First Impressions of the changes made to the Epilogue (Spoilers)
Just finished an Enhanced Edition run of W2 (Ioverth’s path) and here are some of my thoughts of the presentation of the final Act and Epilogue in terms of the cosmetic changes made between the original version of Assassins of Kings and the Enhanced Edition (of course spoilers below).
Just want to note that I've been playing the Witcher games since the beginning with W1 – also a massive fan of the books. Not saying this means my opinion is the best but I don't want people saying I don't understand the game or the themes. Massive fan of CD PROJEKT - I think they are the best developers gaming has seen in a long time. Long may they exist and long may they produce such excellent games - both in the Witcher franchise (I want not only Witcher 3 but Witcher 4 and 5 ) and others.
Got to say that while I enjoyed the new content and quests to ACT 3 I was bit disappointed by some of the more cosmetic changes made to the game's final hours in the way it affected my immersion.
For example, I didn’t like the cosmetic changes to the Meeting of the Kings at the end of ACT 3 – the banners and the people in the seats of the theatre (with the crowd sound effect) being the main thing. I felt it took away from the idea that Loc Munne is an isolated place on the edge of the known world and that the Kings and delegations had travelled here with small retinues for a closed and exclusive meeting. Implying that lots of people are there and watching just takes away from the mystery of the place and the closed nature of decision making that I imagined the power structures of the Northern Kingdoms to be (from my readings of the books and the games). I liked the representation of the meeting in the original form better - it felt more like powerful bastards carving up the world for their own benefit (which it is) than implying that thousands are watching their discussions.
I also did not like the depiction of the aftermath of the massacre – way too many bodies on the ground and the bodies in the fountains and piles. I preferred it when I was simply told of the massacre and could imagine the nasty nature of it for myself - imagining that the bulk of the killing had occurred elsewhere in the complex (specifically the Redanian sections). Being shown the effects of the massacre takes a degree of the personal imagination away from the storytelling and just makes it too visceral for my liking.
The massive numbers of bodies on the ground also took away from my original view of the place as isolated and the meeting made up of small contingents and delegations from Redania, Kaedwen, Temeria, Aedrin, Nilfgaard, and the Mages. Now it seems like thousands upon thousands were there at the meeting and thousands died – which takes away from my way of understanding Loc Munne and the meeting itself. It just seemed to be too big on the scale for what I originally imagined when I first finished the game– a desolate city inhabited by a small group of people trying to reshape the world. Similar to the way in which the meeting is now presented it just takes away from the isolation theme of Loc Munne and these power structures garving up the world in private (see above about the meeting itself).
Other cosmetic changes also annoyed me in terms of the final confrontation.
The red fire sky when Geralt is talking to Letho is (in my opinion) less effective in setting atmosphere. The bloody sky takes away from the impression I made of the game - that the two are practically alone in the ruins of the city now and that it has come down to just them in a final showdown. The fire sky and the bodies around them don’t help in creating that mood of isolation that I felt the first time playing. When the sky behind them (especially when Geralt was talking) was a crisp, blue, clear sky with the wind howling around them, I got the impression of isolation and dread. Now it just feels a bit too over the top with the red sky.
It feels like the game is trying to tell me what to think about the situation – rather than me forming my own opinions.
Letho twirling the diamond around also didn’t really work for me – made him feel more like a cartoon villain when I know he’s more complex than that.
I appreciated the extra cut scenes and the hard work CD PROJEKT must have put into them but I don’t really think they add much in terms of the story and damage something of the atmosphere of the epilogue that I created for myself. They just aren’t my thing.
This is not to say that I think the changes made are rubbish - they just don’t do it for me. I’m sure the changes help for others in improving their engagement with the game, I just didn’t need them to imagine what was going on in between ACT 3 and the Epilogue, I did that for myself. I agree with the idea of “show don’t tell” in general but I just think the allusions made in the original version of the epilogue were better for some of the themes the games explore on a deeper level (isolation and unease being the key for me) than just going out and showing it.
