The Skellige Wall Strikes Again

Even though I've had a hard time controlling my impulse buying habits (I bought two games from my wishlist that were on sale), I'm sticking with my main witcher bro, Geralt of Rivia.  Something I've noticed in almost every single playthrough is that once I get to Skellige, I get a bit less motivated.  There's just something about the Skellige map--it may be largely caused by my insane need to hit every single question mark on the map--that always makes me internally groan a bit.  Now, a sane person would just make the logical decision to simply skip the bulk of the exploration based tasks--but I just can't do it!  I know Geralt is going to need every penny to upgrade his gear (...at least that's what I tell myself) to the grandmaster level.

One of the things I love about The Witcher 3 is the fact that no matter how many times you play through the game, you will always find something new.  (**spoilers for the Skellige quest line ahead) In my deluded need to search every question mark in Skellige, I found the answer to a question that I've had since my first playthrough--where do they take Birna Bran after she has been sentenced to death?  I always assumed it would be within visual range of Kaer Trolde--after all, she is a rotten traitor who breaks the most sacred laws of the island nation.  Through multiple playthroughs I've searched the waters around Kaer Trolde in vain.

(*Not my Geralt) discovering Birna's body.

I'm not exactly sure how I missed it all these times, but I finally stumbled across the location of Birna's brutal execution (she is sentenced to die by being chained to a rock and left to succumb to the elements).  If you head south from Kaer Trolde down the coastline you will find the village of Rannvaig.  There is a boat conveniently located near the docks and you can use it to reach a nearby question mark located along the coastline slightly farther to the west.  Once you approach the question mark it will reveal the location as a hidden treasure--you need to find the key to unlock the chest.  There are a bunch of Ekihdnas circling around an area on the coast--once you eliminate the flying filth you can check out the giant rock jutting out of the middle of the area.  Chained to the rock are the earthly remains of Birna Bran.  I am not really sure how I missed it all these times, I guess being too laser focused on all those dang question marks has its drawbacks.

Birna is a fairly minor character and one who is immediately unlikeable.  Your introduction to her occurs when you arrive in Skellige and witness the funeral for King Bran.  As they lay Bran's body on his ship/floating funeral pyre, a horrific Skellige tradition is revealed--the wife of the king usually joins the remains of the king on his final, fiery voyage.  Everyone waits in anticipation to see if Birna will climb aboard the ship--she doesn't, and instead, Bran's much younger (and notably very teary eyed) concubine chooses to climb aboard.  A nearby peasant couple comments on how wrong it its and a dry-eyed Birna just keeps looking on.

There's not a lot of background given into Birna's character--I've always gotten the impression that she's not a Skellige native and probably not Bran's first wife.  Birna has a very distinct feeling of not fitting into Skelligan society.  Once you've helped Cerys and Hjalmar with their adventures and it's time to hold the ceremony to choose the next ruler, Birna reveals her snakelike nature--she sabotages the event by using the Vildkaarl's (a band of Skelligers who possess the druid-like ability to morph into bears) to attack the potential claimants to the crown.  Her ultimate goal was to see them all killed off, leaving only her son, Svanrige as the sole contender.  She wants Skellige to adopt a hereditary line of procession...starting with her own line.  Luckily, if you choose to help Cerys you can unravel the details of her plot and see her sentenced to a gruesome end.

Maybe Birna's right though--Skellige's system of choosing a new ruler is messy and plagued by long-running clan feuds.  Everything about Skellige seems to be wrapped up in being bold and careless rather than trying to do things in an organized way and/or plan for the future.  Supposedly there is a way to side with Hjalmar and have Svanrige crowned as king.  I could never betray Skellige that way (even if I do think their system is messy) and have never chosen it.  As king (and with momma bear Birna mostly running the show) Svanrige chooses to acquiesce to Nilfgaardian rule--a possible deathblow to the defiant Skelligan nature.  That choice feels extra icky.

How I Love to Hate Yennefer of Vengerberg

Poor, scraggly Geralt at the beginning of this playthrough.

