Gothic 2 NOTR is the best game I have ever played.
As for the second best, it a draw between TW1 and TW2. Give me game with story and general feel of TW1, but with TW2 like fighting system. TW1 was a high point, after the terrible disappointment of Gothic 3. The funny thing, I did not expected much of it, I have read somewhere that they are going to make a witcher game, it was about a month after going to cinema, to watch god-awful witcher movie, so I just shrugged "Ugh, one more abdomination, to rape Sapkowski's world".
As for the second best, it a draw between TW1 and TW2. Give me game with story and general feel of TW1, but with TW2 like fighting system. TW1 was a high point, after the terrible disappointment of Gothic 3. The funny thing, I did not expected much of it, I have read somewhere that they are going to make a witcher game, it was about a month after going to cinema, to watch god-awful witcher movie, so I just shrugged "Ugh, one more abdomination, to rape Sapkowski's world".
Is The Witcher 2 the best RPG I've played in years? Quite possibly. I still think the first game still edges it out, because it was just so damn fresh when it came out, and it was different from everything else that came out at the time. I'm a big fan of BioWare's games, too, though. The Mass Effect games have an incredibly compelling universe with awesome characters, as does The Witcher. But The Witcher beats out Mass Effect, because of far more consistent storytelling and the fact that the decisions you make have very tangible and serious consequences that make the game turn out VERY differently depending on how you act. Mass Effect is far more linear in that regard. But I really like how maturely The Witcher deals with sex, violence, racism and politics. Even though Geralt is the main character, many of the other characters are no less important, regardless of how long they may stay in the game. Both franchises have incredible music too. The Witcher 2's soundtrack is epic all it's own however. I also think that The Witcher games, while action RPGs, handle the RPG elements better than Mass Effect. Mass Effect comes across as more of a shooter than an RPG, but The Witcher FEELS like an RPG which I think is a far more compelling argument for The Witcher. Skyrim, while awesome in it's own right as an open-world RPG, doesn't come close to drawing you into its world like The Witcher. So, I guess, yeah, Witcher 2 is the best RPG I've played in years.