Witcher 3 is undoubtedly a great game which gained mainstream recognition for its long list of great achievements.However,I feel its predecessor is still better in significant ways.
1) The Story,Factions,World Set up & Writing are more intricate,deeper,less predictable
The Witcher 2 had a much more sophisticated set up than that of Witcher 3. There is so much more to the writing here.There are multiple,better fleshed factions and truly non of them come out clean in terms of morality. The overall simmering plot of foltest's assassination,looming Nilfgaard in the background and human~non human conflict and lodge of the sorceresses is more nuanced and complex than it has ever been in The Witcher 3.
You can come back for multiple playthroughs and STILL untangle details you may have not gotten the first time through.
TW3 is a lot easier to follow by design and its a clear simple plot.Despite its massive length,there isn't much meat to analyse or revisit in the main plot of TW3.Its entertaining,endearing but not thought provoking.Its factions are played straight and its clear who is bad and who is good here.Almost to JRPG~esque levels(with much better writing)
2) MUCH Better Villains,More Intriguing,Shady Characters,Gray Morality
First of all,Letho is much more interesting antagonist than the king of the wild hunt could ever hope to be.Meeting him at the end was a thrilling,satisfying moment which TW3 didnot match.Not once.
Then comes an incredibly well developed cast of supporting characters and villains :
The corrupt,slimy commandant Loredo of flotsam, the powerful,plotting sorceress Philippa ,piggish,brutish Henselt,straight up gross Dethmold,hot headed Roche,Myserious Iorveth,unpredictable Sile De Tansarville, Shillard etc
The number of interesting,unique character is larger in number,more varied and more interesting to break down and talk about than those of TW3.
TW3 relies on the charm and clarity of its central characters(Geralt,Ciri,Yennefer) and works hard to make them extremely likeable. The only other interesting supporting characters were Baron and Djikstra(though he falls off a cliff at the end)
There is comparatively less depth,variety and conflicting interests among characters in TW3.
3.Higher Replayability,Better Consequences of Choices
The game's denser,more compact design allows for higher replayability in Witcher 2.Its not a small or short game either.There's enough to explore,uncover in beautifully immersive and varied hub-like worlds.
The game's central choice between Iorveth and Roche was incredibly well executed.Each choice leads to a very different.equally well design path.The combination of these two design choices lead to a much higher replay value.
TW3 is humongous ,sluggish and much more slowly paced by comparison.I didn't feel a need to go back once I was done with the Massive playthrough.I was actually a bit tired of it,especially because the last portions of the plot lack any of the intrigue and TW2's crazy final chapter.
4.Better Armor Design
There isn't much to say here.Armor designs are more detailed,more varied than in TW3.I wont post pictures as there's too many.
TW3=TW2: Gameplay,Battle System
They're about the same here.Though I'd say TW2 had better boss battles whereas TW3 was somewhat more flexible and intuitive to control ?
Final words :I hope they remaster TW2 so everyone can enjoy this great masterpiece.