It’s finally time for another Retro Ad Replay! This is the series where we take a trip back in time to reminisce and celebrate the anniversary of the biggest moments in gaming. If you find yourself wanting more content like this, be sure to visit Mandatory.com.
In our October 30 edition of Retro Ad Replay, we’re looking back at The Witcher, which introduced gamers to the monster hunting extraordinaire, Geralt of Rivia, 12 years ago. Originally the game was only available on PC, but the title later came to Mac. While a console edition of the game, entitled “Rise of the White Wolf” was announced for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, development was ultimately suspended and it never saw the light of day. If you want to play the original game, you’ll be needing a PC.
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The Witcher laid a foundation for the series to later expand upon. It was a fantasy game built with a cynical take on the world, in which a mutant “hero” must be paid in order to do what is right. And that’s if the player chose to do the right thing, as it certainly wasn’t necessary. The game brought a maturity to the genre, inspired by the works of Andrzej Sapkowski.
You can watch The Witcher‘s 2007 cinematic trailer below:
In GameRevolution’s The Witcher review, writer Chris Hudak assigned the game a 3.5 out of 5, describing it as “a sort of rude, jagged-edged anti-Hyrulian adventure – a poisonous, alchemic (and probably suppositorial) cure for the common optimistic high-fantasy cold.” Its failings were later improved upon in The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
It’s been 12 years since Geralt was presented to us in game-form for the first time. Now, in 2019, we’ve seen his third appearance squeezed into a Nintendo Switch cartridge, ready for playing on the go!
