Rumination Analysis on Witcher 3 The Wild Hunt

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[@andariel654789]

Dandelion carried out the body of one of his friends, a female bard named Esi who died from plague from a burning city to give her a proper burial. I always think back on that story from the books as a reminder of who Dandelion really is. It's a recurring joke how Geralt always has to save Dandelion but as you said when the cards are down Dandelion goes full in. Great work as always.

[@render5098]

Priscilla also happens to be - at the very least - based on her (tho she pretty much is her) Just like Syana is Renfri from books.

[@andariel654789]

Yea I noticed those references. I didn't let Syana have her way though unlike geralt did in the books.

[@hazardousmaterial5492]

Lore, 3 years ago on a Sunday afternoon, i decided to sit down and watch this video (which has been on my "watch later" list for a few weeks). 2 hours later, i sat there in front of my screen, after watching the entire thing in one sitting, mouth wide open, mind blown, not even realizing that 2 hours had passed in what seemed like 10 minutes. I have been watching content related to this game for a year and a half before watching this video (i was kinda obsessed with the game at the time), but nothing came even close to the quality and the and the in-depth analysis like this video did. It had cratched an itch that i had been having for a long time. Here i am, 3 years later, writing this comment. I just wanted you to know that, to know what kind of positive impact you had on someone. Here's to 3 years of me being a follower, and hopefully many more years to come :)

[@DarkwraithRichard]

Your thoughts on the White Frost reminded me of one of the funniest bits that's so easy to miss: during the Battle of Kaer Morhen, Hjalmar jumps into a portal and jumps out a few seconds later covered in frost, dusts himself off and says "Eh, it gets colder in Skellige."

[@sgtboom7]

Have never seen that or heard it, will definitely have to keep an eye out next time I go through the Battle of Kaer Morhen.

[@NextGenTrophys]

You're the only person I'm actually considering to donate money as a patron since your quality of content is immaculate. Absolutely entertaining.

[@janlinhart7914]

Join us patrons, we have cookies. :)

[@MikeVideos327]

same here man, his views are low and his content is sky high. He scratches this very specific nerd itch i have for taking apart video games.

[@gotd4m]

Also check out Noah Gervais-caldwell. His output is much lower, but his content is both thoughtful and well written. Highly recommend.

[@DrtERotinBasstrd]

About the rotten grain. The attention to detail in the game. If you waited, you could actually hear 15 lashes.

[@nestorskip9410]

Chris Meek I was gunna like this, but then I saw 15 likes

[@Deeplycloseted435]

Brandon Yusko LOL

[@valtinryu8147]

Both times, I looked around to see if I could find the guy being lashed, but I was never able to spot him. I thought there might be a scene where I could interact with that event.

[@Aleczandxr]

The live stream for this was an absolute blast. I'm glad that you finally got to experience this amazing game.

[@BaileyCallis]

Aleczandxr Did he love it? I'm nervous tbh

[@Aleczandxr]

Jimmy Russel Haha, why are you nervous? The game is absolutely fantastic and needs no validation independent of whether or not he liked it. But yeah, by the end of the expansions (and in this video) he's basically said that it was great.

[@BaileyCallis]

Aleczandxr I know it's silly, it's just that over the years I've grown to respect the way he analysis games, not to say I would have been swayed if he hated it, but I was very curious haha.

[@LordDemitel]

Do you think hes going to upload it? Or has he already?

[@hennie1311]

Is the "live footage" available somewhere? Some of the "live" clips can be found on his Twitch Channel. Sadly i did find only a few though and pretty much from the "final part" of the game.

[@twinmama42]

