Which language?

I'm planning on buying The Witcher to try out my shiny new system.

I was wondering though: Which language would you recommend? I've heard the voice acting was so-so, does that count only for the English or German version? What about the Polish one? I don't understand a word of Polish, but I loved the (subtitled) original version of Mamoru Oshii's Avalon. Makes for an otherworldly atmosphere. Are there English subtitles?

Does the European package come with different languages or would I have to import the game from somewhere else?

I have heard the French version is second best to Polish, from the Hollowan guys, whom do a lot of the Mods for KotOR 1 & 2, but I can't speak either so can't confirm.

The EU version doesn't have Polish and does have English, French, German and Spanish iirc.

Yes there are English subtitles and Codex member OneEyeking (sp) have a thread about getting Polish dialog with English subtitles.

The big problem is you can't pause to Read Dialogs of any kind, due to bad design by Cd Projekt, so while the dialog stays longer with Polish you still will have problems with being able to read some lines, iirc.

Originally Posted by Acleacius
The EU version doesn't have Polish and does have English, French, German and Spanish iirc.

D'oh.. isn't Poland part of Europe?

The big problem is you can't pause to Read Dialogs of any kind, due to bad design by Cd Projekt, so while the dialog stays longer with Polish you still will have problems with being able to read some lines, iirc.

I could get a book about speed reading.. Which forum should I browse for the thread you mentioned?

The original thread is here: http://www.rpgcodex.net/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=21845

But I guess now it's better to go here: http://www.thewitcher.com/forum/index.php?topic=6925.0

Originally Posted by Arhu
D'oh.. isn't Poland part of Europe?

Well, in Poland the Witcher is distributed directly by Cd-Project, not Atari - and thanks god
You could import it for about 30 Euro (including shipping, if you live in Europe) or just buy international version and then download polish voice files.
I guess the French version was translated from butchered English, so don't expect too much

I think choosing Polish u must have reading problems.Prefer French Version.

Originally Posted by Ptosio
Well, in Poland the Witcher is distributed directly by Cd-Project, not Atari - and thanks god
You could import it for about 30 Euro (including shipping, if you live in Europe) or just buy international version and then download polish voice files.
I guess the French version was translated from butchered English, so don't expect too much

I must be out of the loop here: where do I get these sound files and what do I do with them? Are there Polish subtitles as well?

Originally Posted by Prime Junta
I must be out of the loop here: where do I get these sound files and what do I do with them? Are there Polish subtitles as well?

From what I have gathered from the forum linked to above, you do a google search for "Pelne spolszczenie The Witcher" (Polish sound files) and then swap the files with those on your harddisk (backup the originals of course). Along with the complete original script in English it would probably make for the best Witcher experience, aside from being fluent in Polish that is. That's what I'm planning to do, once I have some free time for this game.

Apparently you should do those changes only after the prologue, because that one would be messed up otherwise.

Even if it's published by different publishers, I still can't understand why they couldn't include the original Polish in the multi language European version, or in any version for that matter. I mean, come on…

Well that would cause Cd Projekt to lose money, since they get pure profit in a publishing sense if they have the only Polish dialog version.