Link to the Past: The Witcher 3

[Himu]

The beginning is pretty bad in how it pulls the player in. Right now I’m looking for Yennefer and don’t know why traveling with a companion I don’t know the name of. It’s hard to care. Witcher 2 did a better job introducing you to the story.

Other than that, I find the graphics surprisingly dated but I’m playing on og ps4.

Playing on death march.

RPGs aren’t my thing anymore and people say this game is amazing so I really want to see what the fuss is about.

[Coax]

I will say that playing it in Polish gives it more character and texture imo, but perhaps by this point you're used to the English VAs. Felt like I was experiencing some game sensory mash-up of Andrei Rublev and Henry V at moments. Sucked me right in to the foreign environment.

[Himu]

I will say that playing it in Polish gives it more character and texture imo, but perhaps by this point you're used to the English VAs. Felt like I was experiencing some game sensory mash-up of Andrei Rublev and Henry V at moments. Sucked me right in to the foreign environment.

No I’m not used to it in English. I’ll put it in polish.

[Himu]

I’ve played mostly arcade games or old 2d console games the past few years so the amount of tutorials isn’t something I’m used to. Falling asleep. Not a game to play when exhausted it seems. Playing Gwent. It’s neat the game has a card game.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Its only the best videogame of the last 15 years.

But like fine wine, it’s not for everyone.

Death March is also pointless.

[Himu]

I’m at the beginning of the game in an inn. Not saying I don’t like it.

[Cerveza mas fina]

This game is just so immense, whatever you do just go with your gut and dont reload when choices dont pan out as you wanted them to.

Oh yeah: turn off all the shit on the map, play this game as an adventure not a collect a thon.

Like this is my favourite game of all time 

[Coax]

Novigrad has such a character, with its mix of slums and higher class districts, dirty streets and docks. I remember spending like a quarter of an hour the first time I reached one of the shores just soaking in the music and atmosphere at dusk. Later discovered the fun and challenge of rooftop exploring.

[Raist]

Falling asleep.

Should have been the subtitle, instead of "Wild Hunt".

[Rufus]

The first area is a tutorial of sorts. If you make it out of White Orchard, you'll be in the game proper.

[Svejk]

No game has done side quests as well as W3.  Interwoven into the main quest(s) with such craftsmanship...  And dat Bloody Baron story. 

[Rufus]

Oh, also, the difficulty curve is inverted in this. It only gets easier. I recommend ratcheting it up slowly, when you start to feel untouchable. Early on, you'll get destroyed by a pack of wolves, nevermind drowners and their deceptively nimble attacks. No need to punish yourself with Death March at that stage.

[Himu]

The first area is a tutorial of sorts. If you make it out of White Orchard, you'll be in the game proper.

Thank you.

Oh, also, the difficulty curve is inverted in this. It only gets easier. I recommend ratcheting it up slowly, when you start to feel untouchable. Early on, you'll get destroyed by a pack of wolves, nevermind drowners and their deceptively nimble attacks. No need to punish yourself with Death March at that stage.

Ok

[CrazyDiamond]

Been playing this since last year, just got back to Kaer Morhen yesterday. The game does get better later on. By the time you reach Velen and meet the Baron the plot picks up and it starts getting really good. I also love everything about Novigrad; the city, the characters, the quests, killing witch hunters, and Triss is there.

That said, the sidequests piss me off a bit cause there are so many of them and, while there are a number of really good ones, a lot others are really boring. I have a metric ton of stuff to do in my quest list and I'm already levels beyond the recommended for the main quest line.

The combat is a bit clunky too. But it's pretty simple so I guess I got used to it.

[MMaRsu]

I find the graphics surprisingly dated but I’m playing on og ps4.

Compared to what other open world RPG exactly?

[thisismyusername]

The beginning is pretty bad in how it pulls the player in. Right now I’m looking for Yennefer and don’t know why traveling with a companion I don’t know the name of. It’s hard to care. Witcher 2 did a better job introducing you to the story.

Vesemir.

If you haven't played the first, or read the story you're going to be lost about the beginning.

Death March is also pointless.

Deathmarch is how the game's meant to be played.

