Release: October 26, 2007 Developer: CD Projekt Red Publisher: Atari Link:thewitcher.com
Even in its late-2000s prime, CD Project Red’s first The Witcher game could have been accurately (but affectionately) referred to as eurojank. It was, at the time, an overly-ambitious homage to a niche fantasy series with atrocious voice acting and even worse character models that had no business becoming the success story it is today. I can’t even pretend it’s aged well – not when its peers are buggy but enduring classics like the original Mass Effect and Fallout 3. And especially not with CDPR announcing that a remake of the original game is now in the works.
For years I’ve told any friend who asks me about the original game that they should start with and then circle back to the beginning of the series books, and Netflix’s series adaptation makes it so much less likely for it to be anyone’s first time watching Geralt battle a striga and a lot easier for me to recommend with that in mind.
