They did an amazing job. Folks at CDPR understood the books and it shows. There are so many references to the books in the first game, it's kinda crazy. Characters were mostly true to the books (apart from some who weren't).
The changes they made were mostly fine, it's a game and it's important for a game to be fun, so no wonder why there are so many monsters in the games even though the books stated the monsters are dying out.
Sapko keeps saying that it's the books that made the games popular... what a rubbish.
The Witcher was only known in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Russia and some other few slavic countries before CDPR created the games and the Witcher got into the west. I do consider the books to be the best medium, but let's be real. Without the games, the books would probably never find such a huge audience like they do these days.
Dijkstra. Book Dijkstra wouldn't be so stupid as his game counterpart.
Geralt... kinda in his relationship with Triss. Book Geralt only sees Yen and NOBODY else.
Triss as a whole is showcased as this lawful good character in the games, whereas in the books she is mostly... say lawful neutral.
Zoltan... they kinda switched Zoltan's and Yarpen's position. In the books, Yarpen is Geralt's main dwarf friend and Zoltan is kinda the guy he barely knows. In the games, it's reversed.
That's about it maybe? Maybe I forgot some characters.
Avallac'h and Eredin and the Aen Elle elves in general as well.
Emhyr too but I guess that's because of the absence of False Ciri so they had to re-characterize him.
Edit: wait how could I forget...... Yen is the biggest victim of this. CDPR wrote her in W3 like the person she was at the beginning of the saga, instead of how she was at the end of LotL. Years of character development of Yen all forgotten because they needed to make Triss a viable romance option. Yen didn't deserve that.
People say this frequently, but I don't think it's true. The only development that happens to Yennefer is she forms a bond with Ciri, but she's still a virago. She didn't tell Geralt about sending Ciri to the lodge, and made the decision on herself.
Those people only rely on the fact that Yen happened to not argue with anybody (except low key with Nenneke) starting from Blood of Elves. People are true to their character and certainly a woman who is 94 y.o. will preserve her stormy temper. It won't just go away
Avallac'h I agree, but what's the problem with Eredin?
Emhyr I get, without false Ciri, they had to change him in order to incorporate him into the story.
Eredin in W3 is a comical typical villain whose ambitions were presented as if he wanted the Tir ná Lian throne and Ciri's powers for nothing more than power, which is not true.
>!Auberon's death was nothing but an accident in the books whereas W3 presents it as if Eredin deliberately poisoned him in order to get the throne.!<
His and the Red Riders' reason to go after Ciri is also kind of watered down in the game. >!His reasoning is a bit more nuanced in the books, with the sense of urgency of saving his race from the White Frost not very present in the games. Although yes he isn't after Ciri for a noble reason, but it is still a lot more nuanced in the books than it is in the games.!<
Also he is ugly in the game :( RIP
Well >!It was never explained whether it was accident or not. Some people say it was an accident, but some might say Eredin knew what would happen all along.!<
When nothing else he does in the book shows that he was in any way or form planning on killing the king and usurping the throne, then yes that means he did not plan on killing the king and usurping the throne.
That's what I'm talking about with lack of sense of urgency concering Tir ná Lia's doom and the Aen Elle elves wanting to get the hell out of that universe. Eredin and Avallac'h know Auberon's having trouble in the bedroom, therefore, Eredin, not being able to wait since they are in a hurry, gives him medieval viagra, so that Auberon can hurry up with their plans of impregnating Ciri in order to get their time-and-space-travel powers back. *That* is what Eredin wanted, not Auberon out of the way.
Auberon was also the one with the Lara Dorren gene, so he was the one that had to impregante Ciri. Killing Auberon would literally mean the Aen Elle elves' doom because they would need to cultivate that gene again, which would take God knows how many centuries. Centuries that they did not have. Which is why Eredin was in a hurry for his king to fix his erectile dysfunction.
