A woman wrote this quest too. Karolina Stachyra. She said her aim was to write an interesting story in which both people are at fault because that's how real life is.
The Baron was a complex character. He had reasons to like him. He had reasons to hate him. You could see him as a villain, you could see him as a troubled man. You can see him as a story of redemption or you can see him as an abject failure of a man. And the game never forces you toward one way or another. It's purely for you to decide.
In that world he's not a villain, point being that if he leaves to go find his wife the whole place becomes a living knightmare for the surrounding villagers as his even worse guardsmen take over
This is peak writing it really is. I love this game though and though it reminds me games CAN be good. Dragon age origins IS good. Its depression seeing a butching to such a favorited series
@@mydemonedgewhat does accurate scientific terms have to do with anything? The child in this story is not a fetus. Please stop confusing a fetus with a human baby, they’re not the same.
"I hope you find your Ciri" This line right here, man just lost his wife and baby a few days a go, pissed drunk at his lowest, yet still doesn't wish for the same thing to happen to the guy who criticized him a few minutes ago. That is an excellent writing right there. All the context are there without even a need to explain any of it, it really humanized the character.
Ever since I saw a developer of this game say that the characters are purposely bipolar, I can't get that thought out of my head every time someone talks about the game's writing. I honestly wish I could erase that from my memory.
The baron was a fantastic character. You don't see it in this video, but he also went out of his way to help ciri in her time of need. He's generally a nice guy, but he has a terrible temper and alcohol issues. You could view him as irredeemably awful, or as someone you'd want to help be better. And either view has at least some merit.
@@DragonGunzDorian the Baron quest alone was way better than whole Wild Hunt and it's coming from Witcher 3 massive fan (put over 1500 hrs into it). Baron is amazing character if you get to know him. He wants to start anew. If you haven't played this game yet, I will spoil one of the endings to his quest, he promises he will stop drinking alcohol in them.
@@info0 I only played through the game once, at least 6, or so years ago, but I loved it. Eventually I'm going to go back ajd try for every single achievement. I remember in my ending for the quest, the baron decided to uh... hang around I'll just say.
The reason Witcher dialogue runs so smoothly in this without feeling patronising is because of how Geralt is portrayed. He's mad - rightfully so. But he's also having a genuine conversation here. He WANTS to know the man's reasoning, he WANTS to hear his answers and he lets him speak. Geralt will say his piece and be harsh, but he's never disregarding and that's because, in the game at least, he's an investigator and you feel that from how he approaches things. His job as a Witcher isn't just slaying monsters, it often involves finding them first. Solving mysteries and getting to the bottom of things, even if he chooses not to get involved beyond his contract. Geralt is insightful, a quality dearly missed in Veilguard, and he also has a strong set of morals as well as his own sense of justice that is deeply rooted in his character.
No it's not, better than a few AAA games this year sure. But there are better quality games right now, drastically so than those but people just ignore that fact.
@@damgful true...still, the main quest was decent but the side quests...next level. The world was never black and white and you could always feel the dilemma of the main character
CDPR really knows how to build a fd up world with characters that feel like real people. I'm currently on my third 100% run in Cyberpunk and just jumped back into The Witcher 3, and it is incredible just how good they are. You don't even need to consider the main story cause the side quests, the stuff you find exploring, and just how awful the world is for these random npcs is pure art.
See, we used to write fake dialogue like this to point out how stupid some of the things being said were, to mock the direction things were going. Now the actual dialogue in Veilguard is worse than any parodies we used to write for the lulz.
I got the bad ending to the barron quest (iykyk...) and that really stuck with me for a while and actually brought a tear to my eye when i realized i couldnt undo what happened no matter how many saves i scummed for.
Second best, the pinnacle of RPG storytelling was the Hearts of Stone dlc story in Witcher 3. The Bloody Baron story was amazing, but the HoS characters and story is the best in video game history, in my opinion.
@@3DCommando first run it was like that i was filled with sadness for real, 2nd run was good but it was still a sad outcome, at the beginning you face a drunkard who beats his wife and you really want to end his life but in the end the empathy that you actually feeling for this person is unreal.(good or bad situation) The actual writing is remarkable.
There is a small sidequest in witcher 3 where you had to follow a dog to its owners who were murdered by bandits. turned out the dog was a ghost that wanted you take revenge for them. do you understand? its a small side quest, barely 10 minutes to finish and i can guarantee you 100% that is better than literally every quest in veilguard
in Veilguard you'd be forced to sit down with the dog for 10 minutes and figure out what pronouns the dog wants to be referred to with before you could proceed with the quest.
There was also a story of two lovers who accidentally killed another during full moon, we have a choice between sparing or un-life the man, it's up to you whether to believe him or not, the girl insisted on wanting to see how he look like when he turned into werewolf, but the man said he don't want to as he isn't in full control
I playthrough Witcher 3 believe it or not 9 times, and being a Slavic you also appreciate all slavic folklore. It's simply not a game anymore it's a heritage and piece of art in video game form.
The game has become a tradition for me, even so a christmas tradition, i play it every year in december since 2017(played it on launch aswell) and every time i play it i find many new things.
@@snoy2647 Same here, dude. It’s the perfect Christmas time game. Waking up in the morning, cup of coffee, playing The Witcher 3 all day = good times 🥹
I also appreciate that in Witcher 3 seemingly simple characters in side quests have complex stories when dealing with morality. Like “A Tower of Mice” if you strip it to its core, is just a tragic love story between a Lord’s daughter and a simple fisherman. Simple characters who want only love. But their story is complex and memorable. Mislav and his love story with hiss Lord’s son is another. Witcher 3 is littered with simple commoner characters with simple desires, but the premise and nuances of their stories are complex and well written.
@@vaibhav2364 I want to try Cyberpunk because of the studio behind it after playing the witcher and both DLCs. I like the aesthetic but I don't like the combat much from what i've seen. Maybe it will be worth it anyway just like the witcher was with its mid combat.
@@itscoolthough419try it, it's worth it. You get used to the combat quick and after the patch 2.0 it became perfect! The story is awesome as well, with the new dlc you don't even have to end the main quests to end the game though I highly advise it.
The books are just as deep. Netflix truly fucked this one up, it's insane that they had this incredible source material and yet, they told themselves "we can do better" and ruined it.
@@cameronmckillop6448BRO 😂 that little head nod with the slight smile!!! 💀 your comment wins lol that’s what’s my fav part of the dialogue when you ask to play gwent
Funny, there's an armourer in Skellige who mourns his dead son and calls Geralt out of for being out of touch. Then he's all happy all of a second when you ask for a round of gwent.
What contributes to this 8:32 is colleges in California require you to take Ethnic Studies classes and I kid you not the first day of my class they told us there was “no room for independent thought” in what we’d be taught.
@@SmartestRick13 Base principle of communism. Everyone has to be in lockstep, won't ask questions and thinking is done by someone superior even though everyone is surposedly equal. In reality there's puppet masters and and common plebs are kept in bay with propaganda and sense of belonging. If that won't work just generous use of force which in last few years terms has been cancel mobs who can ruin careers and lives of those who wont fall in line.
@@Poisonedblade I agree completely! Got a craving for replaying it after watching this video, downloading it again while writing this. It will be good to take Roach out for a stroll again, it's been years. 😄
@@Nick-rs5if Same here, I'm downloading it right now after purchasing it off GOG. It'll be my first time, but after experiencing this clip, I have to see more now!
The Red Baron, the Triss love arc, the Yennifer love arc and having to choose, the Crones story and the tree story, Dandelion, Dikstra arc, the NILFs, the homies, the minor details of lost love between old witcher and random old lady, the wimpy guy, the witch burning and persecution scenes, the DLC characters, Gwent, the little side quests that are sad AF… this was probably the best single player game I played
@ Gaunter was an interesting character for sure, I can’t recall if those quests were that good though, personally liked the vampire DLC more but I don’t know if Im biased because one had Gwent cards to collect
They also kept accents to regions so when you go to skeliger and hear velen you immediately think to yourself, you're not from around here and then you get the dialogue "You're not from around here are you?"
When Geralt who is supposed to be unemotional due to the witcher mutations, conveys more believable emotion in his voice than characters in the vast majority of modern games...
I don’t think it’s “hey this guy is bad” more so “this man has done a bad thing, and he has done bad things”. One is a generalization on his entirety. The other is an emphasis on his actions that have lead to his current predicament. It’s one of my favorite sayings. “I’ve seen bad men do good things, and I’ve seen good men do bad things”. Another one is: “I’ve seen a rich man beg, I’ve seen a good man sin. I’ve seen a tough man cry. I’ve seen a loser win, and a sad man grin. I’ve seen an honest man lie”. It is rare to have a man who is entirely evil. It just seems nowadays all we get is the evil man.
Devs nowadays if you even suggest the idea of making a Quest to help a dude who beat up his wife they would have a stroke and a full thread on twitter about toxic workplace
You don't "Help him" , he is the power figure of the area, and you need something, but he is refusing to give up what you need unless you work for him. That is not "Help" that is a contract.
@armandoriosfragoso6726 that's a long roundabout way to say that you help him in exchange for what you want.... grow up dude you are exactly the person asmon is talking about 😂
This is how you can tell it's good writing, even Asmon who usually interrupts or speaks over the gameplay is sitting there quiet immersed in the scene for most of it.
Man, what a genuinely heartwrenching moment. Complex, just like real life. "What happened to everything...people are dumber now" In a succinct manner of speaking...yes. People spend far more time glued to shiny pocket rectangles than they do investing in real-life wisdom and skills, far more involved in manufactured drama than in what real life has to offer.
Incredibly raw. Full of emotion. 2 men and realistic dialogue for 2 men to have in a situation like this. Voice acting ON-POINT. Heavy topic, yet not badly executed. Very believable. How is it difficult to do this when you have examples like THIS scene and the entire quest line of the Red Baron?
The best part of the Witcher 3 is after you beat the game it hands you two DLCs with even better writing and characters. I was in pure awe on my first run through Hearts of Stone
years later ive still not played the DLC's. After i finish WotR im diving right into it though. Im genuinely excited for it in a way i havent been about video games in a while. The only game to actually excite me recently has been Space Marine 2. Actually felt giddy at moments during the latter half of the game.
@@declancampbell1277 I honestly coudnt connect with space marine 2 mainly gameplay it felt like a slow slob instead of feeling like a tank. It seems like its ok for bossfights or good even but very very bad for hordes of enemies that rip through your tought armor like paper. I was always focused on merely survivng and just didnt enjoy whenever my character killed something. It was very unsatisfying. That was till I got the sledgehammer and everything flipped 360 since but it was on the last mission sadly. And loved the graphics too but the story and game was too short. I've no idea why the gameplay feels so unsatisfying though.
HoS has the best villain in the entire game and presented way better than both Wild Hunt and Detlaff. When it comes to story, HoS was the peak in the entire series.
@@valorantplayer7586 its probably unsatisfying for a reason to you, but i personally loved it. I played on the hardest difficulty for my first playthrough, and the combos while basic, were essential to mastering the weapons and combat. Did you maybe play it like a mindless hack and slash game? because i found i had to put significantly more thought into what i was doing than the gameplay would suggest. You cant parry mid animation for example, so you had to learn the attack patterns of the larger enemy types. As i said the combos are also a huge part of being successful in the game. I dont agree with the story being too short either, we're in an age where hours being bloated to high heaven seems equated with quality, which i hate. a good 7-8 hour story to me is way more valuable than 200 hours of slop like starfield was. I got more worth out of those 8 hours of Space marine 2 than i would out of a million in Veilguard. The fact that im a 40k fan definitely carries my enjoyment regardless though, the last stand around the flag was pure cinema and it got me giddy af lol.
He was a pure example of someone who is both an addict and a cyclical abuser. His condemnation ending and redemption ending are both valid and amazing. The best fatally flawed character in gaming that decade.
Just as Asmon said he is far far more relatable to people who have been through this kind of stuff. This is why stuff like "just leave the relationship" doesn't click there are kids, good memories between the bad, hardships you came through together, family and friends you all know. Real life is messy.
