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Incline Witcher game series is one of the hallmarks of gaming

JDR13

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Some people like to talk about how bloated TW3 is, but they fail to mention that 90% of the bloat is optional. No one is forcing you to do any of those sidequests or explore all the POI, and it's certainly not necessary in order to finish the game.

That's usually a sign that the person can't overcome their own OCD tendencies and blames the game for being too big.

It's not about that, it's more about the fact that the resources that went into creating those quests and zones could have gone elsewhere.

Yeah, it kind of sucks that we didn't get multiplayer and microtransactions. :roll:
 

JDR13

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Some people like to talk about how bloated TW3 is, but they fail to mention that 90% of the bloat is optional. No one is forcing you to do any of those sidequests or explore all the POI, and it's certainly not necessary in order to finish the game.
I don't get your argument. You say that 90% of the game is bloat but so what if you can ignore it.

I don't know man... How about... Maybe... Having a game that has a tighter world with less bloat but more meaningful content?

I said that 90% of the bloat is optional not that 90% of the game is bloat.

TW3 already has a significant amount of meaningful content. You can just ignore the filler if you don't think it's worth it. The main quest doesn't need to be any larger though.

Content that you can ignore is content not worth playing.

Whether or not something is worth playing is entirely subjective. Many people like that the extra content is there.
 

SpaceWizardz

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Some people like to talk about how bloated TW3 is, but they fail to mention that 90% of the bloat is optional. No one is forcing you to do any of those sidequests or explore all the POI, and it's certainly not necessary in order to finish the game.

That's usually a sign that the person can't overcome their own OCD tendencies and blames the game for being too big.
It's usually a sign developers are being told to pad their game with whatever shit they can think of so the game can be marketed as a 100+ hour epic.
Witcher 3 isn't an MMO, it's a storyfag RPG. Nobody would cry if the fistfights, horse races, Ubisoft map marker hunting, etc. (The parts of the game nobody talks about, except when they want to bitch) were removed in favor of more/better Witcher Contracts/Side Quests (The parts of the game people actually talk about).
 
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Necroscope

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I said that 90% of the bloat is optional not that 90% of the game is bloat.

TW3 already has a significant amount of meaningful content. You can just ignore the filler if you don't think it's worth it. The main quest doesn't need to be any larger though.
I beat TW1 and TW2 and felt no reason to complain about any bloat. Tried playing TW3 two times, each time giving up as far as in Act I.

It was always natural for me to explore as much content as possible in RPGs. You gain experience (which is usually necessary to an extent to progress with the main quest), cool weapons and stuff, learn more about the world, explore side stories, get better at playing the game - you know, have fun. But in TW3 there was just so much heartless fetch and mundane shit that I couldn't endure it. Even travelling between locations was a chore with all the starring at the galloping horse butt occasionally interrupted by popping up monsters and fetch opportunities. I guess I could have ignored all of that and focused on the main quest, but it seemed like an unnatural and unsatisfactory way to play an RPG to me, and I don't even know if you don't need to level up doing side content in order not get your ass handed to you when doing the main quest.

And it is obvious why they designed the game that way. They wanted a piece of that Skyrim cake and make a game that is as big as possible and keeps you occupied for as long as possible. Except even Skyrim is not as extreme in that respect as TW3 is.
 

DalekFlay

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Some people like to talk about how bloated TW3 is, but they fail to mention that 90% of the bloat is optional. No one is forcing you to do any of those sidequests or explore all the POI, and it's certainly not necessary in order to finish the game.

That's usually a sign that the person can't overcome their own OCD tendencies and blames the game for being too big.

1. Ignoring sidequests isn't some great recommendation. I want good sidequests.

2. Bloat doesn't just mean "too much stuff." It also means that stuff offers little reward or interest. It also relates to the "main stuff" if that stuff is filled with lots of errands, travel, and hoops to jump through that don't need to be there.
 
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Remember Gothic 2? Remember how every quest felt meaningful even without expensive mocap and voice acting? Can we return to that perhaps?

Yes, Gothic 1 and 2 are amazing games, but Witcher series is great in a completely different way. Gothics had amazing gameplay and detailed world, the Witcher games aren't nearly as good in those areas, but they excel on the writing, atmosphere, lore, character side, as well as graphics/physics in Witcher 3. And in the age of Bethesda, Bioware, and Ubisoft crap, that counts for something.
 

toro

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Remember Gothic 2? Remember how every quest felt meaningful even without expensive mocap and voice acting? Can we return to that perhaps?

Yes, Gothic 1 and 2 are amazing games, but Witcher series is great in a completely different way. Gothics had amazing gameplay and detailed world, the Witcher games aren't nearly as good in those areas, but they excel on the writing, atmosphere, lore, character side, as well as graphics/physics in Witcher 3. And in the age of Bethesda, Bioware, and Ubisoft crap, that counts for something.

I nominate you for January's Delusional award.
 

Necroscope

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Too bad they're only trying to be better but not better and different. CDPR had the opportunity to be the only inclined AAA developer that makes games both modern and in the spirit of classic games. Instead they choose to became the typical evil AAA developer that focuses on spectacular gimmicks, marketing and treats its employees like shit.
 

JDR13

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Some people like to talk about how bloated TW3 is, but they fail to mention that 90% of the bloat is optional. No one is forcing you to do any of those sidequests or explore all the POI, and it's certainly not necessary in order to finish the game.

That's usually a sign that the person can't overcome their own OCD tendencies and blames the game for being too big.