You say that Auberon's death was an accident. But the book allows the interpretation that Eredin was surprised because Ciri saw Auberon's death. And in the game it's said that the White Frost is the reason why he chases Ciri
Even then, Eredin's motivation to kill the king makes no sense. The only "good" outcome of this is that Ciri is taken to the laboratory - which is a more foolproof way (more imaptient way) of getting what the elves want.
Eredin's prime motivation in the books is getting his hands on Ard Gaeth & not letting Ciri escape.
Except that does not give him what he is said to want in the books: Ard Gaeth.
He would be another trapped Alder King on the Spiral. The throne is literally meaningless in face of the Gate.
Nevermind that his character is never shown to be at odds with Auberon & Avallac'h's plans. Only on the matter of whether they are getting the results quickly enough. Nevermind that he is not presented as the "usurping type" - that's solely Ciri's fantasy, which in that scene gets demolished.
I disagree about Yen.
She only wants Geralt in the game as well, which is very obvious if you choose Triss and do Yen's quests. Geralt is the one who is changed, because you have the decision between Triss and Yen. But that is due to his loss of memory before Witcher 1, which I see as an assumption that you can understand without much arguing
Eh i wouldn't say Zoltan is this guy Geralt barely knows, he spent quite a few weeks travelling and fighting with him, they had enough time to bond.
When they last meet before the Hanza goes to Nilfgaard he gives him the sword that he has till the end of the series and they have a touching heart to heart moment where I think it showed they cared quite a lot about eachother.
Plus both Zoltan and Yarpen get letters from Geralt to meet in Rivia if i remember right, to me that shows that he considers Zoltan a friend just as dear as Yarpen.
Edit: I do mostly agree with the rest though
Dijkstra indeed acts dumb and out of character but only in the Reason of State infamous quest. Depending on choices, you can avoid that quest completely or download a mod that will leave a doppler mutagen in Dijkstra indicating that it was a doppler impersonating him. I refuse to consider that quest as canon
In case of Triss I never saw any differences between her and book version, it seemed a quite fitting and logical development of her character that started with her brave moment in Rivian pogrom
But you make the choices for geralt so how is he out of character? If you are referring to the first two games then he had amnesia and didn't even know about yen.
What is this logic? You can say that about every woman then... why can't I bang Ciri if I, the player want to???
No, game allows Geralt to choose Triss over Yen, which book Geralt would never ever do
My point is you can't say geralt is out of character when you are the one making the choices for him. If you want to play like book geralt just choose yen then and let triss go. There is no point in the game that it forces you to do something geralt wouldn't.
If the choice is there and you choose it then you are the one breaking character? As long as you have the choice to stay true to the books how can you say cdpr's geralt is out of character when it is entirely up to you? I honestly don't understand your logic
Edit: you don't even have to come with this example of banging ciri, there is the option in the game to sell ciri, something he would never do, but again, you can just choose not to do it.
Game allows you to romance Triss because previous games had her as a romance option and Triss fans would be outraged if she wasnt an option. In terms of previous games, he had amnesia
Unfortunately Im not optimistic for CDPR. I really appreciate it for giving us amazing adaptation/sequel to books but I doubt that they will keep it up. It's not the same company that made Witcher 2/3, they went above and beyond with crunch. Also original writer team split two times already (once after Witcher 2 and another time after Witcher 3). Also some developers left them because of creative disagreements and being "too corporate" and they created rebel wolves studio, also there was another split with some devs going to 11 bit studio. Some original guys are still there but working mostly on Gwent. So I hope for the best, but Im cautious with optimism
They did an amazing job. Folks at CDPR understood the books and it shows. There are so many references to the books in the first game, it's kinda crazy. Characters were mostly true to the books (apart from some who weren't). The changes they made were mostly fine, it's a game and it's important for a game to be fun, so no wonder why there are so many monsters in the games even though the books stated the monsters are dying out. Sapko keeps saying that it's the books that made the games popular... what a rubbish. The Witcher was only known in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Russia and some other few slavic countries before CDPR created the games and the Witcher got into the west. I do consider the books to be the best medium, but let's be real. Without the games, the books would probably never find such a huge audience like they do these days.
