The Witcher: Enhanced Edition - the first impressions

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition was presented today at the Game Conventions in Leipzig. Due to it being a long-expected event, it seems worthwhile to take a closer look at it and share some of the feelings connected with a first-hand experience of the journalist beta-version displayed.

Hearing...

The first impression is a very positive one. Everyone familiar with the first edition will notice many corrections and added elements. First of all, the various language versions. The player can choose between Polish, English, German, French, Czech, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Hungarian. Additionally, subtitles can be set in any of these languages (plus Chinese) regardless of the audio version chosen.

...seeing...

Significant changes have been introduced in character animation during dialogues. Over two hundred diverse gestures and movements have been added to various NPCs to make conversations look more natural. Eye-tracking system has been introduced. Now passing NPCs take an interest in Geralt and track him with their sight.

One of the most noticeable changes is the differentiation of in-game character models. Now there is a greater variety due to the color of NPC’s clothing, also the monsters have a wider skin color range. Moreover, second - plane characters have been altered. Such persons as Carmen, Hairy Bear’s Innkeeper and Jethro the jailer are noticeably different.

...and playing it.

Geralt’s satchel has been improved and now has an auto-sorting option An alchemy sack has been added and items in it can be filtered according to the alchemical substances they contain. For formulae that the player is capable of brewing but cannot create due to the lack of ingredients, ingredient icons are grayed out and an ‘X’ appears over the missing component, which helps in potion brewing.

Many small bugs and errors like levitating items or missing textures have been fixed. Opponents in dice games don’t make outrageous mistakes anymore and their AI has been improved greatly. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition also contains two new adventures: The Price of Neutrality and Side Effects. They can be played separately from the main game line. The first one is more concentrated on characters’ interactions with one another as well as on moral dilemmas.

Second is more humoristic and its plot is not as sombre as that in The Price of Neutrality. Minstrel Dandelion finds himself in trouble and needs his friend Geralt to save his neck. This adventure is also a good example of how to create one’s own adventures using the D’jinni editor because it consists of many small quests and sub-quests, intertwined with each other.

More than the game

Another very interesting addition is a second audio CD which contains music inspired by the game. There are fifteen new tracks of various artists including Adam Skorupa, who created a large part of the game’s soundtrack and bands such as Vader or Rootwater. All of the pieces fit in very well with the Witcher’s universe. They represent different styles of music from rock, metal, Celtics ethnic music, to reggae.

Additional materials, like the game guide and the game manual have been updated and the story The Witcher written by Andrzej Sapkowski has colored illustrations. A welcome addition is the map of Temeria Kingdom itself as well as the Witcher’s entire world.

To sum up

Summing up, the first impression of The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is very positive. Many troublesome things and annoying bugs have been fixed. Playing the game in different language version with native language subtitles could be a fun experience which could encourage some players to go through the game once again. The D’jinni Adventure Editor, extra music tracks and the two extra adventures are very good add-ons. Of course, the presented Beta-version is not entirely free of small inconveniences, but the game’s creators promised, that they would be corrected in the final version. So, The Witcher: Enhanced Edition is really worth waiting for until September when it is due to be released.

You'll find more about The Witcher: Enhanced Edition here.

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition - the first impressions

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