Himu: Don't listen about cracking down the difficulty (go for Blood and Broken Bones at most), one you start getting oils, apply those, use your signs, and roll/dodge around smacking enemies.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=649340280&searchtext=%5BEN%5D+Walked+the+Path

Use this. Once you get Quen Shield, the game becomes somewhat trivial since 1) Deathmarch! and Blood and Broken Bone's turned-off meditation heal won't matter (since you'll be using all the food you collect, but Quen Shield recharges your health) 2) Quen Shield can temporarily stun enemies (not very long, but still) and give you a wack or two in before rolling/dodging.

Groups of enemies will be a problem for a short bit, but that's why you use your bombs/signs, and get strong alcohol to recharge.

Basically Deathmarch! forces you to use the systems in the game, whereas the other difficulties (beyond healing in Blood and Broken Bones) doesn't.

[MMaRsu]

If you haven't played the first, or read the story you're going to be lost about the beginning.

Disagreed, never played the first two games but I got on fine with the beginning of TW3. It was obvious they are searching for someone close to Geralt. Why exactly only became clear later but that's no worry to me. Sure there are some details that are lost ( like who is Vizemir etc but honestly it's his mentor that much is clear like 15mins in right? ) but it was all pretty obvious.

[Brehvolution]

OG PS4 

PS4 Pro/xbonex/PC 

[toku]

great videogame

[Raist]

I find the graphics surprisingly dated but I’m playing on og ps4.

Compared to what other open world RPG exactly?

HZD.

[MMaRsu]

I find the graphics surprisingly dated but I’m playing on og ps4.

Compared to what other open world RPG exactly?

HZD.

Eh I would hardly call it an RPG but if it is, the amount of NPC's, sidequests, amount of content and the size of the world aren't really on the same level.

And I really liked HZD.

[Raist]

You were asking about graphics

[Svejk]

LOL. There's absolutely nothing dated about the graphics of this game.   

[Let's Cyber]

Remember to check vendors for treasure maps. 

Once you get around level 7 or 8, go hunting for the Griffin school Witcher set. If you don't have the treasure maps by then just google the vendor that has them for sale, then go find the schematics. They're called Scavenger Hunts in the menu. After you find them, go to an armorer (Crow's Perch) and craft that shit. Every 4-6 levels you should have access to a new Witcher gear set or a better upgrade of an existing set. There shouldn't be a reason to wear the random shit you pick up off the ground as long as you're crafting the Witcher sets close to your level. They're the best in the game.

[El Babua]

Great game!

It gets super easy on the lower difficulties unless you're playing any of the expansion content so I do recommend staying on either of the hardest two.

Game is way less janky and much improved in terms of menus and systems since launch. Would be awesome if they had a more engaging loot, scaling system and more responsive/better feeling combat. Otherwise, it's the most realized RPG ever made.

[etiolate]

I really love the game. There's so many places, characters and stories that stick with you.

I never finished hearts of stone and been meaning to invest another sitdown with the game.

[Human Snorenado]

My GOAT. Still shocked that a game I picked up because I thought it looked cool ended up as my favorite of all time. When it clicks it clicks and demolishes most open world games on the market.

I sincerely hope we get to see CyberPunk 2077 this year. Not even a release, just show me that shit.

Rumor is a big presence at E3. I certainly hope so.

[Himu]

So far it seems typical wrpg. Person asks you to do thing, like recover a pan someone stole, you do thing. Go to marker for main quest, ask about damsel in distress, have to scout out two different people to get info to kill a griffin. I’m really bored but I’ll keep playing to see where it goes.

[Himu]

Oh my Goooood, go to hunters house, he’s not home, find hunter, THERE’S WILD DOGS, I will tell you about the griffin after we kill the dogs and on and on and on.

[Himu]

Yeah it’s really zzz I’ll take your word for it

[Let's Cyber]

Prediction.

Himu quits before making it to Crow's Perch and declares all modern, non-fighting games as trash.

 

[etiolate]

You need to do the Bloody Baron. That is the point where the world and everything clicks.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Witcher 3 is like an inverse FF7.

After you leave Midgard you are like woaaa there is a whole world out there that is like this? But its a ruse.

