BizzyBum
Member
Absolutely worth playing.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Why The Witcher 3 is so good (Spoilers)
- Thread starter Turin Turambar
- Start date
Absolutely worth playing.
I have never thought his character was anything special, just "weathered Call of Duty veteran" with a fantasy filter and lots of fucking (though I think my impression is permanently colored by W1 lol, it certainly improved with each game). I thought the story and his placement in it was better in W2, which is also a game where you get to make some fairly monumental decisions about his character and who he decides to ally with. I guess I prefer having those elements in my hands.
re: why people keep bringing up Bloodborne - aside from the Bloodborne got robbed meme, this game came out 2 months after BB so if you were playing BB you were probably still running playthroughs on W3's launch day. If you go straight from BB to W3 the disparity in the combat is going to be thrown into incredibly sharp relief. If W3 came out 2 months after Skyrim or something, no one would have cared as much. I remembered I have a video of my fight with the tutorial boss so I went back and watched it...it's a pretty hilarious first impression of how the game is going to go.
LegalEagleMike
Member
The way that some of the best side quests naturally flow from the main quest and still have a high level of presentation to them is really engaging storytelling. Establishing characters in the main quest makes you actually care enough to help them with their own issues.
That's what I remember of Geralt at this point, sorry. I haven't played W3 since my initial playthrough (I believe I tried it a second time after completion with a different set of skills to see if I would like it more, but I didn't get very far) if that makes you feel better.
I genuinely regret forgetting to buy the DLC for this when it was cheap a few weeks ago on Steam. Absolutely amazing game and unlike a lot of people I actually really enjoyed the combat too 
I will get it eventually though, I hear nothing but good things about the DLC.
I will get it eventually though, I hear nothing but good things about the DLC.Intheflorsh
Banned
I genuinely regret forgetting to buy the DLC for this when it was cheap a few weeks ago on Steam. Absolutely amazing game and unlike a lot of people I actually really enjoyed the combat too
It's SO GOOD.
Even without playing TW3 your view on Geralt's as character makes me go "... What?" Like how you arrived into that after playing 1&2?
Geralt as I recall views things through a practical lens, is pretty bored with people's bullshit, and is wry about the situation a lot of the time. Old combat vet character to a T, but you know add white hair and cat eyes and girlfriends.
DAHGAMING
Member
It is a very special game to me. I dont get the most free time in the world so most of my experiances with games are rushed, but The Witcher 3 i took my time and wad drawn in fully. I done most of the side quests and found there was alot that felt as good as main story missions on over games. The main story was great aswell, that moment wen Geralt found Ciri was special, i was on about 90hrs by that time and it felt like the search for her was real. Im saving both DLC fpr later this year and im anticipating playing that more than any game coming out this year.
Well yes, he is old veteran of his profession in which people are afraid of him, spit on him, try cheat him and this all while needing his help. Still saying that he is "CoD dudbrosoldiercharacter with white hair, bland/shitty character" is like you never paid any attention what drives him and what kind of person he is. There is quite a bit more nuances etc. to him after all.
GlassAwful
Member
I just started this game a few days ago.... Can someone help me get passed the controls and combat. It's soooo clunky and such a big focus of the game. I can't believe this is this developer's 3rd third person game and it plays like this. So many people praise this game I feel like I'm missing something..
I can actually see where the quest design and dialogue is more in depth then other open world games but... god damn.. I feel like I barely have control of Geralt. He goes from zero to 60 with the control stick, the camera the same. I'm using alternative and lowered sensitivity by the way. Moving around the world just feels like shit, and by extension combat feels like a really shitty, really loose version of Bloodborne.
Sigh.. game's been in my queue forever because a I've been saving it but I don't think I can conjure up the desire start it up again. Does it get better, will the controls and combat eventually click or is it just this bad and people really love the world and story?
I can actually see where the quest design and dialogue is more in depth then other open world games but... god damn.. I feel like I barely have control of Geralt. He goes from zero to 60 with the control stick, the camera the same. I'm using alternative and lowered sensitivity by the way. Moving around the world just feels like shit, and by extension combat feels like a really shitty, really loose version of Bloodborne.
Sigh.. game's been in my queue forever because a I've been saving it but I don't think I can conjure up the desire start it up again. Does it get better, will the controls and combat eventually click or is it just this bad and people really love the world and story?
The background talks up people being afraid of Witchers, but in the actual game they don't really seem to be. I agree on everyone trying to cheat him though. I wasn't trying to say he was shitty, just developed a "more of the same" feeling about him in relation to other tough guy videogame protagonists, and in W3 of course it's tons of hours of that.
TW3 really brings this out of him, he isn't your normal "tough guy" character in sense that he would be cold, distant, uncaring etc. He feels, a lot, for a witcher who has lived many normal human lifetimes. He has seen and experienced a lot so he has that no bullshit approach to a lot of things and approaches a lot of situation with caution, like you said, but he does get emotionally invested often.
People don't fear him like shake in their boots, but they do want to chase him out of their village moment they don't need him anymore. Showing that disgust and fear of him.
Could NOT have said it any better.
Mega Caprison
Member
and don't forget they teach you about taxes lol
Exactly where I quit. Novigrad. It was just hours of listening to people talk and going from point A to point B, and what they had to say wasn't even interesting. It became such a chore.
NHarmonic.
Member
Really ruined FFXV for me. This game is just so damn good.
One thing that I don't think is mentioned enough is the humour. So very, very few games have ever been truly funny - The Witcher 3 is one of the few games to have me laughing out loud in certain moments.
It wasn't constant or even that often, it was a few cheeky moments here and there, a dry comment from Geralt and/or a wink and a nudge towards the player, but its humour only warmed me to the game even more.
The game just had so much personality.
It wasn't constant or even that often, it was a few cheeky moments here and there, a dry comment from Geralt and/or a wink and a nudge towards the player, but its humour only warmed me to the game even more.
The game just had so much personality.
I eventualy grew to love witcher 3 after I pushed past novigrad. It's probably the worst part of the game for me, and it's not even bad per say...just goes on for a while and is very drawn out. Finding dandelion feels like it takes forever, and that's not to mention if you stay to do Triss's series of sidequests (which you should). Overall though I was very happy with it, and the expansions were 2 of the best pieces of side content I've ever played, especially blood and wine.
I loved it and bloodborne very much. Is there a place in the world for someone like me?
I loved it and bloodborne very much. Is there a place in the world for someone like me?
AcademicSaucer
Member
I played it for over a 100 hours for the world and the characters but God I hate the gameplay, I hate it with the fury of a thousand suns. Having to find some piece of shit glowing in red every other quest was trash too.
I must be in the minority because I loved the Novigrad portion of the game. I've never seen such a massive and lively city on a video game. When I first saw the city from a hill I knew I was going to get lost in it. One of my favorite experiences in W3 was my first time enterinf Novigrad on Roach. Trotting through the bustling streets, noticing NPCs/quests galore, and taking in the beautiful architecture.
Ugh I cannot get over how good W3 is. Terrific write up OP. Nailed it.
Ugh I cannot get over how good W3 is. Terrific write up OP. Nailed it.
Vigilant Walrus
Member
The game might have ruined a lot of other games for me. I find it difficult to let it go and it's been almost a year since I finished the last playthrough. It felt like ending a good tv show, book or anime where you loved the character, but the feeling and attachment to it is longer. Much longer than I've tried before.
I grew up with "Ocarina of Time is the best game ever". Ocarina was such a major step forward in gaming- It was completely crazy. Nothing was the same after that game. It was such a convincing all encompassing legendary game.
I think.. Now reflecting on it, a year later that Witcher 3 might be along the same lines.
And I come to this realization while reflecting on that I had major concerns about Witcher 3. For years I worried that its open world would come at odds with the storytelling focus of Witcher 2. How were they going to make a massive world but still say they were dedicated to the tight story. It didn't make sense to me. Conventional wisdom tells us that if you put your resources in an area like open world, it is going to dampen other gameplay systems and features. But somehow they managed it. I expected Witcher 3 to be more like Inquisition. I imagined that would have been the trade off.
Secondly, when W3 first came out and I played it, I was very unhappy with the ending. I made all the wrong choices and I got the worst of the 3 endings. The depressing one. The one that also lacked a cut scene and exposition about certain things in the final pre-credit wheel. That left me very unsatisfied and annoyed. Thirdly, no matter how we dice it, Witcher 3s final mission feels rushed and the main antagonist is not good or well done. In fact, I'd say he is worse and less interesting that the similar antagonist of Inquisition.
