It's still so weird to me. I remember reading the books as a kid, in like 2001. I was a huge fun ever since. Twenty years later, this is a worldwide mainstream franchise. Very dreamy, weird.
I discovered the Witcher through a song by a polish death metal band of all things and bought the game and newly translated first book shortly afterwards. Needless to say it has grown a bit 😂
I'm currently reading through the books after playing all of the 3 games. It's so freakin good, many of the sections and storylines are maybe even better than Martins's Asoiaf books. Then CD project brought it to life and made it a masterpiece in Witcher 3. Sapkowski and also the CD projekt main developers should be awarded by some awards in Poland. It's an art.
I really liked the Witcher 1, i've played it many times over the years. The best thing for me in this game is how they managed to really give this gloomy feeling of despair, poverty and war. Almost everyone in this game is somewhat miserable, there's truly no hero, no defined morality but only shades of grey. Everyone is out for himself. It's funny because everytime I think about this game, the setting is what keeps me from replaying it and at the same time what draws me to it. It truly weighs down on you but at the same time it enlights you about human condition.
Very happy you decided to go back and play the original Witcher games. This game holds a very special place in my heart..the atmosphere mixed with the phenomenal music especially in Chapter 2 is amazing.
When you walk around the big town ( Vizima ? ) towards the end of the game & you have already collected a hefty number of " love cards " , you can hear someone in the streets yelling : " Witcher coming ! Hide your women ! " 🤣😂🤣😂...so funny
even in my late 40's Its a charming game and played it for the first time in 2022 lol. It does have some quirkiness but still enjoyable. I have about 70 hrs into it and still need to finish game
still holds up after all these years. the quest structure, especially with the detective-style investigation, really impressed me. What's funny about the awkward combat is that many reviewers praised it as innovative and refreshing when it first came out. It's only with hindsight that we see it as clunky and outdated.
This was one of my favorite games back in the day. It was my introduction into the franchise and have been a fan ever since. Also River of Life is still one of my favorite tracks from the whole series. Really gave that part of the game a different vibe.
Oh damn I just started another playthrough of it (modded) and then you upload this. My third time playing it and it is still a great game. I remember playing it after reading the books and just seeing them straight spoil book events which I got a good laugh out of.
>just finished chapter 1 Man I am now remembering how questionable some of the dialogue and writing is. A lot of it just feels very stiff if that is the right word for it. It is like they had a good idea for the overall stuff (granted they mainly took a lot of it just from the books) but since it was really their first major game the writing comes off as not good. I heard it had a poor localization so that might be one of the reasons why.
OMG I’m playing through this right now after having finished the novels. I’m so excited to hear your thoughts because I have plenty of my own lol I love this
I remember the exact day I bought the collectors edition and where I bought it, and the exact price I paid, back in 2007. What fond memories I have! I walked into the local EB games and was browsing and noticed the PC collectors edition in the glass cabinet behind the counter. I asked if I could have a look at it and all I did was quickly flick through the art book to know this game was going to be something special. I bought it on a whim. To this day, this is the game I cherish unlike no other.
I'm very sad that the battle system is probably getting a big overhaul in the remaster. I really enjoyed it personally, very nice mix of being able to actually watch the fights and still needing to pay a little attention. Do know A LOT of folks didn't care for the timing aspect, though.
Combat is actually the same as in KOTOR, but because you only have Geralt they introduced timing aspect so as to give you something more to do....I also liked the combat in Witcher 1..It was very tense ..
The combat system is hopeless unless you press the mouse. However, the fighting styles, movements and combos themselves are super cool actually rare in games in 2007. Unfortunately, people underestimated the game because of all this clicking.
Awesome sauce. I just started it again also and just got into the major town. Woot Woot. I really enjoyed the game, once you get the timed attacks down you can, absolutely, motor through mobs.
oh! nice ;D Technical side of this game aged badly but I still like 1st Witcher a lot! Great characters and great atmosphere. I still remmeber being 15 yo and playing it on PC that was barely working and waiting for 20 or so minutes to enter Trade Distircit in Vizima, the loading took so long ^^ Have fun with replaying it!
Just finished my second play through of this game as the Neutral witcher last week, after playing the Scoia'tael path 8 years ago. It was one of my favorite games the first time I experienced it, and somehow still managed to be significantly better my second time through. I actually enjoy the combat here more than the Witcher 2. Hopefully they don't change too much in the remake other than the 20~ hours of backtracking you have to do to complete all the side quests.
I played this for the first time earlier this year and freaking LOVED it. I tried starting it a couple years ago and never got out of the tutorial because the combat didn’t click for me but this time I managed to get it down and just enjoyed the hell out of every aspect of the game. Looking forward to the full review!
A friend of mine gifted it to me in far away 2014 with the first sequel. I had an hard time to make it run, even if the sequel run like a charm, never understood the reason, but was able to do a complete playtrough. I loved it even with all the difects, even the bloody aurora engine which I hate with all my heart. I loved how they intruduced the lore and the characters, making Geralt Amnisiac was a good move even if I wasn't expecting it, especially after having read the books beforehand playing this 2 games. Hope you like it and rewiev its sequel, especially The Witcher 2 of which I have really fond memories of late evenings playing it.
