My Favorite Video Game Romances

In honor of Valentine's Day I decided to reflect on my favorite video game romances.  Having the ability to form fictional romantic attachments in video games might not be something that all gamers seek out or enjoy, but I'll fully admit that it's something I enjoy (and it seems like many people do enjoy given the number of gripes/complaints about romantic options that I see online).

#3: V and Judy Alvarez in CyberPunk 2077

There's just something about Judy...

I've always enjoyed Judy Alvarez as a character--she's a great example of CD Projekt's ability to write flawed, but still engaging characters.  Judy's idealism is her biggest flaw--she feels a fierce sense of protection for all the dolls/sex workers and winds up involving V in a crazy plot to take on a powerful gang that controls a local sex club in order to replace the leadership with Judy's very untrustworthy ex (who, of course, has her own plans).  The entire plan backfires and nothing turns out the way it was planned. For me, part of Judy's allure is her blind idealism--she's passionate about her closest friends (who happen to be mostly dolls/sex workers) and is willing to go to the mat for them...even if it means potentially catastrophic consequences.

#2: Geralt of Rivia and Triss Merigold in The Witcher series

I'm fully aware that this is a bit of a hot take and that there's plenty of good reason to shun Triss as an option (the main reason being that Triss basically takes advantage of the fact that Geralt has amnesia to pursue a relationship with him).  With that said though, I've always found Triss to be so much sweeter and more affable than the haughty, self-serving (but still smokin' hot) Yennefer of Vengerberg.  I've always highly enjoyed the masquerade quest in The Witcher 3 and the ability to opt to kiss Triss and share a highly romantic moment.  There's always that inkling of doom lurking in the background though--the Rose of Remembrance that Geralt gives to Triss is supposed to permanently bloom as long as there is love between the giver and recipient.  When Geralt finds the rose early on in TW3 it is wilted and dying, so there's that though.

#1: FemShep and Liara in Mass Effect

Liara is another character that I read many complaints about.  Many gamers feel like BioWare sort of automatically angles you toward her (although let's be real...your options in the original game are very limited to begin with).  Personally, I also feel like the Asari species was designed to be mush more appealing--who wouldn't want to romance a species of beautiful, blue alien ladies?  I still find Liara to be an enjoyable character to get to know and watch grow throughout the course of the three games.  She starts off as a very awkward academic type who has spent much of her life on digsites and is just learning to interact with other aliens.  When she finally appears in the second game, as an information broker in Ilium, she immediately demonstrates how much her confidence and skills have grown as she implores Shep & Co. to go after one of the most illusive and powerful entities in the galaxy--the Shadow Broker.  By the third game she has proven herself to be a confident and capable leader who is still vulnerable about her own family issues (a mom that betrayed the galaxy to help the Reapers--that's a real bummer) while using her influence as the new Shadow Broker to help build a super weapon that could save the galaxy.  I just find Liara to be another likable and well written character who has some of the best animated glances in video gaming.

Whether your romances happen in the digital world or real life, I hope everyone has an enjoyable Valentine's Day.  Even if it's not your favorite holiday, at least it's a good excuse to eat some heart-shaped candy.

The Luscious Locks of OG Geralt of Rivia

It's one of my summer traditions to completely re-play one of my favorite gaming series--usually that's a toss up between Mass Effect and The Witcher.  This summer I've opted for The Witcher and I'm currently working my way through the "enhanced version" of the original 2008 game.  Sometimes older games age like fine wine...and sometimes they get a bit like vinegar--I'm finding a bit of both in my re-re-re-play experience.  Here are some random thoughts, feelings, and reflections I've had as I've bounced back and forth between feeling irritated at certain outdated (or obnoxious) gameplay elements and feeling like I'm genuinely having a good time.

Check out Geralt's gorgeous hair!

1.) Geralt has beautiful hair in the original Witcher.

Sure, it's 2008 hair, so you don't get any of the individual strands or have the ability to enable any special "hair effect" settings in the menu, but he's got some luscious layers happening.  A strange part of me wishes that you could give Geralt his OG hair in the third game (you can't...it's always parted in the middle which isn't exactly what I want).

2.) F*$& the swamps.

