Hearts of Stone review

   I finally stopped procrastinating and finished it.  I was really reluctant because I knew I'd have to wait for Blood and Wine to come out before I'd have something new to do.  But I'm glad I got it done; once again CDP told an awesome story.  I won't give too much away in case anyone is still playing it.  I really wasn't sure Olgierd was worth saving until the last few hours of the storyline.  That's one of the things I love about Witcher; the choices are never black and white.  While Olgierd was definitely not what most would call a good person I think he had enough redeemable qualities to warrant saving.  I still regret bringing about the death of the Baron and his wife in the original game.  So I knew if I didn't save his sorry butt I'd never forgive myself. 

   One of the things I really love about Witcher is the characters.  O' dimm and Olgierd are very fleshed out, as is Olgierd's wife.  They really did an awesome job in this area; even the minor characters stand out.  It's hard to say who's the most memorable but I think O' dimm stole the show.  He was an evil little demon but he did it with such relish that I really enjoyed his parts.  Kudos to whoever did the voice acting. 

    Instead of a boss fight for a climax they did something a little different.  In order to save himself and Olgierd Geralt has to solve a riddle.  It's not a multiple choice test either.  You must run around an area and look for the right answer to the riddle.  Well the answer is pretty obvious but finding out how to get the answer to appear is somewhat frustrating.  The area is kind of a maze and you will get lost if you don't pay attention.  Well at least I did but my internal compass is broken so that could be a personal problem.  

  All in all it was an awesome expansion to an already great game.  I'm really looking forward to Blood and Wine, especially the new area.  I'm ready for new places to explore so hopefully its somewhat large.  Oh and if anyone hasn't checked out the enchanting, you might want to do so.  It costs a pile of gold to get to mastercrafted level.  And another pile of gold if you're missing even one of the runes for the enchantment, but they are very helpful in combat.  One of the enchantments I bought automatically casts quen when I start fighting, another lengthens the time of my potions, and the other one heals me.  Nothing to sneeze at.