He *still* does not tell you everything, but there are enough breadcrumbs to put it all together. Anna was also violent (we know she knocked him out cold). Sure, he could take it, physically at least, but it hurt him a lot. She'd latch onto that pain and squeeze until he broke. She took away the only person he still loved in this world, his daughter. And was willing to make a pact with the devil in order to kill his next child. Just so he would have no one to love. Just to spite him. Anna was the actual villain, Philip was the victim.
Red Baron is a legit test of comprehension cause the entire issue was how it was mutual abuse. Little spoilers ahead. Both the Baron and his wife were horrible people to each other. The Baron came from war traumatized and drunk his sorrows away everytime he returned and Anna didn't help him but intentionally pushed him into anger and slept with other men behind his back. They wanted to have a second child for a new beginning but it didn't work and the Baron beat her so bad that Anna miscarried. There seems to be an implication that the Witches of the Bog could be responsible by cursing them both but its up for interpretation. That entire story can end in tragedy. If you make the wrong choice, Anna dies miserably at the hands of the Witches, leading to the Baron taking his own life. Or Anna actually loses her mind cause she had to witness the Witches butchering the children of the Bog for a meal. Either way, their daughter Tamara is the one stuck in a Inquisition Cult with no way out cause was manipulated into joining to find her mother. And they probably would murder Tamara for treason cause the Eternal Fire Cult is pure madness who want to not just kill every non-human but to make them suffer.
Wasn’t the miscarriage caused from an accident? Sure the baron could not be being truthful, but he said he didn’t beat her. She was trying to leave and he wouldn’t let her leave, so they struggled with each other a bit and she fell hard and hit her stomach or something. The “beatings” from what I understand mainly came from self defense when Anna would assault and try to kill him. He was also drunk which made things worse. She also would always instigate him hard and tried to get him to be violent. She was angry he killed the guy she was sleeping with and supposedly loved when he would go off to war. Most of the issues here started when he found out she was cheating. People get the perception that he was getting drunk and beating her in his spare time, but that’s not what happened. He made it seem that way, but he doesn’t tell you the truth until you ask him more questions or something. I’m not saying he’s in the right, but both are in the wrong for different reasons.
@@frankjaeger1711 The Crones caused the miscarriage. Anna didn't want to have the child so she made(foolishly) a pact with The Crones to get rid of it. They fullfilled their end of the bargain in twisted way and slaved her(pain tether etc). An amulet made by the Pellar protected her awhile but she lost it in the fight and magic of the Crones got her. She tried desperately escape the situation with the daughter but it was too late, she was already tethered.
@@frankjaeger1711 Anna made a deal with the crones, Anna hated her husband so much that she wanted her child to be dead, and crones took Anna as payment.
Witcher 3, especially the Hearts of Stone dlc, is still the best story telling in video gaming history. Nothing has even come close, even Baulders Gate 3. Witcher 3 surpassed them all.
The creators in many interviews said that it was one of the storylines they were the most focused on. And it paid off. They won many writing competitions in local or international writing in gaming infustry thanks to it. This is how you write a good compelling story which become classics, just like in the old times.
And it's great this is the quest where Witcher really clicked for me and I knew I was in for good writing and good dialogue choices. Djikstra and Geralt's relationship in this game too should be looked at really underrated only thing I hated about it was the ending which was out of character but it is what it is.
And this isn't really technically that pivotal to the plot itself. It's just a really well written story. Imagine that, spending so much effort making a really good storyline that doesn't fully have to do with the main plot anyways.
transmongold said many things. he complain about DEI & wokeness, then plays the DEI game & may even finish it. while he never finishes a normal one. sounds about right
Mass effect as well. The original trilogy has a ton of dialogue focusing on cultures, responsibilities an etc. Tali literally has a giant exposition on how she has insane expectations on her and she feels inadequate and only wants success to please her father and her people . Pretty relatable I think. That’s literally one conversation out of hundreds. Then Joker, the pilot NPC has an entire dialogue on his disabilities, but there’s no obvious hints to it before, so if you don’t notice it, you’ll never be prompted to use that option.
@@JorgeGarcia-jw4ld You're right but calling someone "diverse" due to their race or sexual orientation needs to stop. You can have multiple white guys and still have diversity due to them having multiple backgrounds. Also needless diversity is stupid.
Massive exposition dumps make games great? Nonsense about your people's expectations is relatable? Oh good lord, now I know where the bad dialogue comes from.
What causes bad writing? 1. Not hiring based on skill and experience. 2. Prioritizing a nonsensical message over character and story arcs. 3. DEI culture poison.
I think Asmon had a good point. Modern writers refuse to look at things from another perspective, or maybe can’t, maybe they are so pampered and spoiled that they just can’t, but it’s probably a good idea when writing a character, perspective matters.
Bro Asmongold clearly said it. It has NOTHING to do with DEI. Absolutely nothing do with the inability to control the *inclusive* positive feedback loop.
Bruh, I literally started playing witcher 3 (50-80hrs atm) and I'm completely amazed about how wonderful storytelling aspect of this game is, I knew this universe was always great story platform; I read few books after all, but playing it myself it has actually blew my mind about how good these stories are and how it actually rewards you for effort you make in the game; God sake it's so fuckin good
I hated my ex step dad for things he did to my mum when I was a child still too young to remember. She divorced him and told me he was not a nice a guy (similar story to this). Only when he died and I attended his funeral did I find out the dude was a fucking war hero who fought in Vietnam. He saved a lot of his men but sadly lost a lot more. The US basically abandoned him so he moved over here to the UK to try and start fresh. But PTSD fucked him up good, but also he fucked up my family and did some horrific things to my mum. It's never simple.
@@Vandassar its the unfortunate thing about the abused, whether that be sexually, domestically, or like those with PTSD from wars. They tend to inflict what happened to them onto other people. I dont know why humans are like that, but they are.
@@declancampbell1277 when not given the help they need, they normalise what has been done to them, then proceed to treat everyone around them the way they think is normal.
The Baron was only horrible to his wife, she beared the brunt of his addiction and aggression, but she didn't put an effort to make the situation better either
@@malakarvonstroheim5372Not only that, but she started it all with her cheating on him when he would go to war. Out of anger, he killed her lover and fed him to the dogs. Ever since then she’s instigated and tried to kill the baron. Out of self defense he laid hands on her. He never actually beat her without warrant. He didn’t want to let her go because he loved her and was hoping he could fix things, but Anna hated him for killing her lover. Ever since then is when the problems started. Most people don’t know that because they didn’t actually listen to all the dialogue. Of course her anger is also because she couldn’t leave, so she was basically a prisoner. This quest is much more than just the baron being the bad guy. As you learn more, you realize how they’re both at fault, but one party starting it all. You could even see this by how the baron treated guests like Ciri. He could be a great guy when he’s not getting his buttons pushed in the worst ways.
it's all that, plus the music, the immersion close to the chimney with the fire crack, the voice acting, the eyes, the pauses, it all just is kinda perfect
This clip in Veilguard would be like "I hit her" "Oh my god, do you not realise hitting women is wrong? Women are the weaker than men, and violence is wrong" "Also violence is wrong" "Evil people hit people" "Wow, bad guy!" Cant have a realistic dialogue with actual feelings, sadness, anger, regret. Its all there. Veilguard is so detached its unreal.
What makes the witcher scene great too, is that it represents multiple experiences. Parents fighting, rejection, alcoholism, abandonment, regret, etc. Even if you haven't experienced this exact tale, you can still relate because chances are you've at at least one facet of it. It brought tears to my eyes from my own past experiences, and I've never even played the game to understand the greater context of this...
SPOILER : Later on you go to the child grave and realize that child became a monster . Then you can choose to kill it or spare it (makes it harder to finisb the quest) and burry it properly . If you do that it's ghost will come back and guide you to Baron's mother and daughter .. And there is more this just half of the quest . With your choicea Baron can find his wife and daughter (kinda) or lost them and he hang himself at the end if that happens
I think both, the writers and voice actors worked hard together here. The written stuff and delivery on voice acting here is amazing... I should finish this game, but I don't want to find the ending in for it as I will miss it once I've done the story... that's what makes me replay it over and over again...
And loved the game they were making, the people working on Witcher 3, put passion into it, you can see almost all games like Veilguard, Concord and others, and the game is soulless, the writing makes you feel nothing and breaks your immersion, and "the message" is not even tried to be tied into the game in a way that fits, so it breaks the immersion even more, you end up feeling like you're playing a game made by HR that is trying to tell you how to act properly, like if you didn't know those things were bad, instead of a game made to tell a story, and be fun.
You couldn't. Any kind of dialogue that explains actual reasons a man would do what the Baron did outside of cartoonish "he's a violent, drunk patriarchal criminal!" would be labeled as mansplaining and outright rejected as harmful to women.
They wouldn't be able to wrap their heads around the idea that an alcoholic wife beater could be written with nuance. As a complex, morally grey character. As people like that often tend to be in the real world. At the very least, they'd demand that he were rewritten as an irredeemably awful, one-dimensional comic book villain.
"It lie there. A tiny thing, defenceless... on bloodied sheets... dead. And it was my doing." Hearing the Baron say that with such regret and anguish gives me chills. The writing just doesn't have any modern equals.
@@alex25509 There will probably be a time where that comes to pass. The circumstances in which we find ourselves are brought about by a fundamentally unsustainable set of incompatible ideas that has shown themselves to fail time and again. Eventually, people will wake up and realize this is the case. But it will take time. Like the fall of every empire, it will happen slowly over a long period of time, and then all at once.
the woke stuff doesnt inherently cause bad writing. the woke shit is an indicator of bad writing. because the values they CLAIM to have are inclusion, diversity and equality, which the cultists dont give a shit about they just use this to virtue signal and do the opposite. but that stuff is entirely present in baldurs gate 3 too but nobody complains about it because its implemented naturally. its just well written. and well written stuff naturally comes with inclusion and diversity, because otherwise there would be repetitiveness often times. when the writing is bad, the agendas behind there come forward and become obvious, because bad writing tells more about the writer than the characters. good writing and storytelling tells nothing about the writer and everything about the character.
W3 is a masterclass in storytelling in videogames. Every aspect, from voice to sound design to music, env. storytelling, pacing, immersion, it's ALL top notch IMO.
So much of the Witcher 3 was not black and white, it was full of gray areas and characters. Real and believable and not forced or preachy. You know, like the people creating the dialogue knew what they were doing.
Yeah, it's letting the player come to their own conclusions, instead of doing it for them, not to mention creating pros and cons for all decisions, with outcomes that you can't always predict. So I think that has a positive real life impact as well, making you think harder about the choices you make and the outcomes they can result in. And bcos of these things, you can have very interesting conversations with people about the decisions they made and why, which also gives insight into different ways of thinking and looking at the world.
That's the message of the game. Life isnt black and white, there are different shades to it and sometimes you are forced to pick the lesser evil. Baron's quest was a good example.
@@mrsneedleton3254 It is pretty much impossible to fully enjoy peak single player gaming when youre even a 1k+ viewer streamer, the constant backseating, fighting with spoilers and people buttinig in to force to do their "best choice" just ruins the experience altoghether, so it makes sense he doesnt play those games, it'd be a waste lol
Blood Baron quest is sad all around. Dude goes off to war and Anna just being a Jody and then hes gotta raise her affair child after he comes back from war....Its so complex of a quest that you cant even call Baron a bad or good guy.
@@cyk658Tamara is his daughter, he does explain when it all started. And after he killed the guy she cheated with and fed him to dogs, she became hostile and intentionally triggered him every time.
He's trying to play some elevated centrist stance. He's either not thinking about it too much on the moment or he's just trying to play the mediator stance. The issues are multiple with DEI, one is that it ignores the values of merit due to the necessity of equity and the other is that it's attempting to impose morality on a purely financial industry, meaning that as expected, it will be made on the cheap and min/maxed in cost to theoretical profit motives, with the latter being easier to lie to themselves or rationalize out. But yes, DEI does literally lead to bad writing by it's very nature within a corporate industry. And you should never forget that. There are already rules in place that makes it illegal to hire based on racial discrimination of any kind, laws are already in place to protect everyone, so their fight bears no change in the legal system, only on social or corporate culture, which ultimately fails due to it's highly conflicting elements.