Every time I get to chapter 2 (and then, unfortunately it also extends into chapter 3) I internally groan at the fact that I'm going to have to navigate poor Geralt through the most annoying zone in the game.  I hate the swamps with a passion--the constant appearance of drowners, drowned dead, and bloedzuigers gets so obnoxious that I eventually give up engaging with them and mostly just run poor Geralt around with a parade of monsters following him.  The way the zone is designed also makes me hate it--rarely can you navigate in a straight line and instead have to run around in a very indirect manner.

3.) Somehow I managed to screw up the investigation in chapter 2.

For some reason I missed/skipped the fun/party mission with Shani until the very, very end of the chapter.  Because of this fact, I ended up accusing the wrong person (something that I've never done before in multiple playthroughs) and somehow managing to confuse myself.  It all got sorted once I completed Shani's mission, but woooow, I guess it had been longer than I thought since I re-played it.

4.) Combat has never been a particularly strong suit in the series, but the first game is a solid reminder of how far it evolved.

If you need a refresher about how combat works in the first game--Geralt has multiple "stances" that the player must manually select.  Certain enemies are more susceptible to specific stances.  Once you've settled on the correct "stance," combat is a timing-based affair that involves staring at a small sword-shaped cursor symbol that lights up when the next attack in a chain is ready to go--basically, you're clicking away...and that's much of the extent of it.  Yeah, it's real bad (and thank baby Jesus that they scrapped this system in the later games).

5.) For its day, there were some pretty advanced mechanics present in the game.

I strongly remember booting it up in 2008 and thinking "OMG these graphics are sooo good!"  That's laughable now, but in its day...pretty awesome.  There are other mechanics in the game that I don't remember being in other games--namely the fact that NPC's have a schedule based on the in-game time and that they react to weather and player actions around them.  This is commonplace in RPG's now, but it's crazy to think that they were doing it back in 2008.

6.) Triss' makeover in the subsequent games in the series was much needed.

Triss is so pushy, demanding, and very sorceress-like in the first game.  (When it comes to the women in the first game...yeah, there are some issues that have been heavily discussed and panned)  I am a fan of the more softened, less-pushy Triss from the later games.  Plus, there's really only room for one pushy sorceress and we all know who that is...

I would encourage anyone who hasn't played the original Witcher in awhile to give it a go.  You'll feel simultaneously annoyed, nostalgic, and maybe even a bit reflective.  It's a good reminder about how far the series has come.

Two Point Madness

The Steam holiday sale has been in full swing for well over a week and despite the fact that my wishlist has expanded, I'm happy to report that I've managed to quell any impulse buys.  The one and only purchase I have made has been the "Close Encounters" DLC for Two Point Hospital.  It had been quite awhile since I had last played TPH and I excitedly downloaded it onto my new(ish) PC.  I figured that once it downloaded I could hop right into the alien-infested madness of the new DLC, but there's where I was wrong.  Periodically I get irritated at the fact that the cloud save feature on Steam can be slow and so I've occasionally turned it off (before I decided the new PC was going to be a reality).  Welp--long-story-short...I had disabled those saves about midway through my initial completion of the game (I three starred every hospital because I am obsessive).  Since TPH is one of my favorite games, I wasn't too upset about having to re-play much of it and I've been putting my improved hospital administration skills to the test.

ALIENS!

I've read some very mixed things about TPH, but there's just something about it that manages to always pull me in.  I love micromanaging the details of my staff and hospital and trying to keep things running smoothly.  There's always a better way to do something and it's my goal to figure that out for every hospital.

Besides managing hospitals, I've been keeping my eyes on the 12 days of free giveaways on the Epic Store.  In various Epic giveaways I've snagged some interesting titles that I fully intend to check out at some point.  The 12 days games haven't been bargain bin rejects by any means--I grabbed Superhot and Hyperlight Drifter--a couple of quality games that I have wanted to play, but haven't necessarily wanted to buy.  The giveaway has also featured some awesome titles like Ape Out, Celeste, and FTL.

I've also found myself bouncing around into various games for brief stints.  I did some more lawyering in Phoenix Wright:  Ace Attorney, but I can only handle its goofiness for so long (I still have one last part of the trilogy to play).  I also found myself venturing back into Borderlands 3--a game that I felt has seen improved gameplay, but is still just more of the same--and starting up a new playthrough with a different character.  This time around I decided to go with FL4K and despite being underwhelmed at first, I'm starting to enjoy the playstyle.  FL4K can summon a variety of beasts to accompany it and, since I'm playing solo, it's really nice to have a critter that can tank and soak up bullets while I stand back and fire away.

