The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (Polish: Wiedźmin 2: Zabójcy królów) is a 2011 action role-playing hack and slash video game developed by CD Projekt Red, based on The Witcher series of fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. It is the sequel to the 2007 game The Witcher. It was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, OS X, and Linux.
The player directs the actions of Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter known as a Witcher. The fantasy world in which his adventures take place owes much to Polish history and Slavic mythology.
The game was both a critical and commercial success, selling over 1.7 million copies by May 2012. The third installment in the series, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, was released in May 2015.
Gameplay
The gameplay of The Witcher 2 is a marked departure from that of its predecessor. Combat, for instance, is much more complex, with additions in the form of abilities to lay traps and aim and throw ranged weapons. The protagonist, Geralt, has an improved offensive and defensive arsenal, with a wide range of melee and ranged weapons, armor, bombs, traps and secondary weapons such as hatchets and shovels. Upgrades are divided into four distinct paths: an initial training path, which includes generalized upgrades for various core abilities and must be invested in before the other paths can be accessed; swordsmanship, which improves Geralt's sword fighting abilities; alchemy, which includes perks such as reducing the negative effects of potions; and magic, which improves Witcher Signs.
The Witcher 2 includes a stealth mode in certain parts of the game, where players must remain undetected as they make their way to a certain objective. Players have the option of stunning enemies if Geralt manages to get behind them, but the player may choose to take a less subtle approach and engage the guards in combat.
Plot
Story
The player controls Geralt of Rivia, who is one of the few remaining witchers – enhanced and trained humans with special powers who hunt monsters for a living. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings contains many different paths and storylines, along with multiple endings.
Prologue
At the start of the game, Geralt is in prison under suspicion of assassinating Foltest, the king of Temeria. The head of the Temerian special forces, Vernon Roche, interrogates Geralt and learns the story that led from Geralt being Foltest's right-hand man to a prisoner. Prior to and during the events of The Witcher, Foltest had a secret relationship with a baroness named Maria Louisa La Valette, which led to two children, Anais and Boussy. Some time after Geralt saved Foltest from a witcher assassin (at the end of The Witcher), Foltest attempted to claim his children and bring them to live with him in Vizima. Maria was not willing to give up the children, and Foltest waged a war to claim them. Geralt succeeded in escorting Foltest to his children, but an unknown assailant kills Foltest before disappearing, leaving Geralt the only suspect. After the interrogation, Roche decides that Geralt is innocent and aids him in escaping the prison. The two, along with sorceress Triss Merigold, go in search of the kingslayer.
Chapter 1
The trio arrive in the trading town of Flotsam and are ambushed by Iorveth, a rebel elf. It appears to the group that a witcher, believed to have assassinated King Demavend of the neighboring country of Aedirn, is in league with the rebels. Geralt saves his old friends, the bard Dandelion and the dwarf Zoltan Chivay, from being hanged in the city square. With the help of sorceress Síle de Tansarville, Geralt kills a kayran, a giant monster that is disrupting the town's trade routes. Geralt discovers that Loredo, the ostensibly Temerian commander of the town, is intending to sell the town to the Kaedwenian king Henselt. He also discovers that the kingslayer, a witcher known as Letho, intends to betray Iorveth and convinces the elf of the truth. As Geralt and Iorveth confront Letho, Roche arrives with an armed force. The player chooses between assisting Iorveth or Roche, thus setting the path of the second chapter. Regardless of the choice, Letho kidnaps Triss and forces her to teleport both of them to Aedirn.
Chapter 2 (Iorveth)
If Geralt assists Iorveth, the pair sail to upper Aedirn. There, they become embroiled in a rebellion against King Henselt of neighboring Kaedwen, and they assist the rebel forces. Geralt completes three missions: formulating a poison antidote for rebel leader Saskia, determining Triss's whereabouts (captured by spies from the empire of Nilfgaard and taken to Loc Muinne), and lifting a battlefield curse that is preventing the rebels from defending Vergen, the rebel's base of operations. The rebels defeat King Henselt's army and Henselt is forced to acknowledge Saskia's terms. Geralt discovers Saskia is actually a dragon taking human form but she is under mind control by her advisor, the sorceress Philippa Eilhart. When Philippa teleports Saskia and herself to Loc Muinne, Geralt and Iorveth follow.
Chapter 2 (Roche)
If Geralt assists Roche, Roche has Geralt assassinate Loredo for treason. Geralt and Roche sail to upper Aedirn. There, they also become embroiled in the rebellion against King Henselt, but assist the king instead of fighting against him. Geralt discovers an insurgency in the Kaedweni army: loyalists who are convinced Henselt is conspiring with the empire of Nilfgaard. Geralt completes three missions: determining Triss's whereabouts (captured by a diplomatic delegation from Nilfgaard and taken to Loc Muinne), lifting a curse on King Henselt, and lifting a battlefield curse that is preventing the king from marching on the city of Vergen. Geralt defends Henselt from two witcher assassins and assists Detmold the mage and royal advisor to King Henselt in necromancy ritual to discover they are in league with Síle de Tansarville, who has already fled to Loc Muinne with fellow sorceress Philippa Eilhart and entranced rebel leader Saskia in tow. Roche is revealed to be plotting against Kaedwen, and Henselt executes most of Roche's men in retaliation. As Henselt assaults Vergen, Geralt defeats Henselt's personal guard, and either allows Roche to murder Henselt in revenge (which causes a civil war in Kaedwen) or convinces him to spare the king. Geralt and Roche then go to Loc Muinne, on the trail of Triss and Philippa.
