Was This Really "The Wild Hunt" and more

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Yes, Eredin deserves a better introduction (like other characters BTW) and more depth treatment.

But, it's also true that CDPR love to play with puns and the real and oficial title is The Witcher: Wild Hunt all over its oficial websites, copyrighit and trademarks..

So, why were you discuting through almost 5 pages from 6 about this?
 
While it's true Letho and Jacques de Aldersberg don't have much dialogue they are different types of antagonists compared to Eredin or even Azar Javed. Letho is working as an assassin, something that would require a certain degree of stealth and deceit, and so, not making him a viable candidate to extensive dialogs explaining his reasons to go around killing kings and directly antagonizing Geralt. He was more like a pawn in the larger scheme at play for both the Lodge and Nilfgaard. Still he was more of a presence in the 2nd game, directly and indirectly, by fighting him in the elven bathhouse in the 1st act, and through flashbacks in the 2nd act, than Eredin and the Red Riders ever were in this game.
Azar Javed sure might not have much dialogue but he's an ever present threat, he's perceived as the main villain throughout the 1st game until he dies, and you still end up fighting him more than once, learning more about him as the game move forward. This only allows Jacques de Aldersberg a very limited screen time since you spend most of the game searching for a man who you thought to be the main threat when he's just another lackey involved in a much larger plot. Even if there was a lack of dialog it still looked fine in the end as Jacques goes on explaining the reason to his actions.
Eredin on the other hand has been shown as a cryptic character since the 1st game. Showing up several times as a wraith just to question Geralt's actions and how they always take a turn for the worst, taunting him by praising him as his Champion... It almost felt as if the Hunt was always around the corner, watching his every move, expecting him to fail or maybe descend into madness. In this 3rd game however, Eredin seems non existent until the Hunt attacks Kaer Morhen. So suddenly it seems he lost all interest in Geralt even though he seemed quite interested in him and his actions during the 1st game. Which then leads to the fact that the Hunt seems to be actively searching for Ciri everywhere she goes but when she leaves Velen and goes to Novigrad the Hunt doesn't look for her at all as seen in the flashbacks. They only go after her when she arrives in Skellige and once Avalach takes her to the Isle of Mists they vanish yet again. In the meanwhile no one bothers trying to stop Geralt or finding out what he knows or what he does.This makes even less sense if you consider that Geralt ran into the Hunt when exploring the elven ruins where Ciri was supposed to meet Avallach. After that they had to know for sure that Geralt was looking for Ciri and yet no one tries to stop him after that. In fact as far as Geralt is concerned the Hunt simply disappears.
If they couldn't find Ciri it seems kinda obvious they should either look for those who knew where she might be, or at least follow in the footsteps of whoever else was looking for her. At least to me this felt like Eredin was either too arrogant and confident he would get Ciri or he's simply a dumb military leader who did nothing to stop the one threat to his plans, none other than Geralt of Rivia. Then when you finally get Ciri and take her to Kaer Morhen, Eredin is more of a silent observer than a main villain and is completely overshadowed by Imlerith when the latter kills Vesemir in a rather cruel and vicious way that drives Ciri into a mindless rage that nearly annihilates friend and foe alike. Eredin only gets some real screen time at the end and even then he feels more like a secondary character than the main antagonist of the game. This gets an even greater emphasis in the rather anti-climatic fight against him.
Does this mean Eredin should go into a boring endless monologue about how his world is dying and he needs Ciri to give him a child so he could open a portal to Geralt's world and save his people? No. But he should have been used as a means to drive the story forward and maybe even shed some light as to why he was so interested in Geralt during W1 and what happened to him during his time with the Red Riders. This could have been done through flashbacks, when Geralt asks Avallach how he escaped the Hunt while they're talking in the lighthouse or when they arrive at Tir Na Lia.
As it is right now, Imlerith has much more of an impact in the story when he kills Vesemir, creating a much deeper emotional connection with the main characters, Geralt and Ciri, flooding them with grief and at least for the latter a thirst for revenge, all that on top of the fact that the Hunt is a constant threat to Ciri's safety. Eredin on the other hand is nothng more than an inconvenient obstacle that has no real depth as a character other than leading the hunt for Ciri and being mediocre at it.
Don't get me wrong, the game is good, very good. There's plenty of emotional stress at certain parts of the game and the story is well written for the most part. But when it comes to the Hunt -and don't say the game isn't supposed to be about the Red Riders as much as it is about Ciri when you have a large red symbol between Wild Hunt that not surprisingly resembles Eredin's mask, thus rendering the semantics discussion rather void - at times, the Hunt seems more like a secondary plot just there to tie Ciri's character, the badly explained White Frost and how Ciri is the only one that can stop it based on some ridiculous parenting choices (some not so ridiculous).
In conclusion, the Hunt could and should have been given a bigger role to play in the plot and create a bigger sense of urgency to find Ciri. You are told many times that she's in danger and how it's important that you find her fast before she disappears again but that sense of urgency is undermined by not having the Hunt as a more present threat, not only to Ciri but to Geralt aswell.
 
