Witcher 3 - Play as Triss, Yennefer, or Others

Aubrielle said:

I have to give you the frustrating version. I can't think of any one thing about him I don't understand. He's a very realistic character - very. As such, he's the kind of dark, brooding guy that holds his emotions in really well, and so he's hard to read, I guess.

I think that's the best way I could explain it.

Click to expand...

I know people like Geralt and I understand them, but I find them really hard to explain in words. You kinda have to learn to read them and they won't be mysterious at all. To be honest, I find such people rather simplistic and boring. I'm not talking of the archetype of "dark brooding guy" here, I'm being a lot more specific. Geralt's portrayal is more cultural than you might think, it's related to the cultural mindset of the devs. This is why I find it so hard to explain that even attempting to do it seems daunting. Ideally you need to get to know such people for yourself.

But the basic idea is that instead of imagining the guy as an enigma, think this: he's simple, cares for booze and women, likes good food and vulgar songs, has some (limited) values, likes to kill things, believes himself to be strong and tough, believes himself to be smart, but is simple (repeated for emphasis). That will be close to the truth.

I could never understand from the books what ladies found in Geralt. At all.

Elel said:

I know people like Geralt and I understand them, but I find them really hard to explain in words. You kinda have to learn to read them and they won't be mysterious at all. To be honest, I find such people rather simplistic and boring. I'm not talking of the archetype of "dark brooding guy" here, I'm being a lot more specific. Geralt's portrayal is more cultural than you might think, it's related to the cultural mindset of the devs. This is why I find it so hard to explain that even attempting to do it seems daunting. Ideally you need to get to know such people for yourself.





But the basic idea is that instead of imagining the guy as an enigma, think this: he's simple, cares for booze and women, has some (limited) values, likes to kill things, believes himself to be strong and tough, believes himself to be smart, but is really simple (repeated for emphasis). That will be close to the truth.





I could never understand from the books what ladies found in Geralt. At all.

Click to expand...

He's his own man, works hard, he's hard as nails, he's streetwise and he's good looking. He can attract a woman through instant appeal, protect her and provide for her. Pretty much covers most bases in a time where survival was far more important than social indulgence.

He's probably well hung too.

Elel said:

I know people like Geralt and I understand them

Click to expand...

I strongly doubt your claim.
Statistically you had very slim chance to meet a person who was involved in intrigues defining history of several countries. Even less likely you had a chance to make acquaintance with someone who lost half of his pals to violent death during schooling.
Add to this simple fact that none of real world experiences I am aware could be compared with going through Trail of Grasses.
You try to strip his experience and history from Geralt to make him fit your narrative. This approach I cannot commend at all.

Elel said:

But the basic idea is that instead of imagining the guy as an enigma, think this: he's simple, cares for booze and women, likes good food and vulgar songs, has some (limited) values, likes to kill things, believes himself to be strong and tough, believes himself to be smart, but is simple (repeated for emphasis). That will be close to the truth.

I could never understand from the books what ladies found in Geralt. At all.

Click to expand...

Its simple really. He can back up his words with deeds, get things done. Its not a question of belief, he practices what he preaches.

Elel said:

But the basic idea is that instead of imagining the guy as an enigma, think this: he's simple, cares for booze and women, likes good food and vulgar songs, has some (limited) values, likes to kill things, believes himself to be strong and tough, believes himself to be smart, but is simple (repeated for emphasis). That will be close to the truth.

I could never understand from the books what ladies found in Geralt. At all.

Click to expand...

That's because , despite your claims, YOU grossly oversimplify him. He isn't simple. He DOES like booze and women. Who doesn't like good food and (occasional) vulgar song? He has very defined set of values. He kills monsters. That's where he gets his money from. You think he liked fighting zeugl in a sewer?He IS strong and tough. Has to be. He (repeated for emphasis) isn't simple.

Simple…well I wouldn't put him next to Tolstoy characters, but by video game standards he has little competition.
There is definitely something of adding a bit "Mary Sue" attributes as a result, but that is unavoidable.
I've no idea where someone would get impression of Geralt as "liking to kill things"…he literally gets killed by staying his own hand in the end.
As for women attraction to him, I think it's fairly obvious….described as handsome, "bad boy thing", superhuman attributes, well educated, mannered, polite and protective of women, one hell of a reputation, still young with a century of experience, etc.
Now line him up to next to average Joe Bigot of those times who feeds chicken all day, bathes once in a season and never saw a book in his life.

