The Art of the Witcher: Gwent Gallery Collection by Katarzyna Redesiuk

The Art of the Witcher: Gwent Gallery Collection Reviews

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  Online Eccentric Librarian

  

  More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog
  http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

  With a coffee table book, sometimes pretty full page images alone just isn't enough. Fortunately, for this collection of the Gwent stand alone game card images, we get more than pretty pictures with informative accompanying text. Yes, at times, the text can feel very self congratulatory, but then again, the sheer amount of time, talent, and especially collaboration put into the stand alone card game clearly provided a truly exceptional achievement.
  
  The book is broken down by factions: Monsters, Northern Realms, Scoia'tael, Skellige, Nilfgaardian Empire, Neutral Forces, and special cards. All the art from the Witcher 3 in-game version was completely redone for the new game and many are quite spectacular.
  
  Each section has an introduction to the theme, discussion of the characters, and thoughts on what the artists were hoping to convey. About half the cards are given a full page treatment with a discussion of the background of the character, the art approach, and a quote that tells about the card. Then there are several pages with 4 cards to a page and no descriptive text. Some cards were challenging (e.g., the shadows - how to show detail of a shadow creature) and others were about being creative (e.g., the cover showing Geralt casting Igni - but from the perspective of someone about to get burned by it).
  
  There were a few characters/cards not in the game/books but created for this big Gwent deck. And the new mechanics expanding the game beyond how it appeared in Witcher 3 are also touched a bit upon. The book does a great job of exploring the universe, discussing the mechanics of a card game, and presenting the creative aspects of the artists and their commissions. Characters only briefly discussed in the books (e.g., the succession of Nilfgardian emperors from Emhry to Voorhis, to Jan Calveit are all covered here, though we only see two of them really in the games) get cards, which is also neat.
  
  I admit that I would have liked to have all the cards have accompanying text - E.g., Fringilla, Vattier De Rideux, Priscilla, Sile De Tansarville, Ves, Radovid, Dijkstra....none have accompanying text. Instead we get text for Trebuchet or for Lesser Fog monsters. I really wanted to learn more about the characters, why they were designed as they were and why they were wearing what they were wearing. This felt like it would have been the perfect place for more lore. That said, to see so many of the beautiful artwork full page was impressive. And the cards cover all Witcher games as well as characters only appearing in the books. Game mechanics and strategy are briefly touched upon in some places.
  
  In all, a beautiful collection with stunning fantasy artwork and nice accompanying text about the art, the lore, and the game. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
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  Václav

  Moc pěkný artbook, velký formát, pevná vazba. Obrázky z Gwentu jsou skvělé a člověk se tu může o to více pokochat. Škoda jen, že některé vypadají, jako by podklady měly horší rozlišení než ostatní.
  Doporvodné texty jsou tu jen tak aby se neřeklo, hláška plus nějaký komentář k dané postavě.
  Co je problém je Filip Ženíšek, který dělal překlad a úplně se na to VYMRDAL. V textu je spousta technických chyb (ty ale můžou být už v originálu, ale tohle spíš nebude ten případ), špatného překladu nějakého pojmu/slova věty až po věci typu "...královnu Calanthé, Ciriinu vnučku." Dal jsem si tu práci a v originále jest "...and queen Calanthe, Ciri's grandmother." Tohle je jen třešnička, takových věcí je tam spoustu, nehledě na to že výsledný text působí ještě vágněji a sušeji, jak originál. Přitom Filip ženíšek je podle Google: "videoherní překladatel, dabingový režisér, lingvista, brusič jazyka." Chybí mi tam "prvotřídní diletant", ale co už.
  Každopádně výtvarně je to super a člověk znalý si ten text ani moc číst nemusí (nebo by vlastně ani radši neměl...).
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  Μαρία Ν.

  Bought it and finished this in a frenzy.
  
  This art book is a treasure.The art that is presented is literally god-tier and this comes from someone that isn't impressed easily when it comes to art.Some of the pieces felt like they used real people as bases for the faces looked realistic and expressive.I was really impressed by the detail.
  
  Even If you aren't into Gwent like me(yeah i know shame on me but I was never into card games but we will see),this art book is still worth checking out as it includes commentary on characters and races that appear in the books and games.(So if you have yet to finish the games or the books just postpone reading this as some character art come with spoilers).
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  Petr

  Cool art book for people who like the Witcher or fantasy in general. There are (for me) surprisingly many character illustrations and only approximately a fifth or quarter of the book are monsters. What is great are some notes form the artists about the inspiration or intention with the picture. However, these notes are not present in every picture and sometimes seem a little funny when the image fails to deliver the claims of the short note. What I hated were pictures that span both pages because these were cut in half by the book binding, maybe an insert or similar form would be a better option.
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  Leander

  An great artbook with the drawings of the Gwent Cards.
  Some are printed on the hole side with a small information from the artist about the drawing, the character or the composition.
  On other pages there are always 4 drawings with just a small sentence.
  
