Did the ending feel quite rushed to you?

[uScared]

I dont know about ending the game after the battle of kaer morhen. I think they shouldnt have turned it into such a grandiose battle, where you have to gather allies and whatnot. Having the Witchers as well as 2 of the most powerful sorceresses and a freakishly strong elder child and elven sage should have more then sufficed for the battle. The whole "recruit your friends for the final battle" would have been much more fitting for the final fight against the Wild Hunt, not the other way around.

Its just absolutely OOC from most characters to say "Yeah.. nope, we gave it our best shot and still fucked up. Cya Geralt, good luck and so on!" I was absolutely disappointed by Eskel and Lambert not wanting to avenge Vesemir at least a little bit. I wanted to shake and scream at them "I dont fucking care that you want to poke Keira, Lambert! The world will fucking END if the Wild Hunt gets its hand on Ciri! How can _ANYTHING_be more important than that?!"

I think they should have shortened the Novigrad section as well as the battle of Kaer Morhen in favor of elaborating more on the Aen Elle, the White Frost, Lara Dorren, Ithlinne as well as Eredins and Avall'achs connection and motivation. Ending the game at Kaer Morhen just wouldn't have worked and would've left way too much unconcluded. Its "okay-ish" for people who've read the books and know these characters, but for everyone who didnt they lacked time in the spotlight.

 

[lordhovis]

Super, super rushed. Everything after Kaer Morhen really showed the signs of them running out of time. Shorter quests, less complex quests, less conversations, underdeveloped concepts like the White Frost. It all just goes to show they bit off more than they could chew.

In particular not enough time was devoted to the exploration of the Aen Elle, the Wild Hunt and the White Frost. Avallac'h's motivations are never properly explored nor is his relationship with Eredin. Also Reasons of State was a terrible quest with a non-choice at the end and the Battle on the Ice lacked any tension due to the lack of proper build up.

Act 3 really, really needs the Enhanced Edition treatment.

 

[uScared]

Act 3 really, really needs the Enhanced Edition treatment.

And I'm 99% sure that in time they will deliver on it. But right now it is as you said: They bit of more than they could chew. Again.

 

[joshmosh]

And I'm 99% sure that in time they will deliver on it. But right now it is as you said: They bit of more than they could chew. Again.

Didn't someone from CDPR say they had no plans to do an EE for TW3? Might have been a long time ago.

 

[lordhovis]

Didn't someone from CDPR say they had no plans to do an EE for TW3? Might have been a long time ago.

I do recall seeing that somewhere but I think it was more that they were sure 3 would be good enough not to require the Enhanced Treatment rather than an ironclad statement of intent.

However obviously the game could really use the EE treatment and I think they'd be foolish not to consider it.

 

[Jou05]

Yeah, the Isle of Mists could have worked well without those dwarfs. However, the wisp appearing was done perfectly imo.

1. I think everyone knew that Ciri was alive during that scene.

2. The point of the scene was not to trick us emotionally. The point of it was to trick Geralt emotionally. It was put in to show another side of his character, the loving father. It was put in to show true grief and sorrow from a character that is practically incapable of doing so. It truly does drive home the fact that he loves this girl more than anything. That's why it's a tearjerker (atleast for me lol).

2. It makes perfect sense. The wisp only went to Ciri's body once someone that she was familiar with tried to wake her up. I'm assuming Avallach's spell could only be lifted if and when someone she trusted arrived to wake her up.

---------- Updated at 02:58 AM ----------



You have to realize that the Geralt's story is truly Ciri's story in the end. Ciri is the important one. Geralt isn't. This is similar to the books, where many a fan believe that Ciri is truly the main character. Ciri even tells Geralt that he has to let her finish HER story.

I couldn't care less about the books though its a shame that they felt they needed to follow the books this much
Its probably TW3's biggest shortfall

Overall Act 3 is very lackluster and rushed its not just the ending
Its shocking that the same game has the Baron questline (some of the best writing in any video game I have seen)

 

[uScared]

Didn't someone from CDPR say they had no plans to do an EE for TW3? Might have been a long time ago.

