Summing Up The Witchers
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- A series-wide retrospective, with majority focus on game #3. Full of controversial statements! Note: minor spoilers if you haven't made it out of White Orchard yet
www.audible.com... - Free trial, and the Witcher books are available if you want to get deep into this thing!
EPILEPTIC VIEWERS: Due to rendering errors, there are flickering black frames at 16:20 and 20:33
"And THAT is a traditional Bulgarian wedding song about wishing a young couple good health. So it's usage in the game sure was a stretch."
Actually I don't think it's inclusion in the game is that much of a stretch at all. I think Lazare playing exclusively in the swamps of Velen means that it's meant to be a twisted jab at the Bloody Baron and his wife.
Now I won't be able to help but chuckle darkly every time I hear it.
Mind = Blown
lazare plays in every region, not only velen
Lucas Melo Nope. Unless you mod it it only plays in Crookback Bog.
and "..fun fact, quest tower of mice is based on old *german* story.." srsly that guy has no idea on what he speeks about..
A HUGE STEP UP IN POLISH
POLISH
POLISH
GOD DAMN IT
read it three times for it to hit me
Seriously, Witcher 3's music gives me goosebumps like no other.
The game is only a few months old and I already get nostalgia chills like I do from Halo 2 or Mass Effect's soundtrack
Bioshyn
it really captures how fucked up european folklore can be.
+SpookyKid94 You should hear Bloodborne's music...
+Aries0098 for me the music is "HEUUUEEEAAAAAYYYYYUAAAAAAHHHHH HUH HUHUBHHU HU" while a flute
+SpookyKid94 To quote malcom's dad: "You're goddamn right!"
Gopher just made an immersive HUD mod. Hides minimap until you activate Witcher senses.
Polonium Fist you dont need a mod for that LOL, just go into your options :D
You misunderstand. The mod hides the HUD until you activate Witcher senses, then disappears when you release. You can't do that in vanilla.
Polonium Fist That's a incredibly good idea
Polonium Fist I dont usually read RUclips comments, but I'm very glad I read yours. Thanks.
Polonium Fist That is actually a rather good idea. Thanks for sharing, will be downloading.
"Tower of mice" might be a German fairytale, but it's ALSO a Polish legend about creation of the Polish country, and literally every Pole knows it. The evil ruler, named (nicknamed?) Popiel is implied to be a German duke, and after the mice eat him, local wheelwright named Piast takes over, starting the Piast dynasty (which ruled Poland from 10th to 14th century).
This is kinda relevant considering it's a Polish game based on Polish books.
I would've give you a Dislike, but then I saw that you've exactly "88" likes - So I didn't want to destroy that.
I mean, it's suits you somehow. But nowaday, it seems to me that many "Polish People" are quiet ... uhm, conservative?
Besides that Popiel is "polish" in this Story and his wife is German (Brunhilde), it's based on things which happend in the second half of the ninth century - So, due to a time in which "Poland" wasn't even an idea or unified identity.
I mean, you know that you literally have to study more or less this Time period to know the differences between people which lifed in the Baltic Region? I mean, that also happened in an Region, which is called "Lech Hill", which was in the 9th Century probarly a meltpot of different Cultures considered that those Regions were first settled by Germanic Tribes and then the Migration Period and later the Viking Age happend.
To claim this Story as a "POLISH LEGEND" is like to say "Well, Germany is alread round about ~2000 years old because Cesar already talked about >Germanen< behind the Rhine!".
It should be more a connection point, that Slawic, Scaninavics and "Germanen" share a lot of Folklore ... ó.ô'
Sapkowski doesn't hide that his creation takes from all around the world.
@@DaroriDerEinzige But he didnt say thats this is only a polish legend... He explicitly said that thats is a german fairytale AND polish legend.
@@DaroriDerEinzige that was a really long winded way of saying you dont comprehend what you read.
@@thedarkness125 Nice try.
I actually appreciate that plug at the start. After the first Witcher video you did that made me realize there were books, I scoured the internet to find an audiobook, and now you've just saved me the trouble :DD
scoured? thats like the first link in google
Hey creeps, still watch you to this day, and leave lots of comments, somehow your the only creepypasta guy that can cure my chronic insomnia disorder temporarily.
About 100 of the views on your vids are mine, since i need them to sleep LOL, guess im hooked.
7:04 This game is closer to shrek than game of thrones"
FUCKING. SOLD.
You definitely weren't just getting to that part. That twist is only revealed well into the last book. Also emhyrs plan in the book is far more disturbing than it is in the game.
Uhh tell me
@nobody jusnobody He wants to marry his own daughter and have kids whit her, without Ciri even knowing that he is her father. He also wanted to execute Geralt and Yenefer, so they don't reveal his secret, but he changed his mind when he saw Ciri crying and had pity on her.
@@Kobanyai_enjoyer well thats pretty fucked up
Honestly, the book reveals the twist so late and so out of nowhere it's straight up bad. Personally I thought the last book was the worst in the series, sadly not just because of that but many other reasons as well
I think "getting to that part" was in reference to him reading about Ciri and how her parents were supposedly killed at sea.
"Playing the entire trilogy feels like a consistent, cohesive experience despite how different each game is." Absolutely agree.
Unlike the identity crisis that the Dragon Age games have gone through. I thoroughly loved the first Dragon Age Origins game, but not so much the sequels. They feel like they're set in completely different worlds with characters that have the same names.
Which is a shame because that world had some great potential.
LOKITYZ i feel the exact same way. The world of dragon age 2 and 3 and monumentally different in every form and i think its sucks as dragon age 1 is one of my favorite rpgs ever
Dragon Age Origins was amazing, dragon age 2 is only good when you're a mage and also if you buy all of the DLC, the dragon age inquisition made playing it redundant and boring. I feel like open world isn't really that great of an aspect if you're making an RPG that heavily relies on story.
I think they tried to with Dragon Age 2 turn it into a more focused character story like Mass Effect and it fell flat on it's face.
Not really. The only disconnect is the aesthetic. Plus it had different main characters, while the Witcher didn't. And it was almost a 100 years difference between the beginning of the 1st one and the end of the 3rd one. And all of them were set in different countries.
@GiRayne I'm not denying that DA went through some type of identity crisis. I'm saying it's easier for the Witcher to be cohesive. It follows one character in a similar setting, with similar mechanics the 2nd and the 3rd, with similar aesthetics, and based on books which were written beforehand. If we compare DA who basically completely renovated their design, it's natural do have disconnect.
