That’s the trouble I’ve always had with The Witcher. As wonderfully mediaeval and gritty the setting is, its protagonist always seemed to fall flat compared to it. The brooding yet otherwise perfect anti-hero has been a worn cliche since Elric of Melnibone.
…and yet it was possible to empathise with Elric’s misgivings about his ancestors and chaotic patrons. His actions were rational, even if he was never quite sure about his choices.
So far I don’t really understand Geralt’s motivation.
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Well, I think Geralt’s motivations aren’t as important as the overall arc. See, while he’s Batman in the games and show, in the books he is more a “loser down on his luck” kind of figure. The characters are very similar in this respect, but what usually drives them beyond their own ambitions, fears, etc. is they are all pawns in a grander scheme, a “destiny” that surpasses them. As for Geralt himself, he’s a defender of the weak and downtrodden, as he himself has been all his life, but it clashes with the philosophy of the witchers, which states they are to be emotionless mercenaries, meant only to hunt monsters and charge their coin for it, without meddling in moral or political issues. Geralt wavers along these two, opposing views, which is very common in fictional heroes.
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I dusted off my copy and have been playing again as well. I very strongly encourage you (and everyone else) to install the Full Combat Rebalance mod.
It was made by one of the original developers, Andrzej “Flash’ Kwiatkowski. It fixes several bugs, improves the signs, makes the easy version slightly easier (great for learning the game), and the standard & hard versions more challenging.
Thanks, @Grymlorde. Will have a look at that.
I’m all for making it easier ( although to be fair it hasn’t been bad so far). I’m just never any good when I have to think of combinations of buttons, or come to think of it, remembering what the buttons are. At the moment I have it on easy and I’m scything through them but I know a time will come . . .
I find parts of the interface really clunky. The character development tree for me is not only difficult to understand but also has to be treated with kid gloves or it falls over.
However, the cutscenes are terrific and really make you feel part of a story. The combat also looks great although, I’m never sure its not just Geralt ( wow, Cavill in the series looks just like him!) getting fed up of my fumbling with buttons and deciding to take matters into his own hands . . . 
I’m off to the monastery tomorrow to find some children apparently . Thinking I’m needing some better gear . . .
Sorry, Grymlorde,you’re right I buckled and bought 2. However, given that I’m enjoying it immensely ( can’t believe they’re getting away with the cutscene/ gameplay balance with me- it’s way more cutscenes than I would have thought I could put up with but it just works), I’m going to buy 1 immediately afterwards and I’ll certainly have a look at the suggested mod.
Btw, I was having a look at what it says about the souped up toolset used for 1.
(https://witcher.fandom.com/wiki/Aurora_Engine)
Do we have these improvements ( I know we have some of them ) in the current toolset ? If not, was there a reason ?