You also got to revisit those locations again in later chapters of the game to see how things changed due to your choices or events that occurred. Witcher 1 or 2 aren't open world but Witcher 1 had much much larger locations to explore. Witcher 1 had a more traditional skills tree with far more skills to upgrade.

Witcher 2 skill system goes by buying perks that gives you abilities that Geralt should already have and just gives you things like greater damage percentage and more. Witcher 2 also greatly streamlines the skills system. You no longer need alcohol and Geralt can only make potions if he only has a diagram and if he loses it or sells it then he can no longer make that potion, which doesn't make sense since he's a Witcher. Witcher 2 streamlines this and makes alchemy weird. You can make potions stronger, last longer and have extra abilities by adding extra ingredients or using stronger alcohol. Witcher 1 had a good alchemy system that depended on what type of alcohol you used and what type of ingredients. Witcher 1 also had a real bartering system and a better alchemy system. Witcher 2's UI was made for a console and controller which is funny because the game didn't come to Xbox 360 till a year later. The first Witcher had a much better user interface that was made for a PC rpg. I haven't played Witcher 3 but I don't like how the game, series and the developer gets praise for things other rpg developers have done.

I beat Witcher 2 three times and beat Witcher twice. I played Witcher 2 first then went back to play Witcher. This is my comparison between Witcher vs Witcher 2.

Is witcher 2 open world