Is it okay if I read the Witcher books before playing the games? Or will they spoil some shit from the games?
It's actually a good idea to read them first
>>331405539
Witcher games pick up where the books ended so It's good to read them.
They're all prequels to the games and you'll have a much better understanding of the characters and references
Do it OP
The games are set after the books, though Witcher 1 has a lot of call backs and basically exists to make a video game out of the first book and introduce people to a setting that had no exposure in the English speaking world. If anything you'll spoil yourself to the books by playing the games.
You should be fine. You'll get some nods to continuity, and you'll understand who the fuck Yenefer is. The first two books of short stories are great. At least read those, and you'll have all the back story you'll need. After that I'm told the books go downhill somewhat so you can probably skip them if you want, or just continue if they grab you.
>>331405883
>After that I'm told the books go downhill somewhat
Yeah, and we all know which character is to blame for that.
>>331405539
Read them you faggot. Youll have a better understanding why you shouldnt trust some characters.
>>331405883
Also, the audiobooks on Audible are great. Very good narrator that adds a lot of flavor to some prose that was made a bit less vibrant in translation. His reading of Geralt is very different from the games, which is sort of jarring, but it's worth it if you're into audiobooks.
>>331405954
No we don't
Reading the books is actually the best way to experience the games. There's alot of shit from the books that are referenced in the games and if you haven't read the books or a synopsis of them, you won't get it.
>>331405539
The thing with the books vs. the games is the author of the books basically said "Fuck the games, video games are for babies" so it might not be a good idea to connect the two.
>>331405539
>Or will they spoil some shit from the games?
If anything, they will add a lot more context.
A lot of the characters from the books reappear in the games.
There is no spoilers there.
>>331405883
Basically.
The saga is decent, but it's definitely two steps down in quality. That said, despite a lot of tediousness, the saga also has my favorite moments of all the books.
>>331406305
The devs still kept pretty close to the books imo.
The author is a fucking plebian old fart.
>>331406446
It's kind of a sad situation in which it is actually a really good successor to the books but the author himself can't respect that.
>>331406305
He didn't say that though.
He actually praised the games in their own right.
He just said that the games will never be canon and it would be ludicrous to make the author of the series adapt what is literally fanfic material into the official canon.
And he's 100% right.
Imagine if Tolkien was still alive and you basically told him to incorporate your nigger fanfiction into the official Middle Earth canon.
It's that kind of scenario.
>>331406831
>successor
No, the author is still alive and still writes books.
See >>331406874 you fucking retard.
I double dare you to show me where he said the games are shit, because never did he say such a thing.
He merely took a shit on the idea that they could ever be canon.
>>331406924
They all take place after the books though. That's what successor means.
>>331407103
They are still literal fanfiction and they still contradict the books multiple times.
You're literally saying it's A-Okay to shit on original works and tell authors to incorporate fanfiction into their official canons.
>>331405539
It's obligatory to read the books
>>331407139
I never said that. I just said it's not okay to shit on the games since they are legitimately good games.
Reading the books make you care much more about Ciri and Yen. To people who haven't read them it may seem like Ciri and Yen were made up and forced on you just for the game's sake.
>>331407252
He
LITERALLY
never
shat
on
the
games.
In that very article he says it multiple times, like 2 or 3, that the games are great in their own right although he never played them. He just can't stress it enough that they are not canon and never will be.
>>331407272
Fun fact: CDPR made it mandatory for everyone who worked on the games to read the books. It was a literal prerequisite upon being hired.
>Author assumed W1 wouldn't sell and didn't care, but threw the guys a bone
>Sold the rights for $5,000, no royalties.
Boy I'm sure he doesn't regret that now.
>>331405821
>a much better understanding of the characters and references
mainly just for The Witcher 3. 1 and 2 used so little references that it's easy to just pick up on everything. Witcher 3 has a fuckton of side characters and references from the books in comparison. (As well as a spoiler for one of the more serious twists in the books).
So yeah, you'd want to read the books before playing 3, so you might as well just read books then play vidya, but if you're getting technical I'd say that TW3 is the only one of the series that really requires some familiarity with the books to get the full picture.
However, I've seen some people say that Witcher 1 might even be better without reading the books so it isn't glaringly obvious thatTriss and Alvin were originally intended to be Yen and Ciri
I actually liked all the Witcher novels and I consider the ending to them as really, really strong in its own right. They dragged a little though.
And I liked Season of Storms too though it's obvious it's post-hussite Sapkowski.
>>331407426
Tolkien did a similar mistake but not at such ridiculously low price. His son has been trying to get the rights back ever since but it's a lost cause since Hollywood wants insane pile of money for them.
>>331407294
Well, I'll take your word for it.