BoboTheMighty said:

I've no idea where someone would get impression of Geralt as "liking to kill things"…he literally gets killed by staying his own hand in the end.

Click to expand...

That someone didn't really read while playing the game (and probably ignoring every side thing).

Geralt's job is getting paid for getting rid of monsters. He doesn't do it because he likes to kill but because "one has to pay bills". Bills aka whores and booze.

The player in several moments can choose to kill or let live - that's not Geralt who likes one thing over another, that's the player.

Aubrielle said:

I definitely liked playing as Ciri better, personally, for all kinds of reasons. Obviously, it was easier playing as a woman because, well…obviously I understood her way better. Geralt was kind of this stony…enigma, and I still don't really understand him as a person. But also because I dunno…I liked the faster, more nimble swordsmanship she brought.

And yeah, Couch is right. There were a lot of Witcher 3 devs that liked Ciri better.

Click to expand...

It is that ability to relate to a character which is also why some people like diversity in characters and the ability to create our own characters … and have options when it comes to romance if one exists in a game. Something few people seem to understand.

What I would love to see is the W3 with a make your own witcher system. Maybe some simple back ground starting stories as a son/daughter of - peasant, soldier, merchant/trader, noble, or orphan. Then you attract the attention of a veteran Witcher as a young child who offers to take you in after some accident/fight/attack or such leaves you on your own. They then train you to be a Witcher and things are going along well until something happens … and thus begins the story.

Then you get the very cool W3 world and atmosphere without being tied down to playing a character in a movie. I actually think Geralt is awesome myself - just what I admire and respect in a dark hero - he is actually a great guy. Just don't connect to him at all as he is so far removed from who I am. Plus the story is too linear and its like playing Mass Effect - its a movie you happen to have some control over.

Would love to see a TRUE open world Witcher game where you play as your own witcher versus a pre-defined character.

wolfgrimdark said:

Would love to see a TRUE open world Witcher game where you play as your own witcher versus a pre-defined character.

Click to expand...

Well that wouldn't be a Wicher game then would it?

It isn't hard to figure out the games are based off a Character from a series of books.

As for a TRUE OPEN world, I don't know how you could do that and tell the story that they did.

It was an open linear world as you need something to drive the main plot.


Biggest complaint of Skyrim is the story isn't great, biggest complaint of TW3 the exploration isn't that great.

Maybe the two companies need to do a joint venture ....

wolfgrimdark said:

It is that ability to relate to a character which is also why some people like diversity in characters and the ability to create our own characters … and have options when it comes to romance if one exists in a game. Something few people seem to understand.

Click to expand...

Only you and selected few do? Condescending much?

There are plenty of games where you can choose class, profession and gender. In this particular game you can't but, if Witcher franchise will continue, it will probably change. For now, me (and few others) like this game just exactly as it is.

I don't know …I've played enough of <insert personality here> protagonists that to me it's becoming pretty repetitive and stale by now. Witcher series feels more unique and stronger at characterization exactly for the opposite reasons.
Think about it…would Last of Us have the same emotional pull if Joel was generic x with no background, customizable appearance, three different voice sets and radical variety of dialogue options? Instead of huge plot twists, you have a story that revolves around characters and is stronger for defined personalities.
Sure, I could get into all sorts of crazy, goofy scenarios in TES or Fallout…but it's not something I'll be telling my grandchildren fifty years from now.
Whole lot of options and you end up spreading yourself too "thin" with writers having to accomodate to too many outcomes.
I'd like to see physical customization in Cyberpunk…but with defined protagonists coming from a different background with a strong impact on their personality, and player/world reacting differently based on it.
As for what wolfgrim is looking for, I think New Vegas was the best example we've had so far and Betsy would do well to follow that example.

Ok I didn't want to go that far, but what I meant by cultural mindset was that the writer certainly portrayed a power fantasy of a macho man through his own cultural lense. The devs copied that as they could. I take it you guys are from the US mostly, you'll never get precisely what Geralt really is meant to be and how it would feel to know him realistically.

