Some game franchises do not deserve their success.
It has been, and still is a complete mystery to me how some gaming franchises manage to survive financially, and more over THRIVE doing little else but making empty promises, driving the hype-train and delivering title after title of cookie cutter game-play glazed with a bland sauce of AAA style graphics.
It's a plague (*cough* EA) that has haunted the gaming industry for over a decade now, and has left old school PC gamers like myself and many others with an empty feeling in the gut that was once filled with the satisfaction of playing a game that met those emotional niches which are simply to elaborate, outlandish or expensive to pursuit in real life.
Fortunately for us there are exceptions to what has sadly become the rule, and CPR is certainly one of those exceptions.
Unlike many here, I'm sure, I've only recently discovered The Witcher franchise. For some reason that i have only myself to blame for, I had previously discarded The Witcher games as being just more cookie cutter filler in the AAA realm. It was only due to a friend essentially harassing me into buying and trying The Witcher 2 that I finally, and I might add reluctantly, tried out a few hours in the shoes of Geralt The Witcher.
And boy, am i glad I did! About the first half hour of playing was all skepticism and prejudice on my part... the following couple of hours were all full of "wow", "awesome!" and "daaaamn". Everything I've seen so far has just been amazing; the story, the mechanics, the locations, the moral choices, the graphics, sound, and especially the no bars hold complete and utter disregard for modern day BS politics. Truly a mature game for mature players. That little aspect alone makes this game special... the fact that it's damn good to boot just makes it an instant classic. Atleast as far as i'm concerned.
Really, really good stuff.
And as if that wasn't enough, there's a sequel, and it's already here, and it looks amazing! I dread to get my hopes up, but after playing The Witcher 2, I just can't HELP but be excited about The Wild Hunt, and I just can't HELP but expect more of the same. And hell... if The Wild Hunt is half as good as The Witcher 2, it'll still be amazing.
I wont touch it though, oh no, not till i finished The Witcher 2 up and down and sideways! Cause really, something like this, has to be properly enjoyed, and not rushed through.
So yeah, instant fan here, and if you CPR guys are reading this; You guys are awesome! I hope you guys will be making games for decades, and will keep saying "F*** politics" every step of the way.