Here you leave the starting area and  and then the story gets so good and you are like  you play for 10 hours more and think to yourself now they must run out of good stuff but they don't and after 50 hours you are like  and by the end you forgive Borys and Kosma for being racist Polacks and there is no black people in the ggame because if their flawed people can make this masterpiece then all is forgiven 

[Cerveza mas fina]

Ok went to GOG, saw the GOTY version is on sale and pulled the trigger.

I tried playing the standalone expansions on PS4 but I think I might have to do a whole replay to get into it. With superior PC graphics.

This is probably the only time I will have to really sink teeth into a game like this.

[desert punk]

As much as I like The Witcher 3, let’s not kid ourselves and pretend that every side quest is on par with or close to the Bloody Baron plot line. At the end of the main game I was a bit fed up with the quests that mostly followed the same structure of using your witcher sense to get to the victim or a fiend or whatever. They still try to keep up with decent writing but to fill a huge open world with interesting quests is not an easy thing to do. I still think Fallout: New Vegas has the better writing, but perhaps may not be the better game overall.

This is why I’d like an occasional return to the tight WRPG experiences of the old Bioware days. But after Skyrim no one wants to do them anymore, not even Bioware themselves. Only crowdfunded isometric rpgs scratch that itch today, and I’m afraid I suck at them too much to completely enjoy them

Anyway I don’t really blame anyone for perhaps feeling bored after a while, though Cindi should at least give it a try for a while longer because the peeps here are right: Things do get more interesting after White Orchard, especially when reaching Novigrad.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I dont think the writing falls off, its just after 60 hours you might be burned out on the universe in general. Only so much you can take of anything really.

It's impossible to expect not to get bored at some point.

[Raist]

Yeah it’s really zzz I’ll take your word for it

Don't hold you breath.

[CrazyDiamond]

I finished the main game the other day. Main quest is overall pretty good after it gets going, but by the time I was halfway through with Novigrad I straight up dropped all the conttacts and most sidequests that didn't look interesting. Never even got around to the races, dabbled a bit in gwent but went nowhere with it too.

Still I really like this game. Love Ciri too.

[bork]

I finally bought this on Steam.  The GOTY version with all the DLC for $20. 

Now it can sit uninstalled and unplayed alongside The Witcher and The Witcher 2! 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Are the first two even worth bothering with since III is apparently so awesome?

[close]

[Svejk]

I finally bought this on Steam.  The GOTY version with all the DLC for $20. 

Now it can sit uninstalled and unplayed alongside The Witcher and The Witcher 2! 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Are the first two even worth bothering with since III is apparently so awesome?

[close]

To own? Yes..  To play? No.

[desert punk]

The first one is pure Euro jank so not really tho it ain't bad either. Witcher 2 is a great game tho and still pretty but unlike the next game, it's no open world (linear, though with branches like Bioware games etc.).

None of the first two games have to be played in order to follow the plot, though they might make you more familiar with the Witcher universe in general.

[Human Snorenado]

Prediction.

Himu quits before making it to Crow's Perch and declares all modern, non-fighting games as trash.

 

tbh this is the only possible outcome, I heartily look forward to her shitting all over the game despite only playing like 5 hours of it or whatever. Most predictable poster of all time ever.

[Himu]

How do I brew a potion for that quest?

[HardcoreRetro]

You open a thread on TheBore and then whine about the zzzzzzzzz...

boring game.

[Himu]

Prediction.

Himu quits before making it to Crow's Perch and declares all modern, non-fighting games as trash.

 

tbh this is the only possible outcome, I heartily look forward to her shitting all over the game despite only playing like 5 hours of it or whatever. Most predictable poster of all time ever.

[tiesto]

Have you played the other Witchers before, Himu?

[etiolate]

I really love the game. There's so many places, characters and stories that stick with you.

I never finished hearts of stone and been meaning to invest another sitdown with the game.

I went back to Hearts of Stone and not sure hwo I feel about it. The change of pace was amusing at first, but there's so much talking in the expansion that it sometimes feels like a TellTale game.

[Himu]

Have you played the other Witchers before, Himu?

I’ve played the intro and beginning of Witcher 2 and really like it but can’t run it on my computer well so I have never been able to get far.

[Himu]

Death march is an hp sink. lowering difficulty.

[Cerveza mas fina]

I started hearts of stone, remember it being pretty hard on ps4 so just lowered difficulty to just story setting and will increase from there.

