Chapter Summaries

Song Ren began The Witcher: Wild Hunt and watched its opening introduce the war, the Conjunction of Spheres, and the Witchers. The story left Geralt preparing to meet Ciri after an intimate bath scene with Yennefer.

• Song Ren logged into The Witcher: Wild Hunt on release day and chose the second-highest difficulty, “I Want a Little Sweat.”
• The opening narration described the Northern kingdoms’ war against Emperor Emhyr and blamed the Conjunction of Spheres and the creation of Witchers for their plight.
• Geralt and Vesemir investigated a battlefield, where Geralt recalled a black-haired sorceress escaping a storm of arrows.
• Geralt woke in a bathtub at Kaer Morhen, tossed a Magic Scorpion out of the water, and spoke with Yennefer.
• Yennefer reminded Geralt that he had promised to practice with Ciri, then got dressed while Song Ren reacted to the scene.

Song Ren explored Kaer Morhen as Geralt, learning about the Witchers through dialogue and a combat tutorial before a dream showed the Wild Hunt attacking Ciri and the others. After waking at a wilderness camp, Geralt shared Yennefer’s letter with Vesemir, and its question about a unicorn left Song Ren eager to see what came next.

• Song Ren used Witcher Senses to find a key, explored Yennefer’s room, and spoke with her through branching dialogue.
• Song Ren left the room, saw Vesemir asleep, and took in the view of Kaer Morhen before exploring more dialogue and tutorial combat with Vesemir and Ciri.
• The tutorial shifted into a nightmare in which the Wild Hunt arrived at Kaer Morhen and froze Ciri, Vesemir, and the other Witchers in ice.
• Geralt woke at a wilderness camp and told Vesemir about his nightmare, then handed him Yennefer’s letter.
• Song Ren saw the letter’s question about a unicorn and the dialogue option claiming it had been used as a bed, leaving him anticipating what would happen next.

Song Ren explored White Orchard as Geralt, learning about the locals’ hostility toward Witchers and searching for clues about Yennefer. He gained a lead on her whereabouts from the mysterious Gaunter O'Dimm and encountered a professor who introduced him to the Gwent minigame.

• Song Ren used Geralt’s Steel Sword against Ghouls, looted their corpses, and traveled with Vesemir toward White Orchard.
• Geralt and Vesemir rescued a merchant attacked by a Griffin, and Song Ren learned that Temeria had fallen to Nilfgaard.
• At the White Orchard Inn, locals insulted Geralt, while the innkeeper offered free food and drinks because he had saved her relative.
• Geralt used the Axii Sign to get information from hostile patrons, then Gaunter O'Dimm identified Yennefer and pointed him toward Nilfgaard’s garrison.
• A professor from Novigrad asked Geralt whether he played Gwent, revealing the card game’s tutorial.

Song Ren explored White Orchard in The Witcher: Wild Hunt, learned Gwent, and uncovered interconnected side quests while pursuing Yennefer’s trail. He ended the chapter frustrated that he could find no one else in White Orchard to play cards with.

• Song Ren learned Gwent from a scholar, defeated him two to zero, and received a card, a collection guide, and a quest to find other players.
• Song Ren tried to challenge the innkeeper, bought the cards he could afford, and then resumed Geralt’s main quest after finding no other opponents.
• Song Ren investigated a blacksmith’s burned house and discovered that the culprit was a jealous farmer who offered Geralt a bribe.
• Song Ren explored quests tied to the former Lord of White Orchard, learned how his son’s death and the Lord’s cruelty led to a village’s destruction, and defeated the resulting Noonwraith.
• Song Ren considered the Nilfgaardian commander’s grain dispute with the villagers and wondered whether he had become White Orchard’s strongest Gwent player despite having only played one match.

Song Ren finished exploring White Orchard and advanced Geralt’s story toward Vizima, reflecting on the harsh world around him. Before meeting Emperor Emhyr, he discovered a nobleman who played Gwent and eagerly wagered ten coins against him.

• Song Ren bought the innkeeper’s remaining supplies, used the Gourmet skill to conserve healing items, and decided to leave White Orchard in search of stronger Gwent opponents.
• Song Ren watched Geralt and Vesemir defend the White Orchard innkeeper from villagers, then saw her react to Geralt with fear rather than gratitude.
• Song Ren followed Geralt’s search for Yennefer, who summoned him to Vizima to meet Emperor Emhyr.
• Geralt and Yennefer were attacked by the Wild Hunt on the road, then Geralt reached the palace and prepared to meet Emhyr.
• Song Ren spotted a nobleman playing Gwent in the palace and raised the wager to ten coins before starting a match.

