S4: Historical Footprint
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt delivers an astounding narrative by giving the protagonist a rich past.
"Portugal-34B - Monument of Discoveries" by archer10 (Dennis) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, released 2015, developed by CD Projekt Red, available on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Switch. This is a roleplaying game in which you navigate a large, fictional medieval world in the third person. You fight monsters with swords and magic and engage in conversations with real consequences. That sounds reductive, but is what you do!
I step cautiously among the bodies of the dead and dying bandits. I am, as always, wary of additional surprises. I do not wish to be caught off guard due to complacency or arrogance. No witcher dies in their bed, but I would rather this not be my final resting place.
A wily and bedraggled man on the opposite end of the fray grins and calls to me by name. “Geralt!” he shouts. “Not exactly how I wanted to reconnect.” I grunt in my typical fashion, a solid response that covers most situations and moods. He wipes his blade on his leggings, sheaths it, and closes the distance to embrace me. A reunion indeed.
He jumps right into things as if years haven’t passed, as if the relationship between the characters never paused. Geralt’s friend assumes the friendship they have earned still exists and though he doesn’t explicitly state every feeling and opinion, I can intuit the deep bond and friendship between the characters. We’ve been through things together, survived things together, broken bread together. We have history.
Perhaps because it is the beneficiary of 30 years of novels, or because it is the third video game in the series, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is filled with Historical Footprints that add so much to the world. As far as I can recall, no other games come remotely close, barring perhaps games in the Star Wars, DC, or Marvel universes, in which the writers can play with cameos, references, and Easter eggs. But, for those three franchises, it’s just frosting. The Witcher 3’s history cuts off entire slices of cake to feed your curiosity.
Enough introduction! For those not aware, I’m going to provide a few more examples to set the stage. Then, I’m going to make my case for why this matters.
Throughout the Witcher you make new allies, new enemies, and encounter folks in-between cities and destinations in your narrative quest. Geralt enters the city of Novograd and soon links up with Triss Merigold. She is a former lover. Later, he expends an immense amount of effort to rescue a womanizing bard named Dandelion, another companion from his past. Finally, as events pick up steam, Geralt is brought into a conspiracy involving the mad Redanian king Radovid. As a part of this new conspiracy, Geralt reconnects with another figure from his past, Vernon Roche, a guerrilla fighter and former special forces commander.
The game makes it very clear that your character, Geralt, knows all of them intimately. The relationships mean a great deal to him due to a shared history of struggle and warmth. Each of the characters rekindles their relationship in some form or another with Geralt, but their dialog makes clear that Geralt has been places and done things before you took control of his story.
Why then, does a Historical Footprint matter?
Firstly, it provides a much needed sense of narrative pacing. Thankfully, we are mostly long past the days of a character barraging you with a monologue at the end of a level (ex: Bioshock). Still, it is common for other games to feature long cutscenes, extended sequences of exposition shouted from horseback, or even just mission briefings in a first-person shooter. With the Historical Footprint, new characters assume you know the background details and dive right in. We are spared the burden of exposition and instead sprinkled briskly with context.
If properly executed as in The Witcher 3, those of us who haven’t read all the books, or played every game in the series, will get what we need, as well as a dollop of curiosity. Then, we move forward. The developers use footnotes liberally in this format and let you bypass verbose pages.
The second benefit is in the diversity of relationships it supports. Triss Merigold is a perfect example. She is a former lover of Geralt’s, one who deceived him. While they do not bear each other ill-will per se, it is absolutely awkward between them. At first blush, many of the other characters in the game can be popped out of the typical narrative mold. You have the all-powerful emperor who thinks he can buy everyone to follow his bidding. The evil skeleton dudes or witches who do evil stuff. The idiot crime lord who thinks he can do anything because his gang dominates an alley in the city. But, a sense of history allows characters to go beyond archetypes and into the middle ground of former allies, former lovers, former rivals, or just strangers who are more than they appeared to be at first (like Gaunter O’Dimm).
