The Witcher 3 is deserving of all the praise it gets and even more so. That said, a game of this scale is bound to have its plot-holes, bugs and things that generally just don’t make any sense. It’s not Bethesda level of jankiness, but there are some surprising things that CD Projekt Red dropped the ball on.
Whether it be pretending that Witcher 2 didn’t happen when it’s convenient for the plot, abandoning fan-favorite characters or writing characters who just don’t make much sense in the end. We tried not to get nit-picky so… here ya go:
10 Geralt Once Rode With The Wild Hunt… So What Went Down?
Not since season 8 of Game of Thrones has such an important plot point been rushed over. Geralt of Rivia, our main protagonist in the entirety of The Witcher series spent a period of time riding with The Wild Hunt, the main antagonists yet all of it is completely glossed over.
The only thing we know for sure is that he fought the Hunt with the School of the Viper to free Yennefer from their imprisonment. In order to save her though he had to bargain himself and ended up as a rider – so what happened exactly – NO-BODY KNOWS!
9 Ciri And The White Frost
The White Frost is a bit of an annoying overarching threat in the Witcher series. It’s neat in the fact that it affects every species in that world and is the central reason why the Wild Hunt is trying to use Ciri to stop it. Though in The Witcher 3 it seems a bit too convenient that all of this is happening now.
In the past two games the White Frost was just mentioned in passing and had little-to-no relevance in either games. Now here it’s and only one gal in the universe can stop it. Speaking of which what did Ciri do exactly to stop it? Release her elder blood power to heat up the snow? Nobody knows!
8 Avallec’h Needed Some Fleshing Out
Back in the day Avallec’h and Eredin used to be best buds who shared the common goal of using Ciri to stop the White Frost. Then along the way Avallec’h broke free from his long-time companion and took it upon himself to train Ciri to one day fight the White Frost saving the worlds of the humans and the Aen Elle.
The problem CD Projekt Red missed is how great of a solution this is for, well, everyone! Eredin wants the same thing that Geralt and company want, so why doesn’t anyone – especially his long time friend and ally Avallec’h – explain this to him? Well, here’s your answer…
7 Witcher 3: Less Talking And More Action!!
Talking during the climax of video games can be occasionally lame. You can look no further than Fallout: New Vegas when you can talk down the main antagonist of the game – a man who has been hyped up to just ravenously kill anything in his path no matter what the cost — yet clear a speech check and he’s like “eh, why not you win.”
But if handled properly speech over action can work and it’s one of the reasons why fans absolutely love Witcher 2. Instead of constant cinema-like action you can figure things out on your own. Witcher 3 isn’t an action slug fest, but could’ve benefited from a little less of it.
6 Radovid’s Mental Decline Is Really Rushed
King Radovid, not only is he the king of Redania, but also of characters that make no sense in The Witcher 3. Radovid wasn’t a bloodthirsty sociopath who was obsessed with chess metaphors in any other part of the Witcher series. In fact he often came to Geralt’s aid when the witcher needed it most.
Sure he was never a “true” ally, but his ideas and decisions always seemed to make sense, making Radovid a character you respected at the very least. All that is thrown at the window in the Witcher 3, maybe Philippa Eilhart’s betrayal got to him, but we think it’s still a bit far-fetched.
5 Where’s My Main Elf Iorveth?
Iorveth is probably the character that fans were the most bummed to see left out of Witcher 3. In Witcher 2 Iorveth is a commander of the elvish resistance fighters the Scoia’tael and is a major source of a moral conflict in the game. On one hand you have your best friend Vernon Roche fighting for Temaria and on the other you have this racist Elf who commits terrorist acts.
Yet along the way you come to understand his plea after he’s underwent a life of tragedy and torture from the hands of humans. Such a complex character and it’s a shame that he was left on the cutting room floor.
4 Nilfgaard’s Portrayal In The Books
We promise we won’t rely on any book to video game transgressions from here on out, but this one’s too interesting not to point. CD Projekt Red decided to take the kingdom of Nilfgaard in a completely different direction in Witcher 2 and 3. Instead of making them homicidal, cruel rapists as they’re portrayed in the novels, they became a typical conquering nation.
It’s weird too because sometimes you’ll see peasants in the game truly afraid of Nilfgaard entering the Northern Realms as if they know the savagery they contain. But instead of making Nilfgaard much more interesting, CD Projekt Red boiled them down to a standard army of normal dudes.
3 Who Were The Wild Hunt Exactly…
Just like how Geralt needs his own DLC one day exploring his plundering with the Hunt, we also need one just breaking down who the Hunt were. For starters Eredin barely got any screen time across the games and if you weren’t familiar with the books you would’ve figured him just some madman bent on evil.
Eredin actually is a very sympathetic character as he wants Ciri to stop the White Frost and save his people. In addition to Eredin’s overall mystery, the Hunt themselves are seldomly explored in the books warranting some kind of explanation as to their true nature.
2 When It’s Convenient, The Game Forgets Witcher 2 Happened
Witcher 3 had such a strong direction in the story that it wanted to tell that it had no choice but to leave behind story elements established in the previous games. It was sad seeing Iorveth go, but in the end he wouldn’t be a crushing blow to the plot – but abandoning Saskia the Dragonslayer and Pontar Valley is lazy.
Saskia is a dragon disguised as a human and would’ve caused massive eruption to the story at hand in Witcher 3. Pontar Valley was the recently established state she ruled and is reduced to a 20-second cut-scene that explains they were conquered by Nilfgaard. Cool we guess?
1 Triss’ Character Was Not Handled Properly
A Witcher 3 rant isn’t complete without ragging on the red-headed wretch herself, Triss Merigold. Triss is a great gal and a powerful ally to Geralt and company, but she is a terrible friend. She exploited Geralt’s amnesia in the last game and slept with him time and time again without telling him a detail about his real life.
In doing this she betrayed Geralt’s friendship and in all-likelihood would never be able to confront Yennefer without getting the mess slapped out of here. But all of this is glossed over and better yet, you can even get in a relationship with her!
NEXT: The Witcher 3: 5 Missions That Are Way Too Hard (& 5 That Were Just Too easy)