And, on an almost completely un-gaming related note, I've been enjoying Netflix's The Witcher series.  I had very low hopes for it and have been pleasantly surprised.  I've seen some people commenting on social media that "it's the best video game adaptation I've seen!"  I would hesitate to call it an adaptation of the games as the series has largely followed the storylines in the books.  The first episode started off a bit slow, but I've enjoyed the very obvious nods to the books and some of the backstory that has been built into the show.  I've particularly enjoyed Yennefer's backstory and can see how it is also somewhat linked to concepts in the books--it's mentioned that sorceresses use glamours to alter their appearances (and make them all very beautiful) and there is a moment in the books when Geralt jokes to Yen about how all sorceresses probably look under those glamours (hunchbacked, traditionally hideous and witchy)--and then the show went there and gave Yen those very traits.  I'm a little sad that they changed Dandelion's name though :(

The Witcher 4 Seems Like a Possibility

At the beginning of this summer I embarked on a mission to replay my way through the entire Witcher series.  I made it through games one and two fairly quickly and then got distracted by a few new purchases from the Steam summer sale.  Now that I've finished those, I'm back on track for the completion of "Witcherfest 2018!"  The Witcher 3 is my favorite game in the series, and with all the DLC, it's guaranteed to be the a nice, long adventure filled with many of my favorite moments in gaming.  Sadly, I'm already waffling (which is completely ridiculous--I've played through the game at least five times and have seen most of the outcomes) about stupid decisions.  I didn't hesitate to set the difficulty to "death march" and I've been suffering through the early levels of asskickery at the hands of various enemies (usually completely mundane ones too--like wolves).  Now I'm suffering through the toughest decision in the entire game....Triss or Yen?  (Here are my original thoughts on this arduous dilemma--"Triss or Yen?")

(This has nothing to do with The Witcher 4, but I'll get there--I swear)

There's one part of the relationship with Triss that has always bothered me--the rose of remembrance.  In the second game, the rose is a major part of the plot and players can opt to confess their love of Triss and give her the rose.  The elven legend about the rose states that it will bloom as long as love still exists between the two individuals.  In The Witcher 3, Geralt stumbles across the rose while searching through Triss's former home and it's not still blooming...it's wilted and dying.  That's supposed to be a sign that the love that exists between them is gone (any relationship between Triss and Geralt is questioned in the novels--there's a strong indication that Triss is taking advantage of the fact that Geralt loses his memory and can't remember Yennefer.  In the game, Triss does mention this fact in an early conversation with Geralt, but quickly gives up on her train of thought).  Even though I am not a big fan of Yennefer, I feel like the rose is a sign, and that she is the canon romance.  This is literally the dumbest point in the game to spend so much thought on...but I have!

Could a new Witcher game feature Ciri?

Weirdly, as soon as I started replaying TW3, some new Witcher news started rolling out.  The first piece was an interview with the actor who voiced Geralt throughout the series (Doug Cockle).  In this interview he mentions that he felt like if there was a fourth game in the series, that it should focus on Ciri rather than on Geralt (read an article about the interview w/ a link to the interview here).  Yes, this is an actor, not someone who actively works in development, so you could argue that his opinion doesn't carry much weight, but it was interesting to even hear any mention of another Witcher game.  After TW3 it seemed clear that CD Projekt wanted to move on to something new (Cyberpunk 2077--which released an amazing trailer at E3) and that the series was firmly in the rearview mirror.  Fans got a happy ending for Geralt & crew and that should be enough, right?  Wrong!  I think there is a lot of love for Ciri as a character and fans are chomping at the bit to learn more about her.  Having Geralt's VA even mention a game with Ciri lends some credence to this idea.

After this mention another piece came out that does carry more weight than a statement by a VA--the CEO of CD Projekt Red stated that even though a Witcher 4 isn't something that's actively being planned for, the studio does have an interest in eventually revisiting the universe of The Witcher.  (Read it here)  This is an exciting piece of news and one that I'm sure many fans are cheering.  I was quite surprised that after the success of The Witcher 3 that the possibility of another game was shot down very quickly and this seems like at least a positive sign.  If it did happen, it would most likely be many years in the future--Cyberpunk is under heavy development and rumors of it being released in 2019 seem unrealistic.

