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NEWCOMER RECOMMENDATION: do not play before reading the books

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algroshaw

Rookie
#21
keithianw said:
After reading this thread and not playing the witcher 1 or 2, I'm considering reading the books first. This gives the game time to mature (patches and mods). I don't feel like playing the first two games as I'm more into open worlds (even semi open worlds) being an MMO player and loving games like Skyrim and GTA 5. I'm curious for those that read the whole series...just how many do I need to read? I'm assuming it is in this order right?1) Last Wish2) The Sword of Destiny3) Blood of Elves4) The Time of Content5) Baptism of Fire6) The Tower of the Swallow7) The Lady of the Lake (I read this is a prequel to Blood of elves. Should I read it before that even though it was the last one released? lol).Do I really have to read all 7? lol. Is this the right order? I noticed the extended addition came out with "

---------- Updated at 03:41 AM ----------

I cant seem to edit my last post. The end was supposed to say "I noticed the extended addition came out with a book as well, but not sure if there is any reason to get that instead of reading all of these."
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read att 7, yes, and in that order.
I read the 2, then I just finished book 2 of the saga. i can't comment on the last 3, but all 4 that i read were very, very, necessary. If you do not read them all, you'll miss out.

I'd say to just read the saga of 5, if you played tw1 andtw2, but since you have not, I'd read all 7. the first 2 introduce geralt, the wotld, and ciri/yen who star in tw3. the other 2 kinda blended together since i readthem so fast, but i think blood of theelves goes into ciri and her importance ans how the war starts and how etc, and time of content goes into ciri's "time of contempt", as you say.

I assume the other 3 follow closely, going into ciri, yen, and geralt some more. i know at the end of the 7th, you learn an important detail, which directly relates to an early circumstance in tw3 (having to do with the emporer of nilfgaard)
 

Guest 3713529

Guest
#22
My copy of Sword of Destiny should arrive in the mail soon and I've read every other book up until Baptism of Fire. I don't mind playing the game before finishing the books, after all I read The Last Wish and Blood of Elves only after TW1 and Times of Contempt and Baptism of Fire after TW2 and I still got lots of satisfying moments where reading the books reminded me of the references in the games.

Besides I'm loving the game so much that I predict at least two more playthroughs in the future.
 
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vesemas228

Senior user
#23
Really? Yeah that's the elephant in the room for the witcher series.. the stories in 1+2 were completely incoherent. In between all those games i found the books though, which are completely amazing. I love the completely random leading up to a perfect ending writing style.. its so well done.

I've only read the last wish and blood of elves.. and only a little way into time of contempt (so i don't know anything about ciri after she left Melitele's temple.. or how nilfguard became to be a problem.. in the game it looks like they've taken over temeria.. sounds interesting..) given that much familiarity would it be better to finish the books or play? If it will strongly improve the story of the game i can definitely hold off playing it.

Thanks for any advice.
 
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Reinmar_Bielawa

Rookie
#25
The Saga is great, I read these books for the first time like 12 years ago and that's the reason why they'll always be number one for me ;) I constantly get back to them, since this is Fantasy masterpiece (same as Reynevan trilogy). For those who haven't read them yet : I really recommend it. The beginning of the game with Geralt looking after young Ciri- it was so great, especially once you know their special bond from the books :)

BTW: nothing beats the Polish audio/voiceover of the game. If I was not a Pole, I would probably turn the Polish audio version and run English subtitles to it - as a matter of fact I heard some people are actually doing this :)
 
K

kaltorakh

Rookie
#26
1. OP is right. In witcher1 and 2 it didnt matter much, since Geralt had lost his memory, so they were like 2 separate stories. But now with his memory back, the Witcher 3 is totally a continuation of the books. Even the main plot is related. And you would love the characters much mroe if you read the books

2. That is impossible to accomplish to most players now. Playing this game, I love that I have read the books. But I wouldnt wait months to play it now if I still had to read the 7 books.

Then again, it's a pitty not having read them.
 
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VaragtP

Forum regular
#27
I am going to read the books (or listen to them) but it seems impossible to be up to date on the story if you don't speak polish since only 3 of the 5 books in the saga are translated to English?
 
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gadrael

Forum veteran
#29
Well, you can always play the game, read the books and be really motivated to replay the game once again. I kinda like discovering true meaning of things in second walktrough :)
 
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Kallelinski

Forum veteran
#30
There are even little details. When you start the game and you are able to control Geralt for the first time, you can find an empty juice jug in the room. A little wink at The Last Wish :)
 
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keithianw

Rookie
#31
algroshaw said:
read att 7, yes, and in that order. I read the 2, then I just finished book 2 of the saga. i can't comment on the last 3, but all 4 that i read were very, very, necessary. If you do not read them all, you'll miss out.I'd say to just read the saga of 5, if you played tw1 andtw2, but since you have not, I'd read all 7. the first 2 introduce geralt, the wotld, and ciri/yen who star in tw3. the other 2 kinda blended together since i readthem so fast, but i think blood of theelves goes into ciri and her importance ans how the war starts and how etc, and time of content goes into ciri's "time of contempt", as you say. I assume the other 3 follow closely, going into ciri, yen, and geralt some more. i know at the end of the 7th, you learn an important detail, which directly relates to an early circumstance in tw3 (having to do with the emporer of nilfgaard)
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I hate you lol. Anyway, will take your advice. I just downloaded the Last Wish to the Kindle App on my ipad. 388 pages or so...so not that long. Ill start that after I get through the first book of Dragons of Autumn Twilight. 70% finished with that :).
 

Guest 3713529

Guest
#32
kaltorakh said:
That's not true, I read all 7 books like 4 years ago...
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You must have read the fan translations because the official ones cover from The Last Wish to Baptism of Fire
 
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aleeg91

Forum regular
#33
Kallelinski said:
There are even little details. When you start the game and you are able to control Geralt for the first time, you can find an empty juice jug in the room. A little wink at The Last Wish :)
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I read The Last Wish such a long time ago... would you be so kind as to remind me what was TW3 referencing with the juice jug? I can't really remember.
 
K

Kallelinski

Forum veteran
#34
aleeg91 said:
I read The Last Wish such a long time ago... would you be so kind as to remind me what was TW3 referencing with the juice jug? I can't really remember.
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When Geralt was looking for Yennefer, he had to sneak in her house. There was a guy looking for apple juice in the cellar for her, but he was too drunk and passed out, so Geralt brings it to her. Just because he brought her apple juice, she listened to his request.
 
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kaltorakh

Rookie
#35

Guest 3713529

Guest
#36
kaltorakh said:
I'm checking the wiki and it seems you are right about the english translation. I read them in spanish. The last book was translated to spanish in 2011:
http://www.amazon.es/dama-lago-Alamut-Serie-Fantástica/dp/8498890624

And it is expected in 2017 in english. 6 years later in english than spanish, this is pretty wierd.
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I know right? I find it very annoying. I tried to read the fan translation of Sword of Destiny and didn't like the way it was written, that's why I stick to the official publishing.
 
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Sharpy47

Rookie
#37
I have to make a hard choice here (just like in 'The Witcher', lol) - I just finished all White Orchant main and side quests and Im about to move on into Vizima... The question is - should I now stop and finish reading the last book of the saga, or I can keep reading it and playing W3 at the same time? Please help me out, because Witcher 3 already became my Top 3 game of all time and It's hard to not come back to play it.
 
T

Tijsko

Rookie
#39
Great, I have not read the books nor played the previous games. Good thing I like to read and have an holiday coming up. To bad I like this game and have a day off before leaving on holiday :O
 

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