every quest leads you by the nose , point A to point B

[Giralus]

every quest leads you by the nose , point A to point B

Every single quest is "go to point A then go to point B "

The Yellow Circle on the mini map ruins Witcher investigating abilities, you just go to the middle of the yellow circle and then use witcher sense and find the clues, and if you need to follow a trail you just watch the mini map to see what way the new yellow circle is in and go that way without having to use your Witcher senses . ( Turn the yellow Circle in mini map OFF when you need to use Witcher senses in the area ( at least in Hard mode, not that hard mode is hard or anything sadly )

Where are the "Figure out the clue to advance quest lines ? ,
where are the Vague hints that you have to find to progress quest ?
where are the quests that give you a general area and a few small hints and no Mini map help ?
where are the quests that are riddles and make you have to decipher them and figure out where you need to go and what things you need to find / buy / aquire / locate
where are the Quests with Puzzles in them ? Example " collect 6 pieces of a broken idol from vague locations , bring them to dungeon , use them to gain entry by assembling them and figuring out what the idol is and how to use it to gain entrance, once inside the dungeon there will be many more puzzles that permit access to the next area .

( SPOILER ALERT ,,, there is One dungeon in the game that you have to ______ and you have to figure out how to get across without dying,, sadly the answer to this is so simple its sad , and in same dungeon there are 3 _____ that you have to turn, and again Sadly this is so easy its frustrating pathetic )

this game is rated M , means the target audience is 18 to 35+ , and there is not 1 quest in this entire game that you need your brain to figure out = get quest, click world map, go to location , go to the marker on map , kill monster ,get reward .

first play through of game on hard mode and not once did i need to actually think or even get a tiny bit of a challenge to figure out any quest , not 1 .

sadly the quests are all cookie cutter go from A to B , i figured on Hard mode i would have months worth of play figuring out every quest , but there is Nothing to figure out , between the world map markers, to the linear quest line(s) to the mini map circles to the witcher senses there is nothing left for the player to do .

this game is like a super car , its a Work of Art from very talented designers , but sadly this super car drives itself , all you do is put your foot on the gas pedal ( fight monsters )


TL ; DR = game really needs some challenging quests lines with riddles and puzzles and vague hints , and there should be no Yellow circle in the mini map for these quests ( that's what your witcher senses are suppose to be for , to help search for clues once you have deduced the general vicinity you need to search )

 

[onionshavelayers]

Ya I noticed this. I'm able to complete most quests without even know what to do or even what really happened during the quest. I just follow the yellow circles and the the red clues. I appreciate the fact that the witcher senses and the clues give insight to the type of monster you will be fighting or the story behind the quest, but it feels very passive, no brains are needed.

It was fun for the first few quests but now I just find myself rushing through the investigation part cuz l feel like it's just there to drag the quest on for a longer time. If the witcher senses were more puzzle base (even easy puzzles like in Tomb Raider) they would be fun.

 

[soldiergeralt]

witcher senses crucial to the investigation gameplay. turning off breaks the game. they should just make it easy on the fingers and have it become a toggle.

 

[White_Wolf77]

I agree that the yellow circle to mark locations for investigation shouldn't exist or at least give an option to turn it off just like the POI locators. Nevertheless, imho this game delivers a much more in depth quest system than mundane fetch quests that have been plaguing other RPGs even the recent ones like DA:I.

I believe there will be mods to enable us turn off the yellow circle in the near future or CDPR could give us patch that allows us to turn on/off it...

 

[styku]

You can turn off some of the "aids", maybe not as much as you'd wish to. But I find it (markers, yellow circles) actually a good design choice. The world is huge, there are so much quests that I couldn't possibly allow myself to play "find waldo" every time if I want to finish all subplots and side quests. Lack of time for it. And investigations are a big part of the game, but not the most important. It's good that they don't eat most of your time. I feel you, but just try to remember that this game can't be everything at once!

 

[Giralus]

Ya I noticed this. I'm able to complete most quests without even know what to do or even what really happened during the quest. I just follow the yellow circles and the the red clues. I appreciate the fact that the witcher senses and the clues give insight to the type of monster you will be fighting or the story behind the quest, but it feels very passive, no brains are needed.

