Game News The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Revealed

[mondblut]

It's perfectly possible to create an interesting, non-banal open world RPG with a well-told story.

And awesome combat. It should also cook and give quality blowjobs, eh?

Except that "open world" and "well-told story" together not gonna happen even with all the joogoldz and time in the world. These things are mutually fucking exclusive. Well-told story = rails. Open world = no rails. Pick one.

 

[Lancehead]

Well, it's difficult to "tell" the story the way you want, but open world can still have a good story.

 

[mondblut]

Actually one of the devs said that: "this is a conclusion of the trilogy".

Words are cheap, words of devs even more so

final fantasy was supposed to be final too. Yet we weren't that lucky.

 

[catfood]

Sheep lovers, rejoice!

Guaranteed smash hit in New Zeeland.

 

[Commissar Draco]

It's perfectly possible to create an interesting, non-banal open world RPG with a well-told story.

And awesome combat. It should also cook and give quality blowjobs, eh?

Except that "open world" and "well-told story" together not gonna happen even with all the joogoldz and time in the world. These things are mutually fucking exclusive. Well-told story = rails. Open world = no rails. Pick one.

Or Semi Rails in semi open world, like Amalur and Nev Vegas did. Just place the epic Nilfgardian Army of Rape on the straight line to your objective and make the story around the way around.

 

[Surf Solar]

There is something wrong with the render or something on these pictures that makes them very weird, I can't put my finger on it.

Also, what's up with those clouds?

 

[mondblut]

Except that "open world" and "well-told story" together not gonna happen even with all the joogoldz and time in the world. These things are mutually fucking exclusive. Well-told story = rails. Open world = no rails. Pick one.

Or Semi Rails in semi open world, like Amalur and Nev Vegas did. Just place the epic Nilfgardian Army of Rape on the straight line to your objective and make the story around the way around.

Keyword being "semi", twice.

 

[Lancehead]

Also, what's up with those clouds?

Behold the next-gen volumetric clouds.

 

[Comrade Goby]

Why are you invalids judging graphics this early.

 

[VentilatorOfDoom]

It's good they're scrapping the QTE's. Now they need to bring back the boob-cards.

 

[Mrowak]

It's perfectly possible to create an interesting, non-banal open world RPG with a well-told story.

And awesome combat. It should also cook and give quality blowjobs, eh?

Except that "open world" and "well-told story" together not gonna happen even with all the joogoldz and time in the world. These things are mutually fucking exclusive. Well-told story = rails. Open world = no rails. Pick one.

Depends. Betrayal at Krondor managed exactly that.

 

[Infinitron]

BaK did have a good story, but the way it worked, while you were wandering around the world killing enemies and solving Moredhel puzzle chests, the story was simply put "on hold". There was little connection between the open world mechanics and the story.

 

[RK47]

It's good they're scrapping the QTE's. Now they need to bring back the boob-cards.

and let us print it out as playing cards...

 

[Mrowak]

BaK did have a good story, but the way it worked, while you were wandering around the world killing enemies and solving Moredhel puzzle chests, the story was simply put "on hold". There was little connection between the open world mechanics and the story.

Oh was it? Because all those puzzle locks with notes within and the subquest proved later on to be intervowen with one another. When you looked at what you did before from the perspective of later chapters the whole intrigue "clicked" together. There were separate plots biting within one another, and the only chance to learn about them was to explore the world and do some quests. NPCs repapeared in different roles you had a number of ways to accomplish your quest (and the game acknowledge those solutions e.g. you could unmask the bad guy in chapter 3 in a number of ways) - most achieved through yout gameplay decisions as opposed to clicking Yes/No (although when I think of it there were some quest dependent of such choice too - like that devilishly difficult ambush on you in Chapter 1 - most memeorable battle of all time; it was great gameplay all the way).

You also have got to appreciate that all "mental" attributes are relegated to the player. Most of the time he is the one who must figure out the intrigue and gather all pieces, as opposed to - you know - clicking "[Perception] So you murdered the Duke!". Sure it lacks branching out C&C, storywise, but to my mind it is the best storyfaggy game to date, exactly because how closely gameplay and story works in it.