All of this is good news for fans of The Witcher and I personally would love to see a fourth game featuring Ciri.  We only got to see brief glimpses of Ciri in The Witcher 3, but she is a genuinely interesting character whose abilities and backstory lend themselves to a dazzling array of plot possibilities.  Here are some reasons why I think a fourth game featuring Ciri is the way to go:

1.) Geralt's story has been satisfactorily told through three games.  In Blood and Wine, you even get the ability to give him the ultimate happy ending--settling down in Toussaint with his chosen love interest to live out the rest of his days sipping wine and occasionally slaying some monsters.  It's perfect.  We've had plenty of Geralt, it's time to move on.

2.) Fans are intrigued by Ciri and we only got a few brief snippets of her character.  There is so much possibility with Ciri as the main character--her backstory is great (it was briefly explained and hinted at in TW3, but there's a boatload more that wasn't touched in the game)--namely the time where she was absent prior to the events that took place in the third game.  In the novels, she disappears while trying to evade capture by both Nilfgaard and an evil mage named Vilgefortz (not in the games).  Her Elder Blood inadvertently activates a magical mirror which acts as a portal and she winds up being teleported into the middle of a desert.  She barely manages to survive in the desert but is saved when she finds a unicorn (yup, a freakin' unicorn) that helps to carry her out.  Along the way she is captured by a crew of bounty hunters led by a Nilfgaardian named Sweers (you might remember seeing him in the Nilfgaardian Gwent deck).  They have no idea who they've captured and simply want to turn her in for some sort of payment.  While she's in captivity with the Trappers, the group meets up with another group taking captives to be sold.  It's at this point that she meets Kayleigh, another captive, and member of the notorious gang known as The Rats.  Kayleigh convinces Ciri to help him escape and they both are rescued when the rest of the gang turns up.  During the fighting, the gang sees Ciri in action and is very impressed by her abilities.  They decide to let her join up with them and she gives them a false name, Falka, to cover up her true identity.

Ciri's time with The Rats could make for a good story.  As a group, The Rats fall squarely in the grey area that The Witcher loves to wallow in--they are a gang full of teenagers and young adults who get their kicks robbing and murdering the rich.  They are known for their flamboyant dress and decking themselves out in their ill-begotten gains.  When they aren't robbing, they're partying.  It's during her time with The Rats that Ciri ends up in a relationship with Mistle (a human female, who, like all the other Rats, has a tragic backstory).  It's this relationship that leads Ciri to get the tattoo of a rose on her inner thigh (you can see the tattoo briefly in TW3 if you opt for a toweless sauna session).  Ciri's time with The Rats ends when she decides that she wants to return to Cintra to reclaim her throne.  She says goodbye to Mistle and then sneaks off before the rest of the group can find out.  (Things don't turn out well for either Ciri or The Rats.  An extremely talented and dangerous bounty hunter named Leo Bonhart sets a trap to capture the gang.  Ciri, who has left the group, finds out about the trap and attempts to warn them about it.  She's too late though--they've already attempted to attack Bonhart and fallen squarely into his trap, where they've all been slaughtered.  Ciri arrives in time to witness Bonhart kill and decapitate Mistle.  Even with her potent abilities--which, at this point in the story she has little control over--Ciri winds up being captured by Bonhart...)

I think Ciri's time with The Rats could make for a great story.  The Rats have many adventures and they are all filled with many of the same elements that make up the other games--fighting, romance, and drama.

3.) Ciri's abilities lend themselves to so many plot possibilities.  As the Lady of Worlds, Ciri can travel through time and space.  There is a point in the novels where Ciri is first learning her abilities that she has to use them to travel from world to world in order to try to find her way back to her homeworld.  All the worlds she visits are very distinct and each could have its own part in the story.  (There were some Ciri rumors that she would appear in the world of Cyberpunk 2077--those rumors have been dispelled).  How awesome would it be to play as Ciri and travel to a bunch of crazy worlds?

4.) The Lodge of Sorceresses has a vested and somewhat creepy interest in Ciri and her abilities.  In the games, The Lodge is in tatters and is only barely functioning due to the persecution of Radovid.  Toward the end of TW3, it is seemingly reforged and their interest in Ciri is restated--she is pressured to join.  I think that the Lodge could also provide a compelling part of the plot for a game.  There's a new world being led by Nilfgaard and the surviving sorceresses have all been reunited.  What role could they play in the new world?  Could they teach Ciri how to control her powers and better utilize them?  Are they just out to exploit her?  The Lodge and its motives could provide even more plot possibilities.

