Topic: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt thread

@Ralizah I do think for me the game fell victim to its own success. First of all the expectations are through the roof with so many “best game ever” rankings, and secondly I’ve played games since then that have copied Witcher 3’s core ideas and so the game doesn’t feel as unique and groundbreaking as it probably did in 2015. My playing it right after Red Dead 2 didn’t do it any favors either — Roach handles like an extension of the player rather than like a real horse does in RDR2 (or in Shadow of the Colossus for that matter). It’s fine, it’s just less immersive and the detail of the world isn’t on par with RDR2 and maybe that took some of the shine off for me. I hate comparing the two games since thematically and mechanically they are not in the same realm, but I can’t help it since I played them back-to-back.
And I think Geralt is someone that takes a little warming up to. I didn’t find him immediately likable. Again, nothing horrible, just not on par with the most endearing heros I’ve played as (Nathan Drake, Joel, Aloy, Lara Croft, Arthur Morgan, John Marston, 2B, etc, etc). I realize that only 6-7 hours with him isn’t enough to give him a fair shake and I’m sure you grow attached over time.

@Ralizah The Bloody Baron extended collection of quests is seen as some of the most interesting in the game so I hope this is what clinches it for you! And I felt the same about Gwent until later in the game, by which point I'd missed some unique cards..

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy @kyleforrester87 It's good to hear the gold situation improves. Hopefully the same happens with alchemy ingredients so I can actually make some darn oils and potions!

I think "pretty solid RPG" is probably where I'm going to land with this, unless my engagement with it drastically improves over time. I won't deny that I'm eager to get off work and get back to my computer, though. If that's not the sign of a good game, I don't know what is.

Nice to see you back @kyleforrester87

I think I got so much gold from all the various weapons and armour being spat at me and I was being a bit stubborn keeping one of the lower leveled Witcher sets on instead of upgrading.

But with a high levelled Quen, stuffing Geralt's moody face with all the meat and on normal difficulty or whatever I was good to go

I think half the game I'd stuck with the default (or close enough to starting) steel sword 😅

Despite trying to be as helpful as possible, I'm not very good at making the best choices. Too often something goes really wrong as a result of my actions. I love this aspect of the game though, choices can have consequences and the right option isn't always as straightforward as it seems.

Just finished a rather interesting side quest involving a serial killer in Novigrad. It seemed very straightforward who it was, but reading the quest description after completing it made it clear that I made a huge mistake.

And unrelated note, but I have a habit of accidentally shooting everything with my crossbow whenever I want to run. That's due to playing lots of Monster Hunter World, which has R1 as the run button.

It seems like the quests can splinter as they go on, becoming more complex as a result. I spent 2.5 hours or so in a dingy cave while doing that Witch quest. It was pretty full of content: numerous items and pieces of equipment to find; lots of story content; several set-pieces; and a boss encounter.

@crimsontadpoles If you haven’t figured it out, you can use the crossbow underwater which one shots any enemies you come across.

Life was much easier in those underwater section once I figured this out..

@Ralizah Yeah, they do, at times it can feel like there are three main quests active at the same time.

@Octane @Ralizah The intricate and large side quests may have been part of what was off putting for me. Not that their design isn’t impressive and well done, it’s just I inherently think of a side quest as something to start and complete real quick — like maybe knock a couple of them out in one play session and then do a story mission too — but when 3 hours goes by whilst you chasing just one side activity and it’s still unresolved when you stop for the day, well it makes you think twice about how much time you’re going to need for each play session. I think I wasn’t mentally prepared for that.

@Octane Only three? Look at how many I have active right now (granted, one of these is more of a 'broad goal' than anything)

And countless contracts/side quests/etc.

There's certainly not a lack of content in this game.

@Th3solution Not sure about PS4, but you can save anywhere in the PC version, so I don't mind at all. I can just pick back up if my play session needs to be cut short.

@Ralizah Yeah, it seems a lot. But three of them are actually more like broad goals; the first two and the last one. The second one in blue is the starting quest for the Hearts of Stone DLC by the way. And realistically, you won't do the Pyres of Novigrad until you're level 10. I always dealt with the low level quests first.

There's definitely a problem of over-leveling if you do every quest, and as a result, you get little exp; but there are just so many quests that it wouldn't be possible otherwise I think.

@Octane Well, those broad goals are likely to splinter into multiple other main quests, right? So, in reality, it's actually a lot more than six main quests available to me atm.

I think the game over-rewards the player for completing main quests and under-rewards them for completing side content (20xp... yippee...), personally. I've basically stopped doing side content at the moment because there's very little incentive to do so.

I hear contracts reward the player well, but most of those are well above my current level. I'm going to try out one that's a few levels above me later and see if it gives me any problems.

@Ralizah I never did the side quests for their xp, but quite a lot have interesting stories/characters, or a new piece of lore. That was the reward for me I think. And of course, you never know what side quest will have a beneficial affect later on in the game.

@Octane The only really impressive content I've seen so far has come via the main story quests. It's all very cinematic. The side quests have been very rudimentary, Bethesda-esque stuff so far: kill this enemy, brew this potion, find my pan, etc. Not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but nothing really notable. Maybe that's because I'm early in the game, though.

Regardless, I think the game's reward balancing is skewed. It doesn't destroy the experience or anything, but I hope they address it in Cyberpunk 2077.

I've actually been really impressed with the side-quests in another game I'm playing: Dragon Quest XI S. They're not hugely elaborate or anything, but they're frequently charming and, usually, reward you with a crafting recipe you wouldn't have access to otherwise. And, in that game, I rarely have issues finding the materials to craft whatever new recipe I get.

One thing I do like in this game (TW3, that is) is that environments seem to reward poking around. Most of my best equipment so far has come from finding little pocket areas off the beaten path when I'm doing main story missions.

I take it you've met with the witches/crones by now @Ralizah? The screenshots you posted actually started jogging my memory about the game a bit

I remember there was something about a tree that sealed some god or something? I ended up siding with the witches... Only just mind. They were all sketchy as hell I'd just rather take my chances with the evil I already knew! 😂

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, those crones are terrifying. Very fun monsters.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy @Ralizah I did the opposite and freed the trapped creature against the crones' wishes. It was tricky to decide whether or not the creature was telling the truth, but I wanted to believe in it and hope for a good outcome.

@crimsontadpoles That ambiguity is a sign of good writing. I like the inherent uncertainty of choosing between two untrustworthy options.

@Ralizah That was really tough decision and up there with one of my fave side missions. I think most of my favourite ones have that ambiguity about them.

Eh, if there is going to be a leveling system, and if you gain EXP primarily from quests, as you do in this game, then there needs to be some balancing in that regard to make side-quests feel adequately rewarding if you tackle them near the suggested level.

It's all over the place. You play a lot of them, and they reward basically nothing. I just completed a side-quest a few minutes ago that rewarded me 500+ EXP. It wasn't longer or harder than the others. There was no reason for this disparity to exist. It's just bizarre.

This system where you craft oils/potions/etc. once and then refill them with alcohol is... very weird. But I don't dislike it.