Maybe if I had all my proper gear I wouldnt need to, but after a 2 year break and just basic gear I dont feel like going through the struggle to get it again.

[Himu]

Got out of white whatever. Now that it’s into the politics of the world and stuff it’s more interesting. That intro was atrocious and should have been optional like Witcher 2’s.

[Raist]

Post-Midgar FFVII isn't an endless copypasta of Midgar though 

[mormapope]

Witcher 3 respects your time and intelligence as an adult human being. That's something I cant say about 90% of JRPGs in existence. Witcher 3 sorta shifted and cemented a taste for European and Western RPGs exclusively for me.

Cant really praise that aspect of The Witcher 3 enough.

[thisismyusername]

That intro was atrocious and should have been optional like Witcher 2’s.

It's better if you've read the books and did the first two games.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Because you're hunting for your canon love-of-your-life-due-to-a-wish after they and you got taken by the Wild Hunt after saving Ciri in the series of novels. CDProject gets around the novels "death" (and Sapkowitz is doing this with this new novel that is supposed to be releasing in May) with Geralt returning with amnesia in the first two games (which is cleared by Triss in the second one IIRC), so the stakes are "high" since you're trying to find her and figure out WTF went on post-book.

[close]

Also did you get the Gwent cards from White Orchid dude in the Inn? If not, you're hosed. If you did, start going around asking shop-keepers "how about a game of Gwent?"

Gwent is like the FF8 mini-game of Western RPG's. So good that they made a Standalone (and are trying to balance it for PvP because Spies + Decoy = OP).

Death march is an hp sink. lowering difficulty.

It's only an HP sink for the very beginning. Once you've got the Cat-school (or really any better sword damage) gear, it becomes way more manageable.

[Dickie Dee]

I finished the main game the other day. Main quest is overall pretty good after it gets going, but by the time I was halfway through with Novigrad I straight up dropped all the conttacts and most sidequests that didn't look interesting. Never even got around to the races, dabbled a bit in gwent but went nowhere with it too.

Still I really like this game. Love Ciri too.

You missed the best conversation in the game

[etiolate]

I should do a new save and get my true waifu

[thisismyusername]

I finished the main game the other day. Main quest is overall pretty good after it gets going, but by the time I was halfway through with Novigrad I straight up dropped all the conttacts and most sidequests that didn't look interesting. Never even got around to the races, dabbled a bit in gwent but went nowhere with it too.

Still I really like this game. Love Ciri too.

You missed the best conversation in the game

Wrong! Another mistake.

get my true waifu

#TeamYen, right? You aren't on the losing team, right?

[Himu]

Made it to Velen. I want to do the bloody baron quest before I write the game off but I admit it’s not doing anything for me. I’m just bum rushing the main quest. I used to be the type of player that loved side quests and exploring worlds. Been there, done that.

Playing on easy mode so I can just do the story and not fuck with anything else.

[Coax]

For a while I saved posts of turnarounds where a poster disliked whatever about the game initially, picked it up at some point later and it clicked, becoming one of their fav experiences. Saw enough to collect them. For some it was revisiting their impressions following a particular area/quest/expansion, returning to it after a break, some sold their copy or tried to get a refund after disliking it only to later buy it again and it become their favorite WRPG. Was different for each person. A few examples:

Poster

Starts a drag and uninteresting, gets better moving on. I started it like you, sold it immediately. Got back to it months after... now it's the best wrpg I ever played probably. DLCs are the real thing btw, Hearts of Stone and Blood&Wine are not just better than the main game itself but better than most other games. And they're fucking DLCs! Amazing stuff.

[close]

Poster

When I first put the game in, last year, I knew the hype this game had - the love and the adoration that everyone gave it. So I went in expecting a masterpiece. Note that I don't usually play RPG games because I think they are too tiresome and are just not for me.

So I went in and I felt super-overwhelmed with everything that I could do in White Orchard. The inventory system felt alien to me and the combat felt lackluster. I just wasn't enjoying my time with it. I dragged myself through to the Bloody Baron and still wasn't feeling it. So I gave up on it.

Then a few months later, Horizon released and I played through it, loved every bit of it and got the groove of RPG games - thankfully it was light RPG so I didn't feel overwhelmed.

