Defenetly, there was a big downgrade in graphics. This gameplay looks awesome
---------- Updated at 08:57 PM ----------
New players. At some point, consoles couldn't reacht these graphics. Almost every controversial decision was taken in order to please console players.
That's what a bunch of people have been saying since day one.
---------- Updated at 08:32 AM ----------
People always blame console players for bringing this game down, but it's worth bearing in mind that The Witcher 3 wouldn't have even been possible without the additional revenue that was generated by making this a multiplatform title.
The truth of the matter is that the PC scene - while it has grown considerably over the past few years - is still not lucrative enough to sustain a large AAA company by itself, especially when they are investing more and more in these large, 100+ hour open-world experiences. Instead of blaming Sony or Microsoft, pc gamers should look inward and ask what they can do to bring more people into their fold.
Totally not true, for one. They made this game before they sold it, let's not forget. Also, more importantly, this totally goes against everything CDPR used to claim to stand for. They were specifically focused on hardcore RPG for PC players. In fact, they even wrote us lovely little messages about it. I think that's why people are upset. It used to feel like every video game company in the world - except CDPR - were only there to make as much money as possible and didn't much care what the game was, so long as it made them money.
It's not exactly the same, but it's sort of similar to Dragon Age. Dragon Age: Origins - still described as one of the greatest RPGs ever. Then the follow-up got rushed out and was awful. It made all the devs/corporate whatnots a ton of money, but was poorly recieved. People lost trust in the company. Nowadays, BioWare is synonymous with EA.
What we have is the company we used to feel cared about us simply no longer caring. I'm not saying this is the case, but it can sure feel this way. The PC gaming community (which is also, a lot of times, the modding community) used to be CDPR's only priority. And instead of bringing the consoles in as another community to share the attention and dedication CDPR is famous for, since the console community is so much louder, they've begun catering to them instead. And let's face it, any community that large is going to be pretty ridiculous in its demands/requests/whatever. (New Game Plus mode? On a Witcher game? Boggle) So yeah, we feel left behind. And rightly so. They advertised and talked about a modding tool that would let us make quests and adventures - we got a broken tool with 3 functions and no documentation - that very much does NOT let us make new quests and adventures. Which is quite sad, as they've told us this is the last Witcher game, so why not let us players keep Geralt and company alive by creating mods? No one knows - they won't tell us. Leaving it open to speculation. And with all the feelings from the aforementioned problems in the air, speculation is not good.
But who knows? CDPR has to know how their core, loyal fans feel about this. They've been pretty vocal about it. Maybe the GOTY will make up for it. Maybe it'll have Iorveth and Saskia. Maybe it'll be released with an update of the modkit to include what they promised. Doubtful, but possible. And I'd like to think there are still people there who keep CDPR's old values. Otherwise, this industry would be much sadder place.