I think he meant in the context of the game, in this quest it's about domestic abuse and toxic masculinity but it's handled maturely and not one dimensional.
@@highwindknightAn ex Disney employee said the recruitment department will actively put hetero caucasian men at the bottom of the list or remove them.
@@miguelgonzalez6495 You just summed up my mother, heck she's so good at it that even digging up HER own terrible past puts her in the right compared to anyone according to her.
as a genuine human being, how you can live your life if you are afraid to talk about dark 9:20 things... losing a child like Baron did might sound extreme, but loosing a child is not so uncommon, if tou are afraid or even trying to ban others talking about it then I have one question, have you ever lived harsh times ?
You hated what the red baron did, yet you sympathized for what he went thru, because you wanted the best for everyone. That's peak gaming dialog right there, and those moments is what made The Witcher 3 so great. Also. I think the reason why people are so emotional, is because several reasons. But the two major reasons is, 1: They don't see a human behind the text, so their insert their own emotion with self reflections over what others says. 2: The Algorithm in everything keep catering to their opinions and interests, which creates an echo-chamber
Witcher 3 is the best at truly making morally grey character. All flawed human beings and I love it. I wish I can play Witcher 3 again without having any ideas. It truly was one of my favorite times in my gaming years ago.
whats so important and that games nowadays wouldnt do is show that she was also abusing him but on different ways they both became poison to eachother for realistic reasons we can understand and put ourselves on that situation becouse of how human and realisic it is
@@agssilv5919 Indeed. Everything is a grayscale. He showed his love to her in his own way. She hated him, cheated on him and he killed her lover for that. Ever since, they both been toxic to each other, while a child was caught in the middle. The child blamed everything on the father as a natural ground because her father was forced to head out to war as a duty. He broke free form that war and took over the hills as his own place to create a world where they could live in peace. But that wasn't enough, because the damage was already done. Two toxic parents that once loved each other became spiteful and bitter against each other.
2:07 it is DEI, the bad writing is due to hiring being focused on sexuality and race, rather than the best for the job, it IS DEI. The story is written in a way that pushes certain social issues regardless of whether or not they make sense in the context of it, checking boxes. This is the problem with WOKE stuff, something WOKE is simply something designed with primarily in mind issues like sexuality, race, etc. leaving aside the really important things like writing, story, gameplay. Entertainment or whatever thing focusing primarily on the important stuff and later implement this aspects in a coherent way is alright, one example are the spiderverse movies. BUT THESE ARE ONES OF THE VERY VERY FEW EXEMPTIONS. So for how things are being managed now DEI/WOKE is the problem.
its most obviously mask off with the new dragon age game. The director for that game is a trans person whose only previous game title was Sims 4. Why do you think that person got their hands on an RPG of that scale, renown, and importance for biowares future. Is it because they're an expert after working on sims 4? or is it because they're trans and these companies love to push for "diverse" peoples in management positions. i think its the latter. Which then has a DIRECT IMPACT on the writing, because it frames the entire direction of the game. Hell, the taash questline in its entirety was basically a self insert about a modern day issue. "wahhh my parents wont accept that im trans!". Brother we are fighting a war for the fate of the world, who the fuck cares???
Adding just to make sure you understand my sarcasm: 1:53 "It's not social issues, it's not woke stuff, it's not DEI, it's bad writing." Asmons statement is clearly pro-woke. He's saying that DEI does NOT affect writing which most of us obviously disagree with.
@@Simbacycle I can see where you're coming from. I'd say 'somewhat agree' but it really depends on what people call "woke" or "DEI". Like that misgendering scene from the new DA is both horrible writing plus woke nonsense which he mocked. Meanwhile games like SMT Persona 4 deal with certain issues and is widely considered great game because the writing is amazing.
1:55 The bad writing is a symptom of woke and DEI. So yes, it is because of those things. There are no good woke and DEI stories, it's simply not possible.
@hermity1 nah I disagree. It’s not DEI itself but the blanket application of it. If it was applied like how the NFL did with coaches - just having a quota for interviews of different people but still hiring on merit - then we’d still only get the best from a wider pool of candidates. There has definitely been an over correction but we can’t throw the baby out with bath water because we’ll be back where we started; then the cycle repeats
It wasn't just the main quest either: the side quests were often elevated by the writing and revolved around human interactions, not 'go to the cave and find my sword'.
The best part about this quest is the redemption angle, both the Baron and his wife clearly pine for the old days of their relationship and have done terrible things to escape or go try and go back - ultimately the Baron is able to atone with help and his wife and daughter are able to move forward, if Geralt works for it. If this was in Veilguard or whatever else, the Baron would be killed within 30 minhtes of a meeting because of how comically evil he'd be portrayed as and selling your soul to a coven of witches would be seen as empowering
I still remember when I freed the tower ghost on that isolated island and it turned out to be a plague maiden After that you effectively trigger an epidemic on a nearby kingdom as a butterfly effect. Witcher 3 was insane
It’s not just the dialogue but the music score that accompanies it. It’s a symphony, man. Veilguard doesn’t even pretend to even think about coming close.
You could tell that the W3 writers did read the witcher books, and also understood them, the tone and characters are an exact match. And they also had the talent to write something they can stand right next to the books proudly.
@@raics101 One thing that could be also the case, the writers are not gamers first that ended up writing. They are actual, legit writers who wrote books before playing games. It's a huge difference in my experience
@@raics101 Wholeheartedly agreed. A lot of "shows based on..." or "remakes" completely change the spirit of the work, the personalities of the characters and their relationships. The Witcher show didn't manage to get one character right. They all are a caricature or a bland modernized version. But in the games, you can see the personalities of the characters from the books. You see that the people that created this, have read the books, understood them and respected them. Witcher 3 has its problems, but it's clear that it respects the source material.
@@raics101 Obviously, Sapkowski ultimately wrote a book based on the game. Now, another book is being created alongside the game's production-coincidence?
We need more media that makes you sit there and process it after you take it all in. Like that clip. That interaction is bitter, cold, raw, but most importantly it feels real. You've gotta sort through all the emotion you just witnessed.
I think what a lot of people miss too with this quest is that: You actually had cutscenes show what happened when ciri arrived and met the bloody baron, and he treated her well. But seeing that, and then unfolding this quest makes you wonder if thats the whole story, if something bad happened with ciri. Its like a roller coaster, and in the end, him saying he hopes you find her, just hits you a little different. This quest was a masterpiece, I felt so many emotions throughout, my opinion swinging on scales, it is incredibly human. I could not praise this questline enough
I think he meant the fact that it was allowed to get this bad due to the people buying this kind of stuff. Look at how bad it's gotten for WoW and people still pay out of their arse for that garbage storytelling. Not to mention the 1000s of trash streaming shows and movies that seem to come out every week.
Exactly. Instead of hiring people with the best skills, they choose to hire based on gender or race, regardless of their abilities as a programmer, designer, writer etc. I really wish Asmon would get it.
@@VandassarMost people are NPCs who would buy anything that is heavily advertised and flashy, especially when there is no much other options around. Few smart and conscious people don't make a weather much.
Honestly, the dumbing down already started way earlier, it is the companies wanting to attract a larger crowd, Morrowind vs Skyrim for example, Morrowind had far superior writing, no quest markers that allow you to not use your brain to orientate yourself etc
Normal world: You need to be good to get hired - writers hone their skills, improve their scope of knowledge and as result we get good stories Current world: You need to be DEI to get hired - writers are not interested in improving their scope of knowledge, because the reason they got hired is their identity. And thus they work on honing and improving their identity, even within the stories they produce
It's not even that they work on 'honing and improving' their identity. They spend all their time honing and improving a carefully crafted narrative in which they're the victim despite their villainous actions - and people with 'traditional' world views are considered the villains purely based on having that world view, regardless of their actions
@@Hadgerz This. For example, wanting criminals to be prosecuted is somehow bad, and defending yourself against them is even worse. People have lost the plot.
Why would they ever need to improve? They're guaranteed to be hired instead of better writers due to DEI. Nobody can criticise them or their work, out of fear of HR reprisal. If they fail, they blame the consumers for being an -ism. And they move onto the next project and drag it down. Wash rinse repeat.
@@ymmv99 The saddest thing I feel for non-poles that play the Witcher is that there are some things that sadly do not translate in a way that can convey the same exact message as in the polish version as well as some cultural references mostly only poles will get. Oh and swearing, swearing NPCs in polish are just superior hah!
@@ymmv99 Sadly a lot gets lost in translation. Polish is a much more colourful and advanced language so it can make much more poetic expressions. For instance you can say two in 17 different ways, depending on "2 what". For instance "two dogs" would be "dwa psy", but "two feet" would be "dwie nogi" or "give me a two" would be "daj mi dwójkę". When you read or hear a word in polish, just 1 word will most often tell you things like the subjects gender, age, time, your relation to it (or how you feel about it) and so on. If someone says: "zjadła naleśniczka", it means "she ate a tiny/small pancake" but it would probably be translated to "she ate a pancake" which is "zjadła naleśnika". You can say a persons name in like 5-6 different ways, each revealing your relation to the person, their age or how much you care about them. For instance "Anna", in Polish you could say: Anna, Ania, Aniusia, Aneczka probably a few more. I moved to Sweden when I was 13. Kind of miss it here. Swedish is a basic language, same as English. Many things are not translatable to Swedish. It's not even possible to explain it in Swedish because the concept is not in the language structure. One could say English is a 2D language, where Polish has a 3rd dimension to the words. (Same is true in other languages, especially other Slavic languages).
@@rxappdevYeah, I've read the witcher books in english and a few slavic languages that aren't Polish, and those are much more expressive, you can tell some things come across much easier. Also, this scene was written by someone that actually heard two men talk about something this serious.
@@raics101 Sadly I got the books in English as well. I moved from Poland at age of 13, so I never finished learning Polish. (I remember reading that you get fluent in Polish at 18, compared to English which was 13 or 14). So I was afraid I would not understand everything, especially the adult stuff. I might buy them in Polish later and see if it's too difficult to understand everything. And alcoholism used to be a big thing in Poland back when I lived there, no idea how it's now been like 30 years ago now.
Without spoiling anything, what happens before this scene and after - awesome. If you haven't played this game, you absolutely should. The gameplay is also really good.
Big fan of the game but man, the gameplay? i don't think it's that good honestly, after just a few upgrades Geralt becomes invincible, the only thing that can kill you are high level enemies (not because of their moveset or mechanics they just do a lot of dmg and you don't) and gravity.
The problem with the industry is that it lacks adults. Specifically "mature" adults. The kinds that would take accountability and responsibility into their own hands and not passing the blame off to someone else.
i've been playing witcher 3 again recently. it is, quite literally, the best game i have ever played. the narrative depth of side quests exceeds the main story line in most modern games.
I bought the game again on PC and playing modded (more ability slots, hoods, gear is upgraded on the sword stone and armor table, enchants are free, better trophies, companions, ultragore for killable guards, no map borders and restored potions)
This is why I currently replay Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt on PS5. When remakes, remasters flood the market, games that suit modern trends. I travel away from all that shit in one of the best RPG'S of all time.
Sometimes I just don't understand Asmon, he actually plays and finishes some mediocre games but he didn't finish masterpieces like Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 and he didn't even touch RDR2, arguably the best game ever made. His audience loves those games the most, he would break records if he played them lol...
short attention span.. i haven't finished any of the witchers myself even after reading all of the Sapkowski saga's.. i would love to watch him play but i also understand someone who's lacking the ability to just sit down and dive into a such deep story...
