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PM Just finished the game with the "neutral" ending, and the romance ending is unclear to me (chose Triss):
1. What happens if you choose Shani?
2. Did Triss and Geralt separate at the end? What happened to their romance???
The other stuff Alvin=GM (definitely), and assassin - another witcher , that much I got.
ssssssssssssssss
[EPILOGUE] Romance endings?
21.11.2007 @ 22:18 #2
*SPOILERS ON*
Geralt realises in the Lakside instance that he isn't made for a romance and family - no matter how much he desires it.
And Triss has to do what sorceresses do that meddle with politics... so Geralt goes his own ways, while she remains as an advisor or more at the kings side.
The Sani story ends similar... but it is unclear what happens to Shani.
*SPOILERS OFF*
Geralt realises in the Lakside instance that he isn't made for a romance and family - no matter how much he desires it.
And Triss has to do what sorceresses do that meddle with politics... so Geralt goes his own ways, while she remains as an advisor or more at the kings side.
The Sani story ends similar... but it is unclear what happens to Shani.
*SPOILERS OFF*
27.11.2007 @ 01:27 #5
I also thought this was disappointing. The game, at least if you play with Shani as your interest, discusses that aspect quite often, which had me believe that it might be mentioned after the battle... after all, the way I played Geralt, he was going to settle down with Shani, yet no hint of that is given. I imagine it was due to a lack of budget, but something as simple as the two meeting, hugging, exchanging a few words and confirming what they have, then Geralt saying 'Meet you in the inn, I'll go collect the payment' and then you could have the epilogue sequence.
I guess in the case of Triss, sounds like she's a bit too busy for ya so I don't know how that one would pan out :P
I guess in the case of Triss, sounds like she's a bit too busy for ya so I don't know how that one would pan out :P
03.12.2007 @ 16:03 #7
I played the Triss romance, and noticed the smae that it just cuts off. If you play that romance Folest will ask you your relationship with triss. If you say you are close your journal will update with "you realize that triss is your true love." Then as far as I can tell nothing else happens and she appears just briefly in the game during the final battle. This seemed real odd to me as this was made such a big deal in the reast of the story, i.e. who would you give alvin to would you buy a ring etc. It seems wierd to then just drop it the last two ch. of the game. Did anyone else get any more interaction going than that or is that just how it ends??
24.12.2007 @ 02:59 #8
The exact same thing happened to me, the romance just seemed to tail off. I thought that Triss would say something when you meet her in the runup to the last battle, but nothing. I also found the final dialogue with Dandelion to be a bit weak; the designers were probably sick of the game by that point and went down the pub instead of writing a proper ending ;D
31.12.2007 @ 22:29 #11
It does seem to be odd how the game gets one so involved in the characters, then breaks the attachment completely by ending the game. Hopefully though, this isn't the end, there's so much room to further the game's plot. I have a hard time believing the developers would immerse the player so much in the characters' lives, and leave so many loose ends without a sequel planned.
I actually chose Shani because I thought that Triss was behind something after seeing her speak to another sorcoress in the mirror, so throughout the rest of the game I was waiting for something to conspire. However, even a fact to disprove my suspicion never arose. Keep in mind that I haven't completed the game yet with choosing Triss, though.
I actually chose Shani because I thought that Triss was behind something after seeing her speak to another sorcoress in the mirror, so throughout the rest of the game I was waiting for something to conspire. However, even a fact to disprove my suspicion never arose. Keep in mind that I haven't completed the game yet with choosing Triss, though.
01.01.2008 @ 00:21 #12
After several replays I've come to believe (rightly or wrongly) that the romance "quest" is meant to be part of the bigger "quest" of Geralt's finding, and coming to grips with, his destiny of being a Witcher. So when he gets the flashback realization in Act 4 that a "Geralt family" would mean his loved ones would never be safe, that's pretty much the beginning of the end...
Next conversation with Triss (if you chose her) either you will tell her or she will tell you, it's really not possible for your romance to work out, at least not for the foreseeable future. Even though you may later come to understand just how much you really do love her, you've also already realized that being a Witcher precludes you from long term love relationships. That's both the end and the meaning, as I see it.
The "fly in the ointment" IMO is if you chose Shani. The first Shani conversation option is consistent with the above but the second option is problematic. With the second option you tell Shani you love her and even though things can't work out now you promise to return when this is all over. But then the game's all over, you're walking down the road with your horse and nothing is said about Shani. You wonder, "Did I make an empty promise to Shani or what?"
Maybe the game's end didn't mean the conflict was all over; in any case you understand a Witcher's destiny dictates certain constraints on love; you will go back to see Shani someday... but the right day hasn't yet arrived... (a little more prompting would have helped).
That's my two cents (Beware: two cents may be an excessive valuation).
__
Next conversation with Triss (if you chose her) either you will tell her or she will tell you, it's really not possible for your romance to work out, at least not for the foreseeable future. Even though you may later come to understand just how much you really do love her, you've also already realized that being a Witcher precludes you from long term love relationships. That's both the end and the meaning, as I see it.
The "fly in the ointment" IMO is if you chose Shani. The first Shani conversation option is consistent with the above but the second option is problematic. With the second option you tell Shani you love her and even though things can't work out now you promise to return when this is all over. But then the game's all over, you're walking down the road with your horse and nothing is said about Shani. You wonder, "Did I make an empty promise to Shani or what?"
Maybe the game's end didn't mean the conflict was all over; in any case you understand a Witcher's destiny dictates certain constraints on love; you will go back to see Shani someday... but the right day hasn't yet arrived... (a little more prompting would have helped).
That's my two cents (Beware: two cents may be an excessive valuation).
