I've been replaying the Witcher 3 with a "canonical" Geralt, making choices that I think he would've made, according to the character painted by the fiction. I've only read the first two books, but they give major insight into each character's motivations. Here are 2 ways that I've changed how I navigate the big decisions in the story. Massive spoilers below. As I read more of the books, maybe I will revisit the games once more.

"The Lesser Evil"

Geralt is often called the butcher of Blaviken. He found himself in Blaviken whilst a feud was going on between the local mage, Stregobor, and a renounced princesses Renfri. Stregobor claims that Renfri is a monster and must be killed, claims that were based on superstition around the date and time of her birth. Because of this, she was cast out by her family, raped and beaten by the local peasantry. She sought revenge and had set out to Blaviken where Stregobor was residing. Geralt was offered a sum by the sorcerer to make her disappear and he rejects this. Renfri makes a similar proposition, and again, Geralt chooses to remain a bystander. Turns out, amongst Renfri's group of thugs was someone responsible for the Tridam Ultimatum, an event where a large mass of innocent bystanders were taken hostage over some demands. Geralt kills the bandits and Renfri who were about to take over the market square in exchange for Stregobor, who was holed up in his tower. The Alderman demands that Geralt leave and never return.

This changed the way I handled a lot of situations. I was no longer afraid to take a side. Geralt is a lot more calculating in my game, more so than he's ever been. He's a lot more idealistic and makes a difficult choice at the end of the game. He does not stop Ciri from challenging the white frost. He bids her farewell and with a "good luck," knowing that one, he doesn't have the right to tell her what to do, and that two, her sacrifice will save more worlds than just theirs.

Love, Yennefer, & "The Last Wish"

The complex relationship between Yennefer and Geralt is explained in the first book. The Witcher 3 takes place about 10 years after Geralt and Ciri meet and about 15 years after Geralt and Yennefer meet. Geralt and Yennefer become magically bound to each other after Geralt unbottles a D'jinn while fishing with Dandelion. He uses his last wish to be with Yennefer forever in an attempt to save her from death by the D'jinn's powerful magic. Yennefer was bent on capturing the D'jinn to cure her of her sterility, which all sorceresses suffer from. She bounces between Geralt and other former lovers throughout the books, and at times Geralt is remorseful that his wish had turned into a curse for her: a love she never wanted, but is obligated to live out.

After meeting Yennefer in Skellige (Quest: The Last Wish), Geralt and Yennefer search for another D'jinn in hopes to break the decades long spell that has bound the two of them together. "Now they had a chance to see if, once the spell was no longer in effect, the magic between them would still persist..." I used Geralt's meeting with Essi Daven, a bard for whom Geralt had to reject her genuine romantic advances, as the motivation to break the curse and end the romance. The Geralt in my story pushes Yennefer aside and tells her that he no longer feels for her the same way. To him its not a white lie, but a grey one. I don't know how the books tackle this scene, but for me it was the canonical one. The years of guilt masked perhaps a once true and naive love. Geralt had spent years being selfish and I thought that this choice was the "lesser of two evils." It makes sense to me because no matter what drove apart him and Yennefer, he would always come back to her. The characters in the story reprimand him for putting up with her callous treatment, and he finally he'd had enough.

Man, I totally don't agree with that choice about Yennefer. After reading the books I don't think there's anyone else he could end up with but Yennefer. The story with Essi Daven was cute, but I thought the story made it pretty clear that the infatuation was fairly one-sided. He had feelings for her, but they were nothing compared to those he had for Yennefer.

But yeah, I've more or less been trying to keep a "canon Geralt" in mind when I play this game. I regularly make my decisions based on what I think Geralt would do, and not necessarily myself, which I kinda enjoy.

@zeik: He actually had 0 feelings for Essi.

"I don't feel anything, he noticed with horror, nothing, not the smallest emotion. That fact that I will embrace her is a deliberate, measured response, not a spontaneous one. I'll hug her, for I feel as though I out to, not because I want to. I feel nothing."

Her advances left him questioning whether those feelings for Yennefer are because of the magic or because of love.

"Because perhaps Yennefer feels what I'm feeling now, feels a profound certainty that I ought to fulfill what is impossible for fulfill"

In the end, the two get intimate only because Dandelion tells them to. I think lovers can earn tenure, but really shouldn't.

@colorbrandon: Geralt wonders whether Yennefer's feelings are true, not so much whether his own feelings toward her are true. He's often self-conscious about where he stands with Yennefer, but doesn't deny the way he feels toward her.

That quest in The Witcher 3 tried to show that from the other side, revealing that Yennefer also had doubts about whether their feelings for eachother were true. But I felt like the whole point of that quest was to show that their feelings were in fact true, as Yennefer still feels the same afterward and I personally don't feel like Geralt had any reason to feel differently either.

I'm actually kinda curious if anything notable changes in the story if you choose to reject her there, but I chose to stay with her and the rest of the game strongly supported the idea that their feelings were real.

@zeik: The biggest change lies in the end cards where the narrator describes the outcome of each notable character.

Mind citing a few places where you think the game supports their love? To me, enough characters in the story shine a negative light on their relationship to prove otherwise. It's like the couple you know in real life where their friends are constantly telling them to break-up with each other (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DestructiveRomance).

Examples of characters in-game ridiculing Geralt's relationship with Yennefer:

Keira Metz at the tower of mice, "... when Yennefer will stop treating you like a dog."

Eskel's dialogue during the drunken party at Kaer Morhen.

@colorbrandon: The game makes it pretty clear that a lot of people don't like Yennefer, but I don't think that's evidence that they don't care about eachother. Yennefer has an abrasive personality, but I felt like a lot of their conversations made it evident that she does care about him, and Geralt doesn't seem to mind her abrasive side anyway. There's a point where he comments on their relationship and how he was never drawn to the easy life. He legitimately likes that things are not easy with her.

The major events that come to mind for me are that quest that was already mentioned that proved that their love wasn't due to a spell, and also my ending where they more or less ran away to a tiny cottage in the middle of nowhere to live happily ever after. But I think what really sold is just the report they have with eachother that Geralt doesn't have with anyone else anywhere in the games or books. Even his romance with Triss in the first two games when he had amnesia, it felt fake and two dimensional compared to what he has with Yennefer. One of my favorite moments in the game is when they are in the garden and they just start making bad wolf puns out of nowhere. That's the sign of a real and honest relationship if there ever was one.

@zeik: If you choose Triss, you get a similar ending with Geralt settling in a house in Kovir with her. I forgot which character it is who said this within the last 1/4th of the game, but it was to the extent of "How could you even considering settling down? You were born to walk the path." That line to me is what has me questioning the Yennefer canon/ending. I'm not convinced that a few puns here and there equals a genuine relationship, especially when you make similar jokes about looking for rat shit during the first encounter/quest with Triss.

@colorbrandon: I was half joking about the pun thing. (Although I don't think it's irrelevant. The exchange with Triss wasn't nearly as endearing.) Like I said, it's just their relationship as a whole. It's far more real than anything he shows toward anyone else. I'm sure if you choose Triss things warm up a bit more, but I never found their relationship very convincing and nothing that happens in this game convinced me that he would ever choose her over Yennefer. It was very much an awkward ex-girlfriend situation.

Them living together quietly in a cottage may be a tad cheesy, but I don't think it's entirely out of character. It seems like a lot of people like to tell Geralt what he should be or what he should do, but I don't think it's always representative of what he actually wants.

I decided to keep Geralt and Yennefer together only because I wanted to keep the family dynamic together with Ciri. Geralt and Yennefer are practically her parents and Ciri's relationship with Triss seems to be more sisterly. In my mind, it seemed a little off for Geralt to run off with Triss, especially after getting his memories back, it seems more like he had a duty to get things to work out with Yennefer. Plus, I think Geralt really likes Yennefer despite their rocky relationship. In the ending I got, it was nice to see that the two got a "boring love life" ending.