What changes everything is the DLC. Witcher 3s DLC undoes the main games game ending and through HoS and Blood and Wine you get 2 storylines that are vastly superior but more than equally epic in scope to what is in the main game. It is impossible to divorce the DLC from Witcher 3. They are so crazy much more interesting than the main story. And in the end.. When I finished Blood and Wine, I was just a mess. Completely.. fuck.
I want others to copy what they did with voice acting, cinematography and character development. Everyone needs to take that, and make that effort into story the norm.
I grew up with "Ocarina of Time is the best game ever". Ocarina was such a major step forward in gaming- It was completely crazy. Nothing was the same after that game. It was such a convincing all encompassing legendary game.
I think.. Now reflecting on it, a year later that Witcher 3 might be along the same lines.
And I come to this realization while reflecting on that I had major concerns about Witcher 3. For years I worried that its open world would come at odds with the storytelling focus of Witcher 2. How were they going to make a massive world but still say they were dedicated to the tight story. It didn't make sense to me. Conventional wisdom tells us that if you put your resources in an area like open world, it is going to dampen other gameplay systems and features. But somehow they managed it. I expected Witcher 3 to be more like Inquisition. I imagined that would have been the trade off.
Secondly, when W3 first came out and I played it, I was very unhappy with the ending. I made all the wrong choices and I got the worst of the 3 endings. The depressing one. The one that also lacked a cut scene and exposition about certain things in the final pre-credit wheel. That left me very unsatisfied and annoyed. Thirdly, no matter how we dice it, Witcher 3s final mission feels rushed and the main antagonist is not good or well done. In fact, I'd say he is worse and less interesting that the similar antagonist of Inquisition.
What changes everything is the DLC. Witcher 3s DLC undoes the main games game ending and through HoS and Blood and Wine you get 2 storylines that are vastly superior but more than equally epic in scope to what is in the main game. It is impossible to divorce the DLC from Witcher 3. They are so crazy much more interesting than the main story. And in the end.. When I finished Blood and Wine, I was just a mess. Completely.. fuck.
I want others to copy what they did with voice acting, cinematography and character development. Everyone needs to take that, and make that effort into story the norm.
I just finished this today. Incredible game. It could be the best I've played. The amount of love and passion that went into Geralt's adventure is beyond anything else I've ever experienced. I'm really going to miss the cast, which is something that I haven't felt about a game since I was a little kid saying goodbye to Manny Calavera and his friends on the train platform in Grim Fandango. What an adventure. Plus, the ending was so badass! I wish I had the time to play the DLC now.
I think we're so lucky that in games there's a chance to experience different sensibilities in the mainstream space. In movies, blockbusters from other countries barely exist, and those that do don't cross over, so we're stuck with middle films that gross tens of millions and are watched by relatively small audiences.
This doesn't feel like other Western RPGs. I love that we have games from places like Ukraine, Poland and the Czech Republic that hold widespread appeal without sacrificing their unique identities.
That said, I can't see another developer topping what CD Projekt Red's accomplished with the Witcher 3 anytime soon. I know I won't hold off playing Cyberpunk for nearly two years when it releases. I WANT IT NOW!
I think we're so lucky that in games there's a chance to experience different sensibilities in the mainstream space. In movies, blockbusters from other countries barely exist, and those that do don't cross over, so we're stuck with middle films that gross tens of millions and are watched by relatively small audiences.
This doesn't feel like other Western RPGs. I love that we have games from places like Ukraine, Poland and the Czech Republic that hold widespread appeal without sacrificing their unique identities.
That said, I can't see another developer topping what CD Projekt Red's accomplished with the Witcher 3 anytime soon. I know I won't hold off playing Cyberpunk for nearly two years when it releases. I WANT IT NOW!
This is a game I really wish I could get into. I love the European, low fantasy theme, but the story didn't grab me at all and I really didn't like controlling Geralt in and out of combat.
Gwent was fun though. Maybe I'll give the game another try someday, but I didn't have fun with my first attempt. I also just have a really hard time getting into 3D open world games in general though, so I don't really blame the game, plus the game's almost universal acclaim definitely means something.
I was bored by the Bloody Baron questline which is apparently when people really get into the story, so I quit at that point.
