An epic review & feedback for an epic game (spoilers)...

[AllanWalton]

An epic review & feedback for an epic game (spoilers)...

Hey,

Game dev here - I like to write down my thoughts on games when I complete them as we like to discuss the games of the moment at work - what we can learn from them or just how much we enjoyed them - Finished my quest last night after 120 hours - so thought I would share as (since you all know already) this game is pretty special.


Everything meant in as constructive a manner as possible.


Cheers!

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******WARNING : SPOILERS***********
******WARNING : SPOILERS***********
******WARNING : SPOILERS***********
******WARNING : SPOILERS***********

Wow. Just........Wow.

Is it perfect? No. No game is, but it's not far off and I simply don't care about the faults - it's a game that is stronger than the sum of it's parts - all of which are well implemented and fun to play at the very least anyway.

Not only has the RPG bar been raised - this is the new benchmark against which other RPGS will be judged (and I mean all RPGs, not just fantasy ones) - but I think ALL story based games are going to be compared against it in terms of the quality of the characterisation and writing in the same way The "Last Of Us" is. (or more likely "was");

Since I played DA:I before this comparisons have to be made and I think Bioware should be taking a long, hard look at themselves right now because this blows DA:I out of the water in every department and it's only 6 months old (whereas skyrim is four years old so it's slightly more understandable that it doesn't compare). The fact that this was made by a relatively small team (in comparison to the EA/Bioware behemoth) and is absolutely huge yet packed with high quality content should have alarm bells ringing at EA towers.

Not to dwell on another game but there's at least five points in my DA:I review that I felt W3 addressed conclusively. I think if DA:I got released now, it would get 6s and 7s instead of 8s and 9s because of W3. It's not really fair to pick on DA:I as it's back to the drawing board for a lot of developers after this but I hope this starts the resurgence of the hardcore RPG after the recent dumbing down trend by EA/Bioware.

Would I buy the sequel? - nah (lol). errr, yes I think so. So much so I'm tempted to go and camp outside GAME now so I'm first in line.

An absolute titan of a game that's rocketed into my personal all time favourites and single handedly given me hope that games are going to progress to something even greater with this generation instead of being rehashes of whats come before with prettier graphics.

Simply brilliant.

GOTY 10/10

The beautiful:

• It's been a particular pleasure for me in that I'd (like many people) never heard of The Witcher before W3 came out. It's not often an entire franchise / developer has bypassed me completely and even less so that it turns out to be something I enjoyed so much - to the point where I've started reading the books and will be playing the Witcher 2 next. It's been like some how missing and then discovering Star Wars or something - amazing.
• The down side to this being that this really does appear to be the last journey of Geralt (although the 600% sales increase over W2 might lead them to rethink that one) - they've written themselves into a hole narratively with the individually character endings of this one so they'll have to come up with a clever way to get round them. I've got faith though. They've earned it. TBH given my ending (The Witcheress), I'd be perfectly happy to play as Ciri in the next one. Can't wait to see Cyberpunk 2077 - the hint that Ciri might be in that gives me chills.
• When it came out, Edge described GTA V as converting game narrative from a single character movie style narrative to a tv box set style narrative with the three character strands and the overlapping between them. In the best possible way, this is a soap opera or multi season tv show.
• In narrative terms, not since the 'last of us' have I been so absorbed by the characters and occasionally forgetting I'm not looking at real people. Last of us only really had Joel and Ellie - here's there's a whole cast of wonderfully realised people with their own motivations and methods of solving their problems. I genuinely cared about what happened to these guys and am going to miss them. Absolutely stellar. Does it get any better? It made me realise the quality of the writing wasn't as good as I thought it was in DA:I - everyone is earnest and squeaky clean in dragon age. Everyone is either good or bad and no real discrenible foibles. Iron bull had a thing for the ladies. Big whoop. Here people have genuine character faults, have committed monstrous deeds and your friends can be manipulative as well as helpful. The characters are for all intents and purposes real people. The strained awkward conversation-with-an-ex when geralt meets up with triss highlights this perfectly but the game is packed full of moments that are "real" that we empathise with.
• In gameplay terms, I absolutely love that each evening game session was like a new episode of "the continuing adventures of Geralt" and you don't know what you're going to find. (For some reason I think of Geralt as "The Littlest Hobo", travelling from town to town helping people with their problems lol). So many times i set off to do a mission on the other side of the map but got sidetracked by newly discovered missions, characters, places and things that led on to other new things and really branched out. I'd turn around after several hours of doing completely unexpected quests and contracts and go "what was i doing here again, oh yeah totally forgot about that original mission". Pretty standard for an RPG but masterfully implemented here - Love it.
• The quests - In terms of quality, there are no side quests or main quests - only quests and they were all really well written and fun to play. I loved that quests can go off on wild tangents. The high stakes gwent tornament for example. Thought i would play cards. Ended up burgling a warehouse with a nilfgardian spy who i ended up taking to dinner and bedding. Lol. Cannot think of a single duff quest that didn't hit at least one mark of greatness. Even the witcher gear quests - some of those really exploded into large, absorbing quests - the battle with Kivan the tortured witcher one for example). I remember thinking "surely they didn't put all this in, just for 1/7th of a collect-em-all quest? This must have taken ages" - wrong, of course they did.
• The father / daughter dynamic of the main story was refreshing. It wasnt about getting the girl or personal glory. Ciri's line about it being her story, not geralts was amazing. Although I'll admit to a touch of coginitive dissonance since I thought Ciri was hot as hell lol
• The ambiguity. There is no right or wrong decision. Only decisions and the "best" doesn't always lead to the right outcome from high level main path quests to the lowest levels of dialogue (people being insulted if you refuse to take their coin for example). Loved it.
• Love that you can't romance every woman you talk to but think i would have preferred the option of trying and getting knocked back rather than just blanket "cant do it". (Maybe yen or triss could have found out about it later too). Cerys and rosa were definitely Mrs material. Lol. I think it points to the strong female characters and excellent writing that i have favourites at all.It's all about Yennifer for me. Some people are saying Yennifer's a bitch - I just think she's a strong independant woman with her own agenda who doesn't take bullshit from Geralt or anyone else - how often can you say such a thing about a woman in a game? And they are all like that - even the secondary characters like Philipa Isleheart.
• Gwent. Enough said.
• An absolute stack of "moments" in the game. Any game would be memorable for having one or two of these but this is jam packed with them. Getting a thank you card from a girl i rescued. Sunset sailing around Skellige with the white whale. The snowball fight. Smashing up avellacs laboratory. Ciri's 'death' when you first find her (I said "No fucking way!" in shock when that happened) Magical. I teared up a bit with Vesimire's funeral and thinking Ciri was dead. It's not just the serious, dramatic moments - there's comedy - Yen and Geralt swapping Dog puns while on a mission - pathos - Yen and Geralts removing the djinn and enjoying the sun set together - the list goes on and on and on and consistantly hits the nail on the head every time.
• The end of act two was absolutely amazeballs. As I said, I played it all day on Sunday and wasn't remotely tired of it at all - had to tear myself away from it and force myself to go to bed. About 6 hours of sequence after sequence where it continually outdid itself. Amazing.
• It's absolutely stunning in places. It's kind of a given these days but it's really something special - the first open world game to really take advantage of the power of the new consoles. The trees blowing made such a difference to the static environments of other RPGs. Despite being a battle hardened cynic dev, even I was going "bloody hell" out loud in various places and just standing around looking at how gorgeous it was. It also just kept getting better and better as it went on - also helped by the amazing soundtrack. I think Skyrim's soundtrack is the better of the two but stuff like the fields of arg Skellige is achingly beautiful - in fact most of the ambient music is first class. It's all combines so well to really immerse you in it.

-cutscenes that don't involve the main character and where they are not talking about the main character. It's exactly this kind of character development cutscene that gets cut out (or worse, not bothered with) in other games that make the story telling so shallow - here we get numerous scenes. Kudos.