I do feel Yennefer is a bit.... unattractive when it comes to her personality, especially in comparison to Triss. I thought she would be more of a "strong willed yet charming" type of woman, but yeesh... she really does not care who gets in her way, even if it's Geralt she will push him away or really urge him to help her in some immoral shit. Plus, she has practically zero sense of humor with things, except for maybe that ONE time throughout the whole game. Triss seems more of a match for Geralt in that they work very well together (they should add more quests with Triss.... her fire spells are really op) and they get along with one another in pretty much every regard, it just sucked this time around because of how awkward things were with Yennefer being back and her having to be undercover. Plus Triss is just more of a genuinely nicer person than Yennefer, which makes me wonder how they were ever friends to begin with.

You should probably mark the OP as being huge on spoilers cause you guys are going into stuff that has nothing to do with the books very heavily in this thread. That said Triss is also not generally nicer than Yennefer, the games just do a great job of making it look that way. She was manipulating him from Witcher 1 on to force him into reciprocating feelings she had for him that he did not have for her. She knew he had someone he genuinely had feelings for, who was also her friend, and she still tried to seduce him anyway. She doesn't do much nice for Shani either in Witcher 1, and just like Yennefer she was happy to stand on a hill during the first war with Nilfgaard and blast dudes into meat chunks.

In the Witcher games you get a very one sided view of Triss. Meanwhile the games VASTLY over plays how rocky the Geralt/Yennefer relationship is. They have some tough spots sure, but by the end of all the books they are very much a thing and any doubts either of them had are quite gone. Honestly I think someone on the Dev side just loves Triss to death for some reason and just wanted to use the games to do his own fanfiction thing.

@karkarov: Even within the context of the events the game tells, Triss gets off really light for going after her best friend's man. Yennefer gives Geralt a lot more grief over it than Triss, even though the blame should be weighted much more in the other direction.

Even without knowing the history of Geralt's relationship (i.e. sharing his amnesia through the first two games) I had sort of a negative gut reaction to his relationship with Triss. There was nothing unlikable about her, but something about it felt like I was being held in a relationship I had never chosen to enter. I guess that in hindsight, that's exactly what happened, so kudos to the game devs for conveying something so subtle.

I think a lot of Yennefer's actions in this game can be explained by her wanting to do whatever it takes to make sure Ciri is safe. If that means doing some shady shit, then so be it.

There was a spoiler for the book series in the post above mine. It's gone now.

Thanks to the mod who was nice enough to delete it, and thanks to @zeik: for his input on what was and wasn't spoiled.

@spaceinsomniac: Technically that is a fairly big spoiler for the books, but it's brought up in both The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3, so you're probably spoiled anyway, even if you didn't realize it.

I wouldn't let that stop you from reading the books though. I knew the ending before I started reading them and it didn't take away from the enjoyment. It's like reading Romeo and Juliet. They tell you the ending within the first few pages. Besides, the overarching plot isn't really the high points of the books anyway.

Remember that the games distort and inflate the meaning of the wish for the purpose of RPG game design regarding multiple romances.

Anyone who's read the first two books should know that Yen and Geralt were made and destined for one another before birth. That is how destiny works in Sapkowski's universe.

The wish was a one time gimmick the author used - it is never mentioned in any of the subsequent 6 books. This is because since they were already destined for each other, the wish was redundant and ultimately unnecessary/irrelevant.

The problem is people who've read the books and play the Witcher games try and reconcile the differences between the characters, which cannot truly be done. The book characters are Sepkowski's brilliant creations whereas the game characters are CDPR's interpretation and extension of those characters. Game Geralt is not Book Geralt and the same goes for Triss, Yen, etc. Me, I can understand his feelings for Yen in the books, why she's the better match and how the two are destined to be together.

But in the games?

Frankly, CDPR did Yen's character a great disservice. The choice for everlasting happiness is Triss no question, hands down, without a freaking doubt. Game Yen is a bitch plain and simple with one redeeming quality. She will do anything to save Ciri. Of course, that redeeming quality is also a big reason to dislike her. She acts towards saving Ciri without thought to how her actions will harm others and is unwilling to consider methods and ideals that differ from her own. The garden is a prime example. Too, she talks down to Geralt, berates him, and treats him as if he were a child, not an adult. Obvious she has little respect for him. Book Triss is sneaky, how she got Geralt into bed whereas Game Triss is always there for Geralt, supporting him, doing whatever that takes regardless what it might cost her personally. The love Game Triss feels is genuine and unconditional. Quite unlike Game Yen's, whose affections demand she has the upper hand and come with a price.