Also perhaps your view of DAI is a bit clouded because you feel as if it was made in a poor attempt to appeal to the masses.
"Major--- Some of the most major characters" Forgot to edit that out?
Noticed that.
Eddie The Vzik Na dude, he just really wanted to get that point across...At least that's what I'm going to tell myself.
Eddie The Vzik He commented on Twitter that he also noticed some video glitches. One of the alchemy/potion screens starts flickering somewhere in the video, but I actually thought it was funnier the way it zoomed in.
Utopiate You could decrease the amount by 1 by using it correctly :p
Utopiate I am one of those people who over use literally. Forgive me.
the witcher 3 has as much scope and complexity as a bethesda game? are you joking? bethesda games have the complexity of a ham sandwhich
Well honestly im not a fan of Bethesda but tw3 has pretty weak rpg Systems to me as well
But its still my favorite game of all time though
+Arber Mullaliu had you played the newer bethesda games? Fallout barley has any rpg system at all and the ones it does have are done poorly.
+iron mask of hell youre right I know that these games dont have a lot of rpg in them
But if you compare witcher 3 with 2 the older one really has the better rpg Systems
Arber Mullaliu
That's true, especially compared to morrowind and daggerfall than the witcher does lack in comparison. The reason why the old tes has a better rpg system is because you are playing your own character where in the witcher you are role playing as geralt.
+iron mask of hell totally I also liked the rpg System in tw2 better than in tw2
And as far as I know you could make your own spells in oblivion which is nice
YOU CAN HOLD START, JUST LEARNING THIS OVER 150 HOURS
I finished the game 3 times, and one at almost 100% side quests + DLC.
I just learned that as well.
Khaorix if you have a ps4 you can also just swipe up on the touch pad.
austin benedict hold start for what
Dude, I got 259 hours and I just learned this too! Fuck... So many times pressing start + down or start + X... (playing on PC with DS3)
@@bread8609 to go straight to map screen without going through the other menu screens
I'm so happy someone is finally seeing the combat for what it is : an imperfect improvement on an old system which ends up being loads of fun. I have NO IDEA why so many people shit on the combat in this game when there isn't a single action-RPG out there that comes close to being as enjoyable as this one. If *you* know of one, then I'm genuinely curious to hear which one it is.
Any FROMSOFTWARE game from the last 6 or so years. if you're looking for "fun", then Bloodborne is your game, for precision, Souls.
Any of the newer "Tales Of" games (I recommend Vesperia) have great action combat whilest still being a great RPG.
This is Caboose Demon Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2, Bloodborne.
There's a whole heap of RPGs with much better combat than this. Dragon's Dogma's combat completely shits on it.
This is Caboose i agree and people saying its a stat race are wrong. I beat most of the witcher contracts well below the recommended levels and was player on hard difficulty. really its like the soul games where once u learn the mechanics u can pretty much kill almost anything based on skill alone. It has problems but then again what game doesn't.
7:30 - It's not based on German legend but Polish. We've got the same legend here in Poland which we are tought about in early years of our lives. ;) Maybe it was derived from German or maybe Germans derived it from us - none knows, but I assure you that origins of that quest is Polish, like all Velen. ;)
It's the legend of a legendary ruler called Popiel II, Prince of the Polans and Goplans, no? The predecessor of Piast Kołodziej.
cough cough, how much of poland used to be "german" whatever german actually means these days..
Silesia, Pomerania and Masuria.
Areas that were Slavic before that (except Masuria, which was inhabited by Balts). The current population are basically Poles from the Kresy more than anything, and only really came there after WWII.
It isn't important what German means now, German back then meant what you'd expect - the German-speaking inhabitants of Germany, Austria, the Sudetenland, Pomorze, Limburg and Elsaß-Mosel. Granted, the idea of a single German language is shady at best.
I think the devs meant the Polish versions, since they are Polish. So, stretching to Germany there is a bit contrived.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popiel
8:06 I'm bulgarian and I can confirm :D I found it very hilarious to kill monsters like a bad ass over someone singing about weddings :D
Just wondering, am I the only one who hates that the best looking armour in the game is the first and worst armour :(
nope your not the only one
Jimmy Russel There is a mod which makes top witcher sets look like starting Kaer Morhen set.
Sheigorr I play on console
Jimmy Russel
Try out the stylish leather jackets of the 2nd and 3rd tier of the DLC Wolf School gear. It might change Your mind.
Adam Martin I must admit I do dig the elite ursine armour (bear set)
Wtf I don't remember that conversation with lambert talking about the cinematic trailer lol
I do, I lol'd so hard😂😂😂
That's one of the things I love about the series. 2 playthroughs and 400+ hours into TW3 and I still keep myself from watching others' videos because of spoilers. There's just so much to experience!
(And no, I never had that exchange with Lambert either)
It happens during the quest at kaer morhen,after you have passed the trolls as far as I remember
Brian Gade Oh I know that, but I never got that exact exchange of words with him. Whatever my dialogue options were, I chose differently.
Just before the trolls actually! The topic came up because Lambert was trying to be a badass, saying that the trolls should be worried, not him and Gerald. It's seriously my favorite "chapter?" in the game. I fucking love lambert, i need a friend like him.
The Witcher 3>Fallout 4
+Im Tabe Most publications and awards so far seem to agree.
No wonder, the writing and dialogue in F4 is insulting, even towards F3 which already had a low bar
+Im Tabe The Witcher 3>Every other rpg I have ever played.
Alex Fernandez Fallout New Vegas > Witcher 3
+Im Tabe Really? I'd have to disagree on that one.
@7:30 actually tower of mice is based on polish myth of king popiel, mythical ruler of clan goplan, who was eaten alive by mices in his tower
ArreatPLvro as opposed to some "german tale". also second deep reference is to inventing telephone! All quest characters are named that in such fashion, Keira giving xenovoz (mobile phone equivalent) vs megascope (hard wire phone). Annabelle? Graham?
ArreatPLvro My pedantism is acting up, sorry in advance. It's "xenovox", from the Greek "Xeno" meaning "other/elsewhere in origin; foreign" and the Latin "Vox", meaning "voice".
True
There is the story of the Binger Mäuseturm, though, which fits the story of the tower in the game really well, too. Maybe, just maybe, there are similar stories in multiple cultures.
It certainly has a praindoeuropean origin and seems to be a motif that popped up in variety of stories (being eaten by rodents is a horrible death after all). I'd only argue that the reference in Witcher is more likely towards the slavic version (which is older) than the german one.