>>331407440
>(As well as a spoiler for one of the more serious twists in the books).
Which one? Spoiler tag it so other anons don't get fucked.
>>331407426
I'm sure that he earned a lot of money via book sales thanks to the games.
>>331407484
At least Tolkien's in a position where it doesn't really matter to him.
>>331407487
>The Witcher is a well made video game, its success is well deserved and the creators deserve all the splendour and honour due.
>The visual effect will be stunning, the players delighted - some might even consider it to be better and easier digestible than the original book, because in the book the letters are so small.... Some will never even reach for the original book; as for them, the game will be enough.
>>331407641
His son does though and his son is the one who released a large chunk of Tolkien's work and co-wrote it.
Anyone hyped for the movie?
>>331407734
>Anglosaxon actors
>but filmed in Poland
Will be hit or miss.
>>331407550Alright, here's an actual spoiler in spoiler tagsKing Emhyr is Ciri's father and therefore is Duny/Urcheon from the first(?) bookif you get spoiled by this you're an idiot
It's not too bad a spoiler, it's just something that a reader just getting into the book series probably wouldn't want to know beforehand
>>331407776
Oh, the Sanic the Hedgehog spoiler. Yeah it's a great twist.
You totally should read them before playing the games. That way you'll understand like two times more of the game's world/lore, you'll have some "holy shit that guy was in the books!" moments and you'll even chuckle at one of the many cleverly put follow-ups and references.
It'd be even better if you were to read the books and then play both TW1 and TW2 first, but I won't force you to play games that you might not enjoy.
>>331408047
>He doesn't play all the games
Fuck off, cancer. Either play them all or don't touch 3.
I fucking hate people who don't play through it all.
>tfw read the books before playing the games
>tfw starting Witcher 3
>tfw this starts playing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJuPBBw-l-M
Literally felt like coming back home.
>>331407734
>$30mln budget
>but in Eastern Europe so it's like $100mln in Hollywood
>sfx self-made by Platige
>Baginski's feature debut so he'll give his best
I'm curious. I hope that the movie will be called The Witcher though.
>>331408223
Apparently CDPR owns the rights to the name "The Witcher" since they coined it. The official translation before CDPR times was actually "The Hexxer".
Bagiński can either use the Polish name (Wiedźmin), the old English name (The Hexxer) or come up with a different title.
Personally I'd go with just "Geralt of Rivia".
It's as obvious as you can get.
>>331408171
did the books have this song
Just don't assume the games follow the books. It's my biggest issue with the series to be honest. Not that it doesnt follow the books but the fact the game expects you to know things from the book when it's clearly a different set of characters
>>331408350
>books
>music
Anon...
Anyhow that's a remix of the Witcher 1 game main theme.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIuh8F_RROg
>>331408350
Lol how would that even work, books don't have sound.
>>331408417
Technically books do have music, but only lyrics.
>read the books
>play W3
>see familiar faces in gwent cards and get excited
>mfw realizing it's impossible to reunite Geralt's hansa in a gwent deck
>>331408307
>>331408509
You best fucking pray Regis shows up in Blood & Wine, especially since vampires are already confirmed.
>>331408590
Witchers are actually part of slavic folklore.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedmak
>>331408603
As awesome as it would be to see him it'd also be kinda weird consideringit's supposed to take him a long fucking time to regenerate from that magical bullshit.
>>331408646
>Penny Arcade making a joke based off not knowing shit
Color me surprised.
>>331408686
The games already contradict the books on multiple occassions and I could let it slide for the fanservice factor.
But yeahSapkowski himself said Regis survived but it will take him hundreds of years before he can regain corporeal form.
Also, how the fuck do you even kill a High Vampire? Lore-wise they are virtually LITERALLY immortal in every sense of the fucking word.
>>331408818
>virtually immortal
So I can kill him in real life but if Regis and Geralt were to play Halo, Regis would be immortal?
I'm about halfway through Sword of Destiny right now and just got to the part where Dudu impersonates a halfling merchant. I've been reading the first two books during my work breaks and had a hard time putting them down.
there's no point. the books have nothing to do with the game. you're probably better off starting them without reading anyway since geralt loses his memory in the game
>>331408906
What the fuck, spoilers dude.
>>331408879
You funny guy, I kill you last.
>>331408818Vilgefortzwas a min/maxing piece of shit.
>>331408590
>2004
>Three whole years before the first game even came out
Weird. Do those jokers actually read books?
>>331408603
>Witcher movie earns 10x its budget in box office
>new wave of video game adaptations and fantasy movies in Hollywood, most of them doesn't understand why Witcher was a success
>sequels are funded in an day/bidding war between big fish start for the Platige produced tv series
>we see the Regis in 5th movie/5th season
>>331408938
Geralt losing his memory is literally the intro of the first game, though I'm half sure you were just being ironic.
