Sun and Monster Slaying Fun

I've finally reached my favorite part of The Witcher 3, the sunny, storybook-esque kingdom of Toussaint.  To me, the Blood and Wine DLC is The Witcher's equivalent of the Mass Effect 3 Citadel DLC--it's a nice opportunity to have a happy ending for our favorite heroes.  Plus, maybe there's just something in the fact that it's the first day of spring and I just want to play something bright and happy (also, probably depressing pandemic related).  What do I love best about Toussaint?  Where should I start...

My number one favorite thing about Blood and Wine is Corvo Bianco.  There's just something very comforting about fictional heroes having a place to call home.  I love the fact that you can add some small levels of personalization to Geralt's new witcherly home--displaying your favorite weapons and armor as well as various paintings (don't sell them!).  If you're a completionist like me, at this point in the game Geralt's no longer the penniless, scruffy witcher wandering the countryside.  He has plenty of money to fully fund all the renovations to restore Corvo Bianco to its former glory (and to give it a nice witcher friendly feel).  I also made sure to save my Reginald d'Aubry statue for its glorious place on the plinth outside of the wine cellar (something that I've managed to miss in every previous playthrough).  At the end of the DLC story it's nice to see all of Geralt's friends dropping by for a visit.

A beautiful Toussaint sunrise.

Another feature of Blood and Wine that I enjoy is the fact that Geralt gets to be fully immersed in the knight errant culture of Toussaint.  It's kind of silly, but a fun break from the seriousness of the rest of the game.  The chance to have Geralt compete as a knight in the royal tournament is highly enjoyable.

As I've been spending time wandering the countryside trying to eliminate all the pesky question marks on the map, I've realized that I also like the random tasks in Toussaint.  I like helping the vintners clear out caves so that they can store their wine; I like clearing out the abandoned locations and seeing the grateful population return; and I like eliminating all the hanses sprinkled around the map.  In Toussaint you get the opportunity to feel like the good guy and it's quite nice.

Even though I do enjoy the fact that there are many "lesser of two evils" type of situations in the base game, I like that there are fewer of those in Toussaint--you get more happy endings.  One example that springs to my mind is a quest chain where two competing vineyard owners hire Geralt to eliminate a strange number of monster related complications.  As Geralt clears out the monster infestations he discovers that the owner of a different vineyard was actually plotting against both competing vineyards!  Geralt informs both owners of this fact and two people who were previously enemies come up with an option C...what if they joined forces?  It's a very satisfactory ending.

The main storyline in Blood and Wine also gives Geralt the opportunity to revisit an old friend, the higher vampire Regis (of the many surnames).  Regis is one or my favorite side characters in the series (and from the books).  He's a reformed vampire recovering from his brutal past as a blood addict (something akin to a drug or alcohol addiction) and even though he's a powerful being who could decimate the human population, he's actually a loyal, good friend.  In the novels he helps Geralt search for Ciri even though he's basically a stranger.  He also is killed (*but not really, as we find out in Blood and Wine) by the evil mage Vilgefortz while assisting Geralt.  It's nice to see a favorite character in the game.

Happy spring and happy adventuring in sunny places with friends (real and imagined)!