The Witcher 3 plunges us into a cynical, morally gray world that seeks to move away from the idealism of traditional fantasy, but is still a modest icon. Read more details here!
There are many successful, popular sagas that have earned undisputed prestige, however there are works that manage to cross the barriers of the known creating a new genre or changing it forever. They are so influential, that it seems that they were always there, that they always existed in our collective memory and one of those titles is nothing more and nothing less than The Witcher 3.
One of the great themes of The Witcher 3 is the clash between destiny and free will, taking that duality as a starting point: Is it possible for a modern fantasy saga to be “free” from JRR Tolkien’s legacy? Or is it destined to follow your fundamental patterns? Does the video game as a medium, by its own interactive tendency, have the potential for greater expressive freedom?
The limits of fantasy
Every genre is a prison that imposes certain conventions. Tolkien’s work imposed a series of almost inevitable themes: “The search for a magic object, the addictive temptation of power, the courage against adversity, the romantic defense of nature and the criticism of the abuse of technology ”.
Despite the narrative continuities, there is a first nuance: Every work is the daughter of its time. The criticism of technology is still present as a topic but applied to another historical reality. If Tolkien criticized the traditional large polluting industry, in The Witcher 3 he applies a more modern technique: Modern genetic engineering.
The gaming industry tends more than any other medium to fantasy, almost as an inevitable genre. When thinking about a video game, even before knowing it, one assumes that it will be fantasy and it is because beyond it being action, horror, adventure or mystery; there will always be elements of fantasy.
Now, What about fantasy itself as a genre, as an imaginary? The Blood and Wine DLC, with its parodies of classic fairy tales, is a key to interpreting the fantasy world of the saga. The message is clear: “Childhood innocence, that romanticism, no longer exists.”
In a modern world, it is impossible to believe in medieval ideals, the honor of knights, altruism, bravery and justice. That imaginary today is archaic, implausible, incapable of generating empathy because it is far from the contemporary spirit.
The Witcher: Antihero Archetype
The gaze of the world is embodied in its protagonist, the antihero Geralt of Rivia, and it is that in opposition to the classic and aristocratic gentleman, he is a Witcher: a man without a home, no nation or illustrious blood. Scorned, emotionless beings, seen as “necessary evils.” They express a disenchanted vision of traditional values since they do not believe in honor, altruism and justice, and they present themselves as cynical, amoral beings, who act pragmatically, just for money.
However, the great fantasy of the saga is that: Sir Geralt. The apparent contradiction is explained thanks to the ambiguity of the Witcher figure. It combines the best of two worlds: high and low, the amoral hedonism of a pirate and the romantic love of a poet. An irrational vengeful fury and a Templar knight’s defense of the weak.
That narrative that defines him as an antihero, materializes in the subquests for two-thirds of the game. But as you approach the narrative climax, the plot will force you to assume a more conventional moral. A “path of the antihero”, which ends up bringing him closer to the classic ideal of the medieval knight.
Something more than an heir
The fundamental difference between a traditional fantasy and a modern one is your view on good and evil. Tradition, with a very marked dualism, is opposed to a more complex and gray vision of morality. This condition is fulfilled during the first narrative arcs, which allow greater dramatic freedom. However, tradition is broken thanks to characters who defy a clear moral definition.
Bloody Baron and her traumatic family conflicts, Avallac’h and the quest for knowledge no matter the cost. Perhaps the most complex and ambiguous character in the saga, Sigi Dijkstra and his relentless nationalism. But as the plot progresses, the conflict must culminate in a final epic battle, that dramatic context no longer admits grays: it is good against evil.
This narrative limit finds its nuances thanks to what defines the medium: The mechanics. Interactivity allows to partially overcome narrative conventions by forcing the player to make more complex moral decisions in the development of the game. The mechanics break with the narrative dualism by imposing actions without virtuous resolution possible.
On a narrative level, destiny has an absolute weight in the story, Ciri cannot escape her destiny as heir to the “old blood” and Geralt is eternally linked to Ciri and Yennefer. Again, it is the mechanics that allow certain decisions that materialize the player’s “free will”. This partial freedom is what allows a flexibility that would be impossible in the literature. “to choose” the end of Ciri’s arc, Geralt’s affective relationships, his political alliances, the fate of entire nations.
A Tolkien influence on the atmosphere and lore of The Witcher 3 is that associated with Norse mythology. A vision of the world dominated by the imminence of an inevitable apocalyptic tragedy. We live in a state of tension and nostalgia for the extinction of an era: that of the magical races. The coexistence of the human being with other beings, mysterious and ancestral, condemned to disappear.
In this sense, there is a purely narrative innovation since, unlike traditional aristocratic beings, the representation of elves is dual since they are exploiters and exploited, conquerors and conquered. Elves as superior semi-divine beings, or Aen Elle, coexist with the outcast elves of the Continent, the Aen Siedhe. This symbolic ambiguity reaches literality in the case of integrated elves or “half-elves”, beings despised by humans and by “higher” elves.
They are not only the “others”, but the same protagonist of the story lives aware that his own caste is destined to be forgotten. The traditional “salvation of humanity” finds a nuance in the tragic, “non-human” condition of the protagonist.
Fantasy is associated with infinite freedom, with imagination in its purest form, without limits. Do youBut to what extent are we inheritors of archetypal fantasies of the past? Is it possible to create a new fantasy that reflects the contemporary world? Or is fiction destined for small detours within the already known order? Perhaps a “modern” invention: Interactivity, typical of video game design, has the potential to free the imagination from its traditional heritages.
For Andres Prillo for Culturageek.com.ar