The Witcher 2 in 2020 Tech Review: RED Engine Analysis + Performance On Modern PC Hardware!

[@dreammfyre]

2011 is 9 years ago... *has an existential Crisis that runs at 10 fps*

[@dylem1994]

I had 2 Radeon 5870 at this time for The Witcher 2. :D With an Phenom II X4 955 and 8GB RAM. I'm getting old. :(

[@GURken]

*Crysis

[@FantasyNero]

an a lot of New GPUs coming this year in 2020

[@SvenS2]

Lmao golden comment. Gg, take my like

[@megamanx1291]

@@FantasyNero Waiting for something amd

[@zwete]

Cinematic DOF is a fitting name for what it does to the frame rates.

[@tanmaypanadi1414]

Do you mean death of frames ?

[@bswift1991]

@@tanmaypanadi1414 No I think he's referring to the fact it'll make the game run at about 24fps... like most movies xD

[@phantom7489]

MaddAddaM you and all of the people who liked your comment missed the joke.

[@ponyboycurtis3458]

I disable depth of field in every game on pc because it destroys your framerate and i never notice the effect anyways, disabling it gives you more room to turn up things that actually matter like ambient occlusion and effects.

[@ponyboycurtis3458]

@@phantom7489 cinematic like a 24 fps movie

[@zipporaid7]

6:00 I love the dwarf that's just standing there, pretending not to notice the other dwarf totally missing the sword with his hammer over and over.

[@horusreloaded6387]

Not even the dwarf trying to hit the sword doesnt look at it

[@satyasyasatyasya5746]

"Puts you in a certain mood..." *shows Geralt in bath* Oh Alex ;)

[@adippful]

It time to oil up baby

[@DUDEDUDE33]

12:27 Great looking asses

[@HomeworkRadio]

This game blew my mind when I first booted it up.

[@chronical]

Every first time you see that main menu screen, gives chills. with the witcher 3 i felt like a kid again on christmas days

[@FlynTie]

Your mind and my GPU :D

[@c0r5e]

Homework Radio and ur pc too

[@Jim26D]

chronical I never skipped the opening cinematic even after watching it a hundred times

[@ZinhoMegaman]

Same here dude!

[@MohitKumar-jf8lz]

Now whenever some1 says "16 times" I expect him to follow it with "the detail".

[@Mikri90]

underrated comment :D

[@LecherousLizard]

Shut up, Todd.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Todd spoiled us all

[@LeandroCunha_85]

We need more videos like this.

[@onatgz]

"the witcher 2 pushed out a-head of its contemporaries..." ----> shows up a severed head close up.

[@shadowjfd]

too well timed to be coincidental lol

[@GuiHarrison]

Was just about to comment on it. Nicely done.

[@Swedishmafia101MemeCorporation]

This game deserves more attention imo. While its masterpiece successor is worthy of all the praise it gets, Witcher 2 had an excellent story to experience and beautiful environments to explore.

[@isthattrue]

Behind the scenes: "We have to talk about übersampling. Let the German do the video!"

[@NovaPrima]

He's a Yank.

[@NovaPrima]

@Anip 94 Both are American, according to John.

[@EarthIsFlat456]

That would be eine Überraschung.

[@daniebello]

Jonny B pronouncing words how they are supposed to be pronounced when you KNOW how it’s pronounced isn’t pretentious. Purposely pronouncing words wrong is something a stupid pretentious American would do

[@sentinel9651]

@@daniebello It's cringey and sounds like shit. He literally had to pause to say it. If he wants to jerk off to his own cringe he should just do a german voice-over of the video.

[@jethroflint9906]

It still looks very nice, even today. I remember when this game just came out, I couldn't believe my eyes to what I saw on a screen. It even had a cloud shadows, whenever it was passing the sun, I never saw anything like that in the games before at that time.

[@GnanaPrakash86AP]

Okay actually crysis 1 even had volumetric clouds but yeah this game looked insanely good and the fantasy esq theme was spot on. Just compare it to a very Similar themed Skyrim. That one looks like diarrhea compared to this.

[@Krappadizzle]

I remember thinking that Ubersampling was never gonna be attainable. My 460 sli setup was way over it's head at the time.

[@MrMooMoo89]

Unlimited POWER

[@chronical]

Bruhhh

[@EarthIsFlat456]

It's just like SSAA, pretty effective at 1080p, pretty useless at 4K.

[@perschistence2651]

@@EarthIsFlat456 If you play on a big screen SSAA can still be very useful at 4k.

[@EarthIsFlat456]

@@perschistence2651 maybe if you have the power to run it lol.

