Yennefer really doesn't get the hint!

[tigerpoetry]

I love this game immensely, but of course it does have faults. Luckily, they are scarce for such a big game and normally bearable.

One thing that really gets me is the way it handles the Triss/Yen romance question. If you opt to romance Yenefer, the dialogue is all reasonable for that scenario. If you go for Triss, though...which I normally do*...you have to endure many embarrassing minutes of cut-scenes with Geralt whispering besotted comments to Yen, gazing adoringly into her eyes with Yen fluttering her eyelids back at him...it's appalling!

I'm writing this because I've just started in Skellige and the dialogue is making me cringe. Skip, skip, skip, I go on the controller.

I've tried everything to stop Yen acting like it was all going to work out. I've worn my own sweaty armour to the wake before biut it didn't work. This time I thought I'd send her a subtle message by wearing the 'elegant' Skellige outfit I bought from Elihal to attend the party with Triss (instead of the one she laid out for me)...then, I sneaked off to the armourer before the wake and bought the Undvik gear (DLC) for Roach and I, changed into it and walked in to the wake...no sour comment from Yen about my abrupt change of attire. Most women (or men) would be truly affronted by this...Yen wasn't.

I promised to stay sober at the wake and then made a point of going round every guest I could find and drinking a toast with them...nothing from Yen...I engaged in fisticuffs thinking that would provoke a massive tiff...it didn't. I'm dreading the next bit when we have to hide behind a curtain and she gives Geralt the cow-eyes again. Where's the bucket, I'm going to throw up?

Darn it all woman, what do I have to do for you to get the message? Hit you over the head with a frying pan?

It makes me wonder why CDPR did not seem to accommodate the idea that some players will choose Triss a bit better than they did (i.e. not at all). Especially since they gave us the option in the first place. Hell, they did brilliantly with cut-scenes so that Geralt is always shown in the armour and weapons he was wearing at the time. Why not just add in a couple of lines of dialogue to reflect the idea that the player had rejected Yen?

I know that there is another quest relating to Yen, later on but it's nothing special and nothing that I can't do without.

Why can't we have the option to tell Yen that we've decided on Triss? If she still carried on trying to 'own' Geralt, I'd think she was some kind of stalker and Geralt could say..."Look, Yennefer, I've told you I want Triss countless times...go and plough yourself and take that mangy unicorn with you!"

Aaargh! I like Triss...she looks especially good in the DLC 'alternative look for Triss', that does away with the bunchies.

Sorry for the rant (not really...it does really annoy me).

At least I've got that off my chest...

Give me your thoughts.

* The DLC alternative look for Triss is stunning.

[John W. Thackery]

So just because Geralt (you) decided for Triss, you wont be temped by Yennefer when you are alone with her on Skellige and you just should be completely cold, even though it was always love of your life?

Yea, thats exactly how relationships work, once you decide for someone else, you have no emotional attachment and feelings for your ex-girlfriend, yep. /s

[CoolingGibbon]

Originally posted by tigerpoetry:

I've tried everything to stop Yen acting like it was all going to work out. I've worn my own sweaty armour to the wake before biut it didn't work. This time I thought I'd send her a subtle message by wearing the 'elegant' Skellige outfit I bought from Elihal to attend the party with Triss (instead of the one she laid out for me)...then, I sneaked off to the armourer before the wake and bought the Undvik gear (DLC) for Roach and I, changed into it and walked in to the wake...no sour comment from Yen about my abrupt change of attire. Most women (or men) would be truly affronted by this...Yen wasn't.

To be honest I'm surprised you were actually expecting that level of character engagement from a video game. Those aren't real women... those are a collection of polygonal meshes and textures with voice acting. Expecting them to respond to your idea of "subtlety" would be pretty foolhardy. The writers can do only so much as far as creating a stable narrative goes... they cannot consider everything from every individual perspective. Of course that's not to say that writing itself doesn't have faults... in fact Witcher 3's writing and story is not nearly as engaging as those of its predecessors.

[Amix]

Originally posted by John W. Thackery:

So just because Geralt (you) decided for Triss, you wont be temped by Yennefer when you are alone with her on Skellige and you just should be completely cold, even though it was always love of your life?

Yea, thats exactly how relationships work, once you decide for someone else, you have no emotional attachment and feelings for your ex-girlfriend, yep. /s

Now that is what I call a comment. Fantastic. According to story background Yennefer & Geralt were not just lovers but she died with Geralt. Applause. Now now it is an RPG. People can do anything..... Hmmm. Do not want to write more as it will be waste of words.

[Amix]

Originally posted by BuzzardBee:

Originally posted by John W. Thackery:

So just because Geralt (you) decided for Triss, you wont be temped by Yennefer when you are alone with her on Skellige and you just should be completely cold, even though it was always love of your life?

