The Witcher (long) review

Game: The Witcher

From: http://gaming.tweaktown.com/reviews/873/1

Sure, the combat system is pretty cool, but it gets better. Perhaps the coolest feature of all in The Witcher is the presence of a time-of-day system. While obviously being based on an accelerated model, The Witcher has authentic nights and days that develop in front of your very eyes. The cool part specifically comes from how the game utilizes the day-night system in its missions and general gameplay - some missions can only be done at certain times of the day, and some areas such as villages can change dramatically in atmosphere from light to dark. Lets just say, when the moon comes rising, many of the game’s baddies come out to play, and the once bustling friendly day time environments turn into deserted spooky landscapes of death. It just adds so much to the gameplay and atmosphere and, thanks to Geralt’s ability to meditate around a fire or rent a bed, you can accelerate time as you wish. It is also during the meditation phases in the game where you can spend any experience points, and create many of the games potions - one of the greatest tools at a Witcher’s disposal.

The potion creation system basically epitomizes the depth and detail you can expect to find in The Witcher. Rather than simply picking up ready potions from the slain bodies of your opponents, more often than not what you will find ingredients instead, which you must then take and combine with other ingredients and bases to create particular potions, and the potions in this game are nothing to be ignored, as they can easily be the difference between defeat and victory, giving Geralt enhancements such as faster life regeneration, slowing down time, special immunities, and things of that nature. There are a fair few ingredients you can acquire, some very rare, and there are multiple ways to go about acquiring ingredients. For instance, if you make an effort to obtain and read books in the game from literature vendors and other sources, you can learn about wild plants and actually go out and pick certain ingredients from the world around you. You have to be careful with potions though, as too many at a time can hurt Geralt as indicated by the game’s toxicity meter, which you can deplete via meditation/sleep.

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