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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2020 12:56:53 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2020 14:58:37 GMT -6
Witcher III was my first entry to the series. It came free with my gaming pc's graphics card and I enjoyed the hell out of it. I haven't gotten around to reading the books yet but I feel like they captured the essence of the world with the tv show. I hear the creator of the Cyberpunk tabletop game has also put out a really good tabletop adaptation, too.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2020 0:04:42 GMT -6
Not sure what you're referring to - there was a Witcher boardgame a few years ago that was almost universally panned. From my own perspective, honestly, it wasn't very good: Basically, Arkham Horror for the Witcher universe, but with very long single rounds. I'm not aware of a new one being made.
The Wither tabletop *RPG*, in my opinion, made the most out of the material it was based on, but for me, it just didn't work, the same way that I appreciate, say, Skyrim, but would not run a game there on my own: The interesting stories are plainly already told in the video game, and building a game around an open-world storyline - that, in turn, is based on a series of novels - is complicated, possibly logistically difficult, and probably quite unrewarding. Personally, taking some ideas *from* the Witcher books and games, that will work well; but in the end, I'll always use D&D instead of a system that was created to do D&D-like games, and a setting that is less "loaded" than a setting all players already have intense personal relationships with. |
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Post by Vile Traveller on Jul 30, 2020 7:29:38 GMT -6
I hear the creator of the Cyberpunk tabletop game has also put out a really good tabletop adaptation, too. Not sure what you're referring to - there was a Witcher boardgame a few years ago that was almost universally panned. I believe @ampleframework is talking about the R.Taslorian Witcher RPG (R.Taslorian of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. fame). |
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Post by arkansan on Jul 30, 2020 8:09:46 GMT -6
Just finished the first season of the television show the other evening, really enjoyed it. I don't have much background with the series, I've read The Last Wish short story compilation and played The Witcher 3 a bit.
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Post by sixdemonbag on Jul 30, 2020 9:35:32 GMT -6
I'm sadly more down on the series.
I found the Netflix show to be overly confusing with the jumping timelines and a little too Xena/Hercules for my tastes. Henry Cavill seems like a nice guy but is a poor actor for carrying a series. I didn't care for the actress playing Yennefer either. Those roles need a lot charisma. Cavill's monotone gets old quick. You could see Anya "acting" in every scene like she's doing a stage play.
It's not gonna be GoT anytime soon since I see very little discourse about it outside of nerd/gamer circles. GoT, OTOH, was a true 4-quadrant phenomenon, that ultimately disappointed in the end.
I would love to see GoT and Star Wars rebound soon. Maybe the GoT prequels can spark some joy the way The Mandalorian did for SW.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2020 15:09:20 GMT -6
Not sure what you're referring to - there was a Witcher boardgame a few years ago that was almost universally panned. I believe @ampleframework is talking about the R.Taslorian Witcher RPG (R.Taslorian of Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. fame). Yes, indeed. I understand it's par for the course for what people expect from them, which is high praise. Funny enough, Mike Pondsmith had never heard of the Witcher until the guys from CD Projekt Red contacted him about turning Cyberpunk into a video game. They sent him a copy of Witcher III as their resume', and he was impressed enough with it that he wanted to turn it into an RPG. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2020 23:11:49 GMT -6
Personally, I'm mostly interested in how the franchise will deal with new video games: Gwent seems alright, but is only a solid third after Hearthstone and Magic. The Witcher III essentially ended the story of Geralt and Yennefer. Whatever they do now, if they go back to the same characters, it's going to be pretty removed from the books. The CD Project Red games had a certain reason for being, in that the story was solid, and the overall ending was well thought-through. But a lineal sequel to them? Seems difficult, even with a dedicated fan base. My guess is that the main games will get the GTA V treatment, instead, and that we will probably see a few "side story" games like the recent "Thronebreaker". (Which I haven't had any chance to play yet because I spend my free time being a moderator on a certain forum.  ) I think, though, that "Blood Origins" might perhaps come coupled with a video game, as well. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 31, 2020 15:01:35 GMT -6
I'm not really interested in anything short of the Witcher IV as far as video games go. I never got the appeal of digital card games. Playing Gwent as a mini game in Witcher III was a fun diversion, like Sabaac in KOTOR, but I wouldn't buy a standalone Sabaac game. Now, the actual physical Pazaak product, on the other hand, does look interesting. Just something unappealing about pretending to play cards on a computer, I guess. I'd rather play real cards.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 1, 2020 2:21:45 GMT -6
Yeah, this is what I meant when I said that I'm not too interested in brands that go "hard Hollywood". Spin-offs are cool, but they also need to make sense. The story of "Thronebreaker", say, seems to be really good - but its value to the overall story arc is not necessarily transparent to people who are not really into the franchise. I can see a remake of the older games, or even a game version of the novels work out in interesting ways, though.
