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Over the years, the PC exclusive has become something of rarity. The platform still gets plenty of games, but they are often an after thought, nothing more than a port from the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. But many times, when a developer really pushes the boat out and sticks to their guns, it's a triumph for gaming. And that's really what The Witcher 2 is, a triumph. The original title was hit and miss for some, but the sequel is definitely a hit.
The story kicks off directly where the previous story ended, with King Foltest attempting to get his children back. Even if you haven't played the previous title though, it's written in such a way that you can get straight into the action without having to know all of the back story. And it's still engaging due to the interaction that's possible.
It's mostly non-linear, so what you do and say will have an affect on how events transpire. And you'll learn this more and more as Geralt goes about his quest, trying to get to the bottom of a conspiracy to kill the various kings of the realm. The dialogue and the choices you make really help to connect you with Geralt, who is still trying to piece his memory together. There are only three chapters, with a prologue and an epilogue, but there's more than enough story content here to keep you busy. However, it's not an open world, even if the realm does seem rather expansive, so once a chapter is done, you can't go back and take on uncompleted quests.
At first glance, the combat in The Witcher 2 might seem rather standard. Geralt can now only perform two attacks, a light and heavy swing, but it's very deceptive. First off, you have to use different weapons for different enemies. Geralt carries a standard melee weapon, which can be a sword, axe, etc, and needs to be used for killing humans. But he also carries a silver sword, which must be used for killing monsters.
Geralt then has different spells he can use, and how you use them will depend on what type of person you are. For example, you can use Aard to shock people out of the way and disrupt groups of enemies, or Yrden to trap enemies and go behind them to deal critical damage. Or, you can use Axii to mess with their minds. In any case, Quen is your safety net as it's a shield that will absorb all damage while it stays up. Each fight, even random ones while walking around, will present its own challenge. You can't just run into a pack of 3-4 enemies and expect to hack your way to victory. A strategy is a necessity, especially against the various bosses.Even on the standard difficulty, the boss fights in The Witcher 2 are rather testing - they really ramp the challenge up. You need a solid strategy and a stroke of luck here and there, to even think about winning - sometimes that isn't even enough. It's great that the developers didn't feel they needed to hold your hand though, as it seems to be a common trend within the industry right now.
To compliment this natural challenge, The Witcher 2 has a fleshed out potions system, and they can make life a little bit easier. You can make potions to restore health, but also do things like increase your Vigor regeneration - what you need in order to perform Geralt's various spells. When in the open world, Geralt can also find hot spots, which will boost his combat proficiency.
There's also a decent amount of crafting and a few mini-games to keep things interesting, such as arm wrestling using the mouse. And quick-time events are splattered about in generally unimportant places to mix things up a bit.
Graphically, The Witcher 2 is a beast, but if you have a gaming rig that can run it, you're in for a treat. The character models and animations themselves aren't up there with the best, but the amount of detail visible in the game's environments and the lighting/atmosphere that CD Projekt's custom engine creates, are sublime. The voice acting is also top notch, with a mixture of accents that doesn't feel strange.
In terms of replay value, that's really in the eye of the beholder. Given the game's non-linear approach to the story, and the fact that once a chapter is complete, you can't go back, there is plenty of opportunity for playing through again. But, you might also think that you'll just make the same decisions again. It's certainly not a short experience even with one play-through though, so there's plenty of bang for your buck.
Final Thoughts
The Witcher 2 shows that PC exclusives still merit a very respectable place in the video games industry. It has beautiful graphics, but it's backed up with a story that's more than capable of holding its own. Add to this, a game with an challenge that's rewarding and a combat system that rewards a methodical approach and you have one of the best RPGs you'll see this year.
|It's a graphical beast.
|The combat is difficult, but very rewarding.
|The world is very engrossing, it'll suck you in.
|You can't go back to previous chapters to complete quests.
|The difficulty may put some people off.
|The animations could still do a with a bit of work.


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Tara de Porte, who is research fellow at the Labex OT-Med and at the IMéRA (l'Institut d'Etudes Avancées) of Aix-Marseille University and the Founder and Executive Director of Human Impacts Institute launched in October 2015 Human Impact Stories "Climate Connections" project.