Yea, thats exactly how relationships work, once you decide for someone else, you have no emotional attachment and feelings for your ex-girlfriend, yep. /s

Tempted by what? Yet more manipulation? First, she asks for his help in stealing the Oroboros mask knowing full well that he won't like it one bit. Then she involves him in the whole Skjall thing at the Garden of Freya, using black magic on the dead boy, again very much against Geralt's wishes and consent. He has little choice but to go along but he makes it clear he does not approve.

And lastly, after all of her posturing about how desperate she is to locate Ciri, she takes time out to go off and search for a dijnn, again lying to Geralt about her true motives, because she knows he will not approve.

Add to that her contempt for all around her despite the position it places Geralt in, treating him like some underling at every turn, dismissing his feelings entirely in favor of her own goals. It's no coincidence that nearly everyone around Geralt, every friend he has in the world, tells him constantly how horrible Yen treats him and how he deserves better.

This is why I continue to say that Yen has him under a spell. It's always been generally accepted that the dijnn spell in the short story was not one that forces Geralt to love Yen. It's believed that it simply binds their fates together despite the fact that they have broken up several times when he's had enough of the fighting and manipulation.

Those who are enthralled by Triss, desire an immediate option to end it with Yen despite the fact that the game itself made it pretty clear that he and Triss had broken up six months earlier, at the end of game 2 once he learned the truth and had recovered his memories. He learned of Triss' lies and manipulation and went off in search of Yen. He knew nothing about Ciri at that time. Yen kept that from him because she resented the one year affair he had had with Triss in the first two games.

That idea of Yen being the "love of Geralt's life" is such a trite one. She does treat him like a dog. Calling him over to play fetch when she's bored or needs his witcher's skills then sends him off or just simply disappears as she goes off to stir up trouble somewhere but wishes to avoid his disapproval of her actions.

Friends do tend to offer advice when they see someone they care about being treated as dirt by a woman. Geralt's friends do this throughout the books and even in the games, although I've always had a real issue with why no one ever offered one word about what Triss was doing to him during the first two games. No one mentioned Yen or Ciri to him. No one even let it slip how pleased they were that he was was Triss and not that damned Yen. And no one seemed to have an issue with her taking such advantage of their friend, basically ra ping him against his express wishes, despite the fact that he had no memory of rejecting her.

I have no trouble seeing both women for what they are and would rather have Geralt be with some tart somewhere whose time he has paid for tham with either of them.

You again, with your boring,long & nonsensical comments. You write these comments as if you are the producer,director,writer & Geralt. All in one. You can not spend a day without arguements? I mean calm down. LOL

[John W. Thackery]

What? I was just pointing out to OP, that it would be just stupid if there was an option to tell Yenn basically "♥♥♥♥ off" right from the start. It makes sense, that even if you chose Triss afterall, Yenn still gives you the look from time to time and you do it back to her. Its not your story in which you can do whatever you wants, you still just roleplay Geralt, and even if Geralt chose Triss, Im pretty sure he would still keep some feelings for Yenn.

I dont wanna go into another long debate about, which of these two is better. On topic Triss v Yenn was already written enough.

Just to briefly respond to some of your points, Mask of Uroboros + Skjall, these both were done, because it was vital in finding Ciri. She didnt tell you about Djinn, because she was scared that you wouldnt agree on her trying to break the spell (its a optional quest anyway, so dont be like she tricked you into anything).

Yes, Yenn can often act like a b1tch, but she is also really kind and warm, you can see it many times in books/game. Saying that she is just using you and dont love you, is stupid. Jeez, in books she even gave her life in effort of resurecting Geralt. If this is not a true love, I dont know what it is.

With Triss it just feels too perfect, she is basically worshipping you. If you ever had a girl like that, yes its nice at first, but it can quickly became weird, boring and too oppresive. Yenn has head on her own, she can be b1tchy, she can be kind, their relationship is like a rollercoster, it has higher heights and deeper depths, but its worth it in the end imo. And dont try to act like Geralt never did f0cked up things to Yenn either. He often didnt keep his d1ck in his pants, so dont portray him as an angel.

F0ck I wrote more than I wanted to, time to get back to HoS.

Anyway, who cares if you like Triss more while I prefer Yenn. Point is, that it makes sense in the game, that Geralt still has intimate moments with Yenn on Skellige, even when he decided for Triss. You cant throw their long relationship out of the window so quickly.

[Simple Man]

Originally posted by tigerpoetry:

One thing that really gets me is the way it handles the Triss/Yen romance question. If you opt to romance Yenefer, the dialogue is all reasonable for that scenario. If you go for Triss, though...which I normally do*...you have to endure many embarrassing minutes of cut-scenes with Geralt whispering besotted comments to Yen, gazing adoringly into her eyes with Yen fluttering her eyelids back at him...it's appalling!

