The Witcher: Enhanced Edition - 20/20 hours

I think I've got a handle on the game's plot. It looks like there's a war brewing between a group of "freedom fighters" seeking the liberation of non-humans from racist human oppression and a knightly order who appears to protect both the innocent from monsters and the status quo from any sort of reform. The various quest-givers I've encountered have been trying to influence me to give aid to their preferred faction in order to manipulate the outcome of this war. I'm not sure how the Salamanders fit in with all this, but they have powerful friends, so I'm guessing that their raid on the witchers' alchemical supplies was no mere coincidence. One way or another, my mission of vengeance is going to dovetail with the war, and my choices will decide the fate of nations.

The only problem here is that I really don't want to. Both of the factions have managed to annoy me. The freedom fighters have a righteous cause, but it seems like every time I encounter them, they're threatening either me or the innocent. The knights are led by a guy, Siegfried who has always treated me with respect and seems personally honorable, but the organization itself is an obstinate and unshakeable defender of a corrupt and unjust society. The idealistic, modern part of me says that the solution to this problem is obvious - the kingdom must unilaterally begin to treat the non-humans with equality and dignity while still making clear that terrorism will not be tolerated, allowing the knights to protect the common folk while eliminating the iniquity that plagues their realm.

Unfortunately, Geralt is not a diplomat. He's just a humble monster-slayer whose only skills are alchemy and swordplay. With him as my avatar, I am helpless to turn the tide of history, and am crushed beneath these titanic political forces I couldn't possibly influence and only barely understand. Just like in real life. It's depressing. When I speak with an elf terrorist in the midst of a botched bank robbery, he tells me I must pick a side. What I really want to do is appeal to his fundamental decency and compassion and urge him to consider releasing the hostages in exchange for me brokering a deal that would allow him to escape. That's what would have happened in Fallout or Mass Effect, but here, it's not an option.

Perhaps the standard "you can find a third option" narrative is a bit naive. While I am very much against stark "you're either with us or against us" ideology in the real world, even I have to recognize that forging consensus and building bridges between antagonistic groups takes more than simply picking the right option from a dialogue menu. It is a painstaking and time-consuming endeavor that requires a lot of trust and faith and tolerance for the inevitable setbacks that will occur as people with a lot of built-up animosity learn, fitfully, to coexist. So the idea that some golden-tongued savior can just swoop in and fast-talk their way through problems that have endured for centuries is pure fantasy. On the other hand, so is the super-human killing machine who can take on whole armies without backup or support. If a game is going to be a power fantasy anyway, a fantasy of soft power isn't inherently more ridiculous than a fantasy of brute force.

I will grant, though, that others have a bleaker view of the world than myself. That it is easy to envision new types of force that will play out the same old, blood-soaked political dance that has so long been the curse of humankind. Perhaps peace requires a change to our very nature, or at the very least that more people than just one, lone hero be invested in achieving it. A thoughtful game could explore that very idea. That there might be an individual who is possessed of a phenomenal physical power, and yet is helpless to move the machinery of history, because their personal strength does not extend to hearts and minds.

However, The Witcher is not that game. It all comes back to the damned sex trading cards. Those are the most articulate examples of the game's thesis regarding the nature of power. Which is to say, power is awesome. You get to swing swords, and get drunk, and see boobies. And yeah, things are "dark and gritty," but it's the fun, shallow kind of dark and gritty were you're free to act with total irresponsibility (OMG - I just realized that the witchers' sterility and immunity to disease are not at all coincidental) because nothing will ever get better, so you don't have to worry about the hard work and compromise you could be doing, since those things will just lead to you getting screwed over by some other asshole who knows the real score.

What I really want is a ray of light. Some slim hope that my Geralt can be on the side of justice and peace, and not merely a sword in the dark. I don't think one is forthcoming, though. The question I have to ask myself is - is it worth it to stick with the game just for a bit of hope? Maybe, in other circumstances, I would. There was I time when I didn't have so many options, so I always took pains to get the absolute maximum out of any game. I may well have played The Witcher multiple times to see all the paths and explore as many sidequests and "romances" as possible. Now, I have more than a hundred games in my Steam library, with roughly ninety that I still need to play for the blog. The opportunity cost of continuing is just too high.

My final opinion of The Witcher is that it's adequate. It has some problems with its story, world-building, characters, and treatment of women (I understand it's based on some novels, and I'd be curious to know whether the problems are in the source material or were introduced due to the natural friction that comes with adaptation), but the core game was technically competent, with comfortable, if not especially compelling, mechanics and an well-put-together structure that does a fine job in managing the player's attention (or, at least, this player's attention) and keeping them interested. It won't go down as one of my favorite games, but on the balance I enjoyed it, and would not hesitate to recommend it to someone with a greater tolerance for its relentlessly dark and intermittently juvenile sensibilities.