Dear lorerunner, as The Witcher 3 is my favourite RPG of all times I will comment to your rumination just as you bring up the points. Level of detail and dedication - I fully agree but I want to add a fact that will go unnoticed by 99,9% of players (except maybe in Croatia). Everywhere you see those strange letters (runes) on posters, billboards, shop-sign etc. These letters are an actual script called Glagolica in a special font (square) only used for a short time in medieval times until orthodox Slavs changed to Kirilica (Cyrillic) but used in Croatia at least until the 19th century and being revived since independence from Yugoslavia. When you can decipher the letters, you can actually read all those shop-signs etc. Even the posters of the Nilfgaardian army threating fraternization with the Redanians with death-penalty are the same English text shown to you in Latinica (latin alphabet). I find that incredible, yet most players will not ever know about it at all. It shows the love and care the devs at CDPR have for the world of the witcher (there is nerver mentioned its name, neither in the books nor the games). They keep true to Sapkowskis vision - and that's an accomplishement in itself. Combat - not allowing berserk style but instead trading off damage - this is routed in the lore (8 books I recommend to anybody, who is at least slightly interested in middle-age based fantasy or this game). Geralt is a witcher. Witchers are sword-fighters, with an emphasis on quick movements, always trying to avoid damage to themselves and looking for the perfect time to deal death. In the books it is decribed as a dance. That's why combat is the way it is. It feels genuely just as the books describe it, a perfect adaption in my eyes. The endings - not giving you an indicator, what and how it shapes the ending. This is a thing about closely obeserving what the game tells the player about Ciri and her different relationships with others and Geralt in special. At the very beginning of the game when Geralt tells Versemir about his dream of Kaer Morhen, Versemir says "I've trained kids who were faster, stonger - bot none had her character" And later moments before his death "You've always been an unruly child." These two lines tell a lot about Ciri's character so splendidly displayed in the 5 Ciri novels. As a reader of the books you're having an advantage (if a little one), but you get enough information about Ciri's character in the game, either by herself or by others, that with a little psychological knowledge you should know how to strengthen her confidence enough to make her survive. As for the path of witcheress or empress, you only have to listen to Geralt and Yen. Yen always brings up to reconnect Ciri and Emhyr - Geralt always is against it. Yes, witchers normally follow the money and Emhyr was very generous about the informations alone. But Ciri is not a contract, she is the person closest to his heart, she is his destiny. So if anyone understands the oersons in this game, there should be no difficulty to automatically let Ciri survive and become a witcheress. I love it, that there are "points of interests", which aren't. Sound weird, let me explain. When you explore the landscape, esp. in the beginning, you have to be very cautious not to run into opponents that are too strong for your current build, but you can encounter people and creatures (scripted) that give you a little quest, that is not marked on your map, like a troll in the north-west of Velen, who is bugged by drowners. He complains about them and if Geralt agrees to help and kills all the drowners he is grateful enough to offer a share of his stew. And I love the fact, that if you are skilled in combat (I am not, but I saw it on screen kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJWlZISoqNeSfsk minutes 51:30 landing on the island til 1:22:00 killing the beast) you can kill the royal griiffyn (level 99) on the little island north of Kaer Trolde with a level 24 Geralt. It took MoTiGames about 40 minutes to 1 hour (he sped it up in the video, so I don't know it exactly) of dancing with the griffyn without getting hit by it (because Geralt would have been a one-hit). You are right an indicator on the question mark would be nice, but in real life you don't questions marks at all, let alone indicators for the difficulty. Yen - your audience was right. Though Yen has always been as manipulative a b*tch as Triss (this seems to be a character trait of all mages with the exception of Margarita Laux-Antille), she was honest with Geralt (for 99% of their relationship) and Ciri (100%). What many people don't see in Yen is her determination. She wants to reach a goal (save Ciri), in order to reach this goal she is able to sacrifice almost anything, even her own life (in the books) - Triss was a coward in this respect, she's grown from the final chapter of "The Lady of The Lake" and over three games, but I doubt she would sacrifice her life for Ciris (or anybody else), Yen would. In addition: Geralt was head over heals in love with Yen, even before the Djinn sealed "The Last Wish". Remenber in the dream sequence of Kaer Morhen. When Yen inquires about other women, Geralt answers "I've only ever thought of you." Geralt might have one-night-stands and even relationships with other women, his true love is Yen. Dijkstra - it's a pity, I had to kill him (over and over again). He would have been a much better leader for Redania (and the northern realms) than Radovid, but being presented with deciding between Roche, Ves and Thaler on one side and Dijkstra on the other my deciscion was clear and not in favour of Dijkstra. The Cat and The Wolf - the village is not poor (at least for Velen standards), one can sea that at least the village's elderman had some wealth accumulated. To cheat a witcher is the most stupid and dangerous thing they could have done, And for my bit the elderman and his helpers had it coming. As for the killing frenzy, it shows some kind of mental distortion. The Witcher 3 is an exceptional game for it combines a vast, interesting, beautifully crafted open world with a very strong narrative. Something that until then nobody believed could be accomplished. It's my favourite RPG, therefore I regularly return to it (main game 5 times, HoS 3 times and BaW 2 times makes up to more than 800 hours). CU twinmama

[@TEFFTPATTERN]

Cerys was a master class in writing a female character... it’s not about cartoonish heroic ‘strong’ moments, it’s about the complexity and relatability to her that makes you relate and root for her.

[@blazefa.]

Yeh

[@birddogg62]

I felt the same way about the baron. My thought process was he is a very flawed person. I didn't think he was evil. He reminded me a lot of Robert Baratheon from game of thrones.

[@MichaelDouglas-nc7md]

I had no problem sending the child of the elderblood to talk to Phillipa alone. After what i seen and played through I knew she could handle it

[@neisan92]

I feel for him too. The damage caused to his marriage was due to his drinking, because he was a low level grunt in the fucking dark ages constantly on the front lines and is suffering PTSD. His wife left him with his daughter because he was away to much, not like he has a choice AT ALL deserters are executed in this setting. We don't even know if he even WANTED to be a soldier, he could have been drafted. His wife leaves him while he's being forced to fight wars and damage his mind and body for another man. I understand his rage, shouldn't have taken it out on the guy though. She spends the rest of her marriage emotionally abusing him when ever she could to provoke beatings, I think she wanted him to do it to some extent. It made her feel validated that he was just a monster with no redeeming qualities. He's IS a bastard though, you would NEED to become one to survive in his situation. It doesn't justify the things he did but I pity him to a degree, he's a broken man who had very little choice in the matter. By the time he has any power to do anything for himself he's almost to far gone to redeem himself.

[@gfatreak2]

You talking about Mass Effect 3 and Kaer Morhen made me legitimately tear up. This rumination wasn't long enough! I think you have much more to say and a lot of us would love to listen.

[@DarkStar1406]

A Lorerun of the Witcher 3? *Starts throwing money at the screen* "SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!"

[@TheRealFrankWizza]

The convenient thing about this, the money just falls right in front of you and you can pick it back up. I will also start throwing money at my screen, it sounds like a good time.

[@noblevi3623]

Try living in Canada, I broke my screen throwing one and two dollar coins at my screen.

[@wanabeguitarguy]

Please do a Lorerun of this game! i'm willing to wait but wow if Arch decides to do that ill be extremely satisfied.

[@AnaPradosA]

lorerun need to be paid on advance, you can donate money on his paypal, saying that is for the lorerun of the witcher3. once the expenses has been covered, he would be able to reserve time and put it on his program

[@AdamSiuda]

About witcher's and their "lack" of emotions: there are several examples, both in books and games, that it is a lie or entirely not true. I can use two book examples from top of my head: first is my personal favourite from "Shard of Ice", when Geralt is basically pissed and angry about his relation with Yennefer and the problems they are having, because of Val (Istredd). The second is from "Blood of Elves", where Triss has this wonderful line: "The mutation's didnt kill your emotion's Geralt, you kill them by your self". In game's its showed in more direct way, how Vesemir just simply love's Ciri, how Geralt cares about Cirilla (he ventures half the world to find her, same thing he went in entire book series). Lambert and Eskel are ready to put their lives to protect Ciri, i mean as Arch said, witcher's having no emotion's is just simply a PR thing, that's based on far, far past times, when Witcher's where a common thing. Love the rumination Arch, good job.