Why play something new when you can just replay The Witcher 3 over and over?  That's the true question you all should be asking yourselves.  Joking aside, I have committed myself to another epic (that means base game + all DLC) TW3 adventure.  My initially scraggly Geralt is starting to look like a real witcher and is currently travelling the rugged wilderness of Skellige.  It's upon reaching Skellige and playing through the main story missions that I realize how much I dislike Yennefer of Vengerberg.  (*I suppose it's worth stating that there are potential TW3 spoilers ahead)

From the very beginning of the game Yennefer rubs me the wrong way.  Throughout the second game Geralt begins regaining his memory and his memories of Yen lead him to want to track her down.  Then, when the third game starts, that need becomes even more urgent as he seeks out the aid of all of his allies to help track down Ciri.  Upon completing the White Orchard section of the game, Geralt finally is reunited with Yen--and it's not exactly a warm, loving reunion as she immediately yanks Geralt to Vizima to meet with the Nilfgaardian Emperor, Emhyr var Emreis, to discuss finding Ciri.  It's straight to business with no time for pleasantries or any indication of their ongoing relationship.  So Geralt has just spent a bunch of time trying to track Yen down and he doesn't even get so much as an "I missed you?"  That's cold!  Yen then decides that she will head to Skellige to investigate a strange magical event that could be tied to Ciri and leaves Geralt to search the swamps of Velen and the city of Novigrad for any traces.

Pretty, but cold.

Once in Skellige, Geralt and Yen are reunited and agree to work together to investigate potential Ciri sightings.  There are a few dialogue opportunities for flirtations, but again, Yen isn't really interested in Geralt's struggles or in anything other than her own plan to learn about Ciri.  Immediately it becomes obvious that Yen's not at all concerned about other people--she cooks up a scheme to sneak into the druid Ermion's laboratory and steal a powerful artifact, the Mask of Ouroboros.  Ermion is an ally and someone with a vested interest in Ciri's well-being--he could've probably been convinced to help seek her out...but noooo, Yen has to have things her way and isn't willing to compromise at all!

After stealing the mask (which Yen insists is just "borrowing") Geralt and Yen agree to meet up at the site of the mysterious magical explosion.  When Geralt arrives, Ermion is busily berating Yennefer for stealing the mask--an action that I always find hard to defend (even though it is important for the urgent purpose of tracking down Ciri who appears to be in danger).  Oblivious to Ermion's anger about the potential dangers of using the mask, Yen wanders off to use it while Geralt tries to level with the livid druid.  A sudden crack of lightning indicates that Yen has used the mask...even though Ermion warms her that it could set off a cataclysm!  Geralt and Ermion have no choice but to rush off to try to neutralize whatever chaos could occur from the usage of the mask.

The mask reveals that Ciri was attacked and was wounded, but narrowly managed to escape through a portal.  Yen is able to track the portal to the island of Hindarsfjall.  The village of Lofoten was the most recent victim of the Wild Hunt and likely where Ciri exited the portal.  A group of priestesses are performing a ritual when Geralt and Yen enter the village.  Geralt urges Yen to wait until they're done with it, but Yen barges right in and starts pressing the traumatized women for information about Ciri.  The angry priestesses point the duo toward a sacred garden--the last location where the only possibly surviving person who saw Ciri was known to have been.

Geralt and Yen set off for the garden to track down Craven, a young man who was the last person to see Ciri and someone who was actively exiled from his village for supposedly fleeing during the attack of the Wild Hunt.  They quickly discover that Craven died in his mission to redeem himself by killing the cursed werewolf Morkvarg.  Yennefer is in no way disturbed by this fact and offers up the ghoulish option of using necromancy to reanimate the corpse and find out what happened to Ciri.  The dialogue options allow Geralt to choose to try to dissuade Yen from using forbidden, dark magic, but there's just no reasoning with her!  She reanimates the corpse, yanks the truth out of it, knowing full well that her actions will likely destroy the sacred garden.  Upon the termination of the spell, two angry priestesses appear and discover that the garden is completely dead.  They inform Yen that she is now persona non-grata in Skellige--a fact that she doesn't seem at all miffed about.  The only redeeming part of the entire exchange comes when Yen expresses some genuinely concerned fear that Ciri might have been the victim of a nasty curse. 

