The Witcher saga has always been lore heavy compared to most other fantasy worlds and the games only add up to the fan confusion. Each new game adds tons of new developments to the story that it's easy to get lost. The Witcher 3 for example, takes six months after the events of The Witcher 2 ended. During that time, tons of crazy things have happened that drastically changed the state of the game world.
That's why it's understandable why players get disoriented or bewildered even if they came from the 2nd game. Suddenly, there's no more Temeria and Geralt is chasing another woman already. While the game does do a decent job filling in players regarding what transpired between The Witcher 2 and 3, they omitted some of the more intense or notable stuff. So allow us to point those out in case Geralt's amnesia rubbed off on you.
10 Geralt Becomes Vindicated
Geralt was barely a witcher in the second game. He initially acted as a personal bodyguard for King Foltest and then failed at his side gig since Letho slit the king's throat. Geralt immediately became the prime suspect and thus spent the whole game escaping law or clearing his name.
It wasn't until the ending of the second game that Geralt managed to successfully stop or confront Letho. After that, the game didn't provide much of an epilogue. Seeing as how The Witcher 3's civilians don't refer to Geralt as a kingslayer anymore, it appears word spread fast of his vindication and he was able to resume being a witcher again without worry.
9 Geralt Gets A Permanent Horse
On top of finally becoming a full-time witcher by the third game, Geralt also finally got a permanent mount which he bluntly names Roach. It's worth noting that in the first and second game, he has no ride due to technical limitations.
Now, since The Witcher 3 ran on newer tech, Geralt is finally able to be more canonically accurate to his book counterpart. He was able to get a horse probably from the stables of Kaer Morhen at some point in that six-month gap.
8 Dandelion Becomes Serious
It's not just Geralt who underwent some improvements to his lifestyle but also one of his best friends, Dandelion/Jaskier. In the books and even in the first and second game, Dandelion was a roving womanizer incapable of settling down with one woman or in one place.
However, in the third game, it seems he matured a bit and was able to obtain a property of his own in Novigrad of all places. On top of that, Dandelion developed some genuine romantic feelings for a fellow bard named Priscilla. Now that is news for someone in Geralt's turbulent social circle.
7 Skellige Falls In Turmoil
Now on to geo-political situations. Skellige wasn't exactly at its best shape or stability come The Witcher 3. Prior to the events of the third game, a giant in Undvik ravaged a whole island in Ard Skellige and practically wiped out Clan Tordarroch.
On top of that, King Bran Tuirseach was already feeling the debilitating effects of aging that when he turned 80, he was no longer a functioning sovereign. Hence, King Bran committed suicide by letting wild animals kill him. That's why Geralt happened upon his rather dramatic funeral by the time he got to Skellige.
6 Nilfgaard's All-Out Invasion
By far the most important political event that took place from The Witcher 2 to 3, Nilfgaard's invasion pretty much changed the landscape of the continent. In the first two Witcher games, the lack of war made the atmosphere a bit lighter.
Now, with Nilfgaard's invasion, many small nations were consumed or subjugated. It wasn't some mere regional dispute between nobles but a world war sparked off by Emhyr var Emreis. It wasn't the first time Nilfgaard went to war against most of the continent but it was one of the largest invasions committed by the country.
5 Temeria Falls
Thanks to Nilfgaard's machinations and brute force, it was able to take down one of the biggest hurdles in invading Northward: Temeria. Temeria was sadly nonexistent in The Witcher 3 anymore. It was one of the latest kingdoms to fall near the start of the third game.
Survivor accounts recall that the Nilfgaardian army took Temeria in just a few days. Temeria's defeat started happening prior though, when Foltest was assassinated. Needless to say, Temeria's fall was disheartening for long time fans dating back from the first game as the country served as the primary location in The Witcher.
4 Radovid Goes Insane
While Temeria was losing its identity after Foltest's death, Redania's King was also losing its mind over paranoia. Radovid was slated for assassination near the end of the second game but that failed and the regicide plot was revealed to be a scheme partly concocted by the Lodge.
That's why Radovid understandably went insane and started being suspicious of any ally who was capable of magic. Hence, he initiated the witch hunts and even formed a special army against magic-users which not only victimized their target scapegoats but also regular citizens and eventually non-humans.
3 Redania Backstabs Kaedwen
In addition to betraying all the innocent magic-users in Redania, Radovid also grew weary of its own ally, Kaedwen. Kaedwen asked for assistance in military and political matters after experiencing some difficulties of its own once Nilfgaard started taking flags.
Radovid, instead of providing help to Kaedwen and potentially weakening Redania's defense in the process, opted to invade Kaedwen instead. This way, he had more territory and only had to fight on one big front instead of two. It's brilliant but cold and dishonorable.
2 Yennefer Barters A Deal With Emhyr
Yennefer apparently woke up some time after Geralt did and regained her memories but was in Nilfgaard's hands. Unlike Geralt who spent a lot of time running around or sleeping around, trying to regain his memories, Yennefer went to business immediately and sought to secure some help in finding Ciri.
She asked none other than Emhyr var Emreis but also promised something in return. It's not exactly clear what the deal involved other than Ciri or sorceresses but it had implications that would have eventually affected the Lodge.
1 Geralt Splits With Triss
Surprisingly, the game never really touched upon what happened with Triss and Geralt's relationship up until the two met in Novigrad. This left a lot of players either puzzled or sad, especially Triss fans.
According to their dialogue, they had to end their relationship with Geralt probably suggesting the split after regaining his memories. This likely happened soon after The Witcher 2 ended which gave both Geralt and Triss plenty of time to move on, but surprise surprise, the latter didn't.