The Witcher: Enhanced Edition

How Often Do How Often Do you feel you've made the wrong choice in a game? Scratch that, how often do you think you've made the wrong choice and then carried on playing regardless? Chances are you won't have felt like this very often, unless you've played The Witcher, the first game in which you genuinely feel the decisions you make actually have an impact of the story - and not in some "A is good, B is bad" kind of way. The Witcher isn't binary in the way it deals with your choices.

One of the main themes in the game is the nature of neutrality. At the start of the epic story, your character - Geralt -eschews high (and low) politics in favour of slashing the throats and lop the heads off monsters. By absolutely no means a simple man, Geralt's chief objective is to be open to any offer of work, vaguely related to the slaying of monsters. Vet during the course of the game, you'll almost certainly end up choosing sides in the civil conflict that arises (although it's possible to remain neutral, if you try hard enough).

What struck me as I played through the game was that I developed loyalties to several characters and, when the difficult choices reared their heads, I made a decision based on how I felt about that particular ally, rather than thinking exclusively about which selection would give me more experience or the best item. This lead me to choose the side I normally wouldn't have done, because I felt loyal to a member of the organisation, despite the rest of them being a bunch of tools. The other faction had a cause I personally felt more connection to, yet I didn't get on with its leader, so I rejected their cause - the more noble one, in my view.

Neither choice was obviously good or bad, both sides having virtuous and vile sides. This applies to pretty much all important situations in the game - at times, you can't avoid hurting somebody you like and you genuinely feel guilty when they condemn you for betraying them. Honestly, what other game has made you wither under the angry glare of a spurned witch? I can't think of any.