[@sygyzy0933]

Adam Lambert has clear emotions, anger as an example, I think it's something witchers just say to mess with people

[@Turtle1631991]

I think they jsut never had much chance developing emotional life as kids on Kaer Morhen. If you see how their training looked "you don't get to bind that bleeding until you finish training!" I think most of them are simply emotionally blunted from the life they had since childhood.

[@visualeyezdoug8158]

I think they just have a lot more control over their minds/emotions then most everyone else, but not full mastery over it. Like the Jedi or a Zen master. Not ZERO emotion, like say Spock 🖖, (even he still has some...). It’s kinda just that it’s an interesting storytelling idea to have a rare bit of emotion from someone fairly closed off. It’s kind of a classic “hero” trait...

[@ginge641]

They're taught to show no emotion. The world they live in is a dark, infuriating one. An angry Witcher could be a serious threat to many lives. Geralt himself gets involved in situations when he knows he shouldn't, because it doesn't concern him or matter to the contract.

[@LukeSparrow221]

Hey Arch, you know what the worst part of the Cat Witcher quest was? Those villagers actually weren't poor at all! If you walk into the village elder's house Geralt will make a remark on just how wealthy the hut looked.

[@houndnobleman876]

LukeSparow If I recall correctly, should you spare him and visit his hideout, his Witcher school is being persecuted. This might provide some justification for why they tried to kill him.

[@wonderfullgamernmb1]

Hound Nobelman Cat School, as I remember, was not only known for killing monsters, but its members, witchers, were, also, hired killers, assassins, which Geralt, on numerous occasions said he wasnt. So you could see why witchers of the School of the Cat were being persecuted

[@LukeSparrow221]

Yeah this guy had a bounty on his head. From dialogue with him you can also definitely gather that he's very far from a good person!

[@aldenburton6240]

As for most people you pursue, they have both sides, even the old woman has a very sinister smile when you deliver the girl to her and leave her with some coin.

[@mentalglitch9603]

This guy is a legitimate genius. Intelligent and objective. Very impressed!

[@hazardousmaterial5492]

If you thought this was a lot of content, the videos from the Witcher 3 stream are up on the second channel ;)

What actually makes me like him more is not that he is objective but he realizes and explicitly states he has biases and tries to be as objective as possible.

[@jaber4life]

I don't always agree with him (ofc can't agree on everything) but even when I disagree, his opinions are almost always fair and reasoned

[@u2Parv]

Great rumination. Regarding Geralt's character, he beats the crap out of only two people that are out of the players control. Whoreson Jr like you mentioned but also the Bloody Baron when the Barn is on fire and he's drunk. That says alot about his character regardless of player input and gets across the feeling that Geralt is his own character.

[@Viktors633]

Great stuff, i started gaming again after a 15 year break. I am in my mid 50s and this added so much more depth to my first gaming experience in a decade and a half. I loved your B5 ruminations. Just a bit worried i might have set myself a high bar starting with W3 lol, all the best from U.K.

[@Lorerunner]

Hoping you find other great games that really work for you!

[@callumblake4598]

Makes sense that a world plagued by the fantastical (monsters, curses, etc) would have a Church that praises mundanity

[@eternalwings]

I've watched your ruminations on games I've never even played before just because it's fun to listen to you talk about them. If I had any money to spare I would absolutely be donating to you, Arch. I haven't even played Witcher 3 but listening to you talk about this is a blast.

[@josephhooton7781]

An explanation for not having attacks interupt each other might be to do with geralts personality. He is a witcher, a professional and a damn experianced one at that. You don't last as long as he does in such a profession by attacking with no thought to self preservation, doing that just results in both people dying. So it makes sense that he would fight in a controlled manor attacking and counter-attacking in ways which don't leave him open. Also from a real world point of view, it makes sense that attacks aren't interupted. If someone swings a sword at your head even if you hit them first that blow will still follow through on momentum, particularly given that even a fatal blow is unlikely to incapacitate someone instantly.

[@toolshedvideo]

joseph Hooton I cannot stand defense like this for the subpar combat. "Well, he's a Witcher", isn't a good excuse for the clunky combat.

[@urbium]

Typical cognitive dissonance amelioration that fanboys use.

[@CC42_]

toolshedvideo is the.combat clunky though? Ill admit its not great but it feels.responsive at least. It seems.to have balance.issue's which result in the combat not feeling as.satisfying as it could. For example.its easy to break the combat based on upgrading the crap out of certain abilities and potions. I can make it so that its really easy even on hardest difficulty by simply eating a food (while having the upgrade where.food.effects last for.15 min.), I then use a fully upgraded Swallow potion, oil for my blade, and finally spam Quen and im invincible. However, if I dont do just 1 or 2 of the aforementioned tactics the same enemy can 1 shot kill me! The balance is just not there for.people who want to fully take advantage of crafting. I find I always have to change the difficulty setting because the devs didnt.balance.the game properly.

[@toolshedvideo]

CD Projekt DOWNGRADE@sony/ms/ubisoft.coN I played the whole game on death march without using the oils and such. I tend to ignore stat boosting items in any game, it's just not my thing. I agree the magic is insanely OP in every regard, especially quen. But the general clunky movement of Geralt carries over into the combat, where it doesn't feel responsive or interesting. W3 combat tries to copy several different action titles, but it fails miserably imo. Add in the superfluous twirls, swirls, and slides that affect every single attack swing, and combat became a huge chore rather quickly, especially when you end up fighting drowners or predictable humans most of the time. I really think the combat is a glaring weakness that no one mentions.