[@samusmaster64]

17:50 I see what you did there.

[@TheMasterOfSafari]

This might be the best looking DX9 game I’ve ever seen..

[@raresmacovei8382]

Crysis 2 is really high up there as well. Afterwards, it would be: Metro Last Light, Tomb Raider 2013 and probably Batman Arkham City.

[@Broformist]

Crysis 1 is more impressive. But this looks good too, even better if you disable shitty Bloom.

[@nadirjofas3140]

@@Broformist Why more impressiv?

[@raresmacovei8382]

@@Broformist It's actually not more impressive. Crysis 1 textures are lower rez, has zero reflections of any kind (except on water), ambient occlusion is really low quality and it has no concept of global illumination/indirect illumination/radiosity

[@Bang4BuckPCGamer]

That and Gears of War

[@LePoudingue]

17:51 : “A head” indeed :D

[@mikek92]

You caught that pun too ...

[@ThomasMuehler]

So, 2023 here. Been playing these for the first time. Launched it yesterday on my 4090 with all settings to max at 4K. Because when you buy a 4090 that's what you do. And I was like WTF why is it sitting at 50 - 60% usage ~225 - 250 watts at locked 60 fps (from MSI Afterburner) with my CPU (13700F) at like 4%? As Witcher Enhanced maxed was like 90 watts at 60 FPS 4K (Again MSI Afterburner super low CPU/GPU usage). Ubersampling and Depth of field explains it. Good news is, it was stable at 60 fps. I think my lows were like 58 throughout the opening of the game. As that is as far as I have gotten thus far. So, even in 2023 on the beastly 4090 this game can still put out some serious hurt. Anywhere from 70 - 127 frames unlocked. With 99% GPU usage and about 9% CPU. For those interested.

[@kuruptzZz]

I feel so spoiled now with an i7-13700K and RTX 4080..."WTF? How dare my FPS drops below 100??" I had to come back here to remind myself that I finished this game on low settings getting barely 25-30 FPS...and it was glorious

[@ThomasMuehler]

@@kuruptzZz lol right?! Sometimes it is nice to put perspective back on things. It's a pleasure to have extremely nice toys and I thank God for it everyday. But when a company makes a masterpiece it doesn't matter what it looks like or how many frames you get. As the impact still comes across. But higher frames and better fidelity do make it a bit more enjoyable.

[@nikkobor6254]

CD project RED is a wizards! The game still looks awesome in 2020

[@Davethebeaver2]

doesn't take a wizard to make good graphics that holds up a decade after release. what takes a wizard is making it not run like crap even on decent systems.

[@sharathvasudev]

@@Davethebeaver2 I am playing Mass effect 2 right now. The graphics holds pretty good. The storyline wow

[@Davethebeaver2]

@ your point being? that optimization wasn't a thing prior to dx10/11/12?

[@matheusdomingos4988]

it is running on a 2020 pc...........

[@Davethebeaver2]

@ don't see how that contradicts my point which is that making a game look pretty is easy, making it look pretty AND run well isn't. calling cd projekt wizards for managing to accomplish the former but not the latter is what i was objecting to.

[@Xshinobi2k8]

This is still one of my favorite games. I remember this game totally ruining Skyrim for me as well. Every time I tried playing Skyrim I would think to myself, why isn't this as good as The Witcher 2.

[@ChaosAngelZero]

6:00 "Sit tight fella, this one's gonna take a wee while..."

[@danskerville8724]

Place of power, gotta be.

[@WickedRibbon]

DF reading my mind. I literally installed this today 😁

[@Auraxium]

WickedRibbon me too! I’ve had it in my Steam library for ages lol it’s finally time 🤩

[@siddhanthmv3675]

Same here!

[@colmcorbec7031]

Toss a coin to CDPR!

[@Eener1000]

Oh valley of penis!

[@efrenarevalo2025]

I already gave them premium access to my wallet.

[@TheCentralScrutinizerAgain]

nah i`ll stick to the superior games; that is my canon.

[@jazzyb3424]

juju mgroo no one cares, The games, show and books can all exist and it’s possible to enjoy all of them.

[@jazzyb3424]

juju mgroo love people like you who think just bc you do or don’t like something that it makes your opinion an objective truth, the games are not superior, the games are fan fiction that take place after the book series, they are still incredible, but the show is just following the books which take place years before the games, why do you act like you have to like one or the other? the release of the show has skyrocketed tw3 to an all time high in players and the same with book readers, it’s all symbiotic, the more Witcher content the better it is for all of us, the popularity of the show creates more insensitive for cd projekt to keep making games in the Witcher universe. If you haven’t read the books you should try to and then you might enjoy the show more, they messed up somethings but overall it’s pretty faithful to the source and is in my opinion the best live action Witcher we’ve seen, ever watched the hexer lmao? If you did you might have a different tone.

