The White Frost - Discussion

[yokokorama]

The White Frost - Discussion

Hello everyone. Having recently beaten the Witcher 3, this was another topic that comes to mind.

The White Frost is supposed to be a big event - "The Final Age." It was an event foreshadowed from the very first Witcher 1 back in 2008. Not only that, but it was basically the driving force of the game's primary antagonist, and what set him off to set up that "master plan" of his. I haven't read any of the books, but from what I've seen in the forums, it was mentioned in them as well. Needless to say, the White Frost was a pretty big deal.

I didn't really feel that here, though. It was lumped into what was literally the last ten minutes of the game, and I didn't really care much about nor feel threatened by it. It didn't feel like the tangible threat it was meant to be.

My suggestion, either for future DLC or mods - expand the White Frost. Make it so that it lasts for perhaps 10 to 20 gameplay hours, and make it affect the entire map. Imagine walking around snow-coated Novigrad with even more havoc than what already existed taking place, perhaps with creatures seeping into the city? Imagine walking around the plains of Velen only to see monsters like Ice Giants and Wyverns duking it out, like we saw briefly on Skellige?

What did you guys think about this? I didn't like the feeling "The White Frost is here . . . AND its over" that we got.

 

[krieckmann]

It is a bit unfortunate that more time wasn't spent on the white frost, but it did end up being a pretty simple concept. Some kind of force that was draining the entropy from the universe which would eventually leave everything dead at I guess absolute zero. I don't think it was something Geralt would have ever had to worry about in his life time, but Ciri knew the inevitable fate of the universe and that she was the only one that could stop it. It was kind of like she said, stopping it was her story and Geralt really had nothing to do with it, he was just a witcher. Would have been nice to know more about the origins, like was it a spell gone wrong that created it? But I don't think anyone still living in the games universe actually knows. In the end it was just something for Ciri's character climax.

 

[Geragio]

The white frost wasn't threatening Geralts world, that would come at another time, it was threatening Eredins world, hence that's why he was after Ciri. That's how I understood it.

 

[yokokorama]

It is a bit unfortunate that more time wasn't spent on the white frost, but it did end up being a pretty simple concept. Some kind of force that was draining the entropy from the universe which would eventually leave everything dead at I guess absolute zero. I don't think it was something Geralt would have ever had to worry about in his life time, but Ciri knew the inevitable fate of the universe and that she was the only one that could stop it. It was kind of like she said, stopping it was her story and Geralt really had nothing to do with it, he was just a witcher. Would have been nice to know more about the origins, like was it a spell gone wrong that created it? But I don't think anyone still living in the games universe actually knows. In the end it was just something for Ciri's character climax.

It's just that considering this event was foreshadowed from Witcher 1, I had hoped to "feel" its effects more to help us feel more motivated to stop it rather than the 5 minutes we got at the end of the game. As far as I'm concerned, they didn't have to give it origins; it could just be an inevitable natural disaster. I just wanted its effects to be felt more and have a greater presence in the game.

The white frost wasn't threatening Geralts world, that would come at another time, it was threatening Eredins world, hence that's why he was after Ciri. That's how I understood it.

But in the end, it WAS threatening Geralt's world considering Avallach literally opened a portal for it to enter Geralt's world. That's why we had a blizzard falling and monsters fighting each other on Skellige.

 

[AppalachianAxis]

Playing the game, I loved the White Frost, I understand it to be the cold the existed between worlds.
It seemed to me, the White Frost was the icy vacuum of space. And that in time, the barriers of individual worlds weakened, allowing the "frost" to encase each world in ice and cold.
It made sense, it was ominous, it was scary, t was inevitable.

Then... I got to the ending. And the White Frost was a.... giant white orb? Or something? What the hell?
It was a blip in an otherwise incredible ending to an otherwise incredible game.

 

[Richiesname]

Sounds like a fantastic mod idea. Ciri quest: White Frost! I'd make it myself if I wasn't already completely committed to other mods.

 

[xyxspliffy]

Yes! I want to not eat the yellow snow

 

[yokokorama]

Playing the game, I loved the White Frost, I understand it to be the cold the existed between worlds.
It seemed to me, the White Frost was the icy vacuum of space. And that in time, the barriers of individual worlds weakened, allowing the "frost" to encase each world in ice and cold.
It made sense, it was ominous, it was scary, t was inevitable.

Then... I got to the ending. And the White Frost was a.... giant white orb? Or something? What the hell?
It was a blip in an otherwise incredible ending to an otherwise incredible game.

To help us understand how scary it was, we should have had the opportunity to see its effects throughout the entire open world, and as the story progressed so did the intensity of the blizzard. We'd see snow beginning to cover the previously normal landscapes and see monsters like giants, Wyverns, and more attacking villages and cities that they normally would not be near.

Sounds like a fantastic mod idea. Ciri quest: White Frost! I'd make it myself if I wasn't already completely committed to other mods.

That too. In addition to seeing the White Frost's effects throughout the region, it'd be cool to see what exactly Ciri did to defeat it.