The Witcher 2 - Review After 100%

Talking about some of my experiences and thoughts on The Witcher 2, more than 10 years after playing it for the first time.
Timestamps
00:00 Intro
01:00 Prior Experience
02:17 Getting It To Run
04:47 Steam Deck Compatibility
07:01 Save Imports
08:37 Tutorial
09:12 Difficulty
11:33 Story & Thoughts
26:35 Progression Systems
32:55 World & Gameplay
36:20 Combat
43:06 "DLC"
43:33 Positives/Negatives
47:00 Conclusion
50:45 Wrap Up
Intro Music By Juan Andrés Matos, www.juanmatosmusic.com/
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#gaming #gamereviews #thewitcher #thewitcher2 #thewitcher2assassinsofkings

[@GNCD2099]

Letho is my favorite character in the series. He pretended to be dumbass around the sorceresses so he can gather information and use them to achieve his goals. He basically played everyone in TW2. Badass, self-aware, and very cunning.

[@Sleepless4Life]

Nah he dies in my playthrough everytime. Can't have a criminal like him running amok.

[@Sleepless4Life]

@@creed22solar123 Donct care. He dies. Everytime.

[@e.matthews]

​@@Sleepless4Life You may have chosen... The greater* of two evils 😌

[@armelior4610]

Looks like Dwayne Johnson, is actually Palpatine :D

[@flixization]

He was very cunning except for the fact that his entire motivation was that Emhyr promised to rebuild the school of the Viper. He seemed to naively believe they'd actually do that and not just use him as as a disposable assassin, and then had no contingency plans for when Nilfgaard inevitably betrayed him. It's my one gripe with how they wrote him TW2.

[@LarsOfLegends]

This is my favorite rpg. This came out right when i built my first pc. Graphics and atmosphere blew me away back then

[@tysonsflag]

The graphics were absolutely insane for their time.

[@illliiiiillliii6265]

@@tysonsflag I played it on my 4k tv just a week or two ago for the first time. Even for todays standards it was, so great. (tbf i just finished Witcher 1 so i was understandably blown away). My favourite part was the atmosphere of flotsam swamps or the red skies on the wraith battlefield with the comet flying above.

[@shadowsrants6663]

You're one of those youtubers I would sit down and watch with the utmost satisfaction a video of 3 hours rather than a movie.

[@4everhumbl36]

For sure an amazing game reviewer and also very humble and appreciates his subscribers That’s why I try to watch every video Even when the game doesn’t interest me

[@RIlianP]

Narratively and aesthetically this is my favorite game in the series, the fact that the game pushes you early to make the biggest decision is something I rarely if ever see in other RPGs who like to pussyfoot around and are afraid to deny the player of content based on their choices, then again SDPR were an AA studio at best at the time so they did take more risks. Visually this game have the best looking armors and swords in all of the games, wish they kept this style instead of the boring more realistic armors in TW3. Gameplay wise the game is a mess but I don't hold it against it.

[@ideal9544]

I somewhat agree with your point about the armor sets. I think that in this game they were tailor made for Geralt's "style" (at least the way CDPR envisioned him). However I feel that in TW3 they also did a fantastic job at showcasing other styles and every school had a different feel that really fit in to its lore. I think they should've made more signature, witcher armor sets, and maybe add the ability to customize pauldrons, hoods, chest pieces etc. to regular armor sets, that way it feels like Geralt is customizing the armor to suit his style and preference, which is what he would actually do in the books.

[@plyzogyz]

alchemy build was pretty badazz

[@user-fp3in2kf3b]

@@Malisa1990 Radovid was reasonable? This is a big stretch

[@yggdrasil4986]

​@@Malisa1990 I mean Radobitch was more than "selfish". Or would you call gouging someone's eyes out selfish? Then you're based and redpilled for sure, but I'm not and I would call him a looney from the start. They even mention why in Bitcher 2.

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

Also, this is the BEST opening cinematic in gaming history!

[@mattsplace4693]

I never comment on yt but because you made a review of one of my favorite games I have to give props to you. Great work! Really enjoying your channel, it's very chill, good content and you upload regularly :)

[@markula_4040]

Wow, 52 minutes. You really put in the work on this one.

