It makes no sense playing the games before reading the books, sorry.
It makes no sense playing the games before reading the books, sorry.
In fact you'll see the depth of the games, not to mention that Geralt has amnesia.
Should you play The Witcher 2 before Wild Hunt? No. Could you play The Witcher 2 before Wild Hunt? Yes.
To me, "should" implies that you must. You do not HAVE to play Assassins of Kings before playing Wild Hunt. Wild Hunt is a self contained story meant for new players to fully enjoy themselves playing their first Witcher game. So you do not have to play The Witcher 2 before playing Wild Hunt and you will still fully enjoy Wild Hunt as a game.
Now, for me, "could" is a better choice. Could implies that by playing the past games (or reading the books or the comics) you will potentially get more out of Wild Hunt because you will have a deeper knowledge of the lore, characters, locations, etc. These will all be explained in the game for new players, but players who have more knowledge about the games/books/comics will get a little more out of the game simply because they understand the story in a deeper way than people new to the universe.
For the record, I have played the past games and read the comics, but I haven't read all the books (only the very first one in English), and I don't believe I need to. I am not having my gameplay spoiled nor am I enjoying the game less by not having read the books.
To me, "should" implies that you must. You do not HAVE to play Assassins of Kings before playing Wild Hunt. Wild Hunt is a self contained story meant for new players to fully enjoy themselves playing their first Witcher game. So you do not have to play The Witcher 2 before playing Wild Hunt and you will still fully enjoy Wild Hunt as a game.
Now, for me, "could" is a better choice. Could implies that by playing the past games (or reading the books or the comics) you will potentially get more out of Wild Hunt because you will have a deeper knowledge of the lore, characters, locations, etc. These will all be explained in the game for new players, but players who have more knowledge about the games/books/comics will get a little more out of the game simply because they understand the story in a deeper way than people new to the universe.
For the record, I have played the past games and read the comics, but I haven't read all the books (only the very first one in English), and I don't believe I need to. I am not having my gameplay spoiled nor am I enjoying the game less by not having read the books.
Ah, the subjunctive: 'should' and 'could'. It's a difficult mood in English. . . .
Hey! Here, at least, Spanish help me
Should -> debería > deber (obligation)
Could -> podría -> poder (optional)
Ay, most European languages have the upper-hand, when it comes to the subjunctive -- German is particularly good with it. However, this has naught to do with whether one should play the previous games! If they should wish, people may play them.
More like the other way round...
Weird. Shouldn't you know the franchise you're working on? I thought that'd be a natrural requirement. Like paying respect to the literary basis and its fanbase...
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I have read all the books & I believe If you play or experience the games in some way ,youre very good to go with catching past references(to connect the dots for yourself) but the game as chris said will also help you at that.... Its not like the games are talking about the books all over the place and you have no idea whats going on.. If you enjoy reading books... the witcher saga is pretty damn good, but no requirement at all...
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Perhaps a better question may be: 'would knowing Polish folklore help while playing The Witcher series?'
But you could enjoy it even more if you have read them. I'll just take example from latest gameplay. There was a line in which Geralt said " They also say mice are born of rotting straw" for you it doesn't mean anything, but it is very nice detail for those who remember that it was mentioned in books. And I believe there are much more details like that in the game
That's an interesting example you chose. I'm still reading the books, but have not yet come to that reference; however, I understand the basic meaning of mice from straw, because I'm familiar with the old concept of spontaneous generation from dead matter. So it's not entirely unapproachable without knowing the exact book-reference.
Chris, you should definitely read the books. They are very good by themselves, and won't spoil your gameplay. Actually, already in the 15 minutes of the game which were shown by IGN, we see some nods to the books, which, if you understand them, make the experience much fuller. After reading the books you'll know the two main characters of TW3, Ciri and Yennefer, on a much deeper level, which will greatly enhance the experience with the game.
The fan translations of the books which lack official ones (3 out of 7 currently) are quite decent. I really don't understand why you don't want to read Sapkowski's books.
That was a really nice detail...
"Every fool knows that"
IIRC, mayor of Aedd Gynvael said that...
IIRC, mayor of Aedd Gynvael said that...
Yeah it definitely makes sense because Geralt has amnesia.
"I hope the dump is safe now. Eh, witcher?"
"It should be. There was only one zeugl. Although it's possible that it reproduced. Zeugls are hermaphrodites, like snails."
"Now what are you saying?" Herbolth looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Reproduction takes two: a male and a female. Is it possible for zeugls to multiply like fleas or mice in a rotten straw mattress? Every idiot knows there are no male and female mice; they are all identical and just hatch by themselves from the rotten straw."
"And snails hatch from damp leaves," added the secretary, Peregrine, still busy placing the coins in piles.
"Indeed, everyone knows," Geralt agreed, smiling reassuringly. "That there are no male or female snails. There are only snails and leaves. And anyone who says otherwise is wrong."
"It should be. There was only one zeugl. Although it's possible that it reproduced. Zeugls are hermaphrodites, like snails."
"Now what are you saying?" Herbolth looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Reproduction takes two: a male and a female. Is it possible for zeugls to multiply like fleas or mice in a rotten straw mattress? Every idiot knows there are no male and female mice; they are all identical and just hatch by themselves from the rotten straw."
"And snails hatch from damp leaves," added the secretary, Peregrine, still busy placing the coins in piles.
"Indeed, everyone knows," Geralt agreed, smiling reassuringly. "That there are no male or female snails. There are only snails and leaves. And anyone who says otherwise is wrong."
As an English native that was the only way to play. So it makes perfect sense to me
As an English native that was the only way to play. So it makes perfect sense to me
It's a damn shame that Sapkowski's books are still not fully translated to Enlish yet. Especially given the fact how good they are and how much shovelware there is in the Anglo-American fantasy market...