I just love how unique The Witcher is. Everything from the music, to all the folklore it borrows from.
5:12 Aaaand my sword's broken.
Papa donk.
I loved Dunkey's review of this amazing game. :D
@@SuperArppis It isnt really a review
Man audible is pushing hard on youtube. Cool to see your channel grow to a stage where people want to advertise!
"because this Witcher actually deletes your old autosaves"
Shit=lost
I've always had this theory that Dandelion wrote and published Geralt's stories, in-universe, and then later made a CCG about it to further capitalize on the franchise, (again) also in-universe. That's why Dandelion's card-art makes him look like a total badass.
I dunno about the combat part to be honest, I played it on Death March and it felt bad, honestly like a stat race, I mean I fought pretty much every enemy exactly the same, just keep pushing alt to do the short dodge and get some swings in, rinse and repeat until the bad guy is dead, but maybe for just golems use the space bar longer dodge instead of alt, that was it
But the problem arises from what I just said about stats, I mean there are "red skull" enemies which you're not recommended to tackle at your level or whatever but really all that's different about them is their health is crazy high and they kill you in 1-2 hits, which is kinda boring to be honest, I did some "hard" fights early and it just took me a bunch of time, but I didn't feel like it was that big of a challenge, just that the monster's health bar was ticking down way too slowly
And frankly that's the whole gist I got from it and the game's equipment, at the start I died a lot but around the halfway-ish point when my armor and swords got progressively better it just started getting easier and easier, hell even the red skull enemies started not being that hard, I haven't played on the other difficulties so I don't have that much perspective on it but I can only imagine it being even easier
I don't want this to sound like "omg I'm so good at this game, too ez" or whatever, far from it, I already even said that early on it was kinda hard and yes I died quite a lot, but I feel like the difficulty and it's relation to just equipment / stat numbers and not actual skill is a big problem in my opinion, I guess at the end of the day it's a product of the open world nature of this game and so they had to make a few compromises like that to make for some "good" pacing
***** I'm on the same page. Upping the difficulty really made enemies just damage sponges rather than changing the difficulty. I feel like they went about setting up the fights to be more challenging/rewarding at normal difficulty. And didn't change patterns for higher up, just doubled their HP and halved your damage.
***** Yeah, the grear and level grind is so dumb, especially when you have identical enemies of completely different difficulty.
+Tardivex
That's a damn shame to hear.
Sounds like Dark Souls all over again.
+Tardivex I just started playing last week and this resonates with one of my gripes about the leveling and combat. I took on a level 20 leshen the other day while I was around 10-11; it took me 2-3 tries but I was finally able to get it by timing the dodges and learning the attack patterns. The problem is that each attempt took a HUGE amount of time because of how slowly his health trickled away and then in the end it was extremely unsatisfying to be rewarded with some common crafting materials and what seemed to be a minimal amount of extra experience compared to my current level. Playing on the second to hardest difficulty if that's relevant. Still love the game but this one part does suck.
+John Duncan The game's relationship between currency, crafting and looting is one that they could improve on exponentially.
Skellige's riddled with 100 or so treasure chests, all redundant; there's no incentive to deviate from Witcher gear; and it showers you in gold used almost exclusively for repairs.
Surprisingly agreeable review. I've grown so accustomed to your recent cynicism that I was expecting you to shit on this game. I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's an obvious labor of love and a game that respects the player's time and intelligence. Wished more triple-A titles did the same.
Vincent Perretta I was disappointed that he ignored many of the shortcomings of the game, like the pacing, the balance, the loot, the combat gameplay (he does say it's not excellent, he doesn't say why), the horse gameplay and even the boat gameplay (it works but it's stupid).
Vincent Perretta My expectations were pretty much the same as yours.
+Khayam Aside from your critique about pacing - which is shortcoming all open world games suffer from - I don't disagree with you. Most of those criticisms are probably what he meant when he said that they "missed a couple of spots." An odd and uncharacteristic simplification on his part. Either way, I also agree with him; it gets a lot very right, and very well.
Wish Dragon Age Inquisition did the same. It was a boring game littered with fluff quests that wastes the players time, but now it's looks like a game with a lot of lost potential.
Khayam Witcher 3 has lots of flaws, I noticed many ones that no one else mentioned; but still I think that this game is so huge that it's impossible to say everything good and everything wrong in the game within this kind of review.
So, he ended up telling us what he considers the most important points.
I did eventually end up trying out a mod that attempted to simulate limited enemy scaling by giving enemies much lower level than Geralt sizeable damage and health bonuses, whilst inflicting penalties on those much higher level (as opposed to the normal game where the reverse is true) and enjoyed the game a lot more for it. It's wasn't a perfect solution, but it did help address the issue I had with places like Velen regarding picking up quests I couldn't otherwise even attempt for dozens more hours because of arbitrary feeling level requirements.
Why Geralt even had to normally go away and practice for a while before coming back to kill some random monster is beyond me anyway. Guy's like a century old, at this point he should really have the whole monster slaying thing on lock.
Bleeters Each game you're learning stuff from the start which just doesn't fit the story at all.
+dizzt19 It did in the first one, because he lost his memory. But the fact that you have to for example learn deflecting arrows again in Witcher 3 is ridiculous
Maybe just git gut ? I am playing on almost the hardest level (Blood and sweat and shit) and I literally killed group of lvl 6 enemies on level 1.
Use ALT (If you play on PC) a lot, and beat Dark Souls 3 at least 2 times, and than maybe you will be able to keep up.
I've been thinking about this too - lore-wise it makes no sense for him to benefit from any experience you get in-game, so the only conclusion is that a lore friendly witcher rpg would have no levels or character progress in terms of skill.
Yeah, lorewise this shouldn't happen. On the other hand it would be quite boring if you didn't powerup at all during a 100h+ game.
Maybe they should have done something more similar to dark souls in terms of progression, where your level really doesn't matter that much, even in endgame levels.
But that's nitpicking really. The levelsystem not being lorefriendly is its smallest problem.
Spoilers to the last Witcher's sagas book and the last 'prequel' book:
Sezon Burz isn't exactly a prequel, i mean most of it is but has a parts after the 'death' of Geralt which shows that Geralt possibly is not really that dead. Even in the last book Geralt is not exactly dead but moved to the kind of Avalon by Ciri and probably like King Arthur to be healed and never seen again because of Witcher's author big craze about arthurian legends but it was never fully explained. (he shows that craze in the saga a lot of times, especially in "the lady of the lake" and he even wrote his own book about arthurian legends).
