The second instalment in the RPG saga about the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia, features a thoroughly engrossing, mature storyline defining new standards for thought-provoking, non-linear game narration.
In addition to an epic story, the game features an original, brutal combat system that uniquely combines tactical elements with dynamic action. A new, modern game engine, responsible both for beautiful visuals and sophisticated game mechanics puts players in the most lively and believable world ever created in an RPG game. A captivating story, dynamic combat system, beautiful graphics, and everything else that made the original Witcher such a great game are now executed in a much more advanced and sophisticated way.
The Witcher 2 – key features
• An engrossing, mature storyline defining new standards for realistic, non-linear game narration. The continued adventures of Geralt of Rivia draw on events from The Witcher while proving even more captivating, epic and full of surprises
Story background After helping to stop the rebellion undertaken by the Order of the Flaming Rose and saving King Foltest’s life, Geralt became one of the central figures of political turmoil in the Kingdom of Temeria. Geralt continues to protect the King in the monarch’s mission to bring peace to his state. The last bastions of the Order yielded to the royal army. The only remaining task is to pacify the rebellious castle of Baroness La Valette, who announced separation from the Kingdom. It’s been a month since the attempted assassination of the king, when his army arrives at the gates of Baroness La Valette’s fortress in preparation for the final battle. In the meantime, Geralt, stuck with Foltest, cannot begin his personal quest—to discover the origin and identity of the mysterious witcher-like assassin responsible for the attempt on the king’s life - a quest that would answer many questions...
Brief story description The player takes the role of Geralt, a professional monster slayer who became embroiled in the political turmoil in the Kingdom of Temeria by helping to squash the rebellion undertaken by the Order of the Flaming Rose, and who saved the King’s life by protecting him from a witcher-like assassin. In the second part of the saga, Geralt remains at the center of political events. He begins his quest to reveal the identity of a group of assassins responsible for the slaying of rulers across the Northern Kingdoms, to find their connection to witchers, and to discover their motives. His investigation will lead him up the river Pontar into the turbulent borderland between Temeria, Kaedwen and Aedrin, where he will be entangled in a conflict between the most powerful forces of this world.
Story features in details:
• A truly epic, intense, emotionally charged adventure with non-linear game narration. Three independent plot lines with several alternative events are dependent on the player’s choices and lead to multiple different game endings and several additional plot forks. This time gameplay time will be shorter than The Witcher 1, but more intense and packed with events.
• A complex, realistic and mature story touching upon subject matter seldom seen in other RPGs, told in a manner that is understandable and attractive to contemporary gamers. We investigate the assassinations of the rulers of the Northern Kingdoms and follow Geralt’s personal theme, in which he’s looking for his own identity. Gradually we learn how powerful forces influence our situation and what role they order us to play.
• Rich, mature dialogue as found in Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series and The Witcher 1, presented in highly filmic cutscenes and dialogues sequences, thanks to a new game engine.
• New, improved system of flashbacks. Now the reminiscences of Geralt, in which we observe the link between our past choices with current actions, are realistically and smoothly woven into the gameplay.
• Sex and eroticism will be introduced in a much more realistic, involving and mature way, thanks to which sexual relationships are presented more credibly than in TW1.
• Unique, deep, consistent and rich game world established in a series of best-selling books by A. Sapkowski and recreated in the game to provide an incredible, believable story-driven experience.
• Believable, true-to-life characters with their own motivations and goals. During our journey we meet ordinary men, soldiers, rebels, powerful mages, rulers and their assassins. Depending on our decisions we meet different game characters, and our relationships shape further actions in the game.
• Highly varied, breathtaking locations, which thanks to the new engine create a cohesive, fully accessible world!
• Rich, living world in which every character has their own way of life and unique occupations. Our actions modify the relationship with the game-world population and, in the case of the main plot line, open or close the possibilities of interaction with the game world.
• Greater freedom of exploration to provide increased game realism and a wider range of new tactical options. Geralt will surmount barriers, jump over fences, scale walls and ascend rock formations.
• RPG Experience. Enhanced and deeper role-playing experience thanks to advanced gameplay mechanics.
• Extensive non-linearity within advanced gameplay mechanics. We are able to go through the situations on our path in various ways. Choosing our allies along the story path will, for example, reveal brand new and diverse possibilities and threads.
• Unique quests more connected with the main plot - no more “FedEx” quests (simple “deliver or pick up object” quests).
• Greatly enhanced character development, in which each decision with regards to development, including individual skills, result in different kinds of gameplay. It is based on three specialisations: sword, magic and alchemy, which can be mixed to create hybrid character styles.
• Traditional system that has the player fight opponents with a fixed difficulty level, maximizing satisfaction gained from developing a powerful character. Battles with particular types of opponents become progressively easier as the player advances in level, in complete contrast to what we see in many current titles, which offer simplified systems where opponents’ difficulty levels adjust alongside the player’s. These are systems that help make the game and its development easier, but offer much less satisfaction for developing a very powerful character.
• New system of Mutagens gives players the ability to modify the effects of particular skills. You could, for example, enhance and modify the way your spells work, by multiplying the damage – be it greater amount, or dealing with more enemies at the same time.
• Advanced crafting mechanics vastly increased the possibilities for players to create their own items: about 200 items - weapon and armour elements – are possible, compared with just 10 swords in TW1.
• Many elements of armour – jackets, gloves, belts, knee pads, etc. increase variety for the player. There’s ability to upgrade each element separately, offering many combinations of armour, as opposed to just four types of armour available in The Witcher 1.
• Composit-built weapons, allowing many different types of swords (about 300 vs. 10 in TW1).
• Random statistics introduce additional variety among similar items.
• New equipment system, streamlining and making gameplay more flexible, thanks to no limits in the number of carried items, clear division into sections, and an improved sorting system.
• Unique, intuitive combat system blending a wide range of tactical elements with the most spectacular and dynamic combat sequences ever seen in a computer role-playing game.
Details to be announced in future
• The best-looking RPG to date, competing with games in other genres in which the standard of visuals has traditionally been superior.