I liked it a lot back in '07, it was a time before Game of Thrones and all the grimdark fantasy so it was very refreshing. Also it feels way more authentic and ethnic compared to 2 and 3, which have been dumbed down a bit. It's curious how trends go on circles. Now the refreshing thing is almost standard D&D fantasy with clear good guys & villains
Funny you mention Game of Thrones because 4 out of 5 of the books were out in 2007, I've been reading them since I was in middle school and I'm now in my late 30's. More of a testament to how long Martin has been dragging his feet with the series.
Do you remember how different the control scheme was from other games of the time? I remember it being very unintuitive. It seems to have been fleshed out over the years, or I am just now a gamer god... Happy Holidays Mort! Thanks for all the great entertainment.
Had a similar experience growing up - I had to turn all the settings down as much as possible, put the game at a small resolution, and still had to play with at a really choppy FPS with a 1 secondish-ish input delay. Still managed to play it until I reached the Merchant's quarter and the number of NPCs turned the game into a slideshow. ❤
I played this game about 3 years ago and i loved it. I also remember how broken Igni is. Legit, thats the only sign i leveled up and i would demolish almost every enemy with it.
This game and Star Ocean First Departure and Star Ocean Second Evolution are some of my favorite RPG'S ever. I've played all three of them for the first time years after release and all games took me by surprise. The grim atmosphere and storytelling in TW1 is amaxing. I still haven't finished The Witcher 2 and haven't even started The Witcher 3, so those are still on my to-do list. If you haven't played those Star Ocean games yet, I would recommend you to do so. Originally these are PSP remakes of older SNES and PSOne games, but First Departure has been remastered on Switch and PS4. Second Evolution (the best of the two) sadly hasn't gotten a remaster, but if you can get your hands on a PSP, Vita or an emulator, you should check it out!
Small note there are different voice actors between the original release and EE and also some dialogues have been rewritten. I remember disliking the EE version and going back to the base so that might account for some dialogues not being the way you remember them or voice actors not sounding the same :)
I played it around the same time in 2008 and had the same issues with 5 minute+ loading screens. Enhanced edition that came later fixed all that - but it did also change a lot of the voice acting and in many cases made it significantly worse. I don't think it significantly changed the written dialogue that I remember, but it definitely affected how a lot of the key characters sound.
this was one of my favorite games in the whole world, i finished it on all difficulties and made me read all the novels and short stories... i wanted witcher 2 like mad, was disappointed a little, but the witcher 3 came and it was the greatest game in the world...
I’m actually playing through this game right now, I’m new to the Witcher series and wanted to start from the first. Having a lot of fun so far! Although I reset my playthrough once since I got a quest outcome I didn’t want and had no backup saves far enough to change it lol.
Good times, I must go back and replay the series again sometime. I remember the combat was a bit clunky in this one (but functional), and the story was good. I look forward to your review on the enhanced edition Morty!
Last time I played this was in 3D on a high refresh samsung monitor and syncmaster 3d glasses using TriDef 3d software. The cutscenes actually translated really well to 3d and added to the horror theme/atmosphere that the game/story was going for (Geralt - supernatural detective) before it became a bit more action movie-like in later games. The storys villian still has the best twist of the 3 games.
I don`t remember what camera is for default but if you doesn`t try isometric view for a playthrough i recommend you do. I think is the way the game was intended to be played. If i remember correctly the over the soulder camera was added with enchanced edition, the original game was isometric only.
That is great you are playing the game :) The dialogue in the game's original language makes perfect sense - in fact, it is very good and for the most part, lifted directly from the books or at least heavily inspired by certain conversations written by Sapkowski. I am afraid that the English translation is of poor quality. In most cases, it is the other way around ;)
Fighting system is very interesting in this game. Not the best, but it's not just button mashing. I also like the medallion mechanic. It's nothing big, just minor detail, but i like things like that.
Great vid. I absolutely adore Witcher 2: AoK and I played the hell out of Wild Hunt. But that first game, man, I tried. The swamp. Good lord. What is it? Chapter 2? That fkin swamp killed me. I'm def interested in a rerelease / remake / whatever. Jacob Anderson's multi-hour vid on Witcher 1 is what compelled me to get into the series.
I actually liked the atmosphere of 1 the most. It has a very Eastern European feel. Uncovering aspects of it were also better than the other two. Gameplay of course 3 is best.
Very fresh to see a person who acctually plays CRPGs not shit all over the combat system. Most reviews of this game are from people who dont play CRPGs regularly and they completely trash the combat for not being an action based system.
Morti, remember to keep the Witcher 1 save so u can eventually use it on the following Witcher games, since they carry over some details from the previous games all the way to Witcher 3 and may be something u can discuss it in future reviews.
@@loxodoncyclotis1823 i cant say i remember exactly what does and does not carry between the games (some Shani dialog changes at least, if im not mistaken), but the fact is that the Witcher trilogy was made somewhat like Mass Effect did (although with way less public knowledge), and u were able to carry the save from W1->W2->W3. Its something to consider, thats all.
I've played all 3 to death, 100% on 3, missing 3 achievements on 2 but saw all 16 endings back when I was still playing it. Despite not covering it on the channel up to now, I'm very familiar with all of them
Oddly enough the first game actually holds my attention best in the trilogy. It has a good amount of side content but not enough where you can do everything and not get burned out like in 3 trying to clear the map.
for whatever reasons, people seem to hate this game but for me, I absolutely love it and I would not have it remade at all. Maybe a graphical update is all it needs.
