Interested in getting into The Witcher.. should I jump to Witcher 3 or play older titles first?

[P0MK0NTHA1]

Wondering how do most fans begin the series?

Anyone start right away with The Witcher 3? And maybe go back and play 1 and 2?

Or is 3 your only Witcher game? Thanks

[I'm Literally Ryan Gosling]

Most fans of The Witcher series tend to start by playing The Witcher 3. While The Witcher 3 is technically a standalone game, it continues the story from The Witcher 2 and has references to the events of the first game. This means that playing the previous games will give fans a deeper understanding of the lore and a better connection to the characters.
Some players may start with The Witcher 3, then go back and play the first two games. But I think It would be better to play the older title first.

[felixpoop]

However, the first game feels rather rickety now, as it is quite old. I still like it, but that's partly nostalgia from playing it when it was new. It's a great game, though, as is the second one.

[Balder]

The second game is quite good, although the combat is rather clunky, and you frequently get spammed with a lot of enemies. You could play it on easy difficulty, and play it mostly for the story. That's what I did anyway. It's definitely worth playing, and has many of your favourite characters from W3 in it.

[aaronlg]

I think you'll be fine starting with Witcher 3. While there are light references to characters' prior relationships, etc, overall the game is designed to have a great stand-alone story that's accessible to new players.

I'm just now starting to read the books, and I suppose I might try Witcher 2 someday when it goes on sale again. As for Witcher 1, I think I'll just wait for the upcoming remake.

[TruXurT]

I started with Witcher 2 and then played Witcher 3. Some of decissions made in Witcher 2 can be imported into Witcher 3 and have minor impact on the story.

The game itself is quite fun, especially if you are a fan of franchise. It definitely gives you more background why the political situation in Witcher 3 world is so messed up comparing to the books.

[Darkus56]

Started with Witcher 3, tried Witcher 1, couldn't manage to get it run on my pc so I went to Witcher 2, finished it but personally didn't like the combat at all. Lack of mechanics compared to W3. I would just stay stick with W3 but before playing do watch a story overview of Witcher 1 and 2 on YT.

[kireta]

Speaking from perspective of someone who marathoned through entire series:
Witcher 1 is hard to get into. It's janky, EE is still buggy, and combat controlls are weird to say at least. If you can get used to these, you'll grow to love it. Completed it 3 times, before moving on to Witcher 2.
Witcher 2 is a completely different game, but still feels janky. Control scheme and combat are "modern" so I guess it's easier to get into.

Note that both those games are a lot shorter than Witcher 3, around 40 hours each, compared to ~150 hours it takes to "clear" Witcher 3 with both expansions.

[Y]

Witcher 1 feels old but has an interesting story, you should at least give it a try. And Witcher 2 is almost as great as Witcher 3, except it has even higher replayability.
Nonetheless you can start right with Witcher 3 since its story doesn't really depends on previous games

[-[CoM]-GREEN]

I am a bit of a die-hard... but here is what I say: Start with the books. Even just aduiobooks. Listen to all of them. It is actually a fantastic series and provides so much depth to the games and characters. Then, you could play the games straight through. TW1 is... rough in its current state, and is skippable. I do strongly encourage you play TW2, as 3 picks up right at the end of that game, and it is a great game.

[Pixeleyes]

I would start with the books, then I would play the second game, then the third. by then the remake of the first game should be available. The first game was really good back in the day but it has not aged well, unless you have a soft spot for old games from the 2000s I would just wait.

[dantès]

mine was Witcher 3 -> 2 -> 1

no problems whatsoever.. but knowing what I know now.... I'd go 1,2,3 or 2,3,1

[- Torq -]

Originally posted by dantès:

mine was Witcher 3 -> 2 -> 1

Similar, I went 3 > 1 > 2 > 3. Having the story and open world from W3 sucked me into this universe. It made going back to 1 & 2, which have clunkier gameplay, more forgiving as the gameplay itself didn't age that well. i.e. the story made the earlier games more tolerable as I wasn't really there for the gameplay but the story elements, which are just as strong.

[Hell RaiZOR]

yes start with older games start from witcher 1 I am doing the same played witcher 1 and 2 then went to witcher 3 it was an awesome journey. You will definitely as well don't listen to anyone who says otherwise. Witcher 1 and 2 have awesome story. If you play witcher 3 first you wont understand a damn thing and even if you playthrough and go back to play 1 and 2 afterwards you will not enjoy them and you will constantly compare their gameplay with witcher 3 which is unfair to be honest since they are older games so you wont enjoy them.

So I would recommend start from witcher 1

[Hell RaiZOR]

Originally posted by Y:

Witcher 1 feels old but has an interesting story, you should at least give it a try. And Witcher 2 is almost as great as Witcher 3, except it has even higher replayability.
Nonetheless you can start right with Witcher 3 since its story doesn't really depends on previous games

What the heck are you talking about? The events from witcher 2 leads to witcher 3 you know that right Nilfgard invades Pontar right at the end of witcher 2 as shown in post credit scene which is following the Loc Muine Conclave in the final chapter of witcher 2 and some of the characters based on your decision in witcher 2 may or may not appear in witcher 3.

Don't misguide new players. As per story both 1 and 2 shall be played to get full experience. If for you only glamorous graphics and a set way of gameplay you prefer then go with witcher 3 directly instead. But if you really need to delve into the witcher world you shall properly start with witcher 1.

Although knowledge of books is required but I think witcher 2 provides enough background to go on.

[Draconifors]

I would say there is no wrong way to go about it. Personally, I went books -> Witcher 1 -> Witcher 2 -> Witcher 3, and that worked great for me.

The two older games are worth playing, in my opinion. The stories are worth it, and like was already mentioned, the games are not particularly long.

Yes, Witcher 1 has some unusual mechanics (mainly combat), but if you consider it an experience rather than a downside, you should have a good time. The game has some great stuff in it.