[@SayakMajumder]

True Story. Two decades of my PC torture amidst periodic specs upgrade. 2000: Ran Deus Ex and my PC cried 2001: Ran Max Payne and my PC cried 2002: Ran The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, my PC cried and went to coma when I ran Splinter Cell next. 2003: Ran Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, my PC cried and went to coma when I ran Prince of Persia Sand of Time next. 2004: Ran Far Cry and my PC cried, went to coma when I ran Doom 3 next and just gave up when I ran Half Life 2 after. 2005: My PC just wouldn't co-operate properly when I had F.E.A.R and Condemned Criminal Origins at the same time. 2006: Ran Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, my PC cried and went to coma when I ran Need for Speed Carbon next. 2007: Ran Gears of War and Call of Duty 4 MW, my PC broke down and running Crysis just after, basically nuked my PC. 2008: Ran Crysis Warhead, my PC underwent PTSD and GTA IV just made it worse. 2009: Ran Resident Evil 5 and my PC cried. 2010: My PC just wouldn't co-operate properly when I had Battlefield Bad Company 2 and Metro 2033 at the same time. 2011: Ran Battlefield 3 and my PC got nuked and just hung when I had L.A.Noire and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim at the same time. 2012: Ran Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and PC got nuked again. 2013: Ran Crysis 3, my PC cried and went to coma when I ran Battlefield 4 next and just gave up when I ran Assassins Creed 4 after 2014: Tried Watch Dogs and Assassins Creed Unity and my PC ran away from me. 2015: Ran GTA V, my PC cried, got nuked when I tried Witcher 3 and again ran away when I ran Batman Arkham Knight. 2016: Ran Rise of the Tomb Raider, my PC cried and refused to co-operate when I had both Battlefield 1 and Gears 4 at same time 2017: Ran Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, my PC cried and went to coma when I ran Assassins Creed Origins 2018: Ran Kingdom Come: Deliverance, my PC cried and got nuked when i ran Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Assassins Creed Odyssey made it worse. 2019: Ran , Metro Exodus my PC got nuked, got nuked by Gears 5 and got nuked by Control and just got obliterated by Red Dead Redemption 2. .... and 2020: PC is in a shattered state. Cyberpunk 2077 is gonna nuke it again. Don't know how well it'll fair against Death Stranding and Watch Dogs Legion.

[@CaveyMoth]

I got my PC from Wally World, it broke down, and I cried. I've mostly been a console pleb, though..so I've just been eeking by.

[@shafidos6012]

At the same pc specs?! for 20 years!! Faak dis shite

[@tobytoxd]

To sum that up: 2000 - 2019 your pc was shut down in hibernation mode every night. ( ? ;) Btw who the fuck tries to play two games at the same time??

[@dotachin93]

Don't worry mate, you’re not the only one.

[@SayakMajumder]

@@tobytoxd *Had two games installed the same time

[@Nero_PR]

17:35 - Too late I combined them both and my PC is smelling like something is burning.

[@anthonysmith6413]

I'm actually realy happy to see that a channel like yours gets the recognition it deserves. Of course more is always better but for a pure tech channel that mostly doesn't concern with regular consumer questions I think that's pretty good.

[@arbiter-]

Always enjoy watching the videos like this that you make Alex. Great stuff, looking forward to your next project!

[@thomk3282]

I enjoyed W2 much more than Skyrim back in the day. I'm happy The Witcher is popular now.

[@bratislaboi6604]

same here

[@documentthedrama8279]

the DF retro we've been waiting for.

[@8Paul7]

Fantastic video, Witcher 2 was so ahead of its time and by far the most beautiful game of its era.

[@schwienhundt]

I simply do not know enough to understand what I am seeing frame by frame or overall. The way you break things down is appreciated and needed if I am any example at all. Mid 2000s I started dabbling in PC and what would grow into a passionate hobby. I find myself rewatching your breakdowns to try and get these nuances to the recognizable state but You go so deep that I can't help just being grateful you end another thesis on a single setting with - I would/wouldn't use yet finishes. Thank You. Both for the content and for the obvious passion that led you here. PS. Can't wait for one of these on the Witcher 3 given all the increased interest maybe it can sway a buddy of mine to play it.

[@alMighty8989]

17:50 I see what you did there ;D cooles video Danke für die Nostalgie :D

[@4ksixty84]

TW2 took the API crown as the best looking DX9 game in history.

