I much preferred Witcher 1 for:
- the UI
- the camera
- the italian dubbing XD

I'm leaning towards TW1.

The real big issue to me is that in 1, I had a much better handle on combat. I can handle combat in 2, but it's a lot more stressy and frustrating, and likely to make my lingering RSI worse.

I do like the tactical combat options in 2, like explicit blocking, but in practice it just doesn't work well enough. Well, 1-on-1 combat works well, but to fight groups, you need a lot more overview than the game gives you. I suppose it's realistic that you die when fighting a group on your own, but still, I keep getting into group fights. I dodge and run a lot to spread them out a bit, and that works, but it also lengthens the combat and makes it a bit lamer and the same every time, and I end up not really using all the other combat options.

I like the alchemy system in 2 more. Yes, 1 gave you more options, and secondary effects seemed cool, but in the end it's a lot of bookkeeping, and I don't want too much focus on gathering crap to make stuff. To me, the game is all about talking and adventure. Less focus on alchemy is a good thing to me.

Potion use, on the other hand, is a bit too restricted in 2. Yes, maybe drinking potions during combat is a bit too easy, but having to meditate is a bit too restricting. Interestingly, I was able to run away from the Queen Endregas in order to drink some potions, which worked quite nicely IMO.

QTEs suck. Sorry. 1 had a much more consistent system; the same game mechanics work every time. 2's reliance on QTEs breaks this consistency, especially in first fights and climactic fights.

Crafting? Meh. I could do without it. The basic idea is kinda nice, but you basically end up collecting tons of crap that you'll never use.

Graphics: I'm not an eye-candy whore. I played KotOR2 between TW1 and TW2, and honestly, the lesser graphics didn't bother me at all. Both 1 and 2 look gorgeous, more than good enough for what I expect from a game. Still, the lightning in the next room during the prologue interrogation is awesome! More different faces for NPCs is good. So obviously 2 wins this, being the most gorgeous game to ever grace my PC, but not by much, IMO.

Lack of load times in 2 is really cool. Every time I enter a cave and the game just continues, and lighting changes from outside to inside, I'm awed.

Story is the really big one, but I can't really comment on it, since I haven't finished 2 yet. The story of 1 was great, right up there with all the great CRPG legends, like Torment, Fallout, Bloodlines, KotOR2, etc. I expect nothing less of 2. Dialogue, though, seems to give me more freedom in 1 so far.

At the moment I have to give it to 1. Mostly because of the smoother gameplay.

I recently got both from GoG and played the second first, I loved it (despite horrible bosses, QTE's and slightly frustrating combat) and wished it was longer so I could enjoy more of it (will have to play through again).

Anyhow, naturally I started up the Witcher 1 to see what it was like, the problem is I'm having a really hard time getting into it. I can't seem to find the will to play it, unlike #2 which was like a good book, I couldn't put it down and wanted to find out what happened next.

The combat in 2 is much better, I feel more in control and as such it feels more natural and less "gamey". Sex, well, I like the nudity in 2 (:3) but I feel it wasn't handled all that great for the story/romantic scenes, but perhaps that's just me. The environments in 2 are much better in my opinion and the sound is vastly superior. Overall I'd say 2 is much better, but I can't seem to get into 1.

The Witcher 1
+ Longer to finish once
+ Italian dubbing (even if crappy)
+ More locations
+ Shani
+ More sex

The Witcher 2
+ More "replayability"
+ By far better combat system
+ Better dialogs
+ Better animations
+ Better sex :p
+ ... a lot of things
(+ and better grafics, of course)

...IMHO :-)

They are both GREAT (and so underrated) games. But after all I prefer The Witcher 2.

What comparison? Witcher 1 an unforgettable old-school classic masterpiece of a genre now long gone, and its sequel is a techdemo of a standard console-minded arcade game with jerky controls and graphics that leave nothing to the imagination, and where you walk around as a bitch who can't even drink potions or parry.

Kind of like the transition of Dragon Age 1->2, only even worse.

Both games were excellent but I significantly pick TWEE.

