Compiled list of Cons or Gripes based from the press at the Global-hands on event

[Xvenger]

Compiled list of Cons or Gripes based from the press at the Global-hands on event

Hey there! To get straight to the point, I wanted to create this thread for the purpose of broadcasting a few concerns or issues from ONLY just the people who attended and played the game at the Hands on events. (jump to bullet points below if TL DR)

I thought of doing this primarily for us fans and for CDPR staff to get a summarized look or idea at what some of the shortcomings that a small number of them have expressed or implied in their impressions.
Perhaps it can also be used as a tool to reference certain points to improve on prior to/post release should CDPR decide to polish it even more. Obviously, I'm sure CDPR is already aware of a lot (if not all) of the technical issues involved on some points mentioned in the list but I figured to include them anyway just to get an honest, grounded perspective on the state of what some of the builds at that event were currently at.

All in all, I only have the best intentions for this thread & game and only meant to open a realistic view at what the first people who played it are finding as "flaws" ranging from objective or subjective point of views and whether or not if it's a minor nitpick or a major concern.

This list was gathered after an entire day of reading articles and watching the video impressions the journalists have put out. Since all these bullet points are just what I've committed to memory on the pages of info I've read, feel free to add what else is missing and I apologize for not remembering every source that I got these from so I decided to not put any altogether. Last note, some/many players have had varied contradicting experiences with this list and could be isolated cases. Also these are only the english articles.

So finally the list:

• Geralt's movements on navigation. Some have had trouble navigating certain unconventional paths and said to be not as fluid as other games (like shadow of mordor, AC) and have awkward moments on rocks, trees, cliffs.
• Horse getting stuck a few times, clunky. Similar to the point above. Some obvious animation bugs in mounting and control responsiveness such as not immediately going full speed
• Batman-like witcher sense investigation is hit or miss for others. Some might say it was used too much on quests, too simplified/ even tedious.
• Geralt feels clunky in some areas. An article specifically mentioned the XONE controller felt like "ice skating" with him, PS4 controller slightly better.
• Combat: blocking/parrying is only consistently effective on humanoid enemies. Large monsters relies on Quen too much implying no other choice.
• Combat: locking on targets. Flying enemies had some difficulty on keeping it locked it some cases
• Combat: hit box inconsistencies from boss resulting in some 'bullshit' deaths
• Combat: cases where Geralt not performing the way the user wanted. could be related to geralt's responsiveness.
• Combat: Radial menu not as fluid and would like a clear indicator to signal the user has changed Signs
• The combat for a minority is nothing too special. Just like W2 critics on combat, it's not too flashy/showy compared to others. Felt like mere distractions. Lacks "thrill of the unknown", intensity or "determination" and bland. Felt like it wasn't the main focus.
• A few have mentioned a disappointment for not having more and different conversation/dialog options. In comparison to Dragon Age where players can have deep, open 10 minute long talks with several outcomes. Perhaps they were just expecting a similar style instead of the checklist based one like W2.
• Aesthetically speaking, some felt the menus are ugly. Inventory might not be as newbie friendly
• Alchemy process and leveling up felt a little convoluted.
• Audio in voice over not synced with lip movement is apparent and can be jarring.
• Crashes. A substantial number of it occurred in console versions
• Screen tearing, frame drops, pop ins

That's about all I can think about and remember so far and will probably update it when I get the time to. Reading back to it now, it says a lot of how great the game really sounds especially if they can fix all the clear technical issues encountered at the very least. Although i doubt there would be any more adjustments for in-game mechanics related things since CDPR has said many times that it's now only bug fixing and optimization stage, I wouldn't be surprised for a patch up in the future after release.
For the most part, everything I've read so far have said nothing but praises from their playthrough besides the occasional hiccup based on something similar to this list.

 

[frivolousam]

A few have mentioned a disappointment for not having more and different conversation/dialog options. In comparison to Dragon Age where players can have deep, open 10 minute long talks with several outcomes. Perhaps they were just expecting a similar style instead of the checklist based one like W2.

Disregard this. 10 minute backstory conversations with companions without spreading it throughout the game/bad pacing, and too few to talk about after. This is no where near a rpg dialogue standard should be.

 

[Jimbob_2.1]

A couple of these (the more subjective ones) I disagree with. For example I think the number of dialogue choices is just fine. DA:I has lots of choices but I'd hardly call it deep. In Dragon Age having a comparatively large amount of dialogue choices fits because you are essentially playing as a blank slate, or "a pair of trousers" as I've heard it called. The protagonist has no personality of their own and so it is up to the player to create the personalty. In order to let the player be able to do this many options must be given. In the Witcher It's harder for CDPR to come up with more than two or three different options because you play as Geralt. Geralt already has a personality. You're not playing as yourself or a character you made your playing as him, and all the choices have to be something that would be something he might do. Otherwise you risk him losing all personality, which is a shame because he's a cool character.

