The Witcher 3 GOTY Edition

[2house2fly]

Geralt, smirking: "heh, I hate those games where you can spam dodge infinitely to trivialise the combat and the quests consist of holding down a button and looking for a red blob. Mhm."

 

[Mark Richard]

Gotta love escort missions where the subject runs much slower than your running speed but much faster than your walking speed. And stops dead if you get too far from them.

The gaming industry better get its house in order before there's a part 3.

Welcome to part 2 of Walking in Gaming. Ever notice how everyone's walk is irritatingly different from yours? When a character asks you to follow them there are only two possible outcomes - either their arthritic walk forces you to stop and wait every few seconds, or they're the power-walking champion of Stanton university class of 98, in which case you'll have to constantly alternate between walking and jogging. Maybe the developers think players would be unnerved by perfect synchronization? Personally I find it relaxing.

Spoiler

 

[Comrade Goby]

Behead those who insulkt this gaME

 

[Correct_Carlo]

Playing this for the first time ever (finally). The writing and world design are top notch. I'm still early in the game, but I honestly can't think of many other better designed RPG quests than the whole "Family Matters" questline and the way that it intertwines with the crones quests and the Ciri stuff. I still have a lot of game left, but I honestly don't see how they could top that.

The quests requiring investigation are really well done too. I actually get frustrated when quests are interrupted with combat as I like the investigation stuff much more. And most side quests have something interesting about them. I often find myself playing longer just to see what will happen, which.....honestly, I can't think of many other RPGs where I've done that. When it comes to games and writing, I always have to mentally qualify things as "having good writing for a game," but Witcher 3 actually has good writing, period. Or at least when it wants to. It does have its share of RPG filler (the quest where you repair the religious monuments comes to mind), but the stuff involving main characters is typically worth doing.

I don't love combat, but I don't hate it either. It's mostly just kind of dull and, much like Witcher 2, still seems like an awkward halfway point between Arkham games and Dark Souls, yet with none of the unique features or polish that makes either of those games good. I'm playing on "death march" and at least so far, the game seems too easy. I typically go for swords and signs, but I thought I'd try something different (at least until I get bored) and go for an alchemy + fast swords build. This makes things slightly more challenging as, at least so far, it seems that alchemy is a bit shit. The one invaluable skill is the one where any toxicity level above 1 will cause time to slow down when monsters counter attack. This works well with fast swords as it gives you extra time to dodge (I actually like it way better than the slowdown effect that Yrden has).

All that said, I have like 16 points in alchemy and potions still suck. There's something wrong when I can take a swallow with 16 points in alchemy, it doesn't last terribly long, and my health recovers at a very slow rate, yet if you put just 1 point in that general skill that makes food effects last for 20 minutes your health recovers much faster and the effect lasts for 20 IRL minutes (seriously, is there any more OP skill in the game than that? I actually respec'd and got rid of it because it was making the game way too easy). Oils seem shit too. Maybe there are some awesome ones late game, but I honestly haven't noticed much of an effect with or without them so far (although I haven't invested in the oils tree).

Also, Gwent is awesome. The AI is usually retarded, so it's not terribly difficult, but it's way better than the yahtzee dice shit from the first 2 games.

 

[Invictus]

I saw one of my best friends playing this over the weekend and got interested in playing it
The combat looks a bit... weightless with Geralt moving like Batman but looks manageable
I say the Enchanced Edition mod and was thinking of trying that out, usually I don't replay games much so what would the best; playing vanilla or going straight for the EE?

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Only real big issue I had with the game was itemization. Way too much loot and replacing your weapons every 5 minutes in favor of a better one you found in a sack of potato gets old fast.

 

[DalekFlay]

I saw one of my best friends playing this over the weekend and got interested in playing it
The combat looks a bit... weightless with Geralt moving like Batman but looks manageable
I say the Enchanced Edition mod and was thinking of trying that out, usually I don't replay games much so what would the best; playing vanilla or going straight for the EE?

The EE is just patches and stuff as far as I know, there's no real Divinity style difference. If you think the combat looks weightless you might want to try the "old" movement style though, which felt much more weighty. People complained it wasn't responsive enough so they made it quicker with patches, which to me feels squirrely and weird.

 

[cvv]

Only real big issue I had with the game was itemization. Way too much loot and replacing your weapons every 5 minutes in favor of a better one you found in a sack of potato gets old fast.

Yeah, the itemization in TW3 is seriously one of the worst in any RPG I've ever played or even heard of. Wtf they were thinking is beyond me. For my next playthrough I hope there's a mod that does away with all the stupid crap.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Correct_Carlo]

Only real big issue I had with the game was itemization. Way too much loot and replacing your weapons every 5 minutes in favor of a better one you found in a sack of potato gets old fast.

Yeah, the itemization in TW3 is seriously one of the worst in any RPG I've ever played or even heard of. Wtf they were thinking is beyond me. For my next playthrough I hope there's a mod that does away with all the stupid crap.

