Yep, another game I got cheap in that massive Steam sale that happened a while ago. I never really gave The Witcher a second look when it came out, mostly because I wasn't a huge PC gamer but also because I was trying to move away from that type of fantasy world with my RPGs. How wrong I was. 

I had heard that The Witcher had moral choices, like so many games of the day had. They were also supposedly, in a term I find tiresome, "in shades of gray instead of black and white." I didn't believe that for one second, because this had been promised of so many games before, from Fable to Mass Effect to Fallout 3. As we all know, the choices from those games ended up being hilariously obvious, with the shining example being Fallout's "should I nuke this entire city, killing everyone in it, or not? Brain scratcher!" I'm not saying any of those games are bad, and they in fact number among my favorites, but definitely not because of any moral complexity.
 
Along came The Witcher, and I did my usual shtick of choosing if I want to be a good guy or bad guy before the game begins. As always, I decided to be a good guy on my first run through, always protecting the innocent wherever I go like a true hero. I very quickly realized that this archetype would not fit at all. For the first time, I discovered moral choices that were truly difficult to make, ones that boiled down to more than the obvious good choice or bad choice. They made me ask myself what I thought was right, made me think.  I'll give you an example. Beware, for minor early game spoilers lurk below, enter at your own risk.
 
In one of the first small villages you come to, the main quest line is to gain the trust of the prominent villagers and defeat an almighty "Beast" which has awakened in the town. The villagers seem to believe the local witch was the one who summoned the Beast, and this eventually leads to them taking up arms against her. You also find that the Beast was summoned because of the sins of the local townsfolk. At this point you get the choice between saving the witch from the angry mob by slaughtering practically the entire village, or join the attack on the witch. The townsfolk have raped and murdered, but most of these actions were enabled by the witch. So who do you help? I chose the witch, because she seemed to have committed less sin, but the choice uniquely comes down to your personal view, instead of deciding to be nice or evil. That is what sets The Witcher apart from other RPGs, and why I'll continue playing it.