what made the first games environments unique was not really the Slavic touch I don't think. it is there, even more so in the witcher 3 complete with Slavic styled music to boot but what made it special was something else and I don't think it was that it was dark either.
Visima is morbid in places and royal and happy in others. any way Visima wouldn't always have been so dark, the catriona plague had a hand in that along with increasing distrust with non humans thanks to the scoia'tael and the influence of propaganda. the powder keg that is Visima in the first game was amazing because it was an adventurous representation of a society battling issues. those issues are important parts of the books world and gave the games a unique quality inheriting similarities to the books story and its qualities.
now I get to my point. I would say that the 1st game didn't have outstandingly unique atmosphere in appearance. Visima was a relatively average looking medieval town like many, at least in my opinion even though it had some unique atmosphere. what made the environments so unique, to me, was that they, despite being in a fantasy game, are like anything but what you would expect in a fantasy world, compared with what we usually see in say skyrim or dragon age. the first game was more interested in being realistic than artistic, and where can you see that today in an RPG? most of the time they are stylized.
I think the witcher 3 has hit a good place between the 1 and 2 though. it caters for both people who prefer one or the other game, and is something new too.
Visima is morbid in places and royal and happy in others. any way Visima wouldn't always have been so dark, the catriona plague had a hand in that along with increasing distrust with non humans thanks to the scoia'tael and the influence of propaganda. the powder keg that is Visima in the first game was amazing because it was an adventurous representation of a society battling issues. those issues are important parts of the books world and gave the games a unique quality inheriting similarities to the books story and its qualities.
now I get to my point. I would say that the 1st game didn't have outstandingly unique atmosphere in appearance. Visima was a relatively average looking medieval town like many, at least in my opinion even though it had some unique atmosphere. what made the environments so unique, to me, was that they, despite being in a fantasy game, are like anything but what you would expect in a fantasy world, compared with what we usually see in say skyrim or dragon age. the first game was more interested in being realistic than artistic, and where can you see that today in an RPG? most of the time they are stylized.
I think the witcher 3 has hit a good place between the 1 and 2 though. it caters for both people who prefer one or the other game, and is something new too.