10 Subtle Ways The Witcher 3's Story Is One Of The Very Best

9. Charity Begins At Home

Speaking of an unforgiving world, why would anyone do you a favour, just to help you out?

Fetch quests are a dime a dozen in RPGs, but in the world of Geralt, totally believable. Imagine you’re a dwarf in the middle of 13th Century Temeria, struggling to survive as a blacksmith. An invading army is forcing you to make its weapons for free, your human neighbours use this to intensify their prejudice against you, then, to top it all off, one of the townsfolk burns your forge down. What would you do when a Witcher, a genetically enhanced mutant, trained to kill monsters for money, walks up and asks for directions to the nearest army garrison? You get him to help you first.

Even Geralt’s closest companions rarely help him without some ulterior motive. Aid from Redania Spymaster Dijkstra sees you serve as a political puppet before offering to help you rescue the persecuted mages. Dandelion needs you to placate jilted lovers and rescue him for the hundredth time before he can recount his history with Ciri. Even Zoltan needs a hand with his card collection.

The beauty of these quests, besides making us stronger and the lovely loot we find on the way, is how they build the characters and our relationship with them. Yennefer becomes more than just a powerful ally, but a powerful ally that is selfish, insecure, intelligent, and who we suspect is dabbling in dangerous, forbidden magic.

Some stories are explained over time, whilst others we only get glimpses of, further building on our curiosity.