5. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (CD Projekt RED)
What do you get when you combine the explicit magic and monsters of Tolkien's
The Lord of the Rings with the political intrigue and familial warfare of George R.R. Martin's
A Song of Ice and Fire? You'd get
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Playing as the witcher Geralt of Rivia, youll be thrust into an increasingly complicated plot of long-standing racism, rebellion, deceptive sorceresses, power hungry monarchs, and temporary alliances, all in the effort to prove your innocence in the slaying of a king. If there ever was a game that felt like playing a novel, it would be
The Witcher 2. This is a game that doesn't hand hold or talk down, doesn't give you an easily deciphered tutorial mode at the beginning, or have the characters spout off obvious exposition as a means to orientating new players. Instead, it throws the player in head first and expects you to keep up. The lore and mythology, just as interesting as the best of the genre, is referred to casually and in passing, as characters talk to each other like real people. And the characters do feel like real people, all given relatable and believable motivations. Like many games these days, choice and morality play an intricate part in the narrative. Unlike the competition, however, its system is subtle and seemless, offering no morality measurement whatsoever. Instead of gaming the system, players are instead forced to act within the moment, and suffer the consequences. And unlike its competition,
The Witcher 2 doesn't condone or condemn any one path, instead allowing the player to make up their own mind. There are no strict good guys and bad guys, making which ever path you take all the more difficult to choose. More than any other game,
The Witcher 2 truly allows the player to explore their own morality. It is the narrative, however, that truly makes this a work of art. Choices actually matter and can lead to wildly different playthroughs. The game is full of dark and complex themes dealing with power, sexuality, the nature of war, and the lengths one will go to save the one they love.
The Witcher 2 is a mature title for mature people; a work of art that treats it players like adults deserving of their attention and respect. And that, my friends, should be respected.