1. Ignoring sidequests isn't some great recommendation. I want good sidequests.

2. Bloat doesn't just mean "too much stuff." It also means that stuff offers little reward or interest. It also relates to the "main stuff" if that stuff is filled with lots of errands, travel, and hoops to jump through that don't need to be there.

1. I didn't say one needs to ignore sidequests in general. I found a lot of the sidequests in TW3 quite enjoyable. Just ignore the stuff you're not interested in. It's all subjective anyways.

2. In other words, what almost every RPG has. Mundane errands and jumping through hoops is something that's part of nearly every game. I agree about the rewards though. That's one area where TW3 fails big time.
 

JDR13

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Remember Gothic 2? Remember how every quest felt meaningful even without expensive mocap and voice acting? Can we return to that perhaps?

G2+NotR is one of my favorite games of all time, but it's also a very different type of game. That's not what CDPR was trying to emulate.

Piranha Bytes excels at meaningful exploration, and I think they're the best at it. CDPR excels at creating interesting characters and storytelling.
 

Necroscope

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I think we need a new tag:
MUmpyRO.png
 

JDR13

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And it is obvious why they designed the game that way. They wanted a piece of that Skyrim cake and make a game that is as big as possible and keeps you occupied for as long as possible. Except even Skyrim is not as extreme in that respect as TW3 is.

TW3 is nowhere near as content-dense as Skyrim or Bethesda's Fallouts. Those games have so many enemy-ridden dungeons that they're literally within sight of each other.

At least the locations in TW3 are spread out in a somewhat realistic manner. You can't exit a dungeon and enter another one 10 seconds later.
 

DalekFlay

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2. In other words, what almost every RPG has. Mundane errands and jumping through hoops is something that's part of nearly every game. I agree about the rewards though. That's one area where TW3 fails big time.

Well I think reward is central to it. There's this massive open world, and hundreds of quests, but other than very well written dialog I feel like I'm not getting anything out of it. It's go to marker, get randomized loot, go to next marker. The world is big but there's nothing to find by exploring, because it's all randomized loot you don't need. I only played 20ish hours like three years ago, so I can't debate the fine details, but that's my memory of it... huge open world and great writing, but nothing gameplay wise that made me want to keep playing. I dunno, I'll give it another shot someday. Morrowind is one of my favorite games so it's not like I don't have a high tolerance for busywork.
 

Necroscope

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That's my memory of the game as well.

Great graphics and decent writing but with no good mechanics to back it up (combat is utter shit). And everything that is good story wise is stretched across a huge map filled with fetch and mundane chores. "Use your witcher senses" also gets annoying sooner than later.
 

Valky

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The "game" part of the witcher games being bad means that as games they are bad.
If your only selling points are graphics and story, then shit son you've described a movie.
 

JDR13

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2. In other words, what almost every RPG has. Mundane errands and jumping through hoops is something that's part of nearly every game. I agree about the rewards though. That's one area where TW3 fails big time.

Well I think reward is central to it. There's this massive open world, and hundreds of quests, but other than very well written dialog I feel like I'm not getting anything out of it. It's go to marker, get randomized loot, go to next marker. The world is big but there's nothing to find by exploring, because it's all randomized loot you don't need. I only played 20ish hours like three years ago, so I can't debate the fine details, but that's my memory of it... huge open world and great writing, but nothing gameplay wise that made me want to keep playing. I dunno, I'll give it another shot someday. Morrowind is one of my favorite games so it's not like I don't have a high tolerance for busywork.

I played without markers or the minimap and found it much more enjoyable that way. I didn't think the exploration was all bad, and I stumbled across some cool locations, but there's no doubt it would have been a lot better without the randomized loot system. Hopefully there was enough negative feedback that CDPR won't use a similar system in Cyberpunk 2077.
 

Harthwain

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Somehow they even ruined the dice game; I still can't figure that one out.
I had the same feeling. Here is the explanation:

The game is essentially unchanged from The Witcher, except that you now must physically "roll" the dice and you have the possibility of losing one or more of them if they roll off the playing surface. The game now also takes one round only so there is more room for luck and less for tactics.

Compared to the first game, the camera angle at which the board is shown and the results of the rolled dice are more difficult to parse, making it more difficult to get a general overview of the situation. Another less than desirable change, the quick view of the current dice combinations for each player after the initial roll has been taken away resulting in a less accessible mini-game.
Also: they replaced the normal dice with the ones that had some cool-looking symbols and textures had a crappy resolution. It really didn't help the clarity.
 

AshenNedra

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The idea of the Witcher character is good, a mythical monster hunter with cool abilities. But its realized in the way one would imagine an emo teen would realize a fictional character (he's a mutant, he can use magic, he's great with swordplay, he looks 'cool', he bangs all the chicks, he's sarcastic and has dry wit, etc).

Most importantly, Geralt is a rip off of a true giant of fantasy literature, the only, the original, the REAL White Wolf:

43aa529d4e0315315572c0378ecf96b3.png


629556aad2613465522f34e321f9980a.jpg




220px-Weird_of_the_white_wolf_daw_1977.jpg


Not this shit again. Are you Razorfist or one of his fans? Cause that's the only person on the whole web that still takes this seriously.
 

Carrion

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Another thing is that in TW1 dice poker was a notable part of the in-game economy. You could spend an afternoon playing dice with an important character like Thaler, Carmen or Cunt de Wett and end up losing all of your money, only to return the favor two days later. In TW2 you only play a round or two against some nobody, winning or losing just a couple of orens in the process. In Gwent, too, money is essentially meaningless.
 

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