5.) The ending of TW3 left the door open for a continuation of the story.  (SPOILERS for TW3!)  If a fourth game did feature Ciri, the end of the third game provides ample opportunity for plot.  You either have Ciri striking out to be a Witcher or Ciri falling in with Nilfgaard (which I've always found weird, but it could work).

All of this is conjecture, but I'm excited to see some renewed interest in the world of The Witcher.  As a fan of both the games and the novels, I can't wait to hear about the possible next steps.

Before Geralt was Famous

The Witcher 3:  Wild Hunt is one of my absolute favorite RPG's and I've had to stop myself from continuously replaying it.  The good news is that there are two other witcher adventures to enjoy--and they're both pretty good.  Something I enjoy doing in the summer when I have time off is replaying through some of my favorite series in chronological order.  I decided to start off "Witcherfest 2018" with the first game in the series The Witcher.

The Witcher is the first adventure featuring our hero(ish?) Geralt of Rivia and his band of sorceresses, dwarves, and pie-eyed minstrels.  It was originally released in 2008, but I don't think I picked it up until several years later.  For a game that's ten years old, it still has a lot to offer.  Maybe you're one of the people who picked it up for free during a GOG offer earlier this year and you're debating giving it a try.  It does show its age and its not perfect, but fans of the third game will find enough connecting details to make it worth booting up.

Geralt patrols the streets of the Viziman trade quarter.

The story in the first game follows Geralt as he pursues a band of thieves who have attacked Kaer Mohren and stolen the witchers valuable mutagens.  Geralt is having some issues himself because he has a bad case of amnesia and can't remember anything about the people around him.  As Geralt pursues the thieves he learns that there is much more going on than some stolen mutagens--political intrigue, monsters, and racism.  Even though he desperately wants to stay neutral and not get involved in the major plots, Geralt finds himself right in the middle.

Pros:

--Choices, choices.  The game offers many choices and makes it a point to explain exactly how these choices pan out--this was a precedent set in the first game.  Each time you make a major choice there is a cutscene with some cool artwork and narration that gives life to your decisions.  You can choose exactly the type of person you want Geralt to be--a ruthless monster slayer who wants to eliminate any monsters or someone who knows that not all monsters are actually monsters...there are monsters in human form too.  I've always felt CD Projekt Red has done a good job or making choices seem important and that they have a clear tie into the story.

One of the cutscenes that shows how a choice played out.

--Not everything is shiny rainbows.  There aren't necessarily good choices and bad choices...there are just choices.  The lesser of two evils can be the choice between two evils.  This is another story based/choice based option that I think CD Projekt does particularly well.  

--Talents that change the way Geralt fights. As you invest more points into different combat abilities you add more complicated moves into Geralt's fighting style.  Some of the moves are a little ridiculous--like the backflipping attack--but it does reinforce the fact that Geralt is a mutated killer with unnaturally fast reflexes.  It's fun to chain together combos and see how his fighting style changes.

--Nice soundtrack.  The music in the different areas fits well with the environments and is pleasant to listen to as you play.  I've always enjoyed the music from the first game.

--More than just slaying.   The first game introduces some non-combat enjoyment in the form of dice poker and fistfighting.  It's a nice respite to sit down and gamble or to pound some poor townsperson clueless.  The later games continued this trend of offering some entertaining side missions.

--Variety of environments.  Geralt adventures in many places including the city of Vizima, some horrible swamps, and a beautiful (and monster infested) rural area.

Nightwraith and noonwraith....and Dandelion.

--Day/night cycle.  This might not be particularly novel today, but The Witcher is one of the first RPG's I remember playing that had NPC's that acted differently depending on the time.  The time of day also influences the behavior of monsters--some only appear at certain times.  Along with this, NPC's also react to the weather--they will run and find shelter when it's raining.  I was very impressed by this when I first played.

--Trophy hunt.  The game is peppered with unique enemies who provide trophies that can be turned in for mucho dinero.  It's fun to track down and kill these interesting specimens.

Cons:

--The inventory system sucks.  Geralt is granted a pathetically small inventory for both items and alchemical ingredients.   The "enhanced edition" remedied this when it added in storage at inns, but even with the storage it is still a balancing act to keep enough room in the inventory.

