There's not enough Witcher enthusiasm in this place, dammit! So drink your potions, grease your... sword, and meditate, 'cause we's gonna party!

From the Witcher Wiki page regarding the series:

The Witcher series (Polish: cykl wiedźmiński) by Andrzej Sapkowski is a series of fantasy short stories (collected in two books, except for two stories) and five novels about the witcher Geralt of Rivia. The books have been adapted into a movie and television series (The Hexer), a computer game (The Witcher), a comic book and others. The novel series (excluding the short stories) is also called the Witcher Saga (Polish: saga o wiedźminie) or the Blood of the Elves saga.

A witcher is:

Witchers

Witchers came into being when the first settlers were colonizing the untamed lands of present-day Temeria. The elite caste of warrior-monks was to defend humans from the monsters which inhabited the wild. Thanks to mutagenic mushrooms, herbs, and plant stimulants, the bodies of young apprentices developed superhuman speed and endurance. As a result of the painful and dangerous Trial of the Grasses, young witchers gained cat-like eyes, which allowed them to see in the dark. With the help of sorcerers they learned to utilize simple combat spells called Signs as well as magic potions that augmented their fighting skills. Nowadays, when monsters have become something of a rarity, the demand for the witchers' services has declined significantly. Only a few representatives of the caste still travel the world, and no more monster slayers are being made.

Due to their otherness, unusual abilities and magic skills, witchers are treated as outcasts and sometimes even meet with hatred. This hatred was made manifest during the infamous attack on Kaer Morhen, which led to the destruction of the fortress and the death of most of the witchers wintering there. Those who survived are doomed to extinction since they no longer train successors.

People need witchers but are simultaneously afraid of them. The itinerant warriors inspire fear because they are mutants and have superhuman powers. A witcher is rarely a welcome guest and contacts with members of this profession are almost always limited to business. Witchers are invariably attacked during pogroms and social upheavals directed against those who deal in magic.

Mutagens and magic render witchers' bodies resistant to all kinds of disease, even to the point of outright immunity.

Geralt of Rivia is perhaps the most famous witcher, or at least the most famous of his time. The following tells us about the events leading up to the first game, as well as the basic story of it.

After seemingly having been killed by a mob during a pogrom of non-humans at the end of the Witcher saga, Geralt returns to life with no recollection of the details of his sudden reappearance or the intervening five years. He is rescued by the last remaining witchers in the world and taken back to Kaer Morhen. There, he is drawn into a complicated conspiracy concerning the witchers, their secrets and the nefarious forces who are after that knowledge.

Geralt pursues the mysterious Salamandra, and in the process meets many people from his past, as well as new acquaintances who either require the witcher's help, or offer their own in his quest to regain his identity.

Details about the first game can be found here.

Witcher 1 combat:

Witcher 1 cinematic teaser trailer:

Details about the second game can be found here.

Here are some descriptions of some male characters, some female characters, and some monsters.

The next three videos are trailers that CD Projekt Red released within a few days of release of The Witcher 2. "Disdain and Fear" is my personal favorite.

Witcher 2 "Love and Blood" trailer:

Witcher 2 "Hope" trailer:

Witcher 2 "Disdain and Fear" trailer:

Witcher 2 combat overview:

If you like what you see and hear, then by all means, investigate! This is a wonderful series, and neither game should be passed over if you have the hardware to play them! Also try out the books. Currently, there are two that have been translated into English (a book of short stories, and the first of the novels), and a third is on the way.

Bonus: And because you'll all love it, this is Triss Merigold, a sorceress Geralt is involved with. Btw, sorcerers and witchers don't show their age. Magic, in the former's case, and mutations, in the latter's case, make them seem far younger than what they really are. Still, Triss is considered young for a sorceress. She's also not Geralt's love interest in the novels, but in the first game, Geralt has amnesia (he was just brought back from the dead for Phlox's sake!), and his main love interest is nowhere in sight.

Her appearance is quite a bit different from in the first game.

