van HellSing on 28/5/2011 at 21:12

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(http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110469-Polish-Prime-Minister-Gives-Obama-Witcher-2) This is priceless.

june gloom on 29/5/2011 at 06:27

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How is this not incontrovertible proof that the Polish are trolls?

Yakoob on 29/5/2011 at 07:49

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Well, you're talking about a guy who gave the Queen an iPod remember? An iPad loaded with famous polish movies and a game doesn't seem like a bad gift at all, especially when you consider the economic and potentially artistic symbolism of both these gifts for Poland on the global sphere.



Naa that's just koki

Yakoob on 29/5/2011 at 10:05

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Heh. I wonder if it's a reference to the (first) book where Geralt complaints how times have changed his Witcher job is becoming deprecated. He tells a Jaskier (the bard from the games, don't know his english name) how he encountered a nasty bridge troll once who demanded payment and would break your legs if you passed without paying. When he went to the local village to ask how much they would pay to remove him, he was basically told: "no no no don't touch the troll, he's great! He fixes the bridge, keeps it in a good condition, regulates passages. It's much cheaper than if we had to do it ourselves."

-----------------------------------------

So that being said, I just finished the first The Witcher book, which I am digging, even though I am not normally into fantasy. The writing is superb; the banter between characters is witty (and got me laughing out loud on a few occasions) and even the narrator has a unique and alluring voice, with well timed, snide and sarcastic remarks.

I also like how the "battles" aren't typical fantasy 10-pages-of-hack-and-slash but are usually fairly realistically brief and to the point (think "the guy swings, Geralt dodges, the guy then goes for second attack which geralt parries, kicks the dude making him lose balance and then slashes him across the face. the end.").

But the thing I love the most is that 99% of the world, monster and stories are drawn straight from old mythos, as well as Polish folklore and folk tales! But Sapkowski puts a bit of a unique spin on them and manages to turn our children stories into a very interesting and well-meshed background for his world. My favorite chapter so far was a spin on "beauty and the beast" :)

Now one thing I am not liking... there's a lot of good plot twists in there, and every other chapter makes me oh "oh holy shit!" as I realize what is really going on. But, other times, it just feels like the author is trying to be more clever than he really is. For example, he will have a near-death event when suddenly Geralt does "something" and it cuts to perspective of other people going "oh my god did he just..." - " but he couldn't have he must have-" - "yes I am afraid he did." Which is just fucking annoying and acts only to postpone the explanation rather than build up tension. Whats worse, half the time he doesn't even bother actually explaining what happened (such as what his "last wish" was regarding Yennefer or wtf happened on the last page with Iola freaking out and spouting blood when she touched him so you're kinda left wondering wtf just happened and everyone acts as if it's the most obvious thing ever :mad:

EDIT: and of course, after playing the game, it's really cool to get a name-drop of a character from the game (oh shit she just mentioned Triss Merigold!) or get more background on them. CD Projekt did a really good job of sticking to the source material there with, for example, the bard dude being just as much comic relief and a total dumbass as in the game (albeit, much less pg13).

Sulphur on 29/5/2011 at 11:14

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He doesn't need to, he's Polish.