 

[Infinitron]

BaK did have a good story, but the way it worked, while you were wandering around the world killing enemies and solving Moredhel puzzle chests, the story was simply put "on hold". There was little connection between the open world mechanics and the story.

Oh was it? Because all those puzzle locks with notes within and the subquest proved later on to be intervowen with one another. When you looked at what you did before from the perspective of later chapters the whole intrigue "clicked" together. NPCs repapeared in different roles you had a number of ways to accomplish your quest (and the game acknowledge those solutions e.g. you could unmask the bad guy in chapter 3 in a number of ways) - most achieved through yout gameplay decisions as opposed to clicking Yes/No (although when I think of it there were some quest dependent of such choice too - like that devilishly difficult ambush on you in Chapter 1 - most memeorable battle of all time; it was great gameplay all the way). You also have got to appreciate that all "mental" attributes are relegated to the player. Most of the time he is the one who must figure out the intrigue and gather all pieces, as opposed to - you know - clicking "[Perception] So you murdered the Duke!". Sure it lacks branching out C&C, storywise, but to my mind it is the best storyfaggy game to date, exactly because how closely gameplay and story works in it.

That's all I true but I don't see how it's relevant to the story.

Generally, when people say that BaK has an awesome story, they're thinking about Neal Hallford's walls of text. The open world mechanics don't really facilitate that directly in any way. The game's writing and story aren't great because the game is open world. Those two things just sort of exist side-by-side.

 

[Trash]

Got to say that apart from the cliff battle screen I really am loving what they've shown here. The mountains, the whale, the lively inn all show to a sense of scale and attention to detail I like.

Those two things just sort of exist side-by-side.

Got to disagree there. If anything they complement each other. BAK really is one of those games that lets its mechanics flow together brilliantly.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Why are you invalids judging graphics this early.

Kinda hard to do anything else when all you have are a few pics.

 

[Cosmo]

BaK did have a good story, but the way it worked, while you were wandering around the world killing enemies and solving Moredhel puzzle chests, the story was simply put "on hold". There was little connection between the open world mechanics and the story.

That's the nature of CRPGs : the process of combining depth (a satisfying story, which implies linearity) and breadth (sanbox mechanics) is always exponential. That's why in the end one aspect is always prevalent over the other, even if developpers come up with so-called new and revolutionary ways of wrapping things up (branching stories, "radiant storytelling" and whatnot).
That's why i'd take CDP's claims whith a grain of salt (by the way Witcher 2 left me unimpressed).

 

[Infinitron]

Since you couldn't see NPCs or physically explore large towns in BaK's "open world", it might be more accurate to classify its overland travel as a kind of "dungeon crawl without walls".

 

[Mrowak]

BaK did have a good story, but the way it worked, while you were wandering around the world killing enemies and solving Moredhel puzzle chests, the story was simply put "on hold". There was little connection between the open world mechanics and the story.

Oh was it? Because all those puzzle locks with notes within and the subquest proved later on to be intervowen with one another. When you looked at what you did before from the perspective of later chapters the whole intrigue "clicked" together. NPCs repapeared in different roles you had a number of ways to accomplish your quest (and the game acknowledge those solutions e.g. you could unmask the bad guy in chapter 3 in a number of ways) - most achieved through yout gameplay decisions as opposed to clicking Yes/No (although when I think of it there were some quest dependent of such choice too - like that devilishly difficult ambush on you in Chapter 1 - most memeorable battle of all time; it was great gameplay all the way). You also have got to appreciate that all "mental" attributes are relegated to the player. Most of the time he is the one who must figure out the intrigue and gather all pieces, as opposed to - you know - clicking "[Perception] So you murdered the Duke!". Sure it lacks branching out C&C, storywise, but to my mind it is the best storyfaggy game to date, exactly because how closely gameplay and story works in it.

That's all I true but I don't see how it's relevant to the story.

