The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[shinymcshine]

I guess Bethesda will be lining up a £30+ Skyrim update too....

[shinymcshine]

New (free) DLC coming for W3, inspired by the Netflix show:

 

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-07-10-witcher-3-is-getting-dlc-inspired-by-the-netflix-show

[DANGERMAN]

Sounds like it's not going to be anything meaningful unfortunately 

[Maryokutai]

Maybe Nilfgardians will run around in testicle armour in the game now.

[shinymcshine]

30 minutes ago, DANGERMAN said:

Sounds like it's not going to be anything meaningful unfortunately 

 

But it's CD:PR they're great, they won't let us down......... oh, hang on......

[shinymcshine]

PS4 GotY Edition currently down to £6.99 on PS Store - esp. as there's a promised free PS5 upgrade pending.

 

[one-armed dwarf]

I'm pretty interested in this, I've never beaten witcher 3 cause ironically I leave playthroughs every year thinking 'I should play this on a higher and system I bet it would look great' and then it got to the point that I got that system and the game looked dated, doh. So I want to see if they put the Cyberpunk level of RT into this, then I can play it for 5 hours and think to myself 'might wait and try this again with higher end hardware in a few years'

[shinymcshine]

5 years on, and I playing this again (PS4).

 

I didn't really love it that much first time around, as an RPG it's too constrained, in so much that you're playing through Geralt's stories rather than creating ones of your own - so more akin to the Assassin's Creed series than Elder Scrolls.

 

But spurred on by the TV show (and I'm  now too playing a Witcher based LARP) I thought I'd go back, with more of a mindset to enjoy the lore, rather than get too frustrated with the gameplay.

 

Well, so far, the combat is much less forgiving that I remember !

[Maryokutai]

... didn't you take apart a post of mine a while ago for saying the exact same thing?

 

But I agree, if you go into any of these Witcher games expecting a classic "do your own thing" RPG you might end up disappointed. I needed a second try a few years later to fully enjoy Witcher 3, but it's one of my favourites of last-gen now.

[shinymcshine]

@Maryokutai Oops, did I, can't recall that, not in this thread, but we did have some chat about Thronebreaker - albeit it might well have been over on GamesTM.

 

Either way by time and reflection, sounds like you were probably right after all !

[shinymcshine]

It's irksome that all these years later there's still significant bugs that affect the gameplay experience.

 

I'm on the Whispering Hillock quest, and there's no speech heard from the tree when inside discussing the quest (good job I've got subtitles on).

 

Seems to have been always the case too:

https://forums.cdprojektred.com/index.php?threads/persistent-audio-problems-after-whispering-hillock.10639861/

 

Definitely recall that I had no audio (on my first playthough) when talking to the crones too.

 

FWIW I'm playing on a GotY PS Store download, whereas previously I played the disc version - so that's not 'fixed' it any.

[Maryokutai]

What I found interesting is that during my playthrough of the Switch version I encountered not a single bug. On Xbox on the other hand I had at least one quest I couldn't finish and Roach was doing his best to be a meme fountain whenever possible. I know they basically rebuilt it from the ground up for Switch so they probably took a lot at these things as well, but then couldn't 1:1 copy-paste the fixes.

It's a shame it's such a visual downgrade, otherwise it'd probably be the best version of the game (as the DLC is also on the cartridge and not just a download code like on other formats).

[one-armed dwarf]

I mean, you can't top the PC version.

[shinymcshine]

It annoys me with this particular issue that it's fairly early on in the main quest line (I'm lv 5) - so not some tucked away obscure sidequest after 50 hrs+ gameplay potentially affected by a huge bunch of variables - and if you don't have subtitles on you just miss important dialogue sections (only getting Geralt's side of the conversation).

 

It's the sort of thing Bethesda use to get roasted for (although would generally fix), but hey, CDPR's crown has now significantly slipped for other reasons.

[shinymcshine]

65 hrs later, and sticking mostly to main quests, with the occasional secondary one, and an awful lot of Gwent (I do like that a lot) and I'm done.

 

So clearly loads of noticeboard, Witchers quests, monster nests, bandit camps and gear collection not done, but that's the optional bloat of W3.

 

I'm still a bit indifferent to it, some issue is that it peaks way too early, with the Bloody Baron quest standing clearly superior to anything that happens in the latter 2/3 rds of the game.

 

And the cut scenes, so many that interrupt the action when doing the main quest lines, really breaks the flow too much.