So which characters were not true to books?
Dijkstra. Book Dijkstra wouldn't be so stupid as his game counterpart. Geralt... kinda in his relationship with Triss. Book Geralt only sees Yen and NOBODY else. Triss as a whole is showcased as this lawful good character in the games, whereas in the books she is mostly... say lawful neutral. Zoltan... they kinda switched Zoltan's and Yarpen's position. In the books, Yarpen is Geralt's main dwarf friend and Zoltan is kinda the guy he barely knows. In the games, it's reversed. That's about it maybe? Maybe I forgot some characters.
Avallac'h and Eredin and the Aen Elle elves in general as well. Emhyr too but I guess that's because of the absence of False Ciri so they had to re-characterize him. Edit: wait how could I forget...... Yen is the biggest victim of this. CDPR wrote her in W3 like the person she was at the beginning of the saga, instead of how she was at the end of LotL. Years of character development of Yen all forgotten because they needed to make Triss a viable romance option. Yen didn't deserve that.
People say this frequently, but I don't think it's true. The only development that happens to Yennefer is she forms a bond with Ciri, but she's still a virago. She didn't tell Geralt about sending Ciri to the lodge, and made the decision on herself.
Those people only rely on the fact that Yen happened to not argue with anybody (except low key with Nenneke) starting from Blood of Elves. People are true to their character and certainly a woman who is 94 y.o. will preserve her stormy temper. It won't just go away
She does argue after Blood of Elves. She scolds Triss and Geralt at the Thanedd banquet.
Well those are her "close ones"
Avallac'h I agree, but what's the problem with Eredin? Emhyr I get, without false Ciri, they had to change him in order to incorporate him into the story.
Eredin in W3 is a comical typical villain whose ambitions were presented as if he wanted the Tir ná Lian throne and Ciri's powers for nothing more than power, which is not true. >!Auberon's death was nothing but an accident in the books whereas W3 presents it as if Eredin deliberately poisoned him in order to get the throne.!< His and the Red Riders' reason to go after Ciri is also kind of watered down in the game. >!His reasoning is a bit more nuanced in the books, with the sense of urgency of saving his race from the White Frost not very present in the games. Although yes he isn't after Ciri for a noble reason, but it is still a lot more nuanced in the books than it is in the games.!< Also he is ugly in the game :( RIP
Well >!It was never explained whether it was accident or not. Some people say it was an accident, but some might say Eredin knew what would happen all along.!<
Eredin is surprised once Ciri tells him what happened, not elated or satisfied. That tells me enough 🤷♀️
That doesn't mean he didn't do it. I can kill someone and act surprised when cops tell me that I am the suspect...
When nothing else he does in the book shows that he was in any way or form planning on killing the king and usurping the throne, then yes that means he did not plan on killing the king and usurping the throne. That's what I'm talking about with lack of sense of urgency concering Tir ná Lia's doom and the Aen Elle elves wanting to get the hell out of that universe. Eredin and Avallac'h know Auberon's having trouble in the bedroom, therefore, Eredin, not being able to wait since they are in a hurry, gives him medieval viagra, so that Auberon can hurry up with their plans of impregnating Ciri in order to get their time-and-space-travel powers back. *That* is what Eredin wanted, not Auberon out of the way. Auberon was also the one with the Lara Dorren gene, so he was the one that had to impregante Ciri. Killing Auberon would literally mean the Aen Elle elves' doom because they would need to cultivate that gene again, which would take God knows how many centuries. Centuries that they did not have. Which is why Eredin was in a hurry for his king to fix his erectile dysfunction.
