The Witcher’s Fourth Act Takes RPGs to the Next Level

It’s refreshing to see one of Kotaku’s editors labeling CD Projekt RED’s original The Witcher as “one of the best role-playing experiences his life” in this latest editorial that focuses almost entirely on the virtues of the classic CRPG’s fourth Act/Chapter. You’ll recall that this one starts off in Lakeside and has quite a few memorable experiences packed within:

As The Witcher 3 starts catching more eyes, friends who haven’t played the series inevitably end up asking me “should I play the first two games in the series?” Many people will recommend playing The Witcher 2, a great game with solid controls and a unique twist that effectively gives the player two games in one. While I’d agree with that, I’d also add that everyone should play the first game, because it is one of the best role-playing games of all time, maybe even better than The Witcher 2. It’s a true RPG, one that focuses on choice and consequence, rather than character-builds or parties, and to that end, it’s one of the finest examples of the genre. but there’s a caveat.

In just about every conversation I’ve had regarding The Witcher, someone always admits to quitting, usually during the game’s extensive opening swamp section. It’s hard to blame them. That’s where I originally quit, too.

The Witcher is structured linearly, and it seems as though it was also built that way. As a result, the game gets progressively better, as if the team was coming to grips with the tools at their disposal and learning to make a better experience. The second act improves upon the first, the third improves upon the second, and on it goes. Despite some of the game’s initial awkwardness, it’s easy to form the impression that there’s equal amounts of brilliance and inexperience behind the game. By the fourth act, The Witcher finally comes into its own, and that’s where things get really exciting.

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Act IV places two species at odds because they love different gods. It gives us men who dedicate their entire lives to serving their goddess, because they love her. One ghost isn’t so much evil as it is misguided, even in death, it loves gambling so much that it would try to gamble for human life. The monsters themselves embody failed loves twisted creatures, no longer recognizable as human. We’re even faced with a crime of passion. Berengar, the guy who betrayed the Witchers? He wanted to be a father and husband, and being a Witcher prevented him from doing so.

The Witcher’s fourth act is something special. It takes the clever role-playing ideas throughout the first few acts of the game and makes them work in an environment and world completely different than what came before. The drastic tone shift brings some wonderful variety, but Act IV takes the next step and brings them together to form a cohesive statement. The Witcher reveals love to us, lays all its forms bare, and examines them.