Netflix’s cast and production team have been clear that their adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher is based on the books and not the games on more than one occasion. That said, it’s hard not to imagine scenes like Henry Cavill laying in a bathtub isn’t a nod to CD Projekt Red’s acclaimed video games.
Besides, the games and show two are still intertwined; the Geralt we know and love is the same, the world is the same, and the conflicts are the same.
For that reason, it occurs to us that Netflix’s show actually serves as both a tutorial and reminder of how to explore The Witcher universe to the fullest when playing the games. So if you’re either jumping in for the first time or revisiting the game, here are some observations that might come in handy.
“It’s Hard to Make a Living on the Main Roads,”
This line comes from Geralt early in the first episode, and oh how true it is. The Witcher world is not kind to its Witchers, and it can be tiresome (and unfavorable) to simply travel to and from on the main trail.
Instead, take Geralt’s advice: travel off the beaten path, and explore the woods and plains of the continent. One of the best ways to make money is by doing precisely that.
Traveling off the roads is where you will find bandit camps with stored treasures, power spots to boost your abilities, monster’s dens with valuable resources, or even side quests.
Even though it may be simpler and faster to just ride Roach from A to B, from contract to story mission, but you’d be missing out on a whole heck of a lot.
“You Made a Choice, You’ll Never Know If It’s the Right One,”
Believe it or not, this happens to Geralt all the time. The first episode of the show solidifies this fact, as Geralt made the decision he believed was right and was damned for it anyway.
This fact is an incredibly important one to know going into The Witcher series, since you will have countless decisions to make and only very, very few of them are cut and dry. Decisions will almost always have a big impact, and almost always have a bad ending for someone involved.
Such is the world of The Witcher, and you have to adopt a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” mentality, like Geralt. Sometimes you have to choose between the lives of everyone in a misguided village or a handful of unfortunate, abandoned children.
You can’t always win. Geralt knows this, and you should too.
Witcher Contracts Rarely Go as Planned
Episode 2 of The Witcher saw Geralt hunting a Sylvan only to be captured by the Elvish king. Episode 6 had him hunting a dragon only to end up fighting to defend the dragon. The important lesson to learn here is that these contracts rarely ever go as planned.
When you stumble upon a contract in a village that asks you to search for a missing person, or hunt a werewolf, or even find an old woman’s frying pan, that is seldom the end of the story.
So, if you as an amateur Witcher, find some prints in the dirt and think, “hmm, just a werewolf, I’ll finish this quickly,” you probably won’t. It’s bound to be much more difficult than that, and there’s bound to be another morally grey choice waiting to be made.
Or maybe it’s just a werewolf. That’s possible too, I suppose.
Don’t Forget Any Characters
The Witcher series jumps through time quite a bit. Characters who die come back in a surprise flashback four episodes later; characters you forgot about reemerges toward the end of the show. The time jumps are confusing, especially if you forget who the characters are.
This holds true to the games as well, as the games are huge and there are hundreds of characters to keep track of. Remember that mage who was mean to Triss that one time? Well you better, because if you don’t, he gets burnt at the stake outside Novigrad.
It’s important to keep track of characters not only to keep track of the story but also for encounters and side quests like that one. It pays to keep track since one less dead mage means more coin for your witcher.
Breaking Curses Is Always Harder Than You Think
In Episode 3, Geralt has to break the curse on a Striga by fighting it until dawn, keeping it from its crypt. The solution is obviously more complicated than Geralt anticipated, which is how it goes with almost every curse in the game.
Curses are hard to break; they are a Witcher’s job. So, much like the contracts are more than just a creature hunt, always expect the curses to be hard to break. It’s never just as simple as reciting the right words or killing the right thing so if you’re going to get tangled in a curse, make sure you’re very, very prepared for an ordeal.
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