But the moment Henry Cavill opens his mouth and speaks, we know they have found the right Geralt. He sounds just like (if not even better than) the character in the game.

Sapkowski has openly praised the British actor, telling People magazine: “I was more than happy with Henry Cavill’s appearance as The Witcher. He’s a real professional. Just as Viggo Mortensen gave his face to Aragorn [in The Lord of the Rings], so Henry gave his to Geralt – and it shall be forever so.”

And no one does a Geralt grunt better than Cavill. Fans were quick to pay tribute to what they describe on Reddit as “one of the most satisfying things on TV” by posting compilations and supercuts of every time the monster hunter grunts (or says the F-word) on both Twitter and YouTube.

It is hard to imagine any other actor in that role now.

To give Cavill further credit, he was happy to make artistic sacrifices by stripping down twice in Season 1 for those classic Witcher bathtub scenes. Hmm.

The gore

From the word go there is plenty of blood and gore in The Witcher. The visual violence is not quite on the same level as, say, Game of Thrones, but is definitely on par with the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which is rated 18+ or “M” (for mature) on the Nintendo Switch console.

When Geralt slays a monster or human enemy there is no fooling around: throats are slit, limbs are chopped off – just like they are in the game.

The game

The list of awards received by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is long, including winning the Game of the Year and Best RPG at the Games Awards 2015.

Gamers love the vast open world, the story and characters, and how realistic everything is. When Geralt falls off a cliff, he dies. And while titles like those in the Final Fantasy series might have fancy combat systems (and they are fun to play), the one here is pretty unforgiving and, therefore, challenging.

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Gamers have to constantly micromanage to ensure Geralt’s survival. A weapon or piece of armour that has not been maintained will disappear, and giving the “wrong” response in a casual conversation may drastically alter the destiny of some of your characters.

The narrative

Without going into spoiler territory, the Netflix series is quite ingenious in telling The Witcher’s story. All is not what it seems at first and as the drama unfolds it becomes more apparent that three different major plot lines are being woven into one.

Gamers who jumped straight into Wild Hunt without playing the previous titles (or reading the books) will find the show a good introduction to all the main characters’ backstories.

But all that is to say that the eight-part series, which is as much about politics as it is hacking and slashing, is totally binge-worthy.

The cast

While Cavill is, undoubtedly, the star of the show, The Witcher is supported by a fine ensemble of (mostly) British actors.

Anya Chalotra is excellent as the mighty sorceress and Geralt’s love interest Yennefer of Vengerberg, as is Freya Allan as Ciri, princess of Cintra, and MyAnna Buring as Tissaia de Vries, mentor to Yennefer. The banter between Geralt and the scene-stealing Jaskier the bard (played by Joey Batey) is also a highlight of the show.

They may not 100 per cent resemble the characters in the video game but that is what good actors do – they make their role their own.