The Witcher 3

By Bob Case Posted Thursday Mar 1, 2018

Filed under: Video Games 140 comments

This is a first of a many-part series on The Witcher 3, which I’m writing out of fear.

My fear – and I think this fear is well-justified – is that CD Projekt will eventually disappoint us. So far, they’ve been on a startling upward trajectory: the first Witcher was rough but promising, the second was excellent, and the third is one of the most critically acclaimed games ever made. Now they’re working on Cyberpunk 2077, which is in a genre that’s a personal favorite of mine, and all indications are that it’s CDP’s most ambitious game yet.

The last time a developer had this much credibility with me personally was probably Valve right after the release of the Orange Box. Oof, there’s a kick right in the ol’ anxiety. Now, more than ten years later, Half-Life is dead, I would not at all be surprised if we never saw another Portal again, and Team Fortress 2 is more hat than game at this point. Of course, there’s no reason to think that will happen to CD Projekt. Valve created a digital distribution service that made so much money they kind of don’t even need to make games anymore… oh no.

JUST TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS WITH ALYX AND THE BOREALIS
JUST TELL ME WHAT HAPPENS WITH ALYX AND THE BOREALIS

So, like I said, I’m writing this out of fear. Really, it’s a precautionary measure: let some of the air out of my own personal hype balloon as a hedge against future disappointment. It won’t be easy – The Witcher 3 was, in fact, a very good game. But that’s not particularly reassuring. Mass Effect 2 was (in my opinion) a very good game too, but you could still see the seeds of Bioware’s decline in it if you knew how to look. I’m going to flatter myself that I know how to spot the worrying parts of The Witcher 3. And, for the sake of not appearing to be a crank, I’ll also point out the good parts.

At this point I’ll catch you up on the particulars: I have played and beaten the game (twice), but I haven’t played either expansion yet. So those parts will be new to me. There will obviously be spoilers. I’m on Team Triss. I like signs builds but think the Griffin armor makes Geralt look fat. I’ll be playing on Death March difficulty, which, if you haven’t played it, is not as hard as it sounds.

The Griffin armor is on the left. See? Fat. On a side note, this game probably has the coolest-looking armor of any game ever made.
The Griffin armor is on the left. See? Fat. On a side note, this game probably has the coolest-looking armor of any game ever made.

I’m also not aiming for a completionist playthrough. The thought of clearing every Nekker nest in Velen makes the White Frost seem pleasant by comparison, so I’ll mostly try to focus on the cool parts and skip the rest.

This will probably be my last playthrough of the Witcher 3 for a long time, and as such, I’m gonna make it weird. I’m experimenting in White Orchard now, trying to figure out exactly what kind of weird. My current thinking is that I’m going to try a no-equipment run, where Geralt is not allowed to keep anything on his person except booze. He’s essentially a hobo who kills monsters for gin money anyway, so why not roleplay that?

(No-equipment playthroughs are also one of my favorite kinds. I’ve taken a crusty old bearded Breton named “Nigel Nudewizard” – who doesn’t submit to society’s arbitrary norms concerning clothing – through both Morrowind and Skyrim, and had a blast doing it.)

The game's main characters. From left to right: Eskel, Lambert, the Brewess, Zoltan, and Emperor Emhyr var Emreis.
The game's main characters. From left to right: Eskel, Lambert, the Brewess, Zoltan, and Emperor Emhyr var Emreis.

This will also be kind of a Let’s Play in text form, with bonus snooty commentary. That has the disadvantage of being boring but the advantage of being a post you can read in a few minutes instead having to watch an hour or more of video. As such, I plan to solicit your opinions as to what exactly I should do and in what order, using what builds, making what choices, using what mods, and so forth.

So buckle up (or don’t, that makes it sound dangerous). We start next week.

 


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140 thoughts on “The Witcher 3

  1. Daemian Lucifer says:

    This is a first of a many-part series on The Witcher 3

    Yay!

  2. Daemian Lucifer says:

    The thought of clearing every Nekker nest in Velen makes the White Frost seem pleasant by comparison

    Oh the ignorance of those who havent tried to 100% this game.Clearing the lands is easy peasy.Its the waters that are the bane of completionists.

    My current thinking is that I’m going to try a no-equipment run, where Geralt is not allowed to keep anything on his person except booze.

    Im already loving it.

    This will also be kind of a Let’s Play in text form, with bonus snooty commentary.

    ! ! !

    1. skeeto says:

      I’ve played through twice, including expansions, and cleared every land question mark both times in all maps without it feeling like a slog. However, neither time did I clear even half the water markers in Skellige. Traveling between them is slow and boring. The controls are clunky, especially with how Geralt can only walk inside the boat. There are irritating sirens, one of the least fun monsters in the game, at nearly every single marker, and sometimes there’s no way to prevent the damage to your boat. And, in the end, the gear you get from these markers is all heavy trash equipment that quickly fills your inventory, necessitating frequent trips back to vendors who are probably out of money from buying the last mountain of waterlogged junk.

      1. Daemian Lucifer says:

        I managed to do it,but it took me a loooooong time.The only good thing of the boat is that you can use it at full speed even if you are overencumbered.Luckily,the port is near a vendor,so the slow walk isnt that long.But sailing all around the island is a huuuuuge slog.In the end,I had days of vendor selling due to them constantly running out of money.

        Also underwater combat is massively broken.Fighting sirens from the boat is a pain,but if you jump in the water they come for you and you can dispatch them quickly with ease.

        1. Michael says:

          Yeah, I’d go so far as to say that underwater combat is fundamentally broken in The Witcher 3. Once you get your hands on the crossbow, any crossbow, it’s a one hit kill for anything underwater.

          1. TheJungerLudendorff says:

            And you’re straightup given one in the tutorial.

    2. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

      I started playing this game in April of 2017. I just finished the quest “Ugly Baby.” But I have cleared every point of interest except 2 in Skellige (behind a locked door, so I imagine that’s coming), and the northern ones of Velen/Novigrad which appear to be linked to Hearts of Stone.

      I’ve completed all the secondary and treasure quests from the main game.

      It did, in fact, feel like a slog. Which is why I have periodically put the game away and played something else. In fact, after all the buildup, finishing the Ugly Baby quest felt like quite the let-down. Ooo. Random elf, probably from the books. Sending me back to where I’ve already been…

      I think if I do a second playthrough I would not worry so much about getting the landmarks all at once -since I now know I will be coming back many times.

      1. Sleeping Dragon says:

        I think that’s the main thing holding me back from completing the game (though I think I might try to do it now to keep up with this playthrough), I’m constantly torn between being fed up with clearing up the question marks and the fact that I’m just enough of a completionist that it irks me to leave them staring at me every time I open the map.