[@johngun7418]

toolshedvideo it's funny because in this game it shows you how ineffective spinning and twirling is in sword fighting.

[@HolyknightVader999]

42:33 Ciri: "Geralt of Rivia, the time has come. Execute Order 66." Geralt: "It will be done, my empress." *Cue Geralt kicking down the door of the Church of the Eternal Flame, sword drawn, with a legion of Nilfgaardian shocktroopers backing him up.*

[@lollo863]

The quest line after Radovid's assassination where Dijkstra tries to take over was just poorly handled. I think the developers were pushed for time when they did it.

[@KadoTheNorm]

Yeah worst story move in the game imo. Totally betrayed dijkstras characterization up to that point

[@cr-nd8qh]

Yea that made me so mad I killed him.

[@blazefa.]

@@KadoTheNorm ageeed

[@idleeidolon]

that suit makes you look like some latino rapper. that's not a bad thing.

[@CK-lt6jl]

Moist Von Lipwig MR WORLDWIDE

[@cheddhithomas1383]

He's Putbull

[@JebberGamingJaws]

Cheddhi Thomas "Putbull" Pitbull's lesser known brother 😂👍

[@cheddhithomas1383]

Yeah, putbull.

[@elaminmochichi7767]

Any white bald man in white suit will turn you into Pitbull

[@dr.strangelove6118]

I'm very happy I found this channel. I find it great to listen at work. I hope your channel continues to grow and produce quality content

[@Drewe223]

Man I have been waiting for this. I would adore a lorerun of this game.

[@The1985Machine]

First time viewer, and this video was an exceptional start. Can't wait to watch some more ruminations!

[@MichaelDavidStewart]

I Just finished witcher 3 for the first time and oh my god your comment on POI's is the most spot on thing ive ever heard in a review. I couldnt figure out what was bothering me about them but you nailed it!

[@VegaGoose]

I love ruminations like this and if you ever were able to do a recorded lore run of this it would be an amazing experience to watch.

[@ginge641]

Geralt is a realistic fantasy protagonist with the heart of a classic hero. The grey morality of the world frustrates him immensely, especially when he intervenes, and people find ways to make it worse as a result. That's why Toussaint is the perfect place for him. It's a place that rewards Geralt's heroic side.

[@1skrmsp1]

To comment on why I think CDPR did not encourage berserker style of gameplay is that how the Witcher is portrayed in the books. The Witcher 1 and 2 tried to portrayed that the even though the Witchers are modified mutants, that they are not invincible, and each hit cost them severely. However, the problem with 1 and 2 was that to do so, they deliberately locked away player's control to make the combat artificially harder. Witcher 3 did it by letting you do dmg, but take hit in return, so they encourage to fight with dodge and prep each fight, which what Geralt does in the books.

[@SevenFingerDiscount]

The ease and confidence with which you speak is so admirable and enviable. Absolute kudos to you. I discovered your channel not long ago, and have been having a blast with these analyses.

[@Brubarov]

I also like to think the White Frost is kind of a paralel to how the player, or human being, can be: you've got that same power inside yourself, as if to care for others, and repell it, or not really care for others and it consumes you, thus eventually the whole world. If everyone does not care for each other, the White Frost in ourselves end up covering the whole world. It's up to each one of us. Thank you for sharing your well prepared thoughts.

[@goncaloferreira6429]

59:30 a great question. During blood and wine, specially, it seems that normal guys/soldiers have at least some chance when going against monsters. Wichers have knowledge and that helps them surpass the fear that grips normal people when faced with the fantastical elements.

[@djhart25]

Just found your channel and immediately subbed. Love the in depth analysis and you have a voice fit for radio.

[@gorthuar]

The Aen Elle have in fact conquered entire worlds in the past, but only if they could open large-scale portals into them. Having lost that ability, they are reduced to the state you see in the game.

[@jbozlinski]

When the "brief overview" is 2 hours long. Man, Lorerunner is the best! :D

[@RottenRails1]

The sheer amount and quality of the content on this channel is seriously amazing. This dude is going to blow up.

[@pavlenikic9712]

the scene you mentioned, finding ciri in a cabin, im not ashamed to say that i always cry there like a kid, and i am 29y at the moment of typing. Hits me every time. Perfect.

[@Darkholow]

It's finally here woo! Thank you so much for doing a rumination on my 2nd most favorite game of all time! I really had a lot of fun when I caught the live streams for it and then went back to check the archives.

[@Netherfly]

@19:59 I think you're missing the point with Ciri. In Witcher 3, you're roleplaying as Geralt, not as Ciri. Those decisions should not be presented to the player as major... because they are NOT major decisions to Geralt. Those moments are very impactful on Ciri... but not Geralt. That's kind of the whole point. Ciri is her own character, making her own choices. Making the options more clear so that players could say, "I'm doing X because I want Ciri to do Y" undermines the core roleplaying experience. In other words: it's a terrible idea. Playing the game, it's probably ideal if you do NOT know which choices affect Ciri's development later on. And, I think, those gamers complaining about those minor decisions having such a major impact... fundamentally do not understand what it means to play an RPG.

[@visualeyezdoug8158]

Bloody baron is the best part of the game. Reminded me a lot of Robert Baratheon. Big old drunken jovial miserable Ruler. He’s terrible and terribly sympathetic. I loved him.

[@oldmangimp2468]

The voice actor for Emhyr was none other than Charles Dance. Charles most popular(?) role was that of Tywin Lannister in GoT. So, yeah, a pretty good actor.

