Power Hour Review: The Witcher III (Xbox One)

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is the third in a series of games based on several books and short stories by Andrzej Sapkowski. Throughout the first two games, you play a “witcher” named Geralt. A witcher is someone with supernatural powers, who is not entirely human, and who is a mercenary monster hunter. I’m not going to go into the nuances of story, game v. book, and all that jazz. This is a power hour! And here is my review of the first hour (ok, I played 4 hours. But actual gameplay was probably only an hour, with 3 hours of cut scenes).

It’s not a bad game. Let me start out by saying that very clearly. I enjoyed playing it, and I will probably play through the entire game. It was worth the $60, and I encourage folks who like adventure/action RPGs to buy this game. The reviews have been extremely positive, and rightly so. That said, you stumbled onto this page assumedly to learn what I think about the game. So here it goes.

There are two words I would use to describe the theme of Witcher III: talking and sex. There is A LOT of conversation in this game. There are tons of dialogue heavy cut scenes. It is impossible to keep up with the people, places, events, and story. As I was playing, I likened it to starting Game of Thrones in the 4th season. You could see that there was an interesting story being developed, but you also would not be able to keep up. The names are trite; the storyline is overused yet still confusing; but most of all, the writers do a terrible job of getting you to invest in the Geralt and the story.

I do love the game. But what I’m saying is still true. I love my puppies too, but I can critique them when they shred my new slippers.

The cut scenes try too hard to explain too much, and you end up missing most of it. As a friend (a non-gamer) who was watching my stream last night said: “If I wanted to watch a fucking show, I’d watch a fucking show. Is this how all games are?” Now, I don’t think it’s that bad. I think a game really benefits from a strong story. That said, this isn’t giving the audience a strong story. There are just a bunch of details the player doesn’t care about. After playing for 4 hours, I still had no idea what the fuck was happening, why I gave a shit about finding Yennifer (such a brilliant, creative name, don’t you think? Edgy!), or anything about my backstory. Now, the backstory exists, and I was able to read plenty and find out plenty of it online, but they really should not try to tell so much through the cut scenes. I’d rather they let the gameplay urge you to invest in the story and the characters, rather than forcing you through a movie.

Yennefer_2
Yennifer. Smells like Lilac and Gooseberries, I guess.

On that note, there is one big thing I kept thinking, that apparently occurred to others as well. In the opening cut scene, you’re talking a bath and talking to a women who you later find out is Yennifer, or if you played Witcher II you would probably know her. You have sort of a little love scene, though it’s basically just her telling you to stop being lazy and go train with Ciri (the little girl that you have “claimed” and now raise… a plot point for another time). Then, for the next 3 or so hours of the game, you’re trying to find Yennifer. This makes no sense in the context you’ve been given, and it’s pretty confusing. As a player, I felt no compulsion to find her, and it really took away from the story that Geralt seemed so focused on it without reason. There needs to be a pressing need or event to push the narrative forward. This game completely lacks this, thus the beginning drags.

In an article that talks about the copious amounts of sex in the game (though, from my read, there are a lot of undertones but very little sex or release), Lead Game Designer Damien Monnier talks about the reason for the opening scene:

“People might think we’re putting sex into the opening scene for no good reason… No, no, no. We are establishing that your character was intimate with this woman recently in order to plant in your mind that, at very least, he must enjoy her company.

“Through sex we have shown that this is a person who Geralt would be compelled to chase after if she went missing… Sex is the quickest way in which to establish the relationship and provide a justification for the player to pursue this woman. We couldn’t just tell you to go find someone you don’t know or care about. It wouldn’t work.”

Now, this is obviously in earnest. But is he kidding? The designers and writers thought that showing a scene implying that Geralt and Jennifer knew each other in the biblical sense would be enough impetus for the first 3 or so hours of the game where you were obsessed with finding her? Maybe it was their *brilliant* description: black hair, smells like lilac and gooseberries. Are you KIDDING me? Have a monster crash into the building and kill Geralt’s mentor. Have Geralt go to town to buy some lilacs and find everyone dead and then swear to avenge them. Have him hear some news the Yennifer needs him immediately. But instead he has a little dream and thinks, she must be in danger. I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE HER. It is such a joke that they really thought players would be satisfied and compelled by “oh look, a girl. CHASE!”

