What did you think of the Wild Hunt's portrayal *SPOILERS, of course*

[CTPhipps]

What did you think of the Wild Hunt's portrayal *SPOILERS, of course*

Overall, I'm of mixed feelings regarding the Wild Hunt. I didn't want another Letho as the villain because while he was an enjoyable EXCEPTION to the rule, the simple fact is Letho wasn't a villain in the first place and the real evildoers (Phillipa, Henselt, Nilfgaard), had a chance to get away with everything and mostly did.

I think the game managed to portray the Wild Hunt as a ruthless, aggressive, and constantly terrifying force which is always just a few feet behind Ciri. She's basically dealing with the Nazgul and they're wonderfully effective in that role. When I got to kill my first one with Keira Metz, it gave me a feeling of immense satisfaction.
I also think we got to see a softer side of their race with Ava's visit to their home planet, full of unicorns and beauty. Frankly, I didn't think it was beautiful ENOUGH to warrant Geralt's awe at the place. Still, it gave a reasonable enough motivation for their action. Their world is dying and they want to survive by fleeing to ours. Ciri would have even been willing to help if they weren't willing to torture her to do it and invade Geralt's world (which is going to die soon themselves).

I did think Eredin's death lacked the grandeur of killing Ilmerith, though.

 

[uScared]

I could write a thousand word post about how it feels to me, but in one word: Rushed.

 

[FarrySquall]

Badass rider run in the sky bing death to all people
Turn out just some ordinary elf from another world with no special power and Geralt can 1 vs 1 all of them
King of Wild hunt should be the mage (at least he has the power to freeze everyone), from what i know Eredin can't even beat Letho

 

[TudorAdrian]

I could write a thousand word post about how it feels to me, but in one word: Rushed.

100% Agreed! Rushed as hell.

 

[Noobseals]

I could write a thousand word post about how it feels to me, but in one word: Rushed.

Agree! Honestly I'm not satisfied with the main story well.

 

[keldrath]

I was very satisfied with the story, my main gripes had to do with the romances, or rather their pacing.

 

[helios396]

Maybe I'm a bit shallow but when I knew that they "downgraded" Eredin's design from the awesome look he had in the Sword of Destiny trailer, I already braced myself for something less than amazing. Even Letho turned out to be a better villain imo.
Whatever exploration of Eredin's character that we got from Avallach wasn't satisfying. I remember seeing Geels' dream about their previous king's assassination and thought "that's it?". Rather underwhelming.
I agree with you though about Keira's quest. That one was badass. It feels like Geralt just defeated something really powerful.

 

[TudorAdrian]

I remember seeing Geels' dream about their previous king's assassination and thought "that's it?". Rather underwhelming.

Exactly. This would have been a HUGE opportunity to give a lengthy cutscene/cinematic/whatever to provide a shitload of background on Eredin's character...and they could have done the same to share detail on Geralt's time with the Hunt damn it!

 

[DuranA]

Everything after Kaer Morhen outside of Geralt and Ciri's interactions was just plain bad and/or rushed, very rushed. The assassination quest, the final battle, the Wild Hunt being explored as a proper enemy.

 

[Madoga]

I liked them more when they were portrayed as more of a natural force and a myth. In this game they felt more like the cliche bad guy. They probably should have established them better and made their motivations clearer.

 

[CTPhipps]

Exactly. This would have been a HUGE opportunity to give a lengthy cutscene/cinematic/whatever to provide a shitload of background on Eredin's character...and they could have done the same to share detail on Geralt's time with the Hunt damn it!

Ehhh, the game had way way way too long cutscenes and cinematics as is.

 

[DuranA]

You know what's the worst part about it all?

TW1, despite not really exploring them, had a FAR better portrayal of them as foes. Remember the ending speech by Eredin in TW1? I sure as hell do.

 

[TudorAdrian]

You know what's the worst part about it all?

TW1, despite not really exploring them, had a FAR better portrayal of them as foes. Remember the ending speech by Eredin in TW1? I sure as hell do.

Yeap, that's spot on. He was given a lot more attention/depth in W1.

---------- Updated at 10:37 AM ----------

Ehhh, the game had way way way too long cutscenes and cinematics as is.

While I sort of agree with you on the "too long cutscenes" part, doing something like that for Eredin would have served a proper goal..giving him more depth. Also wasn't implying that a cinematic would have been the only way...maybe a brief quest where you take on the part of Eredin himself maybe, playing a part in putting his plan in motion..??

 

[Sapath]

Eredin, Caranthir and Imlerith have like.... a dozen lines maybe.... combined.

If I hadn't read the books, I'd think Eredin & Co. were just generic "we are evul" one dimensional villains. Sure, there is quite some dialogue with Avalac'h explaining a few things, but in the end there is surprisingly little Wild Hunt in game subtitled 'Wild Hunt'.

So yeah, I think I was a bit disappointed in that regard.