[@OhManTFE]

RIP Andromeda

[@Anelikital]

When he said "i wonder how it's going to turn out" poor past Lore, we cannot save him lol

[@Drexxyl]

I admire past Lore's optimism. Shame Andromeda was pretty crap, and I don't even mean bugs and facial stuff, I mean story, characters, quests and open world were crap.

[@DarkGenova]

RIP what? I am still playing, and enjoying it. Andromeda that is.

[@Giablo1]

andromedas story on paper is fantastic, its just not executed well

[@virtuatroopa1797]

i agree it's a very decent game. People get caught up in the internet outrage culture, the game is a straight 8/10, planet exploring and combat is fun

[@MikeVideos327]

you will be the first person i ever become a patreon to. I need more of this in my life.

[@HazmatSuitUp]

Eager to get the ruminations on the two expansions. These videos have been a great break down of the series.

[@cr-nd8qh]

Best review I've ever heard, man I can't remember half of these characters and I just finished this game.

[@Icipher353]

Witcher 3 is amazing for the sheer level of quality and attention to detail that it sustains throughout its length. While a game like Dragon Age Inquisition has some great moments, it lacks attention to detail in many places, and just can't maintain the quality level throughout.

[@kickassemperor]

Been waiting a long time for this one, did not disappoint, and the livestream was a blast to watch through though I could not watch them live because of timezone differences, great video as always.

[@aureliusp1330]

I like what you said about the choice to save the mages or non humans. The choice wasn't just a palate swap unlike in Dragon Age Inquisition with the Templars and mages.

[@Netherfly]

@45:45 That's not "Dandelion when he's older." It's "Dandelion after he finally hits puberty." Don't shame late-bloomers, Arche!

[@Anelikital]

Great video Lore, it was so good to see you play it and enjoy it so much, and the stream itself was so much fun i didn't miss any of it! a pity you didn't record it. I hope we get to do a Lorerun in the future of this, so that you can have all the time you want to properly enjoy and analyse this game with us, and do all the things we didn't have time to do! :D GAVELLA GLAN!

[@Deeplycloseted435]

I really enjoyed your discussion on this game. Its nice to just sit back and listen to you chit chat....not reading from an edited script, just checking your bullet points now and again. I’m not a fantasy guy at all, and never have been. It just has never appealed to me, like it does some. However, something about this world just pulled me in, and I could not get enough. There is so much love that was put into this world, and it shows. Its complex without being overwhelming. Its beautiful while also looking dreary and scary. The horror moments in this game, are better than almost every horror game I’ve ever played.

[@lawrencemcconnell8962]

12:40. Use of the Alt key comment. If you define the side-step AND the roll key to be the space bar then moving in combat is so much easier. Whether a roll or a side-step occurs depends entirely on what direction you are moving. IMO it's MUCH easier though other may not agree. Try it on you NG+.

[@cneoptolemos]

Terrific rumination Arch, thanks as always for taking the time.

[@Terrensino]

Considering Yen's image in the game, I'd like to mention one interpretation I came across sometime ago, which somewhat involves books' story also. First of all, it's important to note that the games story happens after the books saga ends, and to a player it is can to be a consecutive adventure from the first book the last epidode of the games. This interpratation is heavily built on that way of experiencing the games -- otherwise it's just not as better as any other interpretation. So, at some point in the books Yen happens to be captured by a powerful Nilfgaardian mage who brainwashed her and turned her into an assasin of his. That last particular part is written very vague and can be interpreted as people talking about some other character, but the point is the assumption that Nilfgaardians can sometimes brainwash their captives and turn into different beings mentally. And then in the games we see that Geralt and Yen experience magical amnesia after their return. Geralt immediatley gets some help in the first game from fellow witchers and Triss. But what's important here is how exactly Triss helps. She doesn't remind Geralt who he was as a person, she gives him sort of a freedom to behave in any way and then gives him an evaluation of whether she approves what he does. Essentially, she tries to naturally reshape Geralt into what she wants. In the second game no matter who Geralt chooses to stay with he ends up with Triss, but what's interesting here is that when he has a chance to have an initmate scene with her in Elven ruins, Geralt has options. One is to oblige and gift Triss a rose as a romantic symbol. The second one is to resist the impulse and get away from ruins. If player chooses the latter, Geralt receives magical resistance perc. Seemingly out of nowhere! If player chooses the first, then in the third game the rose is long withered which reminds of a lore that said it shouldn't wither if there is love between the two. These things point to one conclusion: Geralt's feelings for Triss are magically crafted by her to make the witcher her rare pawn giving her advantages many would dream of: a personal long-living assasin forever loyal and blind to what he became. And therefore, she has no feelings for him, which actually fit well with her behaviour in books where she was just jelous that Yen has a loyal witcher. Even more, Triss sold all three of them: Ciri, Yen and Geralt to the Lodge, and Yen stated clearly she will never forgive Triss for that. Now, that was only prelude. Geralt gets lucky: there's Leto taking Triss away, and there's a powerful curse which being lifted washes away Geralt's magical amnesia. And then he can be patient enough to talk with Leto, who is one of extremely few characters ever mentioning Yen in whole two games (the other one in the first game just retells a story of Ciri to a stranger which Geralt happens to be back then). Leto tells about Yen being captured by Nilfs (and player who read books remembers what happened the last time she got captured), and he mentions that Nilfs have sorcerers during questionings. Yen had no luck in evading the Nilfs' sorcerers. Yen had no luck in recovering on her own like Geralt did in the second game. And Yen is a valuable piece on the chestboard. Apart from her knowledge of North including the Lodge, she is an extremely capable mage (she threw away Wild Hunt group by herself on books to save Ciri from being taken) and a very strong woman in character. Give her enough power -- and if she is loyal, then she's going to ram to pieces any obstacles on her path. So Nilfs helped Yen to restore most parts of herself, but something is obviously missing. The books' Yen's loyalty developed to Geralt and Ciri. The latter was useful to Emhyr, the first -- absolutely not, so she got a peculiar idea, difficult to prove against, that her feelings to Geralt were crafted by a genie spell. The idea comes from Dandelion's interpretation of events happened in "The Last Wish" story in books, and, cincerely, Dandelion often gets things wrong. Yen can't fight an absent obstacle, but she does it as that's what she believes in in the third game. She believes it so strong that she even looks like she forgave Triss for terrific betrayal. So when a player first meets Yen, it is a meeting with a character who is brainwashed in a way she has a very familiar identity, yet something's very off, and both Geralt and Yen sense it, but none understands fully. In this interpratation is it up to the player if Geralt offers his helping hand to Yen and guides her to that genie event when she can see for herself that she as truly loves Geralt as she loves Ciri -- and from that moment she can go on the path of inevitable reconstituting herself back, which player can believe is possible due to the strong spirit Yen posesses. Then it is again open to interpretation, that Geralt staying with Yen is the only happy ending where characters can be themselves and have adult relationships built on friendship and respect despite differences that can sometimes drive both mad. - - - I've seen people with a different perspective on characters' growth and relationships across books and games, and what fascinates me is how based and polar interpretations can become despite the same material.