        Also, I wish they’d give them little numbers or colour-code them somehow at least once you reveal them. I can never remember if this “guarded treasure” thing is a lvl 13 thing I revealed at level 4 or a level 25 thing I revealed at level 5 and so I end up either running up to them and re-discovering they are way too high level for me, or leaving them for later and then doing them when I’m 5 level above, I get no xp and trash loot.

        1. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

          Is there any other type of loot in this game? I haven’t used any equipment not crafted Witcher Gear since, like, level 15 or something.

          Also, my XBox got the Wolf Gear glitch, which is really annoying.

          1. Daemian Lucifer says:

            Really?Because Ive not used witcher gear until late game.Not because its bad,but because the highest witcher gear has high level requirement,while the orange gear offers you more upgrade slots than the lower level witcher gear.And while base stats are around the same,those upgrade slots are what really shifts the balance.

            1. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

              I don’t remember the level caps, exactly, but after even basic Feline gear, the armor I was pulling up had lower stats, and I only rarely found a piece of heavy armor that was close to as good and had more rune slots than I already had. Also, we should probably define “high level.” I wore a lot of different armor until like the high teens or low 20s.

              At level 27, with superior griffin, nothing is comparing to it.

              1. Daemian Lucifer says:

                I had a bunch of stuff that was better than superior witcher gear.Its only the master crafted one that was better,and that requires level 31 in order to wear,so it was just rotting in my stash before then.

                1. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

                  I wish I had your luck.

                  The closest I’ve come to that was a nekker hide pair of boots, level 28, that I got just as I transitioned over to level 29 -they were 5 points better than the Superior Griffin boots, but 1 point less good than the superior Feline boots, and they had no slot for a rune.

                  1. Daemian Lucifer says:

                    Its not that much luck as my compulsion to clear out every question mark and finish every side quest before moving to the mains.I managed to deck myself entirely in orange gear long before even stepping properly inside the bloody barons quest.It did mean being seriously overleveled for the main quests,but that did not bother me.

                    Also,focusing on signs over swords does make the number of slots much more important than the damage and armor stats.

          2. Sleeping Dragon says:

            Formulas for one, including, I believe, formulas for witcher gear upgrades. The specific locations for those are marked as part of the treasure hunt or whatever those are called quests… but I think to get those quests you need to actually find scrolls describing them which come as either part of the hidden or guarded treasure caches? Unless I’m misremembering it this seems to be the case for at least the base gear and the medium tier upgrades.

            Plus, again, the main factor is that I’m just enough of a completionist for the activities to annoy me for not doing them, and figuring “well, this one seems to be close might as well take it out while I’m here” and bouncing off it for the third time because it’s now just 12 levels above me rather than 16 is still tiresome.

      2. Sadbench says:

        ???

        The elf you uncurse is the one that was traveling with Ciri earlier in the game, and the one whose cave you explore with Keira. Now, the reveal itself wasn’t particularly unexpected, but he is not a random elf shoved into the story without explanation.

        1. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

          I’ll rephrase: after all the random build-up that it was actually Ciri, it turned out to be the masked elf. I got that. It was still a let down.

          Just finished the Battle of Kaer Morhan, and part of what I’m picking up is that -unlike certain BioWare games, “go to three places, then have the big finale” is not the trend of this game. So it’s somewhat less obnoxious. When I thought it was just delaying the ending by an hour, I was annoyed. Now that I see there’s a whole other act to come, I am less annoyed.

          1. Sadbench says:

            Ah, gotcha. Fair enough!

    3. Fade2Gray says:

      Oh the ignorance of those who havent tried to 100% this game.Clearing the lands is easy peasy.Its the waters that are the bane of completionists.

      So much work… so much hope… shattered. Those smuggler’s caches broke me.

  3. Richard says:

    Kaselehlie Mr Case,

    My respect to you, your family, and your work on this Witcher 3 project and others. If I may be so bold, I would like to formally request that you strive to obtain the achievement for acquiring all GWENT cards. I can appreciate that this request would require significant investment, that I offer you nothing in return for this deed. However, it would be very meaningful to me. Perhaps too meaningful.

    I have no other requests, as I trust you and the community on Mr Young’s blog.

    Best of luck on this project, and thank you for choosing to write this quasi Let’s Play.

    Ni wahu,

    -Richard

  4. Gumsoon says:

    I’m on Team Triss.

    Opinion discarded!
    Jokes aside, I’m really looking forward to this.
    Would like to see it in video form as well, but that would be too much hassle I suppose. Text LPs are fine as is anyway.

    1. newplan says:

      I didn’t play Witcher nor Witcher 2 so of course I’m team Yen – if the player doesn’t have an attachment to Triss going into the game Triss really behaved abominably towards Geralt (and Yen – who’s supposed to be her friend) but they really kind of dropped the ball by (apparently) not really mentioning Yen earlier in the series.

      1. Daemian Lucifer says:

        Ah,but triss is a redhead.You cant say no to a redhead.

        Still,seeing how the story unfolds,to me yen seems like a canonical option for geralt.Unless you do the genie quest.

        1. Redrock says:

          But book Triss has chestnut hair.

          1. BlueBlazeSpear says:

            Stuff like this is why I love reading this site’s comment sections.

          2. ElementalAlchemist says:

            She also had a massive scar across her chest and took to wearing tops buttoned up to the neck to hide it. CDPR took a few liberties with the character design.

            1. Daemian Lucifer says:

              Wait,wasnt the whole point of sorceresses that they can alter their appearance,hence why all of them are stunningly beautiful.

              1. ElementalAlchemist says:

                Triss is allergic to magic (in the books).

                1. Daemian Lucifer says:

                  A mage allergic to magic?Huh.I guess she is just allergic to magic being used on her,not the one she is using on others.

                  1. ElementalAlchemist says:

                    Yeah. Might actually just be potions though (at least according to the wiki – I can’t actually recall now, been a while since I read the books). I do remember she spent a decent chunk of her first major book appearance shitting herself half to death in a bout of dysentery or something along those lines. She couldn’t use any of the usual cures.

        2. BlueBlazeSpear says:

          My wife – who is red-headed – watched me play a lot of the game and she thought I was making some sort of statement by opting for the raven-haired woman over the red-headed woman. I had to assure her that:

          A) This was just a game and in no way reflected my feelings in reality, and

          B) Yennifer may have the dark hair, but she’s definitely got a red-headed mentality. Triss sticks pretty close to her actual chestnut roots. That is if you put any stock in the idea that hair color and temperament are related.

          1. Droid says:

            And next week on “My Husband is Passive-Aggressively Playing Videogames In My Presence To Make A Point” …

            Nah, need something catchier.

          2. Redrock says:

            her actual chestnut roots

            Is that a pun? If so, I can’t tell if it’s great or really terrible.

      2. Bloodsquirrel says:

        I went with Yen because it seemed like it fit the “canon” story, but honestly if it wasn’t for that history I’d have gone with Triss. I just found her a lot more charming. There just never seemed to be that much warmth between Yen and Geralt.