@@BugbugAdventures So all other Rockstar games. They don't make RPGs. They mostly make action adventures and they make the best games. One aspect is not enough to make a game great. R* games are linear yes, but they always have great stories, great characters, great music, great game worlds, great physics and animations, great voice acting, great content, great attention to detail, etc. And they take these aspects to the top. RDR2 is their masterpiece and Rockstar's masterpiece can easily be called as the best game ever made. That's why people watched the GTA6 trailer 100 million times in 48 hours. Because even the idea of a game better than RDR2 is mind-blowing.
@@BugbugAdventures RDR2 was never meant to be an rpg? Its a story open world game. Probably the best one in its genre ever made. Beautiful story and the most immersive game of all time
I thought W2 was better than W1. The split halfway through: finishing choice 1, load the save game before the main choice and then finishing the game with choice 2 seing the same events from a different perspective. awesome!
@@gonz808 That's because each game was done as a different "kind" of rpg, making everyone able to find something within the franchise to like. For me, personally, W2 was even better than vanilla W3, because it feels like a tabletop rpg - straightforward, linear and with consequences of actions impacting much. I'm not that much of a fan of open-worlds as I am of games like Bloodborne, so W2 was ideal.
We are in the minority, but I consider W1 as the best game, mostly due to the Lakeside questlines in chapter 4 which was the closest to the books. Also, despite quite bad control for most people (quick-time-events) and useless signs... I loved combats. It was because this is how I imagined witchers wield a sword just right after reading Witcher books by Sapkowski. In W2 and W3 wielding was much slower which hurted me.. Also, Bloody Baron questline was similar to W1 Lakeside. Beautiful world, like White Orchard (or Blood and Wine DLC), but at the same time very gloomy with various evils lurking in darkness.
3:50 Gee, who would have thought that a group of people who dress up as cartoon animals for bedroom adventures would have a problem writing humans as humans.
I had a talk with my co-worker about Cyberpunk 2077 and i was saying how natural and non-problematic Claire was in that game, turned out that my friend did not even know that she was trans. Thats how seemless CDPR incorporated this character into the game and thats how it should be. Imagine first time visting the Afterlife, you sit at the bar and she comes to you and starts the convo by "hey, im trans btw, what would you like to drink". This is the level of stupidity Veilguard has reached.
1:55 This does highlight what "wokeness" and DEI have done to gaming, amongst many industries, because writers aren't hired on creativity or merit. Instead, they have to have the right opinions, ideological worldview, and support the correct, current social justice causes, then they fail upwards into big studios (i.e. Bioware, Blizzard, Ubisoft etc). Consequently, this is the "bad writing" you are witnessing in today's "AAA" games. These writers often have a string of failed projects or flops, and very little valid or quantifiable industry experience. It is just another form of cronyism, except this time the gatekeeping is done by far left leaning idealogues and feminists. A lot of the successful or creative talents are now being forced out into the indie game studios and spaces, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Well it's KINDA the culprits you mentioned because those things won't allow any grey in any character. Everything has to be a lesson, and when everything is a lesson nuance completely disappears.
That is not called DEI... That is called preachy control freaks. It is closer in concept to what cults and religions are... Grew up in one and left for obvious reasons (Islam). It seem so familiar to me... Remember those old Christian funded cartoons? It is THAT vibe I got... For me it was seeing Nami from one piece redrawn to be "covered up"... When i saw that scene with the self punishment pushups... I saw it as flagellation for committing a mortal sin... A concept I learned about in said cartoons... That is the pattern my brain sees... Hyper controlling culty people who want you to be THIS and DO THAT or else be punished! Funny how you see it in traditional religion ppl and what is supposed to be the opposite progressive free thinking people... DAM, I am cooking here! OR I might be that crazy guy from the conspiracy meme with the red string XD
Definitely. Great example of naive fantastical thinking vs. cold realism of it all. There's real life stories in the similar vein, except what you sometimes end up reading about is people who didn't take "Geralt's" advice. Instead they chose to pretend reality isn't real, so they stubbornly double down and then end up paying the price.
Witcher 3, particularly Hearts of Stone, is the best story telling to date in video games. Nothing since even comes close to the quality of Hearts of Stone dlc story.
I also recommend Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment if you want good writing. I feel like, in general, games have pretty mediocre writing, but these four are among the great ones. Cyberpunk had one of my favorite protagonist-deuteragonist dynamics in gaming. Some of my favorite parts of the game were the conversations between Silverhand and V. It also focused on existential themes that I'm always a big fan of.
A woman wrote this quest too. Karolina Stachyra. She said her aim was to write an interesting story in which both people are at fault because that's how real life is.
Eastern women are something else
there's a reason why best writers are from Slavic countries.
@@Alex_Munoz5Poland is still considered the west 😂
@@NoonyJW No you don't get it, anything that isn't US is considered East for them 😂
@@NoonyJW I consider poland slavic and eastern in culture, even though as you said, its technically in the west
The Baron was a complex character. He had reasons to like him. He had reasons to hate him. You could see him as a villain, you could see him as a troubled man. You can see him as a story of redemption or you can see him as an abject failure of a man. And the game never forces you toward one way or another. It's purely for you to decide.
In that world he's not a villain, point being that if he leaves to go find his wife the whole place becomes a living knightmare for the surrounding villagers as his even worse guardsmen take over
in todays writing the baron would have called it fetus, or clump of cells
This is peak writing it really is. I love this game though and though it reminds me games CAN be good. Dragon age origins IS good. Its depression seeing a butching to such a favorited series
I liked him for that Dijkstra Gwent card
@@mydemonedgewhat does accurate scientific terms have to do with anything? The child in this story is not a fetus. Please stop confusing a fetus with a human baby, they’re not the same.
"I hope you find your Ciri"
This line right here, man just lost his wife and baby a few days a go, pissed drunk at his lowest, yet still doesn't wish for the same thing to happen to the guy who criticized him a few minutes ago. That is an excellent writing right there. All the context are there without even a need to explain any of it, it really humanized the character.
Ever since I saw a developer of this game say that the characters are purposely bipolar, I can't get that thought out of my head every time someone talks about the game's writing. I honestly wish I could erase that from my memory.
As a father who just lost her unborn child due to his own actions, the pain is unreal. You dont wish that to happen to any other man.
The baron was a fantastic character. You don't see it in this video, but he also went out of his way to help ciri in her time of need. He's generally a nice guy, but he has a terrible temper and alcohol issues. You could view him as irredeemably awful, or as someone you'd want to help be better. And either view has at least some merit.
@@DragonGunzDorian the Baron quest alone was way better than whole Wild Hunt and it's coming from Witcher 3 massive fan (put over 1500 hrs into it).
Baron is amazing character if you get to know him. He wants to start anew. If you haven't played this game yet, I will spoil one of the endings to his quest, he promises he will stop drinking alcohol in them.
@@info0 I only played through the game once, at least 6, or so years ago, but I loved it. Eventually I'm going to go back ajd try for every single achievement.
I remember in my ending for the quest, the baron decided to uh... hang around I'll just say.
The reason Witcher dialogue runs so smoothly in this without feeling patronising is because of how Geralt is portrayed.
He's mad - rightfully so. But he's also having a genuine conversation here. He WANTS to know the man's reasoning, he WANTS to hear his answers and he lets him speak. Geralt will say his piece and be harsh, but he's never disregarding and that's because, in the game at least, he's an investigator and you feel that from how he approaches things. His job as a Witcher isn't just slaying monsters, it often involves finding them first. Solving mysteries and getting to the bottom of things, even if he chooses not to get involved beyond his contract.
Geralt is insightful, a quality dearly missed in Veilguard, and he also has a strong set of morals as well as his own sense of justice that is deeply rooted in his character.
Ive always said Geralt sometimes feels like Batman in the comics when he's in detective mode.
Ah, Witcher 3...a game in which one side quest is just infinitely better than main quests in modern games...
No it's not, better than a few AAA games this year sure. But there are better quality games right now, drastically so than those but people just ignore that fact.
Also to note, better than its own main quest as well. Probably the worst aspect of W3 is the main plot.
@@TheEregos Ok tell one. Tell a game with a better quality writing than The Witcher 2 in this decade.
@@TheEregos please, name 3 modern AAA games with better writing
@@damgful true...still, the main quest was decent but the side quests...next level. The world was never black and white and you could always feel the dilemma of the main character
Geralt opener: "Sit down. You beat them."
DA Veilguard opener: *Sits down* "I'm non-binary."
😂😂😂
"So what's your pronoun? I just need to settle this first before we talk about your dead wife..."
"Oh, I'm ze/zhem... thank you for that now we can talk happily without hurting each other 😊"
@@VerårtuWoah back off! Who told you my wife identifies as she?!
then stands up and does a set of push-ups
Comparing W3 to Failguard is like comparing Shakespeare to monkeys with crayons.
You win the comments for the day buddy 😂
Those crayons are all brown though?
Why do you have to insult monkeys like that?
I know Shakespeare doesn’t even compare to the masterpieces of monkeys with crayons.
they should just join the circus then...lol
CDPR really knows how to build a fd up world with characters that feel like real people. I'm currently on my third 100% run in Cyberpunk and just jumped back into The Witcher 3, and it is incredible just how good they are. You don't even need to consider the main story cause the side quests, the stuff you find exploring, and just how awful the world is for these random npcs is pure art.
Geralt: "Keep it together man"
Baron: "Man? Did you just assume! 10 push-ups!"
"Alright, now let's make this all about me!"
They cant do that many pushups!
😂😂
Based Baron. KendrickDrake
See, we used to write fake dialogue like this to point out how stupid some of the things being said were, to mock the direction things were going. Now the actual dialogue in Veilguard is worse than any parodies we used to write for the lulz.
Bloody Baron's entire quest line is a PINNACLE for the RPG GENRE, one of the best if not the best questline from the beginning till the end fr.
And the choices actually matter!! When I chose a certain path and he was hanging it was wild that games can evoke such emotions
I got the bad ending to the barron quest (iykyk...) and that really stuck with me for a while and actually brought a tear to my eye when i realized i couldnt undo what happened no matter how many saves i scummed for.
Second best, the pinnacle of RPG storytelling was the Hearts of Stone dlc story in Witcher 3. The Bloody Baron story was amazing, but the HoS characters and story is the best in video game history, in my opinion.
Heart of Stone was also top notch. Loved the villain character
@@3DCommando first run it was like that i was filled with sadness for real, 2nd run was good but it was still a sad outcome, at the beginning you face a drunkard who beats his wife and you really want to end his life but in the end the empathy that you actually feeling for this person is unreal.(good or bad situation) The actual writing is remarkable.
There is a small sidequest in witcher 3 where you had to follow a dog to its owners who were murdered by bandits. turned out the dog was a ghost that wanted you take revenge for them. do you understand? its a small side quest, barely 10 minutes to finish and i can guarantee you 100% that is better than literally every quest in veilguard
in Veilguard you'd be forced to sit down with the dog for 10 minutes and figure out what pronouns the dog wants to be referred to with before you could proceed with the quest.
There was also a story of two lovers who accidentally killed another during full moon, we have a choice between sparing or un-life the man, it's up to you whether to believe him or not, the girl insisted on wanting to see how he look like when he turned into werewolf, but the man said he don't want to as he isn't in full control
I’ve played theough all of witcher three several times, never found this quest, guess I have to go do another playthrough
I'm guessing this is the treasure hunt quest ?
In Veilgaurd the dead dog would be a romance option
I playthrough Witcher 3 believe it or not 9 times, and being a Slavic you also appreciate all slavic folklore.
It's simply not a game anymore it's a heritage and piece of art in video game form.
The game has become a tradition for me, even so a christmas tradition, i play it every year in december since 2017(played it on launch aswell) and every time i play it i find many new things.
@@snoy2647 Same here, dude. It’s the perfect Christmas time game. Waking up in the morning, cup of coffee, playing The Witcher 3 all day = good times 🥹
Actually sounds like dream man haha @s4mcote
Best game so far this century. My favorite of all time
That's exactly why we were so upset at netflix fucking it up, hope CDPR won't join them after most people who did W3 left.