I played it for the first time in 2020 during the shutdown. I wanted to dig into the backstory so I decided to force myself to play 1 & 2. Both janky in their own way but well worth playing. You can play it more easily now because you are the King of Jank after playing Gothic and Elex.
I actually think I like this game more than the other 2. It lets you regularly upgrade and use most, if not all, weapon styles and signs while the other games focus on specializing. Plus you can spend a lot of the early-mid game trying to refuse getting involved in anything more than killing monsters, which while some of the other stories are great, I think just having some hunts like a more down-to-earth Monster Hunter is cool. Definitely looking forward to the remake.
Why would you look forward to the remake. it is just going to use crappy witcher 3 combat and skill system and again not let you use most weapon styles and signs.
Brings me back to goodness... Middleschool? Freshmen high school year? It was an amazing formative experience alongside Deus Ex of what to expect from rpgs. I get disappointed a lot.
Witcher 1 remains to be my favourite of the trilogy. A bit due to nostalgia, was a gift to my 18th birthday, but still. I think it holds up pretty great, there are some wonky parts, but largely world building and story telling (and the twist) are subperb. Also I really think that the character and progression system is vastly superior to that of its successors.
@@MortismalGaming I played all of the Witcher games during their release (sort of, after the bugs were fixed) and just answered the questions at the prologue during the next game. I am about to finish the Blood and Wine expansion again, after I imported a save file of Witcher 2, to which I imported a save from Witcher 1. I must say, only minor details change and are only mentioned through dialogue, with the corresponding NPC. One example; It does not matter if you decide to remain neutral in Witcher 1, you still become involved in the political struggle of Witcher 2 in exactly the same way, even if you sided with the Knights of the Flaming Rose or the non Humans. Which is cannon (as in the books, Geralt also just happens upon the eye of the storm) but in the games, apart from a different opening summary, the story flows only within each game's narrative structure ignoring past choices, making the save import meaningless. That said, I really do not have the luxury to extensively test my findings, as my time, currently, is barely enough to finish a game in 2 months... But it would be nice to test if the import impacts the game in a more profound way. If you have the time to retrospect all 3 Witcher games (I am assuming you will eventually test the "Next Gen" update of Witcher 3), keep the saves from Witcher 1 and 2 and continue the story where you left it on Witcher 3 and compare it with a non imported playthrough.
When the game was released only the first of the Witcher books had been published in English (The Last Wish). I played the game on release but i wonder if I'd get more out of the game's story now i know the full story arc of the books?
Personally didn't think it aged well and there's not much of a modding scene unfortunately to remedy this. On a positive note I did think the npc's going to shelter when it rained was really cool.
Hopefully cdpr can pull this off in a satisfactory way, I would love to replay Witcher 1 with a more interesting combat system, less "rustic" dialogue and less horror-show faces.
The dialogue not makindg sense is partially related to localization/translation/writing issues. I've played this in English for a while and the dialogue indeed was very off most of the time and did not convey accurately what was about to happen. It makes a LOT of sense in Polish which is the language the writing style is at it's best in, but that makes it all the harder for Western audiences
Its was just like Gothic in a sence main target was central Europe and eastern hordes not english speaking western countries. Did play it with polish german and russian dubbing and it did hold up more than well english however was just as rought as gothic one. Atari being the publisher might have something to do with it.
About the dialogue (and voiceover): Odd. I don't remember the dialogue being bad at all, and I haven't played this game all the way back when it was released. I played the Witcher 2 years before I've played the first one, so there isn't really any nostalgia tainting my memory of the game. It *might* be down to the fact that I've played it in Polish. Voiceover was mostly great, and as for the dialogue - maybe it got mistranslated in places, resulting in lower quality than it was in Polish?
One of my favourite series of games, and the Witcher 1 still owns, though it wasn't till the Enhanced Edition that I was able to make any reasonable progress with it. Prior to that it would crash like crazy and was buggy as hell otherwise. Genuinely surprised I stuck with it, however the way it did rpgs and handled choices was very refreshing. I could make choices that felt like they made sense and it didn't all feel so incredibly binary and boring like it was with a lot of the standard Bioware fodder I disliked. Going to be waiting on the Remake before I do another run though. I've tried however it's a ton of hours to invest in that game and that's time I don't have currently, as I'm currently binging my way through Witcher 3 after the recent Next Gen update.
The first game can be a little janky to get through coz there is a lot of back and forth with quests and a portion of the game can feel very long and sort of boring. But the story itself is interesting. And it kind of ties into the other 2. Witcher 2 and 3 are where this trilogy gets amazing.
Talk about sending me down Amnesia Lane. I *tried* to play the original. But it hated my computer. Then I played the enhanced edition on the PC I bought after. It took most of a day to download and install the EE back then. As it was one of the 1st purely digital expansions I ever saw. And generally I preferred hard copies back then. The gameplay was janky. The dialogue clumsy. But the setting and story were fantastic. And given I was still playing unmodded Infinity Engine and Fallout 1 & 2 at the time, janky gameplay never stopped me.