Sorry for mistakes.
Super Bunnyhop ant the legend about a king eaten by mice has also a polish version : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popiel .
Piotr Sołtys Yes, exactly. Further evidence that he's not dead is that his half-healed wounds hurt when he's in the "afterlife" with Yen at the end of the books. If it were some sort of personal heaven, I doubt that'd be the case.
17:46 Oops, editing hiccup! Kidding aside, it's absolutely amazing how much research you do for all your stuff. I don't even know how you noticed the battle music thing tracing back to a wedding song. Props!
He has a degree in journalism, it should be only natural, but sadly it isn't. Another reason to thank him for his efforts at bringing us quality content :)
Shilag Given that the song plays in the areas where the "Family Matters" main quest takes place, it being a wedding song is quite clever, in retrospect.
Its been a while since I heard of a game trilogy that did well without none of them being belittled and the final one not being bashed on what it removed or what it added. Good job CD Projekt RED, you did well.
AssashunKnife Best part is, it's not even over yet. We still have the expansion packs to look forward to.
+AssashunKnife If only Ubisoft stopped making Splinter Cell games after Chaos Theory, they would have had a nearly perfect trilogy. *Single tear*
Beard>No Beard
BEARD MASTER RACE
MyName AChef Beards=Man makeup
In the books Geralt hates his beard and shaves it as often as possible
"The Witcher is closer to Shrek than to Game of Thrones."
So you're saying that witchers have layers?
Well... He isn't wrong
He called it 4 years before everyone realized it
Some dev: "Isn't wedding music a bad choice of a combat theme?" Another dev: "It isn't in English, no one will know so long as it SOUNDS like epic battle music."
Witcher 3 in a nutshell:
We must protect Ciri!
(Ciri kills 300 people, a boar and a wyvern)
We must find Ciri!
(Ciri kills 100 criminals and some eldritch elves)
So good to see you, Ciri.
(Ciri leaves to ve crowned empress)
Sr.Coco Crowned empress? I'm so sorry you had to endure what is clearly the worst ending.
It's pretty hard to the Witcher 3 into a nuthshell when literally every major quest and sidequest and collectible you do is an adventure.
Sr.Coco You forgot the werewolf, but yeah that's basicaly it xD
Dreamfiller I was just making some bad joke mate :).
Leo C. Well, it was my ending. Idk about other endings, but i'm told it was about letting her speak to Emhyr, and as a reader of the saga and player of the previous iterations of the game, it seemed like a good thing to Ciri. His intentions are waay more pure and good than in the books, so I let the two of them hash it out. Apart from that, the lodge should be keep on a short lease, and the northern realms have proven one time after another that they could not rule themselves in peace. She part ways with Geralt and Yen as a son, in happyness (wich the game shows you why with her flashbacks to times that Geralt acted as a good father to her), and the two of them witcher and sorceress have a happy life in common while both of them still keep the things that makes them be themselves, witching and sorcery, that might be related to the djinn quest (holy shit that was a tear maker, what a development and writing).
Im over extending my argument explaining my experience, i'll cut out to the point. If a game is really good, there is no good or bad ending. There is only good or bad choices by the player. I imagine that there is an ending where Ciri dies, maybe another where almost nobody survives the battle of Kaer Morhen or the last battle. But i dont know, and i dont want to know. This was mine, and I only regret the old bastard Vesemir, who died to protect Ciri, but hell I dont even know if that could be avoided, maybe sucking Dijkstra's cock but I wasn't up for that an that moment, and there is the magic of this kind of games!
You decide things in conscience, and you get what you deserve by it. You should be sorry about your belief that there is a "getting" a better or worse ending. You should strive to get YOUR ending, in the really few times that gaming gives us something that could really be called a "experience". Cheers mate.
The tower of mice was rather based of the legend of Popiel.
paranor Here's a link en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popiel
The skin colour issue some people have with it is literally and figuratively skin deep. It's funny because the franchise is one of the best at dealing with issues of prejudice, minorities, morality etc. There are soooo many subsets of the society - human nations, the Scoia'tael, dwarves, elves, dryads, a whole slew of intelligent "monsters"... these all intersect, disagree, plot against each other. Hell, the witchers are the smallest minority of them all, dying out, less than a dozen of them in the whole world (the non-canon School of the Viper notwithstanding).
The subject matter is very much similar to real world prejudice, it just uses a different vessel. You couldn't add human skin based differences without tackling the prejudice, so it's another layer for the authors to deal with. Would it end up overbearing? Maybe not. Is the issue of racism absent without it? Hell no, it's the world has it in spades! It's a superb allegory regardless :)
"The days of alien character models are over"
Mass Effect Andromeda 2017 lmao
I absolutely love how you took Witcher series seriously and read the book. It shows that you are a true professional. Love your videos!
About the whole Geralt dies thing.
It was shit twist in the books and its still shit.
Im glad the games retcon it.
While i dont mind characters dying what i do mind is them dying in the last pages of last book being stabbed by a random hobo. Not only does that in no way push the plot forward which by that point was already resolved it also felt like giant "fuck you" to the readers. Yeah yeah prophecy and shit, he was supposed to die or something, but thats the thing, he didnt have to. Just leave the thing unresolved and make readers wonder whats next. That and for a witcher with superhuman reflexes and fighting skills it does seem really forced to die by a pitchfork. His skills come and go so randomly it was really getting on my nerves by the second book and by third one it was turning into a farce.
And then Yen dies? How? Fuck me if i know, but since we killed Geralt might as well off everybody else.
I wont get even into that alternative dimensions crap, Sapkowski must have had a stroke when he thought that was good idea.
Witcher saga just proves fantasy writers cant write endings for shit.
+googleslocik I felt like the books kind of stuffed up with putting too much emphasis on Ciri as a character. It kind of when down the "an ancient evil awakens and the chosen one (being Ciri) must stop them" Tolkien fantasy cliche.
googleslocik Yeah even Harry Potters ending was shit writer damn near admits it.
BrimusPungle I didnt mind ciri so much until we got all those weird ass out of place powers.
Alternative dimensions, time travel and stuff is something you expect out of a s-f book but not out of a book based of Slavic myths. The lore just got so watered down by that point it lost all its focus.
It just dosnt go anywhere, Sapkowski does nothing with it, he keeps introducing those ideas and keeps dropping them right away.
I have no clue how a story about a monster hunter turned into that mess.
googleslocik
Well it's not like he randomly gets stabbed for no reason. If i remember right he gets in that fight first of all to help the nonhumans. Then somewhere right before he gets stabbed he stops.