[@nazaG_89]

re5 was pretty good for me but it was released in 2009 and had directx 9&10 support

[@CaveyMoth]

Far Cry 2 was pretty good for me but..yeah. Amazing character models, extremely crisp textures that still hold up when playing in 4k today...it's so goooood. Its Directx 10 implementation was hit or miss, though..just like with most games of the era.

[@sharathvasudev]

Crysis 2

[@DarkNia64]

@@sharathvasudev Crysis 2 also had a DX11 option.

[@sharathvasudev]

@@DarkNia64 Well the best dx9 game for me

[@TehMorbidAtheist]

I've put it 300+ hours into the Witcher 2 and beat it in permadeath mode. In terms of the storyline, the intricacy of the plot, and politics, it probably edges out the Witcher 3. Also, there was more life Flotsam than in the entirety of Skyrim. Just make sure to install the Flora mod to reduce grass pop-in.

[@azforu29]

I've had the 2nd game for 360 since it was released. To this day I still haven't beat it, not because I dont like it, because I worship that game and always championed it. No, it's because I have 3 grandkids that live with me and just dont have the time to run around guessing where untracked contracts and quest are. It kills me cause I think about the game all the time. Wish there was a quest tracker line mod or something.

[@matternicuss]

@@azforu29 but... the game does have a quest tracker?

[@azforu29]

@@matternicuss no no. I mean similar to the third game. A line that paints your directive path, that updates in real time if you take a detour.

[@matternicuss]

@@azforu29 Ah, yeah there's nothing in TW2 that direct. But, it will show you the approximate location of quests both on the main map as well as the mini map, pointing the general direction you need to go. It's a little rough around the edges, however.

[@gabrielfassarella2642]

Man how did you put 300+ hours in that game, did you played it like 9, 10 times?

[@Baleur]

17:00 hhaha imagine a graphics tweak guide for this game. "Cinematic DOF - Framerate impact = 100fps" HOOOLY shit turning that off right now xD

[@TilSkywalker]

I actually played a bit of Witcher 2 beginning last year with some reShade magic and an inventory-limit remover. The game holds up better than expected! I hope we can see some more videos about "old" games in the future!

[@presteeto]

Literally watched your old witcher 2 vids last week!!! Thank you!!

[@DenkyManner]

What a beautiful torture chamber

[@Burden_one]

I remember having a decent mid-range computer a couple years ago and booting this game up thinking it'd work like a charm. Still kicked my computer's ass even back then. I was shocked.

[@matternicuss]

PSA: make sure you clean out your saves when playing The Witcher 2. The game doesn't overwrite quicksaves (or autosaves, to my recollection), so after hours of playing the amount of saves you'll accrue will be huge, and make the game take much, much longer to load. Have fun!

[@kinothemystic]

Oh yeah I remember this!! I'd always delete to have just one save all the time

[@neuencastro]

I love this channel so much... I can't say it enough.

[@superlosia1234]

Witcher 2 still has the best story. Classic!

[@eapleitez]

I consider Witcher 1 and 3 to have stronger narratives. Witcher 2 still was very good.

[@nonplusultra18]

@@eapleitez witcher 3 narrative is nowhere near witcher 2 but to each his own.

[@WhiteWi]

Actually first Witcher

[@matternicuss]

@@nonplusultra18 in many ways that's a matter of preference, but honestly in terms of pure storytelling TW2 has a lot of issues compared to either TW1 or TW3. TW2 easily has the most complex backstory out of all three games, no question, but that complexity comes at a cost: lots and lots of exposition, which means the game regularly breaks one of the cardinal rules of storytelling; show, don't tell.

[@zamaskowany12]

First Witcher Has the best story by far

[@tmarvolo]

6:00 “The anvil doesn’t need forging the sword does” - Blacksmith from Fable 3

[@NorthsideChamps16]

Witcher 3 gets all the praise, and rightfully so it IS a masterpiece. Witcher 2 however is extremely and equally amazing IMO, it's just not open world.

[@s0m3onesomewhere]

I still think that the Witcher 2 is way much better the Witcher 3. Gameplay, complicated main story was way much better. And i like that the first two games were cut on chapters with small open worlds.

[@Sthephyr12]

@@s0m3onesomewhere I can understand that, I personally just don't like the amnesia aspect of the first two games. Makes it feel to separated from the books, if that makes any sense.

[@matternicuss]

@@s0m3onesomewhere The Witcher 2 is one of my all time favorite games. That being said, I've always felt that its story was the weakest overall in the trilogy (even if it's still better than most games). The story relied far too heavily on expository dialogue, and that's a big no-no in writing. This, plus turning Triss into a damsel in distress (not believing she was in danger for a second given her importance) really brought the overall narrative down for me. Don't get me wrong, there's still a number of amazing moments and characters (Saskia!), but I was relieved to see CDPR return to the more character driven storytelling they excelled at in TW1.