--Combat is a hot mess.  Geralt carries two swords and switching between those weapons is a pain.  Besides switching weapons, you also have to be conscious of what "combat style" is the most effective against a certain enemy.  There's just a lot of switching going on and it makes things weird.  The worst part of all the switching is that there is a small delay and Geralt usually continues to get smacked around.  The entire system is centered around chaining together combinations of timed clicks--you watch a small cursor and click it when the sword is flaming.

--Combat delay when coming out of cutscenes.  Geralt stands around and gets popped for a few seconds while the game switches over.  It bugs the bejeezus out of me.

--Meditation is necessary to craft potions or distribute talent points.  It's just not convenient and requires players to stop in order to utilize either.

--No fast travel.  Yeah, it's a good thing that Geralt is  mutant, because all that running is ridiculous.  Maybe this is something that's more of a modern gaming type of irritation, but it gets really annoying when you're running through the same areas over and over.

--There's not one or a few save slots for quicksaves--the game creates a new save file every time you quicksave.  You're going to want to delete those suckers or else you will end up with a bajillion save files.

--Finding NPC's can be a pain.  The weather related behavior can sometimes cause NPC's to end up in weird places which makes turning in quests difficult.  Sometimes NPC's just aren't where they are supposed to be and there's not a lot of tracking.

The Witcher isn't perfect, but seeing the first steps in the series can be quite enlightening.  As a fan of the series I think it's worthwhile to play the first game to get an introduction to the characters and the style that has been the hallmark of all three games.  For a game that is ten years old, I think The Witcher is still fun to play and has something to offer.  

Character Highlight: Philippa Eilhart

I am still elbows deep in my most recent playthrough of The Witcher 3.  Every time I play through a game that I truly enjoy I try to find something new or something different to ponder.  Last week I posted about the whole Radovid issue and the double-edge sword type of choice players must make.  In deeper thinking about Radovid and the characters involved in the plot, I really started thinking about a character who I mostly like but who is tough to place in your typical "good guy/bad guy" scheme.  Love her or hate her, Philippa Eilhart is one of the more interesting sorceresses in The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3.

Philippa isn't an easy character to love.  She is cold, ambitious, constantly plotting, and more than confident in her abilities.  Her abilities are so powerful that she is one of only a handful of mages who have ever mastered the art of polymorphy.  This ability to morph into an owl is extremely useful and helps her to evade her captors in The Witcher 3. Her motives always seem to be about what will put her ahead--be it good or be it bad.  She agrees to help Geralt life the curse afflicting Vergen in The Witcher 2, but only as a means to an end.  That end involves saving the life of the poisoned Saskia (who happens to be a powerful dragon in human disguise)...but only so that she can cast a charm spell that allows her total control of the poor woman/dragon's life.

The more you learn about Philippa the more you realize how truly cunning she is.  The Witcher 2 contains several goofy scenes involving a romantic relationship between Philippa and her "leashed" apprentice Cynthia.  It's very apparent that Philippa prefers the ladies.  In The Witcher 3 things become much more complicated as Geralt attempts to locate her as a favor for Radovid.  In his search of Philippa's temporary hideout he finds a series of love letters between the sorceress and one Sigismund Djikstra, the head of Redanian intelligence.  Triss also reveals that Philippa has had other male lovers in the past, but usually only as a way to get her closer to whatever she is planning.  And there's always a plan....

In order to defeat the Wild Hunt, Geralt must restore the Lodge of Sorceresses and request their magical assistance.  This task is particularly difficult since the Lodge has been outlawed by Radovid and it's members, including Philippa, are in hiding throughout the world.  Now that Geralt knows that Philippa has been hiding in her owl form (and right under his nose) he has a better idea about where to locate her.  The rescue gets much more complicated when he learns that Zoltan has lost his friendly own, who he named Polly, in a card game.  The lucky winner was Sigismund Djikstra (AKA Sigi Reuven) who has plenty of reason to want to harm Philippa--she did use him, then discard him, then attempt to have him assassinated.  Geralt and Triss arrive right in the nick of time and track down Philippa who despite being blind is still extremely dangerous.  She's managed to destroy Sigi's bath house and leads Geralt on a brief chase through the sewers.  Geralt manages to subdue Philippa and convinces her to help.  Once they are back in the bathhouse Sigi lets slip the plot to kill Radovid.  Philippa, of course, is very interested and wants in on the plot.  Djikstra does not agree and excludes her from the plotting.

