Even though we had witnessed more than one demonstration of The Witcher before release, we really weren’t prepared for just how good CD Projekt’s CRPG was going to be. Simply put, the game excels in virtually every area that a role-playing game should. In addition to featuring an excellent story in the believable world of Temeria, The Witcher offers tough player choices, a large number of meaningful NPCs, a well-constructed character development system, and a unique and interactive combat system. To sweeten the deal, the game was surprisingly stable and well localized when compared to the many other European titles we’ve seen in recent years.

And so, despite the fact that it was the publisher’s first attempt at game development and was built around BioWare’s dated Aurora engine, The Witcher succeeded in surpassing our expectations and is an easy pick for our RPG of the Year.​