Do i need to play 1 and 2 before 3?

[Nhomad]

So i tried playing witcher 1. I got bored of the combat after the first area. But do i need to complete it and 2 before i play this? I've heard great things about witcher 3.

[Russty]

I would recommend it, Its a bit like watching return of the jedi before a new hope. the combat is different in all 3 games but TW3 is a better experiance if you have played 1 and 2 before it., similar to the ME trilogy.

[imdelsa]

I never played the first game but I did played witcher 2 and it is pretty good, not as big as witcher 3 but still has plenty of things to do and will help you understand some of the things that happens in w3

[bgray9054]

The combat is rough in W1 for first-timers. I find it very enoyable to play now that I understand it, but I fully understand your frustration - I felt the same way trying to play it my first time last year.

My advice is play W1 on easy so you can cruise through the story without too much trouble. This way you'll understand what's happening.

Great games. IMO, W2 is almost as good as W3 which is the best game I've played - you're in for a fun ride, enjoy.

[Nhomad]

Alright. Thanks for the good responses guys! Truely appriciate it! Will go through all 3 then. :)

[BDK]

1 and 2 are great games! 3 is by far the best, but yes, I would recommend you play them first.

OR ...

Watch these videos, they explain the story pretty damn good imho. Spoiler alert of course!

Witcher 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqMr0OvQog
Witcher 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSftIRQzYCM

Of course you wont be able to import your choices if just watching the videos, not that they matter much at all apart from a tattoo, but still.

[Nhomad]

Originally posted by BDK:

1 and 2 are great games! 3 is by far the best, but yes, I would recommend you play them first.

OR ...

Watch these videos, they explain the story pretty damn good imho. Spoiler alert of course!

Witcher 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqMr0OvQog
Witcher 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSftIRQzYCM

Of course you wont be able to import your choices if just watching the videos, not that they matter much at all apart from a tattoo, but still.

Thanks! Appriciate it! But since i will be streaming it, i think a playthrough probably is better.

[Russty]

Originally posted by BDK:

1 and 2 are great games! 3 is by far the best, but yes, I would recommend you play them first.

OR ...

Watch these videos, they explain the story pretty damn good imho. Spoiler alert of course!

Witcher 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqMr0OvQog
Witcher 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSftIRQzYCM

Of course you wont be able to import your choices if just watching the videos, not that they matter much at all apart from a tattoo, but still.

hang on what! if you dont get rid in 2 do you still have it in 3?

[bgray9054]

Originally posted by HNomad:

Alright. Thanks for the good responses guys! Truely appriciate it! Will go through all 3 then. :)

Np, and if you get stuck somewhere, come back and ask us. :)

[BDK]

Originally posted by Russty:

Originally posted by BDK:

1 and 2 are great games! 3 is by far the best, but yes, I would recommend you play them first.

OR ...

Watch these videos, they explain the story pretty damn good imho. Spoiler alert of course!

Witcher 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiqMr0OvQog
Witcher 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSftIRQzYCM

Of course you wont be able to import your choices if just watching the videos, not that they matter much at all apart from a tattoo, but still.

hang on what! if you dont get rid in 2 do you still have it in 3?

No you wont have it in 3 if you never got it in 2 :)

[Russty]

erm ok but what if you got it in 2 but didnt get rid of it?

[BDK]

Originally posted by Russty:

erm ok but what if you got it in 2 but didnt get rid of it?

It'll be imported into 3, if you choose to. I like having it imho :p

[Russty]

Originally posted by BDK:

Originally posted by Russty:

erm ok but what if you got it in 2 but didnt get rid of it?

It'll be imported into 3, if you choose to. I like having it imho :p

ahh N1 i got rid of it in 2 both times lol gonna have to see if i can find a pic of geralt with it in 3 cheers friend

[BDK]

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=746945903

[Lakasouso]

I highly recommend playing 1 and 2 first before 3! The result is highly rewarding

[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 cover the story before the events of trilogy happen) 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 shouldn't be avoided. However, somewhere such scenes hide important plot details).

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.

And if you'd want to play the expansions of TW3:

Originally posted by Living Broscillograph:

Hearts of Stone is meant to be played before you finish the main story (as it contains a hint on what to do to achieve a certain ending), but it is not required to do so, you can do it anytime, even after the main story is finished.
Blood & Whine contains some spoilers for the main story finale, and its own ending kind of depends on how your main story has ended, so B&W should be started after you have finished the base game.