        1. Daemian Lucifer says:

          Except during the punversation.That one confirmed that my choice was correct.

      3. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

        In the context of the story -searching for their adoptive daughter -Yen made more sense to me. Especially after Geralt has his memories back.

        I do, however, like the out provided by Last Wish -that the magic is actual magic.

        I find I don’t actually get what Geralt sees in Yen, and side with Eskal and Lambert when they point out that Yen appears to be using Geralt for her own ends.

        On the flip side, now having met Yen, and learned some of the backstory between her and Triss -Triss comes out looking very badly for her behavior in the first game.

        1. Michael says:

          Oh, yeah, Triss is creepy in the first game. It’s not out of character for her, but holy snot is her behavior messed up.

      4. Michael says:

        To be fair, not mentioning Yen in the first game is a little weird, but she does come up in the second.

        Like I said, further down, Triss’s behavior in TW1 isn’t out of character; she’s got this weird fixation on Geralt because of his relationship with Yen, and not understanding what that’s like.

        But, here’s why Triss really skeezes me out: She’s a kid. Not, literally a child, she’s in her mid to late 20s in the novels (if I remember correctly, and she doesn’t appear in the short stories at all), but she is young enough to be Geralt and Yen’s daughter (ignoring the whole sterility thing), and in spite of her age is still emotionally immature. For most of the books, she’s more of a surrogate, older sister to Ciri, so when you get to even the idea of romancing her in TW1, it is creepy as hell.

      5. Mormegil says:

        I’ve always interpreted Team Triss and Team Yen as meaning “I have/have not read the books.”

        All the book fans love Yen, I’ve never looked at one and can’t see why you would ever not go with Triss (or Shani).

        1. Daemian Lucifer says:

          Ive never read any of the books,have not played(much)witchers 1 and 2,but I still went with yen.

    2. baud says:

      Personally I like the idea of a text + image let’s play, for a game like TW, it can enable to skip boring parts like travels or selling loot and buying the gin. And I think there are more way to make a let’s play fun with text + images than with videos.

  5. The Rocketeer says:

    “The coolest-looking armor of any game ever made,” he says, over an image of the dorkiest armor I’ve ever seen. De gustibus non something something.

    1. John says:

      I dunno. I think I dig it. It looks like actual clothes for actual humans. Better this than yet more over-sized, implausibly-etched plate.

    2. Sadbench says:

      To be fair, that image looks like it’s showcasing the dying options from the expansions, and a lot of those armors look less dorky in their original colors.

      Definitely some dorky armor in the game, but also some really cool styles that I haven’t seen in other games.

    3. Eric T Le says:

      The starting armor set (the one used in the promotional material) looks incredible. Many of the other armors make Geralt look fat, or are tied to specific political factions that make it hard to roleplay.

  6. GargamelLeNoir says:

    The wise hermit of video-games is on Team Triss! Validation ahoy!
    (Ok that probably just means that like me, Mr BTongue hasn’t read the books)

  7. Alezul says:

    I really don’t see how it would be entertaining to play him in his underwear for that long. I mean it’s the same joke…in a 60 to 100 hour game. Wouldn’t the novelty of “haha everyone is treating him seriously while he’s in his underwear” wear out quickly?

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Those underwear are pretty sturdy.It will take a lot of effort to wear them out.

    2. 4th Dimension says:

      It’s not just the nudity thing. The no equipment part will force him to come up with different strategies since he can’t just wade in and start swinging…

  8. Redrock says:

    But has Mr BTongue read the books, that’s the real question. The team Triss thing suggests that you didn’t. In which case, 1) any and all of your opinions are subject to incessant snobbish ridicule and dismissal, as is the Internet way, and 2) It would be genuinely interesting to see you operate on from the other side of the fence compared to your GoT critique. I’m looking forward to the series, at any rate. I wonder if we share the same scepticism about Cyberpunk 2077.

    1. BlueBlazeSpear says:

      Ha! I’m right there with you. As someone familiar with the source material, I find that there’s some part of my brain that’s annoyed that there are even any non-Yennifer options. On my most recent playthrough, I thought “I’ll go with Triss this time to see what that’s about,” and when it came time to make that choice, I still couldn’t do it – despite how hard the game seems to push Geralt in that direction.

      1. Fungus says:

        As someone who read the books, I think they are a horrible match in the books, and that’s still true in the game. It took about 5 minutes of talking with Yen to decide that I’d rather be gathering flotsam around Skellige. Triss romance on the other had actually works.

        1. BlueBlazeSpear says:

          To a degree, I actually agree with you. In the books, the Geralt/Yen stuff often gets weird and complicated. And as the games go, Triss is presented as a more-reasonable option.

          I’m just a sucker for the tested romance that somehow endures. Geralt and Yen have seen each others’ warts and hunched backs and still have that connection despite (or in accordance with?) that wish. Maybe I’m just propelled by the weight of history.

          1. Liessa says:

            Team Triss all the way here. I admit I haven’t read the books, but from what I’ve read about them, Geralt/Yennefer sounded like a tremendously fucked-up and unhealthy relationship – to the point where amnesia honestly seemed like the best thing that could happen to both of them in that regard. Whereas the Geralt/Triss romance in TW1 & 2 actually worked for me, though not without its own issues (didn’t Triss start off believing that Yennefer was dead as well, though? Or am I imagining that?)

            I dunno… maybe I’d like Geralt/Yennefer better in TW3, but unfortunately I haven’t actually got around to playing it yet. Which means I’ll have to stay away from this LP for a while, even though I’d really like to read it.

            1. Redrock says:

              The trouble with Trish is that in the games her character is all over the place. I’m pretty sure that in the first game they actually meant for her to be a quasi-Yennefer, or an amalgamation of several sorceress characters from the books. Then as they decided to reintroduce Yennefer they started tweaking Triss’s character in different ways.

              1. Liessa says:

                Her character did seem to change somewhat between the first and second games, but then they changed so many things (Geralt’s appearence, for one) that I hardly noticed. It’s probably more obvious if you’ve read the books.

                1. Redrock says:

                  Very much so. One of the sticking points is that Triss is either a terrible person who never once mentioned Yen or Ciri to Geralt after his amnesia or, more probably, devs weren’t sure if they wanted Ciri or Yen in the games at that point. As I mentioned before, Witcher 1 and 2 are written like fanfiction. Witcher 3 is clearly intended to be an unofficial sequel to the books. You can tell by the fact that the plot of Witcher 1 has zero impact on the third game and the plot af Witcher 2 gets a couple of mentions and cameos, but nothing all that critical.

    2. Joe Informatico says:

      I’m perfectly willing to accept there might be issues with the translations, but while I found the short stories a lot of fun to read, the novels so far are a real slog. The best parts of the novels I’ve read seem to be short vignettes that could be taken out of the book and made into a shorter work. I just get the sense that Geralt is a character, like Conan or Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, who lends himself better to shorter, pulpier tales than novel-length stories.