[@r420x]

Mans turning into Joseph Anderson

[@mrcreavill]

​@@r420x Mortim will make Witcher 4 review before Joseph will upload his W3 analysis 😂

[@r420x]

@@mrcreavill The Witcher 3 - 10 Years Later

[@rumsbumsrums]

I did the Madman Achievement myself earlier this year as well and I know this doesn't help you anymore but maybe others that may attempt it in the future: You can actually turn off the QTE completely in the options.

[@coot33]

You can do madman with QTE off ? i though it disabled the achievement back in the days.

[@rumsbumsrums]

@@coot33 I don't know about back in the day but I did it this year with QTE turned off.

[@gustavohmalvares6964]

were you playing on PC?

[@rumsbumsrums]

@@gustavohmalvares6964 Yes

[@adrianofascendini7424]

Amazing job as always Mortim! You're the best! This one was really special!

[@wserthmar8908]

Thank you for making so many reviews, and even reading the comments ! Thank you for your hard work

[@Darkholow]

51 minutes? Don't mind if I do! It's my 2nd favorite Witcher game, only because Yennefer is not in it. Otherwise the fact that they managed to do such a fantastic job within the span of 3 years (from Witcher 1) is astounding. I managed to clear all the achievements except Insane, because the chances me of dying in Act II at the beginning were extremly high and the hitboxes were wonky so I gave up on it (I did do 1 run and died at that part and didn't want to redo it). Thanks for the review Mort!

[@pwnership3292]

Great review dude! First time seeing your channel and I'm looking forward to watching more. Edit: wow the further I get into the vid the more detailed/helpful AND more entertaining it gets. Really good job with the vid!

[@SirJohnnyFPS]

Amazing review. I'm just out of words to express how thorough and informative this breakthrough was.

[@NotTheFallen355]

Just wanna say I love the longer videos. Hope they can make it more into the regular rotation.

[@MortismalGaming]

Probably not anytime soon, they are exponentially more work so I just save it for stuff I'm particularly passionate about

[@pmratpoison]

longer form reviews do justice to the effort you put into your content. thanks, would like to state my personal preference for this format, if ti means anyting

[@pipbernadotte9016]

I'm soo proud of your channels sub progression. You Deserve it.

[@renejuren2398]

i absolutely love games separated to acts. It promotes you moving forward to a new places and to progress the story with it rather then letting you get lost in the same sidecontents on a vast map. Its why I felt connected to w2 story and finished it at least 10 times.(usually different endings but couple were definitely the same as i enjoyed that) The combat is janky but light years apart from the 1st game and can be mastered to eliminate as much junk as possible Still most of it is just hitting the same button. Lots of talking but the dialogue is great and voiceacted nicely and all. And characteres are not 1dimensional. As much as I love tw3, second game is just far superior to me

[@nickgotvyak5890]

I disagree a little bit on promoting. It depends on the balance, but usually with acts you have to engage with all side content in the act to progress to the next one, because next act has a significant difficulty spike. Especially larian titles like DOS2 and BG3 are guilty of that (twice especially dos 2 - jump from nameless isle to arx is ridiculous when you enter a location with lvl 17-18 and all enemies are 19-20)

[@7patterj]

Your content reminds me of how TotalBiscuit would do reviews. I like your style of in-depth reviews and commentary.

[@wumborat3669]

i had a sudden interest in the witcher games back in february, and your review on the witcher 1 got me excited enough to buy it and finish it within like 2 weeks i believe. i then subsequently bought this game and knocked it out within a month, and i have to agree with a lot of your points here. the characters and story were very engrossing and were probably my favorite parts of the game as well. i bought the witcher 3 a week ago and im playing it here and there, and i guess the reason im saying all this is i just wanted to thank you for introducing me, and many others, to a series that ive always been cautious toward for no particular reason; i probably never wouldve played the first game had i not seen your review of it, and TW1 was a really enjoyable rpg for me. i always look forward to your videos and i can tell you enjoy making them 🙂

[@mura3881]

Thanks for the indepth review. Very comprehensive

[@spaceghostohio7989]

Spot on brother ! Hated how potions were handled.

