Chapter 590: Mr. Chen Sold at a Loss! (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Passes)

For ordinary players, their evaluations of 'Blood and Wine' were mostly based on their instincts and game experience.

And this DLC gave them too many surprises.

Previously, due to the death of Ethan Winters in 'Resident Evil Village', many players were actually full of worries about the ending of Geralt of Rivia.

After all, Nebula Games had a precedent.

But the moment Blood and Wine ended, many players were moved to tears.

Because Geralt of Rivia actually welcomed a beautiful ending.

'Moved to tears, when I saw Dandelion arrive at the end, I really couldn't hold back!'

'The guy upstairs is a bad dad, and a scumbag! The one who showed up at the end was actually Dandelion!'

'Honestly, isn't Dandelion good? Just imagine, who rescued you from that jail cell?'

'But the ending was truly a super surprise! Chen Xu actually arranged such an ending for the White Wolf, I thought it might be like Ethan Winters.'

'Witchers don't die in bed, this rule has finally been broken! But I like it!'

'But the final ending still leaves a bit of a lingering regret, why couldn't both Syanna and Dettlaff die, instead of one having to live, or Regis, the good brother, having to flee?'

'Isn't it fine to just kill Syanna? Dettlaff isn't a bad guy either!'

'Not a bad guy? Heh heh, so many people died because of Dettlaff in the Beauclair bloodbath, and you say he's not a bad guy?'

'+1, if Syanna got what she deserved, what sin did the ordinary people of Beauclair commit?'

'This is the essence of The Witcher: Wild Hunt's moral dilemma choices. In the end, I still chose to let Syanna die, after all, she was the root cause of everything, and I really didn't want Regis to be hunted down.'

'Heh, I'm different. Regis was hunted down, Dettlaff, the Duchess, and Syanna all died.'

Players excitedly discussed the content within 'Blood and Wine'.

There was simply too much to experience. There was the new Manor System gameplay, newly added Witcher mutation settings, and entirely new maps, side quests, and Witcher gear sets.

It could absolutely immerse players for dozens of hours. Moreover, players not only had high praise for Blood and Wine, but also for the other DLC, Hearts of Stone, which also received countless accolades from players.

Compared to Blood and Wine's rich gameplay and entirely new, massive map.

Hearts of Stone, on the other hand, told a dark fable, even more somber and darker than the base game.

And in terms of story execution, many players consistently believed after completing it that it was even better than Blood and Wine.

Inside Hearts of Stone, it recounted the past of a man named Olgierd, and here players would encounter the most terrifying and frightening entity in The Witcher: Wild Hunt: the Mirror Master.

The bald vagrant the player first encountered when entering White Orchard.

He was the devil, a devil who tempted others into making deals with him, ultimately toying with the souls of his victims.

Olgierd, the protagonist of this DLC story, players would see Olgierd and his beloved Iris transition from sweet love to the happiness of newlywed life.

However, as his family fortune declined, Iris's parents forced Olgierd and Iris to break up. Under these circumstances, Olgierd made a deal with the Mirror Master, granting him immortality and restoring his wealth, but at the cost of the life of his dearest person, his younger brother.

Furthermore, Olgierd gradually lost his emotions.

Hate, love, any emotion—Olgierd could no longer feel them.

Wealth, servants, pets, everything, Olgierd could give to Iris.

But the one thing he couldn't give was a passionate heart, because at that very moment, Olgierd's heart had turned to stone, the price he paid for his wish.

The devil could grant your wish, but not in the way you imagined.

If there were any quests in The Witcher: Wild Hunt that would make most players choose the same course of action.

Then controlling Geralt of Rivia in Hearts of Stone to drive the Mirror Master out of this world was one of them.

When the Mirror Master appeared in the tavern, he paused time and casually killed a drunkard with a spoon.

Watching the utterly terrified professor in the attic, who had confined himself within a circle, yet ultimately died under the devil's schemes.

Geralt of Rivia and the players all shared a single thought.

Choosing to ultimately save Olgierd was not out of sympathy, nor pity, nor believing he was blameless.

It was simply because they wanted to banish the Mirror Master, this devil who toyed with human hearts, from the world.

...

As more and more players completed the 'Hearts of Stone' and 'Blood and Wine' expansions.

On the forums, discussions about the content of these two expansions also grew.

The Mirror Master, Olgierd, Syanna, the Duchess, as well as Shani and Regis – more and more players were discussing the fates of these characters.

Besides that, there was one more thing: the pricing of 'Blood and Wine' and 'Hearts of Stone'.

For the Huanyu VR version, Hearts of Stone was priced at 88 Yuan, Blood and Wine at 128 Yuan, and the two-in-one expansion pack at 198 Yuan.

With such pricing, players initially didn't have many thoughts.

Although it was indeed much cheaper compared to DLC from other game developers, it wasn't incredibly cheap either.

But after truly experiencing it, countless players felt.

Holy cow, where is this cheap? It feels like it's practically free!

So much game content, plus entirely new storylines, hundreds of hours of gameplay combined from the two expansions, and it only sold for 198 Yuan?

Chen Xu must be losing a ton of money!

'It was absolutely brilliant, I'm blown away by the story of Hearts of Stone. I didn't feel much at first, but Olgierd's story, and the mysterious old professor being tormented by the devil, that plot genuinely scared me.'

'+1, the scene in the tavern where the Mirror Master directly froze time and then stabbed a spoon into the drunkard's eye – that's when I decided, no matter what, I had to take this guy down!'

'And the story of Blood and Wine, it's so painful, none of the endings are perfect!'

'That's the charm of The Witcher!'

'Such rich content, and Mr. Chen only sells it for so little? It feels like he's losing a fortune!'

'+1, I feel like even if it sold for the price of a AAA-tier game, just for the script of Hearts of Stone and the content of Blood and Wine, it would be totally worth it! But combined, it's only a quarter of that price!'

Strictly speaking, 'Blood and Wine' and 'Hearts of Stone,' despite having additional gameplay content.

They were ultimately expansions built upon the existing framework of The Witcher: Wild Hunt.

But as an RPG, it can be said that the story alone carried at least 50%, or even more, of its core.

And the stories of Blood and Wine and Hearts of Stone were enough to immerse all players.

In terms of storytelling, many players even felt that the brilliance of 'Hearts of Stone' surpassed that of The Witcher: Wild Hunt's main game.

Because within its ten-plus hour playthrough, there was no need to consider other elements like numerical balancing.

Nor was there any need to showcase other gameplay content; players could perfectly and smoothly experience the story of Hearts of Stone.

(End of Chapter) <>