      1. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

        Ditto. I have chalked it up entirely to translation issues, but I just didn’t like the books when I tried them (after playing the first game).

      2. Redrock says:

        When I was younger, I just couldn’t stand the novels and loved the stories. Then my perspective changed. I think the problem here is the jarring switch in tone and pacing and basically everything. Also the fact that Geralt gets nerfed in the novels. You get used to the pulpy stories about an OP hero, and then you’re suddenly thrust into those complex narratives with multiple POVs, numerous asides, politics, war, etc. It’s always weird. And then you get a very damaged teenage girl as your deuteragonist or, perhaps, the new main protagonist, and that’s where things get really odd. But the books are quite a good read in Russian, at least, so I imagine translation does play a big role there. I can imagine how the English translation might be more than a little dry.

  9. kikito says:

    Considering the time you spend looking for him, Dandellion should be on that picture instead of Vesemir.

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      Considering the time you spend looking for him

      Not if you played like me:
      “Dandelion you say?Ill be right on that.But first,lemme check this cave right here.Oh,and win a few races.And a couple of pit fights.Oooo,new gwent cards,I have to try those out first.What was I looking for again?Oh right,the bard.”

    2. Nick Powell says:

      Ciri? I don’t know where she is. But Dandelion might know.
      Dandelion? I don’t know where he is. But his girlfriend might know.
      Oh, she doesn’t know either? But Dudu might know.
      Dudu? I don’t know where he is. But we might be able to find him if we put on a theatrical production he likes (!?)
      Oh, the theatre company? I know where they are! But they won’t do a play until you-
      [A plot stack overflow exception has occurred]

      1. BlueBlazeSpear says:

        I totally hear you on that. Witcher 3 is a great game, but this particular quest chain feels like a Rube Goldberg regression plot that ends with us learning that the princess is in another castle.

        1. ElMucho says:

          After completing the Dandelion quest line I had to put the game down and didn’t come back to it for at least a year. I’ve only recently started playing again.

          I’m really enjoying the second half of the game but that quest line combined with the the overwhelming number of icons on the map really burned me out.

          1. Pax says:

            I just played Witcher 3 for the first time this year, having gotten it for Christmas, and after hearing about the terror of the Dandelion quest for 2 years and… it wasn’t that bad. At first. Once I got there, I thought Novigrad was just the greatest thing. I’m a sucker for video game cities, especially ones that do a good job of seeming large and complicated enough to be realistic. And Dandelion’s quest is great in conjunction with that, because it sends you all over the city on multiple errands to see and experience all the highs and lows and nooks and crannies of that great city. But by the 100th time someone was talking unironically about the importance of guy named Dudu, I had about had it.

        2. Mormegil says:

          That said, the game explicitly acknowledges this: https://shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=27166

      2. Michael says:

        I don’t know, a stack of horrible life choices spilling out of Dandelion’s actions sounds about right.

        1. Redrock says:

          Yup. I mean, if you judge a game by its ability to make you feel what the character feels, than the Dandelion quest chain just makes you feel all of Geralt’s exasperation that he experienced over their decades-long friendship. When judged on those merits, it may well be the best quest ever.

  10. Eamonn Treacy says:

    It’s amazing that the Witcher 3 was good, extremely good, when the preceding game had a laundry-list of issues that stopped it from even being base-line good.

    The tone was dour, there was no moral-center like Ciri to care about, the sidequests were paltry in number making the main-game very linear, the UI was horrid beyond imagination, it had every awful video-game trend from 2010 like QTEs and stealth-mission, Alchemy was useless, it was downright homophobic with the Dethmold scene, and the last chapter made no sense at all unless you played the game twice and when you do understand you have little reason to care on an emotional-level.

    The Witcher 3 fixed all the above and more. We see a greater range of emotion in Geralt who gets drunk with friends, makes puns at work, and downright grieves when all is lost. The beard does wonders to making him more mature.

    The only real faults of the game is the filler in Skellige, the chore that is Novigrad, Eredin getting no screen-time to establish him as a villain, and that whole White-Frost business that’s too straightforward for a deconstructive and playful fantasy like this one.

    1. baud says:

      playful fantasy

      I think that’s the first time I’ve heard those words (or even words to this effect) used to describe the Witcher. But maybe I’m biased because I’ve only played the first game.

  11. Isaac says:

    I really wanted to like The Witcher 3 but the combat was too clunky and too frequent for me to really get into it. Also, it had way too many repetitive quests.

    I feel that Horizon: Zero Dawn (quest-wise) was better at doing what TW3 was trying to do.

    1. Redrock says:

      Right. Would you mind not going anywhere while I get the kindling for the bonfire and sharpen my pitchfork? The Eternal Flame will proceed to cleanse you momentarily. Thank you for your cooperation.

      1. Droid says:

        Here, have some of mine. No, no, please! I’ll gladly help out if the need is so dire. In fact, I always bring two pitchforks for just such an occasion. You never know, after all!

        1. deiseach says:

          Steel pitchfork or silver pitchfork?

  12. Nixorbo says:

    This will also be kind of a Let’s Play in text form, with bonus snooty commentary.

    You had me at “snooty.”

  13. BlueBlazeSpear says:

    One of my favorite video game commentators doing a series about one of my favorite video games? Should I manage my “squee” much in the same way that you’re managing your own in regard to Cyberpunk 2077?

    Do you have an ending in mind that you’ll be shooting for? I’ll be interested in hearing about some of the choices you make. I’ve tried some different things in my couple of playthroughs and it’s interesting to see how some choices shade other things in the game.

    The expansion packs are great. When I played Hearts of Stone, I wondered how they would top it, but then Blood and Wine came out, and I’m pretty sure that I liked it more than the rest of the game. But I’ll be curious to see what you think of them.

  14. Mr. Wolf says:

    Team Triss, huh? I can respect that, but I encourage you to romance both. It ends a lot better than you’d expect!

  15. Shamus says:

    This Triss vs. Yen argument is fascinating. What are people basing this on? I have this sneaking suspicion that some people are going by looks and other people are going by personality and so we end up with an apples-and-oranges comparison.

    Personally, I always found Yen to be incredibly grating. She talks down to Geralt like he’s a dog. I avoided Yen because I wanted to help the guy out. “Dude. I know you dig this chick, but she’s bad for you. She doesn’t respect you. Also, she’s kind of out of your league, power-wise. She’s just one jealous tantrum away from vaporizing you.”

    On the other hand, Triss and her California accent really don’t feel like they belong in this world. Also, taking advantage of his amnesia was a pretty big red flag.

    So we’ve got two women. One is openly negging him and the other is opportunistic and manipulative. That’s not much of a choice, romance-wise. Maybe he should stick to banging strumpets.