To me it seems just another part of his journey from killing machine to human. Remember we are talking about the butcher of Blaviken here.
Also if i remember right he doesn't actually die, he is mortally wounded and he and ciri going on a boat to god knows where, probably some magical place where can help him heal.
***** lol fat chance
Ciri eclipsing Geralt as the protagonist was my main gripe with the book series honestly, but when I said that, a lot of Polish fantasy nerds laughed at me because she's presumably somehow a better character in the original Polish version, I guess.
*****
That's the problem with this franchise, both the books and games, there's a huge "lost in translation" issue. Speaking as someone from eastern europe, I can tell You that the original script and wording is vastly different and more in-depth than the english version. A lot of the original characters, moments and themes tend to not work so well in english, becouse of it.
Adam Martin can you explain one person that would be incredibly different if he/she wasn't lost in translation?
That's true, the French translation, for instance, is way more faithful to the original writing than the english one. Indeed, some parts could have been better worded, and with more nuance.
Congrats. You successfully brought me back to my favorite game in years. It's a masterpiece and I will probably continue to lose life thanks to you.
"The combat in an RPG is generally pretty awkward unless you're Dark Souls"
Why you did my Dragon's Dogma like that?
I chose Yennefer for the whole reason that she seems to love Geralt, and he seems to really love her with his memories.
I know that everyone says "Bethesda should just copy the W3 (melee-)combat system", but keep in mind that Bethesda has to make it work in 3rd and 1st person. A system that is based on dodging and positioning is almost impossible to implement in 1st person.
>deleting your auto save
>there's no going back
>2016
>not spamming the "quick save" button
Nigga, git gud
It’s now 2020, in a post Witcher TV show (season 1) era...and I’d say it’s time for a look back at the games more than ever!
Especially seeing that there are rumors of another game after Cyberpunks release.
I’d personally like to see the game take place either right before and into Geralts transition into a Witcher or many years after the events in the good ending of Witcher 3.
Though it’s hard to surpass the threat the Wild Hunt was. Given that it was all about world ending events, prophecies and more. That and three games worth of build up.
Perhaps it can get into the last Witcher to live and the finality or Witchers and even mages...leading to an age of only man.
does anyone actually use audible. everyone and their mom plugs them but I've never had any desire to even go on their site
collin taylor Apparently, but theirs website is super horrible because you have to pay a monthly subscription AND buy da books.
collin taylor People who listen to a lot of audiobooks.
Yes. In fact I do.
collin taylor Yep, tried it out once. I didn't think it was a great value so I stopped but I like audiobooks so gave it a try.
collin taylor Pretty great if you like audiobooks. Recommend if you have a long commute
I just came back after watching the Netflix series and getting so pissed by how many critics kept blabbing about Game of Thrones similarities, too many tone shifts and nonlinear time narrative. It's like GoT poisoned the well for those people that went and approached the series with only GoT in mind
Now do Gothic! A retrospective about Gothic is needed!
I wish
He did it
Tale from the quest "Tower of mice" isn't based on a german legend, but polish. Prince Popiel was locked up in the Mice Tower on the Gopło lake near Kruszwica because king Siemowit found him as a traitor. Slavic gods make mice eat him alive. Story was also mantioned in german mithology, but first polish historian Gall Anonim wrote about it in the 10th century. I just couldn't pass by this mix - up. Sorry for mistakes :)
Have you considered Patreon instead of sponsorship?
You just condensed 1000's of hours of research and interpretation into a detailed and understandable 30 minute video. That's a talent.
More like 10 hours of research. The script writting probably took him 2 hours.
Percival was one of king Arthur's knights of the round table.
Simon Suiker True, but this band have two projects called Percival (folk music) and Percival Schuttenbach (folk metal), both named after Percival Schuttenbach, character from Witcher books.
It makes me smile when non-polish gamers unfold the full story with each book translated and each game in the series. For you it must be amazing to find that completly new layer of narration when polish gamers knew all of this at the beginning. I seriously envy you that joy of puting all pieces of the game in place after reading books.
About the ubisoft queston mark distractions - everyone should just turn those off - hell turn the mini-map off altogether too - because it's so much fun without it.
You could level up your dialogue skills in TW2. Everytime you used it and it worked, it leveled up (until it reached Level 3). You can even see your level in the character screen, it's a bit hidden, but it's defenitley there like tons of other passive skill you learn because of your choices (for example you can carry 50kg more, if you had to help Arjan in the dungeon).
Playing the first Assassins' Creed I got pissed off with the stupid HUD and turned everything off, and it made the game 1000 times more enjoyable! No more bippityboopy futuristic american crap, now I was a medieval Muslim assassin navigating the streets of Demascus, having to use my own sense of direction and looking out for landmarks, y'know, like you would need to in real life. I had to remember where I was going, what weapons I had equipped. I got to appreciate the graphical landscape of the game far more and became engrossed in the world far more than most other games I've played. HUDs are always a barrier to immersion.
I wish I did that in my first playthroughs of the games
+CowLunch HAHAHAHA! Muslim. That's funny.
JZStudiosonline Yes, the story is based on a Muslim group of assassins. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassins
What is funny?
CowLunch
Ah, yes, Wikipedia, the true factual database.
I also initially thought the game was set way before it was. I also feel like he was supposed to be Jewish or Christian. I don't really remember much from the game.
"Ah, yes, Wikipedia, the true factual database." - I didn't realise I was speaking to someone who doesn't understand how references work.
If he was a Christian or a Jew why does he kill Templars for sport?
"Altaïr was born to Assassin parents: a Christian mother, Maud, and a Muslim father,[3] Umar Ibn-La'Ahad.[4]" - assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Alta%C3%AFr_Ibn-La%27Ahad
His father was Muslim, which makes him Muslim. That's how it works in Islam, it's patrilinear.
I don't know how anyone could play that game for ten minutes or even hear the smallest thing about it and not know that the Assassins were Muslim. You are either jaw-droppingly ignorant or have some kind of cognitive dissonance because you can't bear the thought of a Muslim protagonist in a video game. Granted, they soft-balled it with the bullshit of Desmond Miles as a character inhabiting Altair.
