The Witcher - End Game

I finally finished up The Witcher and can now move on, or should I say back, to Assassins of Kings.  Overall it's one of the best RPGs I've ever played, right up there with Dragon Age and Baldur's Gate 2.  The combat system I started out hating eventually grew on me, but I still prefer the newer game in that respect.  Although it does feel like you have more control, it's not nearly as fluid or realistic.  I also wasn't that big on the combo arrow, as it tends to get annoying since it's always right in the center of the screen.  Of course it does make stringing together moves much easier, so I decided against trying the mod that removes it.

I'm not sure how long it took since I haven't been able to find a game clock anywhere.  I attempted to complete every side quest, even fist fighting and dice poker.  My goal was to get the best gear possible for import into Assassins of Kings, so I knew right away I would have to make sure I didn't miss anything.  There were a couple side quests in chapter 4 that I had completed but did not turn in time, thankfully nothing major though.  The Order was the faction I chose to side with, partly because I liked Siegfried as he was one of the few honest characters in the game.  I also knew I wanted to get the Order version of Raven's Armor, which ended up being the deciding factor.  The stat bonuses were much better than the other two, at least for my brute force play style.

For most other decisions I tried to be realistic in what I would choose myself if put in that situation.  In one instance I came across a knight in the local inn looking for his missing sister.  He claimed she was spirited away by a blue-eyed prostitute and offered a reward for her return.  After digging a little deeper it's discovered that the blue-eyed beauty is a vampire, as is The Queen of the Night, the brothel's madame.  The knight's sister says that he is cruel, treats her like a slave, and that he wants to marry her off to some crotchety old lord for gold.  Therein lies the dilemma:  Witchers are supposed to kill monsters, of which vampires definitely qualify, but what about her story?  Assuming what she says is true, I took him as the more evil in this case.  At least the vampiresses treat her with some respect and compassion, as one of their own if you will, but he seems more concerned about losing a servant.  In the end he shows up at the brothel with personal guard in tow, then demands that she be returned.  I had already promised The Queen of the Night I would leave them in peace, to which the knight scolded me for being a witcher who sides with monsters and then attacked.  The vampiresses and I killed them easily.  Not exactly how I thought that quest would turn out when I started it.

One of the more interesting characters is Berenger, the rogue witcher who gave up the location of Kaer Morhen to the Salamandra.  Geralt meets him in chapter 3, and there is a final confrontation in chapter 4.  It's then that he comes clean and reveals that he was the one who gave Salamandra the location simply because he thought the witchers were no different or better.  I could have walked away at that point, but decided to kill him instead.  Traitors deserve death, and that's exactly what he got.  Not a terribly tough fight, and as a bonus I looted his amulet, which later helps during the fight against Azar Javed.

Princess Adda was something of an enigma to me, especially after her admission of guilt to helping in a plot to overthrow her father.  It's discovered at the end of chapter 2 that she is one that is forging royal seals and giving them to Salamandra.  Still under her curse from before, she attempts to have Geralt executed, but he is teleported away by Triss.  After that I was pretty much set on killing her, but later it's obvious that she's not entirely in control of her own mind.  One of the major story quests in chapter 5 is to come up with a final solution to her curse, one way or the other.  Geralt must enter the crypt she transforms in each night, and is locked in until she is either dead or cured.  By that time I had him so buffed up that even in her cursed form she really couldn't do much damage, so instead of attacking I just played keep away until morning came.  She would charge in and I would blast her back with the Aard sign.  Once the sun rose she was finally cured for good.  As a reward Geralt receives one of the better steel swords in the game, but I still had my eye on something better.

The final fight against Azar Javed wasn't really that difficult either.  With Berenger's medallion he starts out weakened, so it wasn't much work to finish him off with a strong steel sword and more liberal use of the Aard sign.  After looking in Azar's magic mirror it's discovered that the Grand Master of the Order of the Flaming Rose is the person behind everything.  I didn't see that one coming and thought that Azar was always the one running Salamandra.  Geralt and company then sail back to Vizima for the final confrontation, only to find the city in flames as the Scoia'tael have caused a non-human uprising.  It's in these final areas that Geralt battles the elven rebels with the assistance of the Order.  It's also where I found the last piece of Raven's armor and had the Order blacksmith forge it.  Since I managed to turn in all of the trophy monsters, I was able to select the Moonblade as my final reward for that quest.  It doesn't have any pain or other debuffs, but it does do massive damage.  Likewise, after defeating the champion boxer in the last fist fight match I was able to keep his tooth I had knocked out as a reward.  I had earlier started a quest in chapter 3 with a dentist in Vizima who was collecting teeth.  It began with beasts' teeth, continued with monster teeth, with the final prize being the boxer's tooth.  The dentist rewarded Geralt with a Mahakaman rune sihill named G'valchir, the highest damage steel sword in the game  When the final battle came I was definitely prepared.  I think Geralt was around level 34 or 35 when I entered the Epilogue.

Just before the final battle, the Grand Master shares his vision of Vizima's future: a vast frozen wasteland, unstoppable to all but him.  He stole the witcher's secrets to create a new order, one that would see himself as Vizima's ruler and savior.  He attacks immediately after, first sending in mutated warriors and then charging in himself.  This battle wasn't that difficult at all either, as I kept to group style with the steel sword and was able to cut down his mutants first.  After that he summoned in some fire monsters, but I switched to strong style and focused on him alone.  Once he went down they disappeared, then The King of the Wild Hunt appears and demands the master's soul.  I could have fought him, but instead decided not to stand in his way.  After he disappears I was able to deliver one final coup de grace, then Geralt finds himself back in Vizima inside the Order's cloister.  A few short cut scenes later and the game was over, setting things up nicely for the sequel.  It was an amazing experience, start to finish.  Here's hoping Assassins of Kings is just as good!