    My first playthrough I went lone wolf. The second time I went with Yen because I felt like this was the intended way to play. They talked a lot about their relationship, but it felt like the whole thing was built on external works. I never really felt any of their supposed chemistry or mutual interest.

    1. Bloodsquirrel says:

      I went with Yen because their history together, on paper, made that a better romance story. It seemed like the more “Geralt” decision at the time.

      But honestly, I found Triss a lot more charming. Yen was just too stiff, and her and Geralt’s scenes together never really sold the romance to me.

      Triss taking advantage of his amnesia is another one of those “more significant on paper” things. Especially given how hard it is for me to really put the Witcher 1 and the Witcher 3 in the same space mentally, given how different they are and how vastly improved the storytelling was. By the start of Witcher 3, Geralt’s amnesia has faded way into the background, and I didn’t really think or care much about it.

    2. Christopher says:

      You’ve got a relationship with Triss in Witcher 2 at least, and also she’s a smokin’ ginger, so I’d say the odds are really in her favor going into Witcher 3.

      I haven’t gotten around to it yet, though. I’ve been trying to make my way through 2, but it’s hard. The console port is a mess, and even if it ran perfectly I’d still be dealing with one of those Bioware games with poor action combat, so I’m torn between jumping into 3 and see if I like that better or try to force myself through 2.

    3. NPC says:

      “Dude. I know you dig this chick, but she’s bad for you. “

      This was actually what drew me to her over Triss, despite not having read the books. Yen is the fun kind of bad where she pulls Geralt into fantastic fairy-tail hijinks involving dark magics, wrathful genies and passionate make-outs on far-flung mountaintops.

      Triss meanwhile seems to make a hobby out of wedging herself into other people’s relationships, not only manipulating her best friend’s boo but having a go at his adoptive brothers, too. Geralt and Yennefer aren’t exactly monogamous themselves, but they keep their other booty calls in more or less separate social circles at least.

      Shani is still Best Girl tho fite me

      1. 4th Dimension says:

        Doesn’t she also come back in the Expansion?

    4. Droid says:

      Do you personally know one of these, let’s call them high-conflict relationships, that Geralt and Yen have going? I also can’t really believe they work out, but from first-hand observation, I can say that they sometimes do.

      Also, [***SHORT STORY AND GAME SPOILERS***] Yennefer thought Geralt was out of her league, too, and was really annoyed by him, until Geralt (at least in the game’s retelling) used his Genie’s wish to basically force her into a relationship with him. This way more powerful manipulation should be just as much of a red flag in their relationship as it is in Triss’. Of course he saved Yennefer’s life at the same time, but the way she was acting between the short story and doing that Genie’s quest in the game, it seems very much like a person trying to rattle at their chains as much as they can, if for nothing else than to spite the person keeping them chained up. After the quest, her general attitude towards Geralt changes (even if these two changes probably only happen to line up, the way most players play the game), even if she (and Geralt!) apparently both seem to enjoy a bit of head-butting in their relationship.

      An important part about Geralt and Yen, in both the books and the games, is that Yen says mean things to Geralt mainly to vent her general frustration/anger/whatever, because she knows Geralt doesn’t care. Not “he can take it”, or “he’s had worse”, but literally “he doesn’t mind”. When she sees that does no longer hold true, like when she says “I heard you and Triss made a wonderful pair.”, followed up by “I don’t care whether you lost your memory!” at the end of the prologue in Vyzima, she sees that Geralt is deeply distraught, and drops the matter entirely (for the entire rest of the game, iirc), even though she would doubtlessly like to vent her anger on this matter some more (she does destroy the “best bed in Kaer Morhen” instead).

      1. Victor McKnight says:

        I admit I skimmed the games re-telling of “The Last Wish”, so I don’t recall that specifically. But that is a pretty interesting change to what actually happens in the book. I can see how that changes the context of their romance side-mission

        On the other hand, Dandelion is narrating all the in-game backstory stuff… He is not entirely reliable…

        1. Droid says:

          It’s never mentioned in the short story (I don’t think the in-game one mentions it either), but Yen and Geralt talk about it a bit when they start the Genie quest and I remember something about the wish binding them together. After all, they do have this scene at the end where they explore whether Yen actually still has any feelings for Geralt.

      2. BlueBlazeSpear says:

        While the actual wording of Geralt’s wish is never learned, we do learn that the result is that Geralt and Yennefer are protected from the djinn and that their fates are bound together. But it seems a little misleading to suggest that he basically forced her into a relationship with him. There’s nothing to suggest that there’s a forced romantic bond, though that could be a possible interpretation. Geralt and Yennefer both openly wonder how much their connection is magically-enforced and how much of it is pure, old-fashioned attraction. And Yennefer’s reaction to learning of the wish isn’t that Geralt wronged her, but that Geralt wronged himself. She said that Geralt had condemned himself to her.

        But what you’ve said still stands: From the outside observer, it would look like Geralt and Yennefer have an unhealthy relationship, but to them, they seem pretty happy with things.

        1. Redrock says:

          There is a great phrase about that in the last book. It’s about them both being surprised at how happy the love they shared made them despite that love not being all that fantastic. I found it pretty touching. Yen gets a lot of development in the latter novels.

    5. Victor McKight says:

      My exposure to this series was backwards. I played the first game when it came out. Then I read “The Last Wish”, the collection of short stories, the last of which introduces Yen. But then I ended up playing both Witcher 2 and Witcher 3 before coming back to the books. At present I’ve read two of them, so I by no means have a complete picture of them. This means I sort both understand a lot of the comments made by book readers, but have a lot of the first impressions of a person who only played the games.

      Yen’s not in the first two games at all, and even in Witcher 2 where she get mentioned a lot, it doesn’t suggest much about their relationship. But the games push Triss hard, and its easy for the player to develop a strong connection with her, especially in the Witcher 2. But then they reveal at the end of the Witcher 2 that Yen is alive too, and so Witcher 3 starts with Geralt looking for someone that is clearly important to him, but who the player has basically no attachment to.

      On the flip side, from the very first short story about her, the books make it clears its Yen and Geralt all the way. Triss does hook up with Geralt early on, but its basically as his rebound girl when Yen (temporarily) dumps him.

      On that note, while I can’t speak to how the Yen/Geralt dynamic evolves in later books, it is even more dysfunctional at the start that in the game. Yen is terrible to Geralt. She openly talks to him like a child and tells him there are things he is not important enough to know. In her defense Geralt can’t keep his pants up around basically any women and is frequently acts like a sulky child.

      So you are going to have people who only know the games who either are already team Triss, or who don’t care about Triss but know nothing about Yen. You are going to have book fans who will say its Yen and Geralt forever, and other book fans who will say the two are so toxic together they clearly need to see other people.

      Personally, I think one of the few stumbles in the Witcher 3 is that there is too much time in the main story line between Triss’ sections and Yen’s sections. Furthermore, you don’t really get many opportunities to compare and contrast each woman. I imagine it would be really hard for a person coming into the series for the first time with Witcher 3 to even make a good decision about either woman on their first time through.