Another thing worth mentioning that I've noticed in my second playthrough is how much the developers have improved this game after launch. I picked up this game at about the time they finished releasing all the FreeLC they had been rolling out. I absolutely loved it, it became one of my most beloved games ever. But I've only recently gone back after having let some time pass between playthrough and it is even better the second time around. The inventory has been cleaned up and better organized. A lot of the more minor bugs and glitches have been patched. Previously broken quests have been fixed. The crafting menus have a few more filter options, as does the overworld map. It just goes to show that CD Projekt Red really does care about the quality of their game. I can't even list the colossal number of AAA titles that stop getting support months after release. I haven't yet reached the DLC content either but I am excited. I have heard that both pieces of DLC are excellent with Blood and Wine standing out as being better than most game released the same year it was.
It's probably because you just played 1 and 2 but I found you incredibly generous with the game's gameplay and you didn't even mention the huge problems in pacing and balancing. Nor were you shocked by how weak and ignorant Geralt is as a Witcher (seriously, he needs to read a fuckin book to get some knowledge about a commun monster ?).
The game would be much much better if the gameplay was tightened up (I hate that his attacks are random, the same input should lead to the same exact move), if levelling was completely redone to improve balance (less levels, maybe start lvl 1 and finish lvl 10, with a small yet noticeable gap in power in between, there is no reason to struggle against common bandits or wolfs at the start of the game and faceroll them later on), if everything linked to the loot was overhauled and made interesting, if Points of Interest were gone and if the minimap was discarded in favor of a simple compass (it pissed me off that you can't get the later without suffering the minimap and no, the game is barely playable without relying on quest markers on the big map (that you can't turn off anyway)).
How the hell would you know the shit from bestiary? Geralt would have told you?
Gwent really does fit Geralt's character though. Remember when he was so facinated by that dwarven card game in baptism of fire?
Man, I'm glad this series isn't as dumb as the marketing makes it seem
I might actually give it a try now that I know better
Doom2Guy IKR? The ads are hilariously 2002 edgy, but at release someone was sharing screens of their PS4 playthrough and there's a bit early on where you walk around just wearing a towel, you can snark at a butler and then you pick your outfit for meeting Tywin Lannister. I mean, just look at the footage in this video. Geralt's smiling like a smug or amused dad half the time.A lot of people seem to agree that 3 got the tone just right.
+PoliteTimesplitter I don't think you know what edgy means
Bruh he’s on point with that Skrek comment, I literally watched Shrek the third and thought about the Witcher 3. After watching the movie I ended up playing the complete edition. The Duchy is literally Far Far Away from Skrek. I play Shrek 2 music everytime I’m there after playing Blood and wine. Like always he’s right on the nose. Love these videos. 🎶Gotta make a move to a town that's right for meeee 🎶
21:47 "The days of laughable voice acting and alien character models are over" - hey there 2015, 2017 here, Mass Effect: Andromeda just came out.
To make it even more funny with gwent is that it is based on in-unverse dwarven card game that first is mentioned in Baptism of Fire (though depending on translation it may have been named differently but in polish it is the exact same name as that game, apparently for some reason it's name was translated as 'barrel' in english version of Baptism of Fire), of course in book Dwarves played with different rules and cards that were supposedly similar to real world cards.
"Zoltan, Yazon Varda, Caleb Stratton and Percival Schuttenbach sat
down near the wagon and without taking a breather played Barrel, their
favourite card game, which they devoted every spare minute to, including
the previous wet evenings.
The Witcher occasionally sat down to join them and watch them
play, as he did during this break. He was still unable to understand the
complicated rules of this typical dwarven game, but was fascinated by
the amazing, intricate workmanship of the cards and the drawings of the
figures. Compared to the cards humans played with, the dwarves' cards
were genuine works of art."
"...with the dwarves's cards. The king was really regal, the lady
comely and curvaceous, and the halberd-wielding knave jauntily
moustachioed. The colour cards were called, in Dwarven Speech, the hraval, vaina and ballet, but Zoltan and company used the Common Speech and human names when they played."
"
The fundamental principle of dwarven Barrel was something resembling
an auction at a horse fair, both in its intensity and the volume of the
bidders' voices. The pair declaring the highest 'price' would endeavour
to win as many tricks as possible, which the rival pair had to impede at
all costs. The game was played noisily and heatedly, and a sturdy staff
lay beside each player. These staffs were seldom used to beat an
opponent, but were often brandished."
Oi! Don't insult our flimsy trees! These are accurate repesentations of the kinds of trees we have here at the Baltic Sea. ^^
Makes the game feel like home.
I like how you said that this is closer to Shrek than Game of Thrones, and in the Blood and Wine expansion there is a quest where you find a man who is in love with a princess, but feels she might be cursed, so he sends someone of great strength who most find scary or dislike (Geralt) to figure out what is wrong and bring her to him. As Geralt learns more about the princess, he figures out that she turns into a horrifying monster at dusk. The story then splits from Shrek, but I was laughing pretty hard when I figured out that it might be imitating it in the first part.
That's really strange, I also got that Zelda vibe while playing.
you got to make a poem with dandelion in the second game too to attract a succubus, and you even get to choose whether or not Dandelion risks his life to save her or not. There were so many lighthearted jokey moments in witcher 2.
I have played literally hundreds of video games but this is easily one of the most beautiful and engaging stories ever told by mankind and farrrr more people should hear Geralt and Ciri's story, especially people that don't play video games. Its these games that sparked my love for reading as an adult and after reading the first six books I cant wait for the seventh this coming march! I truly hope the movie coming in the later years does it justice but how can it with such an expansive story? Not to mention the curse of video game movies (I liked Warcraft tho). Only the quality of an HBO series in league with game of thrones is truly worthy. I never thought id say this but pleaseeeee give me a season 2 pass with another two expansions with the same quality of heart of stone and blood and wine! Hell give me a season 3 and 4 pass after that! I know what I just said above is just a dream but at the very least give me a Witcher 4 staring Ciri! And sorry Sapkowski but the these game's story are easily up to your quality of writing that your fans consider them cannon and thats all that matters! Accept it!
LONG LIVE RADOVID!
go reead some Wheel Of Time books, or anything written by Robert Jordan. youve clearly never read good writing in your life if you think this derivative trash is good. its literally the most generic copy/pasted ripoff everything we can bullshit ever made.
Wow you're delusional. This story is so generic it puts you to sleep
That Bloody Baron quest was amazing. I didn’t play much of this game, stopped shortly after completing this overarching quest line - but the whole time I thought I was doing the right things. The ending I got was shitty.
As grand and epic as it is, I feel like the game may have benefited from being just a little more condensed.