Throughout the multitude of times that I've played TW3 I haven't found very many redeeming qualities in Yennefer of Vengerberg.  She seems blindly ambitious and almost completely selfish (with the one exception being her concern for Ciri and the role she played in helping Ciri control her magical abilities--but even this I question!  In the books Yen has a strained relationship with the Lodge of Sorceresses, but does seem to want to play into their schemes for world domination--Ciri, with her powerful magical abilities is the perfect tool for accomplishing those goals).  To make a Mass Effect comparison, I find Yen to be the renegade option--she's willing to stop at nothing to accomplish her goals.  Her personality completely puts me off and even though I do think she's the canon Geralt romance option, I have only opted to stick with her once.  As far as I'm concerned, the Last Wish is all in her head. 

The Impossible Quest

I'm currently replaying The Witcher 3 for like the jillionth time.  I do love some Geralt and friends, but I thought I would write about a somewhat gaming related goal that seems to be virtually impossible for me to accomplish--finding a good set of headphones/a headset.  Just this week the headset I had been using for work (the mic on my work provided laptop has never worked, so I've had to resort to using a headset for distance learning...good times) decided to bite the dust.  It wasn't anything fancy, a Logitech headset I had bought years ago when I was dedicated to World of Warcraft raiding, but it did leave me in a bit of a lurch with no headset to use (and, I needed to find one because there was always the possibility that we could end up back in distance learning).

Finding good headphones/a good headset that works for me has always been a chore.  I have found that I absolutely cannot wear the kind that fit in your ears--they either hurt or they don't fit and are constantly falling out.  I would prefer the in-ear kind for some activities--like exercising.  I've tried buying the kind that come with different sizes of plastic covers to accommodate different size ears, but to no avail!  I have a rather embarrassing drawer full of rejects and shudder to think of how much I've spent trying to find a pair that works.

Since the stylishly minimal in-ear headphones are out, my only other options are the larger kind that fit over your ears.  One of my general struggles with this style of headphones (which I prefer for gaming) is that they also tend to make my ears hurt--especially when wearing them for a sustained period (like the duration of a World of Warcraft raid).  They're also a bit bulky which makes you look like a goober (I run with a pair of this type of headphone and look like a goober).  Thanks to the popularity of streaming, wearing a large set of headphones while gaming has become cool, so I shrugged off this concern.

I briefly had thoughts about buying another cheap Logitech headset, but decided that I would rather spend a little bit more for something a bit higher quality.  Another one of my unspoken,  headphone/set prerequisites is that they had to be budget friendly.  I would love to just throw cash around all willy-nilly for computer peripherals, but I'm too frugal for that.  So, no expensive headsets for me.

I think I've finally found, "the one!"  I spent a few frantic moments Googling headsets and came across favorable reviews for the Razer Kraken X headset.  When I first saw the "Razer" I immediately assumed it would be way out of my decidedly cheap price range.  But, good news, it's a budget-friendly product.  I also Googled some prices for a Logitech headset similar to the one I had been using and found that the price difference (*if you can find the Razer headset on sale) wasn't drastically different.  I also have a preference for wired products--yeah, I know, it's weird--but I get tired of having to remember to charge things or replace batteries and the wired versions are usually cheaper.  

So here's my enthusiastic plug for my new headset.

Pros:

+ Fits well and doesn't hurt my ears!  This is my #1 requirement and I am finding that I can wear this headset for a sustained period without beginning to feel like my ears are being squashed.  The headphones are the kind that surround your ears (in a pleasantly noise cancelling kind of way--although I don't think they're truly noise cancelling) with a soft, pleather covered foam.  They fit my small ears perfectly and do not put any pressure on them.

