After watching Netflix’s latest hit series, The Witcher, I found myself back adventuring as Geralt in The Witcher 3. Apparently, I’m not alone as the RPG released back in 2015 is experiencing a resurgence. More than 100K gamers are playing The Witcher 3 concurrently via Steam which is the highest number of players ever.
Despite my ever expanding backlog of shame, I plunged back into The Witcher. I had already finished the main campaign a few years ago but I never finished the two major DLCs. I’m absolutely enjoying my time but I’ve found myself going off the beaten path. The seemingly endless side quests, contracts and treasure hunts are keeping me busy. Most are leftovers from my initial playthrough but completing these tasks are resulting in Xbox achievements. For me, these achievements are precious points in the year long challenge I do with another group of gamers.
As for the series, I felt it was a bit of a hot mess. Nevermind the series jumping from timeline to timeline without any indication, the main story barely moved forward. The show started off shaking with a clunky, B-rated monster fight but also included a spectacular sword fighting scene. With only eight episodes in season one, the series spends an inordinate amount of time building the backstories. The various timelines eventually converge in the final episodes which includes a valiant battle scene. As entertaining as the battle scene was the conclusion of the season left me feeling empty and no payoff for sinking time in all eight episodes.
Despite the empty feeling, the show is still enjoyable. My hope is that season 2 propels the main story much farther and deeper that season one. For now, I’ll be questing with my Geralt.