Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a game that allows players to experience the same memories from different perspectives. After multiple playthroughs spanning 10 years, the game not only holds up, but also grants the ability to create new memories.
By Bora Sezer
Picture: Via Pexels, CC0
Babies, children, teenagers, adults and seniors; they all play games differently, yet each enjoys them, nonetheless. From peek-a-boo to bingo, games are integrated in our daily lives, often without the realization that they are a fundamental part of the human experience.
According to a study done by Flinders University in Australia on Stigma and public perception of recreational gaming and gaming disorders, adulthood is often the period when playing draws the most social judgement. This is counterintuitive, as it is the exact stage of life when humans need stress relief the most. Out of the many options that provide this escape, open-world games are usually the most immersive. They wrap the player in a blanket of reality making it possible to forget everything else for some time. One of these games for me was The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Until The Witcher 3, I always played competitive games. After I played it for the first time, it became a game that I play whenever life feels stressful and another reality is needed.
Movies and TV series give the audience a world that is imagined and lived through the protagonist, whereas games do the same through the player. No one can control Henry Cavill in the TV series, as it is already a finished product that gives no agency to consumers. However, Geralt of Rivia can go to a bar to buy a drink if the player so chooses. Playing the game gave me options; I chose whether to be moral or not, and these in-game decisions have actual consequences in the storyline. In my last playthrough of The Witcher 3, I have experienced the freedom and emotion a game can provide for someone firsthand. As I reminisced about my first time playing the game, I realized the beauty of places does not disappear after experiencing them multiple times. Many things have changed in my life between these playthroughs which stretch across a 10-year period. I finished university, moved to a different country and started a new life, but the excitement and joy I got from the game remained the same after all these changes.
These open-world games do not provide infinite worlds of course, but they are playable for hundreds of hours. One can decide to play the main story or just do side quests and live the Witcher experience to the maximum. There are hundreds, sometimes thousands of people who work on these projects, so they are not »simple things« that should be overlooked as mere toys, because every age group that this game is appropriate for can find something for themselves. These are very detailed products that require game-makers to create everything from scratch; the story, the visuals, characters, voice-lines, and music.
Bloody Baron
In all the playthroughs, no quest left a mark as the quest of Bloody Baron. It deals with the missing wife and daughter of a local baron who seeks help from Geralt in return for some information. The storyline includes difficult ethical dilemmas and multiple endings. Each conclusion to the Baron’s story is heavy and left me contemplative because even the best option felt like I missed something. After I realized there was no ending that would leave me satisfied, I marveled at the excellence of the writing of the game. It did not aim to satisfy the player just because they chose morality, it reflected reality in a game that is far from the real world. Sometimes, there are no good endings but just uncontrollable situations.
When I learned that Witchers are chosen as kids and that, through mutations, their bodies become enhanced, I did not understand the magnitude of this information at first. These mutations basically nullify their emotions so that they can act as almost machine-like creatures. Since they deal with monsters, they must not be afraid, and in my first playthrough, I thought Geralt was a cool hero. After 10 years of experiencing the real world, I realized that Witchers are traumatized adults who could not experience childhood, rather than chivalric heroes. Even though the game rewards being chivalrous by giving Aerondight to Geralt if he completes five chivalric virtue missions, it does not necessarily expect heroism.
Other than the main storyline, there are many side quests and stories. It is difficult to forget when I first set foot in Skellige, an island nation full of hardy northern folk. The scenery and music alone in Skellige brought me back just to stroll around on my horse Roach, to relax or experience something aesthetic. After 10 years, the music and the open sky of Skellige still evoke a sense of freedom. Whenever I see a natural sight that resembles the world of Witcher, the memories surge back and the music starts playing in my head. In my opinion, this is an experience only a group of people have since most gamers in the world play mobile games, however, it is best to look at the bright side and just feel lucky to be included in that group of people.