Crafting is dull too. I hate RPGS with crafting that is more or less just finding a schematic then wandering all over the world to find pieces for the item, after which point you will have a static object with no input of your own as to the result. That's basically no different than just finding a sword in a cave, the only difference is you have the headache of finding a bunch of pieces for the sword before you get the sword.

RPGS should never bother with crafting unless their crafting system allows some meaningful input by the player into the result of crafting (i.e. the player can change the effects of the crafted item in a meaningful way by using different substances in the crafting). DA:I had lots of flaws, for example, but it had a great crafting system where crafted items could rework your whole strategy depending on what materials you used. Same with Nioh, which suffered from its own form of item level creep, yet crafting was so easy it was never an issue.

 

[vonAchdorf]

The quests requiring investigation are really well done too. I actually get frustrated when quests are interrupted with combat as I like the investigation stuff much more. And most side quests have something interesting about them. I often find myself playing longer just to see what will happen, which.....honestly, I can't think of many other RPGs where I've done that. When it comes to games and writing, I always have to mentally qualify things as "having good writing for a game," but Witcher 3 actually has good writing, period. Or at least when it wants to. It does have its share of RPG filler (the quest where you repair the religious monuments comes to mind), but the stuff involving main characters is typically worth doing.

IMO quest compass and detective mode take away from the investigation experience.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

Only real big issue I had with the game was itemization. Way too much loot and replacing your weapons every 5 minutes in favor of a better one you found in a sack of potato gets old fast.

Yeah, the itemization in TW3 is seriously one of the worst in any RPG I've ever played or even heard of. Wtf they were thinking is beyond me. For my next playthrough I hope there's a mod that does away with all the stupid crap.

There are several to suit different types of player, just search for loot on nexus mods. There is almost nothing about the itemization system that hasn't already been or can't possibly be fixed by mods. Unlike the layout of the world or quest design.

 

[AwesomeButton]

The EE is just patches and stuff as far as I know,

The EE also includes both expansions and all the DLC.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

91 hours in, level 24, and done with all the Novigrad quests. The Novigrad stuff really is way less interesting than the Bloody Baron/Crones quest line. I just did Triss' whole questline and can't even remember what it was about. The only thing that stuck out as a high point was the serial killer quest, which was kind of cool (especially since, at the moment, the serial killer seems to be still running around, even though I completed the quest and killed the guy I thought was the killer).

I've probably spent way too much time fucking around with side shit in the world that's ultimately tedious, but that scratches my OCD itch. The open world icon quests are average to slightly above average for an AC type open world game, but I really love the way the world is designed. The different landscapes flow into eachother well and the map does a good job of giving you a sense of where each of the warring factions are. Which makes completing the endless copy-pasta sidequests kind of fun.

That said, the game really should have integrated fast travel from anywhere in the vanilla version. I feel like 75% of my playtime is calculating whether it will be faster to just run to the nearest fast travel sign on foot, or spend the up to 20 seconds it will take to whistle for my horse, wait for him to slowly walk up (while getting stuck on shit), then mount him. I do have the fast travel mod, but I'm always scared to use it when I'm in the middle of a quest because I hear it can fuck the scripting up.

I also have a genuinely love/hate relationship with Novigrad city. It's truly breath taking the first time you ride into it and see all of the different areas (slums, docks, markets, temple, etc, etc). But the aura definitely wears off once you are doing quests in it for 20 hours and realize that 95% of it is just window dressing with way, way, too few fast travel waypoints. And WAY too many of the quests based in Novigrad City have you needlessly running from place to place. If you go to location A and find information that says you need to go to location B, you really should be able to fast travel there unless something important will happen on your way. Which is was sucks about the fast travel mod. There are some novigrad city quests where you encounter an important event going from point A to point B that you will need to solve the quest. But other times, it's just pointless running. Which is why I never use fast travel from anywhere unless I don't have a quest active.

I think Oxenfurt is the better looking and designed city, and just the right size. To bad there's almost nothing there (or at least untill the king shows up there, which suddenly gives it a reason to exist).

 

[ERYFKRAD]

(especially since, at the moment, the serial killer seems to be still running around, even though I completed the quest and killed the guy I thought was the killer).

Yeah you fucked up.

 

[Correct_Carlo]

(especially since, at the moment, the serial killer seems to be still running around, even though I completed the quest and killed the guy I thought was the killer).

Yeah you fucked up.

Eh. In my universe I got the true killer and that raped and mutilated chick I found in the street after was completely unrelated.

Plus, I did that quest like 5 hours ago. No way am I going back.

 

[AwesomeButton]

You need to slow down and take in the atmosphere more. I find that the best sized dose of Witcher 3 is about 45-55 minutes in which I do one or two sidequests before I leave it. This way you also won't lose track of what you have been doing. It's addictive to run around with a laundry list of tasks, but you must resist.

 

[cvv]

That said, the game really should have integrated fast travel from anywhere in the vanilla version. I feel like 75% of my playtime is calculating whether it will be faster to just run to the nearest fast travel sign on foot

That's what I used to think too but now I'm playing Elex where you can teleport from anywhere and it's just too gamey and the immershun suffers as a result. An open-world RPG really has a different feel when it doesn't try to make our lives too easy, otherwise we might as well turn on a god mode and whizz around like idiots. Yes it would be super convenient but the enjoyment would be halved at best.

