There are several times, the king you meet on the quest for Ciri and are questioned based on events from 2, most would have zero perspective on their choices. Not the end of the world but the lore does build on what came before. Also, just before your first battle with the Wild Huntsman , you get a tidbit of who they are but just a gloss over. I really enjoy making the choices and knowing my answers are what actually happened in my version of this series.
The stories are woven together nicely and the lore is more focused than what Bethesda has put out with the Elder Scroll series. I like them each for their approach but this version of the Witcher series has brought it up a couple notches with a ton of books, notes and other means to glean the back stories to the towns and places you visit. It has a nice adult approach to everything, this is not a kids game it was definitely designed for more mature audiences and that is something not many have even tried. The voice acting for the numerous Cutscene's (pun intended) are done very well and not overly long and tiresome.
For me, the graphics are stellar, than again I have everything pretty much maxed out at 1440P and it is gorgeous. They use the Nvidia hair tessellation and it is pretty cool, not seen it in any other game and gives the NPC's hair that flowing look that makes it that much more believable.
No doubt, at second to hardest level, this game and it's control set can lead to frustration. I have to keep reminding myself this is not a strictly offensive game and requires planning, avoidance and using your signs properly. Most of the game I have spent fighting mobs a bit higher than myself and solo they are not too bad, in groups they can get deadly quick. Mobs require focus and control to win. Spamming heal pots this game is not. One of the frustrating things is the dead spot around neutral movement, there is this pause when pivoting and moving during battle that is a PITA. Side stepping and rolling behind the mob is the key along with using either the Ard. AXII or even Igni to get the mobs to pause for a better position on them. Hit and run tactics have been working well for me so far.
Fall damage is seriously broken. Running into a camp to attack some cannibals I use their tent that is just staked to the ground and offering a nice ramp for a surprise attack. The fall from the top of the tent to the ground was about eight feet and it killed my lvl 7 toon...
So far have gone through the starter zone and the next, the Southern of the two choices. This second map is huge and has so many things to explore, I like finding the hidden stuff so spend a ton of time looking around. I can see this game taking me quite some time to get through. Also, there are potions later on that will allow you to wipe your skill points to redistribute, good touch and something you usually only see in an MMO.
No doubt, this game is full of what life is more like, a whole lot of gray area when making decisions. The others are pretty easy, cannibals just need to die :-P
Rabbit hunting for meat with the x-bow has kept me busy for a couple hours :-P
For me, I have to give a solid 9.5, the bit of mark down is about the control set around neutral position. It would seem some compromises were made for the PC version as the console search for a controller is on every load of the game. I hope they will patch the fall damage situation, it is a bit absurd at the moment.
