PlayStation has released a couple retrospective videos about CDPR and The Witcher. Although many of us are already well acquainted with the story of both, it's always fun to hear Geralt (Doug Cockle) talk about his creators:
I really enjoyed these videos and the first one reminded me, that I always wanted to give some Feedback, about one thing.
Witcher 3, cutscene. Kaer Morhen, Ezekiel fights the Wild Hunt.
At some point, he holds his weapon the way, that the blade is straight backwards.
As a Martial Artist myself, who trained with different kind of weapons, including swords, knives, etc. this always makes me laugh and shrug my head. Its a small detail, but all the great details made Witcher 3 sp perfectly good. I found only one purpose in holding a sword like that, during my Ninjutsu training...as concealment. Nothing more.
You give up every advantage a sword provides, if you fight like this.
I know, many gamers like that style, but, for me, that is an immersion breaker, because such a skilled Masterfighter, every Witcher is supposed to be, should know, that this style will put him in a bad position.
It is the same with young Ned Stark fights Ser Arthur Dayne, in the Game of Thrones episode "Tower of Joy". Ser Arthur Dayne is supposed to be one of the most skilled fighters in the world. Besides the fighting choreo was beyond terrible, he made that thing with both swords, too, so my most anticipated fight scene just gone completely south.
I believe I heard that you had a very skilled swordsman for the Witcher 3 development onder contract, so I am still wondering, how that scene actually could happen.
That is no big rage and no big deal, just, as a devoted Martial Artist and devoted Pen&Paper player, who loves deep immersion, for me, it was a breaker and I hope, in Cyberpunk I wont encounter that, too. ;-)
Keep the great work up and big thanks for it.
If this feedback belongs to other places, feel free to move it.
Ay, as another former swordsman myself, I agree The Witcher is often guilty of theatrical, fantastical swordplay -- though nowhere as outlandish as some other games, as we know. Grand stuff to watch, of course, and some of it mechanically possible; however, as grounded in reality as the game is, there are a few fundamental points which it suspends, for the sake of entertainment, or, as one former RED put it, to just 'look cool'.So, I'd say that all of that might combine to create scenes that occasionally...take liberties ...with realistic weapons play.
Couldn't agree more with the point of adding more "coolness" on the account of "realism". I won't trade any cool and realistic sword combat with the mix of Griffin gear and piercing cold. It is like a walking White Frost; in other words, a lot cooler. But it mainly depends on the expectations of the game, so in a fantasy game like the Witcher I definitely prefer more coolness. On the other hand, in a game like Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which also includes different techniques and conditions depending on higher difficulty levels, a strict and realistic combat is something to be wanted. I haven't played it, so I can't tell how realistic the combat is. The same also applies to the environment. For instance, to me, nothing beats the scenery of Flotsam's forest in Witcher 2, especially near the dock with the beautiful flute music, as it looked ultra-cool, so it genuinely felt like a fantasy game.