Well, do you know about "Witcher"? I mean, more than “oh, it's that game with the really great hair graphics!” I'm not going to lie, that was definitely a huge factor in my purchasing decision. Seriously, coolest video-game hair ever.
“The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt” is an open-world action RPG (role-playing game) played in third-person perspective. It won multiple game-of-the-year awards and was praised for its narrative, world design, and in-depth combat -- and, of course, the previously mentioned hair graphics.
What about the other "Witcher" games? Well, "Witcher 3" was my introduction, so I'm not really sure if the other ones were worth playing. "Witcher 3" came out in may of 2015, so I'm a little (or a lot) behind the times. But who really cares about being trendy?
I bought "Witcher 3" on a whim when I bought my Playstation 4, along with another game, "Dragon Age: Inquisition" (a game I'd been dying to play for a year and a half). So, at first, I wasn't seriously interested in "Witcher." It was kind of a placeholder until I could get "Inquisition" up and running, and it was difficult to constantly relearn the detailed controls of "Witcher 3" (a more refined battle style than "Inquisition"), so I decided to leave off on "Witcher" until I would play it all uninterrupted. So, I binged "Inquisition," and when my fiancé started talking to me about "Witcher 3" (he'd wanted to play the game since before I bought it), we decided to playfully compete. I haven't played "Inquisition" for at least two months now.
The combat-style in "Witcher" intimidated me, because at a low level, there are a lot of powerful enemies, and they're everywhere. I'm more of a story RPG player. I live for the narrative, and fight through generally on casual, or normal, but never a higher difficulty because I don't like dying. Thanks very much. I play "Witcher" to see what Geralt of Rivia, the main character and monster-hunter, will blunder into next. The story is so well crafted that every time you think you know what's about to happen, the game does a 180. The story lines and quests are so fresh and original. You don't feel like you're playing the same watered-down game that's been remade about 1,000 times.
I was on IGN, a gaming walk-through website, when I noticed something about “Witcher books.” Being the little bookworm that I am, I immediately took to Google and learned that the "Witcher" video games were all based off a fantasy series written by a Polish author named Andrzej Sapkowski. Despite it being the end of the month, I scraped together enough to buy what I thought was the first "Witcher" book (it was actually a collection of short stories, a prequel to the saga) on Kindle, and burned through that book like nobody's business.
With each new page, I grew more and more attached to Geralt, the poor mutant Witcher without a home, spurned by the woman he loves, hated by society, and told he has no capability to feel human emotion -- a trained killer of monsters and protector of anyone willing to pay. Surprisingly, though, Geralt has a strong sense of morality and quite a few emotions, if a little muted.
The books fueled my love for the character, which in turn made me restless to learn more of his story and to play the game more seriously, now that I had a bond with the main character and felt invested in his life. Not to mention, I had a way to immerse myself in Geralt's world without being forced to deal with all the annoying monsters that attack you nearly everywhere in the game. In the books, I could focus on the characters and their relationships, which absolutely carry over into the game. Plus, the books don't spoil any of the events in "Witcher 3." They're all just extra backstory. I don't know about the safety of the other games, though.
If you didn't know about "Witcher," and enjoy a good RPG, "Witcher" is definitely worth your money, and so are the books. Please, please try reading the books. I'm totally, hopelessly obsessed. I hope you become obsessed, too!
