The Witcher - Second Impressions.
Some more thoughts on The Witcher. Currently, I have just arrived in Vizima, so if you know the game, please don't spoil me for what follows. (Though really, I suspect there isn't that much to spoil.)
First of all: This is a gorgeous world. My experience with gaming worlds is very limited so far, but I find this one beautifully done, down to the flocks of birds that shy away with realistic wing-sounds when you approach. Aesthetically speaking, The Witcher is far lovelier than Dragon Age, and on that level I find it a joy to play in. The world-building is also quite interesting so far, though I am reserving judgement because I haven't gotten a good overview yet.
The plot(s) are failing to grab me, however, which I attribute to the general sense of detachment I have from the game. And this, I lay squarely at the feet of the sole playable character, Geralt of Rivia.
Geralt drifts through this harsh-but-lovely world like an outsider, and never truly seems to connect with anyone. This actually makes sense, considering he suffers from complete amnesia. In fact, his very alienation from everyone and everything around him could be a fascinating plot-point. However, so far Geralt is too much of an emotional blank. He doesn't seem to be affected by his situation in any way, doesn't seem to particularly care about anything. He stumbles and falls penis-first into many a vagina (it's actually hard to prevent him from doing this - no pun intended), but it doesn't seem like sex affords him any real enjoyment either, let alone any emotional connection.
So far, there are no relationships to build. The two women who are in love with Geralt are already in love with him the first time he sees them. Geralt doesn't remember the first thing about them, but neither he nor the women in question seem overly bothered by this. As for how Geralt himself felt about the women in question - whether he loved either or both of them back? Not only is there no clue, it seems as though the question is immaterial to Geralt. He can sleep with them if he wants, he won't even have to blackmail them (yes, the game does offer a charming opportunity for the player-as-Geralt to blackmail a woman into sex). What more is there to know?
Geralt seems to have even less interest in relationships with men (and, sadly, I don't even mean in a sexual way *g*). There is a small plot where a ghost takes on the likeness of a Witcher recruit who died when fighting with Geralt; this is intended to play on Geralt's guilt over the boy's death. Which would probably have worked better for me if Geralt had ever shown any sign of guilt in the first place.
It's hard for me to say where this sense of detachment, this feeling of Geralt as a complete blank comes from. I think the animation (does Geralt even have more than one facial expression?) and voice acting (gorgeous deep voice, as impassive as a Polish voice-over narrator) do a lot to hammer home the impassiveness of the character, but so does the lack of any chance to form a relationship with anyone, and the fact that Geralt evidently cannot acquire companions. He truly seems completely disconnected.
All of this could actually be very interesting if I could interpret Geralt's emotional detachment as trauma, combined with an old coping strategy that's automatically going into overdrive now. In fact, this would make a lot of sense for him, tossed alone into this cold and hostile world with no memories whatsoever. But while there is nothing in the game to contradict this interpretation, there is also nothing to support it, beyond the fact that there is no valid explanation for why Geralt doesn't particularly seem to care about having complete amnesia. Just a tiny spark of angst would do it, really. Or, failing that, a flash of any genuine emotion. I need the game to give me something to hang my emotional investment on, so to speak. Just a tiny little bit.
Different but related topic... Triss Merigold, aka the half-naked chick in the fishnet swimsuit.
As I have mentioned, the player-as-Geralt is given many opportunities for sex, most of them simple one-night-stands, one a seriously fucked-up situation where a desperate woman offers to have sex with him in order to convince him to save her life. (A not-so-charming detail: When Geralt has sex, the player receives a collectible card depicting the woman in question in Playboy-esque sex kitten pose. Wow, it's frat boys in fantasyland. No doubt the Witchers meet up for drunken parties once a year to show off their sex card collections. I wonder what kind of prize the one who bagged the most trophies wins.)
So far, my version of Geralt has only had sex once. And that... was an accident on my part and a highly dubious act on the part of Triss, the woman involved.
The situation: Triss was seriously injured, and had only just been healed by a potion Geralt had brought her. She felt understandably shaken by her brush with death, and asked Geralt to keep her company for a while, talking about how close they'd been before Geralt lost his memory. Geralt agreed. And then she had sex with him.
As Geralt, I had no intention of having sex with Triss at all; I just didn't feel I could leave her alone after her brush with death, particularly not when she went the "oh help me I am so traumatized and I like you so" route and asked not to be alone. And once Geralt agreed to keep her company, there was no way of not having sex with her. In retrospect, I suppose "keep me company for a little while" was code for "have sex with me", but that's not how I as the player interpreted it under the circumstances. I don't know about you guys, but if my lover - whom I don't remember and who hasn't actually told me anything about them, me, or our relationship - nearly died and then begged me to stay with them for a bit, I would not think this was code for "weird how you don't remember your life, but whatever, let's fuck".
The most positive spin I can put on this encounter is that Triss was shaken and lonely and desperate and wanted to connect with Geralt again on any level she could, and in the process entirely lost track of the fact that Geralt doesn't know her from Eve, and that right now, for him, his entire life consists of about two days' worth of memory. I still question her total lack of empathy or consideration for Geralt, however. Geralt is in an utterly vulnerable state through his amnesia, he must be feeling way more lost and shaken and lonely than she (even if he doesn't show it), and this is not the right moment to pressure the man to have sex with her. If she knows Geralt at all, then she must know that he will not turn her down, and if she has any common sense, then she must know that for him, having sex with her right now will not be helpful, and might instead be actively harmful in emotional terms. How about talking to the man instead and filling in some of the blanks?
But like so many people in this world, Triss has no fucks to give. She got her leg over, so all is right with the world. In a way, these two may be a match made in heaven. Or somewhere.
