Are you saying that the main aspect that defines an RPG is non-linearity. Well, that makes most RPG games ever made very non-RPG.

RPG as a definition is an old debate, but the way I use the term (what I hope for in a rpg-ish rpg) is freedom of choice, freedom of selecting "roles" to play. It's certainly more difficult with pre-existing characters (such as that witcher) and that's why this game wasn't ever at the top of my priorities, but I did expect the games, as they get more rpg-ish, to open more player-selectable options in terms of moral choices, development paths, factions siding, travel sequences, etc...

I loved the first Witcher...after I could finally bring myself around to play it (which was shortly before the release of the second one).

My main grievances were mostly the combat. That "timed-clicking" combat went against everything I had played so far and together with the need to switch swords depending on the opponent...I always stopped shortly after starting the game (like you, my first two or three attempts to play it, all ended within the boundaries of the tutorial).

But once I really put my heart into it, and it finally "clicked"...it was an absolute blast.

So, yes - it is absolutely worth playing.
And since you already own it...what do you have to lose?

Even if the new version will add something, or change some things...that experience of playing the first Witcher (enhanced edition!) will always stay with you.

Just a sense of "damn, just finished it, if I had waited 5 minutes more I'd have played the polished version instead".

From what I've read - it won't be just the same TW1, but more polished. Safest option: wait until the thing's released. ;-)

The first Witcher game is pretty bad overall. First things first, the rhythm game style combat is not great. There are times when hitting the button feels random and very clunky, especially in fist fights.

The story is like a fan-fic, but worse. The first Witcher's story is a losely framed investigation of a plague, with set pieces from the books copy pasted throughout. At times, characters have virtually identical conversations to those in the books, but without the same story framework around them to explain it. Characters that were one-offs? Sure. Resurrected from the dead? Not to spoil anything but several dead characters from the books make appearances in the first game, which takes place after the last book.

The world is nice, and if you have never read the books (or don't intend to) it is not a bad game. But I've never been able to finish it in the entirety due to how hard the game slogs to a stop at about the 3rd or 4th chapter. But much of the political intrigue is there and very simplified. Overall I would not recommend it unless you feel you really need to complete the series. Very little of consequence happens in the first game that really affects the second game. The second game branches more out on its own and has more story elements that are pertinent to the third game, as well as having a story that feels consequential. Some of the important characters from the second game will return for the third.

The first game though, is largely a waste of time. Don't get me wrong; when it was released it was a good enough game. It was a story that most people outside Poland hadn't been exposed to. And the gameplay was eccentric and different. Now it is cumbersome and weird. I happily bought the physical enhanced edition at retail price because the game looked good and I spent hours in the game, enjoying it. But now I have trouble even thinking about installing it.

You've probably years before the remake releases. The first game should be easily completed in a month if you don't fall off in Chapter 4.

Eh. I love the memory of it, but I don't see myself playing it again in the future. When I bought my retail box (pre-EE version which I patched later, then I rebought the EE later) I played it a total of 6 times, and it's one of the rare games I played all difficulty levels and managed to finish it. In context to others this means the combat is pretty easy despite its weird design because I'm terrible at most games of this type.

It had stuttering issues on my old laptop, it would crash occasionally when moving into a new area (either loading screen or loading distance), I had to run it at a rather modest res and detail just to play it. But at the time it was awesome (even the pre-EE with its BAD English translation).

It's a completely different beast than its sequels. It plays more like an interactive novel rather than a genuine RPG - the moral choices and dialogue were pretty limited, and even when it wasn't there were traps you could fall into if you didn't approach certain quests a certain way (like the investigation).

If you're playing it just for the story, which I'd say is the goal for most players these days, then the "reimagining" is likely your best bet. Guaranteed things will be changed in the process, and it'll go through a period of being buggy as hell like all CDPR offerings at launch, but not many people have the patience to put up with TW1's eccentricities these days. Yeah, if you find yourself keep quitting the original just put it aside and play the remake when it arrives (and matures).