TW2 = Next generation graphics a more difficult plot to navigate and a much quicker, that is intense, pace. This could easily be better than TWEE when the story is completed in TW3; I felt I was left hanging at the end with all of the four playthroughs. I disliked the plethora of equiptment, few different creatures, crafting and inventory system in addition to all those arcade additions and subtractions which I understand are commercially necessary for console play. (removing the 6 sword styles and dozens of specific advancements in each of the six so you can create your indivdual style of swordplay - Great innovation for a game)

(POSSIBLE SPOILER)

TWEE - Far more mature plot! Unique combat system for an enhanced swordsman. I played it and found that there are far more decisions than TW2 even with only 3 general endings. Truly gut wrenching decisions about Shani vs Triss and having to murder your closest "friend," and adopted son near the end - it is very difficult to avoid but I did it in my last playthrough. NOTE: Why did the Redanian's command the Flaming Rose even when they had their main temple under Foltest in Vizima at the end of TWEE? I chose to move to Murky Waters and apprentice with "the Hermit" with my "wife" at the end but I ended up on a battlefield with my other main romantic interst. Mmmmm.

For those who have not played this game at the bargain prices available; they are missing a very sophisticated storyline about: Politics, Economics, Heavy Spiritualism/Religion/Ethics, Class Struggle, Marriage, Having Children (the incredible regret of Geralt and Triss in being infertile - to adopt a child) and an overall feeling of melancholy to eek out an existence during this fantasy 13th Century Fiction. I may just start my seventh playthrough.

I personally find the combat in TWEE to be much more simplistic and I often zoned out while fighting, to say nothing of the level of immersion it produced compared to the second game. I think that's the same for many of the other elements also, the second game just felt much more alive. I can say nothing of the storyline itself though, having only played a small portion of it.

I'm definitely interested in the third, I just hope the transition to consoles won't end with simplified gameplay or a story censored for a broader audience - though it could use some more organic feel in my opinion: I don't want to be thinking about numbers, I want to be immersed in the world which is for me the main improvement in the second game over the first.

I prefer the first one as an RPG, the 2nd as an action game with RPG elements. Both are among my top 5 games, but I think I prefer the first; it really captured the feeling of being a monster hunter, which the 2nd one didn't do for me.

the second suits me better.
i need a chalenging combat system. i still consider the 2. not difficult at all but it needs attention where i sometimes looked away while fighting in the 1. game. i can't stand such irrelevance while i should be stressed.
i also found myself way more caring for the decissions. if these frenetic priest and the whole village are teared to peaces or that witch... i don't give a fuck. i also don't see geralt in a position to choose between the scoia'tael and the order. again despite all drawing what crimes they did and what good they could do i don't give a fuck whereas i had to think twice if i'd wanted to abandon roche and follow iorveth or if i rescue triss(well, that was no question to me but i still didn't like the taste of my decission ;)).

all in all i found the second witcher way more intriguing.

Well, both games have strong aspects, but i honestly found witcher 2 lacking, terribly, on the long run. It getting a new engine, and game systems, is praiseworthy. But lacking content, things and options that were available in the previous title, is downright disappointing. I understand that most new changes that "restrict" the player were made for "balance", but oh god, how much i hate balance...

1) Way too little enemy types. Previous title boasted a huge bestiary, with some monsters being a variety, or branching species from others. Some people might find that repetitive, unoriginal or boring, but quantity does have its usefulness on the long run. You understand its necessity only when you miss it.

2) There is no way to understand if a book you see at a merchant' s or in your inventory, has already been read. A displayed message like "You have already read this book" should not be that hard to come by, and i am still wondering, why did they have to omit something so simple, yet useful and bright. How the hell are we supposed to distinguish read from unread, without wasting our entire purse on buying and rebuying the same stuff over and over again?