>>331408938
Losing his memory is literally the first thing that happens in the game series.
>>331408973
I think 2004 was the first time we've seen anything from the game.
Is it necessary to play TW1 and 2 before 3? I only have Sony consoles and a toaster of a laptop.
The way Yen acts in the books makes me think that her ending in TW3 would never ever actually happen.
>>331408956He didn't kill Regis though. That's the thing. Fucker is pretty much IMMORTAL.
>>331408706
The joke was made because there was no concept of a "witcher" in english language before CDPR came up with it, retard.
>>331408646
Except they arent. It's a neologism. A female witch in russian is "vedma", a male witch was called "vedun" not "vedmak".
I'm russian and I havent seen a single mention of "vedmak" ANYWHERE, that's not related to the witcher game. That wiki article mentions Ushakov's dictionary as a source, but the dictionary doesnt have the word "vedmak" in it.
>>331409074
Nah, it's fine. I'm fan of the series since early 2000's and I was unable to get through W1 until last month.
>>331409087
You didn't read the books entirely then. He Ice Queen exterior is just that, her shell.
The witcher books are slav books and having tried the english translations I have to say they come off boring flat and uninspired
The witcher really does lose a lot in translation.
About half the fun of the book (and also the reason why this is 15 year old kid literature) was the massive amount of imaginative swearing in the book and english, with its wide swearing vocabulary consisting in 90% of the word "Fuck" is simply unable to carry this across.
Having said all that I tried to reread these books again a couple years ago and its a horrible cringefest
>>331409074
No, not really. I'd recommend it since they're both good games and really help you get into the setting and introduced to some major characters who you'll like a lot more, but no, not necessary. 1 and 2 are sort of their own adventures, whereas as the main plot of 3 builds on the book series.
>>331409127It just pissed me off how quickly he took him out. At least Regis was able to lay hands on him first, though.
>>331409087
Except when she was living with Geralt for five years and he was the one to leave.
That kind of shit makes people bitter.
>>331409168
The Ice Queen*
Fucking typo.
>>331409152
I don't know about your ruskie shit but "wiedźmak" was an actual thing in Polish folklore.
>>331409232
So I could just read the short stories and novels then jump into 3 and I'd be fine? I'm sure I'd get around to 1 and 2 when I upgrade my PC, anyway, but still
>>331408818
>Sapkowski himself said Regis survived but it will take him hundreds of years before he can regain corporeal form.
Source? In the books it sounded like vampires can't regenerate from burning or whatever it was
>>331409291
Watch W1 and W2 summary videos on youtube first.
>>331409249
I'm not arguing polish folklore, I'm arguing russian folklore and the shitty sources on that article.
>>331409291
Yeah. Only a few things from 2 are plot relevant in 3 and it's mostly minor.
>>331409074
The Witcher has very little influence on the story of 3 but sets up the world and characters. And it would probably run fine on your laptop assuming it was built in the last 5-7 years or so.
The Witcher 2 has more direct story influences, but there's an optional sequence in 3 that allows you to retroactively determine the story of that game through dialogue if you don't have any saves to import.
It's obviously best if you play those games first, but you'll still get plenty of enjoyment if you settle for perusing the games' respective Wikipedia synopsis instead.
>>331409291
>upgrading PC for 1 and 2 but not 3
???
Why not just save 3 for the upgraded PC, because that game on PC is absolutely stunning.
>>331408981
>new wave of video game adaptations and fantasy movies in Hollywood, most of them doesn't understand why Witcher was a success
10/10 understanding how Hollywood works in that sense they have no idea what they're doing
>>331409236
That just gave me the impression that the relationship was unsustainable on both ends. I've yet to finish Blood of Elves so maybe things will improve between them later on, but for now I just don't see it.
>>331409074
you don't have to. i would though. tw1 is a really slow burn game and will suck up at least 50 hours of your life. tw2 is pretty short with lots of action that moves the plot forward. playing the first two games will also make your decision between yen and triss that much more memorable
>>331409534
They wanted a child but they were both infertile.
They would be over if not for adopted daughterfu.
>>331409558
Also, reading the books and then skipping straight to TW3 will guarantee that you never give Triss the time of day.And rightfully fucking so.
>>331409392
Got that right.
>>331408603
I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand it would be pretty fucking sweet to meet up with him again if they can come up with an excuse, bu then again, it's also kind of fan wankey.
At the very least I hope Geralt will at least acknowledge his own squad or talk a bit about them considering the circumstances last time he was in Toussaint.