[@KnotsOfWonders]

I thought Witcher 2 had a better combat!

[@matternicuss]

@@KnotsOfWonders if you prefer rolling to dodging I can see that haha. The only thing I honestly miss from Witcher 2 is the skill tree.

[@jjforcebreaker]

You guys lately are hitting home run again in again with these interesting videos. Stellar work. PLEASE take a look at Soldier of Fortune series :) Either tech retrospective or straight DF Retro.

[@ReprobiCrucesignati]

"Ooh..UberSampling eh? Well i got pretty powerful PC heh heh..." *enables* PC: HALP!

[@thealien_ali3382]

Try Uber sampling on a rtx 2080 super I got like 35 to 40 fps lol

[@TheVanillatech]

@@thealien_ali3382 Resolutions are a major factor. You also don't HAVE to run a game at max settings with every uber/super/mega sampling turned on to make it look good. 75% of current "PC Gamers" still have zero idea what AA actually does. They just think it makes the graphics better and that it has to be cranked up to the max.

[@thealien_ali3382]

@@TheVanillatech ye don't run the game at max settings let it look like a piece of crap great advice, remind me to never ask u for advice

[@TheVanillatech]

@@thealien_ali3382 Are you saying that anything less than max settings looks like a piece of crap? Are you saying that, despite all consoles since the Dreamcast and *possibly* the PS3 (for 9 months at most) having mid range or low end hardware compared to average gaming PC's, that ALL CONSOLE GAMES have shitty graphics? Given their low resolutions, settings and texture clarity? Are you saying that 90% of all PC gamers for the last 30 years have been running their games at settings that "look like crap"? You know nothing of hardware, you know nothing of PC gaming, you are in fact one of the monkeys that I mentioned before. Don't worry, you're not alone! XD You know what I find hilarious though? You bought into the RTX "RayTRACING" (c) Revolution, spent a shitload of money on an Nvidia card with a promise of 70+ raytracing games by now, and you still have just 5 or 6. Not to mention that you KNEW that turning RTX on would give you sub 60fps performance even in 1080p!!! Yet here you are talking about eye candy being the be all and end all of gaming on a PC! THAT is how much YOUR knowledge of gaming and hardware can be judged! LOL! Have a good life son.

[@Jimmywinkel]

@@thealien_ali3382 ok I wont even try on my rtx 2080 then XD

[@markvicferrer]

This is a brilliant idea for a new series of videos. Please go back & check out other older games.

[@GamerInVoid]

Just Bought this game on Steam . What a great time to release this video

[@Monsux]

I remember playing Witcher 2 on a new GTX 570 with great visuals. Later with GTX 680 4GB SLI I was running the game with ubersapling and the game did run like a dream. One of the best PC gaming experience I have ever had. Also, triple monitor setup made this an insane experience. I do miss the days when you could push gaming to another level with dual GPUs.

[@EposVox]

Is it worth starting with Witcher 1?

[@kingcraftbruh]

Woah, a reply

[@dinoh5538]

Has clunky combat. But still, is a must play.

[@abhishekvvs8622]

The story is great. Keep in mind, the menus are confusing and combat is clunky

[@MasterChiefTheChef]

Yes it's worth it, the story and atmosphere is great! The gameplay is aged but once you get it it's fun. Downdload a quick run mod, to run faster.

[@siddarth_vader]

I started witcher 1 last year, the fact that you can import your save file with some inventory items and decisions is alone worth the attempt. Currently playing witcher 3, love the coherency.

[@OrangeRock]

When I saw the title "The Witcher 2 in 2020" I thought Witcher3 2 is coming "The Witcher 3 2"

[@vaibhavdalip]

Lmao

[@duxnihilo]

Wouldn't it be nice if they released Witcher 1 and 2 on the current engine? I want to experience the whole story, but Witcher 1's technology limitations make it almost impenetrably boring.

[@JubiTheVille]

so did I

[@josh223]

@@duxnihilo out of nostalgia I see a certain charm in it. But god was that investigation wuesg right at the beginning tedious

[@drdroop2163]

@@duxnihilo Witcher 1 was great when it came out. Still a crap engine (thanks Bioware) but a great game. It definitely hasn't aged. I'd love to see remake in the current engine for sure.

[@Padopoulosman]

"Lod transitions are way to aggresive for 2020 standards " Looks at 50%+ of open world games where you can almost outrun the level bulding itself in front of you.