If you look at Horizon Zero Dawn, they have amazing environments, seemingly natural transitions between these environments, and a grand scope, but the map is considerably smaller than The Witcher 3, and the game greatly benefits from it. Not to mention the fast travel system is much better (once you get a golden pack) and the load times are noticably shorter. I love The Witcher 3, but I am not too blind to recognize areas where the game could have been improved.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the observations and perspectives you listed through all of your videos in "The Witcher" series. Your criticisms were largely fair, and you noted the history and technical aspects of the game design and mechanics that were prevalent during the times of release.
I learned quite a lot as well of the literature behind the game series from you, and I'm now interested in going back to read the available books in English. Once again, you have contributed a great deal to video game journalism and reviews. For that, thank you.
I can't believe how many people turn the HUD off playing it, especially in some place like Skellige. Sure i look at my HUD a lot but i don't really notice I'm doing it and don't feel I'm missing out on any scenery. I'd just rather not get lost on a game I'm gonna put 100's of hours in anyway.
I tried playing all the games in a row recently, and for a guy that only learnt of the witcher series from the third game(actually the second game but never finished witcher 2 till I tried all games in a row thanks to combat) I do actually feel like I know a decent part of the world just playing. A nice touch I noticed going through all 3 games was that witcher 1 taught me loads about the witcher alchemy system and choices while witcher 2 got me really good at witcher 3's gameplay, and the fact some knowledge you learn from past beastires entry from the previous games can help deal with monsters from new titles, and that their after credits cutscenes always foretells the next game
turning off the minimap and UI is the best you can do in witcher 3
Even though my job also consists of analyzing and putting the conclusions into a meaningful and well mapped out text i'm left speechless in attempts to give worthy praise for the effort and the incredible professional passion that I see in your work, especially in the Witcher videos. Never stop. Keep on inspiring.
- a humbled journalist and a gaming enthusiast
"Like Skyrim with Shrek" George Weedman, 2015
One note I'd like to add about Geralt's memory loss in the first game: It's true that amnesia is an overused trope in video games, and is often a sign of lazy storytelling. However, in The Witcher 1 it was an absolutely BRILLIANT narrative decision. It allowed the developers to easily introduce an audience that had never heard of the Witcher series to the world and story without overwhelming them, and the learn more about the world along with Geralt. Then, after giving the audience enough time to learn some of the backstory, they started giving Geralt his memories back. It was simultaneously a narrative tool for the story itself, and a free advertisement for, and incentive to get into, the original series, and the two fed into and supported each other each other brilliantly.
16:20 was the menu flickering here intentional? I had the video full screened, and that moment really hurt my eyes.
As a console gamer, I think it speaks to the quality of the games that I was able to enjoy this series despite missing the first game entirely. I loved 2 and 3 is probably one of my two favourite games of 2015. Even missing a chunk of story, I could follow these games and love them. Your video made me want to read the books!
I don't think the implementation of "Lazare" was necessarily a stretch considering it most prominently played during the wrap up of the Bloody Baron questline.
(At least i haven't heard it played anywhere outside Crookbag Bog)
And well in the context of that story it kinda makes sense. Kinda... sigh yeah alright it was a stretch, doesn't matter it's one of the best combat music tracks i've ever heard. :D
6:56 "What I feel like a lot of people might not notice, and what the second game kind of forgot about...is that the Witcher is really closer to Shrek than it is Game of Thrones"
After seeing the first episode of the Netflix adaptation, I'm worried that the show may have also forgotten that. I'll keep watching to see if later episodes have more fairy tale references.
There's a bunch of that in the books, but he's referencing the game and the tv show is not based on the games, so...
For those of us in PS4, instead of "holding start for a little while" as George said in the video, we can also just swipe up on the touch pad :)
For the map, I mean.
its been four years since you made this comment but this is the first i have ever heard of this, thank you from the bottom of my heart
I have played this game for hundreds of hours. Completed it numerous times on all difficulties and gotten all trophies. I've modded it to the point of it breaking and forcing me to find what screwed up. I fought Dettlaff on NG+ Death March at level 40 and won.
I just learned you can lock onto enemies...
Great video! Loving it! But one quick note for you: Legend of Mice Tower isn;t strictly germanic legend. It has it's own version in nearly every centro- and east-european country. The one in game is probably based on polish version of this legend, but trully who knows.
I wanted SBH to be wrong so bad about turning off the mini-map, but the game really does get that much more immersive. I wish someone had thought of using R3 to change the mini-map size so you could turn it on quickly to get your bearings, like in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance or X-Men Legends. Reminds me of playing San Andreas.
Audible ads IN the video?
Sellout Sam anyone?
Just kidding, George. Spectacular video that cemented my bias for the Witcher franchise even deeper. Pretty much agreed with every opinion you've had on The Witcher series.
My biggest complaint right now is that I want to replay The Witcher 3 again but I want to play the BIG DLC that's eventually coming out and won't want to after I beat the game again so I just have to wait more, again.
TheAudioInjection it's only a problem when and if it affects the standards used. you know, for example the kinda interviews which can be summed up with: "oh you, why are you so perfect in everything you do?"
I have to admit that my first Witcher game was the second, and I feel bad for not having the chance to play the first one before. But alas, the Witcher 2 pulled me into this world. A believable grim fantasy setting with weirdness and absurdism right on the corner, as well as badass and epic stuff. But when I played the third one I declared myself a loyal admirer and follower of the Witcher world. It brought to me the idea of reading the books along with playing the game to have a much better understanding of the situations. And these videos, these long retrospective is such a wonder to me, seeing this game get not only praised, but explained why it is praised. I look foreward to story in games before most things, and not only the main story, but secondary, background lore as well, including small details that make the game feel unique.
I don't want to be a hardass but when I hear people throwing shit at the Witcher games, specially the third, I can't avoid getting mad and feel pity for those souls. Everyone has it's tastes but you can deny the marvel that is the writing and mechanics of this trilogy. Praising where it deserves it.
*chough* Lily *couhg* Peet *cough*
I agree about the combat, it's awesome. And yeah, when is Bethesda going to learn how to make good melee combat?
I have to say that Witcher 3 is one of the best games I've ever played. And this is something that I don't say lightly. I don't know many modern games I could say the same thing about.
Combat in Witcher 3 has a lot of potential, and even features some omage to historical sword technique such as the guard positions.
Biggest issue I have with the combat is that it's too movement-heavy and not nearly focused enough on where direct your attacks. They got it right in the sense that it's all about timing and tactics, but realistic, satisfying combat makes individual strikes range from painful to instant death. Any unarmoured opponent should die from a decisive thrust to the throat, yet it generally feels like you are cutting down trees with widly unreliable motions.