[@LadyAmalthea0615]

You really do have the best reviews. You give lots of useful info. I'm taking a break from BG3 and been looking for a good game with a good story to get into. I love W3 so I've been wanting to try W2 for a long time. Thank you.

[@ThomasPaine01]

Excellent review. You're the only KZbinr who would treat all those classic games with the respect and dignity they deserve. IMHO. Thank you for your work, Mortym!

[@trenthadler5998]

i 100%’d this as well in late 2022, really agree with everything you said. i’m playing through my massive steam backlog about 200 games completed so far, with 250+ to go) in chronological order and i’m playing games from 2014 now so pretty soon i’ll be diving into the witcher 3

[@Jamesssssssssssssss]

I love the Witcher series, really happy you are covering it. Can't wait to get home , to relax and watch this.

[@Layo81]

One of my favourite RPGs of all time. Glad you had a chance to play it.

[@matheusbento3238]

Awsome review man!!! Now we deserve a Witcher 3 review! Wish you the best

[@thewretch4081]

Mortim at it again, this game is a gem, in some ways better than Witcher 3 Triss best girl f Yen

[@gotd4m]

Hour long. Thank you very much. I'm always looking for long videos.

[@mufasaiam7794]

This is why I turn on the bell for this channel

[@Mystra]

One of my favorite games of all time. Great review!

[@jaweel6205]

Definitely my favorite Witcher game

[@parthmishra5942]

Thank you Morty, very cool

[@Notsram77]

Witcher 2 is a game I perpetually bounce off of. The story draws me in just in time for the mechanics and difficulty to spit me out.

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

The boss fights are terrible.. It may be one of my all-time favorite fames, but I cannot deny how bad the balancing is... and, the final act is incomplete

[@DefinitelyNotSade]

It's one of my favourite games of all time that I've replayed many times, but the horrible hitboxes and enemies blocking your attacks with no telegraphing or blocking animation drives me up a wall, haha. It's a great game, and I think there's a mod called Full Combat Rebalance made by a CDPR dev that fixes some of those issues. You might want to give it a try!

[@zzxp1]

True, the combat on this game is the embodiment of eurojank. Luckily my alchemy build let me outcheese the game.

[@cbthomas909]

Witcher 2 was my favorite in the series. I've tried playing witcher 3 several times, but I can't seem to get into it like I did witcher 2

[@patinho5589]

Same for me. I just can’t get into Witcher 3.. the pace is so slow and it feels depressing.

[@wewewe6152]

You're a gentleman, Mort. Keep up the sterling work

[@Schizm1]

Even tho I prefere W1 and W3 I still think entire trilogy is god-tier level of RPGs. CDPR, unlike modern Bioware, always remembers that story, characters and SETTING is soooo important in RPG. Witcher universe, Night City - No matter what game they're making (and how broken it is on release;P) those fundations are always there. Can't wait what CDPR will give us next with those franchises.

[@sane7527]

Only mass effect trilogy beats this trilogy for me, but witcher 3 is my favourite game lol

[@sobsag]

Yet Bioware is far better at remembering choices from one game to another. Also CDPR is basically done now, they had their high with W3 and went downhill with Cyberpunk.

[@Schizm1]

@@sobsag no

[@sobsag]

@@Schizm1 Lmao, what a pathetic response.

[@syro2412]

​@@sobsagI don't think one bad game means they're done. People will be more cautious about buying from them but their next project will no doubt sell a lot

[@JohnSmith-nh9kq]

Spot on. Combat can be very frustrating. One of my favorite games though.

[@Andrew.Downing]

I want a modern remake of both 1 and 2!

[@jschildress1]

They are doing a remake of 1, I don't think they are planning on remaking 2.

[@biocode4478]

played 2 and 3 with the same computer. modern enough for me

[@Andrew.Downing]

@@biocode4478 I want modern game systems, not that it doesn't work. 1 and 2 are super clunky

[@lukedchambers3980]

​@@jschildress1 Would make a lot of sense if they eventually got around to 2 as well.