So, have any of you played The Witcher? What did you think about it?
First of all: This is a gorgeous world. My experience with gaming worlds is very limited so far, but I find this one beautifully done, down to the flocks of birds that shy away with realistic wing-sounds when you approach. Aesthetically speaking, The Witcher is far lovelier than Dragon Age, and on that level I find it a joy to play in. The world-building is also quite interesting so far, though I am reserving judgement because I haven't gotten a good overview yet.
The plot(s) are failing to grab me, however, which I attribute to the general sense of detachment I have from the game. And this, I lay squarely at the feet of the sole playable character, Geralt of Rivia.
Geralt drifts through this harsh-but-lovely world like an outsider, and never truly seems to connect with anyone. This actually makes sense, considering he suffers from complete amnesia. In fact, his very alienation from everyone and everything around him could be a fascinating plot-point. However, so far Geralt is too much of an emotional blank. He doesn't seem to be affected by his situation in any way, doesn't seem to particularly care about anything. He stumbles and falls penis-first into many a vagina (it's actually hard to prevent him from doing this - no pun intended), but it doesn't seem like sex affords him any real enjoyment either, let alone any emotional connection.
So far, there are no relationships to build. The two women who are in love with Geralt are already in love with him the first time he sees them. Geralt doesn't remember the first thing about them, but neither he nor the women in question seem overly bothered by this. As for how Geralt himself felt about the women in question - whether he loved either or both of them back? Not only is there no clue, it seems as though the question is immaterial to Geralt. He can sleep with them if he wants, he won't even have to blackmail them (yes, the game does offer a charming opportunity for the player-as-Geralt to blackmail a woman into sex). What more is there to know?
Geralt seems to have even less interest in relationships with men (and, sadly, I don't even mean in a sexual way *g*). There is a small plot where a ghost takes on the likeness of a Witcher recruit who died when fighting with Geralt; this is intended to play on Geralt's guilt over the boy's death. Which would probably have worked better for me if Geralt had ever shown any sign of guilt in the first place.
It's hard for me to say where this sense of detachment, this feeling of Geralt as a complete blank comes from. I think the animation (does Geralt even have more than one facial expression?) and voice acting (gorgeous deep voice, as impassive as a Polish voice-over narrator) do a lot to hammer home the impassiveness of the character, but so does the lack of any chance to form a relationship with anyone, and the fact that Geralt evidently cannot acquire companions. He truly seems completely disconnected.
All of this could actually be very interesting if I could interpret Geralt's emotional detachment as trauma, combined with an old coping strategy that's automatically going into overdrive now. In fact, this would make a lot of sense for him, tossed alone into this cold and hostile world with no memories whatsoever. But while there is nothing in the game to contradict this interpretation, there is also nothing to support it, beyond the fact that there is no valid explanation for why Geralt doesn't particularly seem to care about having complete amnesia. Just a tiny spark of angst would do it, really. Or, failing that, a flash of any genuine emotion. I need the game to give me something to hang my emotional investment on, so to speak. Just a tiny little bit.
Different but related topic... Triss Merigold, aka the half-naked chick in the fishnet swimsuit.
As I have mentioned, the player-as-Geralt is given many opportunities for sex, most of them simple one-night-stands, one a seriously fucked-up situation where a desperate woman offers to have sex with him in order to convince him to save her life. (A not-so-charming detail: When Geralt has sex, the player receives a collectible card depicting the woman in question in Playboy-esque sex kitten pose. Wow, it's frat boys in fantasyland. No doubt the Witchers meet up for drunken parties once a year to show off their sex card collections. I wonder what kind of prize the one who bagged the most trophies wins.)
So far, my version of Geralt has only had sex once. And that... was an accident on my part and a highly dubious act on the part of Triss, the woman involved.
The situation: Triss was seriously injured, and had only just been healed by a potion Geralt had brought her. She felt understandably shaken by her brush with death, and asked Geralt to keep her company for a while, talking about how close they'd been before Geralt lost his memory. Geralt agreed. And then she had sex with him.
As Geralt, I had no intention of having sex with Triss at all; I just didn't feel I could leave her alone after her brush with death, particularly not when she went the "oh help me I am so traumatized and I like you so" route and asked not to be alone. And once Geralt agreed to keep her company, there was no way of not having sex with her. In retrospect, I suppose "keep me company for a little while" was code for "have sex with me", but that's not how I as the player interpreted it under the circumstances. I don't know about you guys, but if my lover - whom I don't remember and who hasn't actually told me anything about them, me, or our relationship - nearly died and then begged me to stay with them for a bit, I would not think this was code for "weird how you don't remember your life, but whatever, let's fuck".
The most positive spin I can put on this encounter is that Triss was shaken and lonely and desperate and wanted to connect with Geralt again on any level she could, and in the process entirely lost track of the fact that Geralt doesn't know her from Eve, and that right now, for him, his entire life consists of about two days' worth of memory. I still question her total lack of empathy or consideration for Geralt, however. Geralt is in an utterly vulnerable state through his amnesia, he must be feeling way more lost and shaken and lonely than she (even if he doesn't show it), and this is not the right moment to pressure the man to have sex with her. If she knows Geralt at all, then she must know that he will not turn her down, and if she has any common sense, then she must know that for him, having sex with her right now will not be helpful, and might instead be actively harmful in emotional terms. How about talking to the man instead and filling in some of the blanks?
But like so many people in this world, Triss has no fucks to give. She got her leg over, so all is right with the world. In a way, these two may be a match made in heaven. Or somewhere.
So, have any of you played The Witcher? What did you think about it?