I see this mentioned a lot with regards to The Witcher. Where the hell do people get this from? The Witcher universe is as high fantasy as you're going to get: there are mythical monsters, Dragons, elves and dwarves, wizards and sorceresses, world ending events and multiple dimensions intertwining. Hell, the entire world runs on magic. Sure, it has a more political focus, but that doesn't make something "low fantasy".
Welcome to GAF.
FunkyMunkey
Banned
yep. i've tried to get a few of my friends to play it who would fall in love with it, but have given up trying. i'll settle for my girlfriend slowly working her way through and having her mind blown. it's the game of the generation for me easy. just a complete polished experience beginning to end.
eXistor
Member
I think so. I genuinely think most people that love the Witcher 3 so much (best game ever? Alright, we all can have out opiions I guess) mostly base it on the story and the diverse side-stories. They really are very, very good and they're worth the price of admission for sure. That and the beautiful game world that I found very fun to just walk around and observe. But in terms of things you as a player actually play and do are very clunky, repetitive and woudn't fly in any other game. Sure you go to weddings, find broken of statue-penises, get drunk, catch seral killers all of that jazz, but in actual game-mechanics, you always do the same boring things: fight some dudes/use your witcher sense and press a button.
I can't really get past bad game-mechanics, but I will say in spite of all that I still highly recommend the Witcher 3 (and 1 and 2 for that matter). Its highs are really high (mostly story and dialogue related) and helped me get through the game without too mnay frustrations.
I'm sorry that I seem to have struck a nerve. TW3 definitely has magical elements and monsters, but it felt a lot more grounded, dirty, and human than a lot of fantasy fare. Perhaps I just didn't get far enough, but the focus was definitely on people and a lot of real issues. It feels like the low-mid medieval period to me.
People think low fantasy is gritty, mature fantasy, which is also sometimes known as a kind of dark fantasy. The Witcher fits into both high fantasy and dark fantasy subgenres, depending on the story.
People don't realize low fantasy is "world of magic within the real world" fantasy. Like, Peregrine's Home, Percy Jackson, and Harry Potter. This is different from magical realism, which, in an otherwise real world, surreal, blatantly fantastical events occur. In a game, this would be Ryse: Son of Rome, where mythos figures infrequently talk to the main character; or, in a movie, this would be Birdman, where Keaton might actually have powers?
eXistor
Member
I think it's firmly low fantasy. Dragons and whatnot just refer to the "fantasy" part. Low just means it's based on recognizable reality. Witcher presents a grim world filled with racism and other recognizable real-world issues not unlike earth. I think that's what makes it low fantasy. Take something like Final Fantasy XV, that's set in a very earth-like environment, but that's unmistakenly high-fantasy. A lot has to do with tone and feeling I think. FFXV feels very light and unrealistic in its presentation of issues.
I'm pretty sure that's not tue. It doesn't have to be the real world, just similar. It can be fictional.
I remember putting over 200 hours into the game.
Music was great, and exploration was fun.
I loved the sidequests and dialogue, but disliked the main storyline.
It also has the clunkiest combat system out of any action game that I've played in the last 10 years. It never felt like I was in control.
''Geralt, why are your actions so delayed?''
''Geralt, please don't face the enemy, I'm not trying to fight them... Please stop...''
I don't know, I still prefer Fallout New Vegas for actual storytelling, humor and politics.
Music was great, and exploration was fun.
I loved the sidequests and dialogue, but disliked the main storyline.
It also has the clunkiest combat system out of any action game that I've played in the last 10 years. It never felt like I was in control.
''Geralt, why are your actions so delayed?''
''Geralt, please don't face the enemy, I'm not trying to fight them... Please stop...''
I don't know, I still prefer Fallout New Vegas for actual storytelling, humor and politics.
Well, of course it's fictional.
"Low fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy fiction involving "nonrational happenings that are without causality or rationality because they occur in the rational world where such things are not supposed to occur."[1] Low fantasy stories are usually set in a fictional but rational world, and are contrasted with high fantasy stories, which take place in a completely fictional fantasy world setting with its own set of rules and physical laws."
Nothing in the Witcher world is particularly rational. It's a world covered in alchemy, monsters, ghosts, magic, dwarves, dragons, and elven ruins. It regularly acknowledges interdimensional travel, which is how monsters arrived in the first place.