Song Ren lost most of his Gwent matches to a wealthy palace player, then learned that Geralt and Yennefer had been tasked with finding Ciri. After the pair split up to investigate leads across the Continent, Song Ren chose to explore Velen first.

• Song Ren lost three or four rounds of Gwent to a palace player with a powerful deck and vowed to return with better cards.
• Song Ren controlled Geralt as he met Emperor Emhyr, who asked Geralt and Yennefer to find Ciri and bring her back.
• Geralt accepted the mission because he wanted to protect Ciri, not because he cared about Emhyr or the Empire.
• Geralt learned that Ciri had been seen in Velen and Novigrad, while Yennefer uncovered a possible lead in the Skellige Isles.
• Geralt and Yennefer split up to investigate the clues, opening the game’s regions to free exploration.
• Song Ren chose Velen, the region with the lowest recommended level, and began exploring.

Song Ren explored Velen, completed morally messy side quests, and spent much of the afternoon playing Gwent and boxing rather than advancing The Witcher: Wild Hunt’s main story. He recommended the card game to Zhang Yi, who was left wondering whether Song Ren was playing as Geralt at all.

• Song Ren found Adalbertus’s Unfinished Book beneath a hanged corpse at the Hanged Man’s Tree in Velen.
• Song Ren rescued a bandit from Ghouls, learned that an Eternal Fire Priest had plotted to kill the bandits, and refused the priest’s bribe before defeating him and his men.
• Song Ren played Gwent, discovered boxing matches, and completed several side quests while exploring Velen and clearing most of White Orchard’s side quests.
• Song Ren realized that the afternoon had passed and that he had barely advanced the main plot.
• Zhang Yi asked Song Ren whether The Witcher: Wild Hunt was fun, and Song Ren praised Gwent and boxing, leaving Zhang Yi confused.

Song Ren followed Geralt’s search for Ciri through Velen, uncovering the region’s political turmoil and the grim stories behind its side quests. After Keira’s lead failed to reveal Ciri’s whereabouts, Geralt accepted Keira’s flirtation, leaving Song Ren stunned by his behavior.

• Song Ren learned that the clues about Ciri led to Keira and the Bloody Baron, then met Keira and heard about Nilfgaard’s invasion and the persecution of mages.
• Keira took Geralt to the Elf Mage’s underground hideout, where they fought the Wild Hunt and found a warning that the witches of Humpback Swamp could not be trusted.
• Keira asked Geralt to lift the curse in the Tower of Rats, where Anabelle’s lover Graham sacrificed himself to end her curse.
• Keira invited Geralt to dinner and flirted with him, but Song Ren chose the dialogue option that said Geralt already had someone else.
• Geralt followed Keira’s trail to the lake and began an intimate encounter, leaving Song Ren shocked by the scene and Geralt’s suggestive remarks.

Song Ren uncovered the Bloody Baron’s troubled family history and learned what Ciri had done in Velen, then set out to help the Baron find his wife and daughter. The quest left him facing the game’s most agonizing choice yet.

• Song Ren persuaded Keira to seek refuge at Kaer Morhen instead of going to Radovid or fighting Geralt.
• The Bloody Baron agreed to tell Geralt about Ciri if he helped search for the Baron’s missing wife and daughter.
• Geralt learned that the Baron’s wife Anna had fled with their daughter after years of abuse, and that their daughter had become a Witch Hunter in Oxenfurt.
• Geralt discovered that Anna had made a deal with the Crones, who used Black Magic to turn her into their servant and made her care for orphans they intended to eat.
• The Baron told Geralt that Ciri had escaped the Crones, stayed briefly at Crow’s Perch, and left after using her Space-Time Power during a basilisk attack.
• Song Ren decided to help the Baron find his family, but the quest soon forced him to make a painful choice.

Song Ren replayed the Bloody Baron’s quest in The Witcher: Wild Hunt and saw that neither choice concerning the Caretaker brought a happy ending. He chose the outcome in which the Baron took Anna away for treatment, then prepared to leave Velen for Novigrad, but discovered a powerful Gwent card in the castle.

• Song Ren’s Geralt freed the Caretaker, which led it to kill the villagers, and Anna died after the Baron helped lift her curse; the Baron later hanged himself when his daughter left with the Witch Hunters.
• Song Ren reloaded his save and killed the Caretaker, but the Crones killed the children, Anna became delirious, and the Baron took her away for treatment while his daughter headed north.
• Song Ren reflected on how the game’s choices affected the world and hoped the Baron could cure Anna.
• Song Ren decided to leave Velen and continue searching for Ciri in Novigrad, then spotted the Baron’s Sigismund Dijkstra Gwent card on a table.

