巫师
The Witcher

CD Projekt RED, 2007
Windows 和 Mac

CD Projekt RED, 2007
Windows and Mac

巫师(The Witcher)[1] 是一款单人动作类 RPG 游戏,改编自波兰作家 Andrzej Sapkowski 的系列小说,主角是利维亚的杰洛特(Geralt of Rivia)。他通过魔法突变[2] ,成为一名变种人,接受人们雇佣,为他们斩妖除魔。故事是这样展开的:凯尔莫罕(Kaer Morhen)原先是一座荒废的要塞,如今成为一部分猎魔人的庇护所。有一天,凯尔莫罕遭敌人入侵,用来培养猎魔人的配方、工具也被偷走,杰洛特就此踏上寻找遭窃配方的冒险之旅[3] 。但随着剧情进展,凯尔莫罕遇袭事件只是一起惊天阴谋的冰山一角,而杰洛特也卷入了这背后的权力斗争。

CD Projekt Red 开发了这款游戏,它是电子游戏发行分销商 CD Projekt 旗下的研发工作室。游戏开发者都是系列原著的忠实读者,所以《巫师》既是该工作室的第一作,也是开发者们热血与激情的结晶。《巫师》对原著的忠实度、对细节的重视度让人赞叹。有些地方甚至有过度忠实之嫌——很多人物、想法、对话显然与原文如出一辙,最多换个名字而已。

《巫师》与《无冬之夜(Neverwinter Nights)》一样,都依托奥罗拉(Aurora)引擎,但较之后者,前者的性能经过调整后大幅提高。如果没有开场动画里大得醒目的“Aurora”字样,玩家也许都看不出这款游戏用的是奥罗拉引擎。这是因为游戏的画面质量提升惊人,哪怕是与《无冬之夜 2(Neverwinter Nights 2)》相比,《巫师》的画面也不遑多让。

The Witcher is a single-character Action RPG based on Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkowski's series of novels, featuring Geralt of Rivia, the eponymous witcher, a magically mutated monster hunter for hire. The plot follows Geralt trying to retrieve formulas and items required to create more of his kind, which were stolen during an attack on Kaer Morhen, a ruined fortress serving as a haven for the few remaining witchers. However, this turns out to be only one thread in a much more complex series of events, in which the protagonist gets involved.

The game was created by CD Projekt RED, development studio branch of Polish game publisher and distributor CD Projekt. It was the studio's first release and clearly a work of passion, as it shows that the creators were the book series' fans. The Witcher's faithfulness to the source material and attention to detail is remarkable, maybe even a bit too much, with some characters, ideas and dialogues clearly recycled from the books, sometimes with a different name.

The Witcher was created on a highly modified version of Neverwinter Nights' Aurora Engine, but you probably would not notice that if it wasn't written in huge letters on the intro screens, as graphics are vastly improved even compared to Neverwinter Nights 2.

2008 年,《巫师加强版》对外发布。该版本做出大量优化,增设全新冒险任务,附加一款名为迪精(D’jinni)的冒险编辑器,能够支持一些民间模组,先前购买原版的玩家可以免费游玩这一版本。

In 2008, an Enhanced Edition of The Witcher was released, with countless improvements, new adventures, an improved editor and even optional fan-made mods. It was a free update for registered owners of The Witcher.

杰洛特手持钢剑、银剑,携带多种魔药、剑油、炸弹,这些道具对某些特定类型的敌人有奇效。你必须学会审时度势,采取针对性的攻击手段。

Geralt carries a silver and a steel sword, plus many potions, oils and bombs he can employ against certain enemies. You must study to know when to use which.

音乐也是引人入胜,烘托出阴森压抑的氛围。虽然人们在生活中也许不大爱听这种类型的音乐(除非你对“致郁系音乐”情有独钟),但它与游戏的基调高度契合。

Andrzej Sapkowski 打造的世界残酷无情,结尾皆大欢喜的故事简直是寥寥无几。许多游戏角色对冷血的世道早已见怪不怪,再加上大多数人对宗教不屑一顾,所以面对世间不公,他们或大开玩笑冷嘲热讽(往往是黑色幽默),或满肚戾气愤世嫉俗。经典的奇幻风格与半严肃的成人主题巧妙地糅合在一起——不过哪怕是 CD Projekt,也陷入了“成人=暴力+性+污言秽语”这一怪圈。