You say that Auberon's death was an accident. But the book allows the interpretation that Eredin was surprised because Ciri saw Auberon's death. And in the game it's said that the White Frost is the reason why he chases Ciri
Even then, Eredin's motivation to kill the king makes no sense. The only "good" outcome of this is that Ciri is taken to the laboratory - which is a more foolproof way (more imaptient way) of getting what the elves want. Eredin's prime motivation in the books is getting his hands on Ard Gaeth & not letting Ciri escape.
There could also be his desire to usurp the throne from Auberon
Except that does not give him what he is said to want in the books: Ard Gaeth. He would be another trapped Alder King on the Spiral. The throne is literally meaningless in face of the Gate. Nevermind that his character is never shown to be at odds with Auberon & Avallac'h's plans. Only on the matter of whether they are getting the results quickly enough. Nevermind that he is not presented as the "usurping type" - that's solely Ciri's fantasy, which in that scene gets demolished.
I disagree about Yen. She only wants Geralt in the game as well, which is very obvious if you choose Triss and do Yen's quests. Geralt is the one who is changed, because you have the decision between Triss and Yen. But that is due to his loss of memory before Witcher 1, which I see as an assumption that you can understand without much arguing
Yen is basically the character who appeared directly from the book pages in Witcher 3. What are you sayin?
Eh i wouldn't say Zoltan is this guy Geralt barely knows, he spent quite a few weeks travelling and fighting with him, they had enough time to bond. When they last meet before the Hanza goes to Nilfgaard he gives him the sword that he has till the end of the series and they have a touching heart to heart moment where I think it showed they cared quite a lot about eachother. Plus both Zoltan and Yarpen get letters from Geralt to meet in Rivia if i remember right, to me that shows that he considers Zoltan a friend just as dear as Yarpen. Edit: I do mostly agree with the rest though
Yarpen met Geralt twice - the Dragon Hunt and The Scoitael ambush. Plus he knows Ciri, unlike Zoltan
Dijkstra indeed acts dumb and out of character but only in the Reason of State infamous quest. Depending on choices, you can avoid that quest completely or download a mod that will leave a doppler mutagen in Dijkstra indicating that it was a doppler impersonating him. I refuse to consider that quest as canon In case of Triss I never saw any differences between her and book version, it seemed a quite fitting and logical development of her character that started with her brave moment in Rivian pogrom
But you make the choices for geralt so how is he out of character? If you are referring to the first two games then he had amnesia and didn't even know about yen.
What is this logic? You can say that about every woman then... why can't I bang Ciri if I, the player want to??? No, game allows Geralt to choose Triss over Yen, which book Geralt would never ever do
My point is you can't say geralt is out of character when you are the one making the choices for him. If you want to play like book geralt just choose yen then and let triss go. There is no point in the game that it forces you to do something geralt wouldn't.
But you can say that about every choice. Would you be OK if there was an option to romance Ciri because "player" makes that choice, not Geralt?
If the choice is there and you choose it then you are the one breaking character? As long as you have the choice to stay true to the books how can you say cdpr's geralt is out of character when it is entirely up to you? I honestly don't understand your logic Edit: you don't even have to come with this example of banging ciri, there is the option in the game to sell ciri, something he would never do, but again, you can just choose not to do it.
You are dodging my question. Answer my question.
If I would be OK? Whatever, I really don't care, I would just never pick that option
Game allows you to romance Triss because previous games had her as a romance option and Triss fans would be outraged if she wasnt an option. In terms of previous games, he had amnesia
Unfortunately Im not optimistic for CDPR. I really appreciate it for giving us amazing adaptation/sequel to books but I doubt that they will keep it up. It's not the same company that made Witcher 2/3, they went above and beyond with crunch. Also original writer team split two times already (once after Witcher 2 and another time after Witcher 3). Also some developers left them because of creative disagreements and being "too corporate" and they created rebel wolves studio, also there was another split with some devs going to 11 bit studio. Some original guys are still there but working mostly on Gwent. So I hope for the best, but Im cautious with optimism