I'm not saying either way is right or wrong, both are enjoyable in their own way. Personally I don't mind sacrificing a wider range of choices in order to have a protagonist with a personality

Edit: Although I'm down with long conversations. As long as they're paced correctly.

 

[PrincessCiri]

Yeah I'd also like to challenge the notion that DA:I had "deep" conversations. Sure you can say "I disagree with you" but nothing actually comes of this besides companion disapproval which doesn't matter anyway.

The Witcher's dialogue system has always been perfectly fine to me, so I disagree with that line of thought.

edit: also I read an interview today that praised the combat - and personally I've always enjoyed TW2's combat so people who didn't like TW2's combat and are now disliking TW3 - their opinions don't really matter to me.

 

[Exentryk]

I really hope they address the combat concerns (Signs mapped to buttons on PS4 controllers is one easy fix).

 

[sidspyker]

Some of those things were addressed so I'll mention that:
Horse mechanics - WIP, mentioned by Chris
"Ice Skating" - Common XB1 controller complaint, not a game issue per se.

Some that I'd like to chime in myself:
They're expecting AC like movement in Witcher? wut

Disappointed over conversions and DAI is their comparison? WHAT?
This is not a 'nameless one' template, you're a character in the world and conversations play out like that, not like you're new on the planet.

Crashing at this point is not really a big deal, if anything it's surprising the game works fine before they're done with the polishing phase.

Obvious ones:
Screen tearing - Vsync
frame drops - inevitable but would help if 'frequency' of such things happening was mentioned
Pop-in - unfixable, nature of streaming

 

[Jimbob_2.1]

Combat: blocking/parrying is only consistently effective on humanoid enemies. Large monsters relies on Quen too much implying no other choice.

You mean dodging, right? That's what they were complaining about if I recall. I mean, of course parrying shouldn't work against monsters.

 

[DukeAlmighty]

I don't approve this list.

Geralt's movements on navigation. Some have had trouble navigating certain unconventional paths and said to be not as fluid as other games (like shadow of mordor, AC) and have awkward moments on rocks, trees, cliffs.

In Shadow of mordor the world is flat, with no vegetation what so ever... don't even compare please

Horse getting stuck a few times, clunky. Similar to the point above. Some obvious animation bugs in mounting and control responsiveness such as not immediately going full speed

Have you seen a horse in real life ? It's not a rocket. Just like human it can't reach full speed in a blink of an eye.

Combat: blocking/parrying is only consistently effective on humanoid enemies. Large monsters relies on Quen too much implying no other choice.

What about dodge and roll ?

The combat for a minority is nothing too special. Just like W2 critics on combat, it's not too flashy/showy compared to others. Felt like mere distractions. Lacks "thrill of the unknown", intensity or "determination" and bland. Felt like it wasn't the main focus.

It's a witcher game not Bayonetta. It doesn't have to be flashy.

The rest is just subjective bs..

 

[BlackWolf500.298]

Combat: blocking/parrying is only consistently effective on humanoid enemies. Large monsters relies on Quen too much implying no other choice.

To be fair this was the same with TW2 and I actually liked it. It makes sense that Geralt can't just "block" attacks from huge monsters.

Alchemy process and leveling up felt a little convoluted.

Can you elaborate on this and name sources? (would like to read them, just curious, I like alchemy)

 

[frivolousam]

Some that I'd like to chime in myself:
They're expecting AC like movement in Witcher? wut

Yeah I read it and they compared it to AC/Shadow of Mordor. But the concern to be taken seriously was clunky animations when jumping over something or climbing etc. which I could see from just watching the videos.

 

[Exentryk]

In another PC Gamer interview, the point regarding easy access to the Signs was raised.

Q: I used a controller to play because that’s what the demo was set up for, but I’m curious about how the mouse and keyboard controls are coming. There are things like Geralt’s spells, for example, and you can only select one at a time on a radial menu. Is there a reason for that? It feels like they could be mapped to hotkeys.

A: I’m not 100 percent sure, but I think there is a way to quickly cycle between those skills on keyboards, and there might even still be one on the controllers. I’m not 100 percent sure. Basically, quick slot switching, and that’s something more easily implemented on keyboard, for obvious reasons, because you have more buttons within reach. But, truth is that the PC controls are still being tweaked.

