I’ve been immersing myself in the Witcher universe of late. The Witcher started as a series of fantasy novels centering around a witcher (beast hunter) named Geralt of Rivia. It’s been enjoyable, though some of the iterations are more impressive than others.
It actually started with The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, the animated Netflix film. I was so taken with it I was motivated to dig deeper into the mythos. The film has great animation and action, along with a solid story and characters. I highly recommend it.
I next tried out The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for the Xbox One. The game received much critical acclaim when it debuted and apparently won numerous awards. This reception is somewhat lost on me. The game seems to be a rather generic RPG adventure, with uninspired combat mechanics and no real aesthetic. The game was in part praised for its large open world, but if what’s in that world isn’t particularly appealing, the large size isn’t really a selling point.
Prior to this I had played the recent God of War, which is what popped into my head while playing The Witcher 3. God of War looks better and has more enjoyable combat. This isn’t exactly fair as God of War is much newer, so it can be expected to look better. But I don’t think the same excuse could be made for The Witcher 3’s mediocre combat. The Witcher is also much more dialogue heavy, which I didn’t have the patience for. If you’re looking for a lighter RPG adventure with better combat go with God of War.
I next dipped into the novels that started it all. I read the short story collections The Last Wish and The Sword of Destiny, which predate the main saga in the timeline. I found both very enjoyable, with each having a nice variety of characters and events that keep things fresh. I can’t speak as highly of the book I’m on now, The Blood of Elves, the first book in the main saga. I find it less engaging than the short story collections, which I think benefit from their self-contained nature. Rather than Geralt having brief adventures and getting into different kinds of trouble, in The Blood of Elves we’re weighed down with the high stakes endemic to the fantasy novel.
Lastly is the live action Witcher show on Netflix. It might be described as a knock-off Game of Thrones. Once again we’re treated to a lot of dialogue and once again I don’t have the patience for it. It’s not well-done enough for me to make an effort.
The Witcher universe is worth visiting, though I would limit it to the animated movie and the short story collections, at least to start. If you still want more after that then try the main novels.