the graphics they're really good for 2011. I am not going to dwell on the fact what I didn't like about the graphics as it's irrelevant my assumptions are totally based on my minds comparison with latest games. I would end by talking about the sound a bit, the Background music was truly artistic and never went out of synchronization with the visuals. A job well done by the creative and sound team.

I would give the Optimization 7 out of 10

Conclusion:

I would recommend this game to every RPG player especially if they looking for both a storyline and gameplay. Mind you, if you play this then you have to play TW3 which is something else entirely. The TW3 players who haven't played TW2 you have to try it out but mind you, tune your mind and please think you live in 2011 otherwise you will compare it with newer games and would fail to enjoy. I am definitely going to go for another TW3 playthrough.

I am going to give the The Witcher 2 : Assassins of Kings a total of 7 / 10. I wish I could give it more but there are certain things which can't be ignored.