It was fun for the first few quests but now I just find myself rushing through the investigation part cuz l feel like it's just there to drag the quest on for a longer time. If the witcher senses were more puzzle base (even easy puzzles like in Tomb Raider) they would be fun.

yeah, its like the Witcher sense when you follow a Scent trail,, you dont even have to follow it, you just watch the mini map and go where the new yellow circle appears, its such a bad design decision because it completely negates the fact that you are a Witcher and have heightened senses to help you identify clues / trails

( and yes i have turned the mini map OFF when doing quests to try and add a hint of difficulty , but after the 20 or 30th time you get bored of going to options to turn the mini map on and off for the One part in each quest you need your witcher senses ,,,
traveling around the huge map without the mini map on is annoying because you are never in the same area long enough to be familiar with your surroundings and everything looks the same in most parts of the game so not many landmarks to navigate by ,,,
one village looks like the next ,,, one city block looks like the next ,,,,, everything brown and red ... some different colored roofs and buildings would help identify different locations BUT since you just fast travel everywhere whats the point ) i prefer to ride my horse everywhere i can but most quests have you bouncing around to every location on the World map : (

---------- Updated at 08:43 AM ----------

I agree that the yellow circle to mark locations for investigation shouldn't exist or at least give an option to turn it off just like the POI locators. Nevertheless, imho this game delivers a much more in depth quest system than mundane fetch quests that have been plaguing other RPGs even the recent ones like DA:I.

I believe there will be mods to enable us turn off the yellow circle in the near future or CDPR could give us patch that allows us to turn on/off it...

yeah there should be an Option to turn the yellow circle off ( i actually assumed that Hard mode would remove the yellow circle and also remove the ability to buy any Fast travel unlocks from merchants , not show locations off any hidden treasures / monster lairs / undiscovered locations / etc .. actually make you explore for everything in the game ,, atleast its optional for most things but would prefer the game itself be set up to be challenging, instead of trying to create my own difficulty )

Story is good, the cinamatics are fluid and do not take away from the game play and they add depth to the game ,, but ...(IMO) the quests themselves are go from point A to point B , the dungeons are = kill monster , there are no quests you figure out yourself ,,, there are no dungeons you have to figure out there location with just clues, there are no dungeons you have to figure out how to get to the next part by using your wits ,, the only thing there is in dungeons is " use witcher ability to find breakable wall ,,,

sorry but i prefer to have Challenging quests and Dungeons where " I " the player have to figure out where to go, and what to do, and how to do it, instead of the game telling me every step of the way "Go here" and "Do this" and not letting me figure Anything out for myself ,

 

[kaltorakh]

Answer: not everybody likes puzzle games. Some riddles are fine, and there are a few. But I prefer spending time figthing enemies than looking for them

---------- Updated at 08:48 AM ----------

yeah there should be an Option to turn the yellow circle off

I think it's not that easy. There are not enough directions or clues ingame. So, an option to disable the quest markers would be easy, but then they would need to add hundreds of clues, or you would have no idea where to look.

 

[JGPlisken]

where are the Quests with Puzzles in them ? Example " collect 6 pieces of a broken idol from vague locations , bring them to dungeon , use them to gain entry by assembling them and figuring out what the idol is and how to use it to gain entrance, once inside the dungeon there will be many more puzzles that permit access to the next area .

That would kill most of the fun for me. Sounds as fun as fetching 3 bear pelts for 2 lines of dialogue. I will never understand some people's desire for stuff like that. In real life, when I travel, I don't enjoy getting lost or following someone vague directions to get to my destination. I pull up Google Maps, input the address and go there in the shortest amount of time. Why the heck would I enjoy stumbling around finding items based on vague hints in the game?

 

[LiarOnElmstreet]

Answer: not everybody likes puzzle games. Some riddles are fine, and there are a few. But I prefer spending time figthing enemies than looking for them

Yeah, I think so too. Also I'm more about the choices I can make during the conversations. So I welcome the yellow circles.

 

[Giralus]

You can turn off some of the "aids", maybe not as much as you'd wish to. But I find it (markers, yellow circles) actually a good design choice. The world is huge, there are so much quests that I couldn't possibly allow myself to play "find waldo" every time if I want to finish all subplots and side quests. Lack of time for it. And investigations are a big part of the game, but not the most important. It's good that they don't eat most of your time. I feel you, but just try to remember that this game can't be everything at once!

i agree it is good for super easy , easy, and normal game modes ,, for hard mode though i differ in opinion , i think you should have to find everything out by trail and error , shouldnt' be a large icon in a continent far far away ythat you have never been to saying " Monster lives here " ,, again it defeats the purpouse of you being a Witcher that uses his abilities to Track and Hunt these Elusive supernatural creatures .


have seen the " Time argument " for so many years in so many MMO games I'm stale to it ,,, but i will bite the bait ,, so let me ask you :
whats the rush ?
what time constraint do you have ?
if you do everything in this game in a month than what will you do ?
If you had to find everything in the game without any help how would it not add More replay time to the game ?

