(01-03-2020 09:24 PM)MWC Tex Wrote: I guess this was a video game that is now a series on Netflix. Anyone started seeing this series?
I watched it all, and liked it. Some people might be turned off by the violence and nudity, but I thought it was well done.
Just a clarification on it being a video game. It was a Polish language fantasy book series, popular around Eastern Europe, then a cult PC game made by a Polish video game developer. While the 2nd game was a bit of a sleeper hit and raised the franchise's profile, it was when the game developer released the third game on PC and consoles, and it turned out to be the greatest video game of the last decade, that the franchise came into popular consciousness. The game was followed by renewed interest in the books outside Eastern Europe and now published in English and dozens of other languages. Now the first two books have been turned into the Netflix series - with subsequent books likely adapted for future seasons. Both the game and now the show have shot the books into the best seller lists 20 years after they were written in their original Polish.
Seriously, The Witcher 3 video game is amazing, and the game that best shows the potential of the medium to rival the emotion and power of film and the written word. I cannot speak highly enough of the game.
The books are fine, but they are only slightly better than average fantasy fare.
The Netflix series is incredibly well done, and I enjoyed it. It is based on the first two books, which are collections of short stories. Those short story adaptations do give a bit of an episodic feel to the show, which is unusual for many Netflix shows. However, I can see the show being incredibly confusing for someone who has not read the books, or at least played the games, as it jumps around quite a bit over a story that spans decades, though the jumping back and forth isn't clear or explained until late in the season.
But again, and I say this as someone who is an older guy and not a "gamer", The Witcher 3 is on par with the great films and novels. The show is pretty good but no where as good as the game. But to be fair the show lasts about 8-9 hours while the game is 200+ hours, so there is more time to develop the characters on the game.