I also appreciate that in Witcher 3 seemingly simple characters in side quests have complex stories when dealing with morality. Like “A Tower of Mice” if you strip it to its core, is just a tragic love story between a Lord’s daughter and a simple fisherman. Simple characters who want only love. But their story is complex and memorable. Mislav and his love story with hiss Lord’s son is another. Witcher 3 is littered with simple commoner characters with simple desires, but the premise and nuances of their stories are complex and well written.
And then it’s the pestmaiden that is the big bad
Yeah I remember that one very well. They don't write stories like that any more.
@@friedrichjunzt CDPR are one of the best studios at intelligent video game writing. Cyberpunk has it as well
@@vaibhav2364 I want to try Cyberpunk because of the studio behind it after playing the witcher and both DLCs. I like the aesthetic but I don't like the combat much from what i've seen. Maybe it will be worth it anyway just like the witcher was with its mid combat.
@@itscoolthough419try it, it's worth it. You get used to the combat quick and after the patch 2.0 it became perfect! The story is awesome as well, with the new dlc you don't even have to end the main quests to end the game though I highly advise it.
Netflix Witcher has got nothing on this.
The Netflix writing team is just extremely untalented. Wish hbo bought the rights.
The books are just as deep. Netflix truly fucked this one up, it's insane that they had this incredible source material and yet, they told themselves "we can do better" and ruined it.
@@ilcarnifex hbo isn't much better these days honestly.
Polish tv show is better, apart from the cgi.
the only good thing about the show was henry cavill
"Understand, Witcher? My Child is DEAD!" - Bloody Baron.
Geralt replies, "Up for some GWENT?"
😂
😂
*Slow nod of approval*
@@cameronmckillop6448BRO 😂 that little head nod with the slight smile!!! 💀 your comment wins lol that’s what’s my fav part of the dialogue when you ask to play gwent
Funny, there's an armourer in Skellige who mourns his dead son and calls Geralt out of for being out of touch. Then he's all happy all of a second when you ask for a round of gwent.
What contributes to this 8:32 is colleges in California require you to take Ethnic Studies classes and I kid you not the first day of my class they told us there was “no room for independent thought” in what we’d be taught.
Thats crazy 😮
Wait what? That goes against anything that class should teach.
@@leila13dnd the class emphasizes the idea of “community” and independent thought is seen as detrimental to community cohesion.
@@SmartestRick13 Base principle of communism. Everyone has to be in lockstep, won't ask questions and thinking is done by someone superior even though everyone is surposedly equal. In reality there's puppet masters and and common plebs are kept in bay with propaganda and sense of belonging. If that won't work just generous use of
force which in last few years terms has been cancel mobs who can ruin careers and lives of those who wont fall in line.
Communism @@Fickets
The Witcher 3 is a class act, a timeless classic. The writing that went into it is absolute perfection.
It raised the bar on the entire Video Game Industry!
@@Poisonedblade I agree completely!
Got a craving for replaying it after watching this video, downloading it again while writing this.
It will be good to take Roach out for a stroll again, it's been years. 😄
@@Nick-rs5if Same here, I'm downloading it right now after purchasing it off GOG. It'll be my first time, but after experiencing this clip, I have to see more now!
@@Kamawan0 Oh, you are in it for a good time. Happy travels! 😄
@@Nick-rs5if Thank you, you too!
The Red Baron, the Triss love arc, the Yennifer love arc and having to choose, the Crones story and the tree story, Dandelion, Dikstra arc, the NILFs, the homies, the minor details of lost love between old witcher and random old lady, the wimpy guy, the witch burning and persecution scenes, the DLC characters, Gwent, the little side quests that are sad AF… this was probably the best single player game I played
Nilf's lol
Triss is best girl btw
@@williamcobbett4943 nah, Yennefer is better.
Gaunter O dimm... Still one of the best themes in Hearts of stone. And Even the best villain in DLC. Or even the game.
@ Gaunter was an interesting character for sure, I can’t recall if those quests were that good though, personally liked the vampire DLC more but I don’t know if Im biased because one had Gwent cards to collect
When voice acting makes you feel absorbed into the story and does not cringe every 5 seconds
i think i actually cryed when playing that part it made me feel so invested and was connected to the world
And a non pdo artstyle...
They also kept accents to regions so when you go to skeliger and hear velen you immediately think to yourself, you're not from around here and then you get the dialogue "You're not from around here are you?"
When Geralt who is supposed to be unemotional due to the witcher mutations, conveys more believable emotion in his voice than characters in the vast majority of modern games...
Try Polish dub with English subtitles, brings out even more heat from the scene
The Baron storyline might be one of the best game missions ever
I don’t think it’s “hey this guy is bad” more so “this man has done a bad thing, and he has done bad things”. One is a generalization on his entirety. The other is an emphasis on his actions that have lead to his current predicament. It’s one of my favorite sayings.
“I’ve seen bad men do good things, and I’ve seen good men do bad things”.
Another one is:
“I’ve seen a rich man beg, I’ve seen a good man sin. I’ve seen a tough man cry. I’ve seen a loser win, and a sad man grin. I’ve seen an honest man lie”.
It is rare to have a man who is entirely evil. It just seems nowadays all we get is the evil man.
Devs nowadays if you even suggest the idea of making a Quest to help a dude who beat up his wife they would have a stroke and a full thread on twitter about toxic workplace
You don't "Help him" , he is the power figure of the area, and you need something, but he is refusing to give up what you need unless you work for him. That is not "Help" that is a contract.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
@@armandoriosfragoso6726 So...helping the dude, in return for plot-related information.
@@armandoriosfragoso6726you certainly do help him. Just not for free, which isn't the witcher way anyways.
@armandoriosfragoso6726 that's a long roundabout way to say that you help him in exchange for what you want.... grow up dude you are exactly the person asmon is talking about 😂
This is how you can tell it's good writing, even Asmon who usually interrupts or speaks over the gameplay is sitting there quiet immersed in the scene for most of it.
🎯
damn thats a fantastic point
I’ll eat my hat if he ever actually plays it through
When it shuts him up, you know its good. But I still love the commentary
@@TheJordanK probably won't, he prefers gameplay over story. but he can appreciate it.
Man, what a genuinely heartwrenching moment. Complex, just like real life.
"What happened to everything...people are dumber now"
In a succinct manner of speaking...yes. People spend far more time glued to shiny pocket rectangles than they do investing in real-life wisdom and skills, far more involved in manufactured drama than in what real life has to offer.
Incredibly raw. Full of emotion. 2 men and realistic dialogue for 2 men to have in a situation like this. Voice acting ON-POINT. Heavy topic, yet not badly executed. Very believable. How is it difficult to do this when you have examples like THIS scene and the entire quest line of the Red Baron?
2/10 Not enough push ups- IGN
The best part of the Witcher 3 is after you beat the game it hands you two DLCs with even better writing and characters. I was in pure awe on my first run through Hearts of Stone
years later ive still not played the DLC's. After i finish WotR im diving right into it though. Im genuinely excited for it in a way i havent been about video games in a while. The only game to actually excite me recently has been Space Marine 2. Actually felt giddy at moments during the latter half of the game.
@@declancampbell1277 I honestly coudnt connect with space marine 2 mainly gameplay it felt like a slow slob instead of feeling like a tank. It seems like its ok for bossfights or good even but very very bad for hordes of enemies that rip through your tought armor like paper. I was always focused on merely survivng and just didnt enjoy whenever my character killed something. It was very unsatisfying. That was till I got the sledgehammer and everything flipped 360 since but it was on the last mission sadly. And loved the graphics too but the story and game was too short. I've no idea why the gameplay feels so unsatisfying though.
HoS has the best villain in the entire game and presented way better than both Wild Hunt and Detlaff. When it comes to story, HoS was the peak in the entire series.
@@valorantplayer7586 its probably unsatisfying for a reason to you, but i personally loved it. I played on the hardest difficulty for my first playthrough, and the combos while basic, were essential to mastering the weapons and combat. Did you maybe play it like a mindless hack and slash game? because i found i had to put significantly more thought into what i was doing than the gameplay would suggest. You cant parry mid animation for example, so you had to learn the attack patterns of the larger enemy types. As i said the combos are also a huge part of being successful in the game.
I dont agree with the story being too short either, we're in an age where hours being bloated to high heaven seems equated with quality, which i hate. a good 7-8 hour story to me is way more valuable than 200 hours of slop like starfield was. I got more worth out of those 8 hours of Space marine 2 than i would out of a million in Veilguard.
The fact that im a 40k fan definitely carries my enjoyment regardless though, the last stand around the flag was pure cinema and it got me giddy af lol.
Blood and Wine was crazy for a DLC could have easily become it's own game if it was made by Ubisoft or EA
He was a pure example of someone who is both an addict and a cyclical abuser. His condemnation ending and redemption ending are both valid and amazing. The best fatally flawed character in gaming that decade.
Facts. He fucked up so bad but he's willing to admit it and make up for it as best he can in this setting. It works.
Just as Asmon said he is far far more relatable to people who have been through this kind of stuff.
This is why stuff like "just leave the relationship" doesn't click there are kids, good memories between the bad, hardships you came through together, family and friends you all know.
Real life is messy.
He is not a cyclical abuser, his spouse cheated on him, the abuse only came after that. It's not black and white.
He *still* does not tell you everything, but there are enough breadcrumbs to put it all together. Anna was also violent (we know she knocked him out cold). Sure, he could take it, physically at least, but it hurt him a lot. She'd latch onto that pain and squeeze until he broke.
She took away the only person he still loved in this world, his daughter.
And was willing to make a pact with the devil in order to kill his next child. Just so he would have no one to love. Just to spite him.
Anna was the actual villain, Philip was the victim.
@@bakters it seems to be a mutually abusive relationship where lots of trauma is involved. You know, like it happens to actual humans.
Red Baron is a legit test of comprehension cause the entire issue was how it was mutual abuse. Little spoilers ahead.
Both the Baron and his wife were horrible people to each other.
The Baron came from war traumatized and drunk his sorrows away everytime he returned and Anna didn't help him but intentionally pushed him into anger and slept with other men behind his back.
They wanted to have a second child for a new beginning but it didn't work and the Baron beat her so bad that Anna miscarried.
There seems to be an implication that the Witches of the Bog could be responsible by cursing them both but its up for interpretation.
That entire story can end in tragedy. If you make the wrong choice, Anna dies miserably at the hands of the Witches, leading to the Baron taking his own life.
Or Anna actually loses her mind cause she had to witness the Witches butchering the children of the Bog for a meal.
Either way, their daughter Tamara is the one stuck in a Inquisition Cult with no way out cause was manipulated into joining to find her mother. And they probably would murder Tamara for treason cause the Eternal Fire Cult is pure madness who want to not just kill every non-human but to make them suffer.
Wasn’t the miscarriage caused from an accident? Sure the baron could not be being truthful, but he said he didn’t beat her. She was trying to leave and he wouldn’t let her leave, so they struggled with each other a bit and she fell hard and hit her stomach or something. The “beatings” from what I understand mainly came from self defense when Anna would assault and try to kill him. He was also drunk which made things worse. She also would always instigate him hard and tried to get him to be violent.
She was angry he killed the guy she was sleeping with and supposedly loved when he would go off to war. Most of the issues here started when he found out she was cheating. People get the perception that he was getting drunk and beating her in his spare time, but that’s not what happened. He made it seem that way, but he doesn’t tell you the truth until you ask him more questions or something. I’m not saying he’s in the right, but both are in the wrong for different reasons.
@@frankjaeger1711 The Crones caused the miscarriage. Anna didn't want to have the child so she made(foolishly) a pact with The Crones to get rid of it. They fullfilled their end of the bargain in twisted way and slaved her(pain tether etc). An amulet made by the Pellar protected her awhile but she lost it in the fight and magic of the Crones got her. She tried desperately escape the situation with the daughter but it was too late, she was already tethered.
@@frankjaeger1711 Anna made a deal with the crones, Anna hated her husband so much that she wanted her child to be dead, and crones took Anna as payment.
A single dialogue from a random merchant in Witcher 3 often surpasses the quality of writing found in most games lmao.