  I really like that artbook.
  Sometimes I wish there would be a little bit more information about the card, especially then it is a character with a name. Like the information from which game he/she/they is or if the character just appear in the book.
  I personally would another cover prefer, but the drawings are still amazing.
  If you like the Witcher, Gwent and beautifull drawings, this is really to recommend!
  
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  Steve Grey

  Stunning!!
  
  Was a little hesitant about getting this in digital format as I usually buy this type of book in a physical form. Amazing fantasy art for both Witcher and Gwent fans. So good I'll be buying a physical copy as well!!!
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  Tomás Sendarrubias García

  Una maravilla de libro de ilustraciones, impresionantes las imágenes de personajes como Geralt, Ciri, Cahir, Francesca Findabair, Yennefer, Triss y todo el elenco de la Saga de Geralt de Rivia, en sus libros y juegos.
  
  Una gozada.
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  Kristian

  Loved it. Split-in-half pages weren't a problem as I read it digitally, and there are many options to remedy that, but I sure see how this can be a problem for someone reading that from a physical copy.
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  Petr Čapek

  
  http://www.schefikuvblog.eu/gwent-vyt...
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  Katharine v Knihách

  Pro někoho, kdo Zaklinače miluje, je to jedna z věcí, které musí mít doma :D
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  A M H

  An amazing collection of beautiful fantastical imagery. The artwork of all of these cards is superbly done, and some are so good they look almost real.
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  ➳ Christie ➳

  Absolutely stunning artwork with the background to each monster and character included within the universe. An absolute must for any Witcher and Gwent fan.
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  Cate9095

  Absolutely love this book! The cover and pages are very high quality as is the content.
  
  Would love a sequel!
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  Deanne

  Very stunning art!
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  Ana

  The illustrations are so beautiful! I’m I’m love!
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  Hannahrose

  Absolutely stunning!- loved seeing this side of the Witcher universe, really felt immersed in the magic seeing this incredible art.
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  Paige Etheridge

  I fell in love with the Witcher and saying Gwent. The art in these cards is truly moving. Fantasy, history, emotionally evoking, beautiful. Skellige Cards are my absolute favorite. I'm inspired.
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  Aether Ghoul

  A gorgeous collection of the original Gwent art with captions, explanations, and descriptions. Minus a star for centerfolds ruining two page spreads and for some pieces being relegated to 1/4th of a page and their flavor text only.
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  Cristina

  Si tratta di un artbook dedicato al mini-game di The Witcher 3 che nel 2016, grazie al successo ottenuto, è divenuto gioco stand-alone.
  Il volume è suddiviso in 7 capitoli (più una breve prefazione) di cui 5 dedicati alle fazioni del gioco, 1 alle carte neutrali e 1 a quelle speciali, inoltre ogni capitolo si apre con una breve descrizione del gruppo di carte e del loro ruolo nel Gwent.
  Le immagini sono quasi tutte a pagina intera, sono accompagnate dal nome dell'autore, citazione del personaggio, breve spiegazione di questo e approccio artistico utilizzato (ad esempio per la carta di Aelirenn l'autore dice di essersi ispirato al dipinto di Delacroix "La Libertà che guida il popolo"). Tutto questo rende il libro molto più curato e dettagliato ma è bene far presente che vi sono diverse pagine che raccolgono 4 immagini insieme e presentano solo le citazioni e il nome dell'autore.
  Le illustrazioni sono assolutamente superbe, tra le mie preferite ci sono quelle di Cantarella, Ithlinne, Isengrim, Aelirenn, Ruehin, Shani, Milva e Iris ma scegliere è davvero difficile, sono tutte meravigliose e splendidamente realizzate, ognuna tenta di cogliere al meglio il personaggio rappresentato. Un aspetto che ho sempre apprezzato del Gwent è che non vi sono solo i personaggi dei videogames o quelli creati appositamente per questo gioco ma trovano posto perfino quelli dei libri, anche se si tratta di personaggi che magari hanno avuto un ruolo marginale o sono stati solo nominati.
  Per i fan di The Witcher e del Gwent è sicuramente un acquisto da valutare perché si tratta di un prodotto veramente ben fatto e di qualità. L'unico difetto è che non vi sono proprio tutte le carte perché mancano quelle aggiunte dopo la pubblicazione di questo, chissà magari verrà realizzato un altro volume!