Boo!
Firstly, I'm not remotely interested in getting into a wank-off between Bioware and The Witcher. If the best you can say about a game is, "That other game is worse", then how good can it be?
Secondly, my experience with the series is a brief foray into the first game and a complete run of the second game.
The first game was just plain awful. Looked like shit, janky animation, characters that look and talk like ventriloquist's dummies, empty and lifeless environments. Combat was shit, you just select the appropriate move set then click when the little curser lights up. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo. Voice acting was extra special shit, bored sounding amateurs everywhere. (And yes, I played the "enhanced edition" which apparently had improved voice acting, I hate to think what the non-enhanced version sounded like.) I got to the first quest hub and decided I had better ways to spend my leisure time.
The second game initially impressed me. There's a thread somewhere in the depths of these forums [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.285308-The-Witcher-2-Assassins-of-Kings-Pleasantly-surprised#11252180] in which I praise the game and encourage people to check it out. That was written by me when I was part way into the first act (the town of Flotsam).
However, after the first act the pacing went straight to hell. The second act dragged like an injured leg. By the third act I was bored out of my gourd and just going through the motions.
The combat was unimpressive. The controls have this awkward delay on them and were clearly designed with the console release in mind. That's when they weren't just plain bugging out on me. You're nearly halfway through the game before you can unlock enough options to spice things up a bit. Too little, too late.
Checkpoint placement and saves. Oh Christ. This is where the game really lost me. Remember the fight with the battlefield demon... thing? So if it kills you, (because, oh, random example, my controls just bugged out for the thirtieth time) you have to watch a short unskippable cutscene, then watch two NPCs have an unscripted fight, then you have to fight a handful of random enemies while using a gimped character that can't dodge, parry or use items and abilities, then walk down a path, skip through some shitty dialogue, fight a miniboss and finally skip some more shitty dialogue before finally getting another crack at the actual boss fight. And no, you cannot save during any of that. What kind of base incompetence causes a developer to not put a checkpoint before a fucking boss fight?
After that I just said, "Fuck you game, prepare to be cheesed." Then I crafted a bajillion bombs and spammed them for the entire rest of the game. Worked like a treat.
Characters were boring as shit. Geralt is an emotionless, expressionless drone who stabs and fucks. But hey, maybe they were going for a blank slate sort of protagonist, so let's see who else there is. Triss. She gets her tits out a couple of times, then sits at a bar for a while before getting kidnapped for the rest of the game. No personality to speak of (seriously, try to name one personality trait for her). Then there's the dwarf. He's... a dwarf. Can't think of a single thing about him. Then there's the bard, I think his name was Dandelion. He's a bard. He's a bit of a ladies man, or thinks he is. Can't think of anything else about him. There's Roche, who at least has consistent and coherent motivations. Great, we've reached the 101 level of character writing. Oh, and there's his right hand girl who'll fuck you if you beat her in a fight.
The only character I felt remotely attached to was Iorveth. I liked his world-weary affect. Gave him some actual personality which put him head and fucking shoulders above the rest of the cast. Although on reflection I'm not sure if that was intentional or if his voice actor was just flat.
The sex thing. Okay, so Geralt and Triss are a couple. Cool. They have sex from time to time. Makes sense. The game is very matter-of-fact about that. Yay maturity.
Hey look, continuous allusions to rape. Well, fine, makes sense in context.
Hey look, here are some prostitutes making out with each other in their spare time. Because that's totally what prostitutes do. Ooooookay. I thought we were being mature here?
Hey look, the mage chick is whipping her assistant with a crop. Hot, right? Yeah, getting into fanservice territory now. Especially given that its not remotely relevant to anything at all.
Hey look, "lesbomancy". Aaaaaaand you've lost me.
The story did not impress. It starts off strong and focussed. King assassinated, Geralt blamed. Find assassin, clear name. Gotcha. Then act 2 bogs everything down in fantasy politics. Okay, fine, the story is expanding, I can dig that. Then act 3 rolls around and all the politics boils down to "The evil empire was being evil again". Yay. Oh, and the whole Assassin of Kings thread boils down to "They payed me", "Oh, okay then, peace out". Couple that with not giving a shit about the characters and I was well and truly done.
...
Hey, you asked for it.
I should note that, despite my seething, petulant disdain for The Witcher, I do quite like CD Project and I am at least curious about that Cyberpunk game they have in the works.
For example, I find it's showing of boobs in the beginning with Triss a mature approach. Let's be honest, when you're sleeping with a girl, you're allowed to see her tits. So after a night of sex (what adult couples involve in) and sharing a bed, it's very likely that your girlfriend is just gonna go to sleep naked as she feels comfortable with you, thus tits. I find it more refreshing than fantasy medieval characters wearing weird cloth bras to maintain their dignity.