Oh yes, Geralts Wild Hunt for Ciri. :)

The Wild Hunt is just name of legends... ordinary folks made it because they couldnt understand whats going on, why entire villages are wiped out, people are missing etc.. so they came with the story about spectral riders and Aen Elle Elves just played with it... for them, it was a perfect camouflage - humans think you are ethereal specter, therefore they wont chase after you... The Wild Hunt is actually elite commando of Aen Elle called Red Riders.. they are supposed to go between worlds and capture slaves.. Anyway, Eredin, commander of the unit, wanted to seize power, so he gave Ciri poisoned fistech for his king Auberon, so he could take his place. he didint wanted to allow Ciri go, she was way too dangerous based on multiple prophecies - especially the one made by Falka when she was burned at stake - she told there will come a man, descendant of elder blood, destroyer of worlds... so to prevent him from wiping Aen Elle he wanted to kill Ciri. Ever since Ciri escaped from Tir na Lia, Eredin was hunting her. He took Yennefer, then exchanged her for Geralt just to call Ciri out, to try to rescue them so he could capture/kill her. Ciri saved Geralt, but he lost his memory. But Eredin hunted her ever since.. Witcher 3 is about that hunt... and Geralt is trying to save Ciri from Eredin. so for him, its hunt against the wild hunt.
 
While it's true Letho and Jacques de Aldersberg don't have much dialogue they are different types of antagonists compared to Eredin or even Azar Javed. Letho is working as an assassin, something that would require a certain degree of stealth and deceit, and so, not making him a viable candidate to extensive dialogs explaining his reasons to go around killing kings and directly antagonizing Geralt. He was more like a pawn in the larger scheme at play for both the Lodge and Nilfgaard. Still he was more of a presence in the 2nd game, directly and indirectly, by fighting him in the elven bathhouse in the 1st act, and through flashbacks in the 2nd act, than Eredin and the Red Riders ever were in this game.

Well said. I'll also add that W2 was developed with a limited budget and scope as well, so Letho really was just an 'interim' villain. Yet despite all that he still manages to exert enough of his presence to constantly remind us who it is we're chasing in W2.

In W3, the world and scope is much larger and it's very easy to forget what our end goal in this game is. For a game of such magnitude, it is even more crucial for Eredin and his subjects to have a lot of screen time and dialogue, lest they become lost in the plethora of better written quests and characters, and that's exactly what happens.

It's now gotten to the point that I actually get angry every time they are mentioned or show up on screen, because the devs obviously didn't care enough about these characters to make them interesting, so why am I wasting my time with them at all?!
 
I thoroughly enjoyed the game, but I also thought the Wild Hunt played somewhat of a back-seat role. It would have been interesting and developmentally positive storywise, had a section of the game being devoted soley to Eradin and his crew. Perhaps in the form of a playable sub-plot in which you take control of Eradin during one of the few Wild Hunt attacks depicted in the earlier stages of the game. That in itself would have (in my opinion) further reinforced both the importance of finding Ciri and added a greater / deeper dynamic to one of the core characters of the game.
 