Nah, I dont believe they are gonna waste the opportunity. This statement was probably made before they even had proper plans for the Season Pass. It would be foolish not to give it the Enhanced Edition treatment when they will continue to support the product well into the next year anyway. They just wont announce it right now, it would hurt the sales at this moment.

EE will come, mark my words.

 

[Tiphereth]

The White Frost thing is really a huge flaw. For no reason and no explanation, Ciri needs to go in this mysterious tower she dreamed about to end the White Frost (she can do that? Breaking new ^^). The game really needs to add some scene to explain that thing.

And more of that, if Ciri could just end the White Frost, why Eredin and the Wild Hunt don't just let her end the damn thing? No need to invade other worlds, Ciri can just save yours guys!

Really weird part of the plot.

And the Wild Hunt is a huge disappointment. It's all about a people who just try to survive. Not the good way (the book is pretty clear about that), but, well, with such a motive, the Wild Hunt could have been so more interesting than just some cliché of bad guys. They were just trying to survive. They really could have been better, and add some interesting thoughts to the game. Letho was so great it's really hard to have a simplistic Eredin after that. : ( (Really hard to believe the guys who wrote that were the same who wrote the baron story. )

I was also disappointed by the ellipsis made during the reunion between Ciri and Geralt. God, it was the first words they were about to exchange after so many years. High expectations for them, high expectations for us, readers of the book. It was so, so, so disappointing my heart is still torn apart by that. :' ( But, well, it's not at the end of the game, so I suppose it's not really the good place to cry about that). ^^

 

[CTPhipps]

I agree with this, it seems really really odd to have the big battle where you gather as many allies as possible to combat the Hunt at what is essentially the home of Witcher's is only the conclusion to Act 2 instead of the conclusion of the game. Not to mention the Kaer Morhen fight was actually quite a bit more exciting than the naval one that served the actual final battle.

I agree. It would have been cool to expand the Witcher 3 into "The Witcher 4"

 

[joshmosh]

Nah, I dont believe they are gonna waste the opportunity. This statement was probably made before they even had proper plans for the Season Pass. It would be foolish not to give it the Enhanced Edition treatment when they will continue to support the product well into the next year anyway. They just wont announce it right now, it would hurt the sales at this moment.

EE will come, mark my words.

That is my hope, but with the 2 expansions to work on as well as gearing up development for Cyberpunk 2077, I would be quite surprised if they had the resources to do an EE. Patches and other misc support, sure, but not EE.

 

[saricc]

Personally I thought the ending was great. It gave proper closure to the series as a whole. The white frost thing probably should have been explored more throughout the game, and more than anything I think we should have spent more time with Ciri. I honestly think the last act with her contained the best parts of the game, which is saying a lot, but I also feel like it could have been even better.

To people that don't really understand the white frost thing even with all the context all I gotta say is this: "What can you know about saving the world, silly? You're but a witcher."

We're not supposed to understand it completely. Just like Geralt we're sort of left in the dark. I dunno, I thought that part was pretty great. As for after that? The two epilogues I've gotten were pretty good. Ciri doing her own thing after saving the world was my favorite.

---------- Updated at 01:46 AM ----------

The White Frost thing is really a huge flaw. For no reason and no explanation, Ciri needs to go in this mysterious tower she dreamed about to end the White Frost (she can do that? Breaking new ^^). The game really needs to add some scene to explain that thing.

And more of that, if Ciri could just end the White Frost, why Eredin and the Wild Hunt don't just let her end the damn thing? No need to invade other worlds, Ciri can just save yours guys!

Really weird part of the plot.

And the Wild Hunt is a huge disappointment. It's all about a people who just try to survive. Not the good way (the book is pretty clear about that), but, well, with such a motive, the Wild Hunt could have been so more interesting than just some cliché of bad guys. They were just trying to survive. They really could have been better, and add some interesting thoughts to the game. Letho was so great it's really hard to have a simplistic Eredin after that. : ( (Really hard to believe the guys who wrote that were the same who wrote the baron story. )

I was also disappointed by the ellipsis made during the reunion between Ciri and Geralt. God, it was the first words they were about to exchange after so many years. High expectations for them, high expectations for us, readers of the book. It was so, so, so disappointing my heart is still torn apart by that. :' ( But, well, it's not at the end of the game, so I suppose it's not really the good place to cry about that). ^^

Eredin and the Wild Hunt want to use Ciri to invade the world anyway. They want to use her to open a gateway from their world to the Aen Seidhe world to take the Aen Seidhe elves to the Aen Elle world... That's atleast how it's explained in the books... The white frost isn't supposed to devour the Aen Elle (and all other worlds) in the books as far as I remember.