Song Ren explored Novigrad in The Witcher: Wild Hunt, following the search for Ciri and Dandelion while discovering the city’s factions, Gwent games, and entertainment venues. After Zhang Yi explained how to reload a save after visiting the women, Song Ren questioned whether that was something a human would do.

• Song Ren arrived in Novigrad, where Geralt met Triss and sought help from the city’s underground bosses to find the missing Dandelion.
• Dijkstra asked Geralt to investigate his robbed vault, and Geralt learned that Dandelion had stolen from it while trying to help Ciri remove a curse from an artifact.
• Song Ren cut down Hawker II, then Geralt and Triss rescued Dandelion, who revealed that Ciri had escaped using Space-Time Power and left Novigrad for an unknown destination.
• With the Novigrad trail cold, Song Ren explored the city’s Gwent games, bank, and two entertainment venues, but said he lacked money to visit them.
• Zhang Yi told Song Ren he could manually save before visiting the women and reload afterward, leaving Song Ren stunned by the suggestion.

Song Ren guided Geralt through Triss and Yennefer’s romance storylines while pursuing clues about Ciri. After Geralt found Ciri apparently dead on an island, she revealed she had only used magic to feign death, and the two reunited.

• Geralt helped Triss and the female mages escape Novigrad, spent the night with Triss, and heard Dijkstra propose assassinating Radovid.
• Geralt arrived in the Skellige Isles, investigated Ciri’s disappearance with Yennefer, broke the magic binding their love, and chose to tell her he still loved her.
• Geralt returned to Velen, brought Uma to Kaer Morhen, and joined the Wolf School witchers for a night of drinking while Vesemir tried to break Uma’s curse.
• Yennefer used the Trial of the Grasses, a magical artifact, and mage methods to break Uma’s curse, revealing him to be the Elf Mage who knew where Ciri was hidden.
• Geralt found Ciri apparently dead on the island, but she awoke after revealing she had used magic to feign death.

Song Ren played through the Wild Hunt’s attack on Kaer Morhen, Vesemir’s death, and Geralt’s preparations for the final battle. After discovering more about Eredin’s past, he tried to pursue both Triss and Yennefer, but they left Geralt tied up and alone.

• The Wild Hunt overwhelmed Kaer Morhen, and Vesemir died protecting Ciri, whose Elder Blood power forced the attackers to retreat.
• Geralt and Ciri sought revenge in Velen; Ciri killed two of the Crones while one escaped, and Geralt killed Imlerith.
• Avallac’h showed an elven general that Eredin had poisoned the former king and seized power, persuading the general to refuse Eredin reinforcements and help lure him to the Skellige Isles.
• Song Ren started the Three-Way Tango quest at the Kingfisher Tavern, expecting Triss and Yennefer to join Geralt.
• Triss and Yennefer tied Geralt to the bed, then left him there, and Dandelion freed him the next day.

Song Ren finished The Witcher: Wild Hunt and was stunned when his choices led to a bleak ending in which Ciri and Yennefer and Triss were gone, leaving Geralt alone. Zhang Yi revealed that Song Ren had received the “Single Dog and Dead Wolf” ending, while he had found a happier outcome.

• Song Ren played as Ciri through the Wild Hunt battlefield, then defeated Caranthir and Eredin as Geralt.
• Ciri entered the gate to stop the Frost, and Song Ren hoped she would return, but the game showed Geralt alone with the world full of monsters.
• Song Ren messaged Zhang Yi to ask what ending he had gotten.
• Zhang Yi said he had retired with Yennefer and Ciri had become Empress of Nilfgaard, then asked Song Ren about his ending.
• Song Ren claimed he had retired with Triss and defended Ciri becoming Empress, but Zhang Yi exposed him for earning the “Single Dog and Dead Wolf” ending.

Song Ren finished The Witcher: Wild Hunt and reflected on its difficult choices and varied endings. He chose a free life for Ciri, let Emhyr unify the Continent, and ended Geralt's romance alone, leaving him convinced the game was a true RPG masterpiece.

• The chapter described how choices shaped Ciri's fate, Geralt's romances, Skellige's succession, and the Northern War.
• It recounted quests in which Geralt faced morally difficult decisions, including how to deal with villagers' supposed Almighty God.
• Song Ren watched the credits after completing the game and reflected on the choices he had made.
• Song Ren had killed Radovid but refused to help Dijkstra kill Roche, allowing Emperor Emhyr to unify the Continent.
• Song Ren chose for Ciri to become a Witcher and left Geralt in the lone wolf ending after he could not reject either Triss or Yennefer.
• Song Ren exited Huanyu VR and concluded that The Witcher: Wild Hunt was a true RPG masterpiece.