Low fantasy is like Wolf Among Us or Vampire Bloodlines.
The Witcher (books and games) are very much high fantasy IMO. As dlauv pointed out, it has to do with the role of magic and such in the overall world. In the world of The Witcher, magic, monsters and everything is commonly known to people; the celebrities of that world are all powerful sorceresses, no one is hiding anything. The world itself is also built on magic, since the entire reason humans and monsters are there in the first place is because they came there through a magical portal to a different world. I don't think low fantasy can be as easily categorized as 'fantasy taking place in our real world', but if you're looking for low fantasy in fictional worlds, it would have to be something like A Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, where magic has pretty much died out with a few noticeable exceptions.
The Hamburglar
Banned
Would the witcher 3 work with bloodbourne combat.
Came around to finishing W3 myself yesterday after starting about a year ago and I agree with OP that its a good story with very good writing, high quality dialogues (speech and animation) but there is a lot of things to criticize, too.
IMO it simply lacks on the game side of things.
The combat is somewhat enjoyable but feels old pretty soon thus becoming a drag.
Especially compared to souls games, it does not even compare. Maybe a bad comparison as both games are very different.
However W3 combat is a lot better than Skyrim combat for example. (In the case of Skyrim, it is the bad combat exclusively which made me quit the game.)
Crafting in this game is a true nightmare, there are like a million different crafting items and alchemy stuff you get when running around, so much that it becomes incomprehensible for someone who just wants to run around and do things. (every monster is weak to a different oil or something? which also needs different ingredients of course. WTF how am I supposed to collect so many things???)
Its like you have to do real work to manage your inventory and find stuff to build/brew cool things.
Quest design is kind of samey aside from the story driving quests. It plays out this way far too often: go to the place on your minimap, ... , door/entrance locked, -> find another way there, ... , oh theres a cave or underground tunnel with monsters
These mini dungeons are super annoying because they play out the same way each time (kill stuff, use witcher senses, find the way).
Traveling is annoying, too. First: there is too much of it.
Geralt runs fast which is nice but controlling his horse is wonky. Since the world (flora/fauna) looks the same everywhere aside from the isles there is no sense of wonder when traveling this world thus making me rush to the next quest marker the fastest way possible. Its not even worth looking at the screen while riding the horse to the next marker.
To bypass the annoying parts of this game and to come to enjoy the story of this game I put the difficulty setting on very easy after a few hours where the above flaws started to dampen my enjoyment of the game.
All in all a pretty meh game with a cool story. But at least the graphics are good I guess.
IMO it simply lacks on the game side of things.
The combat is somewhat enjoyable but feels old pretty soon thus becoming a drag.
Especially compared to souls games, it does not even compare. Maybe a bad comparison as both games are very different.
However W3 combat is a lot better than Skyrim combat for example. (In the case of Skyrim, it is the bad combat exclusively which made me quit the game.)
Crafting in this game is a true nightmare, there are like a million different crafting items and alchemy stuff you get when running around, so much that it becomes incomprehensible for someone who just wants to run around and do things. (every monster is weak to a different oil or something? which also needs different ingredients of course. WTF how am I supposed to collect so many things???)
Its like you have to do real work to manage your inventory and find stuff to build/brew cool things.
Quest design is kind of samey aside from the story driving quests. It plays out this way far too often: go to the place on your minimap, ... , door/entrance locked, -> find another way there, ... , oh theres a cave or underground tunnel with monsters
These mini dungeons are super annoying because they play out the same way each time (kill stuff, use witcher senses, find the way).
Traveling is annoying, too. First: there is too much of it.
Geralt runs fast which is nice but controlling his horse is wonky. Since the world (flora/fauna) looks the same everywhere aside from the isles there is no sense of wonder when traveling this world thus making me rush to the next quest marker the fastest way possible. Its not even worth looking at the screen while riding the horse to the next marker.
To bypass the annoying parts of this game and to come to enjoy the story of this game I put the difficulty setting on very easy after a few hours where the above flaws started to dampen my enjoyment of the game.
All in all a pretty meh game with a cool story. But at least the graphics are good I guess.
OniBarubary
Banned
I've been playing the DLC since the Season Pass finally went on Sale that dropped it below the normal sale prices of the DLC individually, and I have to see the Wedding main quest might be my favorite quest in a video game I've played. I feel legit sadness that I'll never encounter Vlodimir again.