Listen to "Human Impacts Stories Marseille, Climate Connections"" click here
Here are some details :
How do we inspire people to take climate action? What do we need to effectively communicate complex problems and solutions? And who are the people leading the way in our communities? Imagine you could explore these questions, while walking through your city viewing beautiful artwork and listening to great stories. Human Impacts Stories Marseille, which was launched during the arrival of the "Climate Train" and the "Festival of Science" on Sunday, October 11th, did just that by creating a "climate walking tour" of the City of Marseille, where we could all explore climate change in a personal way through the tales of diverse, local people and their perspectives, experience, and actions.
The Human Impact Stories program of the NY-based NGO "Human Impacts Institute (HII)" makes climate science and solutions fun and beautiful, while inspiring each us to do our part by telling the local, personal stories of people taking climate action in diverse ways. Through a combination of visual design, podcasts, and artistic installations, Human Impact Stories make the people behind climate action come to life. Using storytelling as a basis for connecting people with the "why should I care", while also giving us key informatoin we need to take action.
The second series of Human Impact Stories "Climate Connections" shares climate stories from the area around Marseille, France, where Tara DePorte, developed the series, which showcases local researchers and practitioners who are connecting climate change to other issues central to our daily lives. "Research shows that if people are able to personally connect to complex, often overwhelming issues such as climate change, then they are more likely to care and want to be a part of the solution" commented Ms. DePorte. "By both connecting climate change to other issues that we all think about regularly, such as money, food, our health, and also sharing the stories of local people who ARE making a difference, we see a real opportunity for inspiring YOU to get involved."
Listen and share the stories of the first Human Impact Stories series "Climate Heros", about amazing women taking climate action in NYC
Participants and subjects for Human Impact Stories Marseille "Climate Connections"
Facilitator: Tara DePorte, Founder and Executive Director, Human Impacts Institute and visual artist (NYC)
Climate Change, Economics and Migration
- Mourad Ezzine, Director, Center for Mediterranean Integration
Energy, Transportation and Climate
- Lounes Tadrist, Directeur, Laboratoire IUSTI "Institut Universitaire des Systèmes Thermiques Industriels" (IUSTI, UMR 7343), Aix-Marseille Université and CNRS
Climate and Society
- Suzanne de Cheveigne, Directrice de recherche (senior researcher), CNRS, Directrice du Centre Norbert Elias (UMR 8562 CNRS-EHESS-UAPV-AMU)
- Annick Delhaye (député région, PACA), Vice-Présidente déléguée au Développement soutenable, environnement, énergie et climat de la Région Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
City and Climate
- Joël Guiot, Director, LABEX Objectif Terre - Bassin Méditerranéen (OT-MED) and Distinguished Research Fellow (directeur de recherche de classe exceptionnelle) of CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research)
- Hubert Mazurek, Director, L'Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
Agriculture and Climate
- Bernard Seguin, (Retired) Directeur de recherches (classe Ex) à l'INRA (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique)
Water and Climate
- Céline Dubreuil-Imbert, Programme Officer for Water, Plan Bleu / UNEP Nicolas Roche, Aix-Marseille University - AMU Coordinator of the AMU's Research Pole "Environment" M2P2, Waste and Wastewater Treatment Team (UMR CNRS 7340)
- Nicolas Roche, Professeur, Coordinateur du Pôle de recherche interdisciplinaire et intersectoriel "Environnement" de l'Université d'Aix-Marseille
Pollution, Health and Climate Change
- Dominique Robin, Directeur, Air PACA
Law and Sea-Level Change and Climate Change
- Marie-Laure Lambert, Maître de conférences HDR – Section CNU: 02, Laboratoire LIEU + CEJU Centre d'Etudes Juridiques d'Urbanisme, Enseignant/chercheur : – Aix-Marseille Université CEJU Centre d'Etudes Juridiques d'Urbanisme
- Vincent Moron, Professor, Centre Européen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Géosciences de l'Environnement (CEREGE)
Risk/Perception of Climate Risk
- Alexandra Schleyer-Lindemman, Maître de Conférences en Psychologie, Aix-Marseille Université / UMR ESPACE 7300 du CNRS, équipe Arbois et Arle-* Xavier Giraud, Maître de Conférences au CEREGE (science du climat)
