Is it worth getting The Witcher 1 and 2?

[The Madman]

This sort of argument seems to happen in every single topic on these forums about The Witcher to the point of being amusing, now all we need is the usual accusations of sexism and we're set!

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

The Witcher 3 has really piqued my interest, but I don't know whether or not to get the previous two games. My main is concern is that I won't be able to jump into the third without knowing what's happened previously. Is it worth getting them?

Yes.

Although, weird tip - if you like reading fantasy novels at all, you should get the novels first.

The Witcher games are a sequel to a fantasy novel series in Poland. A short story collection and the first novel have been released in English, and fan translations of the other four books are available free online. Here: http://en.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?/topic/20967-our-community-fan-translations

The Witcher novels take place 5 years before the games. While the games are set up for people who haven't read the books, you'll get more out of them if you've at least read a couple of stories from the Short Story collection - you'll get more if you've read the whole series.

On the other hand, if you haven't read any of it, it is still an enjoyable set of games. I started the first game without reading anything first, and I liked it fine.

ProTip: Some people get bogged down in Chapter 2 of the first game. Try to push through it - Chapter 2 is the worst part of the game, IMO - it gets MUCH better afterwards.

Also, if you're worried about having to play two games to get to the Witcher 3, here's another point - you really only need to play the Witcher 2 to know what's going on. Honestly, the first game doesn't really accomplish much plot-wise - it's mostly Geralt rediscovering himself after losing his memory. The plot doesn't really kick in until the Witcher 2.

Note: You may have noticed that people in this thread keep saying "the story is really good" or "the story makes up for bad gameplay in the first game".

The novels make the first game look like Bad Fanfiction.

That isn't an insult to the first game - I really liked the first game. But the novels aren't just good - they're some of the best fantasy novels I've ever read. They blow "Game of Thrones" out of the water. And I also like the Game of Thrones.

I'm an English teacher. I know quality novels when I see one. The Witcher novels are fan-fucking-tastic. If you like reading fantasy novels, you owe it to yourself to read them.