I played Witcher 2 before Witcher 1. I didn't even start Witcher 1 until the sale this weekend at GOG. I expected to think it was mediocre -- I have no idea why, I just did. Boy, was I surprised! I like the original more than the second. The user interface is friggin' incredible! And the mouse-only control setup -- which I expected to hate -- is great. I'm only 10 hours in, but I already like the story and the characters more than I do in the second (esp. the characters). The music is also just ... unexpectedly awesome.

Is the UI something that could be modded into The Witcher 2? I'm guessing it'd be way too big a task for even a small team of modders to handle, but can you imagine playing the second game with the user interface of the first? This game wasn't underrated (critics loved it), but it was overlooked. It shoulda sold like an Elder Scrolls title!

Am I the only one who thought the UI was probably the best ever put into a PC game? In one fell swoop, I understood why PC gamers prefer PC gaming over "dumbed down" console gaming. With a UI like this, how could they not? As much as I love Witcher 2, it's a little sad the UI was geared more toward the console gamer. And this is coming from someone who is, primarily, a console gamer (I'm playing Witcher 2 on 360 right now).

Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to this game. Does any other game out there have a UI as simultaneously complex and easy-to-use as the original Witcher? How about the mouse-only control (outside of adventure games, which pretty much thrived on the "mouse-only" thing)? Regardless ... color me amazed.

And no, I don't know what color "amazed" actually is.

I really liked the music in The Witcher, and I was a bit disappointed that they changed the music style for the second game. But I still love both games. Which control scheme were you using? The "over the shoulder" perspective or the "top-down" perspective? I exclusively used the over-the-shoulder view so my experience of the UI may not be quite the same as yours. I think the over-the-shoulder view requires the keyboard in addition to the mouse, so the mouse-only control scheme may only apply when using the top-down mode.

Anyway, I personally felt that The Witcher UI was pretty similar to many other, older PC games, especially RPGs, and there are lots of those available on GOG. If you're interested in more top-down view RPGs, there's things like Divine Divinity, Sacred Gold and the Spellforce games, not to mention the Infinity Engine games like Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale. These games may not have UIs that are quite as streamlined as The Witcher but they are certainly similar in style. A major reason why PC players complain about interfaces is that they remember how well these earlier games worked with mouse controls, but today are forced to deal with schemes designed primarily for console controllers, like the inventory screens in The Witcher 2 for instance. That was especially disappointing because it was a PC exclusive at launch, but it was clear that the UI was designed with the eventual console release in mind. It's still a great game though, and I understand the difficulty of making an entirely new UI for each system. It's a testament to the versatility of the mouse that the Witcher 2's UI was still fully playable, if not ideal.

Anyway, I doubt I'd have picked the original Witcher as having the best UI I'd ever seen, but maybe it's better when played top-down. It was certainly a nice design, though, and there are a lot of classic games with similar designs that are worth checking out.

I just finished this game and loved it!
A first for me finishing a game because I get bored easily but this game got it's hooks in me.Haven't even touched Skyrim or finished Oblivion.I now can play The Witcher 2.P.S. I bought the proggy Pinnacle game profiler so I could use an xbox 360 controller with this game and there was a Witcher profile I loaded from their site which worked perfectly.I prefer gamepads for RPGs so I can get more immersed with what is on the screen.I hear that The Witcher 2 has gamepad support anyway so a win.Kudos to all involved with The Witcher series.Took me 79 hours to finish lol.This game is a steal for the asking price nowadays.It was when released.I loved the combat system because you need timing to perform perfect swing combos with your sword instead of button mashing.

I played TW1 before TW2.

TW2 definitively feels consolised, but not in a bad way. Interface is mostly intuitive, the only thing I missed was being able to drink potions mid-battle (although this made every battle easy).

Its very long, well written, characters are good but rely upon the original source material far too much. A child who is the source, raised by Garralt and his love interest, who disappears at the end. Order of the flaming rose was a nice touch, although I've never been able to bring myself to side with them.

TW2's story is far more original I feel, and stays true to Garralts character more accurately. Also I love how satisfying the combat system is. I don't deny TW1s combat system was good, just I don't think as much.

About to buy the games right now...heard great things, and I'm a first time Witcher series player! :)

If you like ARPGs or RPGs in general I'm sure you will enjoy Witcher. I bought 1 & 2 when they were on sale previously, and Witcher 1 is just about all I've played on my laptop since. I have several other PC games that I was working through before starting W1, but I can barely put W1 down long enough to progress any further in those games! : )

Just as a warning, it can be a bit of a learning curve getting the timing down for fighting especially right at the beginning. Those barghasts chewed me up good multiple times before I finally got the hang of things.

I recently finished Witcher 1. I didn't get to play Witcher 2 yet, so I can't compare, but this game is for sure brilliant. I can say it's the best RPG I ever played so far. It's especially interesting if you red the original books by Andrzej Sapkowski (if you didn't - find and read them, they are great!). The music in the game is just superb. The world is very immersive, and you can tell that authors put a lot of thought into it. Though it takes you more with the deep and thoroughly developed story, rather than with vast surroundings. The areas are relatively limited comparing to Bethesda titles. All in all - the game feels more like an interactive film in Sapkowski's world.

Oh, and it runs very well on Linux under Wine (besides few quirks with blank health/toxicity bars). Big thanks to CDR Projekt Red for releasing it without DRM.

I've seen 2 books on Amazon, but I believe there were more than that written. Were you able to find them all in English?

I red all the books, but not in English :) Unfortunately only part of them are translated to English so far:

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/Witcher_series

Actually, all events in the books take place prior to the beginning of Witcher 1, and the game makes a lot of references and hints to those events, which are hard to notice if you didn't read the books. So you get the most complete experience form the game if you red them. On the other hand if you didn't read them, it's easier to roleplay Geralt who lost his memory and has no recollection of the past events.

If I hadn't been using my Merc Stealth keyboard I'd have detested the controls even more. I love The Witcher and its controls beat the hell out of the worst entries in the genre by far (I'm looking at you, Gothic), but I didn't think they were anything to write home about. I've felt smoother experiences on both keyboard and game pad.