The Witcher Review: PC Game & TV Show

My presence is a present.

Heya gamers, how was your Halloween celebration? Did you have lots of fun dressed as one of your favorite characters? Haha, I for one really enjoyed it, because I got to wear the DIY costume of Hades from “Familiar Warfare”. Something like this:

Netflix released the trailer of THE WITCHER SEASON 2 on October 29, 2021. So today, why don’t we explore something fun with the game and the show?

The Witcher is Netflix’s expensive-looking fantasy series that adapts Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s works which were originally published in Polish. While the novels have their dedicated following, The Witcher’s immense popularity can be credited to the open-world RPG video-game series of the same name.

1. Storyline

The Witcher is an epic fantasy story set in a world, where magic, humanoids (like dwarves, elves), gnomes, and monsters (dragons, vampires, werewolves) exist. Our hero, Geralt of Rivia, is a witcher. Originally, humans, witchers were given strenuous physical and mental training. They were also given special potions and elixirs to drink, so they mutated into something not entirely human with white hair, feline eyes, and superhuman strength.

Geralt is one of the last witchers. His destiny gets linked to an exiled princess Ciri, and a powerful sorceress Yennefer, who finds herself unwillingly drawn to him. It is up to Geralt and Yennefer to protect Ciri from physical harm and prevent her from becoming a political pawn.

2. Game Review

Graphics:

Graphics don’t make a game, but they certainly don’t hurt it. The incredible graphics, sunshine, and style are in sync with the game, making it feel as though you are in the universe. The placement of props really brings you into the game as you see the world as it is rather than a pale reflection.

Open World:

It is far from the first to do it, but it does it one of the best. Instead of one giant open world, it has smaller ones representing different locations. This seems bad, but in fact, it shows how big the world is — if you spend ages trying to get somewhere that’s only a cm away on the map, it must be big. It was well made so you rarely if ever reach the edge of the map, and is giant such that anywhere you go will find a cave, enemies, or something. And this is all in one map rather than separated by loading screens. You can immediately go anywhere but are limited instead by whether your level is high enough to defeat enemies you find there. On that…

Fighting:

Swordplay is done incredibly in the game. It’s simple — left click to strike, right-click to block, but gives bonuses for timing. More importantly, you can roll and dodge. While most games have you clicking as quickly as possible to hit the enemy, this becomes more of a dance and is much more realistic. Instead of taking hits, you dodge. Hit, dodge, hit dodge. This makes even hard fights more manageable as you can defend simply by not getting hit. Along with the crossbow for flying and underwater, and bombs, fighting becomes very enjoyable.

Characters:

The characters are the best thing about this game. In most games, characters are 2D, simply there to fill the world and give you quests. Not here. Each character is excellently described. You actually become friends with them and feel you are helping them in a situation rather than just getting XP. You spend a lot of time with the characters themselves — in fact in one quest you even spend the night drinking with your fellow Witchers, telling stories, and having fun. You’re not simply a cold mercenary — you can experience living in the world just as much. And you build a close relationship with them as you spend time alongside them — especially Yennefer and Ciri.

YOU ARE THE WITCHER:

Summing up all the limitations on combat and relationships — when playing, most of all, you feel like the Witcher. You do everything he does, you hear him speak as you talk, you grow to learn him as you fight as him. The special thing is you are not yourself. You are watching the story unfold as the Witcher himself. And that is something special. To put yourself in his shoes and be him. That is truly what makes it a good game.

3. TV Show Review

I played The Witcher 3 and it is one of my favorite games of all time. It was an incredible game, all the characters were great and I was immersed in that world for months. And then when I came to know it was being adapted into a TV Show, my mind was blown.

And Henry Cavill was playing Geralt!! I was soo excited. And when I came to know he was also a huge fan of the game like me, I was super hyped.

Pros:

· It was pretty good.

· It was true to the source material which I liked a lot. (The general lore that I know of from the game. Haven’t read the books so don’t know about that.)

· Henry Cavill nailed Geralt (my only reference was TW3 and he nailed that voice and behavior). It was pretty obv he was a huge fan and so followed just that (but tweaked the accent just a bit, which I liked).

· Anya Chalotra’s acting was brilliant. The hunchback moments were truly sad thanks to her acting. And the transformation, perfectly executed.

· Freya Allan was good. I just want to see more of her and her power (which I’ve seen in the game and soo I am super pumped for that) in later seasons.

· The rest of the cast was also good. Good acting in general.

· I liked the pacing (not all of it, I’ve mentioned below what I didn’t like) and how it started and ended. I liked that equal emphasis was given to all 3 protagonists.

· Very good female and other representation for all you SJWs out there.

· Swordplay was phenomenal. Made GoT look bad in that department.

Cons:

· The 3 characters’ backstories were being told together but at different points in their life. It took me some time to realize that there were three non-linear timelines involved here. I thought everything was happening simultaneously. There was no clear way of knowing that too. Maybe that was intentional to make us rewatch the whole thing again.

· A lot was still left unexplored. Maybe left for future seasons? We’ll find out later.

· CGI was not great.

These are what the characters looked like in the game if you are wondering.

Yennefer/Ciri/Geralt/Vesemir/Triss

Many GoT fans will probably be expecting similar things here. Like any of the heroes randomly dying. I don’t think we can expect things like that to be here. Please do not have such high expectations. GoT was almost perfect and is a very high bar to cross if not reach.

I really enjoyed this season and am excited for more in the coming Season 2. Just hope GoT fans don’t expect too much and review bomb this when they don’t get what they want.

My Review: 9/10

Which do you like better, the game or the show? Please let us know in the comments.