An unlikely appearance, The Witcher

 This is going to be one of my off topic blogposts as it is not exclusively physics, rather it is a view to the end of a journey and the beginning of a new one.

How did it start?

During lockdown like many teenagers I was trapped in my house, or was I? I played so many video games during lockdown on my ps4, the best console at the time just before the PS5 released actually. The games I played usually contained a lot of world exploration, these games include: assassin's creed's, Red dead redemption 2, god of war 4 and the Witcher. Very surprisingly assassins creed actually has a book series, a retelling of the main plot most of the time or just adding another layer to the story. The books are also pretty long with roughly 500 pages per book, which I read from year 8 to year 9. They were very forgettable to be honest apart from perhaps 2 or 3 really stand out books. However the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt was a master piece that I still savour over to this day, the content, the story, the decision making, the gameplay. The game made me question my moral choices on real life, to this day!

How did it go?

The game play was very standard of a rag from the mid 2010s, similar to a soul's game, but the game had the feel of a Skyrim game. A large part due to the dialogue choices where picking certain options stops you from progressing in the story, by that I mean stops certain branches of the main quest on sacrifice for other branches. The games also has a detailed skill tree where you can pick what type of the style you will play with: combat, magic or potions. After playing the game about 4 times I can say that each skill tree provides an equally enjoyable experience. the decision making however I must stress is probably what makes this game stand out as every decision affects your experience with even "good" choices having potentially catastrophic consequences.

Why should you play?

The Witcher 3 wild hunt is a game I think everyone should consider playing 3 times over, with a minimum of 6 months to a year between play throughs. Once for the enjoyment and unexpected nature of the story and characters, a second time after meeting all the characters and rediscovering the games secret locations and side quests. After you have done this with my recommended gap of 6 months to a year, you now know the story and characters to a high standard, however the games follows on from 2 previous games. These games are very short and I would honestly advise you to watch YouTube story recaps on the games as the two dlc's of the Witcher 3 are longer than the first two games so you can save money as the game of the year game has the docs and main game for £20 when I bought it, with inflation probably £30. The 3rd time you play the game I suggest a gap of 2 years. 

1. To enhance your knowledge of the games lore and detail through YouTube videos especially xLetais who has a playlist of details you missed that greatly improve your knowledge and enjoyment of the game. 

2. Read the books, there are 8 in total, many side quests and later appearances in the dlc's like the lady of the lake (has a surprising amount of physics in the book considering the series is all fantasy, with a large aspect being based off the medical times). I found the books to be very detailed with the author Andrzej Sapkowski taking up to 3 pages to set up a dialogue exchange between characters, which get monotonous by the time you reach the final book. You will also gain more sympathy for many of the characters like Philip eilhart or organisations like the lodge, BUT the character you will especially be sympathetic towards will be ciri, at certain points of the books I shed some tears for ciri as she is constantly pursued and abused by soldiers for the fact she is of elder blood (you have to invest into the game to understand this), the divide between wether she should be with Geralt or her father is something I also considered as her dad is a king and will provide her with a better and safer life, but less care and love. Meanwhile Geralt tries his best to care and love for her and gives her the unconditional love that any parent shows their child, no matter where she is abducted to sacrificing many of his friends and acquaintances along the way, but consistently fails to provide her with a safe and comfortable life.

3. You need to mature as a person and let your morale get better as I remember when I was 13 I would try and kill every monster I could for XP, however being 17 now and replaying the game for the 5th time I am more cautious about getting into conflict with monster and people (probably because I'm on a higher difficulty as I'm better at the game), instead I try to enjoy the game and story rather than being a blood thirsty mercenary with no care for any side characters or the consequences of my rampages.

The accumulation of all this investment?

In total you will probably have put 700 hours into the series over 2 and a half year, but honestly it will help you grow asa person which is what I think good stories do to you. Video games like call of duty and Fortnite are classical video games, the thrill of competition. on the other hand games like the Witcher 3 are story driven with no completion to them, games for me should be an interactive book where the world is your playground and you can change the outcome of the story through your actions, unlike a book which is set in stone as to what will happen. The Witcher 3 is the perfect game that encompasses the peak of the Witcher series for the time being with the Witcher 4 being in the makings, which I will be discussing when it comes out, probably until 2027 we will not have a new Witcher game.

For now I bid you farewell, but I will return soon. Until my next adventure!