[@JustOneGuy]

Shh, we're hating on old games now. (remembers Dying Light made the "updated" version LOD 50% as the new max.

[@mr.rapter4517]

Yeah. Far Cry 5 looks amazing, but the world disintegrates like 10 ft in front of you even with everything on max. It's super apparent with tesselation especially, since you can see the bumps in dirt building up so close. Not sure why they made it kick in so close to you in a FIRST PERSON game, lol. All games should let me scale LODs as far as I want period.

[@OmegaJazz]

it's clear that we still do not have the hardware to eliminate this and game developers need to do optimizations.

[@josh223]

@@OmegaJazz the hardware exists. Just not in current consoles.

[@CoCo.-_-]

@@josh223 indeed i went into the ini files in the witcher 3 u can literally eliminate pop in and with a mod no texture pop in at a distance with the lod being increased on them what is holding back pc again, as usual, is consoles, also the increase in grass density is amazing on the witcher 3 I have it set to 4000 up from the ultra setting which i think is 1600

[@IceX92]

Playing the game back in 2011 gave me a lot of hype and curiosity over the Wild Hunt phenomenon, the instant need for sequel is unreal. Fast forward to 2014, the Witcher 3 announcement is beyond amazing. Almost cream my pants. Getting your save file loaded and affecting the game is simply the cherry on top. I hope I can experienced both game all over again with zero memories

[@karmmaguitar]

this game never gets the attention it deserves it was the foundation for the witcher 3 and sometimes the storytelling is better and the difficulty is way superior, thanks for analizing this beauty

[@MrLloydFletcher]

I love this game. I've played it on my potato pc back in the day, then on xbox360, then my new pc I build last year. Now: I'm playing it again on the xbox one x with enhancements! I bought the collectors edition for pc day one. Great video.

[@DeToxCommunity]

Dang, I'm surprised there was no mention of that post process antialiasing option that adds an insanely awful amount of sharpening (unless I missed it haha).

[@matuzaato]

This video is really well structured and well written Alex (just like your other ones), I enjoyed it a lot

[@agentmulder7608]

Don’t particularly miss that pre-PBR, heavy bloom era...

[@CaveyMoth]

Who needs sharp textures? Just bloom it up, baby!

[@MrOboehobo]

Yeah the games run poorly from GFWL/Vista port jobs and look sienna tone or overly bright and vaseline smeared. 7th gen is rough. Obviously there are some standouts like every gen but a lot games either looked oblivion or modern warfare. You go further back and games definitely have prehistoric visuals, but basic assets and textures can look incredibly clean and high resolutions. Better yet the further back you go with pc games the better optimized they are to work at high framerates due to the popularity of CRT monitors during those golden 90s.

[@highcollector]

What is PBR?

[@KhanhDinh291]

@@highcollector physically based rendering

[@nerdstrangler4804]

@@highcollector Pabst Blue Ribbon. If you drink enough it offers a superior blurring effect vs bloom.

[@itpugil]

witcher 2 is amazing, played it twice because i beat the game the first time not realizing that i did not import my witcher 1 saves, finished re-playing 2 days ago and now having a blast with witcher 3, the game is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen

[@LordAngelus]

Oh man. I bought a physical edition of this game a few months before it was even out (the CD Projekt team had an event of some sort in my country and they sold the physical edition of the game with autographs which was cool) and I had a really crap PC at the time, had to run most games at low settings. But man I was so excited to see Geralt again, even in such pixelated crap graphics. Beautiful memories! The Witcher was my favorite game series of all time before TW3 even came out. I absolutely loved the story of TW and TW2. The Witcher 3 was just an icing on the cake,a beautiful conclusion to an incredible story. Thank you CD Projekt Red.

[@oceanman6171]

Really enjoyable video and thanks for teaching me more about videogames after all these years.

[@crozraven]

Well, it's called UBERsampling for a reason LOL

[@Alexthelion93]

Just today I started a second playthrough of The Witcher 2. And then I see this video! Oh, the irony! I remember its brilliance even after all these years. What a marvelous game!

[@SarkkiKarkki]

Ahh, Witcher 2, my favorite out of the trilogy. Such fun combat and the more linear structure with that midway choice that'll change the other half of the game entirely, so good.

[@MegaOZX]

"fun combat" LOL, no

[@SarkkiKarkki]

@@MegaOZX Much better than W3 where you have to buy i-frames to your dodge but the lingering hitboxes are so bad it still doesn't matter lmao. Not to mention all the uncontrollable pirouettes Geralt likes to do randomly in W3 that'll lead to slower attacks that the enemies can frame advantage you on with quicker pokes you wish Geralt would do everytime you hit the attack button.