__
02.01.2008 @ 17:25 #13
I played through the game choosing Shani and the small family idyll. At a crucial point Geralt makes a kind of an appointment with her to meet again 'when all this madness is over'. In the end the game makes it clear that things have gone back to normal. It is easy to think up something to fill the gaps and explain why it doesn't happen. But I have the feeling this kind of contradicts the fact that the game makes a big point out of your decision, so you would expect your decision to show some effect - and if it is only to show you the couple years later in a Bergman marriage hell.
But maybe this is all due to budget and time restriction. To me at least the 5th act and the epilogue don't seem to be on par with the rest of the game.
But maybe this is all due to budget and time restriction. To me at least the 5th act and the epilogue don't seem to be on par with the rest of the game.
02.01.2008 @ 22:29 #14
Antios,
IMO, one has to factor in Geralt's flashback in Act IV when he saves Alvin from the Devourer at the riverbank:
[pre] What was I thinking?
Pick-up sticks?
Maybe we could settle down together? Hmmm.
At least I stopped short of proposing.
Shani deserves someone normal.
Someone who will care for her, not wander the world risking his neck for a handful of coin.
I have no right to put her and Alvin in that position.
I'm a Witcher.
And sometimes I miss them... her. [/pre]
It's an unhappy admission by Geralt to himself that he cannot have the "family idyll" because he is a Witcher.
So what does he mean when he later tells Shani he will come back and meet her again later? He ought to mean something not inconsistent with his flashback realization. As I said, I felt a little more prompting would have helped.
Maybe it just boils down to one of those flaws a Hollywood star would brush away by calling it a "beauty mark".
__
IMO, one has to factor in Geralt's flashback in Act IV when he saves Alvin from the Devourer at the riverbank:
[pre] What was I thinking?
Pick-up sticks?
Maybe we could settle down together? Hmmm.
At least I stopped short of proposing.
Shani deserves someone normal.
Someone who will care for her, not wander the world risking his neck for a handful of coin.
I have no right to put her and Alvin in that position.
I'm a Witcher.
And sometimes I miss them... her. [/pre]
It's an unhappy admission by Geralt to himself that he cannot have the "family idyll" because he is a Witcher.
So what does he mean when he later tells Shani he will come back and meet her again later? He ought to mean something not inconsistent with his flashback realization. As I said, I felt a little more prompting would have helped.
Maybe it just boils down to one of those flaws a Hollywood star would brush away by calling it a "beauty mark".
__
03.01.2008 @ 02:14 #17
Justme, that is certainly a plausible way to see it. On the other hand you could see this vision as a part of the process of finding his identity; that is: he repeats the cliché that the lonesome hero can't have a family etc. but then chooses (if the player makes him do it) another way: the small family. An argument for this position is imho the fact that the love declaration for Shani is coming after the vision.
Btw, if you choose Shani she is helping him in the long ice way to the grand master. Is that a result of this choice or is she doing this all the time?
Btw, if you choose Shani she is helping him in the long ice way to the grand master. Is that a result of this choice or is she doing this all the time?
03.01.2008 @ 02:42 #18
Antiios,
I agree with you -- what you thought you were choosing seems entirely plausible in light of character growth and development. The second Shani option is problematic to me -- the others make good sense without an additional "ending".
In your earlier post, you mentioned how the problem might have arisen as a result of trying to get the game out at the end... You might enjoy reading the following blog of one of the developers, titled "Crunch Time" here http://blogs.ign.com/Thilnen. Seems that you are probably right...
Re your query about Shani's help in the "ice world" at the end; she's there because of your choice of her as opposed to Triss, i.e., Shani will be there when you leave Alvin with her (regardless of which additional romance option you choose), and the same is true of Triss.
I've just got to add that I think you'll get lots of additional enjoyment from replays with slight or major variations in this game. There's just so much there... The developers really were obsessed.
__
I agree with you -- what you thought you were choosing seems entirely plausible in light of character growth and development. The second Shani option is problematic to me -- the others make good sense without an additional "ending".
In your earlier post, you mentioned how the problem might have arisen as a result of trying to get the game out at the end... You might enjoy reading the following blog of one of the developers, titled "Crunch Time" here http://blogs.ign.com/Thilnen. Seems that you are probably right...
Re your query about Shani's help in the "ice world" at the end; she's there because of your choice of her as opposed to Triss, i.e., Shani will be there when you leave Alvin with her (regardless of which additional romance option you choose), and the same is true of Triss.
I've just got to add that I think you'll get lots of additional enjoyment from replays with slight or major variations in this game. There's just so much there... The developers really were obsessed.
__
03.01.2008 @ 16:52 #19
Justme,
thanks a lot for the link, a pity I can't read his longer Polish blog.
I certainly will replay TW choosing the Order and Triss to get a different perspective. The fact that we really want to end the story in a way which is meaningful in view of the choices we made during the game is one of the biggest praises for the game: It succeeded in depicting its characters; not in a realistic way - we are in a fantasy world which obeys its own genre conventions after all - but with far more depth than most games I have played.
thanks a lot for the link, a pity I can't read his longer Polish blog.
I certainly will replay TW choosing the Order and Triss to get a different perspective. The fact that we really want to end the story in a way which is meaningful in view of the choices we made during the game is one of the biggest praises for the game: It succeeded in depicting its characters; not in a realistic way - we are in a fantasy world which obeys its own genre conventions after all - but with far more depth than most games I have played.
07.01.2008 @ 08:00 #20
I chose Shani over Triss, and didn't feel in the least dissapointed by the ending. I pursued the romance, but the way I saw it was we would settle down much later. I had assumed that we would leave Vizima together and move onto other troubled areas, Geralt fighting monsters and Shani caring for the sick and wounded. As far as I was concerned, it didn't need to be explained in the ending as it had already been finalised in the game. Sure, with the assassin at the end the plan will change, but that's now the domain of the sequel.