I played the original back in the day, and remember having a hard time getting into the combat, thanks to Diablo II muscle memory. I honestly don't remember if I gave the Enhanced edition a try or not. Does it still have the trading cards for Geralt's sexual conquests?
Ehh it's one of those games that kind of hangs out in a grey area. There's an isometric camera available, choices that affect the story, a few builds even. It's pretty similiar to DA: Origins with simpler builds. So naturally it depends on who you ask, but for me...yeah...BARELY, but yeah.
@@MortismalGaming Thanks for the reply. I got dunked on a popular gaming site's comment section for calling it an isometric CRPG when CDPR themselves in an interview called it as such. But yeah, I agree. Just checking I'm not the crazy one.
It's rough and the writing is uneven (also as I understand the english voice acting and translation is worse than most other languages), but it still has the best music by far and the best atmosphere (especially the "fairy tales" chapter 5) of the trilogy. Also the best investigation in any RPG I've played and one of the best last minute plot twist (in part because it's not spelled out for you). And it made me pick up the books, so there's that. BTW are there other games where people run towards roofs when it's raining ? It blew my mind at the time.
I love this game so much, it introduced me into the Witcher world as a whole. I bought the Witcher3 at first, but couldn't really get into it, mainly because I hadn't the essential knowledge of the world to fully comprehend it. Then I played this game and, although it didn't really capture me until the end of chapter 1, I already knew from the beginning that, like you said, the game is set in a vast lively world filled with real substance of ambiguity and grey morality. I've also read the books and you can see the great parallels between the games and the books.
The game was super flawed technically plus my PC at the time couldn't handle it.. Nonetheless, I finished the first playthrough and I loved it. I finished it once more after I upgraded my PC and I liked ot even more. It's that game that made me read all the books -not even translated in English back then.I bought all of them when they did. The graphics and the general atmosphere/setting are stellar and they made it stand out of all the shiny, colourful fantasy games of its period. Plus the story is awesome and I am a sucker for a good story over many things.
I've tried three different times to play this game, and I just can't. I've never been able to stick to it for more than a few minutes before I just lose interest. That's a shame because I haven't played 2 or 3 either because I feel I have to play this one first (Yeah, I know they are all "stand alone" but...). I hope the remake helps get me over that hump.
I hated the combat design and, there was a swamp with invisible walls around chapter 3 that made me rage quit (though I pushed myself through that swamp). I am a stubborn completionist, but this is one of the few I quit. Will play the total remake though.
Awkward dialoge is probably due to game beeing done in Polish first, then translated. CDPR was at time of makeing this game still a preety small studio, and they probably just could not afford profesional voice crew for other laguages. Game also predates official english translations of books it's based upon. It's great to see it still holds up well, and it's regared as cult classic ( especialy in it's home country ). Not a small achivment for game with this unortodox combat controls :D.
I played this in 2017 alongside the other two. I absolutely hated it, close to zero redeeming qualities in a design and gameplay sense. It'll be interesting to hear full thoughts.
This game is still a janky masterpiece. Combat always was the weakest part but the story, characters, quest design and world building were absolutely top notch. When I got to the end I felt I had just played something truly special. Only a handful of games have ever made me feel this way.
It's still so weird to me. I remember reading the books as a kid, in like 2001. I was a huge fun ever since. Twenty years later, this is a worldwide mainstream franchise. Very dreamy, weird.
I discovered the Witcher through a song by a polish death metal band of all things and bought the game and newly translated first book shortly afterwards.
Needless to say it has grown a bit 😂
This is me with A Song of Ice and Fire (A Game of Thrones). I read the books back in 2002, it was bizarre when the TV show made it pop culture.
@@HistoryTeacherSteve I read AGoT in 1997, so it's been a looooong wait for these books.
@@johnreynolds2512 he swears he's close to finishing the next book lol.
I'm currently reading through the books after playing all of the 3 games. It's so freakin good, many of the sections and storylines are maybe even better than Martins's Asoiaf books. Then CD project brought it to life and made it a masterpiece in Witcher 3. Sapkowski and also the CD projekt main developers should be awarded by some awards in Poland. It's an art.
I really liked the Witcher 1, i've played it many times over the years. The best thing for me in this game is how they managed to really give this gloomy feeling of despair, poverty and war. Almost everyone in this game is somewhat miserable, there's truly no hero, no defined morality but only shades of grey. Everyone is out for himself. It's funny because everytime I think about this game, the setting is what keeps me from replaying it and at the same time what draws me to it. It truly weighs down on you but at the same time it enlights you about human condition.
Very happy you decided to go back and play the original Witcher games. This game holds a very special place in my heart..the atmosphere mixed with the phenomenal music especially in Chapter 2 is amazing.
I'm playing through it for the first time after years of waiting to get a computer just for the Witcher and the book I'm writing
When you walk around the big town ( Vizima ? ) towards the end of the game & you have already collected a hefty number of " love cards " , you can hear someone in the streets yelling : " Witcher coming ! Hide your women ! " 🤣😂🤣😂...so funny
even in my late 40's Its a charming game and played it for the first time in 2022 lol. It does have some quirkiness but still enjoyable. I have about 70 hrs into it and still need to finish game
I'm genuinely curious to see your take on the series now. Onward to 200k. All glory to the algorithm.
still holds up after all these years. the quest structure, especially with the detective-style investigation, really impressed me.