Players and critics praised The Witcher: Wild Hunt for its richly detailed world, memorable characters, and choices with far-reaching consequences, as review outlets awarded it perfect scores. While players celebrated the acclaim, Alex at FOW remained bewildered by how much the world had changed in only a week.

• Players uncovered details throughout The Witcher: Wild Hunt and discussed its realistic world, stories, characters, and consequential choices.
• Players shared their favorite scenes and endings online and hoped for more stories from the game.
• Major media outlets gave The Witcher: Wild Hunt near-universal perfect scores, praising its side quests and Butterfly Effect.
• Players celebrated the reviews on forums, Tieba, and Weibo.
• Alex at FOW struggled to understand how the world had changed so suddenly in just a week.

FOW and Alex were shaken by The Witcher: Wild Hunt’s near-perfect reviews, while Chen Xu faced players’ complaints over the game’s painful choices. The chapter ended with players noticing that Chen Xu’s games seemed to be becoming increasingly dark and full of monsters.

• FOW and Zeus’s plans to build hype around Wasteland 1978 faltered when The Witcher: Wild Hunt earned a global media aggregate score of 9.6.
• Alex realized Wasteland 1978 might lose its expected award advantage, then bought The Witcher: Wild Hunt to judge its quality for himself.
• Players criticized Chen Xu on the Official Blog over agonizing choices, including the Bloody Baron’s quest and the choice between Triss and Yennefer.
• Players began discussing how Chen Xu’s games had grown darker and more filled with monsters, and Chen Xu responded to them.

After players complained about Nebula Games' frightening monster designs, Chen Xu announced a carnival, upcoming game reveals, and a cheerful cooperative mini-game. He then assigned the team two new projects, including a sequel to last year's major FPS title, leaving Qin Yi and Meng Zuo worried it might continue Ethan's story.

• A longtime player criticized Nebula Games' recent games for their disturbing enemies, and Chen Xu replied that the company would soon give players a healing cooperative mini-game and reveal future plans at its September 1 carnival.
• Chen Xu's announcement sparked discussion about the Nebula Games Theme Park, where players who had purchased games on the Nebula Game Platform could enter a lottery for free tickets.
• Ruan Ningxue and the others asked Chen Xu whether the team would make cheerful games, and he said he would borrow staff from the mini-game team while assigning them two new projects.
• Chen Xu said one project would be a Switch exclusive and the other a sequel to last year's major FPS title, leaving Yang Xin, Qin Yi, and Meng Zuo trying to guess which games he meant.
• Qin Yi and Meng Zuo suspected the FPS sequel might continue Ethan's story, recalling Satoru Iwata's words at the 2005 GDC Game Developers Conference.

Chen Xu outlined Nebula Games’ upcoming projects, including Resident Evil Village and a new Switch title, while prioritizing a small cooperative game for release. Players soon received Human Fall Flat as a free game and eagerly anticipated its silly physics-based puzzles with friends.

• Chen Xu explained that the new Switch exclusive would be a player-created platformer with PVE and PvP, then outlined plans for Hearts of Stone, Blood and Wine, and Resident Evil Village.
• Chen Xu described Resident Evil Village’s sandbox structure, collectibles, combat, and merchant, and said the team would focus mainly on the new Switch title.
• Players online speculated about the promised fun little game while discussing Nebula Games’ upcoming Carnival.
• Less than a week later, Nebula Game Platform users received Human Fall Flat on mobile, Switch, and PC, and its goofy trailer made players laugh.
• Players recognized Human Fall Flat as a silly PVE puzzle game and imagined playing it with friends.

Zhang Yi, Wang Han, Song Ren, Qiao Yi, and Wang Yifan tried Human: Fall Flat, stumbling through character creation and the game’s awkward physics. After a chaotic pileup at the starting area, the five friends finally got ready to tackle the challenges.

• Zhang Yi and Wang Han customized their characters and started a local multiplayer game of Human: Fall Flat.
• Zhang Yi learned the controls while waiting for Song Ren, Qiao Yi, and Wang Yifan to join the room.
• Song Ren entered the game and landed on Zhang Yi, sending his cowboy character flying into a flower bed.
• Qiao Yi and Wang Yifan landed on Zhang Yi and knocked him off a cliff, after which he respawned on top of Song Ren.
• Zhang Yi got back to his feet, and the five friends prepared to begin the game’s challenges.