The Witcher Universe; Games, Novels, and the split between them (MEGA-SPOILERS)
Hi all, my name is Alex.
Just yesterday I finished reading all of the witcher novels, except the last one (Season of Storms). I am one of these people that got into the witcher universe by playing the games, firstly I played the second one, several times that is, then after finishing it about 3 times, I played the first, about 3 times too, I loved them so much that it became my favourite RPG (even after playing so many over 15 years), so you can imagine how excited I was when the third was announced. I got so excited that I wanted to learn all of the story behind them, and since the second sequel was and is far away from release, I started reading the books. After finishing the Lady of the Lake yesterday, I realised a lot of things, and since none of my close people have any kind of connection or knowledge on and of the witcher universe, I thought I could share my thoughts and trouble here, with other fellow fans, of both the games and the books. I apologise for the long introduction and I promise I will get to the point soon enough, after I warn you though that there are major spoilers regarding the plot of both games & books, so do not read below this part if your wish is to avoid them.
The witcher games are great, on their own they are some of the greatest accomplishments ever created in the field of art, and video games. if you compare them to other games they shine even more, especially compared to the latest games (as of 2008 and after). But in my humble opinion the books outshine the games, for several reasons.
At the very end of the book, Geralt and Yen both die, or not. It doesn't say and that is the whole point of it, to leave you with questions for it is part of the art, it has been done before and will be done in the future, because it's magic and a great way to finish a story. On the other hand, the video games take place AFTER the books, and throughout the Witcher 2 it gives you an explanation of what happened after Geralt died.
The problem for me in that whole idea, is that Sapkowski doesn't consider the game canon, he admits that it is a good piece of art, but as he mentions in a famous interview about the game, a story can only be told through a book. I personally disagree with that because I know from personal experience that a game can tell you a story, can introduce to you unique characters, can make you cry, just as a book can. Not all games can do that, but then again neither can all books, as both can be extremely shallow.
While I disagree with him on that part, I am compelled to agree that the game is not considered canon, for it is his own mind that created this, and has every right to claim what he wants his own et cetera. His opinion created a huge chasm between the games and the novels for me. After finishing the last book it left a hole in me, the usual that is when a story leaves you with questions, I want to find answer for these questions and while before I finished the book I could count on the game for that, now I can't anymore, and this is the whole reason of this post, to cry like a boy who has lost his first pet to death, and share it with other boys that have felt the same as me.
I feel the extraordinary need to say that while the game is supposed to be after the events of the book, it can't, or more like I can't take it seriously enough to make my head believe that this is really what happened after the events of the book. A lot of the events in the game have been recreated based on the events on the books, even burrowed a lot of dialogue from it, and damn they did it great, because it's true art to my eyes and ears, but as much as I love it, after reading through Geralt's, Yen's, Ciri's, and all of these great heroes and villains such as Cahir, Emiel, Milva, Vilgefortz, Duny the emperor of Nilfgaard, and so many others' odyssey, when I play or think of the games I now see 2 versions of each character, 2 Geralts, 2 Triss's, and I fear that in the future it's gonna be 2 Yens and Ciris too, I fear it but still want it.
I wanted and still want the Witcher 3 to give me answers of what happened to Geralt after his death, to see Yen's and Ciri's face. after reading a recent post here in the forums too it even raised me hopes that I will meet mister Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy. But then after the books I feel that the answers won't be enough, because they won't be created by the same person that created Geralt and all others.
Thanks to everyone that took the time to read my post, and I really hope that this is not just something that I felt alone, please share if you thought the same as me.
Hi all, my name is Alex.
Just yesterday I finished reading all of the witcher novels, except the last one (Season of Storms). I am one of these people that got into the witcher universe by playing the games, firstly I played the second one, several times that is, then after finishing it about 3 times, I played the first, about 3 times too, I loved them so much that it became my favourite RPG (even after playing so many over 15 years), so you can imagine how excited I was when the third was announced. I got so excited that I wanted to learn all of the story behind them, and since the second sequel was and is far away from release, I started reading the books. After finishing the Lady of the Lake yesterday, I realised a lot of things, and since none of my close people have any kind of connection or knowledge on and of the witcher universe, I thought I could share my thoughts and trouble here, with other fellow fans, of both the games and the books. I apologise for the long introduction and I promise I will get to the point soon enough, after I warn you though that there are major spoilers regarding the plot of both games & books, so do not read below this part if your wish is to avoid them.
The witcher games are great, on their own they are some of the greatest accomplishments ever created in the field of art, and video games. if you compare them to other games they shine even more, especially compared to the latest games (as of 2008 and after). But in my humble opinion the books outshine the games, for several reasons.
At the very end of the book, Geralt and Yen both die, or not. It doesn't say and that is the whole point of it, to leave you with questions for it is part of the art, it has been done before and will be done in the future, because it's magic and a great way to finish a story. On the other hand, the video games take place AFTER the books, and throughout the Witcher 2 it gives you an explanation of what happened after Geralt died.
The problem for me in that whole idea, is that Sapkowski doesn't consider the game canon, he admits that it is a good piece of art, but as he mentions in a famous interview about the game, a story can only be told through a book. I personally disagree with that because I know from personal experience that a game can tell you a story, can introduce to you unique characters, can make you cry, just as a book can. Not all games can do that, but then again neither can all books, as both can be extremely shallow.
While I disagree with him on that part, I am compelled to agree that the game is not considered canon, for it is his own mind that created this, and has every right to claim what he wants his own et cetera. His opinion created a huge chasm between the games and the novels for me. After finishing the last book it left a hole in me, the usual that is when a story leaves you with questions, I want to find answer for these questions and while before I finished the book I could count on the game for that, now I can't anymore, and this is the whole reason of this post, to cry like a boy who has lost his first pet to death, and share it with other boys that have felt the same as me.
I feel the extraordinary need to say that while the game is supposed to be after the events of the book, it can't, or more like I can't take it seriously enough to make my head believe that this is really what happened after the events of the book. A lot of the events in the game have been recreated based on the events on the books, even burrowed a lot of dialogue from it, and damn they did it great, because it's true art to my eyes and ears, but as much as I love it, after reading through Geralt's, Yen's, Ciri's, and all of these great heroes and villains such as Cahir, Emiel, Milva, Vilgefortz, Duny the emperor of Nilfgaard, and so many others' odyssey, when I play or think of the games I now see 2 versions of each character, 2 Geralts, 2 Triss's, and I fear that in the future it's gonna be 2 Yens and Ciris too, I fear it but still want it.
I wanted and still want the Witcher 3 to give me answers of what happened to Geralt after his death, to see Yen's and Ciri's face. after reading a recent post here in the forums too it even raised me hopes that I will meet mister Emiel Regis Rohellec Terzieff-Godefroy. But then after the books I feel that the answers won't be enough, because they won't be created by the same person that created Geralt and all others.
Thanks to everyone that took the time to read my post, and I really hope that this is not just something that I felt alone, please share if you thought the same as me.