[@jschildress1]

@@lukedchambers3980 It would but The Witcher 2 is easily playable. The Witcher is a god-awful experience to most people with horrible combat. 2 is MUCH closer in feel to 3. One, mechanically, is basically a different game (combat wise).

[@lorenzotosiart]

Your videos are SO well written, so interesting! It's a pleasure to come to this channel and find cool videos about rpg games Maybe you mention it in the video, but will you also review Witcher 3 ? That also would be super interesting to watch, I would be curious on your considerations on the gameplay of the thirde game, bcs as much as I love the narrative side of the game, I have my critiques on the gameplay side (not only in the sense of HOW it plays, but regarding WHAT you can do gameplay wise), and it would be interesting to see what you think.

[@pointlessreplay]

Great video! I enjoyed the Witcher 2 but I think its story went over my head because of how dense it is with all of these nations, factions, and characters. I've always wanted to go back and play it again after I played Witcher 3 and all of those things finally came together in my head to see if I'd have a better appreciation for them and this video convinced me that I would.

[@cvprasad9620]

Thanks! I have never played Witcher 2 even though I have over 200 hours in Witcher 3, this was the most detailed review I was looking for while most of the other reviewers just kept on comparing this game to Witcher 1 and 3 which doesn’t do any justice for the title review. Thanks much mate.

[@Jason-ym6jl]

Good Mortismal morning

[@stiken4421]

Same, W2 is also my favourite from the Witcher Trilogy! Atmosphere+Narrative are top note! I even do enjoy combat after a while xd

[@Deailon]

As gameplay goes, I actually prefer the first one. But the story is great and I love the art style.

[@Johnmoe_]

The mad man finally did it!

[@raphaelcharlespinon]

I love that there is a guide on how to make the game work on current computer hardware. Most guides, just say "look for the solution elsewhere". I really appreciate it.

[@marcomongke3116]

Iorveth vs Roche was a difficult and fun choice on par with Stormcloaks VS Empire decision. And loved each path for different reasons! Definetly prefer Iorveths path characters and areas more overall. But I like to imagine the default or canon Geralt would prolly lean towards Roche as he is generally a man of his word that wont easily abandon his current quest.

[@TheKolboShow]

My counterpoint is that Geralt is an honest and honorable type of guy, and he wouldn't betray Iorveth after he just put a *lot* of trust in him. Which you kinda have to do in order to side with Roche. He might initially prefer Roche, but would accidentally end up with Iorveth due to circumstance and his own values. But that's just my personal take after having read the books

[@onnol917]

Odd comparison since Iorveth vs Roche made massive diffirences to the game experience and Stormcloals vs Empire minor

[@TwoLeftThumbs]

Part of me wishes we got to find out more about Letho but I know that his mystery is what makes him so great. I thought I wanted to know more about Boba Fett as well. Learned that lesson.

[@Sleepless4Life]

Huh this 100% went quicker than I expected, but then again i'm not surprised. It's you! ;)

[@odinulveson9101]

Great analysis! W2 being the odd mix of the former and latest entry in the franchise is very true. I get the similar impression for Oblivion which is after Morrowind and before Skyrim. I prefer MW and SR tenfold over. I however have finished W2 but only dipped into W1 and W3..

[@michimatsch5862]

Same. I wanted to really like W3 but there's so much stuff there. I found some great quests but a lot of quests were just very...generic? And I would never know which one was which so I'd just get stuck in area forever feeling like I was going in circles. In W2 I always felt like I was moving forward. Well, apart from the drunks. That quest was hysterical.

[@dogshitgaming6969]

Awesome video

[@hiei990]

Just for that intro helping people launch the game, I wish I could give more likes.

[@Oggre]

My respects sir 🙏🏾

[@XQUADRA1]

grew up playing this game,loved it

[@fitz394]

This is a spot on review. I know there was probably hours of stuff you could have added heh

[@MortismalGaming]

If I really wanted to deep dive the plot and talk ability balance it would've been like 2/3 hours sure

[@damion5910]

Ooooo this is going to be good

[@mat86100]

Still my favourite Witcher game and one of my favs of all time. W3 was amazing, B&W had the best atmosphere, but in some ways it was too big, sprawling, lost some of its soul in some random alleys. W2 is like a good book, it's well paced (rare in games) and there's not a lot of superfluous content. I felt invested, immersed, motivated to do each quest as part of the story, it didn't feel like a checklist. Loved alchemy! Requires a bit of preparation and foresight, but I didn't find it frustrating at all. You almost always know what enemies you'll be facing as part of a quest, and you can anticipate the big battles (riot being planned? Epic battle ahead? Events building to a crescendo? maybe get ready for combat!?). Makes you feel a bit more intelligent and calculating, less of a superman.