>>331409845
what's wrong with triss exactly? all sorceresses are cunts, even yen. fact is yen abandoned geralt and didn't even try to make contact with him until she needed him in tw3 while triss was there for him since the beginning
>>331409392
Because I'd rather pay $40 to $60 for a PS4 game now than wait till I have the hundreds required to build a functioning computer. But I guess my backlog is big enough as is that I can stand to wait for TW3
>>331407272
This.
If you've never read the books, you'll have Yennefer and Ciri shoved down your throat in the finally chapter and you'll be expected to care for them.
Reading the books alleviates that dissonance.
I'm reading the books right now (after playing Witcher 1 and Witcher 2)
Pros:
-When the reading the book I have a decent idea of how the characters look, sound and act like.
Cons:
I played Witcher 2 first, so I had no idea what the fuck was going on.
Then I played Witcher 1 and there are so many characters and names and shit that I still didn't know what the fuck was going on.
>>331410017
Man did you even read the books? Anyone who sided with the Lodge should be on Geralt's blacklist, I can't believe they put those cunt sorceresses in 3 and had them act all buddy buddy with Geralt like none of it had ever happened.
>>331410128
They really should've introduced Yennefer in 2 at some point. Would've made it a bit easier for newcomers to swallow, if it wasn't two very vital characters with a huge backstory at once.
>>331410295
It takes a little while to get into, just remember some characters aren't that important so don't bother too much about keeping track of all characters.
Just ask if there's something you're confused about.
>>331410313
>Man did you even read the books?
no
reading is for nerds rofl
>>331410328
She's in almost all of the comic-style flashbacks and mentioned in a ton of dialogue.
>>331410328
Witcher 3 was unfair against yen that's true.
Ciri doesn't even say mother or father to Yen or Geralt.
The third game is not worth playing to be quite honest, lad.
>>331410445
She's mentioned every now and then, but that's not really the same.
>>331410328
Yennefer was really only mentioned in a sentence or two of dialogue about Geralt's past, and a cut scene.
I wish they'd done more to her, it would have made me tolerate her more.
From what I've heard the only people that really like her are people that have read the books, because apparently she's a different women in the books than she appears in the game.
As someone who's only read the official English translated ones so far, my impression of Yen from the Witcher 3 was a whiny, manipulative cunt who treats Geralt like shit.
Yet people who've read all the books claim that game Yen is the same as book Yen, and they love her for it, because they understand the dynamic and relationship between her and Geralt, and their mutual love for Ciri.
Thus, especially because Triss was given such more time in the games, the waifuwars between Triss and Yen really just come down to people who have read the books and people who haven't.
I think Yennefer, and Ciri, were forced into the Witcher 3 purely for the bookfags, and they were a detriment to the trilogy CDPR were trying to give. It felt like they were heading in one direction with W1 and W2, and then they decided to 180 and go another way with Witcher 3.
A much better version I think would have been to continue the story with Geralt and Triss, Shani, Roche, Ves and Iorveth, Sigfried and Yaevinn, Letho, Saskia, etc.. All the characters they created in the games, the majority of them were just tossed away and substituted with characters from the books.
I've only read half way into the Saga, but for someone who's never touched the books, I can't imagine that much of a choice would be made between Yen and Triss, nor could I imagine much of a emotional response made from first finding Ciri, orhaving her die at the end.
>>331411247
If they went shead and ignored most of the lore, then why go with Geralt at all? He's defined by his relationship with Ciri and Yen.bleaving them out of the games would be stupid.
>>331411247
>apparently she's a different women in the books than she appears in the game.
You just get to see more of her and know the full extent of her relationship with Geralt.
She's still a cunt a lot of the time but reading the books you realize Geralt's a cunt to pretty much everyone most of the time, too. Yen really just came across as a female version of Geralt, except she was a sorceress involved in sorceress things while he was a witcher involved in witcher things.
The last untranslated books do bring it all together, though. No way could I pair up Geralt with anyone else after all that.
>>331410107
You'll get more value out of the PC in the long run. Besides, you can always just pirate the games and save a bit of money. Though, yeah, either way there's no rush when you have a big backlog.
>>331411247
Didnt Triss take a big shit on Geralts ideals in the 3rd book? Ive only read up to it so far but helping murder a bunch of mages in the name of the king wouldnt really sit well with Geralt.
Anyone here read the books? Remember the Battle of the Bridge at the end of the 3rd/4th book? So fucking good.
Also when Zoltan first appears
>>331410463
>Ciri doesn't even say mother or father to Yen or Geralt.
I feel as though this is something I shouldn't have read
>>331412397
That was a pretty crazy battle for Geralt and company to just waltz right into.
>>331412397
>>331412727
I love how he got given the official name of Rivia after having used it incorrectly for so long.