Finished the game a while ago, the main story and plenty of side quests (including all monster contracts.) I have yet to play the expansions, but I hear are pretty massive.

Spoilers will follow, for the ending no less.

In terms of Ciri, I got the witcher ending — Ciri becoming a witcher — which was pretty neat. Would she had been happy as an empress? Possibly, but that’s less certain. Would the land benefit from her leadership? Probably, but tough luck.

One of three endings for Ciri is getting her killed (or at least lost — probably killed). That’s a mighty dark ending. Interestingly enough, it’s relatively subtle decisions that get you there, a lot of people unknowingly get that ending despite wanting and trying their best for her. For example, if you don’t agree to ransack the elf’s room up (long story), that counts against you, and if you’re a borderline case at that point, that decision alone can be the difference between her dying or not dying.

Luckily, I let her have at it. The only apparently bad decision I made was facing the lodge together with her (take notice, if you have yet to face this decision.)

That’s a whole post — or ten — in itself, the way decisions and consequences are linked and implemented in these games.

As for rulership, I got the Nilfgaardian ending. It’s not great, he’s a bit of a tyrant (and worse in the books, I hear), but it might still be the best. Better than Radovid for sure, but maybe northern rule by Dijkstra is worth consideration.

And then there’s romance. Apparently Yen vs Triss is a big topic in the community. I romanced both. Works out well, until it doesn’t. Had a hunch it might not end well, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Not only does it ruin your chances with either, but it also has a deep and somewhat poignant impact on your life ever after — leadning not to a bad life exactly, just a typical witcher life, and just not what you’d get with Yen or Triss — if the ending slide is to be trusted. Which makes sense, clearly those are rare opportunities, and once gone lost forever.

Well, that’s it. I’m currently taking a break from the game, but I’ll be back at least for the expansions. Right now, I’m midway through Metal Gear Solid 5.

If there’s anything you learn from the video game community, it’s that Witcher 3 is a perennial fan favorite RPG, along with the series in general. Pretty much everyone loves it.

Well, I’ve finally got around to give it a shot, and I suppose it’s time for me to join the club.

Been wanting to do this for a long time, and I’ve had the game (and DLCs) in my library waiting patiently.

It’s not actually the first time I play the series though, a long time ago I took Witcher 2 for a very short spin. Wasn’t in the mood, didn’t get into it, and never got around to give it a second chance. I meant to, especially since I know I’m slow to get into these kind of games, but it didn’t happen.

At some point I figured I might as well jump to Witcher 3 directly, and learn about the Witcher world, including the stories and events of the first two games, from documents and videos.

A tough decision, as I remain convinced that Witcher 2 is a really good game, but time is finite and my backlog isn’t. It seems like most think Witcher 3 is (somewhat) better anyway.

Now I’m 50+ hours into the game. That’s many hours, but I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface. That includes a lot of side quests though, and a fair amount of Gwent. The remaining quest list is long and growing ever longer, and I’m having a blast, and I hear some people put an ungodly amount of hours into this game even in a single playthrough — so I don’t need to rely on conjecture to conclude that I will keep going for a good long while.

Indeed, I do enjoy the experience a lot, there’s much to love in this game. More posts to come.

(Incidentally, this hypes me even more for Cyberpunk 2077, although I’ve been hyped ever since the announcement and that first teaser, years ago.)