Revenge is sweet.

My favorite Philippa moment comes during the mission to kill Radovid.  Geralt isolates Radovid on the bridge leading to Temple Island but the plot starts to fall apart.  Radovid flees wildly and orders in a large contingent of Redanian soldiers--a fierce battle breaks out and it looks like he might actually get away.  As he desperately seeks a place to hide he bangs on the door of a house and demands entrance.  The door opens to reveal none other than his nemesis, Phillipa.  In a form of poetic justice she blinds him by blowing magical dust in his eyes.  He stumbles away into the street and into a dead end.  Rather than kill him with magic, Philippa plunges her dagger into his back.  Thus ends the rule of Radovid V.  Revenge is sweet!

Philippa keeps her word and along with the other sorceresses of the Lodge helps to defeat the Wild Hunt.  Her help seems to have some strings attached as she tries to convince Ciri to become a member of the Lodge.  There's always something...

I'm not really sure what it is about Philippa that makes her one of my favorites.  She's not a traditional "good guy" kind of character--she's probably more of an enemy than a friend.  The fact that she's so complicated, devious, ambitious, powerful...all those things make her a truly interesting character.  There has been little talk about the future of The Witcher franchise, but if there is another game I hope Philippa is one of the characters.  I would love to see a story that involves the Lodge of Sorceresses.

Steam Sale 2015--Less Flash Doesn't Necessarily Mean Less Cash

I actually thought that this Steam Sale might be the one where I don't purchase anything.  Other than the whole Christmas day caching crisis, the Winter Sale has been a muted affair.  Rather than offering a bunch of flash sales with looming timers the sale this year rewards players for exploring their discovery queues.  For simply scrolling through your discovery queue you are rewarded with three free trading cards every day.  If you're not into the whole virtual trading card thing you will probably ignore this.  One thing to remember is that these cards can be sold immediately for a few cents (or, if you're lucky enough to get a foil card, almost $.20!  That's a veritable windfall in trading card terms).  You could possibly rack up enough cash to buy a really cheap game.  Of course the real reason why they want you to explore your discovery queue is so that you'll spend non-virtual moola.  My queue explorations led me to make my first Winter Sale purchases--I'm not sure how they're going to pan out.  I will say that using my discovery queue made me look at games that I would never have found.  The strategy of eliminating the timers and flash sales may pay off for Steam...

My purchases thus far have included Legend of Grimrock, Legend of Grimrock 2 (these two games were bundled together for $5.99--super cheap), Hand of Fate, The Wolf Among Us, and This War of Mine.  I think there are some winners in the group and possibly some duds (for me personally.  This doesn't mean that others might not enjoy them).

Legend of Grimrock is a dungeon exploration game similar to those from the early golden days of PC gaming.  It harkens back to the good ol' days when you sat by the computer with graph paper and attempted to figure out a map for the area (there's even a difficulty where you can choose this option) and fought off any enemies in your path.  It's not extremely flashy but it is challenging.  Your little band of four characters doesn't feel like a powerhouse group that slays freely and it's often a good idea to use your wits and the environment to get rid of any unwanted enemies.  I'm not so sure that the bundle was a good idea...I'm going to save it for later.

In Hand of Fate you face off against the enigmatic dealer...and your own choices.

The highlight of my purchases has been Hand of Fate.  It's a sort of card game that requires a lot of luck and skill.  There is a story mode that allows you to progress through a set of different enemies who unlock special powerups that make your deck more powerful.  As you progress and unlock more cards and face more encounters they get more challenging.  There is a minor combat aspect to the game that requires you to fight and defeat different enemies.  You have to focus on managing your resources, gaining more powerful gear, and simply choosing the right path.  Some encounters require you to choose from "success" or "failure" cards which will either reward or punish you.  Each new step on your journey is different.  The first few levels were relatively easy but now things have gotten a lot harder.  There's also an endless mode that lets you play until your character meets it's end.  This game is a pleasant surprise!

I haven't started up The Wolf Among Us or This War of Mine yet.  I've read nothing but positive praise for both of them and am looking forward to playing them.  The really weird thing is that even though I've purchased all these games, I'm really wanting to go back and play some of my old gems--I've started up a new campaign in The Witcher and feel the magic that was 2008.

The Steam Winter Sale is winding down.  Get your hot deals while you can!