The good:

• Highly configurable - you can tune the game to your own preferences in a lot of ways which really helped. This isn't suitable for most games but it made a real difference here being able to turn off bits of the HUD I didn't like.
• Despite the questionable development practices, the after sales service with the weekly free DLC has been wonderful. Getting new quests and the odd new item has been great. They really do know how to treat the customers well (even if they don't treat the staff well). Straight out the box you get the OST, a manual (remember those?), a history of, DLC, stickers and a lovely thank you note. Take note other pubs!
• No noticeable asset reuse at all. I went to a tower in the middle of no where and it looked to be the same as another i'd been in. Was thinking "well after 100 hours you can forgive a tint bit of asset reuse" until i left the tower and realised i'd been there before from a different direction lol. I was starting to recognise areas and places specifically because they were unique - God only knows how many people it took to put them all together.
• Real time beard growing! Amazing. Lol. I actually made a point of getting tidied up when ever i got to a major city and let it run wild when out of the road questing. lol. I've no idea why but it's such a cool thing - I guess because it reinforces the passage of time and the feeling of being out on the road.
• Love the little movies they play telling the story as you load in. The art style of them was great. Its a shame the ps4 has that auto startup / pause mode now as i needed to manually exit the game and reload to see them. I didn't realise it was dandilion himself until halfway through (same for the notes in the quest info) - all excellently written and fun to read.
• Combat is very enjoyable and I love that you will get sliced up if you don't respect the enemy. Would have loved a few more powers and once you get the Quen shield it makes things a lot easier but overall it's still the best combat implementation in an RPG I can think of. Would have loved to see their take on a mage and if they would have avoided the "spam X to win" style of DA2 / 3.
• It's almost as if it systematically takes pot shots at every RPG released over the last few years and says "hey, this is how it's done properly" - Dragonage 2 and city environments? Oh, here's Novigrad that blows that out the water. Skyrim and the desolate icy wastes - oh, here's Skellige that blows that out the water. Mass Effect 2 and it's suicide mission? Oh, here's Kaer Morhen and its multi component mission etc etc
• The witcher contracts are genuis design - there if you want to do them, not needed if you don't. I'm a completionist (at least on the first run) so did them all (even that bastard spider one that was rock solid lol) and enjoyed them all.
• Roach. Got to love her, the big useless knacker. GODAMMIT ROACH is becoming an internet meme lol. It made me laugh on reddit when CDPR released notes saying they'd fixed roach and people were "NNNOOOOOOOO" - I felt the same - while I'm sure a real horse doesn't handle quite like that, she was infused with personality and fun to ride around on.
• It's fucking huge. I remember I was disappointed with Skyrim as I was expecting a 100+ epic and did it in 75 ish. The story just ended aburptly. Not so with this game. It's the real deal in terms of size. Yet it never felt stretched out or too long. If anything the third act could have done with being more content. While there's the occasional quality dip here and there - Chasing after Dandelions five ladies was tedious as it was the closest the game got to feeling like a fetch quest - the quality bar remained consistently high over 120 hours - not many games can say that and it points to the strength of the game systems. In fact the game seemed to be paced perfectly - every time I was thinking there was a lag, there was an amazing moment (either writing quality or just from the gameplay in general) right around the corner and the funnelling toward the end where you'd naturally complete everything before the final act (even if it wasn't deliberate) made the game feel more epic / really reinforced the pacing.
• It's clever in the order the game pushes you to do the three zones in as it escalates in terms of wonder and urban structures. Velen is gorgeous but very easy to traverse and full of huts and shacks. You then get to Oxenfurt and it's amazing because it's a fully realised town. You then get to Novigrad and it's a full blown city and even more amazing. Then skellige where it just goes to town with the mountains and the environment becomes a lot harder (but therefore more immersive) to travese. I wonder what it would be like playing it in reverse.

The bad:

None of these are bad per se - just observations - I don't even know if they would make it a better game.