      1. Michael says:

        Bonus points that WT3 basically asks you to make a decision on Triss before even having you go back and interact with Yen. If you have no prior experience with the character, it’s highly unlikely that you’ll intentionally blow off Triss, in favor of Yen, sight unseen.

    6. Redrock says:

      Basically, the relationship between Yen and Geralt in the game desperately needs the context of the books to work. Yen is quite complicated. Arrogant, egotistical, but also more than capable of great love, surprising everyone, including her. That’s the thing about The Witcher 3. Unlike the other two it really leans heavily on the books. It can work beautifully without prior exposure to the novels, of course, but it works so much better if you are a fan of the books.

      1. Michael says:

        Yeah, this is absolutely a factor. There’s one or two points in TW2 where you can’t make an informed choice without having read the books, but TW3 has some major stuff, including Yen and Triss, that you really can’t parse without that. I’d call that a flaw in the writing, if it didn’t do a pretty good job of letting you think you were making informed choices.

    7. BlueBlazeSpear says:

      As far as debates go, I’d put it up there with “Stormcloaks versus Empire.” It’s a fascinating rabbit hole to tumble down, but the actual stakes are hilariously low. Of course, I say that as someone who’s removed himself from the Skyrim debate because of how heated I’ve seen it get because, you know – the Internet.

      I go with Yen and Geralt because that’s the conclusion that the books and short stories seemed to lead them to. It’s like if I imagine a direct sequel video game to The Lord of the Rings books that puts us in the boots of Aragorn and allows him (us) to leave Arwen to be with Éowyn. (Do we even consider LotR stuff “spoilers” anymore?) That’s an extreme example, but that’s the feeling I get when I imagine Geralt with Triss, no matter how better it seems like Triss would be for him. It just… seems wrong.

      I’ve seen a lot of great arguments in favor of Triss, but then I think about the character of Geralt: What would Geralt want out of a romantic relationship? Something calm, quiet, and peaceful? Or does he want to be at the center of a raging tempest? I think he’d say he wants the first thing, but actually want the second thing.

      In any case, I love seeing the debate and all of the points that get made. It’s always interesting.

      1. Michael says:

        Yeah, the Stormcloak v Empire thing’s always been really unsatisfying for me. In part because there’s no real points for discussion, it’s just, “oh, hey, both options are horrifically bad,” and play into the Thalmor’s plans.

        It reminds me of the kind of mock conflict you get from 40k fans, but without the shared glee from screaming, “Blood for the Blood God!” or “For the Emporah!” In all caps at one another on a message board.

    8. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

      Given the driving quest -hunting for Ciri after Geralt regains his memory -I saw Geralt and Yen getting back together as making sense. Narratively, parents stressed over missing daughter makes more sense to me than Geralt hunting for daughter, and also trading in said daughter’s mother for a newer model.

      Especially because the Triss/Alvin relationship worked out so well…

      But as noted upthread, Yen comes across as a bit more than stressed, and possibly more manipulative than Triss -as intepreted by Geralt’s Witcher brothers.

      1. Michael says:

        It’s even creepier if you view Triss as Ciri’s surrogate sister, which is a valid read from the novels.

        1. Redrock says:

          Well, Triss is way, way older than Ciri and, as far as I remember, has had an affair with Geralt way before he actually adopted Ciri, so it’s not that bad.

          1. Michael says:

            Yeah, I may be remembering this wrong, but Yen and Geralt are in their mid 60s, while Triss is in her mid to late 20s.

            1. Redrock says:

              Now, I’m a bit fuzzy on those things myself, but I distinctly remember that Yen is about 90 at the time of “Tower of the Swallow”. She says so herself. Geralt is, I think, actually a couple decades younger than her. Triss, then, was already 20-ish when Geralt and Yen first met, which puts her in her early 30-s by the end of the book series and around 37-38 by the time of Witcher 3. Which makes her about 15-17 years older than Ciri, I think? In that ballpark, surely.

    9. Daemian Lucifer says:

      I avoided Yen because I wanted to help the guy out.

      He doesnt deserve it.Whenever someone talked geralt down,I was immediately on their side.

      Also,to be fair to yen,she has a reason to treat geralt like that.He pretty much forced her to be with him forever.Despite them being very much in love back then,its a really douchy thing to make a wish like that.And once you end that wish,she actually loosens her attitude towards the guy(if you were going for her before,I mean).

      1. Michael says:

        Yeah, there’s a weird thing with The Last Wish, where it’s kinda clear that Yen thinks the wish was Geralt binding her into a relationship with him, when it doesn’t seem to have been the case, when you finally strip it off at the end.

    10. Henson says:

      I think the Triss relationship is a little more complex than that. She clearly took advantage of Geralt when he had amnesia, but by the time Witcher 3 rolls around, she’s also clearly regretful of the whole thing. She has strong feelings for the guy, but refuses to let herself go after him anymore. Triss’ arc was compelling in Novigrad because of this conflict between what she wants and what she’s decided is the right thing to do. So she’ll have a moment of weakness, open her heart to Geralt, and a few moments later try to push him away because she thinks it’s better this way. Even at the boat, Geralt saying ‘stay with me’ isn’t enough to get her to change her mind. She has to hear the magic words.

      Of course, I play the game with Polish voices, so the dynamic may have a different effect in English.

      1. Michael says:

        That’s fair.

        I’d kinda say that Triss’s Novigrad arc is more of her finally, “growing up,” and admitting that she doesn’t have a right to someone else.

        As derisive as I may sound normally, I thinks her character arc in TW3 is fantastic.

    11. Michael says:

      The one, and pretty much only, thing I’ll say in defense of Triss, with the amnesia thing is, that was in character for her from the books. She’s significantly younger than Yen and Geralt, she doesn’t know about the magical bond between them, and she is (or was) attracted to the idea of someone being romantically involved with her. (The games make it pretty clear, but like Witchers, Sorceresses don’t generally mingle romantically, except with other magic practitioners.) So, when you get to the first game, she see’s an opportunity to nab Geralt, and then jumps at the prospect.

      It’s creepy as hell, but it’s not out of character.

      That said, the Geralt and Yen relationship is a lot more complex in the novels. It’s one of these things where there’s a lot of surface tension running over what appears to be a shockingly solid partnership. I’m willing to take flack over this, but Geralt and Yen are more about two people who are really there for each other, and support and help one another rather than an overtly romantic relationship. It looks weird, but neither of them are particularly happy people normally. So you’ve got more of a partnership of equals.

      There’s something else that bugs me, and it’s not just Triss trying to hide Yen from Geralt in the first game. Triss isn’t being honest with Geralt about who she is… in any of the games, really. She’s trying to make him happy, when they’re in a relationship, anyway, but that’s not really her. It’s her trying to pretend to be what she thinks Geralt wants, because she seems to be what she believes romance, or love, or whatever is. She’s playing a role; not being herself. Also, this isn’t for Geralt’s benefit. She’s specifically doing this because she wants to experience… what it’s like to be that kind of a person.