Of course, this leads to what seems to be one of the themes of the game, the fact that Geralt is simply being a lovestruck idiot, and Yennifer pretty much doesn’t give a shit about Geralt. She’s not mean, she just clearly is focused on her business. After you, as Geralt, travel all over the land looking for Yennifer, you finally find her. She’s like, “I’m fucking fine. I’m fighting a war. I was busy.” She also stops Geralt from getting all emotional, saying she doesn’t have time for his desire to talk about their love for each other. This is an interesting twist on the princess narrative. It’s like Geralt spends all this time looking for a princess who responds with, “I’m at work. Leave me alone.” She doesn’t even fall into the cold bitch stereotype, as you would expect. She’s not cold, she’s busy, and she doesn’t have time for this bullshit. There is a war! It’s almost like how a regular human woman might act when thrown into the “save the princess” narrative. Again, this does nothing to endear Geralt to you, but it does make me wish I was playing the Jennifer–sorry, Yeniffer–character, who seems to have a much better motivation for her adventures than simply trying to find her boyfriend.

Right before I quit playing, it was clear that we were about to embark on another futile “save the princess” quest, this time to find Ciri. Now, it seems apparent that Ciri is perfectly capable, and she doesn’t want to be found. Why are we seeking her out? Because the emperor of Nilfgaard (*dumb name eye roll*) wants to find her. She is the heir to Nilfgaard, through no real discernible or logical path, of course. Or maybe that was buried somewhere in the 300 cut scenes (don’t post why she is the heir. I googled it myself). So Geralt is going to go get her next, and then who knows. It does seem that Geralt is a minor player in this world and at least so far the women are the important characters. That’s fun, though again I would rather play as one of them (of course, women can’t be witchers though).

Perhaps this is what happens with a witcher when you are in chapter 3 of his story. The love that didn’t seem that important in chapter 2 now seems REALLY important because he doesn’t have much else going on. He has fought his big battles, explored the world, and now he is just a dude who gets no respect. He is caught up in politics, the who is and isn’t and where important shit is going down, but he never really does anything. In the first 3-4 hours, you fight one big battle with a Griffin. It was difficult, and awesome, but not worth waiting that long for. There is little to no loot. The side missions are hard to find, and they don’t do a good job explaining the importance of them until it’s too late. In games like Kingdoms of Amalur or Fable, you care about the world. And because you care about the world, you care about doing side quests to make the world better. There is so much information thrown at you in this game, you can’t possible care about the world because it makes no sense. Why would I help out these random people if they have no ties to the story or my character?

I talked a little about sex so far, but it seems the Lead Game Designer’s opinion above really is pervasive throughout the game. You are supposedly completely driven by sex. You really want to “know” Yennifer again, but she is playing hard to get. I’m not the only one who thinks this either. Check out Conan O’Brien’s Clueless Gamer episode (below). It’s hilarious and right on.

 

This video is very similar to my reaction when I first played through the game. It was so much talking that there wasn’t much actual gaming, and the entire thing was just dripping with (a need for?) sex. I just don’t think that’s enough to justify so much of the gameplay, and it’s not that I’m reading too much between the lines or not paying enough attention to the legacy left from the books and the previous games. The designer literally states that sex is Geralt’s motive.

In the end, I think the story represents a struggle that CD Projekt Red had between telling a complicated story and telling a compelling story. The fact that they seem to have agreed that sleeping with someone was enough motivation for their audience shows that some serious worked needs to be done on the narrative front. All of that aside, Yennifer is an interesting female character: sexual, but not sexualized. That is not easy to do. I think that bodes well for this game and future games. As players we are no longer content with saving princesses and damsels in distress, but we haven’t completely figured out how to tell compelling stories either, particularly when they involve women. I would love to hear what others thought of the game. Feel free to leave your thoughts below, and I’ll respond!

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