do choices really matter in TW3? [Spoilers]

[kJustK]

do choices really matter in TW3? [Spoilers]

i am aware i might b stirring up a hornet's nest here but i need to understand if i'm missing anything
i love the game and would love a second run with different choices but I'm not sure there are any "real" choices!

i'm 150 hours plus into The Wild Hunt and I believe about 75% to the end, but I have started getting this feeling after comparing notes with a friend who's also at the same point in the story that there are no real consequences to our choices
truly there have been choices in conversation, whether to be rude, to hex the other party, to fight etc but does it count in the long run?
even something as grand as killing Keira (which my friend did) or getting her to Kaer Morhen (like i did) seems to have no effect; my friend won the battle of Kaer Morhen as easily as I did

my question is, and kindly provide any scenarios/implications etc, where our choices really affected anything significant in the story and gameplay except perhaps choosing Yen/Triss

 

[Sam2305]

i am aware i might b stirring up a hornet's nest here but i need to understand if i'm missing anything
i love the game and would love a second run with different choices but I'm not sure there are any "real" choices!

i'm 150 hours plus into The Wild Hunt and I believe about 75% to the end, but I have started getting this feeling after comparing notes with a friend who's also at the same point in the story that there are no real consequences to our choices
truly there have been choices in conversation, whether to be rude, to hex the other party, to fight etc but does it count in the long run?
even something as grand as killing Keira (which my friend did) or getting her to Kaer Morhen (like i did) seems to have no effect; my friend won the battle of Kaer Morhen as easily as I did

my question is, and kindly provide any scenarios/implications etc, where our choices really affected anything significant in the story and gameplay except perhaps choosing Yen/Triss

The simple and correct answer: no. You can take decisions but the world doens't change because of it. It changes because of the story but no because players decisions

 

[sv3672]

my question is, and kindly provide any scenarios/implications etc, where our choices really affected anything significant in the story and gameplay except perhaps choosing Yen/Triss

That does not affect the story or gameplay either, only a number of dialogues and the picture shown at the end of the game. Well, with one particular set of choices, there is an extra quest in Final Preparations, but that is about it.

 

[Kallelinski]

Well, you can influence who will win the war, so I wouldn't say that your choices don't matter at all.

Also what happens with Ciri at the end.

If Keira survives and has the intel from that Mice Tower, she kinda

Spoiler

cures the plague in the end.

.

 

[dragonbird]

You determine who rules the north, who rules Skellige, who rules Nilfgaard and the life/death of some of the major characters.
Other than that, no, not much impact

(Oh, yes, and what Kal said about Keira)

 

[kJustK]

That does not affect the story or gameplay either, only a number of dialogues and the picture shown at the end of the game.

that's kinda my bone with this game
in TW2 the choices seemed more meaningful, personal and drastic
of course i was not expecting something as earth-shattering as the Iorveth/Roche conundrum (as CDPR had stated so before the TW3 release) but I expected my decisions to be more meaningful than they appear here in TW3

e.g. when I did not go to rescue Philippa in TW2, it bit me hard with what happened to Iorveth; here I neither plotted to kill Radovid, nor saved Philippa nor helped Roche nor Dijkstra and nothing seems to have mattered
pls do tell me, spoilers allowed, if those things affect something
e.g. since I had not saved Philippa and she fell into Dijkstra's hands and I had not helped him, perhaps he should not have let me take Philippa away
at least not so easily, after all she tried to kill him
ths are the kinda things tht i feel wr so much btr in TW2

additionally, i think what compunds the matter for me, is i feel my choices in TW2 also didn't make any meaningful impact
having walked out of Loc Muinne with Triss, i expected there to be no mage hunts, but they are the main theme in Novigrad
there's no mention of Saskia (who i couldn't free) or Sile (who I saved) and they have not had any contribution to the story (so far as I have played)
i let Letho walk in TW2, but my friend is doing well enough without him! i expected some impact with someone as powerful as Letho

---------- Updated at 07:38 AM ----------

You determine who rules the north, who rules Skellige, who rules Nilfgaard and the life/death of some of the major characters.
Other than that, no, not much impact

(Oh, yes, and what Kal said about Keira)

i get that, and the sarcasm (good one, n i dont mind) but i think you are missing my point here (kindly read my reply to sv3672 above)
those things are either too high level or too low level (in the scheme of things) and not much personal (except for Yen/Triss and what happens to Ciri) and mostly feel like dialogue options rather than story branches or gameplay factors
if i did not save the mages (Keira, Philippa etc) and Letho and didn't help Dijkstra and Roche (and Emhyr) i should have a hard time in the game world but it does not seem to matter
if i helped Crach's children, he should have given me men, but he does not and it should affect my fight, but it does not
this is the thing i'm talking about, on the personal and middle level (in the scheme of things)

 

[Coltaine123]

@kJustK

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/40132-My-choices-from-TW2-and-their-consequences-(SPOILERS)

In the first post of this thread is a chart with all effects TW2 has on TW3

And it is really nearly all dialogue. The only thing not mentioned in the chart is the blue stripes tattoo you may have got and not removed it.


And for Witcher 3...

Yeah the choices matter. But mostly not that much or the way I hoped.

Your choices don't influce the story much. You can save some characters like Keira. But the most important consequences of your choices are only shown in the ending screen. Sometimes you unlock a minor sidequest, like a Final Kindness if you send Keira not to Kaer Morhen. And you can lock the possiblity to kill Radovid permanently if you break Dijkstras leg.

The battle of Kaer Morhen is a good example I think. You can bring a lot of characters to help you. For some you have to do their quests before. But in the end the only Keira makes a difference (and you can always save Lambert by yourself)

And for your question about not killing Radovid. The Consequence is another ending screen.

 

[sv3672]

The Keira choice is actually one of those that have relatively significant consequences in the game itself, with three possible outcomes:
- having to fight her at the end of For The Advancement of Learning - this can be a challenge for low level players
- she helps at the battle of Kaer Morhen, and also saves Lambert (which would otherwise have to be done by the player); additionally, she was planned to appear at the final battle with the Wild Hunt, but this was cut from the game
- letting her go to Radovid leads to her execution, and an additional quest in Final Preparations

For Ciri's fate, there are three different epilogues (including a winter version of White Orchard), but it is the most important choice, so obviously more resources were put into implementing it.

And for your question about not killing Radovid. The Consequence is another ending screen.

Interestingly, Radovid's death, while apparently ignored in the base game, is acknowledged in dialogue in Hearts of Stone.

 

[dragonbird]

Some specifics where you see the outcome:
Keira - if you don't stop her from going to Radovid, then, as pointed out, you get the fairly traumatic Final Kindness, and your choices may result in not only her death, but also Lambert's.
Tree Spirit - finding the childrens' corpses if you chose to kill it.
Now or Never - the choice on whether or not to go after the missing couple.
Still with Now or Never - the nonhumans being persecuted as a result of you helping the magic users. Direct impact is Zoltan not being able to help you later on.
Carnal Sins - I've never got this one wrong, but I believe you hear people talking about the ongoing killings if you get the wrong guy?
The guy who was left tied up for the drowners to catch - finding him persecuting refugees if you released him.

There's a lot of *little" results like this, but a lot of time you need to search for them, they don't make a big thing about "You Caused This".

 

[e6chan]

Wait, I must have missed out on the dialogue. Are we talking about dialogue from the troops around Oxenfurt?

 

[Sam2305]

Some specifics where you see the outcome:
Keira - if you don't stop her from going to Radovid, then, as pointed out, you get the fairly traumatic Final Kindness, and your choices may result in not only her death, but also Lambert's.
Tree Spirit - finding the childrens' corpses if you chose to kill it.
Now or Never - the choice on whether or not to go after the missing couple.
Still with Now or Never - the nonhumans being persecuted as a result of you helping the magic users. Direct impact is Zoltan not being able to help you later on.
Carnal Sins - I've never got this one wrong, but I believe you hear people talking about the ongoing killings if you get the wrong guy?
The guy who was left tied up for the drowners to catch - finding him persecuting refugees if you released him.

There's a lot of *little" results like this, but a lot of time you need to search for them, they don't make a big thing about "You Caused This".

First, the non humans being persecuted it's something that happens regardless any choice the player makes during the game so I want consider it a consequence I wouldn't put it on that list. Anyway. there are only 5-6 consequences in a game which main story last 70 hours it's too poor. Anyway. where you can find the corpses of the kids? I never found them

 

[dragonbird]

Anyway. there are only 5-6 consequences in a game which main story last 70 hours it's too poor. Anyway. where you can find the corpses of the kids? I never found them

In the church with the tapestry.

 

[Lytha]

In the church with the tapestry.

I just loaded a save from a playthrough in which I killed the tree spirit and there in that building with the tapestry are no new corpses which weren't there before the children disappeared. Small skeletons with florens on them are there from the very start. But in the save I loaded, the children disappeared a long time ago.

Do you only find them during the Return to Crookback Bog? Earlier? Later? Where exactly?

 

[dragonbird]

I may be wrong about that one then, if the corpses were already there.

 

[Sam2305]

I may be wrong about that one then, if the corpses were already there.

I've just checked the church. Nothing, No skeletons. Could you post a picture please?

 

[dragonbird]

I've just checked the church. Nothing, No skeletons. Could you post a picture please?

Nope. Maybe Lytha has a convenient savepoint?

 

[Lytha]

No, the savepoint is not fitting. It's a "get on the boat with Avallach" savepoint.

Skeletons are in the basement, and already robbed of their florens in this save. I did the stealing just after I got the dagger from the crones.

 

[saladin1701]

No the consequences of your decisions in this game are very minor and have no real appreciable effect on your playthrough. For example, Kiera not being at Kaer Morhen makes the Battle of Kaer Morhen no less easy than it already is. Sure she saves Lambert but since Lambert and Kiera are both written out after the battle, it doesn't make the slightest difference in the long run. In short, most of the 'decisions' in the game are purely cosmetic.

 

[Sam2305]

No, the savepoint is not fitting. It's a "get on the boat with Avallach" savepoint.

Skeletons are in the basement, and already robbed of their florens in this save. I did the stealing just after I got the dagger from the crones.

So we can remove that point from Dragonbird's list. Basically no consequence for our decisions

 

[Garrison72]

There are, just not as many and in most cases not very drastic. Another result of them going so big. One the best instance however are the quests and outcomes with Keira. They makes sense, are impactfull and expertly done. You can go from persuading her to fighting her to watching her die- it reminded me of TW2's bold approach. As to the battle of Ker Morhen not being affected by her or anyone else's presence, that's likely done for gameplay balance, yet it's unfortunate. DA:O did a similar thing where you contributed resources and at the final battle, the more you had contributed the more back up you had, And it really did affect the difficulty.