It wasn't just Ben alone; many players were drawn in by various elements after entering the game.
After all, "The Witcher: Wild Hunt" has a slower pace of storytelling, similar to "Red Dead Redemption."
However, there's a difference: while "The Witcher: Wild Hunt" is also an open-world game, it's built on an RPG framework.
Quests, map exploration, and the main storyline are unavoidable.
Early on, players can go to Novigrad and the Skellige Isles, but their character's level limits some of their exploration.
Beyond the unique Gwent mini-game, players are amazed by the game's world-building.
Through interconnected quests in White Orchard, players can get a simple grasp of the political situation.
This is what Lucas wanted to achieve: to create a real, chaotic time.
It's an age of frequent wars, with the Northern Kingdoms and the Southern Empire fighting for dominance.
Against this social backdrop, the game lets players control Geralt, and the main quest isn't about directly participating in political changes, but about finding his adopted daughter.
This neutral perspective lets players better experience the realism of the world in "The Witcher: Wild Hunt."
From the start to Velen, there aren't any Zack Snyder-like big scenes, or movie-like thrills.
Except for the battle with the griffin, it's quite calm.
But it unexpectedly feels real, permeating every detail of the game environment, side quests, and character dialogue, making the world feel alive.
.........
As Ben completed side quests in Velen, he began to engage with the game's main story and feel its charm.
Following his plan, the White Wolf went to a village in Velen to meet an imperial spy to ask about Ciri's whereabouts.
But when the White Wolf arrived, he found he was too late. The imperial spy had been tortured to death by the Wild Hunt. However, in a ledger hidden in the cellar, the White Wolf found clues related to Ciri's location.
The clues pointed to two people: a local village witch and a Temerian deserter leader in Velen, known as the "Bloody Baron."
Ben went to the witch first, but found that she wasn't a village witch but an old friend he knew, a member of the Lodge of Sorceresses: Keira.
From Keira, Ben learned more about the game's background.
Under Emperor Emhyr var Emreis, the Southern Empire of Nilfgaard was invading rapidly, and the only Northern Kingdom capable of resisting the Empire was Redania, ruled by Radovid.
When Nilfgaard attacked Temeria, Redania launched a blitzkrieg to swallow its neighbor and cooperated with the Church of the Eternal Fire to reorganize the church's armed forces, the "Witch Hunters," who persecuted sorcerers and non-humans to seize their property to support the high military expenses and withstand Nilfgaard's attack.
Keira, as a sorceress, came to the countryside of Velen to avoid being harmed by the Witch Hunters of the Church of the Eternal Fire, and pretended to be a witch using her magic to survive temporarily.
Since they knew each other, communication was easier. Keira didn't hide anything from Geralt, and generously told him what she knew: someone strange had contacted her, but it wasn't Ciri, but a masked elven mage.
Next, she led the White Wolf to the underground ruins where the elven mage was hiding, where they ran into the Wild Hunt and fought a big battle.
Even on normal difficulty, Ben felt pressured.
He had been relying on the Gourmet skill to heal, but against the Wild Hunt soldiers, his health bar barely recovered.
"The Wild Hunt is so strong! This is just a soldier, how strong will the Wild Hunt boss be at the end!?" Ben thought of the Lich King-like Wild Hunt leader in Geralt's dream at the beginning, and exclaimed.
After a big battle, they found that the elven mage was gone, leaving only a video message seemingly to warn Ciri, telling her not to trust the witches in Crookback Bog.
So Keira's lead ended. However, Ben also received a side quest from the sorceress to go to the center of the lake to lift the curse on the Isle of the Mists.
This side story impressed Ben greatly. The side story wasn't very long, but it showed a sense of darkness and beauty.
The original lord of Velen abandoned Crow's Perch and came to the island in the center of the lake to resist the Nilfgaardian invasion, and reached an agreement with a mage to research plague viruses.
But the lord's daughter, Anabelle, fell in love with Graham, a peddler who often delivered fish to the island. Later, a group of bandits lured Graham to bring them to the island, and these people slaughtered everyone on the island, but accidentally spread the plague.
At that time, Anabelle drank a potion from the mage, putting herself in a state of suspended animation. But when she woke up, the plague virus had killed everyone, leaving only countless rats. She was bitten to death alive by the rats while she was thankful she survived. Even though she was still alive, her lover Graham was gone. Her powerful resentment turned her into a plague maiden.
The way to solve her problem was simple: find Graham, the source.
After the White Wolf explained the situation, Graham chose to go to the Isle of the Mists with the White Wolf.
When Anabelle asked if he still loved her and was willing to kiss her, Graham didn't hesitate at all.
"Damn! This..." Watching Graham in the game give a deep kiss to the plague maiden, a long-tongued skull head no less scary than the Brainsuckers in Bloodborne, sacrificing his life to lift the curse, Ben was shocked and sighed.
But what surprised him even more was Keira's later story.
After helping Keira lift the curse on the Isle of the Mists, Keira kept asking Geralt to help her collect some random things.
After completing the task, Keira invited Geralt to a special candlelight red wine dinner in the woods late at night.
Of course, dinner wasn't the point; the real point was the after-dinner activity.
'Romance? I thought it was just a get-together.' Geralt shook his head gently, looking at Keira.
'Friends... but with a little extra, how about it?' Keira said meaningfully.
At the same time, Ben saw a UI interface with options.
[You don't have to ask me twice.]
[Not interested.]
[Sorry, I have someone else.]
Could it be! Could it be!
As an experienced player, Ben immediately understood.
But he still chose the third option with difficulty.
"Don't do this, Geralt is a good man, I already have Yennefer." Ben said.
'So what? Geralt, Geralt, you're too old-fashioned, aren't you? Or at least lie down with me and look at the stars?' Keira smiled.
'Hmm... that's okay.' Geralt also showed a little smile.
'Really? Then close your eyes and count to ten...' Keira smiled, put down her glass, and Geralt did as told.
After ten counts, Ben couldn't see Keira's shadow anymore.
Following the system prompt, Ben activated his Witcher Senses and followed the footprints on the ground for a while, and then what did he see?
'A dress? Looks like we're playing Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf instead of hide-and-seek.'
'A corset? Yay, no need to undo buttons.'
'Shoes? Oh, no, I should have had her leave her shoes.'
Controlling Geralt forward, Ben was dumbfounded as he looked at the clues on the ground and listened to Geralt's lines.
What's going on!? What are these awful lines!
Geralt, what's happened to you!
Is this your true nature!?
Soon Geralt found Keira by the lake.
'I have nothing on me now, but I'll give you a prize.'
With Keira's words, Geralt in the game slowly walked forward.
"Damn! There's really this scene!?"
"Geralt! You're a Witcher, not a sorceress hunter!"
Ben's eyes widened.
Although it was just a cutscene, it was enough to shock him.
He now understood why this game required real-name authentication!
(End of chapter)
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