"its not getting to the end destination that's important its the Journey along the way " <--- this is what most people miss in their Rush to fast travel through games,,, is it better to See where every Monsters lair and Hidden treasure is located on the map ? IMO ,, no ,, you see it, you teleport there, you know a monsters there , you kill it , no Surprise, no thrill of discovery, no Uncovering a Hidden treasure

( How can a treasure be Hidden if its Marked on your Map ??? isnt' that a Discovered treasure location ) even pirate maps you had to decipher the clues to get to X marks the spoyt by using landmarks, folding the map a certain way, viewing it by moonlight to find a hidden trail,, etc ,,, it wasn't just Highlighted for all the world to see with a a neon sign saying " Treasure location"

---------- Updated at 09:10 AM ----------

That would kill most of the fun for me. Sounds as fun as fetching 3 bear pelts for 2 lines of dialogue. I will never understand some people's desire for stuff like that. In real life, when I travel, I don't enjoy getting lost or following someone vague directions to get to my destination. I pull up Google Maps, input the address and go there in the shortest amount of time. Why the heck would I enjoy stumbling around finding items based on vague hints in the game?

yeah because they had google maps back in medieval times,,,
when King Arthur's knights went in search of the holy grail they simply pulled up Merlin Maps on their stone tablets and fast traveled to the location marked directly on their map of where this Ultra hidden treasure was and ported back home for mead and a movie , and it all took 5 minutes ,,,,

 

[JGPlisken]

yeah because they had google maps back in medieval times,,,
when King Arthur's knights went in search of the holy grail they simply pulled up Merlin Maps on their stone tablets and fast traveled to the location marked directly on their map of where this Ultra hidden treasure was and ported back home for mead and a movie , and it all took 5 minutes ,,,,

Of course they had google maps. It was mounted on top of their trusty steed that never died, never needed water and food, and could travel to your location instantly even if you got on a boat and went to a deserted island. On top of all that, your steed never abandoned you even if it was out of its mind with fear.

But yes you are right, google maps is so unrealistic.

Edit: I just had an idea for a mod. http://www.theonion.com/article/new-ultra-realistic-xbox-game-has-users-press-b-re-32802

Edit 2: Man those horses in medieval times could carry alot of stuff. They seemingly never broke a leg when galloping through a wilderness overrun run with tress and thick branches as well.

 

[Giralus]

Yeah, I think so too. Also I'm more about the choices I can make during the conversations. So I welcome the yellow circles.

choices are good , fighting monsters is good, but having only One type of quest in the entire game is Bad .

lets say you have 30 people who play a game,
5 of them like fighting monsters ,
5 of them like making conversation choices
5 of them like quick travel/map icons
and
5 of them like to have challenging quests with very little clues
5 of them like to have hidden quests and locations they can only find by exploring
5 of them like to have puzzle dungeons


why would you Only make content for the First 3 groups of people,,, im Fine with the Content that is there for the first 3 groups ,,, why would they be Mad if there was also an equal amount of content for the second group of 3 people ?


since the game is not made for only You or Me ,,, but Both of US ,,, and it is Completely lacking Any of the Content that Many RPG players enjoy and this forum is for feedback on the game why do some people have an issue with there being Content that I and many others would enjoy ?? if the game gives you everything you want i am hapy for you ,, but why would you not want the game to give me the things i also want so I can be happy ?

---------- Updated at 09:39 AM ----------

Of course they had google maps. It was mounted on top of their trusty steed that never died, never needed water and food, and could travel to your location instantly even if you got on a boat and went to a deserted island. On top of all that, your steed never abandoned you even if it was out of its mind with fear.

But yes you are right, google maps is so unrealistic.

actually your horse will buck you off when it is afraid, you actually can use your witcher abilities to calm it down when it does get afraid, your horse does abandon you and go off on its own to eat and make merry and thats why you have to wistle for it to come to you ( well trained horse are a reality and will stay in your general area and forage and come when called )

and "Fast travel in the game " you just made my point for me ,,, how did your horse magically get there ? It did not ,, the Reality is that you Traveled the Land to get to your destination and made arrangements to have your horse transported as well,

lets say you and me Both leave Crookback bog,, i get on my horse and ride him to the nearest village, you go to a fast travel sign and port there,,, we are both now in the village and we both have our horse ,,,, you did not actually get beamed up to the enterprise and beamed back down where i am,,, the game is Simulating you traveling ,,, so i rode there on my horse so we did not magicaly appeared,,, and ,,,, neither did you or your horse you also rode your horse there ,, the game just did not show your journey there,,, of course on my journey to the same spot i came across bandits and a Gargoyle and found hidden treasure and got laid on the way,,,, but you got there 1000 times faster so you win

 

[LiarOnElmstreet]

since the game is not made for only You or Me ,,, but Both of US ,,, and it is Completely lacking Any of the Content that Many RPG players enjoy and this forum is for feedback on the game why do some people have an issue with there being Content that I and many others would enjoy ?? if the game gives you everything you want i am hapy for you ,, but why would you not want the game to give me the things i also want so I can be happy ?