 

[Scryar]

Very underwhelming. Someone mentioned there was more interaction between Eredin and Geralt in the trailers than in the game... and I think it's true.
Eredin followed Geralt during the whole Witcher 1 events, they spent a long time together while Geralt was a Rider of the Hunt and then we don't even get the chance to talk to him beyond of "I will kill you".
The Ciri/Eredin interaction is even worse.... because althought he chased her for more than 6 years. theere is zero interaction between them.
Not only Eredin was bland and shallow. The whole Wild Hunt plot felt rushed. There was so much missed potential. Why couldn't we have a long conversation with Gheel's or Avallac'h in Tir Na Lia about the Aen Elle elves? About their history, their situation, motivation? They could have explained so much better why the Wild Hunt chases Ciri and why the Aen Elle elves need her.
I'm also not happy with the role of Avallac'h and would have prefered of he wouldn't have been in "team Ciri/Geralt". But that's just my opinion. Though I would have wished they showed us more how much he hates humans, because Lara Dorren chose a human over him. Would't the elven girl in his laboratory told us, I wouldn't have known. Never saw his disgust in the interactions with Ciri/Geralt

Another missed oportunity was to not show us the Tir Na Lia events from the books. They could have made it a playable flashback. Avallac'h telling Ciri she has to sleep with the king to create the child, which is supposed to save the Aen Elle. Eredin trying to convince Ciri to poison the king and Ciri's escape out of Tir Na Lia. That would have added so much to the whole "elder blood" backstory, showed us why Ciri is so special and explained the relation between Ciri, Avallac'h and Eredin.

 

[CTPhipps]

Very underwhelming. Someone mentioned there was more interaction between Eredin and Geralt in the trailers than in the game... and I think it's true.
Eredin followed Geralt during the whole Witcher 1 events, they spent a long time together while Geralt was a Rider of the Hunt and then we don't even get the chance to talk to him beyond of "I will kill you".
The Ciri/Eredin interaction is even worse.... because althought he chased her for more than 6 years. theere is zero interaction between them.
Not only Eredin was bland and shallow. The whole Wild Hunt plot felt rushed. There was so much missed potential. Why couldn'T we have a long conversation with Gheel's or Avallac'h in Tir Na Lia about the Aen Elle elves? About their history, their situation, motivation? They could have explained so much better why the Wild Hunt chases Ciri and why the Aen Elle elves need her.
I'm also not happy with the role of Avallac'h and would have prefered of he wouldn't have been in "team Ciri/Geralt". But that's just my opinion. Though I would have wished they showed us more how much he hates humans, because Lara Dorren chose a human over him. Would't the elven girl in his laboratory told us, I wouldn't have known. Never saw his disgust in the interactions with Ciri/Geralt

I think Avall'ach has changed his opinion of humanity due to his long association with Ciri and the efforts of Geralt. Which is actually much better than him as a muahhahaha villain.

 

[Anionehere]

Very underwhelming. Someone mentioned there was more interaction between Eredin and Geralt in the trailers than in the game... and I think it's true.
Eredin followed Geralt during the whole Witcher 1 events, they spent a long time together while Geralt was a Rider of the Hunt and then we don't even get the chance to talk to him beyond of "I will kill you".
The Ciri/Eredin interaction is even worse.... because althought he chased her for more than 6 years. theere is zero interaction between them.
Not only Eredin was bland and shallow. The whole Wild Hunt plot felt rushed. There was so much missed potential. Why couldn'T we have a long conversation with Gheel's or Avallac'h in Tir Na Lia about the Aen Elle elves? About their history, their situation, motivation? They could have explained so much better why the Wild Hunt chases Ciri and why the Aen Elle elves need her.
I'm also not happy with the role of Avallac'h and would have prefered of he wouldn't have been in "team Ciri/Geralt". But that's just my opinion. Though I would have wished they showed us more how much he hates humans, because Lara Dorren chose a human over him. Would't the elven girl in his laboratory told us, I wouldn't have known. Never saw his disgust in the interactions with Ciri/Geralt

I don't think he hated Ciri, I got a creepy infatuation vibe from the obsessive drawings in the laboratory and the elf acting very woman scorned-y. Also, he told the female he though Ciri looked like Lara Dorren which is also another indicator of his infatuation with Ciri, but that's me.

 

[Jou05]

They were terrible antagonists if you ask me

Very generic and overall just lame (Bioware type) villians

Probably one of the reasons the main story was so underwhelming you need interesting and threatening antagonists not just some screaming idiots

---------- Updated at 01:09 PM ----------

Ehhh, the game had way way way too long cutscenes and cinematics as is.

Disagree TW 2 also had a lot and thats a good thing
What, did you want something like Skyrim?

 

[C0bR]

Half-assed

 

[Tyrvar]

Honestly I expected the average soldier of the Wild Hunt would be far stronger than those we come across throughout the Battle of Kaer Morhen. Perhaps even if they were all just slightly weaker than the mini-boss Warrior of the Wild Hunt with Keira Metz and less numerous maybe they'd be a bit more imposing.

If Eredin can't bring a whole army with him at least make the warriors he does bring elite like Imlerith instead of something alike to Warhammer 40k Slugga Boyz.