That price is Geralt's dignity.

No man, at least not this man in particular, would ever be with a woman like Game Yen, not for more than one night anyway.

Some guys like that kind of thing ^_^

@ethanielrain: One night stands or berated? The former are fun as long as both parties know the deal. The latter, yeah, there are guys who like getting disrespected and treated like a child. Hence why I used "man". :)

I have just started reading the short stories and it's cool to see Geralt feel right to me how I often played him and I went with Yen in 3 and that is really backed up by the game I think. I think they did a great job adapting her for the game. I think one thing that really needs to be said for Yen is appearances and who is present with her. In the private moments of the game she is very sweet to Geralt. Yeah she is focused on Ciri but if you're Geralt that's your daughter and that's big points. Let's also keep in mind Ciri saves the world in this game later on.

I think she does a great job acting like a sorcerer in character (a hyper powerful being) and they did a great job adapting her from the books so far from my reading. Yen has that dynamic in the writing as well as far as her being vulnerable and sweet when alone with Geralt but having a real strong public persona she presents.

I get why some just say Triss because she is really super nice. But for me it's an established thing and a monster hunter having a difficult and extremely powerful woman to deal with all the time feels in character and good comedy. For me, in 2 it felt like a fling (which Geralt has often had).

@calasade: Eh, some guys don't want to be in the driver's seat all the time. They reflect this in Geralt and Yen's dialogue a few times about how that's what Geralt loves her for. That's not really a personality type unique to Geralt. Some could argue that Triss and Geralt's relationship wouldn't exist in the real world either. I think both are pretty good in their own ways, and the split amongst communities reflects that well.

Book yen is definitely better than game yen though. I would have liked to see what game Yen might have been like across multiple games instead of being shoved into the ending of the trilogy.

@artisanbreads: Rose of Remembrance was no fling. One thing I appreciated about TW 2 is the fact it didn't have the love triangle which CDPR already did in TW 1 but instead allowed a bit of relationship growth and exploration. I would have liked to see more of that. Love triangles to me are overdone and has become a trope in RPGs.

They made it so you can definitely take it that way but I played it as Geralt being with Yen basically the whole time and just being kind of a scumbag. I do agree with you that the romance is well done in that game and I think 3 too. Bioware gives you all these options for example and in the freedom aim that they're going for often feel goofy, although there are some good ones in some of their games.

To me the thing it all comes back to again is that the Witcher 3's story is about real characters vs create-a-characters, which can add a lot of written well. For me I played it as if always role playing Geralt I would say more than making my own choices.

I love 3 but 2 is an incredible game in its own right. It's more contained but there are strengths to that.

@mezza: Nope, not in control all the time. Any successful relationship is an equal partnership. That's not possible with Game Yen. It's her way or the highway. I'm with you on wishing she had been better represented in the Witcher games. I wish the same of Ciri and Triss. Good as 1 and 2 were, they could be improved. And 3, ah 3, it's disappointing on many levels in terms of characters, simplistic stories, linear quests, the lack of meaningful role-playing until near the end, how it hands everything to the gamer on a silver platter. I could go on, but we're getting outside the scope of the thread.

Suffice it to say I don't let the stories reshape my choices in the games. A lot of that has to do with the books and games being different entities, but much, too, has to do with Sapkowksi's disapproval of 3.

Man, I really need to finish 'Blood of Elves' and the rest of the Witcher series. All I've read is the 'Last Wish' plus the first hundred or so pages in 'Blood of Elves', but I really enjoyed what I've read thus far. Shoot...now I just want to replay Witcher 3 too :(

The thing that sealed the deal for me, summed up in personality quotes:

Yennefer: "I don't always need you, and when you push your will or agenda onto me I will push back. But you are also the only one I truly trust with the most dangerous and complicated tasks. I would die for you."

Triss: "I need you. I need you to help solve my problems, whether you got me deeper in them, or I got myself there. But ultimately I cannot fix them myself."

Triss is a supporting character in Geralt's story, and functions as quite a traditional romantic interest. Yennefer is the main character in her own, intertwining and clashing her own narrative and ultimate objective with Geralt's, which made her all the more interesting to me.