Reviews for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings:

Games Radar: 10/10 hoooooooly sheeeit

Game Informer: 9.25/10.00

Eurogamer: 9/10

PC Gamer: 89/100 People complain about this one because PC Gamer gave Dragon Age 2 a 94/100.

I want to play it but someone doesn't want to port it to consoles. Grrr.

Angry_Beaver said:

There's not enough Witcher enthusiasm in this place, dammit! So drink your potions, grease your... sword, and meditate, 'cause we's gonna party!

Finally!

Angry_Beaver said:

Witchers

Witchers came into being when the first settlers were colonizing the untamed lands of present-day Temeria. The elite caste of warrior-monks was to defend humans from the monsters which inhabited the wild. Thanks to mutagenic mushrooms,

Am I the only one that thinks of Mario when I hear or in this case read mutagenic mushrooms?

I will ad this

Witcher according to Slavic mythology

Witcher (Russian: Ведьмак, Vedmak, Ukrainian: Відьмак, Vidmak or Polish: Wiedźmin[1]) is a witch-like character in Slavic mythology, the male equivalent of witches. The witcher is in many respects identical to a witch (vedma),[2] but unlike the latter he may also possess positive qualities. For example, they treat people and animals, protect humanity and force witches to stop doing evil. The term Vedmak comes from Proto-Slavic *vědě ("I know") and Old Russian вѣдь ("witchcraft", "knowledge").[3]


By belief, witcher, as well as a witch, may be innate or taught (trained). An innate witcher has a beard, mustache and a little tail, and trained witcher is no different from other people. The witcher possesses two souls, human and demonic. He is capable of shapeshifting into a horse, moth, wolf. He is also resistant to rusalkas' enchanting.

I said it before and said it again, we need more Slavic mythology in games. So much cooler than endlessly ripping of Tolkien

Dvader said:

I want to play it but someone doesn't want to port it to consoles. Grrr.

Join the master race or be gone console peasant. And you will be able to play Mass Effect 1!

SteelAttack said:

bugsonglass said:

I presume it requires a fairly high-end PC to run properly?

Nah. You can get away with most entry level GPUs. I rock a modest GT220 512 Mb and average 25-30 fps at 1280x720 with practically everything on high except AA and shadows, which I never bother with.

Is that for Witcher 1 or 2?

The Witcher 1 system requirements:

The Witcher 2 system requirements:

Game looks awesome.

I wouldn't really know. I haven't played more than a few minutes in any WRPGs newer than The Witcher, which came out in 2007 (irrelevant exception: Torchlight). And my only experience in that genre prior to that year consisted of the Elder Scrolls series and the first Fable, which I don't remember a ton about.

The mythology is definitely unique. There's no morality meter or points like there are in Bioware games. You just have to make decisions and, later, some of them prove to have big repercussions.

The first game has only one ending cutscene, but there are something like three different paths you can take through the main quests (side with one faction, with the other, or neither).  Combat consists primarily of timed clicks, which I'm perfectly happy with, but it's simple enough to put many people off. Combat in the second game is radically different and requires greater skill. The second game also has 16 different endings.

As I've said, I'll be trying to wait to play the second game due to my graphics card situation, so I can't say much of anything about it from first-hand experience.

darthhomer said:

Yeah, it takes quite a beefy rig to get it to run - I meet all the minimum reqs, but my graphics card is the only failure. Can get it running well enough, without all the fancy effects and the like.

It also seems to have been developed with quad core processors in mind. I've seen at GAF impressions from users with fairly good GPUs having performance issues because their dual core rigs bottleneck them.

If only I could find a PSU that could fit my micro ATX case, I would definitely upgrade my video card (provided I could find one with an adequate form factor).

F

Average framerate of 50fps with it varying from 32fps to 60fps.

This topic needs MOAR POASTS! Those who have been playing the game... POAST PIX!!!1

I can't. Not only am I talking with someone in an attempt to send my video card in again, but now my monitor is dying and I'll be attempting a repair. T_T Won't be PC gaming for a while, it seems, unless I can fix my out-of-warranty monitor instead of having to get a new one. On the other hand, this gives me another chance to go through the entire Golden Sun series. I love it!