The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt celebrated ten years of monster slaying on Might 19, and writer CD Projekt honored the milestone with an anniversary stream starring Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle, a shocking new trailer, and The Witcher 3 worth drops throughout platforms for individuals who aren’t one of many 50 million who’ve already bought it. But, when you might wish to have fun by booting up The Witcher 3 for another hunt, contemplate as an alternative diving into the books that supplied the muse for CD Projekt Crimson to construct the video games upon.
I purchased The Witcher 3 5 years in the past, however to keep away from one other Sport of Thrones state of affairs (the place foolish me watched the present earlier than studying the books), I dedicated to studying your entire guide sequence earlier than putting in the sport. And I’m so glad I did! Andrzej Sapkowski’s two quick story collections and 6 novels all inform a tremendous story, in addition to present a lot context and depth for the occasions of The Witcher 3.
When you begin The Witcher 3 with out the information of the books, you’ll be unknowingly hindering the emotional affect of so many characters and quests in The Witcher 3. Take Geralt and Yen, for instance. Their fates are actually tied collectively because of the occasions of the quick story “The Final Want,” and Geralt’s want ensures they by no means stray from the opposite’s orbit for lengthy. But The Witcher 3’s quest of the identical identify explores the want’s affect from Yen’s standpoint; it’s left her with an uneasy feeling concerning what the 2 actually imply to 1 one other, resulting in the most effective quests in your entire sport — one which I don’t assume can emotionally resonate with the identical affect if you happen to hadn’t examine these two from their from first assembly onward. They’ve each cherished and harm one another over time, however are supposed to be collectively, djinn or no djinn.
Studying the quick story collections and novels will even introduce you to a number of the finest supporting characters present in Witcher canon. The later books largely concern Geralt’s pursuit of a lacking and fleeing Ciri, and alongside the best way he’s joined by his Hansa, a Fellowship of The Ring-like group of fantastic supporting characters. When you actually know Dandelion from the video games, the Hansa additionally contains the heroic Nilfgaardian soldier Cahir and my private favourite Milva, human ally to the majority-elven guerilla fighters Scoia’tael. Every member of Geralt’s Hansa has a charming arc, and the books are maybe value studying for them alone.
With The Witcher 4 too a few years away, now’s the proper time to dive into Sapkowski’s eight-book sequence (with a ninth on the best way!). Not solely will the books enrich your expertise enjoying The Witcher 3, however they’ll additionally present context on why this saga was Ciri’s story all alongside. Sure, the books are instructed largely from Geralt’s perspective and also you embody him within the video games, however his position within the novels is partially to advance Ciri’s plot, to save lots of her from falling within the machinations of evil males like Emhyr and Vilgefortz who wish to use her and her Elder Blood gene to advance their very own schemes.
