Should I play Witcher 2 first?

[xdevnull]

I played the TW2, but not TW1, though I watched it on youtube. Play TW2 because it is a great game, and the gameplay is more similar to TW3. As you can see in the thread, there are a lot of witcher lore videos to watch if you want to get the background - however - from what I've seen of this game:

If you want to know what is going on in the background, what the back story is, skip the games and read the books. More than the other games this one is picking up where the books left off, specifically the 5 book series (though there are a couple of stories from the short story collection to read). In fact the political situation at the end of TW2 is oftly similar to the one at the end of the books, just with a different river border.

And yes, the fan translations have some problems, but they aren't too bad either.

 

[turuzzusapatuttu]

1. Read the books

2. Play Witcher 1

3. Play Witcher 2

So much this!

 

[tahirahmed]

If I were you then I'd definitely play TW1 and TW2 before going into TW3. Since one of the best point of TW series is the strong emphasis on story, I won't dare miss anything.

Here I also hope (humbly) from CDPR that they don't wash everything we did in previous games in order to make the new game more accessible for players on consoles (particularly PS4). One of the main reasons Crysis 2 failed to impress me is because they (Crytek) almost eradicated everything and tried to start something else.

So even if Northern Kingdoms are gone now, I hope our decisions from the past games do have meaningful impact or weight in the new game.

 

[shawn_kh]

Should I play Witcher 2 first?
It is a great game, so of course you should. Witcher 2 along with Red Dead Redemption, the Last of Us, Assassin's Creed 2 and few others are on my MUST play list. If you do not own a PC or Xbox 360, then it will not detract from the fun you experience playing the Witcher 3.
Grab it and play it if you have the means, and you will not regret it.

 

[Garrison72]

OP has about a month left, not much time to read all the books and play both games. The best crash course would be Witcher 2, since major players and decisions are being carried over from that game, not Witcher 1. Also gives him a chance to get familiar with the unique mechanics Witcher brings to the table.

 

[BlackWolf500.298]

Read the books.

The order is:

The Last Wish (has an English version)
The Sword of Destiny (fan translated)

Spoiler

SoD

Blood of Elves (has an English version)
Time of Contempt (has an English version)
Baptism of Fire (has an English version)
The Swallow's Tower
Lady of the Lake

Then there is TW1 and TW2. Definitely recommend playing them.
If - for whatever reason - you are not able to, here are some summaries of the plot:

What is a Witcher?
CDPR Witcher 1 Story Recap
The Witcher 1 Retrospective (Elder-Geek)
The Witcher 2 Retrospective (Elder-Geek)

 

[JacobWitcher]

Aye, you should. :yes But you don't have to if you don't want to. :happy:

Anyway, instead of importing saves and previous choices from previous games (quite a few choices I might add) you apparently can choose from these even as a new player, (and correct Dandelion) while he recaps the story so far.

Well, that is my impression anyway.

It sounds good that you get these choices anyway.

 

[Bellator Pius Gratus]

It sounds good that you get these choices anyway.

Well, it's CDPR. They don't punish new gamers for not knowing the story. I know my first playthrough wasn't marred in any way.

I played Witcher 1 first time without even knowing of Sapkowski. I remember reading the short story they added with the game(from The Last Wish), thinking that the devs(!) really had invested time and effort in selling their product, if they hired someone to write short stories for them.

Yeah, I grew wise fast.

Second time around, I played the same game and even made the same choices. But having read two books made all the difference. They don't punish you for being a new player, but they do reward those who have read the books with little anecdotes, jokes and puns only they will know.

"Her name was Cirilla, but what does that matter?"
- Innkeeper in Murky Waters.

 

[zMorfz]

I just got me a copy of TW2 :victory:

 

[JacobWitcher]

I've played Witcher 2 now for a hour or so, and the combat didn't feel so great.

 

[Lieste]

I found vanilla W2 a bit meh. Too much rolling for my tastes, and everything tanks too much too for my taste.

I restarted with FCR (as I had previously with The Witcher) and enjoyed it a lot more. (though there are far fewer items, the improved combat feel more than makes up for that (and I preferred the reduced 'special magical' stuff lying everywhere aspect too ~ I only mention it because it causes some questions from time to time)).

The W3 combat seems to be closer to FCR than to vanilla W2 so I am hopeful for the first play through in vanilla W3.

 

[JacobWitcher]

So I'm playing Witcher 2 on normal difficulty and at first the combat didn't feel so good.
I only discovered the skill system by accidentally hitting the C button and that was after I had reached level 4.

But now it does feel a little better after I've gotten used to it and discovered the skill system.
And I see now it's more about movement and less about beating your enemies with the sword like a maniac.

But I must say this game is quite difficult on normal difficulty.
I guess the Witcher 3 combat is the same..

 

[BlackWolf500.298]

So I'm playing Witcher 2 on normal difficulty and at first the combat didn't feel so good.
I only discovered the skill system by accidentally hitting the C button and that was after I had reached level 4.

But now it does feel a little better after I've gotten used to it and discovered the skill system.
And I see now it's more about movement and less about beating your enemies with the sword like a maniac.

But I must say this game is quite difficult on normal difficulty.
I guess the Witcher 3 combat is the same..

If it's your first time playing The Witcher playing the Arena/Tutorial might have been good since it teaches you Alchemy, Skills, Traps and Bombs.

Yes, the combat is mainly about movement and exploiting weaknesses of enemies. Experimenting with bombs, signs and stuff might be useful for you.

TW3 combat is similar in it's basic structure but CD Project Red fine-tuned it a lot, so expect less unnecessary rolling around and more tactics in TW3.
Also, a thing I discovered myself is that the main difficulty in TW2's combat comes from the fact that we often have very limited space to fight since the environment often drops us in some kind of "arena" where we would have to climb out of if we wanted to flee, but since you can't climb during combat you have to stay within that area, which is often half of why the fights were so difficult for me. But don't worry, TW3 will have more open spaces. Also, you get used to it over time.
Make sure to take potions if you KNOW that you have a fight ahead of you, also keep a look out for merchants and smiths which can sell or craft you better armor.

Another hint if I may. You might want to disable the "difficult QTEs" in the menu, because I myself found the QTEs very annoying. Many didn't like it so CDPR did include an option to disable it in the Enhanced Edition.

 

[JacobWitcher]

I can imagine the open world will be so much better because now I find myself in the forest and it does sometimes feel like a maze when you are moving around in combat.

But what I wonder most about at the moment is if I can jump in Witcher 3.. because clicking left mouse button to move over a small wall or down a wall does not feel awesome.

 

[Sken]

I can imagine the open world will be so much better because now I find myself in the forest and it does sometimes feel like a maze when you are moving around in combat.

But what I wonder most about at the moment is if I can jump in Witcher 3.. because clicking left mouse button to move over a small wall or down a wall does not feel awesome.

You can climb and jump in Witcher 3, there have been many improvements to combat and general game play overall.