Using the shoulder buttons as a shift button (like R2+Triangle, R2+Square, etc), a lot more options open up on console controllers. If one considers this, setting up hot keys for Signs even for console gamers would be possible. Doing this would improve the combat system immensely, and should definitely be looked into. In fact, just give the console gamers the option to map their own buttons as separate control schemes. I'd also like to change "Hold to Roll" to something more instantaneous (L2+Circle, etc).

 

[frivolousam]

Have you seen a horse in real life ? It's not a rocket. Just like human it can't reach full speed in a blink of an eye

Horse issue is when calling the horse, horse could stuck in a tree or something before it reaches you and this is not a list of his opinions but compilation of previewers' opinions, concerns more like.

 

[Jimbob_2.1]

I don't approve this list.

Well to be fair these are the main complaints from the previews. So in that respect there's nothing wrong with the list itself, even if the complaints are contrary to the opinions of the people on this forum. The OP isn't making these criticisms, he's merely putting them in one place so they can easily be found/read

 

[sidspyker]

I used a controller to play because that’s what the demo was set up for, but I’m curious about how the mouse and keyboard controls are coming. There are things like Geralt’s spells, for example, and you can only select one at a time on a radial menu. Is there a reason for that? It feels like they could be mapped to hotkeys.

You can already do that in Witcher 2, double tap corresponding sign button to use it immediately, no menu required. As for Witcher 3, I would assume this behaviour carries on, well I hope so atleast.

 

[Jimbob_2.1]

Using the shoulder buttons as a shift button (like R2+Triangle, R2+Square, etc), a lot more options open up on console controllers. If one considers this, setting up hot keys for Signs even for console gamers would be possible. Doing this would improve the combat system immensely, and should definitely be looked into. In fact, just give the console gamers the option to map their own buttons as separate control schemes. I'd also like to change "Hold to Roll" to something more instantaneous (L2+Circle, etc).

Hot keys for the controller would be awesome, but I disagree about rolling. I think the whole point is that's it's not supposed to be instantaneous, hence discouraging people from spamming it.

 

[yokokorama]

[*]A few have mentioned a disappointment for not having more and different conversation/dialog options. In comparison to Dragon Age where players can have deep, open 10 minute long talks with several outcomes. Perhaps they were just expecting a similar style instead of the checklist based one like W2.

I beat DA:I and I can tell you that the 10 minute long talks are a one-shot thing. You only get that length of dialogue from your companions / advisors, and it only lasts ten minutes if you sit there and exhaust all their "backstory" dialogue (which you can do as early as Haven). After you exhaust that dialogue, you are pretty much left with nothing until the next story mission, and 'that' dialogue is never ten minutes in length.

I'm not sure about the "different outcomes" thing. The only thing that might change based on your response is your companions "like" or "dislike" levels (towards you). Only a few story missions led to different outcomes, and they certainly weren't 10 minute long conversations.

 

[Exentryk]

Hot keys for the controller would be awesome, but I disagree about rolling. I think the whole point is that's it's not supposed to be instantaneous, hence discouraging people from spamming it.

If the rolls are not instantaneous, it'll feel sluggish and not responsive. Best way is to give the players the options to set it as they like, instant, or hold to roll.

 

[DukeAlmighty]

Horse issue is when calling the horse, horse could stuck in a tree or something before it reaches you and this is not a list of his opinions but compilation of previewers' opinions, concerns more like.

That's not what he wrote.

Some obvious animation bugs in mounting and control responsiveness such as not immediately going full speed

 

[Jimbob_2.1]

If the rolls are not instantaneous, it'll feel sluggish and not responsive. Best way is to give the players the options to set it as they like, instant, or hold to roll.

It's not always bad for something to feel sluggish. There is a reason know one actually rolled in sword fights, it's to slow, they've got their ass handed to them. Ok, so the Witcher combat is hardly supposed to be realistic, but still, having to constantly spam the roll button in order to survive a fight was the worst thing about the combat system for me, and completely immersion breaking.

 

[DukeAlmighty]

Well to be fair these are the main complaints from the previews. So in that respect there's nothing wrong with the list itself, even if the complaints are contrary to the opinions of the people on this forum. The OP isn't making these criticisms, he's merely putting them in one place so they can easily be found/read

Just because some dumb game journalist put it in his preview, doesn't mean, that he is right and we need his opinion to be re-posted here.
These comparisons and with AC,DA,Batman,Mordor makes me sick I don't want Witcher to be like any of those generic, repetitive, shit games.