[@matics898]

Fuck yes! I've been waiting for this one since the game came out.

[@Synystr7]

Man. I totally agree with your quest tracker bit. I have an example, that has nothing to do with RPGs. Never have I had more fun in a video game than when I was playing DayZ and had no idea where I was. In order to find my location I had to take out my compass and map and compare what I'm seeing to what I see on the map. Exploring the map using compass, terrain and my brain is so rewarding. It makes you respect, appreciate and get to know the land you find yourself in.

[@thxverymuch6962]

Subscribed, incredible commentary and analysis. This is the first your videos I've watched but I look forward to going through your catalogue

[@Nesque]

A bit of a correction - the scaling feature in TW3 is "upscaling", meaning that everything below you scales up to you, but everything above you stays at it's original level. It's a really important feature for NG+ playthoughs, because it can get a bit boring just 1-shotting grey enimies.

[@artmanxp]

from the books most vampires think of themselves as higher vampires but than again what vamp dont

[@apolloniangerm]

52:01 the “g” is silent in poignant, my friend

[@IQ2992]

Great video. Your talk of the white frost at the end was very interesting. whole thing was for me tbh.

[@FootprintsForTwoTravel]

I was waiting for this for ages. I have read every book and just love the Witcher series

[@sgtboom7]

I watch these ruminations for two reasons. 1) For the actual rumination on games and media I enjoy (I enjoy long-winded reviews and retrospectives and people's thoughts on them) and 2) Watching the background as the both look neat and pretty and I can try and guess which game it is. In this case, Oblivion or definitely one of the Elder Scrolls games. I'd know Messer and Secunda anywhere.

[@trashtasticus7714]

"Emhyr is very statelike. He strikes me as an interesting character. The voice actor did a fantastic job." WELL DUH It's Charles Dance lmao

[@quicksilvertongue3248]

iMO the way to do level scaling is basically to treat it like a disease that your character spreads, except it can also spread by talking. When you go up a bunch in power, those you interact with start being like "you're a huge badass, I'm gonna tell my friend in Bobville", and so in your current area and over in Bobville the tale of your badassitude has gotten around, so the bandits start leveling themselves up so they can deal with you. But elsewhere, where you haven't been since leveling up, nobody is scared of you until you start slaughtering them, and so you still have bandit asking for your ten gold because they don't know you can Disintegrate them.

[@Gollvieg]

My head canon for Novigrad will always be: Geralt returns at the head of a legion of Nilfgardian soldiers and kills all of the Church of the Eternal Flame followers just like that one scene in Star Wars Episode 3

[@Soapsim]

Nice rumination/discussion of the game. I watched all three of your videos on the series yesterday and enjoyed them a lot. I especially like your insight in the White Frost and the ending of TW3 because it's often talked about as a let-down and coming out of left-field. I tended to agree that the sudden return to the Chosen One Who Can Solve This Epic Threat seemed a strange conclusion in a setting that is otherwise so grounded and loves putting a spin on the classic fairy tales and stereotypes. It's interesting to hear another perspective on it. Maybe the ending is underrated after all. I'm surprised you didn't talk at all about Iorveth's absence and the issue of the Scoia'tael being completely ignored (with the exception of a single Contract quest). I mean, I realize there is plenty to talk about with the game(s) and this video is already almost two hours long, but after the large involvement of the Scoia'tael and the conflict between humans and non-humans in the first two games, I was very disappointed it was simply dropped in the third game. As you said in your rumination on Witcher 2, the third game has to tie everything together. Yet no word at all on Iorveth, Saskia, Upper Aedirn... Iorveth was actually supposed to be in the game but everything he was involved in ended up getting cut. For a group of mostly elven rebels these invading An Aelle seemed for an interesting phenomenon as well. True shame that, and my biggest disappointment in this otherwise incredible game. The DLCs are definitely recommended. Especially Hearts of Stone. CDPR's writing is at its best in that one.

[@MrTaxMan666]

The witcher 2 potion system would of worked in Witcher 3 because of the way you can use your witcher senses at any time to evaluate your surroundings and thus you can tell what enemies are nearby and how many. Its different in the city of Novigrad or in the middle of a questline but if they added more information/knowledge gathering that you could, through a little extra work, anticipate engagements much more efficiently.

[@tommy_sparrow]

I think that the invisible choices were great, because if you get a cue that your about to make a decision that will affect the ending, that will influence your judgement, you'll start thinking "what should I do" instead of just doing what you feel like, in the moment, which boosts the role playing by a lot. Also, we see a recap of most of those decisions during Ciri's flashback at the very end, so if you go through the game again and want to achive a different outcome, you know what to do differently. For me it was brilliant that the little things affected the overall outcome too, not only the obvious "grand decisions". Awesome game.