So multiple plots apparent in many sidequests scattered throughoout the world, biting into one another, whose solutions is directly in gameplay mechanics (including, but not limited to traversing the said world) is not relevant to the story...

Generally, when people say that BaK has an awesome story, they're thinking about Neal Hallford's walls of text. The open world mechanics don't really facilitate that directly in any way. The game's writing and story aren't great because the game is open world. Those two things just sort of exist side-by-side.

I beg to differ. Those two things were interwoven within ano another. I mean, I can easily imagine BaK being done in a series of cutscenes and gameplay battles - then there would be a complete separation of story and gameplay. However, *because* BaK takes you into huge piece of a world and let's you do all the wild stuff around the map, which all have at least *some* bearing on the larger scheme of things it means the story and gameplay overlap so closely they are oft one and the same. For example, getting to Krondor in Chapter 1 - the route you take is actually acknowledged by the game and comentated on by the characters. There are multiple occassions where story events in one place (e.g. meeting a character in one place) trigger something in another (e.g. an ambush). Finally, exploring the world let's you know the "fluff" and realise why you and your opponents are doing what they were doing and how both parties achieved that. Frequently you stumble upon bits of pieces of lore which together bring you tangible benefits (e.g. finding Idol of Lasur [opening another of the subplots] or the legendary Valheru sword). This is closest

And contrary to the popular belief, story is not about walls of text - it's like saying that books are about turning pages, or playing games is about looking at your monitor. Walls of text are just *means* of telling a story. The story can be also told via visuals, sounds and - most importantly in gaming - gameplay. BaK takes advantage of all said elements and woves them into something unique. Sure, it was imperfect, but frankly for first experiment on such a scale it did splendidly. To me it has become the benchmark I compare all storyfaggy RPGs there are. If providence wills it, some day we will find its successor.

 

[MapMan]

WHERE ARE MUH COLORS DAMMIT!?

 

[Jaedar]

One of my favorite things in twitcher2 is that it was possible to commit genocide against the monsters. At first the forest is crawling with enemies. Then you destroy their nests/broodmother and whatever and there's only a handful monsters of that type left on the entire map. I hope Twitcher3 will have a similar mechanic.

 

[Infinitron]

And contrary to the popular belief, story is not about walls of text - it's like saying that books are about turning pages, or playing games is about looking at your monitor. Walls of text are just *means* of telling a story. The story can be also told via visuals, sounds and - most importantly in gaming - gameplay.

I completely agree. But that's not what I said. I said that BaK's reputation as a game with a great story comes primarily from its walls of text, and not from its quirky exploration sidequests. Those sidequests are great but they aren't what most people remember.

But anyway, as I said, I have doubts whether BaK can even be considered an open world game in the accepted sense, so this discussion isn't really very relevant.

 

[Mrowak]

And contrary to the popular belief, story is not about walls of text - it's like saying that books are about turning pages, or playing games is about looking at your monitor. Walls of text are just *means* of telling a story. The story can be also told via visuals, sounds and - most importantly in gaming - gameplay.

I completely agree. But that's not what I said. I said that BaK's reputation as a game with a great story comes primarily from its walls of text, and not from its quirky exploration sidequests. Those sidequests are great but they aren't what most people remember.

It doesn't matter what the reputation implies. It matters what actually made the story relevant - what made it work. And yes - those sidequests are what people remember, but they simply do not analyse their implementation - to all intents and purposes they are walls of text. Take the open world from them, however, and you end up with decontextualised mess.

Part of the reason why Return to Krondor proved so inferior was that it really put the entire story "on rails".

But anyway, as I said, I have doubts whether BaK can even be considered an open world game in the accepted sense, so this discussion isn't really very relevant.

And why it cannot be considered as such?

 

[Infinitron]

And why it cannot be considered as such?

Compare BaK to Morrowind and tell me yourself. No direct NPC interaction (instead you get warped into conversations or a tactical combat minigame), no city exploration, etc.

As I said, BaK's "open world" is really more like a kind of overland dungeon crawl.