The Witcher 3 GOTY Edition

[Ismaul]

Witcher does this with alchemy ingredients and reading about the monsters I believe

Sadly that's just the first game. From Witcher 2 on, preparing for an encounter with a monster, using research and potion and oil making, has been on a steep decline.

Which is why Witcher 1 > the others. You feel like a monster hunter that needs to prepare well for his hunts.

 

[aweigh]

is that enhanced edition mod worth using??

 

[JDR13]

is that enhanced edition mod worth using??

Imo, it's too extreme, but ymmv.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

If your character found the exact location of a site / dungeon / city, why wouldn't it make sense for him to mark it on his map?

That is unless the game is designed so that you, the player, mark the map. In other words, that it's designed as part of the gameplay. But that would require there to be actual information and enough of it so that you can mark your map, rather than just using for example a book that only says it contains the info on the location without actually giving the details to the player.

Think you might have misunderstood me.
I meant that the game obviously shouldn't mark it if the information was vague.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

is that enhanced edition mod worth using??

Author makes way too many changes that suit his personal tastes.

 

[Ismaul]

I meant that the game obviously shouldn't mark it if the information was vague.

You're going at it from a simulationist point of view, I was going more from a design/gamist point of view.

Obviously, from a simulation point of view, it makes no sense that your map is marked if the info isn't sufficient.

But from a design point of view, it might make sense to mark the info on the map even if the info presented to the player is insufficient, because that info is an abstraction, it's a shorthand. The fact that the map is marked signifies the character had enough info to do so, but that it was presented in an abridged form to the player. On the other hand, if the player is given sufficient info to find the place, it might make sense to not to automatically mark it on the map: the player can do it himself, and this would be an expected part of the gameplay (figuring out how the location description corresponds to the map).

Me I prefer getting all the relevant info in-game, given to me the player in full, and then have a map system that allows note taking (DOS2 is great in this aspect). Feels like I'm really exploring / navigating an environment like that.

 

[Jinn]

is that enhanced edition mod worth using??

I haven't played extensively with it, but it felt good when I tried it out for 5-6 hours. Particularly the combat and necessity to prep for it with alchemy. I look forward to getting back to sometime soon when I have time. Planning on playing through the two DLC with it (probably with a fresh New Game).

I'd say it's worth at least trying out for yourself. Fairly quick install.

 

[SkiNNyBane]

A lot of mods like EE have options to turn off all the turbo-autism. The default Witcher 3 experience suffers from: braindead combat making builds irrelevant, unrewarding exploration due to shitty economy and itemisation system, overleveling due to abbandance of quests, and omega op alchemy due to unlimited potions and their stacked power level. IMO vanilla Witcher 3 gets really fucking boring passed the first few zones, so some mod is extremely necessary to enjoy the game. Also once you install a good mod, you no longer need to play on hardest difficulty which some of the mods will make overly annoying.

 

[aweigh]

A lot of mods like EE have options to turn off all the turbo-autism. The default Witcher 3 experience suffers from: braindead combat making builds irrelevant, unrewarding exploration due to shitty economy and itemisation system, overleveling due to abbandance of quests, and omega op alchemy due to unlimited potions and their stacked power level. IMO vanilla Witcher 3 gets really fucking boring passed the first few zones, so some mod is extremely necessary to enjoy the game. Also once you install a good mod, you no longer need to play on hardest difficulty which some of the mods will make overly annoying.

what about some individual mods that address some of that? Perhaps just one for the economy, and another one for the alchemy?

braindead combat doesn't really bother me that much since there is no way to fix action game twitcher combat that relies on a dodge-roll button (horrible game design, and yes that includes dark souls). Dodge-roll button is the absolute worst thing that ever happened to action games.

Like I said though, I'd still be interested in starting a new game with the other things fixed, like the alchemy and economy.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

FWIW, Mods I used for my playthrough, fixes for annoyances without any real gameplay changes

Mostly fixes low resolution textures: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/1021
Gallop in cities: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/385
Better HUD, highly configurable: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/365
Jump in shallow water: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/659
Colored map markers: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/938
Better torches, lets you do most actions without dropping your torch: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/1990
Don't download the main mod, download 'Even faster Gwent', just speeds up animations iirc: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/3219
Increased torch radius: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2271
Unread descriptions: https://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mods/2831

You'll probably need to run the script merger on them.

 

[Falksi]

Witcher does this with alchemy ingredients and reading about the monsters I believe

Sadly that's just the first game. From Witcher 2 on, preparing for an encounter with a monster, using research and potion and oil making, has been on a steep decline.

Which is why Witcher 1 > the others. You feel like a monster hunter that needs to prepare well for his hunts.

I thought that TW2 still captured it to some degree, but agree TW1 set the standard and that should have stuck.

TW3 is fucking awful at conveying the feeling of being a Witcher. Potions, oils, traps and suchlike take a massive backseat to the popamole direction it took.

That said, TW1's combat was just to lacklustre to work on the whole too. Out the 3 I'd say TW2 had the best balance for a foundation. More of TW1's depth needed, but fuck me it's sad seeing the great Witcher 3 suck-off fest continue, when it's essentially a game which embodies how to decline RPGs.

 

[cvv]

TW2 definitely has the best combat, chardev and itemization. TW1 has the best vibe.

TW3 was hollywoodized and kwanized for sure, to make the IP more palatable for the Big Mac market, but it's exceptionally tasteful, smart hollywoodization.

 

[Paul_cz]

TW2 definitely has the best combat, chardev and itemization. TW1 has the best vibe.

