Do I need to play W1 and W2 in order to understand W3?

[Dave]

I want to dive right into W3 but haven't played either of the 2 prior games. Is it worth playing without knowing any background or is it played like a standalone game?

[a basic bitch]

I don't know, maybe someone on google will know or something. That's my idea. Peace out dog, good luck finding an answer to this obscure question.

[Dr Julius No]

yes, thats what I did

[s]

you should play w2 at least because there are optional choices and references relating to w2

[patpatyos]

Originally posted by dasdasdasd:

you should play w2 at least because there are optional choices and references relating to w2

And then theres optional choices and references relating to w1 ......

[s]

Originally posted by patyos:

Originally posted by dasdasdasd:

you should play w2 at least because there are optional choices and references relating to w2

And then theres optional choices and references relating to w1 ......

yea but its not as prominent and w1 is just too clunky

[tonypa]

W3 is designed as standalone game, the story is not related to previous games. The overall world and some characters are same as in previous games but you will not have to play these to understand anything (and they are pretty bad as games).

[Mr_Faorry]

Play Witcher 2 first, it is a great game and Witcher 3 has lots of references to it. There are also a few characters who carry over from Witcher 2, so unless you don't mind being lost on Geralts social life and a fair few other things play Witcher 2 first.

Witcher 3 has some references to Witcher 1, but not as many as it does with Witcher 2, that and Witcher 1 is just flat out a horrible game, the story is the only good thing about it.
Witcher 2 also doesn't have many references to Witcher 1 beyond the intro which picks up a month or so after the ending of Witcher 1, so you can play through 2 and beyond the intro you won't miss much.

[Living Broscillograph]

Originally posted by Living Broscillograph:

Originally posted by GunnDawg:

I picked this game up for sale today and while it's still downloading I got to thinking "wait, this is the third game in a series, I'm gonna be lost"

You won't be lost (CDPR did awesome work to make the game easy to learn and play in comfort for people not familiar nor with the trilogy nor with the books which story comes before the trilogy) but you're gonna be hated because of perfunctory understanding of the big story.

P.S.: See Yen vs Triss holy wars on forums for an example of ultimate misunderstanding between only-TW3 (and/or TW2-TW3) players and those who at least played the trilogy.

Originally posted by Living Broscillograph:

All trilogy tells a single story split into three major acts. So in terms of involving into the story it's absolutely worth playing all three games.

You can "play" the first two games on YouTube but it's better to play them yourself because many reviewers and letsplayers miss details in which the devil is (like for some reason many of them think that sex scenes are important content and thus shouldn't be avoided. However, somewhere it replaces plot details completely ruining the statement of its importance).

In terms of gameplay TW1 is like SW:KotOR but in real-time instead of turn-based (and almost without companions). It's graphics are much better compared to KotOR series :)
TW2 steps towards console players thus its controls can annoy on PC (especially after TW1).
While last difficulty of TW1 makes a player understand the importance of oil / bombs / alchemy mechanics, TW2 teaches to roll away and hit with timings.

These skills are important to play TW3 on the last difficulty (which is very enjoying if you went through the first two games). So it's also worth to play them from this point of view :)

Also, if you'd want to start not from TW3:

Originally posted by Living Broscillograph:

I'd say either play in order, either play TW3.
TW1 and TW2 are tied very close to each other, playing only one of them might pervert your view on some characters.
TW3 is designed to be friendly to newcomers not familiar with the trilogy, its glossary contains enough info to build a perfunctory picture of what's going on and who are all those people. TW1 and TW2 can help to build a good half of the picture though.

[JA55er]

Please do try to play W2 at least. It will make you enjoy this game a lot more since one of the best parts in this game are it's characters. And there is a huge difference between game telling you that you know this character and you actually knowing them and having a bond with them.

[ScoobieToobie]

No. you must read all the books and play witcher 1 through to 3 with an imported save file in order to understand witcher 3

[c313]

Technically speaking, no you don't "have" to, there is no real major plot story behind 1 and 2 that 3 follows. But there are a lot, and a lot of references to events in Withcer 1 and 2, so if you can, I'd recommend playing 1 and 2