• Not a fault of the game but I'm still a bit unclear about some big things due to not playing any of the other games - how did Geralt and Yennifer come to adopt Ciri for example - the game doesn't explain that one (don't bother either, I'll find out shortly enough with W2) - I generally didn't care - my bad for not playing the others but it made a difference.
• Some of the decision points don’t seem to have any relevance to the outcome they cause - for example, with the bloody baron, killing the whispering hillock determines if he lives or dies. Where’s the connection? I get that in this world you can’t always know the outcome and the effects it will have but in some cases it was too disconnected to have any meaning. Having said that, the decision making points between Ciri and Geralt were absolutely masterful and I liked that the ending was more reflective of your play style in total rather than boiled down to one point which I think was very cool.
• Not enough character head models so you started seeing the same people again and again and again. Fast travel can make this painful - i was next to the blacksmith in kaer tolde and fast travelled to the other side of Skellige next to a blacksmith using the exact same "red sash around the neck" model. Lol.
• The roleplay was a tiny bit limited in that the dialogue options were mostly about getting more info or backstory rather than allowing you to express your personality (a la good / bad bioware style). The majority of the dialogue was of the "why wouldn't i want to ask about this?" persuasion so there wasn't really much choice (other than don't ask at all which isn't really an option as it's only harming you) so could have been automatic. Suppose they had to keep the player involved as some of the conversations were quite lengthy (no bad thing in my mind).
• In a similar fashion, its definitely a lot more hardcore than DA:I but not that hardcore. I love prepping for a contract but other than applying oils, there's not that much to it. I read an interview with Ryan Giggs once where he explained he had ~15 pairs of boots in regular rotation he uses for different situations when playing football he uses - wet / dry / training / match / hot / cold / grass type etc etc. I remember it really hit home the idea of what it meant to be a professional at something. To have a greater depth of appreciation for the tools of the trade and the needs of the situation. For me, the Witcher should have embraced that a lot more with Geralt having a witcher cache with different armour types, sword types (or rather swords with different runes in them for different enemy types) / the lot so you could completely prepare for an enemy. ignorable if you're not interested but there if you want to do it - like all good game systems. (loved the tag line "the world doesnt need a hero. It needs a professional" the game was marketed with btw). Having said that, those concerns faded out after act 2 when the story became the main focus. (I'd already completed all witcher contracts so I guess that's why too).
• The number of interactions with the world could have been bumped up with lots of little things. I would have loved to have been able to give the novigrad beggars a coin if id wanted to for example.
• The autosave system veers between awesome (when on a mission) to not much cop (when exploring on your own). Its frustrating to explore for an hour, get killed and be reset to where you last completed a mission. A periodic save every 15 mins wouldnt hurt surely?
• It needed to add direction to destination to your witcher senses when riding a horse to stop you taking your eyes off the environment to the minimap so much.
• I think it needed something to encourage the player to regularly spend money and therefore go out on contracts. I was thinking having a need to set up a base of operations by renting accomodation in the various villages / towns ( and only allow mediation in them) would be a good move - there's not a lot to spend your money on since you will naturally loot better equipment - in fact it was a bit disappointing that every sword or armour item someone give me in the story was weaker than what I was already wearing. In particular, the sword Crach au Crait gives you - been in my family for generations he says - straight off to the pawn shop as soon as I get my hands on it because I'm already carrying a better one lol.
• Some of the frame rate dips were pretty bad in places but I personally don't mind them that much - from the way people were going on about it on places like Neogaf, it was like the game had come round to their house and personally insulted their mother or something.
• ui gripes. Really needed a sort by distance or "nearby quests" added to the minimap / quest log. It was frustrating to travel all over the world and then find out the next quest was where you just were.
• having to switch to the UI a lot needed to be cut down - Mediate could have been doing in game rather than going to a menu with a button press. Would have been cool to see the time of day change in fast forward as you hold X to mediate.
• When picking things up, you should be able to consume, read and use items without putting them in your inventory. (The game could remove the option for essential items you need to take). Just to streamline things a bit. It was also quite annoying to constantly hit the inventory limit and have to manual sort it by dropping rubbish items. Maybe a "only pick up higher level objects" button.
• Really needed a cache for storing stuff - this is being sorted for the next patch - Will be interesting to see all the changes they are putting into the game with the patches.
• The alchemy tree was rubbish. I spent one point on it just so i didnt ignore it completely.
• Could have done with a few more world changing events like the Baron's house catching fire, the ships invading skellige etc etc.
• It ended. Boo! lol. Seriously though, RDR was another game it compared to on release (and it blows that out the water too) because of the mission structure and horse riding but one thing RDR did have is an end game playing as Jon's son with your one final objective. I think the game could have done something like that instead of just dumping you in the world by yourself. Witcheress ending? Play as Ciri from then on. Empress ending - play as Geralt but with people still in the world. Geralt dead ending - well tough, back to the main menu for you - don't be an asshole to your daughter next time eh? It's an odd complaint to have for sure - but was quite sad to just dump Geralt back in Kaer Moran by himself with nothing to do - didn't really want my last memory of Geralt to be that - I thnk I would have preferred it to stop completely and go back to the main menu.

