Jump to content

The Witcher on Netflix.


Macklunkey

Recommended Posts

12 minutes ago, red snow said:

That's interesting that the games team are involved in the show. I guess it suggests a potential inclination towards the plots there. Given the success of the games I guess the books are such that they translate well into open storytelling/gaming. Which gives the show developers more leeway. I think it's wise to have a clear protagonist and stick with them though unless the show sets out with several leads, i which case there's more flexibility.

The third game did a wonderful job of turning Geralt from the relatively boring character of the first two games into a really enjoyable one.  I particularly loved his shitty sense of humor that he shared with Yennefer. 

I'm also not surprised that they'd involve the creative team behind the games simply because that's likely the version of The Witcher that most fans are more familiar with after the third game was such a smash hit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Dunno if I want to read the books now then LOL because I thought the witcher 3 was truly truly phenomenal 

That above post (that I think you were referring to) is just wrong. It's like the poster is just parroting Sapkowski who hates video games. I've read all the books and played all the games. They go hand-in-hand. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, red snow said:

That's interesting that the games team are involved in the show. I guess it suggests a potential inclination towards the plots there. Given the success of the games I guess the books are such that they translate well into open storytelling/gaming. Which gives the show developers more leeway. I think it's wise to have a clear protagonist and stick with them though unless the show sets out with several leads, i which case there's more flexibility.

The game creators were huge fans of the novels too. They wanted to bring this world to life for a long time when they started making the first Witcher game. I can see them (some of them) wanting to work on the show. The only reason I might be surprised is Sapkowski's bitterness over the games and their success, and he's involved with the show.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Werthead said:

The games are sequels to the books, so it'd be tricky to just do the game storylines as they - especially the first one - assume an existing familiarity with the previous book narratives.

Not necessarily. I never read the books or played the first game. I played half the second game and didn't like it and all of the third game and loved it. In the second game I was quite lost about what was going on (though that wasn't why I didn't like it), while in the third game I thought it was very easy to follow and understand what was going on. I assume there were extra layers and meaning for people who were more familiar with the world, but it did a really good job of assuming players had no existing knowledge of the world (which, considering its sales compared to the previous games, is probably the majority of them) and introducing everything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quote

 

I also don't see how they could adapt the games, they're "sequels" yes, but also part of their own canon that contradicts heavily the book canon (with the flash forwards of the books, and the established setting and ending). The games also betray the spirit of the books or misinterpret certain situations on several occasions.

 

The only reason anyone in the West knows the books exist is because of the video games (the release of the first game in 2007 was the impetus for the English translations of the novels to be made) and the games, which are new stories (not adaptations of the books apart from the prologue to The Witcher) have massively outsold the books, so it creates an interesting situation where the original story/canon is not what made the franchise successful.

The obvious solution is to adapt the short/stories and books and, if they're successful, adapt the games afterwards and streamline out the inconsistencies in the canon (and various fan sites have done that). You'd have to make choices about the branching paths in the games but that wouldn't be too hard. You'd have enough material for about 10 seasons that way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Werthead said:

The obvious solution is to adapt the short/stories and books and, if they're successful, adapt the games afterwards and streamline out the inconsistencies in the canon (and various fan sites have done that). You'd have to make choices about the branching paths in the games but that wouldn't be too hard. You'd have enough material for about 10 seasons that way.

There are several inconsistencies that can be corrected yes, but some are fundamentally prohibitive such as the ending of The Witcher 3 with

Spoiler

Ciri facing the White Frost

or the ending of the books themselves for Geralt and Yennefer.

On the other hand, I can see them finding for instance an other incentive to find Ciri in The Witcher 3 (other than the one given by the Emperor, to avoid spoilers, which doesn't make sense in the context of the books).

I guess we'll see in 5-ish years how this goes. The games are great, but to have them in the same canon is a big disservice to the books' story. It kills several key themes and plot points.

I think the best plan of action if they really want to continue past the books (supposed success here) is to rely on the flash forwards and Sapkowski's input and continue

Spoiler

Ciri's journey throughout the worlds.

Even introduce some characters from the games as fanservice, despite not following the games' story.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

That above post (that I think you were referring to) is just wrong. It's like the poster is just parroting Sapkowski who hates video games. I've read all the books and played all the games. They go hand-in-hand. 

Good to know because I honestly loved 3 so much!!! I am a HUGE fan of folklore and all the great folkloric creatures from around the world were amazing; the grotesque and truly FANTASTIC crones and all the brilliant voice acting!!!! Just fantastic. I loved Geralt and yennifer and ciri so much

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there another video game that's been translated to television?... i know that the game was based on short stories... but thus far all I've seen are movie adaptations (most of which fail terribly)... I am curious to see how this does... my guess is that TV is a better fit... certainly i think Warcraft would have benefited from from a 10-episode season rather than cramming all that narrative into 2 hours...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Martini Sigil said:

Is there another video game that's been translated to television?... i know that the game was based on short stories... but thus far all I've seen are movie adaptations (most of which fail terribly)... I am curious to see how this does... my guess is that TV is a better fit... certainly i think Warcraft would have benefited from from a 10-episode season rather than cramming all that narrative into 2 hours...

Castlevania. Also on Netflix. Albeit it's only four episodes.

I only thought it was okay, but its got 85% on Rotten Tomatoes; which may be the highest score of any video game adaptation.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

Good to know because I honestly loved 3 so much!!! I am a HUGE fan of folklore and all the great folkloric creatures from around the world were amazing; the grotesque and truly FANTASTIC crones and all the brilliant voice acting!!!! Just fantastic. I loved Geralt and yennifer and ciri so much

Yeah, those Crones were something else, weren't they? They put such a grim cloud over my first play through in their predictions about if Ciri and Geralt would ever be reunited. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Fez said:

Castlevania. Also on Netflix. Albeit it's only four episodes.

I only thought it was okay, but its got 85% on Rotten Tomatoes; which may be the highest score of any video game adaptation.

I'm certainly looking forward to season 2. And yes, I believe it is the best reviewed direct adaptation of a video game. The Witcher is not an adaptation from a video game, but the popularity of the video game is the reason the TV series is being made. So people will probably argue back and forth on forums all over the internet as to whether (assuming it reviews well) it [somewhat] redeems video game adaptations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Theda Baratheon said:

No way ...Yen ftw!!! :P

Meh. You spend two games, like 75 hours, with Triss as Geralt's lover. It doesn't make much sense (to me anyway) to ditch her for Yennefer.

I still need to play The Witcher 3, actually, but I thought was so mediocre it's seriously put me off the series.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Meh. You spend two games, like 75 hours, with Triss as Geralt's lover. It doesn't make much sense (to me anyway) to ditch her for Yennefer.

I still need to play The Witcher 3, actually, but I thought was so mediocre it's seriously put me off the series.

3 is absolutely brilliant. I really love it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
×
×
  • Create New...