You seem really offended here. Offending you was not intended, I was just expressing my opinion on that matter, as you are expressing yours. That's all there is to it.

 

[JGPlisken]

your horse does abandon you and go off on its own to eat and make merry and thats why you have to wistle for it to come to you ( well trained horse are a reality and will stay in your general area and forage and come when called )

What horse will hear your whistle and cross a deep body of water in the span of seconds when you whistle over a hundred miles away? What horse will buck you off in a fight and be standing a dozen feet away? I don't even need to cast Axii even though it bucked me off 5 seconds ago. It does not abandon you, so that you need to find it. It always comes back. It does not abandon you. Geralt never needed to find it. I specifically mentioned me being hundreds of miles away., not just in the general vicinity. And the horse not needing food or water, if I stay away from towns for weeks at a time. It also never ages, and never breaks limbs. You conveniently ignored most of my post here.

Edit: And no, it's not eating and drinking in the wilderness. I could have Geralt sit on it or just ride for a week or more in game time. The horse doesn't drop from hunger and thirst. Actually I wonder how long Geralt could survive without food or water. I assume he could last far longer than a regular human given his body. A week? More? But that's a different topic.

It did not ,, the Reality is that you Traveled the Land to get to your destination and made arrangements to have your horse transported as well,

I made arrangements to have my horse transported? What? Yeah Geralt totally convinced a village of peasants to move my horse hundreds of miles. Or geralt just happened upon a mage who enchanted his horse even though most mages were in hiding and wouldn't do anything for anybody. That makes sense man. I suppose you are next going to tell me it makes sense for a bag to double a horses weight carrying capacity...

Edit: Just to clarify. Let's say Geralt was traveling a forest on horseback and he happened upon bandits. He is attacked. The horse takes some damage and it bucks gearlt off. Geralt uses Axii and slices some heads. The horse ran off. The battle lasted a minute or two. Geralt looks around and ses the horse standing nearby. He walks up and gets back on. Wouldn't the horse have taken off running and be further miles away? Wouldn't Geralt need to use Axi to calm the horse? Wouldn't the horse's wounds need cleaning? All of these things should happen at some point during his adventure. Yet they do not. It's not realistic.

Or the horse does not behave like a regular horse because it's more convenient for the player. It's a game not a simulator. It's OK to have some convenience.

 

[Attribule]

I always hated how Geralt basically solves everything for me, and with not much information either. They put such a huge "detective" spin on Witcher 3 but don't give you the ability to actually involve yourself at all.

Sometimes I try to guess what happened before I get any sort of information, but it's not much. Like, I'll see tracks and start thinking what monster it most likely is, because I know once I click "Examine" Geralt already says what it is, what it smells like, where it was born, its hobbies, and exactly where it's located. In the cases where you have to follow a trail it still is just... follow the trail. There is just no thought required from the player.

Don't get me wrong, I don't expect it to be "realistic" to the point where I have to spend decades deciphering some vague hints for a simple nekker problem, but at least make notes and bestiary entries worth reading. I had this one quest in the game where there was no actual information in the note I found, yet somehow Geralt knows I have to talk to this one specific NPC in Novigrad. What?

 

[JGPlisken]

the game just did not show your journey there

The game did not show the journey, agreed. I still fail to see what that has to do with my my point that are quite a few things that aren't realistic in any way.

 

[FreeFall24]

I think what everyone should be saying is "GIVE US MORE OPTIONS!" cause more options is better. Usually.

 

[UhuruNUru]

Simple answer is turn off the minimap and turn off PiO's and every other navigation aid.

Turn off HUD completely for full immersion effect. Then find your own way.

 

[Dude27]

Disable all UI.
How would that feel?

 

[Wurm65]

I wouldn't mind turning it off, but to be honest when I'm playing Geralt Holmes I usually ignore the mini map anyway since I'm too busy trying to see the red on green markers due to my deuteranopia. I'd much rather they add a color-blind mode (one of the reasons I love Borderlands 2 so much) to the game.