The Witcher

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rhinohelix

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This guy does an excellent review of S2E1 and provides solid reasoning for why they made some of the changes they do
In addition to having to spend screentime with stupid Yen and Trissiana, in the book Nivellen admits right away he agrees with the bandits to lose his virginity by raping the priestess; Geralt still treats Nivellen kindly afterwards in the books. In the show, they save that reveal until the end of the episode because its an unforgiveable act in 2021, it explains the comments by Geralt that Nivellen can now kill himself.

Also in the book, Nivellen doesn't know she's a vampire; he thinks she's a nymph (I don't recall but something not violent, a nature spirit) and he's doing the killings. Geralt identifies she's a type of vampire but doesn't even realize she's a bruxa until its almost too late, and that underestimation almost costs him his life; he would have lost the fight if not for Nivellen saving his life by staking Vireena with the pole.

In the show, Nivellen knew she was a vampire the whole time and was hiding her from Geralt. Everything happens the same way but it makes Nivellen a dishonest liar rather than a tragic victim. Vireena really did love him in both cases. She's not presented nearly as sympathetic in the book but much more opportunistic; she hardly speaks expect for a couple of words with Nivellen in the final scene. In the show, she's almost an feminist anti-hero: "Just leave us alone!" says the murderous slaughter machine, "People are the real monsters!" The people running these shows, I swear.
 
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Guurn

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The nudity they had was good. I wonder if there is a correlation between continued nudity and quality storyline. Maybe we should look to GoT for answers.
 
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Rude

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I read the books years ago before playing the games. Finished this season up today. I enjoyed it. Yeah things change, like Eskel, but it worked out.

Saw that long spoiler list too. Ah, autism on the internet is entertaining at times. I'm looking forward to the third season. Maybe Letho will make an appearance.
 
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sakkath

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I think they've said the show is based on the books so they may not use Letho but you never know. I assume the next season will have more people trying to get Ciri for their own ends, the Thanedd coup, potentially the next Nilfgaard invasion
 
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Tholan

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I'd say, as long as the world and the settings are good and faithfull to the franchise, they can tell the story they want, it will hold.
Really enjoying this. 8/10
 
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Dandai

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Just finished season 2. I read all the books years ago and recognized that there were significant changes but I couldn't remember the specific details. I thought they were pretty faithful to the characters of the source materials even if they took large departures from the plot. I'm looking forward to season 3.
 

Caliane

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It's just fucking astounding how much better this is on every level from The Wheel of Time.

haven't read the books, and barely played the games honestly. so can't comment on any of those changes.
Tiss and now elf lady only hot women.

ep1.
murdering wounded troops wasn't really a thing. grimdark world I guess.. stabbing directly through armor isn't either...

ep3. yenn being tasked with beheading this dude. everything about this is retarded. "all this proves is Im willing to kill" I mean.. yeah. thats right, what the fuck is the point of this?
a women executioner. the dude being able to turn and look at her at all, and just being left to sit there, purely on his own accord. no seriously. its just chains on his hands. as when yenn "cuts" them. and he gets up and runs...
An axe being swung down on metal chains to cut them. wtf. even if you managed a direct strike on ONLY the metal, and not cut off his hands.. all that would do, is yank the wrists. his wrists would be the "resistance". he runs one way, she runs another.. Everyone else stands around. she runs out, alone, unaccosted to a horse just sitting there.. by itself in an field. no one around. no gaurds, no nothing. no one following her. a bunch of kings inside, and theres no guards outside. the dude then ran around the building entirely? and runs up to her. and oh hey, lets ride away. again, with no one else in sight. what the fuck?

I know its in the games.... not sure how the ninja warrior course is in the books. but, its kindof funny here. the keep is falling apart. witchers don't do any maintenance at all.. nothing to suggest they even understand how to repair things.. yet, here is this marvel of medieval engineering..

ep4. this mute guy in the sewer. ffs what is this.
Wasn't Dandelion supposed to be older at this point? 50's or so? this meta joke about timelines... ooph.

ep5. jamacian barmaid.. what.

ep7. dude hanging the lady. man thats not how or why they hung people.. then right into the surly prison guard for jaskier. some of this shit is so cliche and lame. fuck man, you're a prison guard, the most boring job in existence. and you're going to be annoyed at the super famous bard singing in the cell?
the show has just been making EVERY guard/soldier a massive shit head.
 