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Post by tdenmark on Aug 1, 2020 5:54:53 GMT -6
I've watched the first 3 episodes so far and it just hasn't hooked me. It's exactly the kind of fantasy I like and the cast is fine. I'm debating whether to bother watching anymore.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2020 0:17:30 GMT -6
I haven't read the books or played the games, but I'm super eager to get into them....soon. Which isn't very soon for me at all -- I'm terribly tardy about this sort of thing. Well, I'd eat up the game the moment I bought it, I've been itching to play it for years, but I don't own a good enough PC to run it xD
I did watch the series though. I don't think it'll come close to the cultural clout of LOTR or GOT, for the simple reason that it's a series on Netflix. People aren't forced to watch the same television series the way we were when GOT came out, while both streaming services and television channels aren't as tight when it comes to gatekeeping as your local cinema.
I don't think it has the potential to, either. GOT is much more subversive about its relationship with LOTR than The Witcher. The Witcher *seems* edgy, it *seems* political, but thus far its "edge" is just sex and violence, rather than, say, Tywin Lannister juggling the concerns of the citizens of King's Landing after an expensive tournament.
It's a question of thematics, I think. Having some sort of thematic thrust tends to elevate a work of art from the popular to the undeniable, perhaps because said thematic thrust satisfies a need beyond that of "mere" entertainment.
Until around the fifth season, GOT's thematics were always grittier, always "smarter", than its granddaddy LOTR. If the main thrust of LOTR is Tolkien's concept of the eucatastrophe, GRRM seems to dispense of that concept altogether, since the point of the eucatastrophe is that it's utterly out of our hands; instead, GOT focuses on the fact that we have to get our shirt together as a collective or else the proverbial Long Winter will plain f**k us over. It's what I'd call Tolkien's metaphysical versus Martin's sociopolitical, neither of which have the advantage. If GOT always makes me think, then LOTR always makes me cry.
The Witcher, meanwhile, gestures at both but possesses neither. Throughout the series, there seems to be a force much like Tolkien's eucatastrophe, "destiny", only the concept so far doesn't seem to have much of a point except to get three of our mains together, while its gestures at the deeper sociopolitical forces at work -- the Brotherhood of Sorcerers, the Nilfgaardian Empire -- are just that, "gestures".
Right now, the show only signifies through its characters and its sense of adventure, which make it much more like Xena or Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser than the shows most people seem more eager to compare it to. This isn't a bad thing. Henry Cavill's charisma gets through so much that I can't help but share in all the fun he's having, while Anya Chalotra, though imo not quite there yet, has potential. I love spending time with the show's Geralt and Jaskier, while Yennefer's story approaches the compelling.
And, again, edge, or what I guess is best called "weirdness": Stregobor's garden of carnal delight. Yennefer conjuring up an audience while she and Istredd make love. The insane scene where Yennefer's reproductive system is torn out of her body. "The Law of Surprise". The entire episode with the genie. So far, it's fantasy in what I understand to be the classic pulp tradition, a tradition that, on television, is better exemplified by the likes of Merlin or Xena, only it's more willing to "go there" than its predecessors.
The weakest part of the story is Ciri. Not only is she the character at the heart of the show's so far botched attempt at a thematic thrust, but nothing also happens to her as a character. This might be improved by the series in later seasons, but reading through what Rafael's posted, I'm now less optimistic than I was when I first finished the show.
Still, it fills a niche. I hope that, however coherent the story and its thematics become, the show stays pulpy. I love the show much in the way I love the Fahfrd stories, but I don't think the objects of this particular love are for everyone, and that's alright.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2020 8:43:53 GMT -6
Honestly, one year later, my impression of the series is still positive: The timeline jumps are quite badly done, but as an adaptation of the books, it's more than solid. The series is no LotR or GoZ - but that's because the books aren't. The books are about slightly-more-muscular Elric wandering the world hunting monsters, all the while accompanied by his patchwork family.  So, I'm actually pretty glad the series doesn't try to add more unnecessary layers of complexity. The series, so far, has been mostly "thematic exposition", and not necessarily "narration-related exposition": We now know, as an audience, who "The Witcher" is, what he and his environment look like, and how the world seems to work, in general. We have not yet seen elements that form a wider story arc. - And that's the challenge for this rather liberal adaptation of the original material: Can it deliver beyond "ugh. yeah Hollywood is doing another classic"? - Myself, looking at how Netflix has been doing Fantasy, especially recently, I'm not too worried. I wonder, though, whether general audiences realize that they're not in for, whatever, essentially another fantasy version of "The Wire", but for "Conan and the Young Warriors".  |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2020 20:53:15 GMT -6
I hope they do, and that they keep watching because of it! The folks that I've heard share the same love as I do for the show think of it the same way, pretty much. Overall my impression is just positive, if I wasn't clear about it, and even with my few reservations, I'm just excited for what's next.
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Post by Falconer on Nov 18, 2020 20:54:07 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2020 8:49:09 GMT -6
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) I think, though, that "Blood Origins" might perhaps come coupled with a video game, as well. 
So, I'm actually pretty glad the series doesn't try to add more unnecessary layers of complexity. 
