The Witcher - A New Saga Begins

[Morbad]

I didn't like the controls or combat enough in Witcher 2 or 3 for me to really be able to get into the games, nor did I like the direction they took with the art style of the characters. I much preferred the original game these aspects.

UE5 seems nice and all, but an engine doesn't make a game. I'll have to see how things actually turn out...if there are too many barriers to gameplay I'd rather just read the book.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

I have to say I'm real glad they are going back to this genre. After CP2077 the Faith's been rattled for me.

I am unclear where the story goes here, I was kinda thinking something along the line of "another conjunction of the spheres" releasing a monster horde and antagonists looking to cause distress. All of this as background to having a character that plays as yourself rather than a scripted "geralt-a-like" going through the trials as a youngster etc etc.

Urban worlds - they just arent as good as the rural ones with caves hills, mountains and the odd settlement.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

.... ugh.. i hate to ask.. but is anyone watching the netflix stuff? I'm a huge witcher fan (the collectors of w2 won me over, that was insanely good). Watched the first episode ever, was a bit dubious, and put it aside as unnecessary (exactly like elite with odd.. in both cases its the implementation).

Anyway, was mucking around the youtube for other reasons, and ended up clicking on a few clips of the series.. i think i exclaimed out loud in alarm. Im never going to watch it, but i think they may have butchered the content in the same way they butchered the dark crystal season from a few years ago. Basically netflixed it. Shudder.

For anyone who was into the books and games before the tv, is it... bad?

When i imagine witcher, the tone of the first few novels is what i identify the lore with. Its stronger and fills the assumed gaps in the games so the books take precedent i think.

ps. Don't get me started on camp cretaceous. Fury.

 

[rootsrat]

.... ugh.. i hate to ask.. but is anyone watching the netflix stuff? I'm a huge witcher fan (the collectors of w2 won me over, that was insanely good). Watched the first episode ever, was a bit dubious, and put it aside as unnecessary (exactly like elite with odd.. in both cases its the implementation).

Anyway, was mucking around the youtube for other reasons, and ended up clicking on a few clips of the series.. i think i exclaimed out loud in alarm. Im never going to watch it, but i think they may have butchered the content in the same way they butchered the dark crystal season from a few years ago. Basically netflixed it. Shudder.

For anyone who was into the books and games before the tv, is it... bad?

When i imagine witcher, the tone of the first few novels is what i identify the lore with. Its stronger and fills the assumed gaps in the games so the books take precedent i think.

ps. Don't get me started on camp cretaceous. Fury.

I read the books (all of them) 5 or 6 times

The TV series with Cavill is a good adaptation, but it does deviate from the original material a bit in 1st season and even more so in 2nd season. But if you're not lore fanatic, it's a very enjoyable series to watch. 2nd season got visibly more budget too, so it seems to be improving (but then again it deviates from the books somewhat and some people were upset about it).

As long as you keep in mind it's an adaptation, rather than depiction, I would defo recommend it.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

I read the books (all of them) 5 or 6 times

The TV series with Cavill is a good adaptation, but it does deviate from the original material a bit in 1st season and even more so in 2nd season. But if you're not lore fanatic, it's a very enjoyable series to watch. 2nd season got visibly more budget too, so it seems to be improving (but then again it deviates from the books somewhat and some people were upset about it).

As long as you keep in mind it's an adaptation, rather than depiction, I would defo recommend it.

I would love to just take your advice.

But remember jar jar binks -> a few decades -> cancelling of the extended universe? Sometimes its goes bad and just sticking with what you have is by far the better experience. Oh wait.. horizons...

 

[Gauntlet]

.... ugh.. i hate to ask.. but is anyone watching the netflix stuff? I'm a huge witcher fan (the collectors of w2 won me over, that was insanely good). Watched the first episode ever, was a bit dubious, and put it aside as unnecessary (exactly like elite with odd.. in both cases its the implementation).