[@bounceycake1]

I remember buying this on the Xbox360, not having a gaming PC at the time. I thought the game was too difficult, but I might try it on PC now that I have good modern hardware

[@clifcorcoran9917]

Looking forward to the Witcher 3 review!

[@erikskoog8415]

This is my nr1 witcher game, the third is a great game sure but it is so easy to get lost in the open world and not get the main story(great open world though) Good show sir🎉

[@worldview2888]

I am telling everyone - i REALLY LOVE this game. I played this because i LOVE Witcher 3 so much i bought this to "backtrack" how the story and game was like. Completely no regrets and i really loved Witcher 2 - and i am a fan of the mini gambling game. (also honest to say i am NOT a fan of the first witcher game because its a little too .. "janky". but i did complete it and cannot wait for a modern day remake of it.)

[@tero581]

I was always wishing for Witcher 3 DLC to include Witcher 1 and 2 remakes in the newest engine with the same gameplay. It would be a lot easier than just going ground up.

[@MikeDeBleser]

Finally. I really loved this game. It is in my opinion the best game of the trilogy.

[@christophermzdenek]

With the remake of the first game ongoing, there's hope for the 2nd being remade, as well.

[@maromaro1337]

Great review! This game is a black sheep of the series, which is a shame because it has some merits. I think that they wanted to implement the "Demon's Souls" combat but didn't know how to properly do it. At first I thought that it's something wrong with me, because I couldn't kill a single drunken bandit. Later after leveling up you felt like a god. I remember that you can easily brake the game by leveling the rolling mechanic. When leveled at max you could actually roll faster then you run. Imagine being a peasant in a small village and seeing a witcher rolling through the marketplace, lol.

[@TheGerudan]

In the boxed version I had, they even added a semi-decent printed guide for the game.

[@AM-uo2kf]

I really enjoyed assassins of Kings when I played it. it definitely took some time to fill out the combat and using my signs potions and everything correctly. Especially remember the act one Bossfight with Letho in the Catacombs, either i was badly prepared or sucked at the combat, Quen helped me to push through and experience the rest. Definitely a rather overlooked game considering how popular Wild Hunt was

[@TenaciousBuns]

Man you are way too good at this, I've only got 75% on like 102hrs

[@Arasaka]

I fell in love with The Witcher series when I accidentally stumbled on it when it first came out. Shame on Atari marketing for that. It was great to see how each game was progressively better than the last. For me this series is only rivalled by the Mass Effect series, but eclipses it by having a much better 3rd installment in terms of gameplay, story and - of course - ending. You are almost compelled to play through Witcher 2 twice given how different the split storyline is, and how much more things make sense by seeing it play out from the opposing perspective (though Broche is my preference). Great game, great review.

[@Fredericco1]

I like how this game work with your choices. Just look how many options you get in prologue.

[@justinp_]

I'm watching these videos in reverse order, cuz why not? I do what I want!. Anyway, this game got me into the Witcher franchise, thanks to a recommendation from TotalBiscuit I picked it up on steam sale. Best 5 bucks I've ever spent. I then read the books and played the 1st game all in preparation for Witcher 3... and sooo glad I did!

[@Vortexnicholas]

19:16 man this story is deep .

[@ArchitecturalAesthetics2046]

excellent review, I play it on xbox, furtunately didn't have to tinker with all the launcher, redistributable nonsense.

[@fafnyr2537]

After playing the second game and seeing the incredibly complex politics of the continent i was dissapointed with the only witcher 3 questline about it and how simplified it ended up being. To this day i wish that witcher 3 was more like second game, at least when it comes to consequences and story complexity..

