Every Game Needs a Masquerade Ball

(Possible spoilers ahead!)

The Witcher 3 is hands down the game in which I've made the most decisions that I thought would turn out positively instead turn out negatively.  Rescuing people doesn't always mean that you're going to get the outcomes that you want.  Someone tied up and left for the monsters is probably tied up for a reason.  I ran into a person who I had rescued who turned out to be a bandit robbing and murdering refugees.  I killed him rather than accepting his reward.  Then I felt a strong sense of regret at rescuing the idiot and then at killing him.  Sheesh.

Is it a trend now for every RPG to have a masquerade ball built into the storyline?  I will admit a weakness for these quests and The Witcher 3 did nothing to alleviate this fact.  A big part of Triss Merigold's story in Novigrad has to do with her efforts to rescue the mages who are being persecuted under Radovid's rule.  Part of her quest line involves attending a masquerade ball to rescue the son of a wealthy family who has magical leanings.  If Triss successfully rescues the young man she will receive a hefty sum that can be used to help secure passage for the mages out of Novigrad.  Geralt has to don some fancy new threads to attend the party and Triss also looks the part.  Once there you can mingle with the party guests and raid the banquet tables of food.  There's also a mini-Gwent tournament in which you can win a few new cards for your deck.  Once you meet the lady of the house, she points you to her son who is masked like all the other guests.  She also informs you that he is somewhat an idiot and that you should wait until the guests are well into their cups before you try to leave.

Geralt and Triss.  I'm a sucker for the romancey stuff in games.

Triss then informs Geralt that she saw a nice isolated spot where they could sit and wait.  Once they've reached their isolated spot they of course revert to talking about their relationship.  It's intimate and personal and players are given more of a sense of what lies between them (I am biased towards Triss because I've chosen her in the past two games...she's just a lovable character).  Triss drinks a little bit too much wine and becomes really giggly--it's definitely endearing and rings true to her character as described in the novels.  There's a really cute moment between Geralt and Triss as they chase each other through the labyrinth of the maze.  Triss drunkenly balances on the ledge of a fountain and nearly falls...Geralt catches her and you can choose to have him kiss her or tell her to be more serious and focus on the task at hand.  Of course I had him kiss her...but dammit what about Yennefer?

Triss's storyline requires Geralt to make some serious relationship decisions.  More tomorrow!