Anyways, yeah, the game lives and breathes on it's quest and characters. When it focuses on them it's pretty much unequaled.
Anyways, yeah, the game lives and breathes on it's quest and characters. When it focuses on them it's pretty much unequaled.
Harmondale
Member
GAF Im so torn wether TW3 shall be my next game, a game I Will play for the rest of the year If so
I bought a ps4 for Metal gear solid V, Im about to finish up every Little detail in the game I absolutely loved it
Now its time for a new game and Im seriously consider TW3:GOTY its on EU psn same with ps+ about 25$
The game looks georgeous, I love the setting and Visuals and love to explore and all that
But at the same time, what I love with games is the potential that they let me "make it my own game"
Now with TW3, really how unique is everyones playthrough. Im a big fan of Elders scrolls games where you make your own character and go your own path and get rewarded for loot
In TW3 can you walk Into a random forest...find some camp..kill some bandits..find new better loot? Is it a rewarding thing to do? Is the way you develop your character unique, like you go with melee, or range or Magic? Is there lots of armors so you can Change how you look? Can you find big monsters randomly or you have to be on a quest?
Where Im going is, I dont want a game to be just walk from A to B, read this, kill this, walk back. Sure at Times it can be fun. I just want the more random stuff, make the game my unique story.
I really want to love this game. The World/Setting is certainly there (like 10/10 for me). Just afrid the mechanics aint no elders scroll and the gameplay aint no MGSV/Bloodborne If that makes sense..Story is seldom the fundamental thing that I get hooked on in games. Its rather the World + Gameplay (and elders scrolls gameplay is good for me considering first person view..)
I bought a ps4 for Metal gear solid V, Im about to finish up every Little detail in the game I absolutely loved it
Now its time for a new game and Im seriously consider TW3:GOTY its on EU psn same with ps+ about 25$
The game looks georgeous, I love the setting and Visuals and love to explore and all that
But at the same time, what I love with games is the potential that they let me "make it my own game"
Now with TW3, really how unique is everyones playthrough. Im a big fan of Elders scrolls games where you make your own character and go your own path and get rewarded for loot
In TW3 can you walk Into a random forest...find some camp..kill some bandits..find new better loot? Is it a rewarding thing to do? Is the way you develop your character unique, like you go with melee, or range or Magic? Is there lots of armors so you can Change how you look? Can you find big monsters randomly or you have to be on a quest?
Where Im going is, I dont want a game to be just walk from A to B, read this, kill this, walk back. Sure at Times it can be fun. I just want the more random stuff, make the game my unique story.
I really want to love this game. The World/Setting is certainly there (like 10/10 for me). Just afrid the mechanics aint no elders scroll and the gameplay aint no MGSV/Bloodborne If that makes sense..Story is seldom the fundamental thing that I get hooked on in games. Its rather the World + Gameplay (and elders scrolls gameplay is good for me considering first person view..)
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
No it wouldn't
Writing is good, world and characters are great and the visuals support that beautifully.
Gameplay is solid, but simple really. Really don`t like the slow responsiveness of Geralt.
I wish Skyrim was running on RedEngine.
edit: Having cutscenes for pretty much everything and then just single image for
was really disappointing.
Gameplay is solid, but simple really. Really don`t like the slow responsiveness of Geralt.
I wish Skyrim was running on RedEngine.
edit: Having cutscenes for pretty much everything and then just single image for
Geralt and Triss
I love the Witcher 3, and it is a fantastic RPG, but I can't stand the combat. I love everything else surrounding the game (the world, characters, details), but the combat is so jank it takes away from it. Not a deal breaker, mind you.
I'm still playing Hearts of Stone, then I'll tackle Blood and Wine. I've been busy with other games after beating the campaign in The Witcher 3, but I'm looking forward to diving back into the world. Really cool game, and Geralt is really entertaining.
I don't think the Witcher 3 would work with Bloodborne combat. That'd be kind of weird (and I adore Bloodborne and Dark/Demon's Souls).
I'm still playing Hearts of Stone, then I'll tackle Blood and Wine. I've been busy with other games after beating the campaign in The Witcher 3, but I'm looking forward to diving back into the world. Really cool game, and Geralt is really entertaining.