Witcher 3, especially the Hearts of Stone dlc, is still the best story telling in video gaming history. Nothing has even come close, even Baulders Gate 3. Witcher 3 surpassed them all.
@@rufusshinra9124 red dead 2 is really good in that aspect too, though it doesnt go for the rpg choice dialogue system
Care for a game of Gwent?
♪ Pam-param, pam, pam-param ♫
TOP NOTCH SWORDS!
The creators in many interviews said that it was one of the storylines they were the most focused on. And it paid off. They won many writing competitions in local or international writing in gaming infustry thanks to it. This is how you write a good compelling story which become classics, just like in the old times.
And it's great this is the quest where Witcher really clicked for me and I knew I was in for good writing and good dialogue choices. Djikstra and Geralt's relationship in this game too should be looked at really underrated only thing I hated about it was the ending which was out of character but it is what it is.
And this isn't really technically that pivotal to the plot itself. It's just a really well written story.
Imagine that, spending so much effort making a really good storyline that doesn't fully have to do with the main plot anyways.
@NinjapowerMS Djikstra's ending was terrible but to be fair they ran out of time. The writers weren't allowed to finish it so that's just what we got.
Asmon - I will finish The Wither 3.
Me - Yeah, in year 2077
XD
Me: _boots up Cyberpunk 2077, listens to Asmon talk about the Witcher 3_
AsmonOld
You mean after he cleans his room.
transmongold said many things. he complain about DEI & wokeness, then plays the DEI game & may even finish it. while he never finishes a normal one. sounds about right
The fact 2015 was 9 years ago is scaring me.
Mass effect as well. The original trilogy has a ton of dialogue focusing on cultures, responsibilities an etc. Tali literally has a giant exposition on how she has insane expectations on her and she feels inadequate and only wants success to please her father and her people . Pretty relatable I think. That’s literally one conversation out of hundreds. Then Joker, the pilot NPC has an entire dialogue on his disabilities, but there’s no obvious hints to it before, so if you don’t notice it, you’ll never be prompted to use that option.
You forgot to mention Cortez in ME3. Mass Effect is the perfect example of how to make diverse characters enjoyable and meaningful to the story.
Also either Kaiden and/or Ashley have survivors guilt and have to deal with their PTSD
@@JorgeGarcia-jw4ld You're right but calling someone "diverse" due to their race or sexual orientation needs to stop. You can have multiple white guys and still have diversity due to them having multiple backgrounds. Also needless diversity is stupid.
@@CheeseOfMasters So much this. SOOO MUCH.
Massive exposition dumps make games great? Nonsense about your people's expectations is relatable? Oh good lord, now I know where the bad dialogue comes from.
Wind's howling.
What is the refference to, could you pls explain?
It's a line from the game he says it when well when you hear the wind😅@@Just2Ddude
Looks like rain
Brother you don't need to explain yourself. These people need to play. Great line. I still fall asleep with that line
@@Just2Ddude Geralt comments on things in the world around him when you're out exploring at times. That line is said when the wind is howling. 😄
What causes bad writing?
1. Not hiring based on skill and experience.
2. Prioritizing a nonsensical message over character and story arcs.
3. DEI culture poison.
This.
What really causes bad writing? - Digging around the dregs from the bargain bin because the good writers fucked off due to being treated like shit.
Aka woke stuff
I think Asmon had a good point. Modern writers refuse to look at things from another perspective, or maybe can’t, maybe they are so pampered and spoiled that they just can’t, but it’s probably a good idea when writing a character, perspective matters.
Bro Asmongold clearly said it. It has NOTHING to do with DEI. Absolutely nothing do with the inability to control the *inclusive* positive feedback loop.
Bruh, I literally started playing witcher 3 (50-80hrs atm) and I'm completely amazed about how wonderful storytelling aspect of this game is, I knew this universe was always great story platform; I read few books after all, but playing it myself it has actually blew my mind about how good these stories are and how it actually rewards you for effort you make in the game; God sake it's so fuckin good
Enjoy the masterpiece
Bloody Baron has PTSD from the wars, as do most of his men. One of the realest depictions of severe PTSD I've ever seen in a game.
I hated my ex step dad for things he did to my mum when I was a child still too young to remember. She divorced him and told me he was not a nice a guy (similar story to this). Only when he died and I attended his funeral did I find out the dude was a fucking war hero who fought in Vietnam. He saved a lot of his men but sadly lost a lot more. The US basically abandoned him so he moved over here to the UK to try and start fresh. But PTSD fucked him up good, but also he fucked up my family and did some horrific things to my mum. It's never simple.
@@Vandassar its the unfortunate thing about the abused, whether that be sexually, domestically, or like those with PTSD from wars. They tend to inflict what happened to them onto other people. I dont know why humans are like that, but they are.
@@declancampbell1277 when not given the help they need, they normalise what has been done to them, then proceed to treat everyone around them the way they think is normal.
@@Hadgerz thats a great point to consider, i'll have to keep it in mind. never thought of it like that before.
@@Vandassarrelocated country for a fresh start. Moving to the uk was a bad move lol
And Ciri’s story line showed him in yet another light, charming him and bringing out the best in the Baron
oh yes, the way he cares for her. Let's her ride a horse, takes her hunting. CDPR showed him in all lights then, good, bad, sad.
Yeah, he taken Gretka in without any doubt.
The Baron was only horrible to his wife, she beared the brunt of his addiction and aggression, but she didn't put an effort to make the situation better either
@@malakarvonstroheim5372Not only that, but she started it all with her cheating on him when he would go to war. Out of anger, he killed her lover and fed him to the dogs. Ever since then she’s instigated and tried to kill the baron. Out of self defense he laid hands on her. He never actually beat her without warrant. He didn’t want to let her go because he loved her and was hoping he could fix things, but Anna hated him for killing her lover. Ever since then is when the problems started.
Most people don’t know that because they didn’t actually listen to all the dialogue. Of course her anger is also because she couldn’t leave, so she was basically a prisoner. This quest is much more than just the baron being the bad guy. As you learn more, you realize how they’re both at fault, but one party starting it all. You could even see this by how the baron treated guests like Ciri. He could be a great guy when he’s not getting his buttons pushed in the worst ways.
“What happened to video games is what happened to everything”. Yep! 6:50
It all started when hiring was not based on merit and skills anymore.
it's all that, plus the music, the immersion close to the chimney with the fire crack, the voice acting, the eyes, the pauses, it all just is kinda perfect
This clip in Veilguard would be like "I hit her" "Oh my god, do you not realise hitting women is wrong? Women are the weaker than men, and violence is wrong" "Also violence is wrong" "Evil people hit people" "Wow, bad guy!"
Cant have a realistic dialogue with actual feelings, sadness, anger, regret. Its all there. Veilguard is so detached its unreal.
Baron: "I killed me own bloody child in the womb!!"
Rook: "Have you considered pulling a Barve?"
Sike. They would never admit that women are weaker than men. They'd just scream about how wahmyn need to be protected at all costs 🥴
Women are weaker than men until women are strong and independent.
I call it Schrodinger's victim.
@@EbenezerEibenhardt Baron: "I killed me own bloody child in the womb!!"
Rook : "This is why abortion is a woman's necessity"
As if they'd acknowledge sexual dimorphism.
What makes the witcher scene great too, is that it represents multiple experiences. Parents fighting, rejection, alcoholism, abandonment, regret, etc. Even if you haven't experienced this exact tale, you can still relate because chances are you've at at least one facet of it. It brought tears to my eyes from my own past experiences, and I've never even played the game to understand the greater context of this...
You forgot the adultery
SPOILER : Later on you go to the child grave and realize that child became a monster . Then you can choose to kill it or spare it (makes it harder to finisb the quest) and burry it properly . If you do that it's ghost will come back and guide you to Baron's mother and daughter ..
And there is more this just half of the quest . With your choicea Baron can find his wife and daughter (kinda) or lost them and he hang himself at the end if that happens
Yeah you forgot the cheating part on Anna’s side which started all this mess
When writers cared about the story and not *tHE mEsSaGe*
I think both, the writers and voice actors worked hard together here. The written stuff and delivery on voice acting here is amazing... I should finish this game, but I don't want to find the ending in for it as I will miss it once I've done the story... that's what makes me replay it over and over again...
@@OSkarSS20 You can Newgame+ but damn that Leshen takes FOREVER to die.
And loved the game they were making, the people working on Witcher 3, put passion into it, you can see almost all games like Veilguard, Concord and others, and the game is soulless, the writing makes you feel nothing and breaks your immersion, and "the message" is not even tried to be tied into the game in a way that fits, so it breaks the immersion even more, you end up feeling like you're playing a game made by HR that is trying to tell you how to act properly, like if you didn't know those things were bad, instead of a game made to tell a story, and be fun.
This game does not have any DEI. Im just curious about woke activists' opinions.
@@aboutme7810 It has many women, even a trans (before it was mainstream) some non-white people who worked on it.
"I'll eventually go back and play it entirely". Sure, sure. Me too. Of course.
How you gonna write a story like this with HR in the room.
You couldn't. Any kind of dialogue that explains actual reasons a man would do what the Baron did outside of cartoonish "he's a violent, drunk patriarchal criminal!" would be labeled as mansplaining and outright rejected as harmful to women.
They wouldn't be able to wrap their heads around the idea that an alcoholic wife beater could be written with nuance. As a complex, morally grey character. As people like that often tend to be in the real world.
At the very least, they'd demand that he were rewritten as an irredeemably awful, one-dimensional comic book villain.
Shelaborate that to me
@@wickian9571 a woman wrote this entire quest line Einstein
"It lie there. A tiny thing, defenceless... on bloodied sheets... dead. And it was my doing."
Hearing the Baron say that with such regret and anguish gives me chills. The writing just doesn't have any modern equals.
Because the writyng and voice acting were good and it looks like something that real person can act and say
@@alex25509 Indeed. God I wish there were more games like this nowadays. It's sad, the state we're in.
@@Nick-rs5if I hope sometime this all will reach its peak and break so it can have fresh start
@@alex25509 There will probably be a time where that comes to pass. The circumstances in which we find ourselves are brought about by a fundamentally unsustainable set of incompatible ideas that has shown themselves to fail time and again. Eventually, people will wake up and realize this is the case. But it will take time.
Like the fall of every empire, it will happen slowly over a long period of time, and then all at once.
I wouldn't dare to imagine how it feels like in his shoe at that moment. Watching this again after I become someone parent hit me even harder now.
The DEI causes the bad writing because it turns stories to propaganda. And propaganda is empty.
Also the people that focus their entire life on social justice catchphrases and ideology tend to be terrible at their jobs. Including writing.
I think you phrased that beautifully, Defenstrator.
the woke stuff doesnt inherently cause bad writing. the woke shit is an indicator of bad writing. because the values they CLAIM to have are inclusion, diversity and equality, which the cultists dont give a shit about they just use this to virtue signal and do the opposite. but that stuff is entirely present in baldurs gate 3 too but nobody complains about it because its implemented naturally. its just well written. and well written stuff naturally comes with inclusion and diversity, because otherwise there would be repetitiveness often times. when the writing is bad, the agendas behind there come forward and become obvious, because bad writing tells more about the writer than the characters. good writing and storytelling tells nothing about the writer and everything about the character.
When your focus is on social justice, everything else comes third place.
@@yihadistxdl951 It causes bad writing because DEI pushes bad hiring. Checkboxes first before skill.
W3 is a masterclass in storytelling in videogames. Every aspect, from voice to sound design to music, env. storytelling, pacing, immersion, it's ALL top notch IMO.
So much of the Witcher 3 was not black and white, it was full of gray areas and characters. Real and believable and not forced or preachy. You know, like the people creating the dialogue knew what they were doing.
Stil annoyed i didn't get to play as Zoltan 🗿
Yeah, it's letting the player come to their own conclusions, instead of doing it for them, not to mention creating pros and cons for all decisions, with outcomes that you can't always predict. So I think that has a positive real life impact as well, making you think harder about the choices you make and the outcomes they can result in.