What's funny about the awkward combat is that many reviewers praised it as innovative and refreshing when it first came out. It's only with hindsight that we see it as clunky and outdated.
This was one of my favorite games back in the day. It was my introduction into the franchise and have been a fan ever since. Also River of Life is still one of my favorite tracks from the whole series. Really gave that part of the game a different vibe.
Oh damn I just started another playthrough of it (modded) and then you upload this. My third time playing it and it is still a great game. I remember playing it after reading the books and just seeing them straight spoil book events which I got a good laugh out of.
>just finished chapter 1
Man I am now remembering how questionable some of the dialogue and writing is. A lot of it just feels very stiff if that is the right word for it. It is like they had a good idea for the overall stuff (granted they mainly took a lot of it just from the books) but since it was really their first major game the writing comes off as not good. I heard it had a poor localization so that might be one of the reasons why.
I was just thinking "I bet mortismal uploaded I should check" and sure enough! Very impressive.
OMG I’m playing through this right now after having finished the novels. I’m so excited to hear your thoughts because I have plenty of my own lol I love this
I remember the exact day I bought the collectors edition and where I bought it, and the exact price I paid, back in 2007.
What fond memories I have! I walked into the local EB games and was browsing and noticed the PC collectors edition in the glass cabinet behind the counter. I asked if I could have a look at it and all I did was quickly flick through the art book to know this game was going to be something special. I bought it on a whim. To this day, this is the game I cherish unlike no other.
Came for your CRPG reviews and find your other reviews, especially with some old games really great. Keep on the good work!
I'm very sad that the battle system is probably getting a big overhaul in the remaster. I really enjoyed it personally, very nice mix of being able to actually watch the fights and still needing to pay a little attention.
Do know A LOT of folks didn't care for the timing aspect, though.
Maybe that's why people said that the combat is clunky
Combat is actually the same as in KOTOR, but because you only have Geralt they introduced timing aspect so as to give you something more to do....I also liked the combat in Witcher 1..It was very tense ..
@@milosstojanovic4623 well some people enjoyed that
The combat system is hopeless unless you press the mouse.
However, the fighting styles, movements and combos themselves are super cool
actually rare in games in 2007.
Unfortunately, people underestimated the game because of all this clicking.
If there is a game that deserves a remake, this is it
Awesome sauce. I just started it again also and just got into the major town. Woot Woot. I really enjoyed the game, once you get the timed attacks down you can, absolutely, motor through mobs.
oh! nice ;D
Technical side of this game aged badly but I still like 1st Witcher a lot! Great characters and great atmosphere. I still remmeber being 15 yo and playing it on PC that was barely working and waiting for 20 or so minutes to enter Trade Distircit in Vizima, the loading took so long ^^
Have fun with replaying it!
Just finished my second play through of this game as the Neutral witcher last week, after playing the Scoia'tael path 8 years ago. It was one of my favorite games the first time I experienced it, and somehow still managed to be significantly better my second time through.
I actually enjoy the combat here more than the Witcher 2. Hopefully they don't change too much in the remake other than the 20~ hours of backtracking you have to do to complete all the side quests.
I played this for the first time earlier this year and freaking LOVED it. I tried starting it a couple years ago and never got out of the tutorial because the combat didn’t click for me but this time I managed to get it down and just enjoyed the hell out of every aspect of the game. Looking forward to the full review!
A friend of mine gifted it to me in far away 2014 with the first sequel. I had an hard time to make it run, even if the sequel run like a charm, never understood the reason, but was able to do a complete playtrough.
I loved it even with all the difects, even the bloody aurora engine which I hate with all my heart. I loved how they intruduced the lore and the characters, making Geralt Amnisiac was a good move even if I wasn't expecting it, especially after having read the books beforehand playing this 2 games. Hope you like it and rewiev its sequel, especially The Witcher 2 of which I have really fond memories of late evenings playing it.
Mort gotta be one of the best RUclipsrs of all time. The way I watch every video.
I liked it a lot back in '07, it was a time before Game of Thrones and all the grimdark fantasy so it was very refreshing. Also it feels way more authentic and ethnic compared to 2 and 3, which have been dumbed down a bit.
It's curious how trends go on circles. Now the refreshing thing is almost standard D&D fantasy with clear good guys & villains
Funny you mention Game of Thrones because 4 out of 5 of the books were out in 2007, I've been reading them since I was in middle school and I'm now in my late 30's. More of a testament to how long Martin has been dragging his feet with the series.
Still keen for you to cover Thronebreaker. It's a really good addition to the Witcher game series!
Game sold well, but not well enough. Shame, IMHO it's THE most faitfull adaptation of books into game, even more than Witcher 1-3.
Oh how I wish we got the console versions, it looked massively improved
The best part in the series. Please do not screw up the Remake just refine it.
Do you remember how different the control scheme was from other games of the time? I remember it being very unintuitive. It seems to have been fleshed out over the years, or I am just now a gamer god... Happy Holidays Mort! Thanks for all the great entertainment.
I think it's the same case as in Gothic - it takes a long to time to adjust, but once you understaned it, it's actually preety good.
Yesss Mort..its like you read my miiinndd
As a console player, this is the only series where I started with the third entry. I can't wait for the Remake of this game.