I don't think the Witcher 3 would work with Bloodborne combat. That'd be kind of weird (and I adore Bloodborne and Dark/Demon's Souls).
Everything I'm about to say here when it comes to loot and crafting is based on experience right at the launch and long before devs hammered in tweaks and fixes.
World has a lot to discover from ruins to bandit camps to abandoned supplies to quests etc. when it comes to obtaining better and different looking gear. Originally you wanted to find crafting diagrams for different Witcher school gear [Cat, Wolf, Bear...] that enhanced specific ways of playing and were considered best gear in the game. This lowered appeal of scavenging camps and treasures for unique weapons and armors, but they did try address this in patches so unique gear should be more interesting now.
At its core game doesn't cater really well for person who wants e.g. 6 different looking armor sets that give identical stats, basically playing dress up isn't as easy as in ES games.
That said about exploring for loot lets address exploring for exploring. There is a lot to find, see, hear, learn and solve. Almost every point of interest you can visit has reason for existing in that part of the world and has story build into it. Well executed environmental story telling and usually you can find documents to read, people to talk with, enemies to fight and/or loot to collect. From dark and depressing scenes to funny and joke like PoI's, a lot variety. Just picking direction and exploring was one of things I loved to do in TW3.
You can run into large beasts by pure accident because they are always in the world, not spawned by specific quests or hunts. There is few of those, but large majority is always out there.
When it comes to deciding on character build early on you are more or less forced to use swords, but as you gain some levels you can start to branch out. Swords, alchemy [bombs, potions...] and signs [magic] to specialize into or do mix build. Only style of fighting that won't work is crossbow, they never made it scale well enough and only works as back up for other major styles of combat. DLC's also added more depth to combat by introducing more powerful runes [enhancements] and mutations.
I think for you, like for quite a few, biggest hurdle will be getting used to how Geralt controls in and out of combat.
Edit: If you can get GOTY for ~25 imo you should get it, even if it went into backlog.
Currently playing TW3 for the first time. Only lvl 10 after over 30 hours of gameplay, partly because of the DM xp penalty and partly because I've played a LOT of Gwent. Playing this game feels lot like playing my all time favorite BGII: Shadows of Amn for the first time, which is about the highest praise I could give it. Don't have any problems with the combat or movement either, might be because I had the alternate moveset available from the start I guess?
Considering buying it on PC too to support CDProjekt since I got my PS4 GOTY edition for 40 euros. Which is a complete steal for the amount of content this game has.
Considering buying it on PC too to support CDProjekt since I got my PS4 GOTY edition for 40 euros. Which is a complete steal for the amount of content this game has.
Harmondale
Member
Thanks man thats a solid answer,Think you just convinced that this Will be the game of 2017 for (considering my typical 5hours per week due to wife and kids situation).
Like especially the part that you can still find "beasts" out in the wild on random. Read Before that you MUST be on some kind of hunter quest in order for a beast to spawn which turned me of. Anyways really looking forward to just go out in the wild and take the game as it comes.
Heard something of "turn of all hud" for better imerssion is that feasible for a newcomer to the series? Tempted on doing that and avoid fast travel as long as it Does not get Boring
Also, when buying GOTY edition, Will all the dlc be available from the start, I mean is it "in the World" or is it seperated menus. Anything to Think of in that aspect. What If I radomly enter dlc story Before main story etc.
There is few major beasts that are spawned by specific quest or hunt because they have build larger narrative around it, but there is a lots of larger beasts like griffins and leshens you can just walk into. When you enter e.g. village there is usually notice board with region specific hunts and other quests so you will trigger them as you go.
You should experiment with HUD elements and find balance for yourself. Amounts of PoI's in TW3 can look and feel very daunting and Ubi-like when you have them enabled on map and minimap, but to have them on or off is best found by just experimenting. Disabling a lot of HUD is somewhat feasible for newcomer, especially after few hours and gotten into mechanics.
All the DLC is kinda available from the beginning. DLC quests and larger DLC's [HoS & B&W] are gated by player levels and game clearly tells you that quest X is for e.g. Hearth of Stone DLC. Both of major DLC's are intended to be played after you are completed main game, especially Blood & Wine. HoS can work along with main story where B&W really can't, from timeline perspective.
No separate menus for DLC story content. There is menu for toggling on / off stuff like alternative Triss / Yen / Ciri costumes.