When I lastly discovered myself clashing swords with the hulking King of the Wild Hunt, Eredin, on the conclusion of my 70-hour journey via The Witcher 3, I couldn’t assist however really feel underwhelmed. Before I am going on, I ought to warn you, all through this text you’ll discover main spoilers for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its expansions.
It’s not that Eredin comes off as something lower than a whole scoundrel – in spite of everything, he cuts down a minimum of two members of Geralt’s beloved cadre earlier than you even get an opportunity as well him off his mortal coil. No, my downside was that he got here off a bit an excessive amount of like a an archetypal villain.
Despite its conventional fantasy trappings, the world of The Witcher Three is a far cry from the static black-and-white morality of the sanitised fairy tales that dominate RPGs. There aren’t any karma meters or false dichotomies right here, as a substitute, they’re changed by human tales which might be far too difficult to be to be shrunk all the way down to a ticker within the game’s interface.
And but, Eredin’s whole aesthetic, from his commanding voice to his hyper-generic ‘dark lord’ armour, is extra befitting of a Disney villain than a real match for Geralt of Rivia. It simply doesn’t match up with the ingenuity on present all through the remainder of the game.
There’s nothing inherently unsuitable with an antagonist whose final aim is naught however loss of life and destruction, particularly in a much less bold work. However, for a game that so typically asks you to interact in severe ethical quandaries, the choice to construction the game from the title down across the idea of the ‘Wild Hunt’ stays one in every of its most troubling designs. Especially when you think about how little Geralt truly interacts with them.
For a game that so typically asks you to interact in severe ethical quandaries, the Wild Hunt stays one in every of its most troubling designs
There are two clashes with the otherworldly drive on the game’s climax and denouement. That’s it. Otherwise, you largely encounter the Wild Hunt via the tales of bewildered peasants, who regard the entity with worry and derision, and supply little context to the world or motivations of the Aen Elle.
It’s solely while you evaluate Eredin and his military to the extra strong foes of The Witcher Three that his insufficiency as central antagonist turns into obvious. Franchise fanatics are prone to level to the likes of the Bloody Baron as a candidate for the game’s finest antagonist. But I personally desire the canny crafty of Gaunter O’Dimm, the mysterious trickster who implores Geralt to assist him gather a mysterious contract within the first DLC, Hearts of Stone.
Like Eredin, O’Dimm is an ethereal being who boasts unbelievable energy held inside his humanoid form. But not like our King of the Hunt, he a minimum of makes an attempt to beguile the witcher with flattery, allure, and outright persuasion. What actually seals the deal is that you simply even have a say within the matter – quite than forcing you down a hall with out selection, you’ll be able to merely choose to simply accept O’Dimm’s argument and let him have his approach with Olgierd, the person he granted needs to in change for his soul.
And, as a substitute of going through the embodiment of pure evil in yet one more sword-duel to the loss of life, O’Dimm traps you in a Tartarus-esque labyrinth and tortures you with a nail biter of a riddle. For me, this was a much more memorable expertise than merely holding the left mouse button to whirl my sword like a pinwheel round Eredin for 30 seconds earlier than he keeled over.
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