 

But it is what it is, I'll still rather take the flexible character  development of an Elder Scrolls game over playing out Geralt's stories, and I'll be interested in future to read the feedback on the graphically polished PS5 etc versions, as for me, the gameplay really isn't all that great at times.

 

 

[bellow]

I agree with a lot of that assessment. I remember having to take a long break from the game because it was getting a bit annoying. And there was a definite overuse of the Witcher sensing mechanic.

 

I think a lot of that was down to playing it shortly after playing Witcher 2, which I thought was a breath of fresh air. That game was short, to the point, with hardly an ounce of excess fat - so when the rather bloated W3 came out, it suffered in my mind by comparison to the earlier game.

 

Having said that I copped a cheap copy of the game on the Xbox deals page recently. I'm looking forward to a replay when the XSX update hits (hopefully free), and I feel might enjoy it more going in with my eyes open to what the game actually is.

 

 

[shinymcshine]

When I finished the run I found that I was only 10 Gwent Cards short of the 'Collect em All' trophy, so figured I'd free wander and try to get them (since I like Gwent).

 

So I cleared up the remaining ones from taverns etc now I'm still showing (on the Miraculous Book of Gwent) as 1 card short from a person of no particular renown.

 

Yet I then found a few odd merchants here & there who I'd not played, and whilst they rewarded me with cards (rather than materials, if you'd played them already) I'm still oddly 1 short.

 

Any ideas why / where it could be please - or any easy way to find out (without trawling through all the cards in my decks)?

[shinymcshine]

Found it - way back in Blackbough there was a blacksmith I'd missed, albeit his dialogue was greyed out like I'd already played him (so maybe I'd lost there much earlier in the game).

 

Anyway, an easy victory, and a Wyvern card won that completed my deck (and I join the 4% who've got that trophy (PS4)).

[Sly Reflex]

So I just finished this on stream recently and thinking back over it, although I enjoy the absolute fuck out of it, it's kind of a disappointment, right?

 

The story stuff is general fantastic, but it doesn't really make any sense when you stitch it all together. I still have no idea why the Wild Hunt is after Ciri or what will happen when they get her. Apparently The Wild Hunt is commonly known in European countries so they don't really explain it according to someone I talk to regularly that comes form that neck of the woods. Lots of ludonarrative dissonance going on as well. Stuff like the Baron withholding information (Or any of the Ciri leads actually) had loads of people around them you could quiz and save yourself a load of time, She sticks out like a sore thumb, someone has seen her, it's all very silly really. The game is littered with them. It sort of reminds me of Skyrim how you'll have just finished sucking the fucking lifeforce out of a dragon, and then some whelp in a tunic and a dagger will try and rob you.

 

Combat is kind of shit, lots of incoming spam and a lot of blocking just because you've damaged them too much. It's still better than the alternatives of the time, but yeah, not great.

 

The levelling up part is kind of limited as well. From what I can gather you can only use 12 slotted skills, instead of making it so that any skill you take is a minor skill, with slotted skills being boosted. As it is there's really no need top level over 30 other than to wear more powerful armour and use higher levelled weapons, I've not played the DLC yet, and I won't be for a while yet, but yeah, it seems a bit weird to hard cap it in that manner.

 

It's a game that's better than the sum of it's parts would suggest, but when you start pulling it apart it doesn't really stack up.

 

Still incredible fun when everything is flowing right. Just not as tight as I thought it would be given how well regarded it is among the gaming community.

[Maryokutai]

The Wild Hunt wants Ciri for her Elder Blood. What exactly it would help them accomplish I don't remember either, but I think there should be an explanation in the game. If nothing else just just interpret it as a broken society lead by a power-hungry regicide looking to improve its fortunes by getting its hands on the single most powerful entity in that universe. Something like that.

 

That said I think the narrative aspects work best when the game limits itself to a more personal level. The overarching plot never drove my motivation, but the stories you experience on the way did. Helping Triss saves the mages, working out who best to succeed the throne on Skellige and so on. It's those that made me fall in love with the game, but I did need to give it a second chance as well, because its underwhelming RPG gameplay systems drove me away after a while on my first attempt. But knowing its strengths and weaknesses greatly helped me appreciate it more when I came back a few years later.

 

I'd also absolutely recommend the second DLC. It's basically a semi-sequel with a wonderfully realised new setting. I did not like Heart of Stone though, some of its characters felt completely out of place, which kind of makes sense when you look them up and realise they have been created by CD Project and not lifted from the books. But if you do play it, play it before Blood & Wine.