3) Dampened and watered down alchemy system. Yes, i perfectly understand this was a renovation, and with balance in mind and heart, but honestly, compared to the witcher 1, the new alchemy system is a real pain in the... back. Why did they have to ruin it? In 1, alchemy was really clever, deep and sophisticated. Albedo, nigredo and rubedo produced some really interesting combinations and effects. Albedo allowed you to consume more potions, before toxicity kicked in, which is also absent; now it serves only as a mere indicator of the limit of potions you are allowed to consume, no funny effects whatsoever. What was so repelling, of being able to drink 4-5 potions and then proceed to cut down anything that moved? Also, more damage or vitality regeneration wasn' t bad at all, was it? Especially in combination with other potion effects. Furthermore, the fact you are now NOT allowed to drink a potion during combat, honestly sucks. Even hardcore and turn based RPGs allow you at least 1 "gulp" during battle. Yes, balance, difficulty, realism, all that jazz i do understand, but realism and games, especially fantasy, rarely mix well; plus its actually unrealistic to be unable to "gulp down" a small vial, however tough the situation. And potion side-effects, with forced and predetermined combinations to eliminate their mutual drawbacks, really? Why did they have to nerf and balance this game so much, is it an mmo or something? The formulas, too. Yes, they prevent you from cheating (since in 1 you could get a list and craft high end alchemy products from really early), but they terribly restrict you, and do not allow you to make up for recipes you were unlucky enough to miss.

4) Sex cards and geralt' s little geralt. Damn, are we fighting that hard, putting our lives on the line, just for nothing? What is the idea behind this indirect censorship? Just a topless la valette, triss in baths and elf woman in gratitude? While it is actually to your best interests to prefer other choices over sleeping with them? Sex cards were great, especially artistically. I still revisit the calendar of witcher 1, although it has expired, and wish i had one of this for real. Why so damn few encounters, and complete absence of the artistic and aesthetic side of this aspect (dandelion' s muse wakes up inside me)...? Plus, any sensible player would prefer magic resistance over triss, and entire Flotsam saved for Temeria, over that elven woman. Thank you for genuinely destroying another great, and mature, aspect of this game.

5) Group style. Where is it? Where is its invaluable side effect (mass knockdown)? Oh, i forgot, balance. Renovation. Now what? How can i make my sword hack through 20 enemies at once, like the good old days in raven's crypt? Is there a way or not?

To conclude, and to avoid misunderstandings, I found witcher 2 to be a really good game. Great graphics, great soundtrack and music, great feel, great story on par or even better than the original, but poor, poor mechanics, or poorly altered and poorly implemented old and new ones respectively. I never understood why they had to cut-down content and mechanisms, simply to put in inferior ones, or simply lacking compared to previous. I wish it had a mod for witcher 1 talents-character development, combat and alchemy, being implemented in 2.

I prefer The Witcher 2, because of the evolution of technology :)

Excellent analysis. I couldn't have expressed my own opinion any better.
I especially enjoyed the part about "but oh god, how much i hate balance...

This was added in the latest patch.

TW1 was magical. Man, what an old school experience! Running across the fields with the lovely music in the background, the populated world stirring in real time, and so many useless things to collect along the way. It was a game that overstretched itself in terms of its goals, but it was exactly what I wanted. A dark game with a vision and gameplay that really tested the wealth of RPG skills at your command. Not to mention that the pacing was really good and the characterizations are the true standouts of the game.

However, I have to give it to TW2. This game is ambitious and pays off in spades upon spades. They ditched everything that wasn't concrete about the original game and solidified what truly made the experience. And the enhancements pulled me into the world better than any RPG I've ever played. I love Iorveth, Roche, Henselt, Zoltan, Saskia, and even that bastard Letho. I loved that near every quest had options and consequence that wasn't always as simple as it seemed. Heck, much of the game was like that. So many surprises that I really haven't seen executed as well in RPGs. Many people will attest to this, but it's like being dropped into A Song of Ice and Fire. Again, it was the game that I wanted most. It's not for everybody but I can definitively say that it is a unique game that was well worth my time.

These games have ingrained in me a sense of something greater in what RPGs are and can be. I think this is in no small part to the dev team being in Poland. The cultural lense and subsequent translation give the game a distinct charm that I do not find in even the most classic RPGs. They're shooting towards an audience that I perhaps shouldn't be a part of, but I am and love it. Don't fight, my friends, over which is better. We're all here to enjoy these lovely games.