In a sense, these archetypes provide the foundation of context. In lieu of full exposition, they provide an intuitive starting point, from which you can begin to dig into the broader story. It’s savvy and a smart way to encourage the player to engage with the story on their terms.
An additional benefit of the diversity of relationships is that it supports roleplaying. I had a lot of fun discussing whether I pursued Yennefer or Triss romantically, and why, with friends. When a history was presented, I forced my mind to write-in facts that weren’t overly apparent. I was able to flex my creative muscle and roleplay what I thought Geralt would do, based on the facts I did know, how I perceived Geralt, and what I thought was best based on how I perceive romantic relationships (as a human). And by the way, how cool is it for a video game to make me think about romantic love and relationships? It is difficult to do that with staid archetypes. But, nuance, rooted in history? That’s a roleplaying goldmine.
Due to the diversity of relationships, some of them are, well, odd. In Uncharted, for example, it is obvious why Drake and Elena pair off romantically and why he saves her (and vice versa). In a typical video game without a strong historical footprint, it isn’t immediately obvious why Geralt would risk so much to save Dandelion. Dandelion is ridiculous. He is a womanizing bard who schemes and always gets in trouble. Compared to the quiet, somber Geralt, he just seems like he is from another universe. Without history, you would never buy that these two are not just friends, but close friends. But, the game makes it clear that there is a meaningful past and without having to get into every detail (though you can google that!), you trust that Geralt will do anything for his friend. Even one like Dandelion.
Finally, the fantastic elements of the Witcher universe are well-grounded in a world with history. Just as Tolkein sets the stage for the Fellowship of the Ring with the Battle of Five Armies, The Witcher 3 presents a world filled with rival empires, long forgotten temples, dark gods, powerful curses, and cruel entities. That history helps you accept the great challenges and inciting incidents the game presents. For once, you aren’t chasing the only McGuffin that will stop a curse that only occurs once in a millennia. You are a participant in a complicated world, one with bumps, triumphs, and complicated people. You belong to a rich timeline. You’re just a Hero sitting in a Box on a conveyor belt at a narrative theme park.
The Historical Footprint enables a diversity of characters, which supports roleplaying, and provides stakes and a reason to care. That is powerful narrative alchemy!
The One Cool Thing
I think a strong narrative matters more than ever for video games. My reason being, we have all experienced many of the same things in different games for years (or in my case, decades). But, the story is what stands out. The story makes the experience fresh.
We have all swung swords, parried, and witnessed extravagant combat animations. Sometimes in Japan as a samurai, sometimes in a galaxy far far away as a Jedi. We have all jumped, dashed, grappled, and wall run through a cave or a jungle or even a plateau. We have all improved a character, found a bigger pulse rifle, and attached a battery/gem/stock that makes it suddenly cause a poison effect. Sure, many games add a twist, or mix two flavors together, or change the setting, but my point is, it is all familiar.
But, the story can wrap that all together and provide a motivation that rests on top of the narrative. And, if that is the requirement we have for the story, then Historical Footprints are an incredible foundational tool to make the story even stronger.
Video games are my favorite medium, but are also one in which experiences are rife with “me too!” moments. Something much more difficult to create, and therefore emulate, are the textures, warts, and stains from the coffee-stained historical tome you bring to the table.
The End of Season 4
Each season of Play Kaizen includes six posts. Five posts cover One Cool Thing from five different video games. The Finale designs a new game that incorporates the Five Cool Things from the Season. The next post will be the Finale!
Catch up on Season 4 before the Finale! I’ll also share the five games for Season 5.
Season: A Letter to the Future: Player-Driven Memories
Hollow Knight: Tools, not Power
Celeste: Complexity Plateau
Call to the Sea: Isolated Flavor
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt: Historical Footprint
Edited by Joshua Buergel
If you liked the built-in history of Geralt, I urge you to also play an “origin” character when you get around to Divinity: Original Sin 2. They have similarly extensive backgrounds tied closely to the game world, and that history comes to the foreground VERY frequently. Very well done.