+ Small, unobtrusive mic.  I'm used to my Logitech headset which had a mic that was a straight, long plastic bar that could be raised and lowered like a gate.  Using it could be a bit obnoxious because I like to move it out of my face when not in use.  The mic on the Kraken X can easily be positioned by simply bending the flexible wire.

+ Good sound quality.  I've been using the Kraken X while playing The Witcher 3 and I am discovering a world filled with layers of sound.  I've never paid a lot of attention to they many conversations occurring in the background between the NPC's who populate the world, but now I an hear them all.  The prostitutes in Novigrad are very direct in their business dealings.  That's one thing I've discovered.  One of the nice features of the headphones is that they come with the option to download a Razer app that includes 7.1 surround sound.

+ Very light for their size.  The headphones themselves are rather large, but they weigh much less than I expected.

+ Sparkly!  Since it's a Razer product you get some nice, shiny lights.  Unfortunately, you can't really do much with those lights--you can choose between a static setting or a "breathing" one.

+ Volume control and mute buttons located on the ear cups.  It's nice not to have to tab out of a game to raise or lower the volume.

Cons:

- You have to use Razer's third party software.  I already had a Razer mouse, so was already using it, but I also had to download the app for 7.1 surround sound.  The download itself was very fast.  Then I had to enter in an activation code that came packaged with my headset.  If you don't want to deal with third-party software, try a different headset.

- Will the flexible mic last?  I have concerns about bending that wire aside and if it will impact the life span of the mic.  I'm going to make it a goal not to mess with it too much.

Overall, I'm very happy with my purchase and would recommend it to other gamers out there who are looking for a budget friendly headset that still has a "gaming" feel.  If you're someone with a small head and smaller ears who has struggled to find a headset that works for you, the Kraken X seems to be the solution.  I paid $49.99 for it (although it was on sale at a different store for $39.99--that Prime shipping tho) and feel like it was money well spent.  (Here's a link to it on Amazon:  Razer Kraken X USB).

 

LEGENDARY!

This week has been huge for Mass Effect fans like myself--the official news of a trilogy remaster and a release date were finally announced!  The rumor mill about a potential ME remaster had been churning for quite some time and I had scoffed anytime I would see someone post about it happening.  Well, it's finally true and there has been a ton of buzz about it...and, maybe a little bit of controversy (isn't there always though?).

Most of the positive buzz this week has been about how they've chosen to take on the original game in the series.  There was much conjecture about whether they would actually make changes to the gameplay--certain aspects of the game haven't aged well and can make the initial entry into the series somewhat unenjoyable to re-play.  For me, it's the combat.  When I first played it, I didn't view it as negatively, but after the second and third games came out and the combat was vastly improved, it made the combat in the first game seem so much worse.  Combat in the first game masquerades as a third-person, cover based type of affair.  Unfortunately it rarely remains that way as enemies simply charge at you and trying to stay in cover is rarely an option--instead, you awkwardly run your Shepard around trying to make some space to shoot and performing a goofy combination of smacking people with your melee attack, using your powers, and trying to shoot.  Flee in terror no more!  It sounds like the combat has been reworked to be like ME2 and ME3 (unfortunately, not Andromeda which has some really fun combat).

Another part of the original game that has been reworked is the Mako.  Remember the hours you spend awkwardly maneuvering the lumbering beast of a vehicle up giant hills?  Or managing to drive to your death by accidentally steering into a pool of lava?  Or driving off the dang skyway on Feros?  Just me?  The new Mako controls are going to be more like those of the Nomad from Andromeda.  Sweet, smooth driving!  Although, I gotta say, there's something about the jank of the Mako that I will miss--like trying to climb up giant hills that were definitely not meant to be driven up at that steep of an angle--or driving to the pinnacle only to laugh as the Mako tumbles bizarrely down the other side.  RIP to the "drunk rhino."  (*You can always revisit it in the original games if you miss the feeling of suddenly veering off in a strange direction)

Of course, since it's a remaster, all of the trilogy games will be getting shiny, new graphics updates.  If you're leet enough, you'll be able to experience it in glorious 4K resolution.  Textures are being updated to make everything sparklier (now with 1000% more lens flare!).  I do not have a 4K monitor, so I will leave that to the cool kids.

