Despite the hype, the second season of “The Witcher” certainly leaves much to be desired when compared to the books and the games already present in the series.

The story follows the continued adventure of Geralt in his travels slaying monsters. While the adaptation certainly isn’t as bad as it could’ve been, the newest installment of the show sadly suffers from the same issue as its previous season, as both shows almost completely disregard the story told in the books. The show goes in a completely different direction from where the books went, leaving very little in common with the original. While the new story is by no means outright bad, it is noticeable from the get-go how crucial storytelling is either re-arranged or completely cut out. Several key characters appear to not be present at all, while some new ones have been introduced. The pacing of the story, however, is really good, with something exciting occurring in every episode.  It was extremely difficult not to binge the whole thing.

It isn’t all bad though, as the CGI of the show is even better in this season than the last one, making all of the terrifying creatures even more ghastly. In my opinion, the casting choices are on par with last season and no characters feel out of place in the world, even after having read the books. The acting is pretty good too, despite the fact that the line delivery in some places is rather odd.

Overall, the show is a good starting place to get into the fandom, as imagining all the characters becomes significantly easier if you read the book series after watching the show first. While it is by no means a must-watch, I would certainly recommend the second season of “The Witcher” to anyone who likes fantasy and has nothing better to do.