Anyway, was mucking around the youtube for other reasons, and ended up clicking on a few clips of the series.. i think i exclaimed out loud in alarm. Im never going to watch it, but i think they may have butchered the content in the same way they butchered the dark crystal season from a few years ago. Basically netflixed it. Shudder.

For anyone who was into the books and games before the tv, is it... bad?

When i imagine witcher, the tone of the first few novels is what i identify the lore with. Its stronger and fills the assumed gaps in the games so the books take precedent i think.

ps. Don't get me started on camp cretaceous. Fury.

Loved the games and the books.

I'm still not sure about the netflix stuff. They've taken some huge liberties with the storylines, invented an unnecessary Yennefer origin story, inserted fluff storylines that didn't occur in the books, stuck Ciri into storylines that happened without her in the books, killed off a character we grew to know in the games in a story that didn't happen in the books, and it goes on.

I think I like the series but I have to consider it 'legends' or 'fan fic' to not get annoyed by it. In part I think some of the problems are caused by the show choosing to tell Yennefer's, Ciri's and Geralt's stories simultaneously rather than as they appeared in the books

ps. Camp Cretaceous was great, better than the films even

 

[Surefoot]

Well the games are also an adaptation from the books and added their own stories and changed a lot of things, and still are highly regarded.
The TV series season 1 had the major issue of being out of order in the chronology which was not a very good idea. 2nd season fixed that and runs in proper order, and indeed improved a lot of details. It's another adaptation (from the books rather than the games) and it's also a valid take on that world. Actors are all great, the casting is much better than anticipated thanks to Cavill being a hardcore Witcher fan, which had the side effect of him steering the production back in the right direction when they would deviate too much from the spirit of the book series.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

Thanks for some great insight.

How about this, do they add to your personal fantasy of the witcher universe in a positive way, or do they feel unnecessary?

I guess im the type of person who noted the (really jarring) changes to geralts usual moral code during w3 key story points for accessibility. It would have to had been for that. They seemed so out of place even it felt like they could have written a really true to lore game, but in post production went though and replaced a bunch of dialog to make it compatible with the "star wars" code of good vs bad... Geralt simply did not have that worldview in the books (or the rest of the game). Anyway.

 

[rootsrat]

Thanks for some great insight.

How about this, do they add to your personal fantasy of the witcher universe in a positive way, or do they feel unnecessary?

Definitely add! It's great to be able to finally watch one of my favourite book series on a TV screen!

But my perception may be flawed, as the only other Witcher TV series was made in Poland in the 90s and it was absolutely HORRIBLE. To the point that the main screenplay writer demanded his name being removed him the credits.

Another point is that I've tried to read the whole thing 7th time, but it just didn't click this time and I got bored very quickly.

From that point of view, the current series is a great way for me to revisit the books, even if the story differs to some degree. The visuals are great, the sound effects also, its good acting as well.

I personally enjoyed it a lot!

 

[Surefoot]

Definitely add! It's great to be able to finally watch one of my favourite book series on a TV screen!

I second that, it definitely adds to that fantasy universe, and yeah great actors, great visuals (with one notable exception *) and the 2nd seasons ties it up together rather well (so does the end of 1st season, but after going backwards in time repeatedly which would be confusing to a lot of people..).

(*) Nilfgaard armor in 1st season is just terrible. Dunno what they thought doing that, but anyone seeing them would definitely think "it's ugly" and not suitable to an all-powerful and enlightened empire. That's my greatest disappointment about the series, also that depiction of Nilfgaard being the "main bad guys" in 1st season while northern kings are themselves absolutely horrible (and a staple of the Witcher universe is Geralt lives in a crapsack world). 2nd season fixes that mostly
FWIW the games depiction was spot on, and of course Emhyr voiced by the great Charles Dance was unforgettable.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

Another point is that I've tried to read the whole thing 7th time, but it just didn't click this time and I got bored very quickly.

