The Witcher 2: 15 Reasons It's A Hidden Masterpiece You've Ignored
13. True Narrative Diversity
Part of the appeal of not just RPGs but video games in general is the prospect of having agency within a narrative. It is a concept unique to video games, and an advantageous one at that. It gives the player the ability to make decisions that cause the story to branch off in different directions, within the core narrative of course. Developers have started to get serious with incorporating this design into their games, however most of the time the choices the player makes have minuscule consequences that provide differences in the minutiae of the story and nothing more. Theres nothing wrong with this; it is what it is. If you want to experience a game with true narrative diversity, look no further than The Witcher 2. The game is full of choices that affect the narrative in ways great and small. The best example of this is a choice presented to you at the end of the first act. As Geralt gets pulled in two different directions, who you ultimately side with has Geralt traveling to a different location with their own set of characters, quests, and side quests. So basically, in order to experience all the content the game has to offer, you must play through it twice. Not many games offer that kind of replayablity through player choice, but The Witcher 2 does it so effortlessly that you arent even consciously aware of it as it happens. Even more exciting is that the choices you make in this game will transfer over to the upcoming third game. So if you want to play an RPG that really makes you feel like your choices matter, than The Witcher 2 is a must play.
