The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is the second entry in the witcher series and the first CD Projekt RED game built on its own REDengine. The leap over the first game is immediately visible: character animation, lighting, and level of detail were among the best you could see on PC in 2011, and the game became notorious for how reliably it could max out contemporary graphics cards. This time Geralt is accused of murdering a king, and the story of political intrigue among the northern kingdoms is told from the perspective of someone with no reason to root for either side.

The major change is in how the campaign is structured. After the prologue, the story splits along one decision into two completely different branches that differ in locations, characters, and what the player learns about the plot — an extraordinarily costly solution for its time, since most players will never see half the content. Combat abandoned rhythmic clicking for more direct action with dodges, blocking, and Signs, a step that brought the series to a wider audience but was brutally difficult at first. Alchemy and preparation remained, just moved into meditation, so potions can no longer be drunk mid-fight.

The 2012 Enhanced Edition added hours of new scenes, a tutorial, and an arena, and that same year an Xbox 360 version arrived too — technically stripped down but content-complete. The second game is often called the least accessible entry in the series and, at the same time, the densest one — it's shorter than the third game, has no open world, and focuses on a handful of locations, giving each all the more room. Without it, though, Wild Hunt wouldn't exist: this is where the studio tested out its own technology, branching storytelling, and the tone that would make the series famous.

Why play it: Anyone who appreciates a dense, more linear story focused on a few locations instead of an open world will find here the foundation of the technology and tone that Wild Hunt later built on.