[@BFrounks]

I have a rule on KZbin. If I return to a channel 5 times within a month, I subscribe. Yours is the first channel I have broken that rule for. You sir, just gained a new subscriber.

[@GrimK77]

The quest about cat school witcher you mention around 1:20:00? Villagers were NOT poor. They were exception to other villages in Velen. Geralt would tell that if you had inspected huts more closely. :)

[@Braddington1]

I will say it can be a weird thing to find bandits (from the Temerian army which was smashed in a matter of days) who are basically naked beating Geralt the 100 year old Witcher in combat because of level.

[@Easelgames]

Actually health is easy there's a perk in the Options character menu (right of your signs upgrades) The perk I'm talking about is "food heals you for 20 minutes" With that on it's really easy, just make sure to loot food, and bind WATER to your F key or whatever, and since water is so common you'll always have health. Give it a try.

[@captainpronin5264]

[SPOILERS]If there is one thing i hate about the story its how radovid is portraied. Radovid has good reasons to hate sorceresses, after all philippa had his father killed and basicly raised him to be her puppet. Then there was the whole lodge of sorceresses thing and how the manipulated the peace agreement after the second nilfgaardian war. But in the game hes just a madman on a mass murder spree and there is literaly nothing that redeems him, except for the fact that hes the only thing standing against nilfgaard, but even that doesnt seem like such a big deal if you only ever played the games.

[@Danickas0]

Well Radovid was doing questionable things since witcher 1, you meet him while he has conversation with high ranking salamandra operative. In witcher 2 he goes full vlad the impaler in the Loc muinne.

[@captainpronin5264]

Yea, but in loc muine he fought against sorceresses that had turned a dragon on him. He went overboard, but its not like he didnt have any justification. In witcher 3 hes just comicly evil.

[@deadshot1995]

You could see it as he's been declining mentally throughout the series, so by 3 he's completely ruthless and obsessed with killing mages, although he's still a military genius.

[@personone9252]

Philippa made Radovid worse but he was ill to begin with. The sorceresses are annyoing manipulative cruel cunts in my book but because of their power and position they can break most normal people. Radovid is different because he was not broken, he flipped and went psycho. Amen on the mass effect 3 part. I love your content, great work!

[@noneofmany]

I don't agree that Witchers wouldn't be needed, if monster knowledge was readily available, or rather I find the premise itself faulty: Witchers aren't 'needed', they're 'wanted'. Peasants can arguably pay any mercenary to deal with a couple drowners, or even take care of things themselves, but it's more more convenient to pay a Witcher to do it and, if it goes wrong, pin the blame on him. Witchers were never needed, they were convenient.

[@KneelB4Bacon]

Re: Ciri choices. Near the end of the game, just before Ciri goes into the portal, there's a series of flashbacks that show all the decision points in the game where you could have made a choice that changed the outcome. It's pretty neat because at least the game is telling you where you screwed up.

[@decebalalexandrumarcau7320]

I know it's a long time since the game was released and some time since you posted this video, but I just discovered this game (didn't enjoy the first game all that much and I was reluctant to try the sequels) and fell in love with it, the world, the lore... with pretty much everything. While playing through the game and also listen to all of the audiobooks. I am now familiar with the Witcher universe. I am enjoying your video and I will watch all of it, I do have some observations to make: - you can interrupt your enemy's atack if you are fast enough. Granted not all of them, especially not power attacks or special attacks. You probably didn't play the game long enough to notice. Also, you should play it on Death March or at least on the penultimate difficulty level to experience the entire Witcher experience. - secondly, although the game has some areas where it changes or adapts things from the books it doea not contradict them. In my opinion, the games (for instead of playing them, I have watched play through videos of the first 2 games) do a very good job of adapting the books into a videogame and there is little contradiction in broad terms. Anyway, I could write a lot about it. The main point I am trying to make is: you should play the game properly, without cheats, on a high difficulty level and familiarise yourself with the books before making a video. If you liked that CD Projekt Red went the extra mile in making the game, you should do the same in making a video about it. For the reason, quality.

[@TheDarkrein]

I really enjoyed the points of interest in this game. Like you said they are optional and they offer worth while rewards for the player. There's also a lot of flavor and lore in them as well. A lot of the bandit leaders for example, have letters on them that have stories and some even give reasons for their actions. The's also that cannibal tribe in Velen which I'll never forget.

[@Arkayjiya]

I had the exact same experience with the roll/dodge. I only discovered dodge very late in the game and it drastically improved the experience once I did. Roll always took you too far, it's good to pursue fleeing enemies or move to the back of big enemies but for the overwhelming majority of situations and enemies, dodge is infinitely quicker and superior.

[@patricklapinski1526]

good rumination. witcher 3 is my favorite game of all time. will i ever play it again? probably not. its yoo long for me these days but nonetheless one of the best rpgs made imo

[@MoreDakka545]

The vampire never said "High Vampire". He said "a vampire . . Of the higher sort of course". A higher form of vampire is different from a High Vampires, which are essentially gods compared to all other types.

[@eschiedler]

9:26 Excellent point. I played most of the main game without the quest tracker and map hud display. I ended up memorizing the roads and travelling around without fast travelling. Did I sometimes have to ride Roach for 10-15 minutes just to get around? yes, and it was a fantastic immersive experience.

[@kacpermadejek3791]

In HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) this concept is called a double hit. Which would make the Witcher a much more realistic sword fighting simulator that any modern game :)

[@gotd4m]

I went into this game having read all the books that had been translated to that point. It made a huge impact on my investment in getting out and finding ciri. I roleplayed AS the geralt. How he behaves and acts in the books. Got the "best" ending because of that. This game rewards knowledge of the characters and setting in a way ive never seen before.

