General Gaming Revisiting The Witcher 3

[TwinIon]

With the release of the Witcher on Netflix, a $15 price on Steam, a Switch release, and the game making its way to Xbox Game Pass, the Witcher 3 is more popular now than ever. Watching the show and seeing the game pop up on so many "best of the decade" lists has me giving it another shot for the first time since release.

 

I'm playing through Gamepass on a One X, and in 4K mode it holds up pretty well for a 5 year old game. There are some rough edges here and there, but nothing too hard to look past. Some sections remain downright impressive.

 

 

I never actually got through the game last time, so this go around I'm trying to streamline my approach so I don't get too bogged down and give up again. The first time I played through I did most of the side quests, played Gwent with everyone I could, and generally progressed incredibly slowly. At some point I took a break from the game and the sheer amount of stuff there made it feel impossible to come back to.

 

Even with a fresh start the scale of the game remains a bit daunting. I'm probably a good 8 hours or so into the game at this point, and I still get info pop ups on how to disassemble this or enchant that or navigate through this interface screen. It's crazy. I'm sure that the people that want to put 300 hours into a game appreciate the depth of everything, but for me it's all a bit too much. I'm ignoring most of it, but as inventories start to pile up and given how stingy the game is with skill points and gear, every gamer instinct I have is to min/max the hell of it all, but I also just don't really care.

 

I just wish some of it was more streamlined. Where's my "sell all junk" button, and why do I have to go to a specific type of merchant and pay to disassemble gear? Why are some blacksmiths capable of things like repairs and others aren't? And why is the UI straight out of the year 2000? I could go on, but it's the cumulative toll of all this stuff that bogged me down on my first playthrough.

 

That said, there are some conveniences that I'm really happy they included. Being able to call your horse whenever and have him right there is great. Why games like RDR2 or BOTW felt they needed to make transportation more difficult is beyond me. There are plenty of fast travel points, even to ghost towns, and you don't have to activate them, just get close enough. The controls are solid, and even though it's far from perfect, having a horse that follows roads is great (I just wish Roach wouldn't get stuck on small fences all the time).

 

The storytelling in the game really has been appropriately lauded. There's a good reason it's been such a touchstone for these last 5 years, and I'm shocked how much of it I recall. There's no way in hell I remember anything from MGS5, a game which I enjoyed the hell out of and actually did complete that year. It's not nearly as pretty as RDR2, but the world feels like there's so much more to it. There's both a history and an inertia to this world, and you can see it both all over the map. Geralt is a fun protagonist to play and I have to admit that having watched the show makes me care a bit more for the other characters. I played a bit of Witcher 2, but don't remember much of it.

 

I've certainly got enough to be playing, but I'm enjoying myself enough that I might actually make it through this time.

 

 

 

Anyways, who else is revisiting The Witcher 3 or has some tips for those of us playing through for the first time?

[skillzdadirecta]

I played through it twice and plan on a third playthrough at some point. My advice is that if you're getting overwhelmed, don't feel compelled to do every quest that pops up. Just focus on moving the story forward. I think on my second playthrough I tried to do EVERYTHING so the amount of content in the game doesn;t bother me at all. You will miss out on some of the best gear if you do don't do the Witcher treasure hunts specifically. Some of those armor sets from the different Witcher schools are awesome.

[Brian]

While it does have a lot of content, I found a good portion had lore or stories to help flesh out the world. One of my favorite side quests:

Spoiler

The quest where the jilted wife cursed the husband’s new child and she would only remove if he came back.  Short quest but I loved the ending  

 

[legend]

The ending is the most satisfying ending to a game I've played. Got me in the feels so fucking bad  So I highly encourage you to finish the story out and agree with what you're doing and the other advice on just not letting yourself get overwhelmed with the enormity of minor stuff you don't have to do.

[gamer.tv]

My wife is playing it (again) as we speak (type?) and loving it immensely. She's a fan though of massively immersive games, so her favourites include the likes of Skyrim, The Sims etc. All I can say is it's given me plenty of reading time. 

[JPDunks4]

I purchased W2 and W3 on PC and plan to play through both again after the show.  

 

I never did the W3 dlcs as well so can't wait for that.

[atom631]

5 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

I purchased W2 and W3 on PC and plan to play through both again after the show.  