The ugly:

• While I'd prefer this to just be a review of the game (so it's doesn't affect the score), it's impossible to ignore the development information. Sounds like absolute hell on Earth. Such a shame and a black mark against the management at CDPR. As I said, I considered asking the mrs about a theoretical move to Poland I was so impressed with this but no chance. I really hope the staff get rewarded for this - CDPR seem to genuinely care about their customers (see below). I really hope they apply the same care to their staff when it comes to bonus time. (Although in my opinion, unless we're talking six figure, borderline don't have to work again, bonuses, NOTHING is worth what they apparently went through). Shame.
• The long load times were harsh. It seems they just dumped everything out of memory and started from scratch - it seemed to take longer than loading in from the main menu on occasion - sure they have their reasons but they were painful - especially going up against a contract that was capable of one shotting you so you'd play for 20 seconds, 2 min reload, 20 second, 2 min reload etc.

 

[moonknightgog]

For me, the Witcher should have embraced that a lot more with Geralt having a witcher cache with different armour types, sword types (or rather swords with different runes in them for different enemy types) / the lot so you could completely prepare for an enemy.

I think, more than items, this should have been related to the combat style, as in The Witcher 1. With enemies you can fight only with fast attack and enemies that are weaker to the hard attack.

a la good / bad bioware style)

Which is one of the worst system ever made.
Seriously, Bioware shouldn't be taken as an example of good dialogues tree.

But I see your point, more social stats checks with different outcomes and different ways to solve a quest would have been better. A la Fallout 1/2.

 

[MarkPiasecki]

While I'd prefer this to just be a review of the game (so it's doesn't affect the score), it's impossible to ignore the development information. Sounds like absolute hell on Earth. Such a shame and a black mark against the management at CDPR. As I said, I considered asking the mrs about a theoretical move to Poland I was so impressed with this but no chance. I really hope the staff get rewarded for this - CDPR seem to genuinely care about their customers (see below). I really hope they apply the same care to their staff when it comes to bonus time. (Although in my opinion, unless we're talking six figure, borderline don't have to work again, bonuses, NOTHING is worth what they apparently went through). Shame.

What are you talking about?

 

[AllanWalton]

I have dev friends at CDPR who tell me that the development of W3 wasn't pleasant to say the least.

TBH This isn't the best place for such a discussion - I probably should have taken that out but forgot about it.

 

[MarkPiasecki]

I agree, you should, without any proof it sounds (in my opinion) like false accusation.

But about your review - I also think that DA:I would get lower scores now. And I'm already very excited to see the competition between Cyberpunk 2077 and Deus Ex.

 

[AllanWalton]

I agree, you should, without any proof it sounds (in my opinion) like false accusation.

I can understand that - You're entirely within your rights to not believe me if you like - all I can say is that I would much preferred to have heard the development was painless. As someone who's experienced crunch too many times, It's upsetting to me to hear other devs going through it too.

Yeah, can't wait for Deus Ex too - loved Human Revolution - thought it was one of the best games of the last generation (except the very last hour on the island where it was more like deadspace) - can't wait for Mankind divided.