The Witcher 3 Pre-Expansion Thread

[Eirikur]

 

[Sam Ecorners]

I still wish there were nice mods that would remove stupid color grading without introducing bunch of shitty reshading

 

[Starwars]

I still wish for a mod that would simply tune down the insane winds in this game.

Anyways, I *finally* finished the main campaign for this game. CD Projekt certainly knows how to stretch things out... Even the end-game seems to never want to end. Reminds me of the cutscene at the start of Witcher 2 where the king gets murdered. The melodrama is something else to behold for sure.

Still, though I have so many gripes with this game that it's not even funny, it's a really impressive effort overall. While I think it would've been better as a shorter game but with better and deeper quests, it's definitely big enough to really give that sense of a long journey which is quite nice. And it's especially impressive given the AAA presentation.

I tried Hearts of Stone back when it was released but didn't like it much back then, perhaps due to the fact that I started playing it in the middle of the main story which just fucked up the pacing of the game completely. Gonna try playing it now after finishing the main campaign and see if I like it better.

 

[Carrion]

Even the end-game seems to never want to end.

Spoiler

To me it seemed like they ran out of ideas and introduced a McGuffin or two to make the endgame a bit more fleshed-out, but the change of pacing from the extremely slow-paced Ciri-hunt to the high-speed finale is still a bit awkward.

I think the story carries its length quite well (the sucky elements only really arise when the actual plot finally gets going quite late on in the game), but they kind of screwed up the pacing by making you basically explore the whole map before even finishing the first act, so that near the end you're just running from one main quest to another without a lot of side content left, which might come off as a bit tedious.

 

[Eirikur]

 

[NullFlow]

Patch 1.20 changelog

http://wpc.4d7d.edgecastcdn.net/004D7D/mkt/document/Changelog-1.20-ENG_l9fczl2s3h.pdf

 

[Makabb]

1.20 ? last one is 1.12, so they did not release 8 patches.

 

[NotAGolfer]

So I gave this another try after quitting my previous attempt a few hours after entering Velen and before even meeting the Bloody Baron.
This time I'm hooked though.
Went with Blood and Broken Bones (death march drags everything out too long) and despite still being popamole shit the combat doesn't annoy me anymore. It's even somewhat entertaining with the different monster weaknesses and stuff. If only the basic dodge attack gameplay (rolling is mostly useless compared to dodge it seems) wasn't that repetitive.
And I also turned all the markers on again so the minimap is nicely decorated like a Christmas tree.

The reason was that searching for clues with witcher sense is just boring after a while and reminds me of nasty 90s adventure games pixel hunting.
This isn't fun and I want to get over with it quickly.

So far pretty much every aspect of gameplay is subpar, but still better than Bethesda level. But to make up for it the story or better stories are really great. Dialogue flows naturally, quests have interesting parts or twists and making one's way from one quest to the next while exploring the map doesn't feel disjointed. You often stumble upon quests while on the road for example.
Or you find some item or place you are not supposed to find until the end of a quest by pure chance and instead of breaking it the game takes that into account and lets you open that quest from the other end. That's just good design there.

Am still not sure if I can bring myself to play through it though. As I said, combat and other gameplay aspects (mainly crafting and itemization - the skill tree seems okay though) are a bit disappointing and this game is looooooong.

Gwent is kinda fun so far btw. But I suspect it won't stay that way, the AI isn't that good and if I have better cards in my deck it will surely become too easy.

 

[WhiteGuts]

Stumbling upon quests while being on the road (afoot or on horseback) and how organically it's done is one of my favorite parts of the game.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[oldmanpaco]

So I bought this last week. Since i am playing on the lvl that doesn't let mediation heal I never meditated. Took me until I was almost lvl 7 to finally read how potions replenish. Game is much easier now.

 

[Makabb]

So I bought this last week. Since i am playing on the lvl that doesn't let mediation heal I never meditated. Took me until I was almost lvl 7 to finally read how potions replenish. Game is much easier now.

I'd wait for the blood and wine and 1.20 though, because it will bring shitton of changes

 

[oldmanpaco]

Yeah I know. I'm not exactly power gaming my way through it and haven't used any mods. Figured I'd wait until next week to really get going.

 

[NotAGolfer]

So I bought this last week. Since i am playing on the lvl that doesn't let mediation heal I never meditated. Took me until I was almost lvl 7 to finally read how potions replenish. Game is much easier now.

I'd wait for the blood and wine and 1.20 though, because it will bring shitton of changes

But my saves should still be compatible with 1.20, right? I mean they didn't say otherwise or did they?

 

[Carrion]

But my saves should still be compatible with 1.20, right? I mean they didn't say otherwise or did they?

Yeah, they should. The expansion is meant for level 30+ characters anyway, and they're certainly not going to force you to start a fresh save or get rid of all of your precious equipment.

 

[NotAGolfer]

Lol
Now I know why everyone is raving about that Bloody Baron questline.

Spoiler

WTF?!!!



But really, that quest is great. Hope the game has some more quests waiting that are at least half as good.

 

[bonescraper]

For all those who care, yes, the Botchling is a real monster from Slavic/Polish mythology (the original has wings though).

Some time ago i just thought they made up some of their monsters and creatures, turns out they're all genuine. I wonder, is anything similar even present in other cultures?

 

[Carrion]

In the Finnish and Scandinavian mythology there are several monsters that share similarities with botchlings. Ihtiriekko (or Myling) is probably the closest such example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myling

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Lol
Now I know why everyone is raving about that Bloody Baron questline.

Spoiler

WTF?!!!



But really, that quest is great. Hope the game has some more quests waiting that are at least half as good.

I don't know about other people but when the Baron was talking about finding his dead child I found myself sweating, shit was intense. The performance of the Polish VA was top-notch.

 

[NotAGolfer]

Sure, I also found things intense and a bit touching before and after that laugh I had there.
But come on, the way he carries that thing around, that's just really funny.

Spoiler

And the golden flying baby ghost also made me chuckle.

Nice monster idea, am hoping to see more weird stuff in the future.

 

[adddeed]

Started playing, 3hrs in, game is gorgeous. And runs geat on my modest PC on high settings. So far seems like Witcher 2 ++. Movement is a bit floaty but im sure ill get used to it. Great world design though, not the usual themepark im used to.

 

[Talby]

I'm burning through the main story to get ready for the expansion.

Spoiler

Battle of Kaer Morhen summarized;

Spoiler

Ciri: WILD HUNT GET OUT REEEEEEEEE

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

Started playing, 3hrs in, game is gorgeous. And runs geat on my modest PC on high settings. So far seems like Witcher 2 ++. Movement is a bit floaty but im sure ill get used to it. Great world design though, not the usual themepark im used to.

You can try the 'alternative movement' setting that makes it a bit better.

 

[RK47]