Zireael – The Swallow

Time for another Witcher 3 update!

I managed to squeeze in time to finish the game’s main quest after I got home from the first day at my new job so I’m sure you’re dying to know what happened.

It’s been a long journey for sure and I knew that at some point the Wild Hunt would have to be defeated.

Radovid finally got what he deserved, but people still chant his name in the streets as if nothing happened which is totally weird and throughout the game ever since I found Ciri, I’ve been trying to be supportive to her and allow her to build some confidence.

From how I can summarize the game’s main story: it felt like the start of it was spent running around erratically, until I got to Skellige. Then once Ciri was found that’s when things got more interesting. The battle at Kaer Morhen could have been the end, but instead it drove Eredin away and I had to lay a trap to lure him back in on Skellige.

This felt a lot like the last few quests of Dragon Age Inquisition’s main quest where you could have defeated Corypheus in the elven ruins, but instead you escape and then have to find a way to lure him back. So the game’s story is good, parts of it didn’t feel like it was well-constructed like they dragged on, and when we finally got around to really big events like dealing with the Wild Hunt, did it start to get good. Those parts, along with Ciri’s flashbacks were the most powerful elements the game had.

The other good part was the main plot on Skellige and the subplots leading towards choosing a new ruler for the isles.

During the final fight, I just ran through the battlefield straight to Eredin, because the one thing that has always thrown me off in this game’s combat is when my sword gets damaged thus dealing less damage to enemies. (the worst was when it happened in the Painted World and I had no repairs to fix it until completing the quest)

I still have a lot of unanswered questions about Eredin, and like I said, the most recent RPG’s I’ve played have given me cool villains with little backstory revealed in the game. But I wish he would keep the mask on because his voice sounds way better with it.

He was surprisingly not tough at all as I was rolling around evading his attacks and striking him when necessary. Something that I feel I didn’t do enough of in any other fight in this game. Once he died, I had to run with Yen to the tower as Ciri and Avallac’h opened the portal there. Ciri explained that even though the Wild Hunt had been defeated, the White Frost was still a threat. The White Frost is a phenomenon that comes from a parallel world capable of encasing other worlds in ice, destroying all life. Eredin, whose world was already destroyed by it, learns that only someone possessed with Elder Blood can halt it. But his real motivation was to use Ciri’s power to travel between worlds through time and space to conquer them. Perhaps he wants to make other worlds his own to rule since he lost his home. Or so I think, see this is why I need to read the books because I think this would answer all the questions I still have!

So, I always made my Geralt interact with Ciri in a loving sort of way such as having a snowball fight with her, letting her build up confidence by allowing her to speak to recruited Lodge members on her own, trashing the lab after she vented her frustration, etc.

When it was all over and the portal appeared to shut down and Ciri didn’t seem to return, I was upset at first and believed I screwed it up when Geralt when to meet Emhyr and told him his daughter was dead. I didn’t want to bring her to the Emperor since I knew Ciri didn’t seem like the type of person who wanted to rule. That painting of her in Emhyr’s office where she looked pissed as if someone forcefully stuffed her into that fluffy pink dress made me realize that.

Boy was I wrong about her being dead.

Turns out I was super relieved and happy that Ciri was still alive and in the White Orchard. She is now a full-fledged witcher and I decided to name her sword Zireal or in other words Swallow. Ciri being a witcher was exactly what I had hoped for, so I’m pleased with my results.

Can we please just get our own game about Ciri? I would love to know her backstory. I feel like the snippets in this game where you briefly get to play as her went by too fast and her abilities are awesome. This game really got me with this twist at the end so thank God I got what I wanted.

So Geralt and Yen have retired together. I have written before how my opinion of Yen has changed over the course of this playthrough and now I like her for her sense of independence, maturity, and motherly care towards Ciri, even though she can be bossy and mean sometimes, especially to Geralt who naively takes after her despite that. But their relationship in this game had a lot of heartfelt moments as well as funny banter too. Their ending in this game is my ideal way of settling down, if I ever do: far from the noise and dangers of politics and adventure.

I’m glad I gave her a chance in this game. Sometimes, that’s all you have to do even if the character’s personality turns you off at first. I’m expecting some homemade lotion in the mail that is supposed to smell like lilac and gooseberries, if I like it, I might consider buying the perfume and necklace from WildGameArtisans on Etsy.

I made Cerys queen of Skellige after helping her with the Hym problem and choosing to aid her in tracking down the culprit behind the beserker attack. What I liked about her was how witty she was and preferred to search for clues to deduce who was behind the massacre rather than rush out and kill whoever might be responsible. She likes to think things through to make sure she does what’s best for the people.

I was happy to learn that during her reign, she united the clans and they prospered. Sure, that means the military is not the primary focus, but sometimes there are other pressing matters that need to be addressed in politics like what the people want to live better lives no matter their sex, race, sexual orientation, etc. It shouldn’t be just all about the military or the economy. Fight me.

What am I going to do now? Well the only thing left for me to do in this game is maybe a few treasure hunts like for the witcher school gear and Blood & Wine DLC. I’ve already done Hearts of Stone, so if you want me to review it, let me know.

Normally this is the part where I write a review of the game in the format I’ve been using for years, but I found that posting updates like this, especially for really large games like this one, is actually a lot more personal and engaging for me. I know some of my readers like it too.

I guess I better level up a little more before I start the next DLC since I’m only at 38 and might need to get a little higher.

I fucking love this game.

👽Emily