Spinning in real combat puts you at risk of getting hit anywhere from your feet to the back of your head, and yet in W3 it feels like you become untouchable during the spin and roll animations because the combat is like molasses compared to a swordfight in anything resembling real life.
I know that HEMA geeks are a minority even in the fantasy roleplaying game world, but I feel like they could have done a lot more with just a few base level changes.
- First, I'd replace the options of fast and strong attacks with thrusts or cuts.
- Secondly, add a direction component to attacks. This could be by a click-drag motion on PC and by attacking while pointing the analog stick on console. The length of the stroke/stick movement should vary the power to speed ratio rather than making strong and fast just two options which even have different skill trees. Limit the effectiveness of blocking to the quarter of the body which is covered by the sword. Make the position of the guard responsive to player input.
- Make enemy AI responsive to the danger of your current position. Running away, spinning and so forth should cause enemies to bum rush you, while enemies getting wailed on with big sweeping slashes ought to just walk back and evade.
- For the love of god, make piroettes only happen when the player wants it. Nobody has ever started a fight by doing a 360 instead of, just, I dunno, sticking them with the pointy end.
At the end of the day I'd have a lot more fun with the Witcher if the combat felt more emphatic about precision and positioning rather than just timing your rolls and hacking at an enemy until their health bar drops. More mechanical and historically accurate style to the combat. More emphasis on where your blows are directed and the area they strike. Less emphasis on feeling dynamic and swooshy.
Totally agree with turning the mini-map off.
The dodges, the hop and the dive, lead to an interesting means of traversal.
I have fond memories of spongebob-squarepantsing my way across the landscape, and Geralt hops like a humping rabbit. It's great!
Well...I didn't know about that german tale but I thought "A Tower of Mice" had been inspired by polish tale of prince Popiel who was eaten by mice. I'm not sure where Hop found info about the german one, but legend of Popiel is quite popular in Poland.
As a slavic person (serbian) i thoroughly enjoyed all of the games folklore references and especially witcher 3's music.
My country has made that folk music out in to some mainstream commercial pop business, which i do not like, so to see, or in this case, HEAR, genuine slavic folk music that perfectly captures the 13th and 14th century is beautiful!
Now I feel like replaying it... but I'll wait until the first expansion and the extended Triss romance arc is patched in.
Also, this game makes Dragon Age Inquisition look rather embarrassing in terms of story, open-world design and gameplay. I felt like Bioware used to have a good sense of lore and consistency, but since their EA days their games sacrifice lore for fun gameplay and "cool" visuals, as seen in how enemies explode and disintegrate or the flashy movements in DA:I as opposed to the slow, gritty and bloody combat of DA:O.
I'm not saying the two games are completely comparable, but they did share similarities that's made me think that DA:I looks rather poor now.
Linkenski Triss romance is so far into the fan-fiction territory, I can't take it seriously after reading the books. Why the fuck would Geralt romance Triss if he got his memory back? Makes no sense.
Because the love he felt for her would become no less real after remembering his love for Yen? IMO all 4 romance outcomes make sense for the character.
I agree that Triss may be fanservice, but from the player-POV there's the lot of us who liked her since the beginning of the Witcher game series, and we should be able to chose her.
I know, you should avoid pandering, but Witcher 3 had a lot of fanservice to begin with, and in terms of headcanon maybe Geralt discovered a new love by being with Triss and his recovered memory can't change that.
Linkenski The world of the Witcher just seems so much more interesting and believable. I also got tired of a group of misfits saving the world from a demonic force that wants to destroy everything for no reason, like in every new Bioware game.
To be fair, CDPR did have the privilege of working on a book narrative with pre-established, rich lore this time. You have to commend Bioware for making their own rich IPs regardless of how much they ended up destroying their own lore multiple times.
That said, I do agree, and I think CDPR is still going to rock Bioware when they create their own unique IP. Their writing is just much more mature.
At least, I think Marcin Blacha's writing is pretty mature.
The comparison to Zelda was on point. I honestly thought that when I was dashing through the areas as well. The thrill of seeing such an expansive world brimming with color, content, and bizarre enemies and story hit the right mark was something I hadn't really experiences since Majora's Mask and Wind Waker.
I understand finding the combat appealing - not everyone can get good at it quickly and see it for what it is. But calling it one of the best? At the top level it's basically dodge-slash-dodge-slash, rince and repeat. The skill trees are also completely uninteresting and often just broken. I really hope for a mod to give the game some combat depth it lacks.
He didnt say its the best he said it was decent.
I played through the Witcher games before picking up the books.
I wasn't spoiled too hard in my opinion. I mean, I knew Geralt and Yennifer were going to die in the end, and about the powers that Ciri possesses. The reason why I read the books, is my undying thirst for background information and lore. I love to see where people come from, even if I know were they end up in. I wanted to read about Geralt's relationship with all these different characters.
Before reading the books, I had always romanced Triss. She's been there from the first game, and you're given a rather short time with Yennifer, but after reading the books, you just have no excuse not to go for Yennifer. (Except if you don't like her attitude and prefer Triss' carefree nature.)
And in general, the relationships Geralt has and the friends he makes all feel so genuine to me. And they're so well written as well. I'm no connoisseur of literature, but the relationships Geralt has with characters like Ciri, Yennifer, and Dandelion are all magnificent.
Also, Regis might just be my favourite single character in the entire series.
Bonhart is badass as well, even if a tad bit psycho.
I wouldn't say that dark souls is a fair comparison for combat though. It is an rpg but unlike most RPGs where the combat is often one of the least important features, the entirety of dark souls is combat. It's not about immersion or exploring a world or feeling more powerful (and of course it does do that using the rpg mechanics, you constantly face guys that make you feel weak after another five minutes), it's just about combat. Basically every choice in the game, the world, the tone, is just to sell the combat even more. I guess the simplest way to explain it is that most RPGs could have stat based/no combat and still appeal to the same people in the same ways, but without combat dark souls would just be a really good and really vague copypasta
That's not entirely true. Dark Souls has a great atmosphere and deep and mysterious lore. Part of the game is exploring the world (or what remains of it) and trying to piece together what happened, or even what's happening right now. The exposition is given via the environment and the items you come across more so than long bits of dialogue.
Holy shit, after 300 hours of game play, this is the first I'm hearing about holding the start button to bring up the big map quickly. Thanks for that!