 |
| Geralt can make wolf puns at me anytime he likes tbh |
Backstory
I'm fairly certain everyone here knows the background of the Witcher series and how the games take a fanonical depiction of the book series by Andrzej Kapkowski, a Polish fantasy author. The Witcher games likewise revolve around the main character, Geralt, and his occupation as a Witcher (super badass monster slayer).
Why am I so lame
Because I spent forever playing that one Assassin's Creed game that I got majorly emotionally invested in. Assassin's Creed was (at that point) everything I'd ever wanted in a game: fairly decent open world, historic with a dash of fantasy, and god the graphics are fantabuloustic. However, my interest petered off maybe 30% into the game. The plot just wasn't that gripping (and I really do love me a good storyline), and I found certain elements a little too repetitive. Yeah, I'm fussy. Then Bear got me Animal Crossing: New Leaf and I got hooked on that. Pokémon released Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire and I spent forever on that, especially with the little Delta episode and the new hype on breeding (ask me about how Alan used me to con guys into giving me their breedjects).
How'd I get into Witcher of all things, then?
I'd actually spent months agonising over whether I should get Dragon Age or Skyrim. Friends over here immediately told me Skyrim was a better choice, being an open world fantasy game. However, I thought they were biased since DA wasn't a big thing over here. I put the question to Harley, a friend in the US, and they (a big DA fan) recited a list of very good reasons that made me very tempted to buy Inquisition.
Then another friend did a bit of research and brought up the Witcher III, telling me that it was an open world fantasy RPG with a fantastic plot and main quest. Seeing that it had the traits I liked best about Skyrim and DA, I thought, "yeah, that sounds about right - I'll try that one out".
Truth be told, I'm actually surprised at the lack of hype surrounding the Witcher III over here.
Most of my friends here had only ever heard of the game peripherally, and so I didn't get anyone going at me "hey, yeah, that's a great game" or even "nawh, don't get that game". Nobody knew enough about the game to give me a solid opinion. Of course, it could also be possible that I didn't know enough gamers, or that my friends were into very different games. Nevertheless, I'm quite surprised at the general lack of knowledge about the game series.
Thoughts on the game
I loved the everliving cheese out of it. Immediately into the first hour of the game, I started getting emotionally invested in Geralt's quest. His character is mostly determined by the in-game choices, but it's easy to see that he's the stereotypical Strong Dude™ but what makes him so much better than that is the liberal dose of sass. Geralt isn't taking any of anyone's shit, and he makes damn sure everyone knows it (even the emperor ahhhh). His voice actor (Doug Cockle) has an absolutely amazing voice, and I honestly love listening to Geralt speak. Most people love the voice acting done on the game, but something about the voice acting for Yennefer bugged me - I didn't find her convincing enough, especially in the opening sequence. That didn't stop me from loving the game though, and I did grow used to it so it wasn't a major hang-up.
 |
| Samesies |
I heard about the graphics downgrade and I was a little concerned about it, but the moment I booted the game up, I couldn't help but notice how amazingly pretty the whole thing was. The scenery (whether the forests or the cities or even skimming around the lakes) was just gorgeous. The sunlight glinting off the water, the glorious reds of the sunset glowing off the water while you're swimming... Wow. Even the wind is well done. The way the trees and leaves are whipped around by the air is a pretty immersive sight.
Which leads to how immersive the world is, in general. This is a world that is very easy to care for and about, from the war ravaged villages, to the bustling cities and opulent palaces. The world seems to be torn every way it can be, with war and monsters and scheming politicians. Gwent doesn't care for , but you do make important story decisions quite a bit so you've definitely got to be careful there. There's a huge pick of side quests in the game, as expected. Even the side characters are decently fleshed out, and if you opt to do a lot of side quests, it's difficult to get bored with them because it's a pretty diverse that you get to pick from.
Then there is the inclusion of the card game Gwent. Pokémon trading cards fans, gather around, because this is where you're going to squeal. An analytical game that you can play against other characters, it relies a lot on logic and strategy and... card collecting. You can go on quests to collect cards, or you can buy them.
 |
| Playing Gwent actually unlocks a secondary quest called "Collect 'Em All" - ohmaigod, be still my heart! |
And... yes, Yennefer. Love her or hate her, you probably have a strong opinion about her. Don't get me wrong, Triss is pretty cool, but Yennefer... You've probably heard of her background story (and if not, it's a very quick worthwhile Google search away and in any case here's a quick recap: abused child becomes great sorceress and our Witcher here ties their fates up together with a genie wish and the pair have had a stormy relationship ever since). She's strong and independent, and she doesn't care about whatever stands in her way. A woman after my own heart.
A few little notes: The soundtrack is very nice too, and I'm of the opinion that the soundtrack can really make or break a game. I've also heard good things about the DLCs, so if that's a thing you're into, it would be worth getting everything in one go!
All in all, I can honestly say that this is the best game I've ever played (disclaimer: I've not played many games) and I think I'm going to be engrossed in it for, I dunno, forever. This is precisely the kind of game I like and everything about it appeals to me on every level. If you're up to the open world RPG thing, or if you like fantasy, then this might just be your thing too.
No comments:
Post a Comment