Particularly the frequent inclusion of uillean pipes adds a haunting feeling of longing to many pieces. And the composers' reliance on these ethnic sounds is doubtlessly one of the score's biggest draws. That colour emanates particularly from the Celtic and Irish elements that Blaszczak addressed before the soundtrack's release. The enchanting female vocal solo of "Dusk of a Northern Kingdom" that opens the soundtrack will have you hooked and unlocks the door to a colourful fantasy world. You wouldn't necessarily expect the soundtrack for such a sombre game to be this melodically attractive, but here it is and it will be reason enough for many collectors to hunt down this score album.
What makes the first and biggest impression on the listener is the melancholy beauty of many of the pieces on The Witcher. This review refers to the enhanced release, with a discussion of the second disc in the second half of the review. That edition included a second disc with an hour's worth of material from various Polish bands and artists that CD Projekt had invited to write songs inspired by the game. The Witcher's score was originally released as part of the game's limited edition in 2007, before being reprinted for The Witcher Enhanced Edition in 2008. As Blaszczak wrote in a blog entry about the soundtrack's gestation, it was early decided that the music would be strongly shaped by Celtic, Irish and some other ethnic styles, while not neglecting the gloominess of the game's morally ambiguous narrative. Just as unknown as the game's developer or the property it was based on a Polish fantasy novel called The Last Wish were The Witcher's composers, Pawel Blaszczak and Adam Skorupa of music and sound production studio gamesXsound. This in turn prompted the release of an extended edition of the game and an even better-received sequel, which arrived in 2011. CD Projekt's ambitions and investment to the tune of more than $11 million of development costs paid off when the The Witcher sold more than a million copies. Or at least you would have been until 2007, when Polish developer CD Projekt released The Witcher, a dark fantasy RPG that garnered strong reviews for its unusually mature take on the genre (and copped some flak for its hilariously gratuitous nudity and sex). You'd be forgiven for not remembering any computer games heralding from Poland.
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