The Witcher 3 is set to be one of the year's biggest role-playing games when it arrives on Xbox One, Windows, and Playstation 4 this May. The third game in the Witcher series differentiates itself from other open-world action-RPGs with its dark and mature storyline filled with meaningful player choices and memorable sidequests.
To help prepare our readers for The Witcher 3, Windows Central has begun a new weekly Twitch series focused on The Witcher 2. Every Tuesday night at 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific), we play through another section of the game while you guys watch the stream at Twitch.tv/Eastxtwitch. Join us and engage in our social take on this epic Witcher adventure!
Did you miss the previous episode of our Witcher Twos-day series? Don't worry; we've got a full write-up that will get you up to speed – complete with screenshots from the stream!
Watch live video from EastXTwitch on Twitch
Follow this link for part two of tonight's episode. We don't want them both autoplaying at once.
Previous recaps
- Prelude: About the hero Geralt and a quick summary of the first Witcher game
- Episode 1 recap: The assassination of Foltest and Geralt escapes the prison
- Episode 2 recap: Geralt and team arrive in Flotsam, where he rescues Dandelion and Zoltan. Geralt agrees to help a sorceress kill a sea monster called the kayran.
Meet Malena
Last time, we had just stepped outside the games of the port city of Flotsam and into the surrounding forests. Not far beyond the city walls we now discover the small village of Lobinden. Hunters, fisherman, and boat-builders occupy the settlement's wooden homes.
Humans, elves, and dwarves live together relatively peacefully in Lobinden compared to other areas of the Witcher's world. Still, we arrive in the middle of a conflict between a group of soldiers and a female elf called Malena. The soldiers accuse her of spying for the Scoia'tael terrorists. Two soldiers who disappeared in a cave were last seen with her.
Geralt suggests that he search the cave to discover what happened to the soldiers. The soldiers and accused elf agree to meet up with him at the port to learn his judgment. We don't make it to the caves to resolve the quest in this episode, but we'll discover what happened to them eventually!
Triss and Cedric
We climb a ladder to a wooden platform that stretches between trees. At top, we witness two male elves discussing a departed female. They walk away, leaving Geralt to meet with Triss, his sometimes-girlfriend.
Triss has been staying with Vernon Roche's Temerian soldiers during the group's visit to Flotsam. Although the soldiers are somewhat vulgar, Triss gets along well with them.
As for Geralt, the amnesia he has suffered since the opening of the first Witcher game has started to improve. He remembers falling while defending a group of nonhumans from an angry mob of jerk humans. Geralt felt his life slipping away, and Triss arrived too late to save him. And yet he's still alive and kicking, a mystery that has lingered throughout both games so far.
As Geralt and Triss shoot the breeze, they encounter an elf named Cedric. He uses the knowledge he has acquired through his long life to work as a lookout and guide for humans. He also drinks a lot, which Geralt teases him about.
We ask Cedric about the kayran that Geralt has been hired to hunt and learn that it has grown far too large, with strange growths on its tentacles. The creature had been living in a swamp before it outgrew its surroundings. It even sank a boat there, which Cedric recommends we investigate.
Cedric also tells us about an elf woman named Moril who has been missing for over a year. Moril had worked together with another elf named Seherim. Some believe the forest took her, but Cedric suspects foul play. Depending on choices we make later in the chapter, we might eventually discover her whereabouts.
Finally, Cedric mentions a potential job to Geralt. A mental institution long ago burned to the ground, killing its inmates and leaving the land cursed. Two daredevils have recently sought to explore it and disappeared. If our hero can find them or their remains, he'll receive a reward. Witchers gotta eat!
Triss abruptly casts a teleport spell and tells us to meet her near the boat wreck.
Investigating the boat wreck
After taking a long and winding path through the hilly forest, Geralt finally meets up with Triss. Why couldn't she have let him teleport with her? At any rate, they discover a vast swamp area surrounded by ancient ruins. Based on the nearby tracks, a human has been here recently.
Geralt and Triss meet danger once they climb down to the actual swamp floor. Not from the kayran, but a swarm of drowners! When a hanged criminal gets discarded in a lake, he or she often returns as a drowner. Maybe people shouldn't throw their hanged dudes in the water, right?
The group swarms us, and it takes me a few tries to survive the fight unscathed. By staying on the outskirts of the group and avoid letting them surround Geralt, I finally thwart the monsters.
Upon searching the remains of the boat, we discovered the ship's log. The captain intended to report of his journey to his superiors, but died before he could complete his mission. Geralt resolves to mail the report for him. We don't discover a mailbox during this episode, but hopefully we can honor the captain's wishes soon.
Back in Flotsam
Geralt returns to Flotsam, where he picks up on a previous request from a portly man named Ziggy. This guy manages fighters in the local underground fight club, but he hasn't had much luck lately. Geralt agrees to fight for him, and we knock out a duo of opponents.
