I just built a PC and this game seems right up my alley. Should I buy the Witcher 1 and then play this or should I jump right to Witcher 2?

why not, it's 5$ on GOG.com right now.

*edit* i'll just add that The Witcher 2 is a direct continuation of the events in the first Witcher game.   The first game's ending had a cool cliffhanger.

Sure, if you like wrpg games you should. I found it slightly boring, but then again, it might be exactly what you like. I never finished it though, but it's good enough for a recommendation. It's sort of an essential pc game to pc gamers everywhere, but I think it's overhyped by them because it was a pc exclusive. Still yeah go for it.

If you want to enjoy witcher 2 to the fullest then it would probaly be a good idea to play the first one, mainly cause your saves can carry over to the sequel. And because it's just a damn good rpg.

Sure. The swamp isn't very fun though, but the rest of the game is.

It's a pretty long game, you might not be finished it before The Witcher 2 comes out. I saw this in another thread. It's a texture mod.

 
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-witcher-texturen-mod

 http://www.moddb.com/mods/witchercharactermodels

Wow. For 5 bucks, I couldn't resist. I'll DL it tonight.

Also make sure you get the enhanced edition, they update the game's graphics and some of the gameplay. Not sure if GOG has all of that or if you have to download a patch, steam keeps it all up to date. But it's something to keep an eye on when you get the game, to make sure it can be patched to the enhanced edition, or it's the enhanced edition already.

It tells a great story, and the world is fantastic. GOG.com is offering it for 5 bucks at the moment, so you can't go wrong. 

Yes, definitely.

I played it, had a hard drive failure and really regretted deciding to leave it so I could play newer games.

I've since had a lowered interest in playing video games quite so much and have recently restarted Witcher 1 again.

I'm thoroughly enjoying it! I don't think I'll have it finished by Witcher 2's release date and I don't even care 1 iota, I'm going to just enjoy it and get to Witcher 2 a week or so after I've finished Witcher 1 so that I don't have that "too-much-overkill-on-one-genre" feeling.

This may sound super sad but it's been a long time since I've felt like I wasn't just playing games to fill my life with something to do when I'm not working, it's great.

"

This may sound super sad but it's been a long time since I've felt like I wasn't just playing games to fill my life with something to do when I'm not working, it's great.

"

it has a good epilogue which left me satisfied with the ending

" It's a pretty long game, you might not be finished it before The Witcher 2 comes out. I saw this in another thread. It's a texture mod.

 
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-witcher-texturen-mod

 http://www.moddb.com/mods/witchercharactermodels "

" Sure. The swamp isn't very fun though, but the rest of the game is. "

The Witcher 1 is really fun, but I don't know if you'll finish it in time for the release of 2.

I don't care so much about having it done in time. I just wanted to know if the games were connected story wise. I bought it off of gog.com. I'll have to wait overnight for the download to finish as my bandwidth isn't that hot.

If you skip the collecting sidequests(which compose about half the game) its a pretty good game. But man. That collecting shit is a bummer. But its (mostly) optional. Main game is definitely worth playing through, possible twice.

so i got The Witcher last year when i first got my new computer and Steam, and while i enjoyed it, it didnt "grab"me and i only played 10 hours. Skip to months later, after following The Witcher 2 and being quite excited about it, i decided to redownload the first one and give it another go (thanks Steam cloud saves!) and i can now say, after putting another 20 hours into it over 3 days (lol, basically all my free time not at work), the game is truly fucking amazing and one of the best rpgs (or games really) of this generation. Im on chapter 5 now which i believe is the last, 30 hours into it and im split between not wanting it to end because im llving it so much, and wanting it to end soon so im fully prepared for Witcher 2...

...which im now hyped for like i havent been in a long time, will buy day 1 for sure, and it shall be the best 45euros i spent in a long time. So yes, you should play the Witcher 1

edit: it also still looks pretty good event today, some pics i took:

Should really play it, especially as it takes your save data over to the sequel and there's a ton of reoccurring characters. Picked it up during a cheap Steam sale but never touched it until a week ago and haven't been able to stop, should finish it tomorrow and have to say it's one of my favourite RPGs, really got me looking forward to Tuesday. Skip the notice board quests as they're the dull ones, it does a really good job of making you want to do all the others.

I'm making my way through it right now. Just a handful of hours in. I'm really liking it. With all the settings maxed, it really looks pretty decent graphically. You can tell that these devs put some serious time into this game. There are lots of nice details to experience.

You have chosen wisely, friend.