And bcos of these things, you can have very interesting conversations with people about the decisions they made and why, which also gives insight into different ways of thinking and looking at the world.
That's the message of the game. Life isnt black and white, there are different shades to it and sometimes you are forced to pick the lesser evil. Baron's quest was a good example.
Asmongold will finish Witcher 3 just like he'll finish Cyberpunk
And then he will play and finish Baldur's Gate 3
Dude’s skipping pretty much the best gaming has to offer
@@mrsneedleton3254 It is pretty much impossible to fully enjoy peak single player gaming when youre even a 1k+ viewer streamer, the constant backseating, fighting with spoilers and people buttinig in to force to do their "best choice" just ruins the experience altoghether, so it makes sense he doesnt play those games, it'd be a waste lol
Blood Baron quest is sad all around. Dude goes off to war and Anna just being a Jody and then hes gotta raise her affair child after he comes back from war....Its so complex of a quest that you cant even call Baron a bad or good guy.
Tamara is an affair child? Did I miss something in that quest?
@@cyk658Tamara is his daughter, he does explain when it all started. And after he killed the guy she cheated with and fed him to dogs, she became hostile and intentionally triggered him every time.
@@alexanderzhelyazko8659 Yep, truly wahman bad moment, i bet he didn't even blame her. Yet the cheating b was mad at him? (never touched the game btw)
@@madmantheepic7278 She was mad at the murderer for murdering her lover and feeding him to the dogs? HOW COULD SHE??? >_>
Well, she also murdered her own child and made a pact with essentially three child eating demons to do it. Iirc.
This quest still sticks with me. What a wonderfully written story.
Witcher 3 draws you in with the music, visuals, and amazing voice acting at the same time for every part of the game so much better than 99% of games
DEI is literally the process of replacing people of talent, how it is not related?
You know there's a lot of good gay writers right? Stop being homophobic
He's trying to play some elevated centrist stance. He's either not thinking about it too much on the moment or he's just trying to play the mediator stance. The issues are multiple with DEI, one is that it ignores the values of merit due to the necessity of equity and the other is that it's attempting to impose morality on a purely financial industry, meaning that as expected, it will be made on the cheap and min/maxed in cost to theoretical profit motives, with the latter being easier to lie to themselves or rationalize out.
But yes, DEI does literally lead to bad writing by it's very nature within a corporate industry. And you should never forget that. There are already rules in place that makes it illegal to hire based on racial discrimination of any kind, laws are already in place to protect everyone, so their fight bears no change in the legal system, only on social or corporate culture, which ultimately fails due to it's highly conflicting elements.
I think he meant in the context of the game, in this quest it's about domestic abuse and toxic masculinity but it's handled maturely and not one dimensional.
@@highwindknightAn ex Disney employee said the recruitment department will actively put hetero caucasian men at the bottom of the list or remove them.
0:47 bro being married for 9 years this is so true, they know where to press your button for anger and happiness
This is why women make amazing archeologists. Perfect for digging up the past. 🫠
@@miguelgonzalez6495 You just summed up my mother, heck she's so good at it that even digging up HER own terrible past puts her in the right compared to anyone according to her.
@@miguelgonzalez6495 true! and we do it, we are the worst lmao but they do it like its just a normal part of everyday conversation
He's the victim of extreme manipulation, if you relate to that too you might wanna start questioning things my man
as a genuine human being, how you can live your life if you are afraid to talk about dark 9:20 things... losing a child like Baron did might sound extreme, but loosing a child is not so uncommon, if tou are afraid or even trying to ban others talking about it then I have one question, have you ever lived harsh times ?
You hated what the red baron did, yet you sympathized for what he went thru, because you wanted the best for everyone.
That's peak gaming dialog right there, and those moments is what made The Witcher 3 so great.
Also. I think the reason why people are so emotional, is because several reasons.
But the two major reasons is,
1: They don't see a human behind the text, so their insert their own emotion with self reflections over what others says.
2: The Algorithm in everything keep catering to their opinions and interests, which creates an echo-chamber
Witcher 3 is the best at truly making morally grey character. All flawed human beings and I love it. I wish I can play Witcher 3 again without having any ideas. It truly was one of my favorite times in my gaming years ago.
whats so important and that games nowadays wouldnt do is show that she was also abusing him but on different ways they both became poison to eachother for realistic reasons we can understand and put ourselves on that situation becouse of how human and realisic it is
@@agssilv5919 Indeed. Everything is a grayscale. He showed his love to her in his own way. She hated him, cheated on him and he killed her lover for that. Ever since, they both been toxic to each other, while a child was caught in the middle. The child blamed everything on the father as a natural ground because her father was forced to head out to war as a duty.
He broke free form that war and took over the hills as his own place to create a world where they could live in peace. But that wasn't enough, because the damage was already done.
Two toxic parents that once loved each other became spiteful and bitter against each other.
2:07 it is DEI, the bad writing is due to hiring being focused on sexuality and race, rather than the best for the job, it IS DEI.
The story is written in a way that pushes certain social issues regardless of whether or not they make sense in the context of it, checking boxes.
This is the problem with WOKE stuff, something WOKE is simply something designed with primarily in mind issues like sexuality, race, etc. leaving aside the really important things like writing, story, gameplay.
Entertainment or whatever thing focusing primarily on the important stuff and later implement this aspects in a coherent way is alright, one example are the spiderverse movies. BUT THESE ARE ONES OF THE VERY VERY FEW EXEMPTIONS.
So for how things are being managed now DEI/WOKE is the problem.
its most obviously mask off with the new dragon age game. The director for that game is a trans person whose only previous game title was Sims 4. Why do you think that person got their hands on an RPG of that scale, renown, and importance for biowares future. Is it because they're an expert after working on sims 4? or is it because they're trans and these companies love to push for "diverse" peoples in management positions. i think its the latter.
Which then has a DIRECT IMPACT on the writing, because it frames the entire direction of the game. Hell, the taash questline in its entirety was basically a self insert about a modern day issue. "wahhh my parents wont accept that im trans!". Brother we are fighting a war for the fate of the world, who the fuck cares???
1:50 This sums up the issue.
The "Blue Haired Studios™" just needs to hire better writers! Asmon said it!! Nothing do with DEI 😊😊
@@Simbacycle Do you think DEI writers are good? That's what you're implying with your "rebuttal".
@@LittleNemoGaming Asmongold doesn't think there's anything wrong with DEI culture. As he said just "bad writing"! I agree with Asmon. Very woke said!
Adding just to make sure you understand my sarcasm:
1:53 "It's not social issues, it's not woke stuff, it's not DEI, it's bad writing."
Asmons statement is clearly pro-woke. He's saying that DEI does NOT affect writing which most of us obviously disagree with.
@@Simbacycle I can see where you're coming from. I'd say 'somewhat agree' but it really depends on what people call "woke" or "DEI". Like that misgendering scene from the new DA is both horrible writing plus woke nonsense which he mocked. Meanwhile games like SMT Persona 4 deal with certain issues and is widely considered great game because the writing is amazing.
Just this really wants me to play Witcher 3 now... This type of storywriting is what I love to play. Wish there were more of this.
1:55 The bad writing is a symptom of woke and DEI. So yes, it is because of those things. There are no good woke and DEI stories, it's simply not possible.
This.
He doesn't grasp that tackling social issues does NOT equal Wokism.
@@Rajin90except he said exactly that… come on, keep up!
@@brkbtjunkie No he didn't? He said that it's all just a matter of good or bad storytelling. By 'he' I mean Asmon. At around 1:55 to be precise.
@hermity1 nah I disagree. It’s not DEI itself but the blanket application of it. If it was applied like how the NFL did with coaches - just having a quota for interviews of different people but still hiring on merit - then we’d still only get the best from a wider pool of candidates. There has definitely been an over correction but we can’t throw the baby out with bath water because we’ll be back where we started; then the cycle repeats
That hair having more life and plot than Veil Guard is crazy
They fixed that in new gen version ❤
It wasn't just the main quest either: the side quests were often elevated by the writing and revolved around human interactions, not 'go to the cave and find my sword'.
The best part about this quest is the redemption angle, both the Baron and his wife clearly pine for the old days of their relationship and have done terrible things to escape or go try and go back - ultimately the Baron is able to atone with help and his wife and daughter are able to move forward, if Geralt works for it.
If this was in Veilguard or whatever else, the Baron would be killed within 30 minhtes of a meeting because of how comically evil he'd be portrayed as and selling your soul to a coven of witches would be seen as empowering
I still remember when I freed the tower ghost on that isolated island and it turned out to be a plague maiden
After that you effectively trigger an epidemic on a nearby kingdom as a butterfly effect. Witcher 3 was insane
Don't blame it on yourself, that epidemy was there before you
Don't blame it on yourself, that epidemy was there before you
Thats how He should feel. Its good writing.
Nowadays game would explain him not to feel bad.
It’s not just the dialogue but the music score that accompanies it. It’s a symphony, man. Veilguard doesn’t even pretend to even think about coming close.
2:15 LIES! MR.EDITOR please commence bullying Asmon into playing.
The Red Baron story is hands down my favorite because of how beautifully written it is
The Red Baron interaction was probably one of the best pieces of story telling in W3. Honestly it is a great scene.
8:12 it's simple - because they stopped reading books. physical form, with no distractions. just books.
You could tell that the W3 writers did read the witcher books, and also understood them, the tone and characters are an exact match. And they also had the talent to write something they can stand right next to the books proudly.
@@raics101 One thing that could be also the case, the writers are not gamers first that ended up writing. They are actual, legit writers who wrote books before playing games. It's a huge difference in my experience
@@raics101 Wholeheartedly agreed. A lot of "shows based on..." or "remakes" completely change the spirit of the work, the personalities of the characters and their relationships. The Witcher show didn't manage to get one character right. They all are a caricature or a bland modernized version.
But in the games, you can see the personalities of the characters from the books. You see that the people that created this, have read the books, understood them and respected them. Witcher 3 has its problems, but it's clear that it respects the source material.
@@raics101 Obviously, Sapkowski ultimately wrote a book based on the game. Now, another book is being created alongside the game's production-coincidence?
this!
"I will eventually go back and play it entirely" I'm pressing X to doubt.
We need more media that makes you sit there and process it after you take it all in.
Like that clip. That interaction is bitter, cold, raw, but most importantly it feels real. You've gotta sort through all the emotion you just witnessed.
I think what a lot of people miss too with this quest is that: You actually had cutscenes show what happened when ciri arrived and met the bloody baron, and he treated her well. But seeing that, and then unfolding this quest makes you wonder if thats the whole story, if something bad happened with ciri. Its like a roller coaster, and in the end, him saying he hopes you find her, just hits you a little different. This quest was a masterpiece, I felt so many emotions throughout, my opinion swinging on scales, it is incredibly human. I could not praise this questline enough
It's not that people are dumber. It's a lack of meritocracy. The bad writing is a symptom of that. It is an ideological problem.
I think he meant the fact that it was allowed to get this bad due to the people buying this kind of stuff. Look at how bad it's gotten for WoW and people still pay out of their arse for that garbage storytelling. Not to mention the 1000s of trash streaming shows and movies that seem to come out every week.
Exactly. Instead of hiring people with the best skills, they choose to hire based on gender or race, regardless of their abilities as a programmer, designer, writer etc. I really wish Asmon would get it.
@@VandassarMost people are NPCs who would buy anything that is heavily advertised and flashy, especially when there is no much other options around. Few smart and conscious people don't make a weather much.
@@1Patrick DEI is the big problem indeed. And how woke they are do not help at all
Honestly, the dumbing down already started way earlier, it is the companies wanting to attract a larger crowd, Morrowind vs Skyrim for example, Morrowind had far superior writing, no quest markers that allow you to not use your brain to orientate yourself etc
“Leave it to the Poles”
- Napoleon Bonaparte
Baron's story line really hitted. Such an AMAZING character
Normal world: You need to be good to get hired - writers hone their skills, improve their scope of knowledge and as result we get good stories
Current world: You need to be DEI to get hired - writers are not interested in improving their scope of knowledge, because the reason they got hired is their identity. And thus they work on honing and improving their identity, even within the stories they produce
It's not even that they work on 'honing and improving' their identity. They spend all their time honing and improving a carefully crafted narrative in which they're the victim despite their villainous actions - and people with 'traditional' world views are considered the villains purely based on having that world view, regardless of their actions
@@Hadgerz
This.