Had a similar experience growing up - I had to turn all the settings down as much as possible, put the game at a small resolution, and still had to play with at a really choppy FPS with a 1 secondish-ish input delay. Still managed to play it until I reached the Merchant's quarter and the number of NPCs turned the game into a slideshow. ❤
I played this game about 3 years ago and i loved it. I also remember how broken Igni is. Legit, thats the only sign i leveled up and i would demolish almost every enemy with it.
This game and Star Ocean First Departure and Star Ocean Second Evolution are some of my favorite RPG'S ever. I've played all three of them for the first time years after release and all games took me by surprise. The grim atmosphere and storytelling in TW1 is amaxing. I still haven't finished The Witcher 2 and haven't even started The Witcher 3, so those are still on my to-do list.
If you haven't played those Star Ocean games yet, I would recommend you to do so. Originally these are PSP remakes of older SNES and PSOne games, but First Departure has been remastered on Switch and PS4. Second Evolution (the best of the two) sadly hasn't gotten a remaster, but if you can get your hands on a PSP, Vita or an emulator, you should check it out!
Small note there are different voice actors between the original release and EE and also some dialogues have been rewritten. I remember disliking the EE version and going back to the base so that might account for some dialogues not being the way you remember them or voice actors not sounding the same :)
I played it around the same time in 2008 and had the same issues with 5 minute+ loading screens. Enhanced edition that came later fixed all that - but it did also change a lot of the voice acting and in many cases made it significantly worse. I don't think it significantly changed the written dialogue that I remember, but it definitely affected how a lot of the key characters sound.
this was one of my favorite games in the whole world, i finished it on all difficulties and made me read all the novels and short stories... i wanted witcher 2 like mad, was disappointed a little, but the witcher 3 came and it was the greatest game in the world...
I've never played any of this series. Perhaps I will after I watch your full review.
I’m actually playing through this game right now, I’m new to the Witcher series and wanted to start from the first. Having a lot of fun so far! Although I reset my playthrough once since I got a quest outcome I didn’t want and had no backup saves far enough to change it lol.
Good times, I must go back and replay the series again sometime. I remember the combat was a bit clunky in this one (but functional), and the story was good. I look forward to your review on the enhanced edition Morty!
Last time I played this was in 3D on a high refresh samsung monitor and syncmaster 3d glasses using TriDef 3d software. The cutscenes actually translated really well to 3d and added to the horror theme/atmosphere that the game/story was going for (Geralt - supernatural detective) before it became a bit more action movie-like in later games. The storys villian still has the best twist of the 3 games.
I don`t remember what camera is for default but if you doesn`t try isometric view for a playthrough i recommend you do. I think is the way the game was intended to be played. If i remember correctly the over the soulder camera was added with enchanced edition, the original game was isometric only.
Something that is not clearly told to the player; You can quickly loot remains by holding CTRL and pressing Left Click
That is great you are playing the game :)
The dialogue in the game's original language makes perfect sense - in fact, it is very good and for the most part, lifted directly from the books or at least heavily inspired by certain conversations written by Sapkowski. I am afraid that the English translation is of poor quality. In most cases, it is the other way around ;)
Witcher 1 was very odd but I enjoyed it near the end of my playthrough when I finally understood the combat.
Fighting system is very interesting in this game. Not the best, but it's not just button mashing.
I also like the medallion mechanic. It's nothing big, just minor detail, but i like things like that.
I remember my copy of the game coming with a copy of "Sword of the Witcher" by Vader. Not bad, if you're into metal.
Great vid. I absolutely adore Witcher 2: AoK and I played the hell out of Wild Hunt. But that first game, man, I tried. The swamp. Good lord. What is it? Chapter 2? That fkin swamp killed me. I'm def interested in a rerelease / remake / whatever. Jacob Anderson's multi-hour vid on Witcher 1 is what compelled me to get into the series.
I actually liked the atmosphere of 1 the most. It has a very Eastern European feel. Uncovering aspects of it were also better than the other two. Gameplay of course 3 is best.
The game has some charm to its presentation, something that new games cant really offer anymore. Under the jank, it's a great RPG.
Very fresh to see a person who acctually plays CRPGs not shit all over the combat system. Most reviews of this game are from people who dont play CRPGs regularly and they completely trash the combat for not being an action based system.
Morti, remember to keep the Witcher 1 save so u can eventually use it on the following Witcher games, since they carry over some details from the previous games all the way to Witcher 3 and may be something u can discuss it in future reviews.
As far as I know none of the choices you make in TW1 carry over into TW3 (the most important ones certainly don't)
@@loxodoncyclotis1823 i cant say i remember exactly what does and does not carry between the games (some Shani dialog changes at least, if im not mistaken), but the fact is that the Witcher trilogy was made somewhat like Mass Effect did (although with way less public knowledge), and u were able to carry the save from W1->W2->W3. Its something to consider, thats all.
I've played all 3 to death, 100% on 3, missing 3 achievements on 2 but saw all 16 endings back when I was still playing it. Despite not covering it on the channel up to now, I'm very familiar with all of them
Oddly enough the first game actually holds my attention best in the trilogy. It has a good amount of side content but not enough where you can do everything and not get burned out like in 3 trying to clear the map.