I also have a genuinely love/hate relationship with Novigrad city. It's truly breath taking the first time you ride into it and see all of the different areas (slums, docks, markets, temple, etc, etc). But the aura definitely wears off once you are doing quests in it for 20 hours and realize that 95% of it is just window dressing

I think that's a general consensus, coming to Novigrad after Velen is like someone throwing a damp rag on the sizzling vibe.

Bethesda gets a lot of flak for pretending 10 houses and a fountain is a major metropolis (Dan Vavra from Warhorse has been bashing them for years for that). Problem is when you make a town in an open-world RPG look real you suddenly get a gigantic hub you have to populate with NPCs and quests. And it's obvious even the writing and level design maestros at CDPR weren't up to this monstrous task. They just couldn't maintain the quality and most quests feel like a filler because they literally are.

 

[Life of the Party]

It's The Witcher. It works in Dinaric villages and Pripyat swamps, it does not work in Constantinople.

 

[Sacred82]

Bethesda gets a lot of flak for pretending 10 houses and a fountain is a major metropolis (Dan Vavra from Warhorse has been bashing them for years for that). Problem is when you make a town in an open-world RPG look real you suddenly get a gigantic hub you have to populate with NPCs and quests.

How about making it the only hub. RPG's aren't fucking city sightseeing tours anyway.

 

[Wunderbar]

can't think of many other better designed RPG quests than the whole "Family Matters" questline. I still have a lot of game left, but I honestly don't see how they could top that.

they didn't.

"Hearts of Stone" dlc is pretty close though.

 

[Falksi]

91 hours in, level 24, and done with all the Novigrad quests. The Novigrad stuff really is way less interesting than the Bloody Baron/Crones quest line. I just did Triss' whole questline and can't even remember what it was about. The only thing that stuck out as a high point was the serial killer quest, which was kind of cool (especially since, at the moment, the serial killer seems to be still running around, even though I completed the quest and killed the guy I thought was the killer).

I've probably spent way too much time fucking around with side shit in the world that's ultimately tedious, but that scratches my OCD itch. The open world icon quests are average to slightly above average for an AC type open world game, but I really love the way the world is designed. The different landscapes flow into eachother well and the map does a good job of giving you a sense of where each of the warring factions are. Which makes completing the endless copy-pasta sidequests kind of fun.

That said, the game really should have integrated fast travel from anywhere in the vanilla version. I feel like 75% of my playtime is calculating whether it will be faster to just run to the nearest fast travel sign on foot, or spend the up to 20 seconds it will take to whistle for my horse, wait for him to slowly walk up (while getting stuck on shit), then mount him. I do have the fast travel mod, but I'm always scared to use it when I'm in the middle of a quest because I hear it can fuck the scripting up.

I also have a genuinely love/hate relationship with Novigrad city. It's truly breath taking the first time you ride into it and see all of the different areas (slums, docks, markets, temple, etc, etc). But the aura definitely wears off once you are doing quests in it for 20 hours and realize that 95% of it is just window dressing with way, way, too few fast travel waypoints. And WAY too many of the quests based in Novigrad City have you needlessly running from place to place. If you go to location A and find information that says you need to go to location B, you really should be able to fast travel there unless something important will happen on your way. Which is was sucks about the fast travel mod. There are some novigrad city quests where you encounter an important event going from point A to point B that you will need to solve the quest. But other times, it's just pointless running. Which is why I never use fast travel from anywhere unless I don't have a quest active.

I think Oxenfurt is the better looking and designed city, and just the right size. To bad there's almost nothing there (or at least untill the king shows up there, which suddenly gives it a reason to exist).

Good summary. The Witcher 3 is essentially worshipped by folk who haven't realized that 75% of their time is spent doing busy work, and that 75% of the world is fluff.

The expansions work so much better because the fluff element is far less. I'm still amazed a game can be so big, yet have so little of worth to make exploring interesting. Unless you do it for the aesthetics it's usually very pointless & unrewarding.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Problem is when you make a town in an open-world RPG look real

A realistic medieval city is nowhere near as big as Novigrad. Except maybe for Constantinople, Paris, Naples, etc.

 

[cvv]

RPG's aren't fucking city sightseeing tours anyway.

This. I've always loved the concept of a town in games like Betrayal at Krondor or Wizards&Warrios (or HOMAM for that matter) - basically just a static picture with a few clickable points of interest. It can be wonderfully evocative if the art is good (BaK is a great example).

Ofc that's not viable for a big budget mass market game like TW3 but one can dream.

Problem is when you make a town in an open-world RPG look real

A realistic medieval city is nowhere near as big as Novigrad. Except maybe for Constantinople, Paris, Naples, etc.

Which is exactly what Novigrad is in the Witcher world.

 

[Wunderbar]

Dragon Age 2 is better than Witcher 3 confirmed.