Why IMO, The Witcher 1 is the best in the series - As fast as possible
Just my own opinion. But as amazing as TW3 is, it's no TW1. For anyone thinking to try it or can't seem to get into it, I recommend sticking with it. It really is a brilliant game.
Ambiance
TW1 has it in spades. When among the poor and suffering, you really do feel their pain and it makes you feel off kilter. From the old ladies complaining about old age and creaking bones, to the beggars exclaiming they are literally starving. Then onto foul mouthed banter you hear at the Inns, which look really dusty and downtrodden. The music fits in perfectly and adds to the atmosphere, deepening the immersion.
TW2 was the worst for this IMO, it felt more like a movie at times. TW3 is awesome for this too but there is something about Open World that diminished the immersion for me. Your imagination makes up for the places you can't reach in the closed world of TW1 but it still feels like you have enough room to explore. In Open World, you can usually go to that place on the other side of the wall so the intrigue is removed, bit by bit.
Gameplay / Mechanics
Technically TW1 was the worst out of the three and it was definitely more clunky but it felt like it had more depth and I do prefer this to the others, specifically the following:
Talent Tree
Had different branches for steel, silver and signs. All of them could be upgraded fully if you spend enough time levelling.
Combat
You had three fighting styles per sword. One for heavy armour/slow attackers, one of fast/agile opponents, and one for when you were fighting multiple enemies. Each style had it's own animations (so 6 in total) and, could easily be switched mid fight to suit the opponent. This was very fun to play, especially later in the game, when you have been able to make some progress on the talent trees because, this enables you to link up different attack stages if you attack at the right time.
Drinking
You could get totally smashed with people. This allowed you to sometimes gather extra bits of info on missions, other times it was just fun for the dialogue. Geralt would sound drunk and would stagger all over the place and remained so for quote some time.
Bribing
You could bribe people with orens, gifts or show them special items like rings in order to gain access to buildings or gain additional information.
Day/Night cycle
This lasted the longest in TW1 and it genuinely changed how you play the game. Different people would be available at night that wouldn't be available during the day. Doing activities would change depending on what time of day you did it. A lot of monsters would also only appearing at night so you felt much safer during the day and are always a bit more on edge at night because this is when drowners and vampires appear.
Alchemy/Meditation
Could only be done while meditating but you could only meditate beside a fire.
Sex Cards
They were a great artistic touch to the game. You never got to see anything really but the resulting Sex cards were pretty cool lil collections to have. I think red made more of an effort on the RPG side of things with this kind of stuff and it really enhanced the overall experience.
Just my own opinion. But as amazing as TW3 is, it's no TW1. For anyone thinking to try it or can't seem to get into it, I recommend sticking with it. It really is a brilliant game.
Ambiance
TW1 has it in spades. When among the poor and suffering, you really do feel their pain and it makes you feel off kilter. From the old ladies complaining about old age and creaking bones, to the beggars exclaiming they are literally starving. Then onto foul mouthed banter you hear at the Inns, which look really dusty and downtrodden. The music fits in perfectly and adds to the atmosphere, deepening the immersion.
TW2 was the worst for this IMO, it felt more like a movie at times. TW3 is awesome for this too but there is something about Open World that diminished the immersion for me. Your imagination makes up for the places you can't reach in the closed world of TW1 but it still feels like you have enough room to explore. In Open World, you can usually go to that place on the other side of the wall so the intrigue is removed, bit by bit.
Gameplay / Mechanics
Technically TW1 was the worst out of the three and it was definitely more clunky but it felt like it had more depth and I do prefer this to the others, specifically the following:
Talent Tree
Had different branches for steel, silver and signs. All of them could be upgraded fully if you spend enough time levelling.
Combat
You had three fighting styles per sword. One for heavy armour/slow attackers, one of fast/agile opponents, and one for when you were fighting multiple enemies. Each style had it's own animations (so 6 in total) and, could easily be switched mid fight to suit the opponent. This was very fun to play, especially later in the game, when you have been able to make some progress on the talent trees because, this enables you to link up different attack stages if you attack at the right time.
Drinking
You could get totally smashed with people. This allowed you to sometimes gather extra bits of info on missions, other times it was just fun for the dialogue. Geralt would sound drunk and would stagger all over the place and remained so for quote some time.
Bribing
You could bribe people with orens, gifts or show them special items like rings in order to gain access to buildings or gain additional information.
Day/Night cycle
This lasted the longest in TW1 and it genuinely changed how you play the game. Different people would be available at night that wouldn't be available during the day. Doing activities would change depending on what time of day you did it. A lot of monsters would also only appearing at night so you felt much safer during the day and are always a bit more on edge at night because this is when drowners and vampires appear.
Alchemy/Meditation
Could only be done while meditating but you could only meditate beside a fire.
Sex Cards
They were a great artistic touch to the game. You never got to see anything really but the resulting Sex cards were pretty cool lil collections to have. I think red made more of an effort on the RPG side of things with this kind of stuff and it really enhanced the overall experience.
All this is great, but imagine if the second and third games have took the same path. It would be stupid. I think that TW2 and now 3 expanded in the right way and are both amazing games.Great point about the day/night cycle though. In the first game you really had to be sure that you want to walk alone at night. There were more monsters bandits and other stuff. It was great and it's too bad that was removed from latter games.