For your 100% review remember to collect all of the cards :D
for whatever reasons, people seem to hate this game but for me, I absolutely love it and I would not have it remade at all. Maybe a graphical update is all it needs.
I played it for the first time in 2020 during the shutdown. I wanted to dig into the backstory so I decided to force myself to play 1 & 2. Both janky in their own way but well worth playing. You can play it more easily now because you are the King of Jank after playing Gothic and Elex.
I actually think I like this game more than the other 2. It lets you regularly upgrade and use most, if not all, weapon styles and signs while the other games focus on specializing. Plus you can spend a lot of the early-mid game trying to refuse getting involved in anything more than killing monsters, which while some of the other stories are great, I think just having some hunts like a more down-to-earth Monster Hunter is cool. Definitely looking forward to the remake.
Why would you look forward to the remake. it is just going to use crappy witcher 3 combat and skill system and again not let you use most weapon styles and signs.
Brings me back to goodness... Middleschool? Freshmen high school year? It was an amazing formative experience alongside Deus Ex of what to expect from rpgs.
I get disappointed a lot.
TW1 always reminded me of the film Brotherhood of the Wolf
Witcher 1 remains to be my favourite of the trilogy. A bit due to nostalgia, was a gift to my 18th birthday, but still. I think it holds up pretty great, there are some wonky parts, but largely world building and story telling (and the twist) are subperb. Also I really think that the character and progression system is vastly superior to that of its successors.
Keep the last save and import it to Witcher 2.
I've also played 2 to death, saw all 16 endings back in like 2014, only missing 3 of the achievements actually
@@MortismalGaming
I played all of the Witcher games during their release (sort of, after the bugs were fixed) and just answered the questions at the prologue during the next game. I am about to finish the Blood and Wine expansion again, after I imported a save file of Witcher 2, to which I imported a save from Witcher 1. I must say, only minor details change and are only mentioned through dialogue, with the corresponding NPC. One example; It does not matter if you decide to remain neutral in Witcher 1, you still become involved in the political struggle of Witcher 2 in exactly the same way, even if you sided with the Knights of the Flaming Rose or the non Humans.
Which is cannon (as in the books, Geralt also just happens upon the eye of the storm) but in the games, apart from a different opening summary, the story flows only within each game's narrative structure ignoring past choices, making the save import meaningless.
That said, I really do not have the luxury to extensively test my findings, as my time, currently, is barely enough to finish a game in 2 months...
But it would be nice to test if the import impacts the game in a more profound way. If you have the time to retrospect all 3 Witcher games (I am assuming you will eventually test the "Next Gen" update of Witcher 3), keep the saves from Witcher 1 and 2 and continue the story where you left it on Witcher 3 and compare it with a non imported playthrough.
At the very end of the video, he switches the grip on the sword and uses it as a hammer, hitting with the hilt/guard?
When the game was released only the first of the Witcher books had been published in English (The Last Wish). I played the game on release but i wonder if I'd get more out of the game's story now i know the full story arc of the books?
The VA was so bad when I first played it that I switched it from English to Polish. Honestly recommend playing it that way if it starts to bother you.
we may be living in a world where morty will do whole review of the Wither series before Joseph Anderson will finish his last video
Probably, I've already played all 3 of them to death previously, mostly just need to play through them to refresh my memory and get video.
Personally didn't think it aged well and there's not much of a modding scene unfortunately to remedy this. On a positive note I did think the npc's going to shelter when it rained was really cool.
Hopefully cdpr can pull this off in a satisfactory way, I would love to replay Witcher 1 with a more interesting combat system, less "rustic" dialogue and less horror-show faces.
Apparently the first game is being remade. I’ve played 2-3 so I’m looking forward to giving one a modern chance when it comes out in 2028 lol
I hated the combat in this so much that I didn't even make it out of the prologue/tutorial, I watched someone else do it.
The dialogue not makindg sense is partially related to localization/translation/writing issues. I've played this in English for a while and the dialogue indeed was very off most of the time and did not convey accurately what was about to happen. It makes a LOT of sense in Polish which is the language the writing style is at it's best in, but that makes it all the harder for Western audiences
Its was just like Gothic in a sence main target was central Europe and eastern hordes not english speaking western countries. Did play it with polish german and russian dubbing and it did hold up more than well english however was just as rought as gothic one. Atari being the publisher might have something to do with it.
About the dialogue (and voiceover): Odd. I don't remember the dialogue being bad at all, and I haven't played this game all the way back when it was released. I played the Witcher 2 years before I've played the first one, so there isn't really any nostalgia tainting my memory of the game.
It *might* be down to the fact that I've played it in Polish. Voiceover was mostly great, and as for the dialogue - maybe it got mistranslated in places, resulting in lower quality than it was in Polish?
One of my favourite series of games, and the Witcher 1 still owns, though it wasn't till the Enhanced Edition that I was able to make any reasonable progress with it. Prior to that it would crash like crazy and was buggy as hell otherwise. Genuinely surprised I stuck with it, however the way it did rpgs and handled choices was very refreshing. I could make choices that felt like they made sense and it didn't all feel so incredibly binary and boring like it was with a lot of the standard Bioware fodder I disliked. Going to be waiting on the Remake before I do another run though. I've tried however it's a ton of hours to invest in that game and that's time I don't have currently, as I'm currently binging my way through Witcher 3 after the recent Next Gen update.