As for killing, maybe I should've said "likes to fight". But I believe he quite enjoys slaying monsters and is proud of being able to do so. That's what the fantasy of the writer is about at its core: slaying monsters and having a harem. All the rest is piled up on top of that, but the foundation never wavers.

wolfgrimdark said:

Would love to see a TRUE open world Witcher game where you play as your own witcher versus a pre-defined character.

Click to expand...

Well you can now technically do that.

BoboTheMighty said:

I don't know …I've played enough of <insert personality here> protagonists that to me it's becoming pretty repetitive and stale by now. Witcher series feels more unique and stronger at characterization exactly for the opposite reasons.

Click to expand...

Lucky you. I rarely ever get to play a self-insert, for me it's delicacy to be treasured. Apart from Skyrim and Inquisition, other open-world games (past and upcoming), don't allow me to play a self-insert. I mean, you can't really self-insert if you aren't allowed to even play your own gender. God knows how I'm sick of that and how I want character creator options in the games…

I don't even need a direct self-insert, I'm just dead tired of being forced to pretty much always play as someone else. And as the same distinct archetypes of someone else, too. Grim white man for CRPGs, young white boy for JRPGs. Ugh.

I think I've read somewhere that CDpr is done with Geralt as Geralt, but that doesn't mean there won't be another witcher game with another witcher in the main role, perhaps chosen through a character creation instead of predetermined hero.

btw, isn't your avatar featured in Monty Oum's Dead Fantasy 2 video?

joxer said:

I think I've read somewhere that CDpr is done with Geralt as Geralt, but that doesn't mean there won't be another witcher game with another witcher in the main role, perhaps chosen through a character creation instead of predetermined hero.

Click to expand...

Meanwhile ELEX and Kingdome Come again don't give me an option to choose anything. *sigh* I won't be hoping for the next Witcher to do it, either, not until I hear about it with my own ears and then check the artwork to make sure the character isn't ridiculously portrayed (mostly in terms of clothes). I don't like disappointments, so it's hard to make me hope without precise knowledge, you can't imagine how many of my naive hopes were crushed in the past.

btw, isn't your avatar featured in Monty Oum's Dead Fantasy 2 video?

Click to expand...

Had to look it up, never heard of it. What on earth is that!

Elel said:

I mean, you can't really self-insert if you aren't allowed to even play your own gender.

Click to expand...

Thousands (may be millions) boys had no problem to do that playing Lara and other heroines. Your attitude make you sound like very special snowflake.

mazur49 said:

Thousands (may be millions) boys had no problem to do that playing Lara and other heroines. Your attitude make you sound like very special snowflake.

Click to expand...

Well, thanks for calling out my experiences as fake. Clearly you know better what I experience, and what I say is not truth but merely "attitude".

As far as I know, thousands of boys admired Lara's figure, otherwise why were her breasts getting larger and larger at one point? Clearly not for the purpose of better self-inserting

I won't even mention that an action game and an RPG are two different genres altogether. Lara didn't exactly have branching dialogues, elaborate reactions to her of hundreds of NPCs, romances, etc.

Elel said:

As for killing, maybe I should've said "likes to fight".

Click to expand...

You didn't really play TW3 to any extent did you Elel? This game is all about choices and consequences. With a choice of dialogue or axii sign Geralt can avoid a lot of combat or he can murder anybody who looks at him in a wrong way. Player's choice.

Elel said:

Had to look it up, never heard of it. What on earth is that!

Click to expand...

Find it on youtube (HD version if possible), just DF2, don't bother with 1, 3, 4 and 5.
Turn off lights, fire it up, sit back and enjoy.
I'd put a link, but can't.

zahratustra said:

You didn't really play TW3 to any extent did you Elel? This game is all about choices and consequences. With a choice of dialogue or axii sign Geralt can avoid a lot of combat or he can murder anybody who looks at him in a wrong way. Player's choice.

Click to expand...

Zarathustra, I was talking about the books where Geralt has a defined character. A lot of it is transferred into the game.

As for killing, it isn't, unfortunately, very well defined by player choices. I don't want to post spoilers here, but there were instances when Geralt didn't mind innocent people being slaughtered in front of his eyes. You simply were not given a choice. I played him as a merciful character, so I was shocked by how jarring the experience was at times.