For example, wanting criminals to be prosecuted is somehow bad, and defending yourself against them is even worse.
People have lost the plot.
Why would they ever need to improve? They're guaranteed to be hired instead of better writers due to DEI. Nobody can criticise them or their work, out of fear of HR reprisal. If they fail, they blame the consumers for being an -ism. And they move onto the next project and drag it down. Wash rinse repeat.
Why is the W3 dialogue just so fucking good?! Masterclass of writing out a dialogue for a game. Holy...
From Polish developers no less. The English language voice acting and dialogues are perfection.
@@ymmv99 The saddest thing I feel for non-poles that play the Witcher is that there are some things that sadly do not translate in a way that can convey the same exact message as in the polish version as well as some cultural references mostly only poles will get. Oh and swearing, swearing NPCs in polish are just superior hah!
@@ymmv99 Sadly a lot gets lost in translation.
Polish is a much more colourful and advanced language so it can make much more poetic expressions. For instance you can say two in 17 different ways, depending on "2 what". For instance "two dogs" would be "dwa psy", but "two feet" would be "dwie nogi" or "give me a two" would be "daj mi dwójkę".
When you read or hear a word in polish, just 1 word will most often tell you things like the subjects gender, age, time, your relation to it (or how you feel about it) and so on. If someone says: "zjadła naleśniczka", it means "she ate a tiny/small pancake" but it would probably be translated to "she ate a pancake" which is "zjadła naleśnika".
You can say a persons name in like 5-6 different ways, each revealing your relation to the person, their age or how much you care about them. For instance "Anna", in Polish you could say: Anna, Ania, Aniusia, Aneczka probably a few more.
I moved to Sweden when I was 13. Kind of miss it here. Swedish is a basic language, same as English. Many things are not translatable to Swedish. It's not even possible to explain it in Swedish because the concept is not in the language structure. One could say English is a 2D language, where Polish has a 3rd dimension to the words. (Same is true in other languages, especially other Slavic languages).
@@rxappdevYeah, I've read the witcher books in english and a few slavic languages that aren't Polish, and those are much more expressive, you can tell some things come across much easier.
Also, this scene was written by someone that actually heard two men talk about something this serious.
@@raics101 Sadly I got the books in English as well. I moved from Poland at age of 13, so I never finished learning Polish. (I remember reading that you get fluent in Polish at 18, compared to English which was 13 or 14). So I was afraid I would not understand everything, especially the adult stuff. I might buy them in Polish later and see if it's too difficult to understand everything.
And alcoholism used to be a big thing in Poland back when I lived there, no idea how it's now been like 30 years ago now.
Without spoiling anything, what happens before this scene and after - awesome. If you haven't played this game, you absolutely should. The gameplay is also really good.
Big fan of the game but man, the gameplay? i don't think it's that good honestly, after just a few upgrades Geralt becomes invincible, the only thing that can kill you are high level enemies (not because of their moveset or mechanics they just do a lot of dmg and you don't) and gravity.
@@Fingolfinnnnn Gameplay includes but is not limited to the battle system
In a broader perspective, it was Ciri who set up this quest for Geralt. And Geralt turned out to be the person the Baron needed the most.
I absolutely love Veilguard has birthed “Failguard” and “Non-Buynary”
The problem with the industry is that it lacks adults. Specifically "mature" adults. The kinds that would take accountability and responsibility into their own hands and not passing the blame off to someone else.
i've been playing witcher 3 again recently. it is, quite literally, the best game i have ever played. the narrative depth of side quests exceeds the main story line in most modern games.
And it's unfortunate we won't see another game even close to Witcher 3 story telling and characters anytime soon.
I bought the game again on PC and playing modded (more ability slots, hoods, gear is upgraded on the sword stone and armor table, enchants are free, better trophies, companions, ultragore for killable guards, no map borders and restored potions)
This is why I currently replay Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt on PS5. When remakes, remasters flood the market, games that suit modern trends. I travel away from all that shit in one of the best RPG'S of all time.
Sometimes I just don't understand Asmon, he actually plays and finishes some mediocre games but he didn't finish masterpieces like Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 and he didn't even touch RDR2, arguably the best game ever made. His audience loves those games the most, he would break records if he played them lol...
short attention span.. i haven't finished any of the witchers myself even after reading all of the Sapkowski saga's.. i would love to watch him play but i also understand someone who's lacking the ability to just sit down and dive into a such deep story...
RDR2 is a linear, hand holding video game. its not that great
@@BugbugAdventures So all other Rockstar games. They don't make RPGs. They mostly make action adventures and they make the best games. One aspect is not enough to make a game great. R* games are linear yes, but they always have great stories, great characters, great music, great game worlds, great physics and animations, great voice acting, great content, great attention to detail, etc. And they take these aspects to the top. RDR2 is their masterpiece and Rockstar's masterpiece can easily be called as the best game ever made. That's why people watched the GTA6 trailer 100 million times in 48 hours. Because even the idea of a game better than RDR2 is mind-blowing.
@@BugbugAdventures RDR2 was never meant to be an rpg? Its a story open world game. Probably the best one in its genre ever made. Beautiful story and the most immersive game of all time
The better the game, the more he hears about it, the less he wants to play it.
"people are dumber now." FACTSSSSSSSSSS It's so sad and worrisome.
Oh wait. I'm a people! I are mush be dumber to!!!!
I found HoS the best of W3. It was the closest thing to the original W1 atmosphere, which 99% here never even played. W1 was amazing.
There is more than 1% of Polaks here, kolego :D
I thought W2 was better than W1. The split halfway through: finishing choice 1, load the save game before the main choice and then finishing the game with choice 2 seing the same events from a different perspective. awesome!
@@gonz808 That's because each game was done as a different "kind" of rpg, making everyone able to find something within the franchise to like. For me, personally, W2 was even better than vanilla W3, because it feels like a tabletop rpg - straightforward, linear and with consequences of actions impacting much. I'm not that much of a fan of open-worlds as I am of games like Bloodborne, so W2 was ideal.
We are in the minority, but I consider W1 as the best game, mostly due to the Lakeside questlines in chapter 4 which was the closest to the books. Also, despite quite bad control for most people (quick-time-events) and useless signs... I loved combats. It was because this is how I imagined witchers wield a sword just right after reading Witcher books by Sapkowski. In W2 and W3 wielding was much slower which hurted me..
Also, Bloody Baron questline was similar to W1 Lakeside. Beautiful world, like White Orchard (or Blood and Wine DLC), but at the same time very gloomy with various evils lurking in darkness.
W1 is still the best game of the series. It has amazing atmosphere, great characters and its overall just a mature depiction of Sapkowskis work.
Play this game every winter. Just started playing a few days ago, collecting grandmaster armor and finishing the Blood and Wine DLC.
3:50 Gee, who would have thought that a group of people who dress up as cartoon animals for bedroom adventures would have a problem writing humans as humans.
It’s almost unfair to compare ANY game to Witcher 3, let alone all modern games made for “modern audiences” 🙄
Very true
sometimes I wonder if we will ever get a game like this ever again 🥲 I wish I could keep wiping my memory after every play-through of this game
@@nanofyurbiznes the only hope is the next witcher installment, and I'm very worried about what's going on at CDProjekt Red
@@nanofyurbiznes It will come, but not from Bioware or CDPR.
@@Vandassar let’s hope brother, let’s hope
This was the moment I realized that I liked games with good writing
We've had good writing for decades. For example, Mass Effect 1 didn't come out in 2015.
@ yea I know I was just too dumb too notice until I played this back in the day
I had that with Spec-ops The Line. Not an RPG. But if you like this kind of thing, it's definitely worth your time.
Mass effect trilogy... Damm, BioWare was a incredible Studio...
I had a talk with my co-worker about Cyberpunk 2077 and i was saying how natural and non-problematic Claire was in that game, turned out that my friend did not even know that she was trans. Thats how seemless CDPR incorporated this character into the game and thats how it should be. Imagine first time visting the Afterlife, you sit at the bar and she comes to you and starts the convo by "hey, im trans btw, what would you like to drink". This is the level of stupidity Veilguard has reached.
It also just makes sense in the world, because everyone is getting body mods, so it's not shoe-horned in for political brownie points.
1:55 This does highlight what "wokeness" and DEI have done to gaming, amongst many industries, because writers aren't hired on creativity or merit. Instead, they have to have the right opinions, ideological worldview, and support the correct, current social justice causes, then they fail upwards into big studios (i.e. Bioware, Blizzard, Ubisoft etc). Consequently, this is the "bad writing" you are witnessing in today's "AAA" games. These writers often have a string of failed projects or flops, and very little valid or quantifiable industry experience. It is just another form of cronyism, except this time the gatekeeping is done by far left leaning idealogues and feminists. A lot of the successful or creative talents are now being forced out into the indie game studios and spaces, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Well it's KINDA the culprits you mentioned because those things won't allow any grey in any character. Everything has to be a lesson, and when everything is a lesson nuance completely disappears.
And yet this one quest teaches a much more complicated lesson then anything those entire games do...
That is not called DEI... That is called preachy control freaks.
It is closer in concept to what cults and religions are... Grew up in one and left for obvious reasons (Islam).
It seem so familiar to me...
Remember those old Christian funded cartoons? It is THAT vibe I got...
For me it was seeing Nami from one piece redrawn to be "covered up"...
When i saw that scene with the self punishment pushups...
I saw it as flagellation for committing a mortal sin... A concept I learned about in said cartoons...
That is the pattern my brain sees... Hyper controlling culty people who want you to be THIS and DO THAT or else be punished!
Funny how you see it in traditional religion ppl and what is supposed to be the opposite progressive free thinking people...
DAM, I am cooking here!
OR I might be that crazy guy from the conspiracy meme with the red string XD
“I hope you find your Ciri”
- Thanks…. Alright, wanna play Gwent?
Imagine if every dialog option actually ended in Gwent.
@@Ntmoffi that would be awful. I’d end up playing gwent more than the actual game itself because it’s just too good of a card game lol
@@keeferChiefer awfully....awesome.
*nods*
That Bloody Baron quest was tragic, from beggining to end. I remember how invested it got me in the game when I played it for the first time.
"They'll kill you for your boots" is still one of my favorite lines and set the tone of the world so well
Definitely. Great example of naive fantastical thinking vs. cold realism of it all. There's real life stories in the similar vein, except what you sometimes end up reading about is people who didn't take "Geralt's" advice. Instead they chose to pretend reality isn't real, so they stubbornly double down and then end up paying the price.
The complexity of the Baron, the fantastic Crones or sadistic Rejk are in a league of their own. I miss that type of writing.
The man of glass and the vampire guy at the end dlc can’t remember his name. Those characters were so good.
@@brkbtjunkieI think you’re referring to Dettlaff. I agree. He was such a well written, complex antagonist
It shows that someone on the writing team either has first hand experience or did some serious research.
Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 have probably the best writing and dialog in any games. So far nothing has been close IMO.
Witcher 3, particularly Hearts of Stone, is the best story telling to date in video games. Nothing since even comes close to the quality of Hearts of Stone dlc story.
I dont know if i would say better but they have at least mastered nuance.
RDR2
I'm just worried that with the many changes in CDPR's direction that it will change and not for the better.
I also recommend Disco Elysium and Planescape: Torment if you want good writing. I feel like, in general, games have pretty mediocre writing, but these four are among the great ones.
Cyberpunk had one of my favorite protagonist-deuteragonist dynamics in gaming. Some of my favorite parts of the game were the conversations between Silverhand and V. It also focused on existential themes that I'm always a big fan of.
Damn, I was actually hooked by the conversation that I was surprised when he paused it.