The Witcher : Enhanced Edition

After working my way through about a third of Witcher 2, I decided to go back and give the first game a try again.  My original thought was that if I finish the sequel first, I won't have any interest in going back to this one.  I know me and I won't do it, too many other games on the pile that need attention.  I also found that as good as Assassins of Kings is, I really felt like I had no idea what the hell was going on.  Several times events from the previous game are referenced, and I also wanted to get a better understanding and feel for the characters and places.  Plus you can import your save game into Assassins of Kings, complete with the choices you made and some of the gear you ended the game with.

The Witcher opens with Geralt attempting to cure King Foltest's daughter of a terrible curse that transforms her into a monster.  He is killed, but somehow brought back to life with no memory of who he is.  Along with his fellow witchers, they return to their fortress of Kaer Morhen.  It's not long before the keep is attacked by a group known as the Salamandra.  The witchers are thrown on the defensive, with Geralt quickly grabbing a sword to help repel the assault.  The first few areas introduce the combat system and it's three different styles: strong, fast, and group.  It's stressed that different types of enemies require different styles, so switching back and forth quickly to adapt is vital.  Shortly afterwards, a group of Salamandra break into the main keep and make for the witcher laboratory underneath the fortress.  Just before Geralt and crew reach the keep to go after them, a large beast called the Frightener crashes through one of the outer walls.  Surrounded by Salamandra, it begins to make it's way through the courtyard.  Here I'm given a choice to either go with head witcher Vesemir to slay the Frightener, or go with another witcher and the sorceress Triss to help secure the laboratory.  In my many previous attempts I've done both, but this time I decided to defend the lab.

Leo is the other witcher that helps, and it's pretty obvious that he is the most inexperienced.  We make our way into the keep, fighting cultists as we head towards the stairs to the lower level.  At first the passage to the lab is blocked, but with Leo's help we find a nearby shrine that grants the Aard sign.  Signs are the witcher form of magic, with this one being used to stun and blast back enemies.  After the rubble is cleared we make our way into the lab and fine their leader, a criminal known as The Professor, along with two mages.  Triss takes on the more powerful Azar Javed, while I am left to deal with Savolla.  This is the first boss fight, so it's not particularly tough.  Savolla surrounds himself with a shield, then begins draining the life force of his followers to power his attacks.  I cut him down fairly quickly, just as the other two escape.  Triss passes out due to wounds from her battle with Azar, and at some point Leo was killed during the fight.

The prologue is wrapped up with a little bit of exploring around the keep and cleaning out any remaining Salamandra.  Once that's done, Vesemir tasks me with brewing a potion that will cure Triss.  This introduces the games interesting potion making system.  Aside from the signs, potions are a witcher's bread and butter.  You start with only a few formulas and are able to collect few ingredients.  Once Geralt does some reading up after acquiring numerous books, he can begin to harvest more exotic types, some even from the monsters he slays.  After brewing the potion and attending Leo's funeral, the witchers decide to split up and track down Salamandra.  Geralt travels to the nearby city of Vizima, seat of King Foltest's power.

Arriving in the outskirts of town, Geralt finds that Vizima is quarantined and that no one is allowed in without a pass.  Conversations with the local populace reveal a large hellhound that is terrorizing the residents.  The local reverend believes that Abigail, a witch who just recently came to town, is the one controlling the beast.  It's here that I really began to see how much time and effort the writers put into this story.  To say these characters fall into the gray area of morality would be an understatement.  There is very little in this game that's black or white, good or evil, hero versus villain.

Take the reverend for example.  On the surface he appears to be your garden variety bible thumper with a head full of righteous indignation.  However, after digging a little deeper it's discovered that his own daughter was raped some time ago by a local guardsman.  (The same one that the reverend asks you to help to gain his trust, I might add...)  Upon discovering that she was pregnant, he threw her out of his house and she was left to fend for herself on the streets.  It's also implied in a later chapter when you actually meet her that he was a molester as well.  Then there's the local merchant Haren Brogg, who asks for help killing some drowners that are ransacking his stock at night.  On the surface he seems like an honest business man trying to make a living.  After dealing with the drowners, however, I encountered a group of  Scoia'tael elves that were expecting to meet Brogg and buy some illegal weapons and supplies.  Things are tense between the human and non-human races, and Broggs is profiting by selling weapons to the elves.  I was given the choice to let them take what they wanted and earn extra coin, but instead I refused and killed them all.  This also has an effect on a later quest in the next chapter.

Things come to a head at the end of chapter 1.  After talking with Abigail right before the fight with the hellhound, I exited the cave she was in to find the reverend and his congregation outside.  They demand that the witch be handed over, believing it's the only way to get rid of the beast.  I decline, then called each one out on their indiscretions.  They attacked from all sides, but had no chance against a witcher.  The hellhound then appears and Abigail helps by healing me during the fight.  After it was dead I looted the gate pass from the reverend's body.  I didn't feel that bad about it, as Abigail had done nothing wrong and was helping me with another major quest, plus it seemed like they were all scum anyway.  I made for one of the gates into Vizima and promptly handed over my pass when asked.  The local guard immediatly arrested me, chapter 2 starts with Geralt in prison.