Tied to the graphical updates is the news that the character customization tool is being improved and character models will be standardized across the three games.  Creating a sexier, cooler Shep is going to be a much easier affair.  The default FemShep model is getting revamped to look more like the ME3 version.  It was always a roll of the dice when you created your character in the first game and then got to see how they turned out in 2 and 3.

The ass shot heard 'round the world

Buuuut, no modern game release is without its controversies and weirdly, ME has managed to churn up a few.  There was news this week that some of the infamous butt shots (*cough* Miranda *cough*) are going to be cut (*not totally removed, but the camera angles are being raised) in the remaster.  This has led to much angry crying about censorship and heated interweb arguments about how much sexualization should be in video games.  I find this whole thing kind of funny because it's a part of the games that is like, what, a few seconds long?  When it's gone, will people even notice?  The "butt shot heard round the world" was always a bit obvious--I remember the first time I saw it--it did feel a bit unnecessary (although, I will say that her sexualization does tie in with her character and it's something she admits as being one of her genetic advantages).  If you're a hardcore stan for Miranda's ass (it is a nice ass), it sounds like you're going to have to stick to the original games.

There's also been some snarky chatter around FemShep.  Many people noted that the Legendary Edition trailer placed the female character in a much more prominent role.  For quite awhile there has been debate about the visibility of FemShep throughout the marketing for the game (and, debates about the visibility--or lack of visibility, in some cases--of the female versions of characters in some big name RPG's has become more of a topic of discussion in recent years).  Many fans (myself included) adore FemShep and have lauded the performance of the legendary voice actor Jennifer Hale in the role.  Of course, which character you choose to play is a matter of personal preference, but for those of us who love FemShep, it was nice to see more equitable representation in the trailer (and, if you haven't seen the video of Jennifer Hale's tearful reaction to the trailer, I would highly recommend giving it a watch--it's very clear that FemShep is a character that she is invested in).

Another piece of FemShep news that some players are thrilled about is the fact that they are also changing the camera angles that resulted in horrendously awkward crotch shots.  The awkwardness only happened if your FemShep was outfitted in the dress (personally, my FemShep is not down with the dress and would only wear it on the missions where it was required).  Camera angles will be raised.

The Legendary Edition will include all outfit packs and DLC's....with the exception of one, Pinnacle Station.  Apparently, the source code for that particular DLC was lost and it cannot be salvaged.  Personally, I'm not too torn up over that fact.  The combat in the original game was so horrible that I had very little desire to spend time doing challenges related to combat.  Although, with the upcoming reworked combat, it could make the DLC better.  Still, I don't think it's a huge loss.

Notably, the Legendary Edition will not include the ME3 multiplayer.  There's quite a bit of division over this aspect--it was always sort of an odd addition in a game that was all about being a singleplayer experience.  Some people felt forced into playing MP in order to unlock the readiness level and war assets that had some sort of impact on the ending and others saw it as an enjoyable affair.  I did spend some time playing the MP and did actually enjoy it, but I it's something else that I don't feel strongly about.

My general opinion of remasters is a big nope, but I will be gleefully purchasing this one.  The updated graphics will be nice, but the changes to the first game have me excited and feeling willing to throw some additional cash to BioWare/EA.  Plus, I have an AMD CPU and get the super annoying graphics bug on Noveria (your squad is basically a giant chunk of black shapeless blocks throughout the entire part of the core mission at Peak 15--and yes, I know it's fixable with mods and/or a script tweak, but I don't want to mess with either).  You can pre-order through Steam or Origin (but you shouldn't...I'm going to hold off until it's released) and the Legendary Edition goes live on May 14th.