I think it was more just Letho and Javed were different kinds of villain. They both do something dramatic early on and you end up chasing after them, the mystery and hunt for them drives the plot until the grander scheme of things takes over and you realize Javed and Letho are just pawns. That was fine and enough to keep people interested. When you do finally talk to Letho at the end of w2, he doesn't say much, yet suddenly you understand so much more about him and actually made it difficult for me to decide what to do with him. (In the end I killed him only because he said that I would be unable to kill him even if I tried).

With Eredin and the Wild Hunt you as the player character (based purely off the games) know little of them or their intentions beyond that they want Ciri. By the w3 Geralt apparently has his memories back but cannot remember his time with the Hunt well (or at least seems to) so there was a real need for Geralt and you the player to come face to face with them and discover more. Yes you learn they are from another world and are Elves but that just makes them and their actions even more interesting. Instead you seem to just be chasing on their tails the entire game, no interactions, no real understanding. And then they just come across as one dimensional thugs who hurt and kill because lol why not.
 
Yeah I was honestly disappointed Eredin never mocked Geralt about the time Geralt spent riding with the Hunt. We really needed more interactions like in W1 where Eredin showed up to taunt Geralt. They could've made them dream sequences. I thought when Geralt went to sleep on the ride to Skellige we were going to get one but nope.
 
Missed potential

I think that the complete Wild Hunt plot was missed potential. The first time i saw Eredin and his crew i was really amazed. They looked great from the game design point of view. They could awake a dose of awe but just at the first sight. Some time later as the story unfolds, you get the weid feeling that neither Geralt nor Ciri or any of the sorceresses would have any problems defeating any of the three Wild Hunt bosses in a 1 on 1 fight.

Eredin even pales in comparison to Imlerith who definitely had some savagery that could drive the fear in your bones. I dont want to even mention that we didnt see Caranthir under his mask, that was just an epic fail. First of all there was barely any Wild Hunt content even the game is called so. Second, no Wild hunt boss has the depth or intelligence a Letho or Alderberg had in their stories. The whole Wild Hunt thing feels just so false and shallow in comparison to the previous games, its quite embarassing even. Eredin has only 12 sentences, Imlerith 3 and Caranthir doesnt even say a lousy word. Thats just not good storytelling.

If i'd like to be cynical enough, i would even say that Eredin couldn't even beat Letho in a fair fight, even if the latter would fight with his bare fists and Eredin would be dual wielding his scary swords. Sorry but no mature and decent gamer can take the Wild Hunt villains seriously.
 
I think that the complete Wild Hunt plot was missed potential. The first time i saw Eredin and his crew i was really amazed. They looked great from the game design point of view. They could awake a dose of awe but just at the first sight. Some time later as the story unfolds, you get the weid feeling that neither Geralt nor Ciri or any of the sorceresses would have any problems defeating any of the three Wild Hunt bosses in a 1 on 1 fight.

Eredin even pales in comparison to Imlerith who definitely had some savagery that could drive the fear in your bones. I dont want to even mention that we didnt see Caranthir under his mask, that was just an epic fail. First of all there was barely any Wild Hunt content even the game is called so. Second, no Wild hunt boss has the depth or intelligence a Letho or Alderberg had in their stories. The whole Wild Hunt thing feels just so false and shallow in comparison to the previous games, its quite embarassing even. Eredin has only 12 sentences, Imlerith 3 and Caranthir doesnt even say a lousy word. Thats just not good storytelling.

If i'd like to be cynical enough, i would even say that Eredin couldn't even beat Letho in a fair fight, even if the latter would fight with his bare fists and Eredin would be dual wielding his scary swords. Sorry but no mature and decent gamer can take the Wild Hunt villains seriously.

Well, technically Caranthir DOES mumble several lines during the "On Thin Ice" quest but it's just filler stuff so, yeah, I agree.
 
I think the name is apt. The main bad guys throughout the game were the Wild Hunt, who were chasing Ciri. Quite frankly I don't think that this is a very significant issue at all, and there are more things CDPR should or could be focusing on than renaming their game. However, you do raise some good points on the White Frost. I'm sure it's something that's explained in the books, but they could have done a better job at explaining it in the ending scenes.
 
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