I wish there was a way for me to keep the new quests for ACT 3 but keep out some of the changes made to the epilogue. Perhaps an option should exist for the way the Epilogue is presented ("Classic" being what it was in the original game and "Enhanced" for the cosmetic effects added recently) if it were possible
Just finished an Enhanced Edition run of W2 (Ioverth’s path) and here are some of my thoughts of the presentation of the final Act and Epilogue in terms of the cosmetic changes made between the original version of Assassins of Kings and the Enhanced Edition (of course spoilers below).
Just want to note that I've been playing the Witcher games since the beginning with W1 – also a massive fan of the books. Not saying this means my opinion is the best but I don't want people saying I don't understand the game or the themes. Massive fan of CD PROJEKT - I think they are the best developers gaming has seen in a long time. Long may they exist and long may they produce such excellent games - both in the Witcher franchise (I want not only Witcher 3 but Witcher 4 and 5 ) and others.
Got to say that while I enjoyed the new content and quests to ACT 3 I was bit disappointed by some of the more cosmetic changes made to the game's final hours in the way it affected my immersion.
For example, I didn’t like the cosmetic changes to the Meeting of the Kings at the end of ACT 3 – the banners and the people in the seats of the theatre (with the crowd sound effect) being the main thing. I felt it took away from the idea that Loc Munne is an isolated place on the edge of the known world and that the Kings and delegations had travelled here with small retinues for a closed and exclusive meeting. Implying that lots of people are there and watching just takes away from the mystery of the place and the closed nature of decision making that I imagined the power structures of the Northern Kingdoms to be (from my readings of the books and the games). I liked the representation of the meeting in the original form better - it felt more like powerful bastards carving up the world for their own benefit (which it is) than implying that thousands are watching their discussions.
I also did not like the depiction of the aftermath of the massacre – way too many bodies on the ground and the bodies in the fountains and piles. I preferred it when I was simply told of the massacre and could imagine the nasty nature of it for myself - imagining that the bulk of the killing had occurred elsewhere in the complex (specifically the Redanian sections). Being shown the effects of the massacre takes a degree of the personal imagination away from the storytelling and just makes it too visceral for my liking.
The massive numbers of bodies on the ground also took away from my original view of the place as isolated and the meeting made up of small contingents and delegations from Redania, Kaedwen, Temeria, Aedrin, Nilfgaard, and the Mages. Now it seems like thousands upon thousands were there at the meeting and thousands died – which takes away from my way of understanding Loc Munne and the meeting itself. It just seemed to be too big on the scale for what I originally imagined when I first finished the game– a desolate city inhabited by a small group of people trying to reshape the world. Similar to the way in which the meeting is now presented it just takes away from the isolation theme of Loc Munne and these power structures garving up the world in private (see above about the meeting itself).
Other cosmetic changes also annoyed me in terms of the final confrontation.
The red fire sky when Geralt is talking to Letho is (in my opinion) less effective in setting atmosphere. The bloody sky takes away from the impression I made of the game - that the two are practically alone in the ruins of the city now and that it has come down to just them in a final showdown. The fire sky and the bodies around them don’t help in creating that mood of isolation that I felt the first time playing. When the sky behind them (especially when Geralt was talking) was a crisp, blue, clear sky with the wind howling around them, I got the impression of isolation and dread. Now it just feels a bit too over the top with the red sky.
It feels like the game is trying to tell me what to think about the situation – rather than me forming my own opinions.
Letho twirling the diamond around also didn’t really work for me – made him feel more like a cartoon villain when I know he’s more complex than that.
I appreciated the extra cut scenes and the hard work CD PROJEKT must have put into them but I don’t really think they add much in terms of the story and damage something of the atmosphere of the epilogue that I created for myself. They just aren’t my thing.
This is not to say that I think the changes made are rubbish - they just don’t do it for me. I’m sure the changes help for others in improving their engagement with the game, I just didn’t need them to imagine what was going on in between ACT 3 and the Epilogue, I did that for myself. I agree with the idea of “show don’t tell” in general but I just think the allusions made in the original version of the epilogue were better for some of the themes the games explore on a deeper level (isolation and unease being the key for me) than just going out and showing it.
I wish there was a way for me to keep the new quests for ACT 3 but keep out some of the changes made to the epilogue. Perhaps an option should exist for the way the Epilogue is presented ("Classic" being what it was in the original game and "Enhanced" for the cosmetic effects added recently) if it were possible