Cultural Effect
With two DLC »downloadable content« expansions called Blood & Wine and Hearts of Stone, players can visit other content involving Vampires and Demons, which occupies a central place in many cultures. The game is neither stagnant nor boring for anyone who enjoys a story-driven role-playing game. It is a product that accurately represents the life of a fictional character that exists only on paper. Books describe the universe of Witcher, but the games depict it in a way that the experience of the consumer is enhanced. Characters in the game feel real with their problems and moral issues, and this reality also led to Witcher being a popular choice for role playing. People buy costumes and props to become characters from the game and go to conventions for meetings with other fans.
The Witcher series helped Poland immensely as Poland became one of the biggest video game exporters in the world. It has been used as a soft power tool when the Polish Prime Minister gifted the second game to Barack Obama and helped Poland show its place as a producer of quality work. It has put Poland on the map as a place to work for game developers, creating jobs and bringing bright minds from all over the world according to the European Games Developer Federation. After the commercial success of The Witcher 3, CD Projekt Red used its funding to create other games which also became hits, thus creating a successful game-producing culture. It is not unwise to expect the follow up game, The Witcher 4, to be criticized by some because people do not react well to change when it comes to replacing a protagonist they have grown attached to. Ciri, who was the main focus of The Witcher 3, becoming the protagonist, would mean that my experience throughout the game mattered as Geralt. I got to be a conventional Witcher in Geralt and now I get to be an unconventional one in Ciri. This change can lead to more female players and can open up the world of Witcher to even more people.
Flashbacks
In the series, we return to the books, films, series, music albums and games of our childhood and youth. What was our view of these things back then? And how has this view changed after years of academic studies? Reflecting personally as well as scientifically on such questions, we perceive not only the objects of our enquiry in a new way, but we also recognize the long road we traveled since our first encouter with them.
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Something Ends, Something Begins
The worldbuilding in The Witcher 3 cannot be easily rivaled. From the disgruntled voice of Geralt to the soundtrack, the sound design basically holds my attention. While holding attention, the interactive NPC encounters add to the layer of immersion. The storyline allows me to experience real emotions like sadness, anger and joy. It is full of real-life problems such as xenophobia, racism, sexism, clashes between religion and daily life. However, these problems do not leave me helpless as I can actively change the world of Witcher. I can choose to help wizards and witches that are being hunted or leave them to their fate. After my help, they help me along the way and these interactions and the familiar feelings they provide bring me back to the game.
The Witcher 3 is an example of how a game can achieve immortality through its quality. The game can be played over and over without being boring, and for a non-competitive game to achieve that is remarkable. It is now time for new players to catch up to the games that have been impactful. People love to watch classic movies and TV series and chat about them with their friends, and now games will also be in these conversations. If people understand the reference when Priscilla’s song is mentioned, it feels like a friendship bond is made. Some games leave a special feeling with me, and reminiscing about them elevates these games to an entirely new standard. It becomes closer to the books because while the reader’s imagination gives them control over the content on the pages, the player has control over the game in terms of decisions. Geralt does not choose between Yennefer and Triss, but the player does. Finding out about the popular choices from the series, such as the love triangle of Geralt, Yennefer, and Triss, and choosing them as an individual is unique. Everyone has a different reason behind their choice. Seeking Ciri and reaching the different endings of the story can bring either joy or surprise if the player is playing the game for the first time. However, making different choices on second or third playthroughs is also exhilarating because the game becomes something new again. That is why I have played The Witcher 3 again and wrote about it, because the feeling one gets from the game is unbeknownst to a lot of people. As the player, making difficult ethical choices allows for an understanding of Geralt’s moral dilemmas and the game’s general message »Hatred and prejudice will never be eradicated. And the witch hunts will never be about witches. To have a scapegoat, that’s the key.« When the player realizes that Geralt is neither a hero nor a villain, but a character with realistic morality, the game leaves an unforgettable mark and the narrative feels as if it’s real.