Pre-Reading: The Witcher

The first set of stories in the Witcher series.

I've been a fan of The Witcher series since I decided to take a chance on a game I had never heard of. Having played both games, I decided to look into the source materials for the games, the series of short stories by Andrzej Sapkowsi.  I am working my way through them and learning many new details about the complicated world players traverse as Geralt of Rivia.

From reading a few of the books, I have learned that the world of the Northern Kingdoms is an extremely complicated landscape of alliances, intrigues, and power struggles.  Contained within this landscape you have a vast array of characters with their own motivations or ambitions.  The elves...the former rulers of the lands of the Northern Kingdoms whose fortunes have fallen so much that they are the targets of brutal pogroms and constant fighting between their factions and the humans.  The sorceresses with their many spells and charms that allow them to make themselves beautiful and live extremely long life spans.  They claim a mastery of magic that only women can posses and scheme and plot to manipulate the politics in the many kingdoms in which they serve as advisors to kings.  The dwarves who, like the elves, are also treated as outcasts, but have managed to use their business acumen to navigate into positions of some power.  Theses are just a few of the many diverse groups that populate the world that has been portrayed in the games.

One major character from the books that hasn't featured in the games yet is the so-called "child of fate," the princess Cirilla from Cintra.  Ciri and Geralt have a strange bond that seems to draw them together, but then pull them apart.  There is a very strange father/mentor relationship between them.  Geralt briefly attempted to train Ciri as a witcher before he realized that she had vast magical powers.  After that a series of different sorceresses attempted to train Ciri and as a result she got mixed up in the middle of the unending plots.  She has some of the impressive sword skills of a witcher as well as the magical knowledge she attained undrer the tutelage of the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg.

Ciri looks to make an appearance in the upcoming Witcher game and I am interested to see how they incorporate her into the story.  I think I read that she will be a playable character.

If you're a fan of The Witcher games and enjoy reading, I would recommend checking out the original stories.  They do shed some light on the characters and world portrayed in the games.

Favorite Villains #8--Striga

Favorite Villains #8--Striga

Geralt battles the striga.

The Witcher saga contains some really fun monsters to slay.  The thing I like best about the monsters in The Witcher is that there is a very clear explanation as to how the many different varieties of monsters came to be.  I've always liked the lore in the series and the fact that it is somewhat based on real-life myths from eastern Europe.

Out of all the monsters you slay in The Witcher, the striga has to be my favorite.  And, I suppose you don't have to slay her.  Maybe it's the opening cinematic in the first game that makes me remember the striga so much.  There's an epic fight between Geralt and this hideous beast.  The fight lasts till morning and then Geralt attempts to lift the curse.  Re-watch it!

Only females can become striga and the cause of the curse seems to be somewhat poorly explained.  In the case of Princess Adda, the curse was placed on her by a member of King Foltests court when he learned of the king's incestuous relationship with his sister.  As a result of this curse the morher (also named Adda) and the child both died in childbirth.  The child was laid to rest in the same sarcophagus as the mother but continued to grow into a hideous beast within the tomb.  Seven years later a full grown monster emerged, a monster whose only goal in life is to satisfy it's hunger by hunting down humans.

This is where our brave witcher, Geralt of Rivia, is called in to lift the curse.  The only way to lift the curse is to fight the creature through the night until dawn and prevent it from returning to it's tomb.  In the cinematic players see Geralt jump into the tomb and slide the lid closed as the beast pounds on the coffin.  When he emerges, he sees the human princess laying on the floor and he attempts to rouse her to see if the curse has been broken.  It's at this moment that he discovers that the curse is still somewhat intact and he is mauled.

In The Witcher 2, Geralt is called in again because it appears that Princess Adda is still cursed.  Members of the court notice her strange habit of requesting raw meat and realize the curse wasn't fully lifted.  So Geralt returns to the tomb where there have been sightings of the striga and he enters.  The fight largely consists of running away and laying traps to keep her from catching you.  As you watch the candles on the sarcophagus burn down, you realize that dawn is nearly upon you.  The last candle burns down and Geralt hops into the tomb.  This time when he emerges it appears that the curse is lifted and Princess Adda can go back to not eating people.

I like the striga because of the specific details that explain how to lift the curse and the fact that you have the option of lifting the curse rather than simply slaying it.  The fight against the striga is a little annoying if you are used to a straight up type of hack-n-slash monster kill.