 

I never did the W3 dlcs as well so can't wait for that.

The DLC, especially Blood and Wine is basically an entire game in and of itself. 
 

also - I too was overwhelmed with all the stuff to do. The icons on the world map drove my OCD crazy. I turned them off and it made the game unbelievably more enjoyable for me. 
 

i said this in another thread - but I really hope with the popularity they decide to remaster Witcher 1 and add controller support. 

[Kleon333]

This was a game series I was never able to get into. By the time I discovered it I tried to play The Witcher (1) but found it just too old and hadn't seemed to age well.

 

I put 15-20 hours into The Witcher 2, but just couldn't get into it. I own a copy of Witcher 3, but have never played it. Would it be confusing without knowing the full story?

[Moa]

23 minutes ago, Kleon333 said:

This was a game series I was never able to get into. By the time I discovered it I tried to play The Witcher (1) but found it just too old and hadn't seemed to age well.

 

I put 15-20 hours into The Witcher 2, but just couldn't get into it. I own a copy of Witcher 3, but have never played it. Would it be confusing without knowing the full story?

 

Not really, the Witcher 3 was so much more ambitious than the first two that CDPR knew pretty well that it would have a large audience of people who hadn't played a Witcher game and they do a good job of on-boarding you.

[crispy4000]

I’ve been hearing that 3 is a fine place to start if you know the characters from the show, but that the events continue directly from the first two games?

 

I own all three now any haven’t touched any of them.  It’s bewildering to me where to actually start off.  

[Zaku3]

23 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

I’ve been hearing that 3 is a fine place to start if you know the characters from the show, but that the events continue directly from the first two games?

 

I own all three now any haven’t touched any of them.  It’s bewildering to me where to actually start off.  

The initial PC only release of W1 meant the sequels barely acknowledge it. Events are mentioned more in an easter egg kind of way. The W2 is probably more important but I don't remember it mattering much as well. 

[skillzdadirecta]

There are some ties to the Witcher 2 and choices you made if you played that game but they won't impede your enjoyment of the third game if you haven't played them. I never beat the first game but I own it on P.C. and I plan on replaying the second and third games (again) once I beat the first. I feel like the first game might need a complete remaster and reimagining, it's so different than the other two.

[Paperclyp]

I beat the Witcher 3 with no knowledge of the prior games and I felt I missed out on very little. That’s probably not true,  but the game was self contained and I didn’t ever feel like I was in the dark about anything important. 

[Zaku3]

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

There are some ties to the Witcher 2 and choices you made if you played that game but they won't impede your enjoyment of the third game if you haven't played them. I never beat the first game but I own it on P.C. and I plan on replaying the second and third games (again) once I beat the first. I feel like the first game might need a complete remaster and reimagining, it's so different than the other two.

I prefer rhe style of the first. Though I do feel the 3rd is where CDPR hit their stride with the combat system they were going for. I initially didn't like the W2 because of the combat. W3 is a big improvement over W2.

[atom631]

Also - for anyone who watched the show and enjoyed it, you should check out The Last Wish. It’s the first book that contains short stories which were basically where the show came from. I really think they did a great job translating it to a live action experience. 

[Mercury33]

Witcher 3 is one of my top 3 games of all time. I’ve also gone back and restarted it because of the show. Def gonna try and streamline it more this time. Not gonna chase all the “?” Down and skip side quests that seems stupid. First play though took me a whole summer haha. Gonna try and do it this time in a month. 

[Biggie]

The game never grabbed me. I think it was the world it was set in that didn’t interest me. 

[Dexterryu]

Still my #1 overall game to this day. Love playing a named protagonist with their own personality. Great characters all around and really felt like choices mattered. I've only played through it plus the DLCs only once... I skipped gwent (I just don't dig card games).

 

I want to say the main game + all side quests/contracts (outside of gwent) took me like 75-80 hours. 10 for Heart of Stone, and about 25 for Blood and Wine.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

It’s in my Top Three. 

[Dre801]

I need to actually visit it.  I've had the Complete Edition for like a year and haven't touched it.  Maybe when I finally finish AssCreed Odyssey, I'll get on it.

[Emblazon]

Just finished it a couple of days ago and I absolutely adore the characters, their interactions, the world it’s set in, and the unicorn.
 