[@Storminormin1]

The combat in Witcher 2 is pretty bad. I can't play the game because of it.

[@brajuhani]

Yea, you kinda have to play it thru twice, to see the whole game. So good.

[@chrisrichfield8906]

I also enjoyed Witcher 2 more than 3, couldnt tell you exactly why. Something to do with the atmosphere and possibly the linearity. Sometimes games being too open stresses me out like being at a grocery store, I could waste too much time trying to pick what I want.

[@_1More_]

Love the video. I’m currently playing the Witcher 2 right now with a 2080ti and find it insane that there are still settings that toast my gpu lol. But such a fantastic game really for me on par with the Witcher 3 in terms of story but the game still looks amazing today.

[@tyrael43]

what a coincidence im replaying Witcher 2 right now.

[@HortenDelta]

I downloaded yesterday! Hehehehe

[@chronical]

Cant replay this game.. already did my third run back in the day.

[@TheCgOrion]

How is it to play? I just did 3 and all of the DLC's. Will the combat be too hard to adjust to? I heard it's rough to go back to.

[@TheCgOrion]

@@deadlyydude5522 OK, thank you. I'll temper my expectations, since I am interested in the story. I heard there is a mod aimed at improving the combat, but I don't know how much it improves the situation.

[@TrevorJones1]

Thanks to this video, my witcher adventure starts at 2!

[@kAjtji]

The Witcher 2 still looks great! In some ways even better than Witcher 3.

[@kAjtji]

@Salt Maker no

[@kAjtji]

@Salt Maker no u

[@kAjtji]

@Salt Maker yes her

[@kAjtji]

@Salt Maker ok me

[@chillhour6155]

The foreset areas definitely

[@flowerthencrranger3854]

The cinematic depth of field is so cinematic that it makes your a game a 24FPS cinematic experience.

[@penumbrum3135]

TW3 really could have gotten a resolution scaler or Ubersampling as well. The lack of anti-aliasing really hurts the presentation of the game IMO.

[@tgdude6379]

Yep witcher 3 looks outdated comapred to witcher 2.especially flotsam makes anything in witcher 3 look bad

[@megapro125]

Just enable downsampling in the graphics driver.

[@HeavyMetalGamingHD]

@@tgdude6379 that's just not true.

[@penumbrum3135]

@@megapro125 From what I experienced DSR isn't quite as useful as an in-game resolution scaler because it alters the HUD and mouse sensitivity as well and sometimes softens the image too much.

[@vcprocles]

Afaik you can enable ubersampling in W3 altering ini files

[@PeterPauls]

I played the Wicher 2 on a beast PC for 2011 standards. i7 920@3.8ghz, 6GB 1600mhz triple channel DDR3 and most importantly a HD5870 1GB GDDR5 graphics card. My monitor was still a 1280x1024 19” 2ms Samsung 940bf and on Ultra without Uber Sampling I got very good frame rate and played through twice that amazing game.

[@bwellington3001]

I remember i finished a school with good marks, mom gave me money for new PC and i've built it with GTX560ti. It was this moment i was finally able to play this game xd

[@sharathvasudev]

Ah the reward

[@mikekrebs5598]

Great video! I am playing this again in 2021, at 1440p with an RTX 3080, and with the settings maxed out it still puts my system to the test, on average I get just over 100 FPS, but sometimes the framerate is all over the place, averaging around 70 when walking around densely populated areas. I personally can't see much of a difference in-game with ubersampling, so I just leave it off.

[@CriPPleR_HD]

The Witcher 2 is my favorite game of all time!

[@ellobo82]

Thant was so informative and helpful. Thanks!

[@dlbutters7164]

I played it 1080p @60 fps on an i3-7100, RX570 and 8 GB DDR4. Simple rig for simple Rick.

[@brianfountain1]

Love these vids!

[@augustintiberiu6330]

Remember when you couldn't play it with ubersampling on in 2011,yeah.... you still can't in 2020

[@Super5thDimension]

Ahhh I remember the switch from console to PC back then and being clueless about graphic settings, fps etc. Slapped a GTX 550 Ti in a prebuilt, loaded this game up and naturally selecting the best possible settings which ran at like 30 fps or lower so I didn't notice a difference in performance haha, but the visuals! Good lord, the graphics blew my mind and I was officially converted to PC

[@greenfoxes5903]

What I remember most from Witcher 2 is everyone shouting, "Odrin!"

[@mikfhan]

If you read some of the Witcher 3 bulletin boards in Velen, there is also mention of a drunk soldier messing about with womenfolk and livestock. "Heere, boyyyyyy!!"

