The Witcher 3: Wild Huntis a game full of easter eggs of all different types. From small nods to other games, to entire involved side quests that are really justCD Projekt Red expressing its feelings about DRMcopy protection. This is in keeping with the style of the originalWitcherbooks which constantly referenced and retold recognizable fairy tales and folk stories. But a game is able to hide secrets using mechanics unique only to this medium.
Blood and Winewas the second DLC forThe Witcher 3and acted as a sort of victory lap for the critically acclaimed game. Involving an exuberant high-court vampire mystery in the new sun-soaked region of Toussaint, this DLC turned up the fantasy elements ofThe Witcher 3, and with it the easter eggs.
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TheBlood and WineDLC has some of the most blatant easter eggs in the game. Someeaster eggs inThe Witcher 3are harder to find, however, with some still only being discovered now, like the fate of the character Vivienne from one of the DLC’s side quests. Vivienne can survive past the end of her quest line, but it was recently discovered that the character can die after seven in-game years have passed, as a result of an option players chose during the side quest.
One of thebest side quests inBlood and Wineis named The Warble of a Smitten Knight, and is a prime example of how the DLC turns up the fairy tale elements, as the quest involves winning a tournament of knights, lifting a curse, and true love. Vivienne is the character suffering from this curse and is slowly turning into a bird-like creature. One of the ways the player can lift the curse involves using the egg of an oriole and transferring the curse onto it. This works, but Geralt notes that Vivienne may only have around seven years left to live, the life span of an oriole. Vivienne then states she will use the rest of her time to travel the world.
Vivienne then does exactly this, as soon after the quest ends you may find the character traveling tovarious locations acrossThe Witcher 3’s massive map, first to Novigrad and then again to Skellige. Vivienne’s eventual death was discovered by YouTuber xLetalis after a subtle hint by one of the game’s developers on Twitter. This detail would have likely gone undiscovered without the developer’s clue as not even the longest playthrough ofThe Witcher 3would take seven in-game years.
This is also one of very few instances inThe Witcher 3of in-game time being a factor. The game has an in-game calendar and a day-night cycle, but the world won’t change without the player moving it forward. Perhaps then players should feel a little guilty for all the side quests they’ve left half-finished and the poor NPCs still idling in taverns and waiting months for Geralt to kill their monster.
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntis available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
