10 Terrifying Video Game Horrors Nobody Saw Coming

Geralt's search of Ciri sees him encounter all manner of nasties, be it the Witches of The Wood and their penchant for human ears, caves infested with giant, jumping spiders, or paintings haunted by an imprisoned-wife-turned-wraith. Worse still are the gut-wrenching tragedies of materialistic women cursed to transform into hideous, spoon-collecting trolls or werewolves tricked into killing their own loved ones.

The tale that takes the prize for brutality and horror in The Witcher 3 – which is little like choosing who your least favourite child – is “Family Matters”. Having traced Ciri to the Bloody Baron of Velen, Geralt learns of the Bloody Baron's abusive, drunken history with his pregnant wife. Having beaten her so badly one night, she miscarried and the Baron quickly buried the dead foetus.

On learning the truth, Geralt warns the Baron that the baby will likely transform into a hideous botchling, a rotten, zombified monster that will seek out the family that failed it so it can use its multiple layers of sharp teeth to rip their heads off.

Whether the player chooses to kill the botchling, or help the Baron transform it into a Lubberkin so that the family might find peace, it is the brutal tragedy of the quest that horrified players, and, despite the terrible nature of the Witcher world and its inhabitants, this mission still managed to shock players around the world.