Full spoilers, obviously. Trigger warning for domestic assault, since it's part of the storyline.
Finally working through playthrough 2 of TW3, this time on Switch, and after 30 hours or so I just wrapped up the Bloody Baron storyline. I remember playing it in 2015 and not really getting the hype, but playing it now is just...icky.
The game basically breaks its back trying to justify this guy beating his wife, and make him into a sympathetic character. There are so many points where he can explain himself, or try to justify it, and they never give Geralt the ability to strongly condemn him. Its like: actually Anna didn't miscarry because of him beating her, it was magic! Actually Anna gave him a ton of valid reasons for wanting to beat her that he will happily explain in detail! Like, come on.
During the wrap up convo for Family Matters, the Baron finally tells you the whole story of the relationship. He says it was love at first sight, but then quickly brings up Anna's infidelity as justification for his actions, and for the reason he straight up killed Anna's lover. He then calls her psychotic and says she has episodes and again uses that to justify beating her.
You, as Geralt, cant condemn this. All you can say is, "well, if you hadn't gone off to war, she wouldn't have cheated on you". There is no option to say what he did was wrong under no circumstances, or break off contact with the Baron completely. The most you can really give is aggravated indifference.
I feel like this would make more sense if there was a gameplay reason for having him justify himself so much; like, if there was a choice at the end of the quest that was dependent on how much you sympathized with him and thought he deserved redemption. But theres not even that! Theres nothing!! His fate is resolved by a completely unconnected decision.
And after all of that, the "good" ending of the quest has the gaul to make the Baron and Anna going off together to try to rebuild their life, something she has no say in, from someone she's spent YEARS trying to run from and whose abused her countless times. That this is the "good" ending, and that we never actually get to know her character beyond what the Baron tells us, is disgusting as hell.
Why did this questline get so much praise? Was it the times? Would it be similarly received today?
Finally working through playthrough 2 of TW3, this time on Switch, and after 30 hours or so I just wrapped up the Bloody Baron storyline. I remember playing it in 2015 and not really getting the hype, but playing it now is just...icky.
The game basically breaks its back trying to justify this guy beating his wife, and make him into a sympathetic character. There are so many points where he can explain himself, or try to justify it, and they never give Geralt the ability to strongly condemn him. Its like: actually Anna didn't miscarry because of him beating her, it was magic! Actually Anna gave him a ton of valid reasons for wanting to beat her that he will happily explain in detail! Like, come on.
During the wrap up convo for Family Matters, the Baron finally tells you the whole story of the relationship. He says it was love at first sight, but then quickly brings up Anna's infidelity as justification for his actions, and for the reason he straight up killed Anna's lover. He then calls her psychotic and says she has episodes and again uses that to justify beating her.
You, as Geralt, cant condemn this. All you can say is, "well, if you hadn't gone off to war, she wouldn't have cheated on you". There is no option to say what he did was wrong under no circumstances, or break off contact with the Baron completely. The most you can really give is aggravated indifference.
I feel like this would make more sense if there was a gameplay reason for having him justify himself so much; like, if there was a choice at the end of the quest that was dependent on how much you sympathized with him and thought he deserved redemption. But theres not even that! Theres nothing!! His fate is resolved by a completely unconnected decision.
And after all of that, the "good" ending of the quest has the gaul to make the Baron and Anna going off together to try to rebuild their life, something she has no say in, from someone she's spent YEARS trying to run from and whose abused her countless times. That this is the "good" ending, and that we never actually get to know her character beyond what the Baron tells us, is disgusting as hell.
Why did this questline get so much praise? Was it the times? Would it be similarly received today?
