Emotional, sad questlines: Bloody Baron vs von Everec

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Emotional, sad questlines: Bloody Baron vs von Everec

A simple debate, really. Which questline do you think is more emotional? What punched you harder in the guts? The moment you see the botchling and the guilt on Baron's face, or the moment when you watch Iris' painted world crumble into nothingness?

Let me hear what you think.
 
The Bloody Baron questline was one of the most incredible I've played in any RPG ever. Better than the writing in most films and books, even. I made the decision to banish the curse on the botchling, and was moved to tears by the burial scene.

Despite the exaggerated fantasy elements of it, it was a painfully realistic representation of domestic abuse/severe alcoholism and how it affects a family. Both sides of the story were told, and neither Phillip nor Anna can be held entirely responsible for the outcome of their relationship. In the end, Phillip acknowledged the damage he'd done to his family and tried his best to atone.

If there's anything negative about the quest, it's that it gave me too high expectations for the rest of the game.
 
If I need to pick one, it's Baron. I hated him and I felt so sorry for him. Person who wrote Baron, HAS to have some first hand knowledge about alcoholism. That story was so realistic, and it was the first major questline in the game, so it was quite a "welcome". I tried both options with botchling, but I liked the burial much better. It made the story so much deeper and touching. It was sad that you couldn't have happy ending with that questline, but life is sometimes like that. It made this questline even better. You really where struggling with your decisions.

Iris's story was very sad too, but that questline just wasn't THAT great if you look at the whole picture. I mean... it was great, but Baron was even better.
 
If I need to pick one, it's Baron. I hated him and I felt so sorry for him. Person who wrote Baron, HAS to have some first hand knowledge about alcoholism.

As far as I know, the baron quest line was written by Karolina Stachyra (see this thread). Not sure about the first hand experience, though.
 
I loved the Painting World/Haunted Mansion quest, but the Bloody Baron's was more emotional. I literally felt my heart swell when the Baron names his daughter, her eyes widened and died right after trying to touch his face. Really emotional.
 
Definitely the von Everec quest! So many deliciously complicated emotions in there, I don't even know where to begin. I think the biggest difference is that we got to interact with those affected by the breakdown of a marriage for von Everec. Wheras in the Bloody Baron quest, we don't really interact with the family, we just get the Baron's side of the story. Not that it wasn't impact or emotional, but it wasn't the full picture (pun intended).

I also adore the Geralt's delivery when he speaks to Iris:

Geralt: I will remember you, Iris von Everec.
Iris: None of that matters anymore...

Props to the voice actors because I got the feels right there.
 
Can't decide between them to be honest.
Both are incredible good and real highlights.
But von Everec's had a bit more sadness :cry:

I agree it's a tough choice. I think each has its own strength and weaknesses, but I do think the von Everec questline make for a better story. It has more Sapkowski vibe to it than the Bloody Baron does. The Baron's story is, well, I don't know, more like some post-modernist story about abuse and alcoholism, with a touch of magic in it. Definitely not Witcher style of story.
 
I don't feel sympathy for evil characters.

I'd say the saddest parts were

1. Geralt thinking Ciri died, wow...
2. Vesemir getting killed.
3. Priscilla beaten and possibly losing her voice.

edit: Sorry, thought it wasn't limited to those 2.

Of the two I'd say Everec was the more evil, so I feel less sympathy for him. The Baron was an uncivilized drunk brute, but he didn't go as far as making a pact with the devil(?).

Baron's wife was more of a victim of the 2 wives though, because she had her children to worry about, and children are more important than self or parents I guess.
 
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Between Everec and Bloody Baron, I think my vote goes to the Bloody Baron storyline.


3. Priscilla beaten and possibly losing her voice.
One thing about this irritates me so much that it overshadows the emotional impact. Her tracheostomy will heal quickly and have no impact on the voice. The acidic substance, however, can have scarred tongue, throat and possibly the vocal cords so badly that the voice will get damaged. However, the game focusses almost completely on the tracheostomy. She should of course press a clean cloth onto it when speaking or especially when coughing for the next 2 weeks, but these tracheostomies heal really quickly, especially if there's no tube inserted.

Speaking from first hand experience.
 
I don't feel sympathy for evil characters.

Normally i think the same, but this time it was not so easy. .It was a tough decision.
Sure i let him die because he was evil at end , but he wanted only the best for both of them at beginning.
 
Normally i think the same, but this time it was not so easy. .It was a tough decision.
Sure i let him die because he was evil at end , but he wanted only the best for both of them at beginning.

But you have to remember than Gaunter is an even worse dick than Olgierd ever was
 
Oh man... hard to pick.

Both treat the same topic basically: a man losing all that he has because of his own actions, having no one to blame but himself. But the Baron questline was, despite the fantasy elements, obviously, a very realistic story when you think about it, while Olgierd's story mixes it with some more evident hocus pocus, conveying the message "you must be careful what you wish for", which is also the entire main theme throughout HoS.

It's hard for me, really, both are so fascinating, for different reasons, and both have tragic characters, which are the ones I like the most. Ah fuck it, let's just say I pick both.
 
I would have to go with the Baron. I have a brother and a brother in-law who both destroyed their lives and messed up their families with alcoholism, so that story line hits home.

With Von Everec there is sadness but to be honest I couldn't find a place in my heart for either of them. Iris really has no one to blame for her situation then herself. Yea sure she fell in love and married a total jerk but once it became clear what a disaster things had become she had a choice of becoming what she was or to walk away form it. As Gandolf says, "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
 
she had a choice of becoming what she was or to walk away form it
She did not had this chance to leave him, but she tried.
She wanted a divorce but olgierd killed her father.

Von Everec didn't let her go and her home was her prison for lifetime, with the "caretaker" on guard...
 
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I was more heartbroken by Iris von Everec, because she genuinely didn't deserve what she got. The Bloody Baron brought it upon himself.

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Either way, both storylines are incredible. The greatest asset a video game can have is good storytelling and The Witcher 3 has mastered that.

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Also, despite the fact that Olgierd screwed himself up, I find him much more likeable than the Baron.
 
She did not had this chance to leave him, but she tried.
She wanted a divorce but olgierd killed her father.

Von Everec didn't let her go and her home was her prison for lifetime, with the "caretaker" on guard...

I still think she had choices, she was the one who created the painting, then when Geralt comes along she can not even make a choice to decide her own fate. Not to mention all the dark creatures Geralt has to fight come directly from her. Don't get me wrong I understand she has been dealt a real crappy hand, like most people in the Witcher World.
 
1° when i read the message in Kaer Morhen after th ending "this is the end of Geralt's adventure"
2°the bad ending, in the swamp Geralt just sits and stay there and lets the monsters kill him
3°when Geralt finds Ciri "dead" in the house in the island of mists
4°when Geralt takes the rose from Iris and she vanishes
5° when Vesemir takes his knife and attacks Imlerith, sacrificing himself to save Ciri

i don't wat so sad quests/endings in blood and wine, i want only happines for Geralt in his new adventure
 
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I'm not a fan of the tragedy hook when used repeatedly and definitely when used without subtlety. That why I'm with the very very few who didn't like Geralt's and Ciri's encounter one bit. As to The Baron and Von Everec questlines - they were good, but for me not because of the emotional touch but the moral complexity and realism. However, there is one plot sequence I seemed to have appreciated more than others did, which is Skjall's fate. I think I liked it particularly because it didn't shove the "good guy fate's gone tragic" straight in our face with 23 violins for soundtrack, but rather let us realize it on our own.
 
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