[@greenfoxes5903]

The drunken adventures of Odrin must be many. During one of the quests someone reports hearing folks shouting for Odrin while in Tousaint. There is a notice at the Cockatrice Inn as well.

[@FlorianBased]

​@@greenfoxes5903 He is in Vanilla Witcher 3, lying drunk at the Novigrad Docks with his friend selling hundreds of empty bottles.

[@Cotswolds1913]

“Plough em all”

[@MDUmairKh]

Just finished the game again yesterday and was impressed to see its presentation. This game was ahead of its time.

[@TheGameLecturer]

Please do The Witcher 1 !

[@mang0s284]

Just finished The Witcher 2 again yesterday! Once you get yourself accustomed to the combat again the visuals itself hold up so well. Damn I love this series

[@CaptainMumpitz]

"Witcher 2 pushed out ahead" *shows the image of a severed head* I see what you did there.

[@PetrisonRocha]

This game's settings screen was the first time I heard about ambient occlusion. It looked better than anything I've ever seen up to that point.

[@infasis]

TW3 made advancements in so many forms, but am I the only one who feels it's still missing something TW2 had?

[@override7486]

This are two entirely different games in many aspects... Really, every part in Trilogy is unique on it's own. W1 has many things done much better than in W2. Same with W2 vs W3. But every part is definitely worth playing though.

[@CC42_]

i totally agree. Witcher 2 was more impressive for the time.

[@awsomeboy360]

And Witcher 2 had many things that Witcher 1 didn't have, that Witcher 3 had.

[@half-asian8992]

Great video, would love to see an analysis of the first witcher!

[@STANDIEMCSTILLE]

I just bought the trilogy to play them for the first time, because i liked the show so much.

[@RobIn-ky4uz]

Games better than the show, especially no 3

[@TitanIsBack]

Please go read the books to see the real story that the show butchered to hell.

[@maszlagma]

You have an amazing journey ahead of you! Have fun!

[@TrevorJones1]

Shows how different forms of media can have a retroactive effect on old game sales

[@sharathvasudev]

Boi you have made the best decision of your life, especially Witcher 3. For me the greatest video game ever made

[@833tr00t]

Very good review, thank you

[@donlee_ohhh]

I'd love to see Witcher 2 remade using the Witcher 3 engine.

[@DarkReapersGrim1]

Played and finished this on ultra settings with my pc. Really good-looking world.

[@morbillionaire]

Wtf, i just started the game yesterday :D

[@brajuhani]

@ttlls slltt Shit dudes, enjoy! The game deserves two plauthrus, you know why later.

[@gk4man]

I started it 6 hours ago 😁

[@morbillionaire]

@@brajuhani im already really enjoying it much more than the netflix series tbh, the writing is really good and its even better on the third game from what i've heard so im excited for the journey ahead 😎

[@StabStabStabStabby]

Make sure that you play the witcher 2 twice. Your decision at the end of the first chapter (who you side with) completely changes the other 2/3rds of the game and you'll miss tons of stuff if you only play the game once. It blew my mind in 2011.

[@marcoheide4556]

I finnished it around two weeks ago. Im playing tw3 with that save now. Im in Skelligge atm.

[@akhil2024]

Surely a master piece at the Time

[@dreammfyre]

And seriously. I don't need games that look better than this. Especially RPGs. X360-era games running at 60fps/1080p/Ultra still look super clean to me.

[@davidgunther8428]

Not all games even today look this good lol

[@rosspert4688]

But then they would have to put in effort to actually make a game better/working without relying on the instant wow factor. Tart it up and ship it out as it is. An inch of make up drives most guys crazy same with spotty geeks. Haha

[@Carkoon]

Awesome video. Please make more of these "look backs". I actually prefer the look of Witcher 2 over 3. I was definitely a bit disappointed by the look and detail of the armor and clothes.

[@charoleawood]

It seems like a game that should be played on a CRT at low internal resolutions with every bell and whistle turned up.

[@mayaamis]

this game steel look amazing today, it's very stylized and has cool graphics and cool animations, and still feels magical walking through those woods. and I just want more Iorveth!!!

[@DarkDrake777]

Call of Juarez in 2020, please! ^_^

[@oldsk00l]

"Pushed out ahead of its contemporaries" while showing Demavend's head, XD

[@ulrichleukam1068]

we need Witcher1&2 Remake for next-Gen Consoles

[@schrank251]

So Ubersampling at 1080p looks better than downsampling with DSR from 4k to 1080p? I remember that DSR at 4.00x performed way batter than enabling Ubersampling.