Normal is easy, except for the dog fight at the end of the outskirts. (unless you build for it.)
The first game can be a little janky to get through coz there is a lot of back and forth with quests and a portion of the game can feel very long and sort of boring. But the story itself is interesting. And it kind of ties into the other 2. Witcher 2 and 3 are where this trilogy gets amazing.
My favorite Witcher game:)
Talk about sending me down Amnesia Lane. I *tried* to play the original. But it hated my computer. Then I played the enhanced edition on the PC I bought after. It took most of a day to download and install the EE back then. As it was one of the 1st purely digital expansions I ever saw. And generally I preferred hard copies back then.
The gameplay was janky. The dialogue clumsy. But the setting and story were fantastic. And given I was still playing unmodded Infinity Engine and Fallout 1 & 2 at the time, janky gameplay never stopped me.
I played the original back in the day, and remember having a hard time getting into the combat, thanks to Diablo II muscle memory. I honestly don't remember if I gave the Enhanced edition a try or not. Does it still have the trading cards for Geralt's sexual conquests?
Yes it does!
I just finished wicther the other day, janky combat but enjoyable nonetheless. Witcher 2 looks like a massive step up in terms of graphics and combat
Noob here. What platforms can I play Witcher 1 on? I don't have good gaming PC. Any video game systems an option?
these games deserve a remake
It's getting a remake
Good show sir
Hey Jesse, quick question - would you consider this game an isometric CRPG?
Ehh it's one of those games that kind of hangs out in a grey area. There's an isometric camera available, choices that affect the story, a few builds even. It's pretty similiar to DA: Origins with simpler builds. So naturally it depends on who you ask, but for me...yeah...BARELY, but yeah.
@@MortismalGaming Thanks for the reply. I got dunked on a popular gaming site's comment section for calling it an isometric CRPG when CDPR themselves in an interview called it as such. But yeah, I agree. Just checking I'm not the crazy one.
free comment.
The writing makes more sense in the original, i.e. Polish. It was badly translated in some places.
It's rough and the writing is uneven (also as I understand the english voice acting and translation is worse than most other languages), but it still has the best music by far and the best atmosphere (especially the "fairy tales" chapter 5) of the trilogy. Also the best investigation in any RPG I've played and one of the best last minute plot twist (in part because it's not spelled out for you). And it made me pick up the books, so there's that.
BTW are there other games where people run towards roofs when it's raining ? It blew my mind at the time.
This is the best witcher game
I love this game so much, it introduced me into the Witcher world as a whole. I bought the Witcher3 at first, but couldn't really get into it, mainly because I hadn't the essential knowledge of the world to fully comprehend it. Then I played this game and, although it didn't really capture me until the end of chapter 1, I already knew from the beginning that, like you said, the game is set in a vast lively world filled with real substance of ambiguity and grey morality. I've also read the books and you can see the great parallels between the games and the books.
The game was super flawed technically plus my PC at the time couldn't handle it.. Nonetheless, I finished the first playthrough and I loved it. I finished it once more after I upgraded my PC and I liked ot even more. It's that game that made me read all the books -not even translated in English back then.I bought all of them when they did. The graphics and the general atmosphere/setting are stellar and they made it stand out of all the shiny, colourful fantasy games of its period. Plus the story is awesome and I am a sucker for a good story over many things.
I've tried three different times to play this game, and I just can't. I've never been able to stick to it for more than a few minutes before I just lose interest. That's a shame because I haven't played 2 or 3 either because I feel I have to play this one first (Yeah, I know they are all "stand alone" but...). I hope the remake helps get me over that hump.
This is where The Witcher peaked
I hated the combat design and, there was a swamp with invisible walls around chapter 3 that made me rage quit (though I pushed myself through that swamp). I am a stubborn completionist, but this is one of the few I quit. Will play the total remake though.
I do remember my adventure with the Dryad :P
Wait, is this game eventually getting remade like Witcher 3?
Remade yes, as to what it'll look like they havent shown anything yet
As good as 3 is, 1 and 2 were far more focused as RPGs.
The first Witcher game was most like the novels.
Awkward dialoge is probably due to game beeing done in Polish first, then translated. CDPR was at time of makeing this game still a preety small studio, and they probably just could not afford profesional voice crew for other laguages. Game also predates official english translations of books it's based upon.
It's great to see it still holds up well, and it's regared as cult classic ( especialy in it's home country ). Not a small achivment for game with this unortodox combat controls :D.
I played this in 2017 alongside the other two. I absolutely hated it, close to zero redeeming qualities in a design and gameplay sense. It'll be interesting to hear full thoughts.
TW1 is extremely easy (outside of the final boss fight), at least the enchanced edition. Never played the original.
This game is still a janky masterpiece. Combat always was the weakest part but the story, characters, quest design and world building were absolutely top notch. When I got to the end I felt I had just played something truly special. Only a handful of games have ever made me feel this way.
Damn, Gerald did _not_ age gracefully. lol
That doesn't look like Henry at all...? 8-/
the combat sucks, hope the remake on new engine make it better and worth it
The game becomes a slog towards the late mid/late game, I never finished it.
1st