Gamebanshee: The Witcher 2 is easily the best-looking RPG

Before I get into the more intricate details, I can’t help but spend a little time on just how amazing the game looks. With the settings cranked up to “High” (the “Ultra” settings had some instability issues in the early build I played), the characters, buildings, and environments all look spectacular. The amount of painstaking detail that went into crafting the early battle landscapes, the La Valette Castle courtyard, the town of Flotsam and its wilderness, and other such areas is simply staggering. With the addition of even more realistic day/night transitions and weather effects (blurred vision during torrential rain, anyone?) than we saw in the first game, The Witcher 2 is easily the best-looking RPG I’ve ever played. And I say that without any hesitation.

Beyond the actual eye candy, it’s also worth pointing out the diversity in the game’s locations. Each of the game’s villages and settlements is comprised of numerous residences, which Geralt can enter in search of NPCs (for conversation, trading, mini game, or crafting purposes) or any valuables that aren’t nailed down. The game’s residences and shops were clearly designed by hand, as most if not all of them possess different floor plans, a variety of different furniture, and decor that matches their functionality (I wouldn’t normally mention all that but, hey, we’re living in a post-Dragon Age II world). You won’t ever get a sense of repetition when adventuring elsewhere in the game, either. For example, each one of the gnarled trees in the Flotsam wilderness looks dissimilar from the next and even a side area of Flotsam where a notable NPC named Loredo lives has a completely different feel than the rest of the town.