Have you heard the audio books? The narration is amazing (subjective, my sister hates it for can't imagine). Riding around a completed or new save listening to the books is not a bad way to do it.

There's a cousin's wife that were forgettingly doing a streaming service swap with, so will try again on all the recommendations. Their personalities are quite well defined in the books... adaption, /faceplam

 

[rootsrat]

FWIW the games depiction was spot on, and of course Emhyr voiced by the great Charles Dance was unforgettable.

Very good indeed, however I only played Witcher games in Polish. Wouldn't have it any other way! It was written with very specific language with a lot of references that make sense in Polish due to the nature of the language and I know for a fact that quite a lot of stuff just got lost in translation.

Not sure if you've ever read Irvin Welsh books (like Trainspotting), but it is that sort of thing. Imagine translating Trainspotting into a foreign language...

Have you heard the audio books? The narration is amazing (subjective, my sister hates it for can't imagine). Riding around a completed or new save listening to the books is not a bad way to do it.

There's a cousin's wife that were forgettingly doing a streaming service swap with, so will try again on all the recommendations. Their personalities are quite well defined in the books... adaption, /faceplam

Don't think I'd enjoy audiobooks, for the above reason also

Mind you, with the TV series I sort of don't have a choice. There is Polish dubbing available, but I despise dubbing in movies

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Definitely add! It's great to be able to finally watch one of my favourite book series on a TV screen!

But my perception may be flawed, as the only other Witcher TV series was made in Poland in the 90s and it was absolutely HORRIBLE. To the point that the main screenplay writer demanded his name being removed him the credits.

Another point is that I've tried to read the whole thing 7th time, but it just didn't click this time and I got bored very quickly.

From that point of view, the current series is a great way for me to revisit the books, even if the story differs to some degree. The visuals are great, the sound effects also, its good acting as well.

I personally enjoyed it a lot!

What always struck me since TW1 was the blend of eastern european and western european monster lore. It brought something fresh into the standard fare. Now, I didn't finish TW1 nor TW2 but in TW3 I finally got to appreciate the setting because the gameplay kinda clicked. (And no pucking QT garbage anymore)

 

[Mole HD]

Very good indeed, however I only played Witcher games in Polish. Wouldn't have it any other way! It was written with very specific language with a lot of references that make sense in Polish due to the nature of the language and I know for a fact that quite a lot of stuff just got lost in translation.

Not sure if you've ever read Irvin Welsh books (like Trainspotting), but it is that sort of thing. Imagine translating Trainspotting into a foreign language...



Don't think I'd enjoy audiobooks, for the above reason also

Mind you, with the TV series I sort of don't have a choice. There is Polish dubbing available, but I despise dubbing in movies

Yeah, me too. I'd rather watch TV series or movies in their original language with subtitles rather than suffer dubbing. I watched a German series on Netflix (or Amazon) recently that stuck to German...with subtitles not only for the native German (which I didn't need) but also for the Latin spoken by the Romans strangely enough

The pilot episode in the series is called Barbarians (Barbaren), in case anyone is interested...all about the historical character of Arminius Germanicus and of the Cherusci tribal village where he grew up...it's pretty good

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

Don't think I'd enjoy audiobooks, for the above reason also

Just for science, check out the previews on audible. You'll know instantly if youre going to love it or hate it.

What always struck me since TW1 was the blend of eastern european and western european monster lore. It brought something fresh into the standard fare. Now, I didn't finish TW1 nor TW2 but in TW3 I finally got to appreciate the setting because the gameplay kinda clicked. (And no pucking QT garbage anymore)

I played the games first.. it was a funny observation that playing w3 made me understand much more in w2, and same with 1, though i never got that far in the post playthough from circumstance. AS seems to assume that the characters are all familiar with each other and their histories and doesn't explain a thing in any of the text, and that same assumption of knowing all the history was also used in the games.

New to the lore nothing makes sense, but once you do its amazing when you make the typically spelt out connections yourself.