So I decided to put in Witcher 3 again and give it a shot since I had, sort of, a hang of the RPG elements a game like this could provide. I still struggled at first but now I'm hooked. Now I realize what the hype was all about. I'm almost done with Novigrad and I have still so much left, I feel, to explore. I'm doing all the side quests, the Witcher contracts and regularly progressing the story.

I have to say, I'm glad I gave this game another chance.

[close]

Poster

I really thought I would enjoy this game. I'm honestly a bit shocked at how much I dislike it. Going by all the rave reviews and impressions, I'm just baffled at how much I disagree, at least after the first half dozen hours. What the hell am I missing? I feel like the world and atmosphere are great but the actual gameplay is really, really bland.

Update:

Guys.

GUYS.

I like this game now. A lot! Clearly I didn't know much about this game going in. Novigrad.

NOVIGRAD!!!

I love big cities in games. LOVE them. And this is one of the best! It actually feels like a real place! This area has really impressed me.

Other than that, I've just really warmed up to just about everything in the game. Yes, even the combat.

[close]

Poster

Honestly, I think I was wrong about TW3. I bought it at launch last year, had stuttering issues on my GPU, felt like I wasn't making progress, and quit after 35 hours. Then, while I was at school, I bought the ultimate edition on PS4. Again, I felt like I was making no progress.

But then I picked it up again 2 days ago to catch up for HoS and B&W and OH MY GOD I can't put it down. I finally got a handle on combat, which I actually like now. The story has me hooked (at least now that I'm nearing the end). And the world and size of everything consistently amazes me. Skellige is insane to explore, especially the island with the giant. And then Kaer Morhen happened and I thought it was just one area, but it just kept going and going and going. This went from a game I thought was overrated to one of my all time favorites within a week, and I'm not even close to done.

[close]

Poster

My experience with TW3 started off a little strange. I really enjoyed the first two games in the series and was beyond excited for 3, but after playing it for a couple hours I felt so overwhelmed by the size of the game that I actually tried to refund it on Steam. My request was denied because I played an hour too long. While I was kinda annoyed, I had no excuse to not play the game now.

And boy did I play it: over 170 hours worth of playtime across several months. I have never put anywhere near that amount of time in any other single player game, RPG or otherwise. I just became so absorbed in the world.

[close]

Poster

I had a similar thing with this game. Had a 6 month break shortly after the game was released. Started playing it again around 2 weeks ago. Loving it

[close]

Poster

After playing the Witcher 3 for about two months, rushing through the story and largely ignoring all the side quests and refusing to put effort into the combat system I got bored of the game and didn't bother to finish the game. I didn't find the combat fun after coming off of Bloodborne and the world and its characters seemed kinda fun but lacking because I wasn't really giving the game a chance to spread it's wings.

Coming back to it now nearly 5 months later with the release of Blood and Wine and considering I already bought Hearts of Stone I decided to give the game another chance. Started a new playthrough and decided to take my time and actually go through the game 'properly' by exploring, doing the sidequests, taking the time to learn the combat system instead of trying to play it hack and slash and not only am I enjoying it a lot more but I'd say it's one of the GOAT games and I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me but here's why.

Story wise, the main story isn't all that great in terms of plot but it's the characters, experience and crafting your own journey along with choices that actually matter that make it so much more enjoyable, how you respond to situations along with your actions make it much more personal and interesting along with adding plenty of replayability. Will you help your friend in getting revenge by killing someone and strengthen your friendship? Or will you do the morally correct thing and not murder him but risk losing your friend in the process. Many of the characters can be pretty silly but they all seem real in some way and like they really live and breathe in the world CD Project red crafted.

[close]

So who knows.

[Himu]

Started Bloody Baron. Ciri bit is neat. Her character design is great and she’s pretty cool. Started investigating their rooms, saved and quit. I’ll pick it back up tomorrow after Black Panther.

I don’t think the game is bad but these type of games have lots of content and stuff. There’s a lot of boards with information and side quests. Then I look on the map and it’s got all this shit on it so I just stick to the main quest. I admit I’m overwhelmed. I’m not sure I like that type of gameplay anymore outside of exceptions like Fallout NV or FFXV but so far so good I guess.