[@John-996]

Played Witcher3 first but after Witcher 2 i am less impressed with it.

[@bigzachful]

A remake should have been released by now! I can’t believe it hasn’t been done by CD Project red. They took 2 more years to complete Cyberpunk 2077 and with a game with so much driving the driving still should have been way better! Why havnt some resources been invested into this given it will sell great!

[@chrismpope1]

Cedric's death hit me hard. What a scene.

[@davidthompson2237]

I used igni for the broken dragon at the end and it did a lot of damage to it. This was after over 20 attempts to directly go at it with swords or bombs

[@CatLikeSleep]

such an epic!

[@drcrowlee]

I had a phenomenal time with this game when I played this series for the 1st time last year. Played them in order and 2 was my favorite of the 3. I kind of hope that if they do remake it, that they leave it the same with just graphical and combat polishing rather than what I figure they will actually probably do, which is try to turn it into a Witcher 3 clone with this story. That would be a massive bummer

[@truskawka22]

Alchemy mutagen build was so strong even at launch plus a few points into swordmanship... But a year ago a discovered a great mod that gives you 2 talent points for each level, if u want to have absolute fun when playing The Witcher 2 then install it a be a Witcher god. Actually I somehow feel that TW2 perks were better than TW3 perks in the trees, excluding TW3 mutations which added some power to the builds.

[@VinceP1974]

W3 was my first witcher game. I had absolutely no idea who anyone was, who was King of what, etc... Made me wish I had played W2 first, which I eventually got to.

[@SanDiegoDaD]

You’re the best

[@plyzogyz]

probably my favorite rpg, dont know about this or wticher 3, fucking love that this game is so tight in its storytelling tho

[@quirrel1453]

Masterpiece

[@Kelseysophia]

I played this for the first time about 2 years ago on Xbox one, it was hard to figure out controls and finding quest markers was very confusing too(if they existed…)

[@coconutologist]

31:31 It's an RPG. Maybe I want to role play as Geralt, the vendor of used crap. To a bit more serious about it, if you limit the inventory, then you force people to return to towns, and this, for me, breaks the exploration. Onward to 200k. All glory to the algorithm.

[@makidiaz3894]

The ultimate breakfast burrito video 🌯.

[@onatgz]

hello mr. gaming, free comment. best regards,

[@1stSlug]

Holy crap. An hour long review. Damn.

[@AlHyckGaemsTAD]

Amazing. Now give us your Witcher 3 review, lol.

[@jackiedaytona1017]

A game that I pirated and loved so much I bought the special edition at a time I didn’t have a lot of money. I haven’t played it in years and seeing this makes me want to re-install.

[@ZDrive]

I think the innkeeper storage was added sometime after launch due to complaints. Maybe why it feels weird.

[@DrGaslight187]

Although I do think the Witcher 3 is technically a better game, Witcher 2 is still my favorite. The linearity shined brightly as it made me feel like the game wasn’t wasting my time. Plus, Letho is the goat 🐐

[@kaushalsuvarna5156]

My favourite game in the series, favourite game ever till Cyberpunk

[@looming_]

I want to replay this story so bad, but I still have ptsd from my last playthrough. Navigating that dwarven city was a nightmare.

[@KeytarArgonian]

The witch Henselt killed is none other than Sabrina Glevvisig, who appears in the Witcher books and Netflix show.

[@wojciechburakowski4164]

I have finished this game on dark without dark items (to make game harder). Alchemy is the most OP out of all trees. It is true that you can drink potions when you are outside of combat so you have to know what is coming. But if you know, alchemy all the way.

[@peloquin5652]

tbh, I am quite impressed with the XOne/SeriesX version of the game, its really a recommendation for anyone who can't get it to run on a PC or is a pure console player.

[@vlad4o813]

Witcher 2 is kind of like Alpha Protocol in a way. The story, characters, and overall writing is great. The game features actual choices and consequences with the plot massively diverging into separates paths depending on who you side with. But the gameplay is just not all that good and there's some incredibly baffling design choices. Witcher 3 is an overall better game, but I think Witcher 2 has much better writing.

[@gamerid6507]

this is a very long vid but enjoyable