TW3 was hollywoodized and kwanized for sure, to make the IP more palatable for the Big Mac market, but it's exceptionally tasteful, smart hollywoodization.

TW2 was hollywoodized compared to TW1 in that it has more focus on cinematic aspect, much higher production values and what not. TW3 is not hollywoodized compared to TW2 at all. It is just much bigger and extensive, but that's not hollywoodization.
As for vibe, TW1 may feel the most "slavic" but Velen and the Baron/Crones storyline equals it, hell, probably surpasses anything in TW1 even in that respect.
TW3 has some issues with stuff like itemization, but that's down to CDP's inexperience. They are story first guys and this was their first open world game and clearly itemization was not exactly the highest priority.
Combat being better in TW2 is also incomprehensible to me.

 

[cvv]

Combat being better in TW2 is also incomprehensible to me.

That's fine, as long as it's not for some retarded reason like you don't like rolling in your pirouette based sword ballet.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

TW3 producer:

People don’t play games to see sex scenes. There are more efficient ways of seeing that...

This is how you spot the socially incompetent autist. Most people want to see sex MOST OF THE TIMES, and it's never a question of efficiency.

 

[Paul_cz]

That's fine, as long as it's not for some retarded reason like you don't like rolling in your pirouette based sword ballet.

I don't mind rolling, but the normal dodge moves are much less retarded looking and more faithful to the books, so that alone is a win. But TW3 also has more interesting skills and combat moves etcetera

 

[DalekFlay]

I always play agile rogue assassin types in action RPGs, so I like the rolling and do remember preferring 2's combat to some degree. I don't think they're THAT dissimilar though. The main reason my gut says I enjoyed TW2 more is that the smaller areas worked better with CDPR's quest design and abilities. People gush about what a huge open world TW3 is, but I think that's to its detriment.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

My most hated aspect of Witcher 3 isn't the batmanvision, it's the ubisoft-style open world where you're supposed to just run around to map markers.

 

[JDR13]

Combat being better in TW2 is also incomprehensible to me.

What's so incomprehensible about it? I actually like the combat in all three games, but I can totally understand why a lot of people like TW2 the best.

 

[Paul_cz]

My most hated aspect of Witcher 3 isn't the batmanvision, it's the ubisoft-style open world where you're supposed to just run around to map markers.

This is a misunderstanding of TW3 based on CDP's stupid decision to leave PoI markers enabled by default. Once those are disabled there is no running around map markers and the world design is miles ahead of cookie cutter cut and paste Ubiworlds.

What's so incomprehensible about it? I actually like the combat in all three games, but I can totally understand why a lot of people like TW2 the best.

Well, to me the combat in TW2 and TW3 is pretty much the same except in TW3 I have more moves, more animations, more interesting skills et cetera. Plus it feels more responsive than TW2 ever did (at least on PC/60fps).

I am one of the weirdos who also enjoy the combat in all three games well enough (I would not play these games for combat, but it's fun for what it is and the games are about story/atmosphere first and foremost).

 

[DalekFlay]

This is a misunderstanding of TW3 based on CDP's stupid decision to leave PoI markers enabled by default. Once those are disabled there is no running around map markers and the world design is miles ahead of cookie cutter cut and paste Ubiworlds.

You can't turn quest markers off, the game is designed around them. The only thing you can really turn off are the exploration question marks, but honestly the world is so big and filled with endless nothing half the time I'm not sure how enjoyable it would be to randomly run around checking every inch for something interesting. That's likely why they're enabled by default.

I turned them off and then back on when I realized I was pretty meh about the game, IIRC.

 

[J_C]

People gush about what a huge open world TW3 is, but I think that's to its detriment.

I fucking hate it when an open world game has an unbelievably huge world. It's just a chore to explore it. I'll take a more condensed open world like in Gothic instead of TW3's world any time of the day. In that aspect TW2 > TW3.

 

[Danikas]

This is a misunderstanding of TW3 based on CDP's stupid decision to leave PoI markers enabled by default. Once those are disabled there is no running around map markers and the world design is miles ahead of cookie cutter cut and paste Ubiworlds.

You can't turn quest markers off, the game is designed around them. The only thing you can really turn off are the exploration question marks, but honestly the world is so big and filled with endless nothing half the time I'm not sure how enjoyable it would be to randomly run around checking every inch for something interesting. That's likely why they're enabled by default.

I turned them off and then back on when I realized I was pretty meh about the game, IIRC.

You dont run around looking for the Poi, you can discover them while traveling from town to town doing quests since most of them are close to the roads.

 

[Paul_cz]

You can't turn quest markers off, the game is designed around them. The only thing you can really turn off are the exploration question marks, but honestly the world is so big and filled with endless nothing half the time I'm not sure how enjoyable it would be to randomly run around checking every inch for something interesting. That's likely why they're enabled by default.

I turned them off and then back on when I realized I was pretty meh about the game, IIRC.

Rusty was complaining about "running around to map markers" which I took to understand the PoIs.
I disabled them and never looked back. Quests still appear on the map and I just explored naturally instead of having my OCD be abused.

I fucking hate it when an open world game has an unbelievably huge world. It's just a chore to explore it. I'll take a more condensed open world like in Gothic instead of TW3's world any time of the day. In that aspect TW2 > TW3.

I don't disagree, but at the same time I respect that CDP wanted to provide a different feeling in TW3 - one where we get to "live the life" of Witcher, travelling from village to village, taking on the contracts that come our way - and for that, larger world is necessary.

 

[Falksi]

Disabling markers telling you where something totally shit & pointless is doesn't stop it from being shit & pointless sadly.