If the story is all you want so you aren't missing out on context explored in the other games, watch a full playthough on YT or something.

W2 wasn't really open-worldy. Its branching path Roche vs the annoying Elf guy was a bit more obvious than the Human vs Elf choice in W1, but I'd put them as broadly similar in that regard. W1 had more traditional RPG mechanics (and an odd, but viable rhythm combat system).

I really enjoyed both, but in different ways. As for OP, I'd recommend playing the original Witcher; it's janky but enjoyable. As with all remakes (Mass Effect, I'm looking at you), they'll probably end up censoring it or otherwise screwing it up, so might as well play it as it was originally intended.

I play it no so long ago, and has a cluncky control, but once you get used to it, is an awesome game, the story and the details are amazing.
There are a lot to do in that world, a lot to discover, the game is less hand holding that the latest Witcher, you have to found things by yourself and that make it superior in,that aspect, to the other 2 games.
The story is very good, and you can continue it on the second game.

I played through act 1 and it was good. Stopped only because I couldn't decide whether to stick with Polish or English voice acting. Took so long to decide I dropped the game because of it :P

I saw some contextual stuff or swear words, or even senteces completely left out in the english dub, wrong tenses or different words, all in the tutorial area. And as the english subs are made for the english VA, I didn't really want to stick with english and miss out on this. I can understand polish somewhat, but had to replay some conversations several times, look up some words etc. so it wasn't really a fluent experience. Kept bouncing around and when I finally wanted to make the final decision at the end of act 1, I never got back to it.

I've found some odd mentions about this on ancient forums around the web, most importantly this:
https://rpgwatch.com/forum/threads/extended-english-subtitles-in-witcher-link.3147/

But the link to the alternate subs there no longer works.

Also tried Czech VA and it was better in some and worse in other regards than English. Still not optimal/missing a ton of stuff. And I would not be able to stick with it throughout the whole series as there is no Czech VA in Witcher 3.

EDIT:
Going through this thread got me to fire the game up again. Probably finally found my golden combination. Polish voices with czech subtitles. Already found several occurences of missing/different info mentioned in the subs, but I can usually get that from the polish voice. The czech subtitles (to me) have the advantage of usually having the translation of words I don't understand in polish so I can somewhat keep up in such cases without having to replay every conversation two or three times, which I had to do when I tried with polish voices and subtitles. The advantage of czech and polish being somewhat similar :P

But either way, the game would greatly benefit from fan made subtitles which would contain everything that is actually being said. Kinda surprised I seem to be the only one bothered by this. I've never seen anyone complain about it. But I guess it's pretty easy to see for me due to being Czech.

Yeah you're right. I don't mind if the new version "censors" stuff (doesn't truly as, unlike censorship, it's not retroactive), but, even though this one is already an enhanced version, it's more interesting to play the original version of a game that was kind of A Big Thing upon release. For the same reason why I usually play games with their vanilla annoyances instead of using third party mods. It's the thing the authors made and were happy enough with at that point. Curiosity beats comfort.

I'd say it's certainly worth playing if you're patient with its quirks. It's a fantastic game that truly feels unique among RPGs, but it is also quite quirky and clunky at times. If you are only really interested in the story, then you could wait for the remake but if you're interested in a truly unique game experience, I definitely recommend playing the original!

EDIT: Also, don't worry about it costing $90. Not gonna happen. So far, CDPR seems to still be set at the $60 or less price tag, which is nice considering how corpos like Microtrash just amped it up to $70.

Yes. But not just to be "edgy" and with some range in the shades of dark. Some examples; End of the Mages Conclave, Radovid and Philippa in prison, Foltest's "family" life, what Cynthia is actually doing, the level of contempt and brutality between the Scoia'tael and most humans. Letho as demonstration of what a witcher can be, and why the fear and and mistrust of witchers isn't just superstition.

To answer the original question of this thread, only you (Telika) can decide if the Witcher 1 was worth your time, after the time is spent.

Does one know a collection of Witcher 1 saves to use with Witcher 2 including descriptions, what they unlock?