      If you’re paying attention, you can kind of see this leaking through at times, especially in TW3. She is Geralt’s friend, but the rest is a bit of an act. Once you pick up on that, it makes most of the interactions with her a bit harder to take at face value.

      1. Droid says:

        I always interpreted this pretty obvious shift in behaviour (if we see her book behaviour as “normal” for her for now) as “Triss, for whatever reason, has (developed?) an enormous crush on Geralt, and does not see how desctructive for both of them her behaviour is”.
        It’s maybe not entirely faithful to the books (less so than your theory; after all, one of the main influences she has on the plot in the books is when she betrays Geralt and Yen for her own benefit). But this interpretation seems to bring some consistent explanation to her behaviour over the course of the books, the first game, and the latter two games, which are three entirely different things.
        Also, it’s a better explanation for Triss abandoning the Loge of Sorceresses than “I went from trying to sabotage my friends and/or colleagues Geralt and Yen for my own personal and political benefit to the complete opposite because I realized Geralt and Yen might die, and that makes me sad. Also the other sorceresses are super stupid!”

        But what you say about Triss is at least somewhat true: Triss, as well as any other sorceress including Yen, always live some sort of act, if for nothing else than because their day-to-day appearance is most definitely not what they really look like. It’s made pretty explicit in the books: While the clergy of this world might be interested in getting pretty boys and girls as novices, at least in the more important places where they could be seen, the sorceresses don’t care. They only care for magical talent: if the apprentice is worth a damn, they can fix the rest.

      2. Redrock says:

        I still think that the reason Triss never mentioned Yen during Geralt’s amnesia is the fact that the developers weren’t originally planning on bringing back Yen and Ciri. Notice that no one else tries to sit Geralt down and remind him of Yen and Ciri, which is odd. Well, unless Lambert, Vesemir, Zoltan and every other friend actually also wants him to themselves.

        Also, unlike most other characters, the Witcher 1 Triss is very different from her book character. She is much more Yen-like, actually, way more manipulative and arrogant. The design is off, too – one of Triss’s notable traits in the book is the scarring on her chest which she hides. No low necklines for Triss. So I don’t think that Triss hiding the truth about Yen and Ciri was conceived as a plot point. Then they tried to kinda get away with it, true, but I think that in the end CDPR don’t actually consider “lying to Geralt about his loved ones, which include her best friend and surrogate sister” a canon trait of Triss’s character.

        1. Mr. Wolf says:

          Indeed. Coming back to the first game after the books or the third game just feels weird. Yen and Ciri are major parts of Geralt’s life and nobody even once mentions them. There are a few times they almost come up but he just brushes off the questions with “I lost my memory”.

          Come to think, maybe that’s why Yen doesn’t accept “I lost my memory” as a decent excuse. Every time somebody tries to talk about her he tells them to stop.

    12. Nimrandir says:

      I find this argument fascinating because I first heard of the Witcher franchise as ‘that game where you have sex with women for naughty trading cards.’

      As stated below, I have yet to complete the first game, let alone play either of the others, so I totally accept that the series evolved. I’ve also gotten the vibe from some of the comments that these relationships may be more open than I tend to presume.

      1. Daemian Lucifer says:

        Dont know of the first two,but in 3 you can bang a bunch of side character and even prostitutes and still maintain a relationship with either of these two.Its only if you try to ave these two at the same time that things get interesting.

        1. Nimrandir says:

          So the promiscuity stayed part of the series’ DNA. Got it.

          I presume that Triss and Yennefer know about his other activities, yes? Geralt didn’t really strike me as much of a Sly Dog (TM) from my time with the first game.

          1. Droid says:

            It’s pretty clear that both know about Geralt not being the most loyal sexual partner. Yennefer states this outright, Triss probably just doesn’t bring it up because she does not want to confront him with something that is probably going to alienate the two of them.

          2. Daemian Lucifer says:

            You can be promiscuous,but you dont have to.I played him as a monogamous yen lover.

            1. Nimrandir says:

              Does the game acknowledge your fidelity?

              1. Droid says:

                No. Just because you’ve been too busy trying to rescue Ciri and defeat the Wild Hunt doesn’t mean either Yen or Triss believe you’ve suddenly drastically changed your behaviour. Geralt’s past actions do weigh you down in that regard.

      2. NPC says:

        I’ve also gotten the vibe from some of the comments that these relationships may be more open than I tend to presume.

        In the books, Yennefer had a long-term relationship with the sorcerer Istredd until he and Geralt met and nearly fought eachother out of jealousy.

        The games also imply Triss had some side flings. In Witcher 1 Geralt can find a set of footprints leading from her bathtub to a nearby window.
        In Witcher 3, during a a game of “never have I ever”, Lambert confesses he once jumped out of a lover’s window to avoid hurting a friend. He also owns the unique Triss Merigold Gwent card

    13. Oliver says:

      But… what about Keira? Part-way through the dandelion hunt after encouraging Keira to go to Kaer Morhen. Based on the volume of Triss vs Yen choice debate here, I’m guessing there is nothing more to expect from her for the rest of the game. A pity as she was particularly entertaining; using Geralt to advance her goals just as much as Geralt was using her to advance his. They felt like equals, despite being very different.

      1. Shamus says:

        Yeah. That’s a really good bit. I like how she does feel like she’s more on Geralt’s level. Also, they go on a proper date rather than just a booty call. And the date has some great conversation. And you can follow their entire story without needing to know about the books or the other games for context.

        Good stuff.

      2. ElementalAlchemist says:

        I’m guessing there is nothing more to expect from her for the rest of the game.

        If you send Keira to Kaer Morhen she ends up hooking up with Lambert after saving him during the battle. If you let her go to Radovid, she is tortured to death, and Lambert can potentially die during the Kaer Morhen battle.

  16. tremor3258 says:

    I approve of snooty.

  17. “I like signs builds but think the Griffin armor makes Geralt look fat”
    Seems like that would be great for immersion if your going for the “rampaging alcoholic hobo that hunts monsters” role-play :D

    And you can argue about team Triss or Team Yen all you like, but chubby alcoholic hobo Geralt’s only true love is the lady Gin.

  18. Dabor says:

    A friend of mine was playing through the Witcher 3 again with her new girlfriend constantly watching, and I decided to steal the idea with my own (although I’ve just barely started).

    I actually have actively joked about being curious which girl she’d chose (seeing as I’m leaving the story branching up to her).