It’s a game you just want to live in... but it does have its shortcomings. First, Roach is, by far, the dumbest fucking horse that’s ever existed. I stopped doing races specifically because riding was such a chore. From Gun to RDR, I have no idea how they got horse controls so damn wrong. 
 

Everything that led up to the battle of Kaer Morhen was fantastic, but it felt as though the game was rushed by the developers from that point forward, and the ending was quite abrupt when compared to the rest of the game. I got the middle ending, which I was fine with the outcome, but having so much story, and the outcome of Geralt and Yennefer told over 45 seconds with some crappy still art felt like a giant slap in the face and an enormous emotional let down. 
 

Also, holy fuck the traversing other worlds mission. That was the very definition of lazy ass development right there. 
 

All that being said, it’s the characters that make this game. And they are what makes it great. Also, I fucking love Gwent. I really wish it had taken off as a physical game (outside of the DLC decks). 
 

On a side note, I didn’t realize the crossbow had an auto-aim function until only a few hours left in the game. 

 

Onto the DLC for me. 

[Mercury33]

29 minutes ago, Emblazon said:

Just finished it a couple of days ago and I absolutely adore the characters, their interactions, the world it’s set in, and the unicorn.
 

It’s a game you just want to live in... but it does have its shortcomings. First, Roach is, by far, the dumbest fucking horse that’s ever existed. I stopped doing races specifically because riding was such a chore. From Gun to RDR, I have no idea how they got horse controls so damn wrong. 
 

Everything that led up to the battle of Kaer Morhen was fantastic, but it felt as though the game was rushed by the developers from that point forward, and the ending was quite abrupt when compared to the rest of the game. I got the middle ending, which I was fine with the outcome, but having so much story, and the outcome of Geralt and Yennefer told over 45 seconds with some crappy still art felt like a giant slap in the face and an enormous emotional let down. 
 

Also, holy fuck the traversing other worlds mission. That was the very definition of lazy ass development right there. 
 

All that being said, it’s the characters that make this game. And they are what makes it great. Also, I fucking love Gwent. I really wish it had taken off as a physical game (outside of the DLC decks). 
 

On a side note, I didn’t realize the crossbow had an auto-aim function until only a few hours left in the game. 

 

Onto the DLC for me. 

You might get that ending you were hoping for from the DLC

[Emblazon]

4 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

You might get that ending you were hoping for from the DLC

Really hoping to see that “do not disturb” carved onto the door. 

[Xbob42]

1 hour ago, Emblazon said:

Really hoping to see that “do not disturb” carved onto the door. 

As Geralt masturbates furiously on the unicorn because I was two-timing Triss and Yennefer.

[Emblazon]

11 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

As Geralt masturbates furiously on the unicorn because I was two-timing Triss and Yennefer.

I was 100% on Yennefer. Well, with a side of Keira. Who was I to turn down her Cinderella fantasy?

[Massdriver]

It was my fiancée’s first PC game purchase ever. She likes the show and it motivated her to try it. She hasn’t started it yet. 
 

As for me, it’s my favorite rpg ever made. I sunk 250 hours into one play through. 

[Keyser_Soze]

 

[Xbob42]

Geralt already looked perfect, but I guess if you're a plebe you can make him look like the Netflix actor.

[Emblazon]

31 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

Geralt already looked perfect, but I guess if you're a plebe you can make him look like Superman.

 

[Xbob42]

Same shit.

[Paperclyp]

You guys are making me want to go back to my last save - I beat it once, got a not so great ending, then purchased it on PC once I had a PC + blood and wine came out. 
 

My intention was to play through it until I was high enough level for the DLC (I am aware you can just start from the DLC if you like), but in retrospect that was too much to take on at the time, so I’ve never played the DLC. 

[best3444]

I just started this back up again last night. Controls are a little clunky but it's still great. I beat it back when it released.

[Mercury33]

Oh just a reminder for everyone on consoles. Don’t forget to go in and turn your camera sensitivity all the way down. You’ll thank me. 

[crispy4000]

Sucks that they still haven't added HDR to the PC release.

[best3444]

18 hours ago, Mercury33 said:

Oh just a reminder for everyone on consoles. Don’t forget to go in and turn your camera sensitivity all the way down. You’ll thank me. 

 

What does that do?