[@jmullinax12]

Just watched this for the third time. Thank you sir for this intelligent, thought provoking rumination.

[@kblargh]

First time i listened to this Rumination, i couldn't bring myself to comment. There was just so much to unpack, i didn't even know where to start. But maybe an hour ago, i finally finished Blood and Wine for the second time, completing my first playthrough after reading the (audio)books, and i'm struck with a melancholy of sorts, so i must give it a shot. This game, i feel, is very close in form to the source material. Witcher 2 was very much about the game of thrones and world-moving - which the novels have in spades, yes are not what the story is about. The story is about Geralt and about Ciri and about Yennefer, and to some extent about every character that crosses your path as you read on. Despite all the richness of the lore and setting, the whole work is nothing if not character driven. Geralt is an alpha-male with a heart of gold. If any other description ever sounds too long-winded, this one will never fail to describe him. He's someone with vast worldly experience, great intelligence, great spoken eloquence, great physical and mental fortitude - the last one being especially vital for him, since Geralt is very empathetic and most definitely emotional. Despite advocating Witcher Neutrality (and making a good case for it), he can never bring himself to not care, and more often than not is the first to demonstrate it with action. He is also someone with a noticeable need for affection and/or companionship, despite his stoic insistence in taking care of most problems by his lonesome. Dandelion is Geralt's best friend. He's a very smart and perceptive idiot, who is an idiot while still being remarkably talented and gifted with great emotional intelligence. He sticks with Geralt through thick and thin, helps him through his troubles in every way he can, and despite complaining a lot, never asks for anything in return. Besides the thematic continuity, i very much appreciated how CDPR was able to pick up the loose threads from the books (i.e. the Wild Hunt, the war with Nilfgaard, etc) and weave them into a story that felt to me like it was just a natural progression, rather than a videogame adaptation.

[@eschiedler]

45:00 What is great about the Carnal Sins side-quest is that you are set up for it during the entire game to get emotional and miss the clues, but it is done in a fair way - the clues are right there.

[@Sawyer047]

11:47 Just in case you decide to replay the game one day: you can also double tap W, S, A or D to dodge. I found it to be much more convenient than using Alt.

[@Easelgames]

and you can block almost anything with the right mouse button, but it doesn't make that very clear :P

[@Eval999]

My most anticipated rumination ever! I'm excited to listen.

[@jameslrbrand2002uk]

The first time I played through TW3 I stumbled upon the "Good Ending" by accident

[@eff-google]

you're on the top of your game with these Ruminations man, great stuff

[@wtfronsson]

27:00 about the scaling. There is an option for *upscaling* enemies, but no downscale. Meaning if you don't want the world inhabited by paper man sword fodder, but instead make every opponent somewhat considerable, the option is there. I don't really like the idea that certain enemies are not a threat because I'm overleveled, so I turned it on. Some places were probably a bit more tedious than they needed to be, as a result. But then came the sewer evacuation part with the swarm of rats. Every rat was now lvl20 something, instead of lvl1. They did about 200k dps and you couldn't outrun or kill them by any means. Had to turn the feature off there, lol.

[@mophead1666]

The whole freedom vs choices thing reminds me of a quote from Sword of Destiny (2nd set of Witcher stories) which very much carries that same theme. May be paraphrased a bit. "The Sword of Destiny has two edges, one of which starts with you."

[@StandingNomad]

Great Rumination. Compared to your Mass Effect ruminations I can tell that you could have spent a little bit more time doing side-quests and just thinking about the world, but still great and lots of valid and interesting points. Trying to do an in-depth analysis of The Witcher 3 is a little bit like trying to do the same with the Lord of The Rings trilogy, where does one even start?

[@Deeplycloseted435]

I’ll admit that I’m biased towards this game, but there are reasons that I, and many others, have the capacity to overlook the game’s shortcomings. It is my favorite video game world to be in. Red Dead 2 cam damn close, but lacks some of the creepiness and also the whimsical nature that the world of the Witcher 3 has. I’m a console gamer, and a big supporter of PSVR. I would LOVE for there to be a VR version of this game in the next gen when Sony upgrades the resolution of the headsets. I don’t think I could play this full game in VR. Its very tiring on the eyes for me. I can play for an hour, and then I’m good, but just to exist in this world, to ride Roach through Skellige with that amazing ambient track playing, the wind blowing, the birds chirping.....glorious. I really would NOT mind a Witcher 3 remaster that would improve some of the bugs, give us a first-person/VR option, and improve the horse mechanics. This game is plenty good enough to get an update for the next gen. Offer full blown 4K/HDR on console, I’d pay another $60 gladly.

[@Ceriden]

Asking here because it's the most current. I remember, a while back, Lore mentioning that one of the first Loreruns, before being called that, was lost. I could have sworn I wrote it down but apparently didn't. Reason I'm asking is that it's possible I might have it and if so would be happy to upload it for him to grab it for his channel. Now is the perfect time, as well, as I am going through his old streams to finally watch them so I can clear up HD space. Again no promises that I have it but figured someone might be interested in seeing if I do.

[@Easelgames]

You either have it, or you dont... Don't kneejerk lol

[@Ceriden]

The problem I have is I don't remember what it was. Hence my asking.

[@firegon2288]

Its my first encounter of rumination and this channel. Well, I already created patreon account and backed Lorerunner. Now time to check older content, and hope for HoS or BaW rumination.

[@aldenburton6240]

Regarding the animation: you have to parry then riposte for breaking a foe's combat flow. Monsters and animals will right out receive a counter strike which interrupts them.

[@GentlemanBystander]

General Voorhis was the endearing dick, you're not supposed to like him but he had an addictive personality.