    I’m kind of surprised to see Shamus home in on one negative of Triss’s as being that universally applicable. A lot of moral stuff like that I still view through the lens of a dark fantasy world. Lives aren’t worth very much. Taking advantage of someone’s amnesia is pretty mild as far as things go, and it wasn’t done with overt malice towards him (and he doesn’t have hard feelings about it himself). To some degree that element does matter – I think Yen’s behavior is a lot more understandable given what Geralt is like that’d see her stressed. And to a large degree Yen seems a lot like me – casually forceful and direct with most people, but still often leading into serious, mellow discussions on where we stand.

    On my one playthrough, I also went with Yen because it felt like the “correct” choice that worked with the way the story flowed – despite probably finding Triss more compelling as an individual, I can’t help but feel that Yen has a more compelling place in the greater plot.

    Although I wonder how much of this is personal preference and how much of it is just how people view stories. When I go at any story, I try to suppress my nitpicking and like it as much as possible – if the story deserves it, my natural critical inclinations will overwhelm any affection I may have for it either way. So something like “the morally ambiguous thing that’d mitigated by various circumstances that some character did in a previous story” really doesn’t factor into my top 10 considerations of whether they’re worth liking or disliking. Perhaps Shamus has some more direct but subjective reasons – simply didn’t find either one charming in their dialogue, for instance, but I still feel that’s unfair to Triss. For Yen, I get why people who don’t like that kind of dominating personality would take issue with her.

    But as somebody who has that (sort of) personality, and has a girlfriend who likes that personality, I just find it curious to see from the outside, and tend to offer the benefit of the doubt.

  19. insert many happy dance gifs here…

    Yay, looking forward to this. And ooh, armor that looks like humans would wear it. Now I kinda want to steal Triss’s outfit, even if it’d give me heatstroke at DragonCon.

  20. Brandon says:

    Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes!

    Witcher 3 may be my favorite game ever. This gonna be great!

  21. Nimrandir says:

    *looks at Steam games list and remembers the first Witcher was never completed*

    Oh dear.

  22. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

    I have never been able to make sense of a non-sword build in any game -so I’m excited to see someone do a signs build. Woo hoo!

    1. Redrock says:

      Ah, the secret joys of Yrden. But yeah, after you unlock mutations nothing except for swords and alchemy with Euphoria makes much sense. Although I switched off Euphoria in my NG+ because it just makes everything too easy.

      1. Droid says:

        The heal-on-hit Alt-Quen sign is also bonkers OP, unless it’s different on Death March (I stayed away from it on higher difficulties). Anything that doesn’t have enough damage per hit to chew through full stamina becomes harmless and actually a source of healing. As long as you don’t get trapped somewhere while waiting for stamina recharge, you basically get infinite HP.

        1. Redrock says:

          True, but you can get swarmed. And overleveled enemies can break your shield with one hit and swiftly finish you off. But if you can hit them hard enough, like when you are filled to the gills with potions, decoctions and running a euphoria mutation, you can finish even red skull icon enemies fast enough to not get horribly killed in the process.

  23. The coach says:

    Woo Hoo!

    This sounds awesome. I can’t wait!

  24. Joe says:

    Why haven’t you done the DLCs? Admittedly, I feel that they aren’t that good. But I bloody paid for them, I should give them a shot.

    If anyone cares, my problem with HOS is taking control away from the player/cringe comedy. Not my style at all. Also, being forced to play Gwent. I threw that game, because I never bother with Gwent.

    BAW is fun up until Anna turns into a completely unreasonable arsehole.

    Also, while I don’t like the combat in the game, I have cleared every ? I could get to. It’s tolerable if done in stages and on the lowest difficulty, though most rewards are just vendor trash.

  25. BigMoss says:

    Have my babies Bob Case!

  26. Dev Null says:

    “That has the disadvantage of being boring but the advantage of being a post you can read in a few minutes instead having to watch an hour or more of video.”

    Thank you! I really don’t have time (or really, patience) for long-form video – got my own playthroughs to finish! Much prefer text.

  27. Duoae says:

    Looking forward to this!

    I don’t have great stamina playing certain games and the witcher series is one of them. I played 1 three times to around the same point (late game) but couldn’t muster the energy to go on each time – I was burnt out.

    I didn’t play 2 because I didn’t have a pc at the time but I bounced off 3 because I knew I needed to really dedicate time to it (which I don’t normally have a lot of). I eventually started and got well into the second map but again, I burnt out.

  28. Tuck says:

    I was super excited about this until I realised the next day that it wasn’t Shamus writing. Now I’m not so excited, because I’d been hoping for years to see a long-form on this game from Shamus. Sorry Mr Bob. :(

  29. tmtvl says:

    More MrBtongue content, yay!
    It’s the Witcher, boo.

    As much as I like MB’s content, I think I’m gonna skip this, if only to save my sanity.

  30. Eric T Le says:

    I don’t like the idea of a no-equipment run. For me, one of larger problems of W3 was how ridiculously often you’d swap out your gear for marginally better items, up until you craft Witcher gear and never bother looting gear ever again. I keep hoping some respectable critic will address this issue, and a no-equipment run sounds like it’ll skip it outright.

    It’ll also prevent you from exploring the wider issues with combat at large, which I consider to be a huge weak point of the game worth discussing.

    Otherwise, I’m really excited to read through this. I just wonder how long it’ll take…

  31. blah says:

    The Witcher 3 wasn’t that good….there, i said it.

  32. Opagla says:

    I wonder what are Bob’s thoughts on the new Blade Runner.

  33. Xander77 says:

    Nobody actually made any mods recommendations?

    Guess I might as well cut and paste from my guide
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=724461831:

    Mod merger: just there to make sure all the mods play well with each other.

    Fast travel from anywhere: saves on quite a bit of annoying backtracking when exploring. Can mess up quests (when you’re supposed to follow someone / when someone is supposed to talk to you the moment you exit a building) so use with care.

    Map quest objectives: Shows you all current quest objectives on the map, instead of just the quest currently highlighted. Immensely useful, particularly when it comes to scavenger hunts.

    Auto-apply oils: saves you a lot of hassle, since applying oils through the inventory system is just a time-wasting bother. Stops you from getting the Even Odds achievement.

    Better torches: Climb, cast and fight without putting your torch away.

    Cheap dyes everywhere: now you can be a shiny Witcher princess before the endgame starts.

    The mods above are basically just a matter of convenience. The mods below actively change how the game plays, so fair warning if you want a “purist” experience:

    General perks always active: exactly what it says. Makes the general perks a lot more viable, since there are a lot of reasons not to use them in an umodded game.

    Select all mutations: allows you to use more than one mutation at a time in B&W. Kinda gamebreaking, but IMO the mutations are hard enough to get that being forced to only use one is a bit lame.

    Indestructible items – no more weapon / armor degradation.

    Buyable Doppler and Succubus Mutagens: Satisfy your completionist urges AND your moral concerns at the same time.

    Mostly there to save on the burnout during your third playthrough / LP.

  34. Simplex says:

    Play with Polish dubbing. Trust me, I’m Polish.

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