形形色色的怪物在旷野横行霸道,大多数老百姓无力对抗,只能任其鱼肉:人类凌驾于精灵与矮人等非人种族之上,迫使后者只能住在特定的聚居区;有些非人种族忍不下这口气,决定推翻人类的统治,组织武装力量,成立游击队(也有人称他们为恐怖分子,何种判断由政治立场决定)。法师们只会为那些身家殷实的精英施展神乎其神的魔法,对大多数人来说,普通人与非人的性命如同草芥,只有很少一拨人会把他们放在眼里。

而杰洛特就是其中之一,虽然他很希望自己不要这么善良。他希望自己是一个冷酷无情的怪物杀手,但到头来他总忍不住向别人伸出援手,因为如果他不出手,别人也没有帮助弱者的能力或意愿。面对复杂的权力斗争,他所追求的一直是保持中立,专注自己的本职工作。小说里,本想置身事外的杰洛特总是卷入各种斗争;游戏里,玩家根据自己的判断趋利避害——准确说,是两害相权取其轻。

虽然《巫师》并不是一款开放世界游戏,但每一章的地图都很大,杰洛特可以自由探索每片区域,与居民攀谈。角色成长也是顺理成章,由于杰洛特从濒死状态苏醒后,丧失了记忆,所以他要重新学习知识,习得技能。

Sound design is very good, and, while the bleak music may not be very appealing to listen to outside the game (unless you are trying to fuel your depression), it complements the game's setting perfectly.

The world created by Andrzej Sapkowski is a place where happy endings are very few and far between. Its inhabitants are usually savvy enough to understand this, and try to cope using (often dark) sense of humour and cynical attitude, only emphasised by the fact that almost nobody in the world cares about religion. This creates an interesting mix of classic fantasy and mature themes with a semi-serious approach – even if CD Projekt failed to avoid the trap of “mature equals sex, violence and profanity”.

This is a world where monsters roam the countryside, with most people helpless against them. Human dominance has forced elves and dwarves exist to live in ghettos or take up arms as guerrillas (or terrorists, depending who you ask). Mages reserve their miracle-working magic for elites, who can afford their services, while human and inhuman life is valued highly only by a select few.

Geralt is one of those people, as much as he wishes he was not. He tries to be a cold professional, but more often than not he ends up helping people, because nobody else will or can. He repeatedly tries to remain neutral in the affairs of the world and just do his job. In the novels he usually fails, in the game the player decides which path is the right one – or rather, the least wrong one.

While The Witcher is not an open-world game, each chapter puts Geralt, in a fairly large area, which he can explore, and interact with its various inhabitants. Character progression is hand-waved as Geralt regaining his skills and knowledge lost due to a near-death experience and subsequent amnesia.

__________

1 译者注:游戏名《巫师》本是错译。如今,无论是小说、美剧还是动画电影,都已改为“猎魔人”,但由于游戏名《巫师》早已深入人心,且 steam 上续作《国王刺客》、《狂猎》,及衍生的昆特牌独立游戏,时至今日仍采用“巫师”这一译法,所以这里也不做改动。但该译法只限于标题。游戏内无论职业,还是具体介绍,witcher 都已处理为猎魔人。
2 译者注:猎魔人的试炼主要包括以下部分:1. 抉择(The Choice),试炼前的预热环节。通过特别的饮食(蘑菇、苔藓、草药等),残酷的体能训练为接下来的试炼做好准备,许多学徒甚至熬不过这一关,要么死于心脏肝脏衰竭、要么心智失常。2. 青草试炼(Trial of the Grasses),学徒服用炼金术配制的剧毒煎药,来改造身体素质,这一配方赋予猎魔人学徒超常的反应速度,惊人的身体力量,延年益寿,感官灵敏,但这个改造过程极度痛苦,只有三成学徒能通过试炼。3. 梦境试炼(Trial of the Dreams):资深德鲁伊或法师让学徒陷入幻境,这场试炼会赋予猎魔人学徒夜视能力,但同时剥夺其生育能力。4. 高山试炼(Trial of the Mountains),狼学派也称之为徽章试炼,旨在检验学徒在变异后是否记得之前习得的知识。狼学派学徒要在山道疾驰而过,游过池塘,蹑手蹑脚通过独眼巨人老矛头(Old Speartip)看守的洞穴,与岩石巨魔(Rock Trolls)斗智斗勇,最后来到元素之环(Circle of Elements)完成试炼。各学派还有其他特殊试炼,详见巫师维基
3 译者注:实际上,杰洛特不仅是为了找回失窃的配方,更是为了复仇。火蜥帮在偷取配方的过程中杀死了一名有望成为猎魔人的年轻学徒里欧(Leo)。

Author: WM  译者:Jason
p.396
GameDB 相关游戏: 巫师

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