Governance and Climate Change
- Sandrine Maljean, Directrice de recherches au CNRS – Directrice du CERIC, CERIC (UMR 7318 DICE CNRS-Aix-Marseille Université), Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales et Communautaires
- Nicolas Haeringer, Chargé de campagne, 350 France
Participating Artists
- Tara DePorte (see above)
- Marina Galvadão, Climate and Ecosystem Services Specialist and visual artist (Marseille)

subset: commoncrawl


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M. E. May
Fiction-Crime, Thriller, Police Procedural
M. E. May (Michele) lives in the far Northwest Suburbs of Chicago, Illinois, with her husband, Paul, and white Husky, Iris. She was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, the fourth of five children to working class parents. Both of her parents were avid readers who loved mystery, fantasy and romance. They often encouraged her to read as well. Her son, Brian, and daughter, Marie, and four wonderful grandsons, Kodey, Kaleb, Kameron, and Gustin all live in central Indiana. M. E. attended Indiana University-Kokomo studying Social and Behavioral Sciences. This sparked her interest in the psychology of humans and the curiosity to ask why they commit such heinous crimes upon one another.
My Road to Publishing
by M. E. May
I've always loved writing whether letters, poems, essays, journals, or stories. I wrote my first book of poems when I was in third grade, and believe it or not, it still sits in my remembrances box. Before email, I used to write letters to my sisters who lived out of town and instead of one or two pages; they received a very descriptive short story of at least six to ten pages.
For many years, I believed I "had that fiction novel in me, however, I let life get in the way of attempting it. However, seven years ago, with grown children and a bit more time on my hands, I discussed my desire to write with my husband who very quickly encouraged me to take a year off from working and get started.
I chose to write mysteries because solving puzzles is one of my favorite pastimes. I thought the only thing better solving them would be to create puzzles for readers to solve. It took almost two years to complete the first book in what I call the Circle City Mystery Series and another year of submitting it to agents, because most of the big publishing houses will only take submissions from agents. Hiring an agent was more difficult than I expected since there are so many people writing novels these days making it difficult to get an agent's attention.
I didn't let that discourage me. After attending the Love is Murder Mystery Conference in Chicago in February 2010 and was approached by a small press who was willing to publish my first novel, Perfidy. It was in print by November 2012 and I won the Lovey Award for Best First Novel at that same conference in February 2013.
When I parted ways with my initial publisher, I was determined not to let down my growing group of fans. I knew it would take a long time to find another publisher and a couple of years once I signed a contract to see it in print. That is when I decided to publish it myself through CreateSpace with the help of a good editor, cover designer, and formatter to make sure my series to be of highest quality.
This decision gave me the opportunity to move forward. The Circle City Mystery Series, which includes Perfidy, Inconspicuous, Ensconced and recently released Purged, is doing well and in 2014 caught the attention of the mystery editor at Harlequin. I have received contracts from Harlequin to publish the mass-market paperbacks for the first three novels and they will soon be reviewing Purged. I also have a company who has started production on the audio books of these novels and I hope to see Perfidy out in the spring.
In conclusion, my advice to writers starting out would be don't give up. Continue to hone your craft by attending writing conferences and classes on the college level. If you decide to publish yourself, make sure you have a good team to edit, format, and design covers for you. It will be well worth it. There's nothing like having a reader come up to me and tell me they love my series and can't wait for the next one.
Michele won the Lovey Award for Best First Novel for her first book, Perfidy in February of 2013.
Recent News
Perfidy will soon come out in mass paperback distribution from Harlequin sometime in mid-summer 2015. Harlequin has also picked up the mass paperback rights to Inconspicuous and Ensconced and will soon be reviewing Purged.
You can reach Michele through her website at
Books by M.E. May
Circle City Mystery Series
Circle City Mystery Series
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