Next a shady character tries to pay us to throw the fight. My Geralt is heroic though, so I decline to betray Ziggy and go on to win the final round. Without my say so, Geralt turns down Ziggy's offer to celebrate with booze and women – Ziggy can screw enough for the both of them, he says jovially.
Vernon Roche finally catches up with Geralt and brings him along on a mission. Loredo, the commandant of Flotsam who helped Geralt save Dandelion and Zoltan last week, has apparently become too powerful for Roche's liking. In addition to troops, he owns a ballista, an extremely powerful canon-like weapon.
Roche wants to battle everyone near the ballista in order to destroy it. But Geralt prefers to avoid unnecessary loss of life, so he offers to sabotage the ballista himself. To do this, Geralt must first distract the guard closest to the weapon.
A nearby prostitute will offer the guard her services, but only if Geralt first humiliates a pair of soldiers who stiffed her (zing!) by defeating them at arm wrestling. Having wrestled the soldiers, our prostitute friend escorts the ballista guard into the bushes. Geralt sabotages the weapon, and a good time is had by all.
We now attempt to sneak into Loredo's residence, but get captured instead. Luckily, he is not hostile towards Geralt at all. He wants to know why Geralt is snooping around Flotsam. We tell him the truth: Geralt seeks the Scoia'tael and the assassin who helped them kill King Foltest.
Loredo wants to help Geralt stop the Scoia'tael, but he expects Geralt to leave Roche behind. Loredo doesn't trust Roche because he perceives him as being too bloodthirsty and impulsive. Loredo might be not be eager to trust others, but he cares deeply about the safety of his town. Geralt agrees to fight the Scoia'tael with Loredo, for now.
Geralt also cautions Loredo that the local non-humans should be treated better. And Loredo agrees to an extent, but doesn't promise sweeping change. He does at least make the point that Iorveth and the Scoia'tael need to be destroyed before humans and non-humans can truly trust each other.
Loredo still believes that Geralt's friend Zoltan has been in contact with Iorveth lately. But before he'll reveal how he knows this or what his plan for catching Iorveth is, Loredo requires that Geralt defeat the kayran. Dandelion and Zoltan will even receive an official pardon. Good thing Geralt planned to kill the monster anyway!
Finally, Geralt leaves Loredo's residence and resumes his hunt for the kayran.
Now you're ready for the next chapter of our epic Witcher 2 playthrough!
- The Witcher – Windows – $9.99 – Steam Link – GOG Link
- The Witcher 2 – Xbox 360 – $29.99 – Xbox.com Link
- The Witcher 2 – Windows – $19.99 – Steam Link – GOG Link
How to watch Twitch livestreams
We'll be streaming The Witcher 2 for 90 minutes tonight, starting at 8pm Central (9pm Eastern, 6pm Pacific).
What's the best way to experience Twitch? The Twitch website on your PC or Mac web browser. If you don't have or prefer not to use a computer, you can get the Xbox One, Playstation 4, or Xbox 360 Twitch apps and watch from the comfort of your couch. Android and iOS both have official and unofficial Twitch apps to choose from as well.
On Windows Phone, you'll have to grab an unofficial app. Check out our unofficial Twitch app roundup for an in-depth look at five popular apps and their features.
My recommendation is Unstream. It has far more features than competing apps, such as the ability to see a list of users participating in the stream chat. You can even add our channel directly from within the app! Just search for Eastxtwitch, select the channel to view our profile, and then select Follow from the pop-up menu at the bottom.
Streaming schedule
Want to know what's next for Windows Central's weekly Twitch streaming contests? Here's our upcoming schedule:
- Thursday, February 26: ScreamRide from Frontier and Microsoft
- Saturday, February 28: Asphalt 8 (Windows 8) from Gameloft. Guest cohost: "Gameloft" Ryan!
- Saturday, March 7: Order & Chaos Online (Windows 8) from Gameloft. Guest cohost: "Gameloft" Ryan!
In addition to our Saturday contest streams, we also livestream a variety of different games throughout the week. These streams don't have contests, but they still offer a great chance to see more exciting games while enjoying our live commentary and stream chat.
- Mondays: Playstation Vita games! See what the other side gets to play.
- Tuesdays: The Witcher 2 for Xbox 360. Catch up on The Witcher saga before The Witcher 3 launches in May!
- Wednesdays: Xbox One games. This Wednesday is Strider history night, featuring Strider 1 and 2 plus Strider for Xbox One!
- Thursdays: Dragon Age: Inquisition! Game selected and funded by our excellent stream viewers.
We hope you'll tune in as often as you can! Set a recurring alarm on your phone so you'll always know when it's time for the stream to start.
Thanks to tonight's cohosts Xero and Tylerh1701 and our Twitch stream moderators for keeping the stream friendly!