I thought their reunion was beautiful, personally.

 

[inanimate_object]

Personally I thought the ending was great. It gave proper closure to the series as a whole. The white frost thing probably should have been explored more throughout the game, and more than anything I think we should have spent more time with Ciri. I honestly think the last act with her contained the best parts of the game, which is saying a lot, but I also feel like it could have been even better.

To people that don't really understand the white frost thing even with all the context all I gotta say is this: "What can you know about saving the world, silly? You're but a witcher."

We're not supposed to understand it completely. Just like Geralt we're sort of left in the dark. I dunno, I thought that part was pretty great. As for after that? The two epilogues I've gotten were pretty good. Ciri doing her own thing after saving the world was my favorite.

That's the silliest excuse I've ever heard in defense of the ending. Geralt's perspective doesn't allow him to understand therefore THE PLAYER can't understand it? Are you kidding me? The player has a wider appreciation of the world than the character he/she inhabits for a few hours. That's such a cop out. No one understands the ending becomes its nonsense. What a horrible ending...

 

[saricc]

That's the silliest excuse I've ever heard in defense of the ending. Geralt's perspective doesn't allow him to understand therefore THE PLAYER can't understand it? Are you kidding me? The player has a wider appreciation of the world than the character he/she inhabits for a few hours. That's such a cop out. No one understands the ending becomes its nonsense. What a horrible ending...

I guess I didn't use the best wording. The ending with the white frost is not supposed to be blatantly explained to us. There's not supposed to be a whole bunch of exposition on it. Instead you have to look deep into the world for an explanation on the white frost. There are multiple quests in the third game that elude to the fact that Ciri will have to face it. Ithlinne's Prophecy is also present and talked about in all of the books and the games. You have to look deeper to understand it, but it will never be explained to Geralt, because Geralt will never understand it himself.

Like I said, I think there could have been more exposition, but the White Frost did not come out of nowhere. It's referenced and hinted at throughout the saga and the games.

 

[inanimate_object]

I guess I didn't use the best wording. The ending with the white frost is not supposed to be blatantly explained to us. There's not supposed to be a whole bunch of exposition on it. Instead you have to look deep into the world for an explanation on the white frost. There are multiple quests in the third game that elude to the fact that Ciri will have to face it. Ithlinne's Prophecy is also present and talked about in all of the books and the games. You have to look deeper to understand it, but it will never be explained to Geralt, because Geralt will never understand it himself.

Like I said, I think there could have been more exposition, but the White Frost did not come out of nowhere. It's referenced and hinted at throughout the saga and the games.

What you and plenty of other apologists don't seem to realize, is that a pee joke in a loading screen, and brief mentions and name drops here and there to not qualify as sufficient foreshadowing. More to the point, how the White Chill was set up in the books has exactly ZERO relevance for its placement in the books because the games are meant to stand on their own, and if someone cannot appreciate the story without having read prior novels, that's a failure on the game's part, plain and simple.

This reeks of an apologist. The White Frost is a cheap Deus Ex Machina plot gimmick. It's not explained to us because there is no explanation, not because you think people are too shallow or too stupid to grasp the nuance and intricacies of such a ham-fisted plot point. I am not Geralt. I am sitting here in the 21st century on a laptop trying to understand the possible ways that such an ending is justified in ANY circle of literary criticism. Giving massive credit to the unintelligible is joining the ranks of those who claim Bergman and Godard had it all planned out when they went down the rabbit hole of filmmaking.

Stop apologizing what what is clearly and obviously a gratuitous and throwaway ending. It's indefensible storytelling that went out of fashion in the age of antiquity.

 

[EKreuz]

To people that don't really understand the white frost thing even with all the context all I gotta say is this: "What can you know about saving the world, silly? You're but a witcher."

