Despite the fact that I never got around to finishing The Witcher, and then couldn’t go through The Witcher 2 because I hadn’t finished The Witcher yet, I went ahead and pre-ordered The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt because it’s probably going to be pretty good. Also, GOG offered me a discount for already owning the first two games, so what’s a gamer supposed to do?
I’ve caught up on the plot so far thanks to YouTube users stringing cutscenes together, though I haven’t quite sorted out the info dump at the end of the second game explaining the network of conspiracies. Supposedly you don’t need to have played the first two games at all to enjoy the new one, but in my old age I worry about backstory I could have had, but missed. Hell, there’s a reference in The Witcher 2 about a character you could only meet if you happened to have watched the Polish TV show and that bugged me.
So, I’ve pre-downloaded and the game unlocks Tuesday at 6 p.m. central. And by Gods I’m going to play this one start-to-finish.
The second game had a lot of references to The Wild Hunt, which is the subtitle of The Witcher 3. This appears to be that world’s version of the ride of the fairy court from such legends as Tam Lin. In that story, the faerie court was obliged to ride on hallow’s eve once every seven years to collect a tithe they must pay to hell – a human. Tam Lin was in that ride, because he was a trophy of the Queen of Faeries, but he also feared he would be the prey. So his lover Janet pulled him down from his horse and held fast to him as he transformed into a snake and a bear and finally threw him in the river when he turned into a burning iron ingot.
That’s the only version of the Faerie Court Ride story that I’m familiar with, and that itself comes in variants. I have no idea what other versions are out there, though I can’t believe the whole explanation I’ve heard could have been patched together from the somewhat vague references in the variations of Tam Lin I’ve read… They give hints on the kind of variant we can expect to meet in the game – one in which a different kind of elves generally send avatars, though this time one will come himself, it seems. I’ll be on the look out for motifs drawn from Tam Lin and a related ballad Thomas the Rhymer.
While I have made it a rule of mine to never pre-order a game again I did get Witcher 3 already because it came with the purchase of a new graphics card (so I don’t think that counts as a pre-order…got the soon to be released Batman game as well). Even so though I am a fan of CD Projekt Red and would be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to pre-orders. They have so far put together very good games and they are bros when it comes to treating the gaming community well.
I never finished Witcher 1 but did finish Witcher 2 but it was a long time ago and I forgot a lot of it. I restarted playing but I swear some things have changed since I first played. Doubt I will make it to the end before Witcher 3 hits the street and I doubt I will be able to keep myself from playing that solely to finish Witcher 2 again.
You can go here to get all the saves you want for Witcher 2 to go into Witcher 3.
I had assumed there would be a means to enter the info by hand. But here it looks like you can’t both save Saskia and foil the plot against the sorceresses. I guess I’d prefer to save Saskia, whose leadership is necessary to make the relatively egalitarian society they’re trying to hold together make. I’m not sure how I feel about the Lodge after the shenanigans they pulled.
Already? dammit. I have been looking forward for this for so long, but I’m sure I already have 200+ hours of games worth of games I was looking forward to as well sitting in my queue.
This whole being an adult and having a job and responsibility sucks.
I just started playing Witcher 2 when I had a massive hard drive failure that put my computer in the shop. Which means I’ll have to redownload Steam and all my games so I’ll be gameless for about a week.
That being said, I love the storyline in the Witcher games but the movement system leaves much to be desired. (I strongly object to being forced to use wasd.) Once I get past the first quest in 2, I may enjoy it more. My system crashed when I was still in the awkward getting-to-know-you phase.
since this one is multi-platform, you’ll probably be able to use a controller on pc, if you want to.
I hope the worst part of 2 is removed - it was unbearably stupid to limit potion use to meditation, then have most of the big fights immediately after cut-scenes, making them all but worthless.
And, from the GameTrailers review, there apparently is a way to hand-enter a gamestate, at least, they included a question/answer session that detailed some of the choices from the second game (such as who was in the prison with you in the prologue.)
I finished Witcher 2 but had a number of gripes with it, like the mandatory stupid stealth parts and the boss fights, crappy maps and quest log that made me waste a lot of time running around etc. Not sure if my current computer can run W3 smoothly either, so despite my love for open-world RPGs I think I’m going to wait with this one. I still hope it’s good, though.
Triss was the fling - his “one true love,” as it were, is Yennifer, who supposedly died trying to save him when he was pitchforked. She’s also back in this game.
I had to hasten my usual giving up on collecting TACOs in the case of Geralt’s Banged 'Er cards because it exceeded my tasteless threshold. I mean, some of the cards were just categories of women – townsfolk, hookers, all your moms, etc. Plus, the pictures were not sexy, and often nasty.
I sided with Shauni for what of Witcher 1 I finished, because she seemed like the Good to Triss’ Neutral. But Shauni doesn’t even show up in 2. Clearly the game designers thought I should have gone with Triss. And now apparently Triss knows that Yennifer is Geralt’s real love, but is down with OPP?
Yup. It is in the books. I have only read a couple so far but I got the part where Yennifer and Geralt crossed paths and whatnot. Will leave it at that cuz spoilers.
Triss is also well aware of this and is “ok” with it all often proclaiming that if anything she is more attached and loyal to Yennifer than Geralt. Hard to tell though if she is just saying that to deny her affection for Geralt. Smacks of a defense mechanism.
Funny thing is in Witcher 1 I went for Shani. I remember I hemmed and hawed over it because I found both, in their own way, very attractive and enticing but decided I liked the more gentle and nice Shani.
I think I was the only one who did that since in the Witcher 2 it was all Triss.
Interesting. He appears to have gone through the anti-striga ritual for what looks like a most standard vampire, not the inhuman beast seen in the first game. Of course, in the mythology of any given culture the same terms may apply to very different creatures, and I presume the novel’s author started with Polish mythology.
For example, I don’t know if the legends the author based the striga on were based on the old Greek and Roman legends of the strix (in Medieval Latin striga), or some variant that had come down through eastern European mythology, but generally we’re talking about creatures similar to vampires, and you know how many liberties modern writers take with those legends. Indeed, the term seems to have inspired the D&D creature called the stirge, which is a large bat-like mosquito.
So, I’m just curious whether that more human-like monstrous form will also just be a striga.
I have heard Witcher 3 can be quite challenging. On the highest settings akin to Bloodborne (i.e. you need to prepare for battle beforehand and really know your enemy’s weaknesses to have a chance at success).
Just rumor though and I think they have an easy mode which allows for just walking in and swinging your sword.
I was watching a stream of the PC version being played at the hardest difficulty. At one point the guy rolled out fo the way of a monster, and ended up behind his horse, who promptly kicked him for like 1/2 his life.
Remember that while the date for the official release of the Witcher 3 is May 19 it will unlock in the US tonight. Steam has it five hours from now. Other places I have seen are six hours from now. Basically around 5-6p CST.
The May 19 part holds true but they are a based in Europe (Poland I think) so it will be May 19 for them.
Yeah, I was expecting the release on tuesday. I did not check whether the days listed corresponded to the days until the 19th. Hooray. In a mere few hours I’ll be knee deep in fury that the damned thing isn’t running properly on my machine.
