I'm finding this chapter weird too, it's my least favourite chapter. After the intensity of Act III, it's been a bit of a let down in that respect. So much so I'm struggling to get through it. All the marraige stuff and lady of the water stuff is wishy washy and poor. Where's the blood letting and action?
I find this chapter different, but great. Really slow at the end, ending with a hardcore bloodbath, Beautiful and dreamy, with many different flavours influencing it - Arthurian mythos, Slavic folklore, Polish romanticism and symbolic painting... and Cthulhu mythos ;P. IIt answers a few important questions about Geralt and Alvin (I loved the flashback I got when choosing Shani). My favourite act.Some possible influences (or the things from Polish art I think could have influenced it Malczewski's painings http://www.pinakoteka.zascianek.pl/Malczewski_J/Images/W_tumanie.jpghttp://artyzm.com/e_obraz.php?id=4177Don't they look like the plains in the act?And this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_xjRN-Ou_s - it played in my head when I was playing the act for the first time. (It's titled "At noon")The lyrics (translated by me)The sun is shaking the earth, clouds have been wiped from the skyAnd in silence you can hear grain pouring out of the ears.Women's calves gleam white wiith their skirts pulled upThe earth is breaking with hopeThe noonwraith is born.Birds doze in her braids when the earth is sunbrokenand like a will of God she wanders her own ways.Noone will know where she's going, where she came fromWhose hard lives she is carrying in her water carriersShe goes on and on, stopping somewhere for a whileAn old woman lit a candle, there, the peasant dies.She'll come for me in the summer, I don't know in how many yearsShe'll come, stand in front of the cottage and say "It's time for you"I'll give my land to my children, I'll do something littleAnd on the fragrant sundayI'll follow the noonwraith.I'll leave with the noonwraithOh yes, I do love this song 
It did feel weird but it turned out to be my favorite chapter especially with characters like the Lady and the vodyan priest and of course my favorite quote "Arrgh!Women"
Yes, my favorite chapter, too. It's a good chapter for Geralt to gain talents (quests, plus Crypt in the fields especially) as there is not much leveling after.Andarthiel said:It did feel weird but it turned out to be my favorite chapter especially with characters like the Lady and the vodyan priest and of course my favorite quote "Arrgh!Women"
The marriage story in this chapter is based on one of the best Polish romantic novels - "Balladyna" by Juliusz Słowacki. It's a great story with roots in Slavic folclore.I love the act, the settings and the music and I do the quests slowly on purpose - all that fighting in the previous one and problems with killing this horrble kikimore tired me so that I couldn't push myself to turn the game on for a month. Now I'm resting and admiring and loving itspicey said:
It also reminds me some of the Sapkowski novels like the one about the devil - it was also rural and calm.Quite enjoying it. I think it´s also just long enough. I´m at the end now and I´m more or less chomping at the bit, was running around trying to get the last quests finished so I could get on with it again. Definately feels like a break to the earlier heaps and heaps of work done for others but also work and effort put into (story-wise) re-discovering yourself and your abilities (and as a gamer, discovering what being a witcher is all about).
Anyways, once the gf gets off the computer, I can adventure on and finish this chapter
I thought this initially. But when you get the information from the elven craftsman, your journal specifically states the Elven songs are to be found in crypts of minstrels and neither crypt in this level says it houses minstrels so I didn´t spend much time looking. I haven´t finished the game yet, so I don´t know if the rest of the armor pieces are in fact in minstrels´crypts, but it just means I´ll run into them at some point. Or not. Whatever, as far as I´m concernedhiver said:
The only thing I thought had an unfinished feel to it was the part where you´re supposed to be able to talk to the knights at night, because that is what the hermit says. He doesn´t say he speaks to them, he says "you can", but that just might be a translation thing and I never thought much of it. I think the quest for the grail in itself, was more of a fleshing out of the lady and her lack of champions. Adding something to her character other than "oh yeah, we´ve got this water woman here and she´s awesome, but we won´t bother explaining why or how or anything, we just need a means to give you a better weapon". The whole setting with the Lady of the Lake is obviously based in the King Arthur+round table saga and I feel it was given quite a clever twist: she´s been around for ages, people adore and even worship her, yet she has no one to defend her honour; how come? Well, that´s how, all her champions went off chasing something that didn´t need chasing and it´s left her with a bitter aftertaste. In its most basic form, it is still just the means by which the game hands you a better sword. But at least now you know why she feels the need to Knight you: because she used to be surrounded by knights fighting for her and in her name and now she has someone doing that once more.hiver said:
With regards to who conquers who I definately think the lady is taking the lead. She is telling Geralt what to do, what to say, in what direction to go and in the end, Geralt in desperation just blurts out the first thing that comes to mind (and going by what´s gone before, undoubtedly all he´s ever had the experience of having to say to a woman to flatter her), inadvertently doing exactly what she wanted of him: treating her as a woman and not as a goddess. And then she basically tells him, look, are you going to get on with this, or do I have to spell it out to you? I´m not quite sure how you feel Geralt is leading in all this.Also, I gather you finished the game, did you talk to her after? I thought that was some of the most clever dialogue and I think might perhaps finish up the earlier dialogue if you felt it was a bit abrubt. Made me feel really quite guilty (even though I had no idea what intention Gerald was supposed to have asking the initial question) and then she just pokes fun of him. Classichiver said:
Anyways, once the gf gets off the computer, I can adventure on and finish this chapter This is absolutely my favorite chapter in the game.The change of pace and rest is nice. The scenery and music is beyond fantastic. The first time I played through, when I landed on the lake at night and saw the city disappear, I could all ready tell I was gonna like this chapter.As a philosophy major, I also enjoyed how "inward" this chapter was, and how it addresses the themes of destiny vs free will, and all that philosophica junk.Also, the scene where the Lady of the Lake knights Geralt is, in my opinion, the single best cut scene in the game. In addition to being jaw droppingly beautifully done, the script it both emotionally stirring, and an excellent preperation for Geralt's return to Vizima. The only thing that annoyed me was you can't enter to abandoned house in the fields. Unless of course, you can, I've tried a lot but could never find a way in.Artistically it's beautiful. Plot wise is relieving and needed. Substance wise it's rich in both developing characters and addressing philosophical issues, as the original author would approve of. In every possible sense, this chapter is amazing.
This is also one of my favorite place Not only for the country side as well as the color and the side quest are given to you there It has one of my favorite cute scene when Geralt is Knighted by the Lady of the Lake Which had me thinking that silver sword she gave him could it be Excalibur ?
hmmm... i don't think so, Excalibur is part of the Holy Grail which is in turn part of the game regarding the knights who fought for the Lady of the lake and who were searching for the Holy Grail. If it's Excalibur, I think It would be named Excalibur
This will depend on which theory you subscribe to.The Hermit can tell you more.PetraSilie said:
I will have to re look over that part true it would be called Excalibur if it was but maybe it was given a different name the Destiny thing LOL And depending on what story one reads about King Arthur Sword was returned to The lady of the lake when King Arthur died Also depending on what story one reads as well The sword Excalibur was one artifact and the holy grail was anotherPetraSilie said:hmmm... i don't think so, Excalibur is part of the Holy Grail which is in turn part of the game regarding the knights who fought for the Lady of the lake and who were searching for the Holy Grail. If it's Excalibur, I think It would be named Excalibur
LOL well one for the book just like who was the Assassin in the endHi, my 1st post here!My first disappointment was in chapter 4. The game has been awesome so far... Sharing the title of 'the best CRPG ever' with Daggerfall in my books.It's Julian. When I told him the terrible news, instead of crying, denial, yelling, tears, I get... immediate acceptance. "Do what you need to put her to rest Witcher"... I liked the guy until he said that. He's not a least bit humane, he's a psychopath if you ask me. Maybe that IS the case, I haven't finished the quest yet. The quest on other parts, has been mind blowing. The atmosphere could have been cut with a knife when I ventured to the Fields first two times... But I really felt bad when I was going to give him the news, and his reaction was an anticlimax.
Yes, I felt that too. It kind of broke the realism of the game for a minute. And after delivering the news you can still casually chat with him about other things. You get the feeling that he wasn't all that into her, and that he was actually relieved to hear of her death. ???Firelake said:
Loved this act. The fifth one, on the other hand... it wasn't bad, but it felt a bit too rushed for my tastes; secondary quests were few, it was too focused on the main plot.
Maybe you got this impression because Act 4 was in comparison to the previous acts a relaxation and full of beauty. In my opinion Act 5 is some sort of climax, the final encounter is near.Julian's callousness... once I tried to talk to him cos I needed an info (don't remember what it was but at any rate after the death of his fiancé) he refused to talk to Geralt and argued, his beloved just died and he isn't in the mood for conversation. I guees the dialogue option was sth like "any news?"