We're not supposed to understand it completely. Just like Geralt we're sort of left in the dark. I dunno, I thought that part was pretty great. As for after that? The two epilogues I've gotten were pretty good. Ciri doing her own thing after saving the world was my favorite.

If that was the actual thought process that went into how Act 3 was written, it was a terrible, awful, not good, very bad decision. I don't believe that was the case though, given the superb writing from 90% of the story that preceded it. I think they just ran out of time/resources (perhaps due to the very obvious issues they had with console performance) and just had to bolt on a quick ending. I refuse to believe the confusing mess that is the final part of the final act is the actual vision they wanted to implement.

I will say that the epilogues are very good (if a bit too short) at least from a Ciri/Geralt standpoint. Very well done. Would have been nice to see other major secondary characters (Dandelion etc) included in some way though, but I probably wouldn't feel that way if they were used more during the game. We barely get to see poor Zoltan.

EE please!

 

[moonknightgog]

Uhm...I finished the game an hour ago and...yes...something is not right.
It felts like there are parts of the story cut out from the game.


This really needs a big Enhanced Edition.

 

[warbaby2]

While I think the narcoleptic-dwarf-escort was a brilliant jab at stupid escort mission in other games, I have to agree that the production resources could have been allocated better... especially on the ending and the epilogue. I could have done with less main quest padding if the important bits had more substance.

Agreed to the Enhanced Edition...

 

[Tiphereth]

That's atleast how it's explained in the books... The white frost isn't supposed to devour the Aen Elle (and all other worlds) in the books as far as I remember.

Well, that's true they want to conquer the world, but that's not all. In some time during the book, they'r telling us they want to invade our world to save the Aen Seidhe from the White Frost who is coming. And this motive have no more sense in the game. And this motive was far more interesting than just "we're bad people and we want to steal your land". Now, we just have this one, and this is pretty bad. : (

And yeah, I'm not Geralt, so I need to understand the plot.

Like I said, I think there could have been more exposition, but the White Frost did not come out of nowhere.

The problem is not the White Frost by himself. Not the first time we see it in the games, and until then it was good. The problem is the way they use it in the plot. The Tower, Ciri going to end the White Frost. It really comes from nowhere. Ciri dreamed of a tower, and that's all. It's just happening too fast, with no explanations at all.

And yeah, the game really, really needs an Enhanced Edition. I'm far more concerned by a new licence (and Cyberpunk... that's just great), but for now the plot of The Witcher 3 is a huge disappointment after the second one who was great. An EE could be great to do some changes in the plot.

 

[TudorAdrian]

To people that don't really understand the white frost thing even with all the context all I gotta say is this: "What can you know about saving the world, silly? You're but a witcher."

We're not supposed to understand it completely. Just like Geralt we're sort of left in the dark. I dunno, I thought that part was pretty great.

No, that was just a lame excuse to elaborate on the plot and attempt to fill in the writing gaps using a "get out of jail for free" card..honestly, I felt it insulted the player's intelligence at that point FFS.

---------- Updated at 08:05 AM ----------

Uhm...I finished the game an hour ago and...yes...something is not right.
It felts like there are parts of the story cut out from the game.


This really needs a big Enhanced Edition.

Welcome to the club mate!

---------- Updated at 08:09 AM ----------

And yeah, the game really, really needs an Enhanced Edition. I'm far more concerned by a new licence (and Cyberpunk... that's just great), but for now the plot of The Witcher 3 is a huge disappointment after the second one who was great. An EE could be great to do some changes in the plot.

Couldn't have said it better myself..also concerned that with CDPR hyping up Cyperpunk 2077, they'll most likely leave the Witcher 3's ending in shards..wouldn't be too surprised if this happened though as they've stepped into the big players circle now (EA/Biorware, Ubisoft, Bethesda etc) so expect a lot of compromises to be made in favor of getting more sales in.

 

[maderas]

The high point of the game overall was definitely the first encounter with the Crones. It started to feel more and more like budget or time constraints effected it from that point on, though there were still some very, very good parts. Most of Geralt and Ciri's scenes together were excellent, and the battle at Kaer Morhen was also great.