I don't want that. I would much rather have Witcher 3's new attack modes, arrow parries, etc etc. I want shit that is qualitatively different, not something that increases numbers.
As someone who wasted 100+ hours completing W3 a few years back, I am incredibly puzzled as to why you hold it up as an example of what you claim to like.
Regarding new shit that is qualitatively different, the Witcher was criminal in introducing new mechanics during a quest only to let them lay fallow and unused throughout the rest of the game. Remember the
lantern that lets you speak to the dead? Or the
eye that reveals illusions? A lot could be done with such mechanics, but it was completely unused throughout the entire game except for their respective quest chains.
And we both know why: because Witcher quests boil down to following your witcher sense (quest compass) to the next objective, and mashing buttons. Because it's an action game / cutscene simulator. You are in a box - an elaborate, pretty, good-sounding box - and you are not to deviate from the path.
To your point about numbers, the game used number bloat to artificially gate content and equipment. You could easily discover or stumble upon an area that due to the underlying mechanics of the game meant that you had 0% chance of success due to how HP and damage scaled like an Asian MMO. It was the antithesis of emergent experiences and the occasional success-against-all-odds that you can find in real cRPGs like Fallout or Underrail.
So while I understand the content of your message, W3 seems like a completely discordant game to hold up as an example of it. You know what would have been somewhat unique? To incorporate aspects of castle management since you are the keeper of whatever the fuck the witcher Craig was called. Or to muster a dive into a dungeon where who you bring and the the results of your expedition are not pre-defined, somewhat like how Archolos structured its
expedition into Vardhal (although the final outcome was pre-ordained).
Witcher had all the money, production values and time needed to be a real cRPG but obviously the economics dictate that it is a crowd please-er. So you get dumbed down linear quest structure, bareboned MMO mechanics and itemization, quest compass (witcher sense) and a dearth of options for solving problems because all those things are intellectual COMPLEXITY. And complexity is - for some reason - the bane of modern AAA RPGS.
Actually, it isn't a mystery as to why: it's because that is what sells. Relationship simulators, cutscene simulators, trite power fantasy. The market that bioware tapped into with Mass Effect and Dragon Age has just continued to grow, to metastisize like a soft-mass tumor. Only this tumor has money, and throws it at shitty games like the witcher.
edit:
gamurs can't face the realization they're just as easily tricked by bling as a normie playing on his $100 console with mouth full of doritos.