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Caliane

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Finishing up this season.

I feel like coming off Wheel of time, did make this seem better then it is.
Sets, cinematography is pretty great. again, such a stark contrast from WoT. outfits. back grounds. the scenes at the temple, and theres a censor in the background, on the roof rocking, burning incense. the scenes with Geralt and that mage walking to the fallen monolith, and again theres just a bunch of peasants well garbed, walking, with goats, carts, etc..
Ciri running from the centipede thing, and you completely understand the location and positioning. you look out windows and see skys, etc..

The writing however felt all over the place. some decent.. lots of actually quite bad. writing being plot, storyline AND dialogue. Some of it already mentioned. but there was alot more, not worth commenting on. The whole baba yaga plot doesn't "feel" right. I mean clearly made up to give Yennifer prominence. but, like that video linked criting ep1. and he talks about Nivellen and Vereena. As he describes the book version, theres a clear gothic macabre pessimistic slavic tone, and wit about how the stories play out. I think the games from what little I've played understood it. the show doesn't seem to get it. they only times you feel it, is when they are directly referencing it. otherwise it feels like super cliche generic fantasy.

possessed ciri killing a bunch of unnamed witchers is some bullshit.

screaming I guess is the go to magic power..
 
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Div

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This season was fantastic. I wish there was maybe a little more action. Regardless I thoroughly enjoyed the story line.
 
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Ambiturner

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Found it similar to the first season in that i had trouble caring about a lot of the shit that didn't involve Geralt
 
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Lambourne

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Enjoyed S2, definitely will watch S3 when it comes around. One thing that kind of bugged me was the audio mix, I had trouble understanding what was being said sometimes. Resorted to turning subtitles on which I don't normally do.
 

Izo

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Enjoyed S2, definitely will watch S3 when it comes around. One thing that kind of bugged me was the audio mix, I had trouble understanding what was being said sometimes. Resorted to turning subtitles on which I don't normally do.
sign language hearing aid GIF by Sign with Robert

It's time :D
 
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Furry

WoW Office
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Found it similar to the first season in that i had trouble caring about a lot of the shit that didn't involve Geralt
Season felt decent. Not as good as last season, but not bad. I think shows like this are best when the overarching story is a minor plot point in the background. This show would be a lot better if it was just geralt dealing with some new monster/situation each episode. I feel it's falling into the same trap that Burn notice did. I come to this show to see Geralt deal with monsters. All that other stuff is just noise. There should be a lot more of Geralt and a lot less of everything else. He definitely nails the role.
 
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BrutulTM

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Enjoyed S2, definitely will watch S3 when it comes around. One thing that kind of bugged me was the audio mix, I had trouble understanding what was being said sometimes. Resorted to turning subtitles on which I don't normally do.

I had the same problem, especially in the last couple of episodes. Kept turning it up during the dialog and then turning it back down during the action.
 

Runnen

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Enjoyed S2, definitely will watch S3 when it comes around. One thing that kind of bugged me was the audio mix, I had trouble understanding what was being said sometimes. Resorted to turning subtitles on which I don't normally do.

I had the same problem, especially in the last couple of episodes. Kept turning it up during the dialog and then turning it back down during the action.

This thread may provide solutions.
 

Homsar

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Yeah no clue on not being able to hear or understand shit, I don't believe it's an issue with the show lol
 
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Hoss

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It is an issue with the show. But it's an issue with every single show everywhere. I can't believe no one has come up with a way to deaden music and enhance dialog yet on the consumer hardware level.
 

Khane

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Its definitely a problem in most shows with big action sequences. It seems to be worse in this show though because everyone tends to speak in low, hushed voices.
 
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velk

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It is an issue with the show. But it's an issue with every single show everywhere. I can't believe no one has come up with a way to deaden music and enhance dialog yet on the consumer hardware level.

You are, to some extent, at the mercy of the sound mix, but if you have a 5.1 or better system, all dialogue should be coming from center channel, so you can just boost that.
 
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