I'm writing this because I've just started in Skellige and the dialogue is making me cringe. Skip, skip, skip, I go on the controller.

If you just started Skellige, isn't that at a point where Yen doesn't know anything recent about you and Triss (like you asking Triss to stay and all that), and you have not done Last Wish yet? so you haven't rejected Yen as of yet.

It seems to be running its natural course. What looks odd / cringy? Yen has always been enamored of Geralt, and Geralt of her.

[awesome1ru]

yennefers sarcarsm and b/itchy attitude gets old quick, it becomes annyoing later on, why does the game push her so mush on the game, i mean she was an ugly b/itch looked like uma before she became sorcerecs and the manipulation etc. just wish there was an option to tell her to f/uck off

[Mehfisto]

The game pushes her so much because lore. There's 7 books before getting to the games, and Yennefer is a BIG part of them. I think everyone that despise her would just appreciate her so much more if they read the books.

I personally find her awesome and not as bad as someone make her. For one thing she never lies

[Simple Man]

I never read the books (intend to), and she doesn't seem all that nasty. Opinionated, strong personality maybe, not nasty.

I have read some of her past from people that did read the books, and seems she did go thru alot, she also threw herself in the fire, as a matter of expression, for Geralt. I think its only natural that theres some level of affection there, after all those two went thru together, plus Ciri.

Last Wish also clears things up, as to whether it was forced or not. From there, they both done Geralt wrong in the past, and its not like Geralt doesn't sleep around, collecting them cards in 1, going for ♥♥♥♥♥♥ in 2, spending half his day at the passiflora in 3, Keira Metz etc etc.

Alls well when it ends well i reckon.

[tigerpoetry]

Sorry if some people were offended by my criticism...that wasn't my intention.

Bear in mind that I started the post by stating that I love the game immensely. I also wrote the post a bit tongue-in-cheek to lessen the blow.

It is something I think they handled badly. One of you said that in Skellige, Yen doesn't yet know that Geralt has fallen for Triss and so it's alright for Yen to pass romantic comments...

...that's true. I could accept that as long as Geralt doesn't play along with it to the point he is leading Yenefer on. When Geralt meets Yen on the bridge he starts the conversation by telling her how beautiful she is. Yen asks if he's going to complement her all night and he replies that he's going to say what he thinks.

Personally, if I'd just begun a relationship mere days earlier with someone else, I wouldn't be flirting outrageously with anyone, let alone an old flame and certainly not in public.

All I'd like is for those lines that Geralt says in a cut-scenes to be more neutral and to have the option to tell Yen about Triss. That's what I'd do in real life. Naturally I wouldn't hit my ex over the head with a frying pan...that was a joke. I would try to quietly and kindly let her know. I certainly wouldn't lead her on by telling her how beautiful she was in a flirtatious manner.

I could wax lyrical about how great I think this game is. I can also offer an opinion that I think this bit was done badly.

I think the idea that Geralt sleeps around is the best way to look at it....but it is a role-playing game. Perhaps all I'm saying is that it doesn't feel as if I'm allowed to play Geralt in the role I'd choose!

[ExtraCheese]

wow ... too much text my eyes hurt man.

[tigerpoetry]

Originally posted by HakunaMatata:

wow ... too much text my eyes hurt man.

Yeah, I'm not known to be brief!

It's just that I want to explain my point fully, so there's less misunderstanding.

[tigerpoetry]

Latest instalment: now I've had to endure Cerys going on about Yenefer, during the 'posession' quest.

The more I think about this, the more it looks like CDPR designed the game for Geralt to end up with Yen, then they decided that as an RPG, they would give Geralt a choice...but they forgot to alter everything that hinged on Geralt going for Yen. Maybe they noticed but it was too hard to change, so they hoped nobody would notice...I guess we'd need one of the developers to offer insight here...anyone?

Even at Kaer Morhen for the battle against the wild hunt, Yen acts as if she owns Geralt. Mind you, I thoroughly enjoy getting dressed up in Yen's gear with Lambert and Eskel!

I'm sorry but CDPR got this totally wrong.

I know that I'll have to put up with more of this nonsense before 'the last wish'. Sad part is I'll have to endure more of it after until I finally defeat the wild hunt.

Honestly, it isn't good.

[Simple Man]

Seems its pretty universal from Triss fans that she gets shafted in that sense.

I haven't experienced it yet, but heard everyone at Kaer Morhen still comments like you're with Yen too, must be frustrating, plus, Triss gets no content while Yen interactions just keep on going.

Is it your first time romancing Triss then?

[JeRoi]

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=795940863