I don't think so. I played the game twice and romanced both in different walkthroughs. Triss romance ending worked well for me. At the end of the day, endings with both sorceresses did not differ that much. In fact, I liked ending with Triss better because with Triss Geralt preserves his active role in the world while with Yennefer he pretty much nails his swords to the wall. For me it was quite ironic given dialogue with Dijkstra: he thought romancing Triss will keep Geralt out of politics while with Yennefer he will be constantly involved in affairs of the mighty. At the end of the day, quite the opposite happened.
I am tentative to get involved, but I am passionate about this issue...
First, I think you are right, the romance in Act 1 & 2 feel pretty good, timed differently but it fit into the story well. The connection the player gets with EITHER romance works exceedingly well. The issue I think most have is, they JAMMED Triss into the story early and when done, its DONE! First in Novigrad her quest had LOTS of quests stashed between them. The timing is still slower in the beginning and there isn't a rush yet. So the player is on a 'do it all' or grind out some levels mentality so Triss quests were spaced out.
Yen may indeed have virtually the same amount of screen time(a chance for one additional 'intimate' scene though),but the devs hit you with her part really in a large chunk RIGHT at the turn of the dramatic plot of the story. They teased Yen at the beginning then again at the palace but after that...you don't see her until you get to Skelliga then BOOM! From the moment you hit the docks the player has Yen at your side; all through the Wake, stealing the mask and then onto the investigation of the cataclysm site. It even continues through to Frey's Garden and 'interrogating' Skjall.
When you finish that Yen immediately asks the player on the Last Wish quest. That HAS to be over 2 hours of gameplay where you had Yen right by your side non-stop the entire time! Because it is after the Novigrad(i did it both ways depending on the romance option), you tend to remember what you did last.
As for Triss, I don't think it was that much...it certainly doesn't FEEL like that much. Meet at the King of Beggars then do the Rats...she asks for your help with something else, drop by sometime...then there are several quests before you get back to her. There might have been another Triss quest in there but, I am thinking the next one was the Masquerade Ball. That was an important moment and VERY nicely done but once that is done, you get the "I need to see you, drop by when get the chance..." line again. That starts the end, the Now or Never quests.
Like I said, the total time on screen might be CLOSE but it doesn't feel that way to me and I think the impression that is left in the mind of the player is what matters.
Again, my only complaint is the fact that authors push you to make particular choice. In my first walkthrough, when completing "The last wish" quest I knew I had to say "No" at the end, but at the end I felt myself "nope, Geralt would not have done it..." I mean, seriously? I know a lot of people wrote about it, but once again: why the hell Geralt has only the option "Magic is gone"... Option "I like you, but sorry, now my heart is with someone else" could have worked much better.
YES!!! This is another of my peeves...
They should have tied these two quest lines together! They should have given the player more options...if he threw himself into a relationship with Triss early, Yen should sense it. On the docks she keeps teasing about reading Geralts mind, 'hiding something?' That should set up the Last Wish questions BASED on the players EARLIER decisions! If he has already gone all in with Triss, one set of answers for Yen...if he is unaffiliated(not done the Now or Never quest yet) there should be another. If he has sent Triss off...then he should probably had the default Last Wish list.
My point is, these two seminal events needed to be interwoven into the story so the characters later in the story COULD be made aware of it! I suggested that these two lines SHOULD have been connected MAIN story quests but I was thoroughly shouted down for that suggestion BUT...it would have removed all the excuses why later main story quests didn't seem to realize who Geralt had chosen.
Last edited: