In-depth SPOILER FREE review of TW3 by a gamer.
In depth review of TW3 by a gamer (100% spoiler free)
Hello everyone!
I am no professional reviewer. I am just a casual gamer who loves video games.
What I have here is an in-depth review of TW3 from a player’s perspective.
Before I get into it, let me tell you that I am someone, who has spent 1000+ hours in playing a heavily modded skyrim. In fact I still play it whenever I get time. Also m a big fan of RTS, RPGs and Action Adventures. I am an Architect by profession and I tend to look into every small detail in video games. I also completed Dragon Age Inquisition very recently. So I am going to draw a lot of comparisons from both Skyrim and DA:I in the review. Some of u might feel that its not fair to do so, but I do it only to strike a comparison, and not to judge TW3 based on Skyrim or DA:I. So, here we go.
P.S. The review is 100% spoiler free.
I would not be talking about the premise of the story, as I am assuming that most of you are familiar with it. Geralt needs to find Yennifer and Ciri, one being is love interest and the other being his daughter figure etc etc.
So the game starts in the prologue area called The White Orchard after an introduction to the story. Geralt and his fellow companion Vesemir arrive in the village following the tracks of Yennifer. CD project does an excellent job of introducing the world of Witcher to both new and returning players to the franchise. You immediately get a sense of how Geralt is treated as a mutant and is unwelcome. The first few hours in the white orchard will slowly and effectively teach you how to survive in this magnificent world of Witcher. The players will be well seasoned before they leave the area to explore the vast wide worlds of Velen, Novigrad and Skillege Isles.
Now lets get down to looking at each aspect of the game.
1.) The World (NPCs, Beasts, Geography, Climate etc) 10/10
What CD project succeeds in achieving is not a beautiful world, but a believable eco system. Not a single NPC, beast or an animal seems to be placed just for the sake of it. The beauty is in, how the life interacts with the world. Take the example of a village.
If u arrive to a village at night, you will find it empty except for a few guards patrolling it. You might wonder why…. The villagers are off to their homes and are sleeping. Come morning, most of them are out of their houses. Some women assemble together to wash clothes and share some gossip. Some people go to the fields to work. The kids come out and play on the streets. Around noon, you can expect them to go home for lunch. And if in case it rains, people will run off to find a shelter. Wait till the evening and you will see that many villagers are off to the village tavern to catch a mug of rye. A lot of parallels can be drawn from the world of Skyrim, when it comes to this. Witcher 3 has done to only better.
The monsters in the wild hunt are varied and ample. What’s amazing is that these monsters just don’t exist to be killed. Every monster affects the area around it. The villagers and other NPCs are aware of the creatures. Some of the creatures have a definite history associated with the area. Don’t be surprised if one of the monsters in the nearby forest is worshipped as the local god by the villagers. It is this interactivity between the beasts and the world that makes the Witcher 3 shine. The only game that ever came this close to designing a believable world was Witcher 2. Skyrim did a fantastic job as well, but the giants and the mammoths roaming around the city of Whiterun never really had an impact on it. They were just there.
Now coming to the geography of the world, to put it in simple terms, imagine Skyrim multiplied by 5. The Witcher 3 has sprawling cities, open fields, dense forests, number of villages, abandoned forts and other places, Snowcapped mountains, beautiful valleys, huge marshlands, caves, dungeons, plain grass fields, islands, sea shores, ports, cliffs, battle torn areas, rivers, lakes, ocean and number of other small areas. Though Skyrim had more CITIES, Witcher’s Novigrad is much bigger than Whiterun, Solitude, Windhelm and Markarth combined. Some of the villages in Velen have population more than the city of Whiterun in Skyrim. You can imagine how big the scale is.
Time and climate in Witcher 3 serves a larger purpose than just aesthetics. The NPC behavior and the tactics of the monsters change according to the time of the day. For example, a Noonwraith is easier to battle during night and difficult during noon. Also, wander in the empty lanes of a city during night, you are most likely to encounter thieves and other morons. Every place appears completely different during different times of the day. I was flabbergasted by what CD project have achieved in this front. There are numerous other details I am not discussing, it better if you discover them yourself.
As a note, I could see that a lot of players are going to spend a lot of their time in the brothel district of Novigrad.
The whole world is divided into different parts like in DA:I. Unlike Skyrim, Witcher 3 is not one single map. It can be divided into -
1. Novigrad and No Man’s Land (Velen)
This entire area has no loading screens anywhere unless u decide to fast travel. This area itself if bigger than the entire map of Skyrim!
2. Skillege Isles
This is a collections of 5 islands. Ard Skillege is the largest of them all. It is more reminiscent of the Viking or Nord culture.
3. Kaer Morhen
The whole castle of this witcher’s keep is given to explore.
4. White Orchard
The prologue area, which is relatively large.
5. Vizimia’s royal palace.
The palace of Vizimia from the first game.
6. Surprise
Within these 5 areas there are no loading screens whatsoever.
2.)Graphics 9/10
I am familiar with the recent controversy of downgrade and stuff. But believe me, Witcher 3 is beautiful! Downgrade or not, what CD project has achieved here is outstanding. Wait till you get you copy of game and experience your first sun rise or sun set from top of a mountain.
The textures, lighting, water are all a treat for the eyes.
My only complaint lies when sometimes, it rains or a storm happens during sunset, it feels artificial. There is a storm happening and u still see the beautiful orange-ish sun set. It might happen in real in some places around the world. But in the place I live, a storm just clouds over the sun and makes the atmosphere absolutely dark. But this can be easily overlooked.
I like the game during night. The little lights that the lamps through around in villages, the silence and the wind, it’s just amazing. Totally changes the look of the game! There are some texture pop ups and other glitches. But I am sure that the guys at CD project are working on a day one patch as we speak.
My problem with DA:I was the constant use of similar assets all over the different regions in the game. The architecture of the houses hardly varied. It was just like a similar house (a circular one with grass on the roof) in different terrain with the same interiors. Skyrim suffered with the same problem, but that was years back. It was a gem in the time it released. I am not saying that every single building in the Witcher 3 is different, but I can definitely say that they are more varied. Interiors of almost every house or hut is totally different! Each house tells the story of the person who lives there.
Take the tavern in White Orchard for example. It is run by this pretty old lady, who is treated not so well by the locals. You can see that helplessness in her face. She’s tired, helpless and aging, but the tavern is all she has. You can see that the walls of the tavern are brightly colored. They are decorated with hanging flowers. There is colorful chalk art on the walls. It actually resonates with the personality of the lady inn keeper. The tavern is her home. What’s suppressed in her as a person, resonates in the interiors of the tavern. I know, I know that a lot of people are not going to give a shit about all these details. But I do, And I love it!
Cd project Red has earned my respect! I salute you guys! I hope you are reading this.
This is the first part of my review! The next part shall contain Gameplay and Side Quest reviews!
I hope you find this useful!
PART 2
Gameplay
Combat 10/10
This rating is a very personal one. I am not deciding the scores for everyone. There are going to be different perceptions regarding the combat system. I LOVE IT!
I love it because its not mindless button smashing. Its very strategic. Button smash and u r dead. In combat, u can attack, dodge and parry, all on different scales, example – light attack and heavy attack. What I love about the combat is that it isn't the same for every enemy. Every enemy type requires different strategy. If there are groups of enemies, attack and dodge, attack and ard sign and again dodge. If it’s a slow elemental monster then attack attack attack, dodge. If it’s a high level royal wyvren – RUN for ur life! :rly?:
All these strategies come into play only if your playing at higher difficulty. At lower difficulty, AI is dumber. Also the crossbow is a handy tool. It will crash any flying creature to the ground so that u can finish it in one strike. It’s cool! But it takes a bit of practice to get a hang of it. Be ready to miss a lot of shots in the beginning. Crossbow has almost negligible hitpoint damage on the land. It gets better once u upgrade it. But underwater it deals pretty good damage to the monsters. Crossbow is the only option underwater, so it makes sense. Also to help u, there are signs that can be used both outside and in combat. Igni fires up your enemies. Aard pushes them back. Quen gives u a temporary shield. Yrden is a magical trap which is very effective against wraith like creature, also slows down enemies on higher level. Axii stuns the enemy. It also helps you calm down the wild animals so that they won’t run away or attack you. The combination of these signs with combat makes a lot of difference in the fight. Make sure you READ THE BESTIARY before you fight a monster. Trust me, You will thank me later.
Apart from this, there is alchemy, which helps u make bombs and other oils which give u buffs. It’s a whole variety of combinations in battle. If you really want to enjoy it, play in HARD. Because the above mentioned things have little significance in easy and medium.
Your armour also plays an important role. Light, medium and heavy armour are present and they all can be upgrade up to four levels. The armour affects your combat speed.
Navigation 9/10
On Land
Geralt can travel on foot throughout the game. He can now jump and climb with fluidity unlike before. But on that pace it will take u a large amount of time to travel, because the world is HUGE! Thanks to CDPR, Geralt has a horse (Roach). He can come anytime u summon him. The horse runs on three speed levels. Its trots (Walk), gallops (run) and Runs (Sprint). Sprinting takes a toll on its stamina. You can’t sprint forever. Roach is one of the best horses I ever rode in video games! He’s fast and amazing! Ride him to a market or someplace and stop… he will bloody start eating from a nearby basket! That detailing!!
Roach can be a pain when near the enemies. He just starts losing it and throws you off his back. You can pacify him using axii, but most of the time, in the heat of the battle, you just can’t. But damage done from the horseback is higher than normal. You can fight other NPCs on horses as well.
Where Roach disappoints is during navigation in some places. He gets stuck and doesn’t move. It’s a pain if you are playing on higher difficulty. Enemies will catch up and KO you while you are stuck. But I am sure that the day 1 patch will fix these issues as well.
On Water
Geralt can swim, even underwater. The controls underwater are a bit clunky but manageable. Though there is a lot of underwater in the game only a limited amount of it has content. To expect more than that is not fair also.
Do not try to jump in the ocean and dive underwater till you find the bottom, u will die. Other mode of transport in water are the boats. They are fast and reliable. But during storms or attacks u can damage the boat and it will sink. The freaking sirens in the ocean are sometimes hell bent on breaking ur boat!
I was once stuck on a small piece of land in the middle of the ocean. I had to swim back all the way. Those sirens made my life harder. There is no point in hiding from them underwater. They can freaking fly and dive as well! Makes me frustrated but only makes the game better! I just love to hate those sirens. There are other (beautiful) enemies in the water. Discover for yourself!
Camera 7.5/10
You play the game always in third person. You hardly have any control over the camera during battle. Its not a problem most of the times, but sometimes you can stuck in the terrain or tree. Camera zooms in while you are inside a building. The body of Geralt occupies more screen space. Not a problem again except for in a few interiors where it gets frustrating. The camera is also a pain underwater. But all it requires is a bit getting used to it.
Inventory 7.5/10
Inventory is a grid system just like in Mass effect 2. It’s manageable up to a certain limit. But once u collect a lot of stuff, it’s just frustrating to browse through them. If u have a lot of books, letters or pages and u want to find one, Good Luck! Hoping that the modding community comes up with something similar to SkyUI.
Upgrading Roache’s saddle gives u extra storage space.
HUD 9/10
Highly customize-able! You can literally switch on and off everything on the screen. I play with mini map off. It’s just gets more and more interesting.
P.S. I know I am weird.
YOU CAN KILL DUCKS 10\10
And no one will attack you, like in Skyrim. But if u do it in front of a guard u might upset him. I recommend u find a safe secluded spot and…….. locals don’t give a flying f**k!
CONSEQUENCES 10/10
Whatever you do, has a consequence. Story wise, the consequences are on your face and harsh. Can’t discuss to keep it spoiler free. But to give you an idea, I give it 11 on 10.
Clearing a village of its monsters can make new NPCs come and settle in the area. Many people compare it to clearing outposts and stuff and games like FarCry and Assassins Creed. But it isn't similar at all! Just to make it more clear, your actions can destroy a prosperously existing village! It works the other way too. This is what makes Witcher 3 stand apart! The entire game is about your choices and its consequence.
And the choices are not black and white. There is no good option or a bad option. They are just options. What may seem good may end up screwing things for you. It’s all very gray and realistic. Hats off to CDPR for pulling this off!
This where my Part 2 of the review ends. Part 3 will contain my review on side content and how it plays out.
Part 3
I have decided to talk about immersion before I talk about side quests.
Immersion 9/10
Witcher 3 has almost every single thing I would have modded Skyrim with to make it more immersive. Except for stuff like frost fall.
If you play the slow, try to look around the surroundings, talk to people or just watch what a woman does throughout the day, you will know what I am speaking about. The world of witcher is alive. It seems as if it was existing long before Geralt set foot there. The villages are weathered, affected by war and internal conflict. Area around the villages are usually surrounded by fields or lakes or forests. Each village has a character. Some villages live on the income of its fishermen, some like white orchard depend on its fields.
Another great thing about the world of Witcher 3 is that it doesn’t revolve around Geralt. Like in Skyrim or DA:I, where it’s all about you, here its more about the world itself. Geralt is only a part of the world. The life will go on without Geralt.
Coming to the wild, the enemies interact within themselves as well. You will see wolves attacking people on the roads away from villages. These predators will also hunt the local wildlife. Like I said, CDPR have built an eco-system. You will often encounter drowners near the water. Also ghouls near the dead bodies in the battlefields. Everything has a context. Everything is placed where it belongs. It feels believable.
The best of the immersion is experienced when Geralt bonds with the people in witcher 3. Their backstory and life, the chats you have with them feel authentic. Every character is different and likable. Actually, some of them are not. They are assh**es! But they are still believable! I love it.
The only immersion breaking complaint I have is, similar face models appear throughout the game. It’s not as repetitive, but still noticeable.
Here is an insane thing I did in the game. I was in a village. I pretended I am a resident of the village and walked out of the village early morning towards the fields and beyond, soaked in some of the beautiful sceneries. Around noon, I went to the tavern, ate there. And went off in the other direction and enjoyed the views. Some wolves tried to spoil my peace. I killed them there. Watched the sunset and came back to the tavern. By this time around it was filled with many other locals. There was a cat roaming inside the tavern, I kept following it. Had a chat with a few villagers and by the time it was night I went into someone’s house, as if it was my own. LOL.
All this while many villagers cursed me. They were rude. Made me wanna punch their faces. But I couldn’t.
The entire day lasted for more than 80 minutes. I know this sounds crazy as f***, but this is what many people craved for in Skyrim. A list of successful mods is a proof. The world of witcher is only better!
Also the world is a truly open world. Unlike DA:I which disguises areas separated by cliffs and narrow walls as an open world, Witcher 3 shines at letting the player roam freely from the let go. If You see a hill n a distance, you can actually walk up there, just like in Skyrim.
PART 4
Side Content
Quests 10/10
The side quests are the USP of Witcher 3!
Before I give my opinion, let me tell you, what side quests are NOT in Witcher 3.
- They are not FETCH QUESTS.
- They are not linear quests with a linear story.
- They are not an insult to your intelligence.
Many of the quests from Skyrim and DA:I were random fetch quest. Go kill 10 bears and I will give a golden claw. Kill 10 goats and get me some raw meat, I don’t care if you are the inquisitor and are leading an army. Go give this letter to my beloved wife in another city. And what do you get in the end? Some money and exp. Side quests in popular games have been following the same suite. They are only a way to earn coin and exp.
In Witcher 3, it’s much much more. Every quest is a story in itself. Some characters from the side quests are as lovable as some of the primary characters. One of them was a herbalist I encountered in the prologue area. Every character is well written. Every quest has a feel of authenticity to it. These quests are stories, stories you can alter. Your choices matter a lot even in the side quests as well. Many of them won’t turn out as good as you might have expected them to, but it all feels believable.
Every quest has at least two branching plots. Of course, you will see only one side of it. But the beauty lies when you face the consequence and start thinking about what the other alternative would have done.
Side quests can be acquired through Notice board in every village and city. You can actually stumble upon them randomly while exploration. Also talking to NPC quest givers triggers new quests. The quests work in a similar fashion as they do in skyrim. You can take up a quest at any time and finish it anytime you want. You can have as many number of active quests going on at once. It’s very flexible.
Encounters 10/10
There is a lot to discover in the world. There are bandit camps, cemeteries haunted by wraiths, wild animals lurking in the corners, druid camps, military camps, whale graveyards, sunken treasures and a lot of other places.
The world is evenly filled with things to do. You might feel that the huge areas between villages are empty if u decide to walk! But galloping on a horse is a good pace to explore the world. Otherwise a large amount of your time will be spent in walking the open fields and beautiful valleys. Works in you favor if you are a kind of person who spams the screenshots button.
Witcher 3 doesn’t just rely on visuals to grab your attention. Wear your headphones and crank up the volume a little. You will hear all the nearby creatures. Some growl, some chirp, some talk.
So I was walking up a hill through a forest on the Skillege Isles. I saw the path fork into a set of stone stairs leading up to some place. I decided to visit it later and walked on the current path. After a few steps I heard a growl coming from that place. I said, f*** it, I wanna see what’s out there! So I climbed the stairs and reached a ruin like place. Right in front was a troll. He was several levels higher than me. Before I could decide if I want to fight it or flee, it hit Geralt and brought down his health to 10%.
I ran for my life and decided to avenge the humiliation some other day.
Witcher 3 is full of such events if you look at them that way. Be ready to get lost in this brutal yet mesmerizing world of Witcher 3!
Gwent 9.5/10
One of the major time pass in the game is the card game Gwent. It’s really easy to learn but very difficult to master. It’s a fun game and adds a lot of gameplay elements to the world. It’s actually a card collecting game. Remember how you used to go buy Pokemon trading cards, built decks, played and traded with friends and participated in tournaments? Every game you win will get a new card.
Gwent is similar. Buy and collect new cards from around the world, build a deck and play with a lot of NPCs around the world. Guess what!? They have a freaking in-game tournament for Gwent in one of the cities!!! Do not put away this card too early in the game. It needs a little getting used to. Once you get a hang of it, you will love it!
Fist fights and Horse Races 8/10
Fist fights are back, and this time its not QTE. It works like combat does. You are not allowed to use your signs during these fights. A good way to earn coins.
The horse races are good as well. It requires a bit of strategy, the stamina bar of your horse depletes very quickly. So you need to manage it well during the races.
There are other good things in the game too. I will leave it here so that there is still some surprise left for you when you play the game.
The last and final part of the review will deal about a few tips and tricks (100% spoiler free) before you jump into the game!
In depth review of TW3 by a gamer (100% spoiler free)
Hello everyone!
I am no professional reviewer. I am just a casual gamer who loves video games.
What I have here is an in-depth review of TW3 from a player’s perspective.
Before I get into it, let me tell you that I am someone, who has spent 1000+ hours in playing a heavily modded skyrim. In fact I still play it whenever I get time. Also m a big fan of RTS, RPGs and Action Adventures. I am an Architect by profession and I tend to look into every small detail in video games. I also completed Dragon Age Inquisition very recently. So I am going to draw a lot of comparisons from both Skyrim and DA:I in the review. Some of u might feel that its not fair to do so, but I do it only to strike a comparison, and not to judge TW3 based on Skyrim or DA:I. So, here we go.
P.S. The review is 100% spoiler free.
I would not be talking about the premise of the story, as I am assuming that most of you are familiar with it. Geralt needs to find Yennifer and Ciri, one being is love interest and the other being his daughter figure etc etc.
So the game starts in the prologue area called The White Orchard after an introduction to the story. Geralt and his fellow companion Vesemir arrive in the village following the tracks of Yennifer. CD project does an excellent job of introducing the world of Witcher to both new and returning players to the franchise. You immediately get a sense of how Geralt is treated as a mutant and is unwelcome. The first few hours in the white orchard will slowly and effectively teach you how to survive in this magnificent world of Witcher. The players will be well seasoned before they leave the area to explore the vast wide worlds of Velen, Novigrad and Skillege Isles.
Now lets get down to looking at each aspect of the game.
1.) The World (NPCs, Beasts, Geography, Climate etc) 10/10
What CD project succeeds in achieving is not a beautiful world, but a believable eco system. Not a single NPC, beast or an animal seems to be placed just for the sake of it. The beauty is in, how the life interacts with the world. Take the example of a village.
If u arrive to a village at night, you will find it empty except for a few guards patrolling it. You might wonder why…. The villagers are off to their homes and are sleeping. Come morning, most of them are out of their houses. Some women assemble together to wash clothes and share some gossip. Some people go to the fields to work. The kids come out and play on the streets. Around noon, you can expect them to go home for lunch. And if in case it rains, people will run off to find a shelter. Wait till the evening and you will see that many villagers are off to the village tavern to catch a mug of rye. A lot of parallels can be drawn from the world of Skyrim, when it comes to this. Witcher 3 has done to only better.
The monsters in the wild hunt are varied and ample. What’s amazing is that these monsters just don’t exist to be killed. Every monster affects the area around it. The villagers and other NPCs are aware of the creatures. Some of the creatures have a definite history associated with the area. Don’t be surprised if one of the monsters in the nearby forest is worshipped as the local god by the villagers. It is this interactivity between the beasts and the world that makes the Witcher 3 shine. The only game that ever came this close to designing a believable world was Witcher 2. Skyrim did a fantastic job as well, but the giants and the mammoths roaming around the city of Whiterun never really had an impact on it. They were just there.
Now coming to the geography of the world, to put it in simple terms, imagine Skyrim multiplied by 5. The Witcher 3 has sprawling cities, open fields, dense forests, number of villages, abandoned forts and other places, Snowcapped mountains, beautiful valleys, huge marshlands, caves, dungeons, plain grass fields, islands, sea shores, ports, cliffs, battle torn areas, rivers, lakes, ocean and number of other small areas. Though Skyrim had more CITIES, Witcher’s Novigrad is much bigger than Whiterun, Solitude, Windhelm and Markarth combined. Some of the villages in Velen have population more than the city of Whiterun in Skyrim. You can imagine how big the scale is.
Time and climate in Witcher 3 serves a larger purpose than just aesthetics. The NPC behavior and the tactics of the monsters change according to the time of the day. For example, a Noonwraith is easier to battle during night and difficult during noon. Also, wander in the empty lanes of a city during night, you are most likely to encounter thieves and other morons. Every place appears completely different during different times of the day. I was flabbergasted by what CD project have achieved in this front. There are numerous other details I am not discussing, it better if you discover them yourself.
As a note, I could see that a lot of players are going to spend a lot of their time in the brothel district of Novigrad.
The whole world is divided into different parts like in DA:I. Unlike Skyrim, Witcher 3 is not one single map. It can be divided into -
1. Novigrad and No Man’s Land (Velen)
This entire area has no loading screens anywhere unless u decide to fast travel. This area itself if bigger than the entire map of Skyrim!
2. Skillege Isles
This is a collections of 5 islands. Ard Skillege is the largest of them all. It is more reminiscent of the Viking or Nord culture.
3. Kaer Morhen
The whole castle of this witcher’s keep is given to explore.
4. White Orchard
The prologue area, which is relatively large.
5. Vizimia’s royal palace.
The palace of Vizimia from the first game.
6. Surprise
Within these 5 areas there are no loading screens whatsoever.
2.)Graphics 9/10
I am familiar with the recent controversy of downgrade and stuff. But believe me, Witcher 3 is beautiful! Downgrade or not, what CD project has achieved here is outstanding. Wait till you get you copy of game and experience your first sun rise or sun set from top of a mountain.
The textures, lighting, water are all a treat for the eyes.
My only complaint lies when sometimes, it rains or a storm happens during sunset, it feels artificial. There is a storm happening and u still see the beautiful orange-ish sun set. It might happen in real in some places around the world. But in the place I live, a storm just clouds over the sun and makes the atmosphere absolutely dark. But this can be easily overlooked.
I like the game during night. The little lights that the lamps through around in villages, the silence and the wind, it’s just amazing. Totally changes the look of the game! There are some texture pop ups and other glitches. But I am sure that the guys at CD project are working on a day one patch as we speak.
My problem with DA:I was the constant use of similar assets all over the different regions in the game. The architecture of the houses hardly varied. It was just like a similar house (a circular one with grass on the roof) in different terrain with the same interiors. Skyrim suffered with the same problem, but that was years back. It was a gem in the time it released. I am not saying that every single building in the Witcher 3 is different, but I can definitely say that they are more varied. Interiors of almost every house or hut is totally different! Each house tells the story of the person who lives there.
Take the tavern in White Orchard for example. It is run by this pretty old lady, who is treated not so well by the locals. You can see that helplessness in her face. She’s tired, helpless and aging, but the tavern is all she has. You can see that the walls of the tavern are brightly colored. They are decorated with hanging flowers. There is colorful chalk art on the walls. It actually resonates with the personality of the lady inn keeper. The tavern is her home. What’s suppressed in her as a person, resonates in the interiors of the tavern. I know, I know that a lot of people are not going to give a shit about all these details. But I do, And I love it!
Cd project Red has earned my respect! I salute you guys! I hope you are reading this.
This is the first part of my review! The next part shall contain Gameplay and Side Quest reviews!
I hope you find this useful!
PART 2
Gameplay
Combat 10/10
This rating is a very personal one. I am not deciding the scores for everyone. There are going to be different perceptions regarding the combat system. I LOVE IT!
I love it because its not mindless button smashing. Its very strategic. Button smash and u r dead. In combat, u can attack, dodge and parry, all on different scales, example – light attack and heavy attack. What I love about the combat is that it isn't the same for every enemy. Every enemy type requires different strategy. If there are groups of enemies, attack and dodge, attack and ard sign and again dodge. If it’s a slow elemental monster then attack attack attack, dodge. If it’s a high level royal wyvren – RUN for ur life! :rly?:
All these strategies come into play only if your playing at higher difficulty. At lower difficulty, AI is dumber. Also the crossbow is a handy tool. It will crash any flying creature to the ground so that u can finish it in one strike. It’s cool! But it takes a bit of practice to get a hang of it. Be ready to miss a lot of shots in the beginning. Crossbow has almost negligible hitpoint damage on the land. It gets better once u upgrade it. But underwater it deals pretty good damage to the monsters. Crossbow is the only option underwater, so it makes sense. Also to help u, there are signs that can be used both outside and in combat. Igni fires up your enemies. Aard pushes them back. Quen gives u a temporary shield. Yrden is a magical trap which is very effective against wraith like creature, also slows down enemies on higher level. Axii stuns the enemy. It also helps you calm down the wild animals so that they won’t run away or attack you. The combination of these signs with combat makes a lot of difference in the fight. Make sure you READ THE BESTIARY before you fight a monster. Trust me, You will thank me later.
Apart from this, there is alchemy, which helps u make bombs and other oils which give u buffs. It’s a whole variety of combinations in battle. If you really want to enjoy it, play in HARD. Because the above mentioned things have little significance in easy and medium.
Your armour also plays an important role. Light, medium and heavy armour are present and they all can be upgrade up to four levels. The armour affects your combat speed.
Navigation 9/10
On Land
Geralt can travel on foot throughout the game. He can now jump and climb with fluidity unlike before. But on that pace it will take u a large amount of time to travel, because the world is HUGE! Thanks to CDPR, Geralt has a horse (Roach). He can come anytime u summon him. The horse runs on three speed levels. Its trots (Walk), gallops (run) and Runs (Sprint). Sprinting takes a toll on its stamina. You can’t sprint forever. Roach is one of the best horses I ever rode in video games! He’s fast and amazing! Ride him to a market or someplace and stop… he will bloody start eating from a nearby basket! That detailing!!
Roach can be a pain when near the enemies. He just starts losing it and throws you off his back. You can pacify him using axii, but most of the time, in the heat of the battle, you just can’t. But damage done from the horseback is higher than normal. You can fight other NPCs on horses as well.
Where Roach disappoints is during navigation in some places. He gets stuck and doesn’t move. It’s a pain if you are playing on higher difficulty. Enemies will catch up and KO you while you are stuck. But I am sure that the day 1 patch will fix these issues as well.
On Water
Geralt can swim, even underwater. The controls underwater are a bit clunky but manageable. Though there is a lot of underwater in the game only a limited amount of it has content. To expect more than that is not fair also.
Do not try to jump in the ocean and dive underwater till you find the bottom, u will die. Other mode of transport in water are the boats. They are fast and reliable. But during storms or attacks u can damage the boat and it will sink. The freaking sirens in the ocean are sometimes hell bent on breaking ur boat!
I was once stuck on a small piece of land in the middle of the ocean. I had to swim back all the way. Those sirens made my life harder. There is no point in hiding from them underwater. They can freaking fly and dive as well! Makes me frustrated but only makes the game better!
I just love to hate those sirens. There are other (beautiful) enemies in the water. Discover for yourself!Camera 7.5/10
You play the game always in third person. You hardly have any control over the camera during battle. Its not a problem most of the times, but sometimes you can stuck in the terrain or tree. Camera zooms in while you are inside a building. The body of Geralt occupies more screen space. Not a problem again except for in a few interiors where it gets frustrating. The camera is also a pain underwater. But all it requires is a bit getting used to it.
Inventory 7.5/10
Inventory is a grid system just like in Mass effect 2. It’s manageable up to a certain limit. But once u collect a lot of stuff, it’s just frustrating to browse through them. If u have a lot of books, letters or pages and u want to find one, Good Luck! Hoping that the modding community comes up with something similar to SkyUI.
Upgrading Roache’s saddle gives u extra storage space.
HUD 9/10
Highly customize-able! You can literally switch on and off everything on the screen. I play with mini map off. It’s just gets more and more interesting.
P.S. I know I am weird.
YOU CAN KILL DUCKS 10\10
And no one will attack you, like in Skyrim. But if u do it in front of a guard u might upset him. I recommend u find a safe secluded spot and…….. locals don’t give a flying f**k!
CONSEQUENCES 10/10
Whatever you do, has a consequence. Story wise, the consequences are on your face and harsh. Can’t discuss to keep it spoiler free. But to give you an idea, I give it 11 on 10.
Clearing a village of its monsters can make new NPCs come and settle in the area. Many people compare it to clearing outposts and stuff and games like FarCry and Assassins Creed. But it isn't similar at all! Just to make it more clear, your actions can destroy a prosperously existing village! It works the other way too. This is what makes Witcher 3 stand apart! The entire game is about your choices and its consequence.
And the choices are not black and white. There is no good option or a bad option. They are just options. What may seem good may end up screwing things for you. It’s all very gray and realistic. Hats off to CDPR for pulling this off!
This where my Part 2 of the review ends. Part 3 will contain my review on side content and how it plays out.
Part 3
I have decided to talk about immersion before I talk about side quests.
Immersion 9/10
Witcher 3 has almost every single thing I would have modded Skyrim with to make it more immersive. Except for stuff like frost fall.
If you play the slow, try to look around the surroundings, talk to people or just watch what a woman does throughout the day, you will know what I am speaking about. The world of witcher is alive. It seems as if it was existing long before Geralt set foot there. The villages are weathered, affected by war and internal conflict. Area around the villages are usually surrounded by fields or lakes or forests. Each village has a character. Some villages live on the income of its fishermen, some like white orchard depend on its fields.
Another great thing about the world of Witcher 3 is that it doesn’t revolve around Geralt. Like in Skyrim or DA:I, where it’s all about you, here its more about the world itself. Geralt is only a part of the world. The life will go on without Geralt.
Coming to the wild, the enemies interact within themselves as well. You will see wolves attacking people on the roads away from villages. These predators will also hunt the local wildlife. Like I said, CDPR have built an eco-system. You will often encounter drowners near the water. Also ghouls near the dead bodies in the battlefields. Everything has a context. Everything is placed where it belongs. It feels believable.
The best of the immersion is experienced when Geralt bonds with the people in witcher 3. Their backstory and life, the chats you have with them feel authentic. Every character is different and likable. Actually, some of them are not. They are assh**es! But they are still believable! I love it.
The only immersion breaking complaint I have is, similar face models appear throughout the game. It’s not as repetitive, but still noticeable.
Here is an insane thing I did in the game. I was in a village. I pretended I am a resident of the village and walked out of the village early morning towards the fields and beyond, soaked in some of the beautiful sceneries. Around noon, I went to the tavern, ate there. And went off in the other direction and enjoyed the views. Some wolves tried to spoil my peace. I killed them there. Watched the sunset and came back to the tavern. By this time around it was filled with many other locals. There was a cat roaming inside the tavern, I kept following it. Had a chat with a few villagers and by the time it was night I went into someone’s house, as if it was my own. LOL.
All this while many villagers cursed me. They were rude. Made me wanna punch their faces. But I couldn’t.
The entire day lasted for more than 80 minutes. I know this sounds crazy as f***, but this is what many people craved for in Skyrim. A list of successful mods is a proof. The world of witcher is only better!
Also the world is a truly open world. Unlike DA:I which disguises areas separated by cliffs and narrow walls as an open world, Witcher 3 shines at letting the player roam freely from the let go. If You see a hill n a distance, you can actually walk up there, just like in Skyrim.
PART 4
Side Content
Quests 10/10
The side quests are the USP of Witcher 3!
Before I give my opinion, let me tell you, what side quests are NOT in Witcher 3.
- They are not FETCH QUESTS.
- They are not linear quests with a linear story.
- They are not an insult to your intelligence.
Many of the quests from Skyrim and DA:I were random fetch quest. Go kill 10 bears and I will give a golden claw. Kill 10 goats and get me some raw meat, I don’t care if you are the inquisitor and are leading an army. Go give this letter to my beloved wife in another city. And what do you get in the end? Some money and exp. Side quests in popular games have been following the same suite. They are only a way to earn coin and exp.
In Witcher 3, it’s much much more. Every quest is a story in itself. Some characters from the side quests are as lovable as some of the primary characters. One of them was a herbalist I encountered in the prologue area. Every character is well written. Every quest has a feel of authenticity to it. These quests are stories, stories you can alter. Your choices matter a lot even in the side quests as well. Many of them won’t turn out as good as you might have expected them to, but it all feels believable.
Every quest has at least two branching plots. Of course, you will see only one side of it. But the beauty lies when you face the consequence and start thinking about what the other alternative would have done.
Side quests can be acquired through Notice board in every village and city. You can actually stumble upon them randomly while exploration. Also talking to NPC quest givers triggers new quests. The quests work in a similar fashion as they do in skyrim. You can take up a quest at any time and finish it anytime you want. You can have as many number of active quests going on at once. It’s very flexible.
Encounters 10/10
There is a lot to discover in the world. There are bandit camps, cemeteries haunted by wraiths, wild animals lurking in the corners, druid camps, military camps, whale graveyards, sunken treasures and a lot of other places.
The world is evenly filled with things to do. You might feel that the huge areas between villages are empty if u decide to walk! But galloping on a horse is a good pace to explore the world. Otherwise a large amount of your time will be spent in walking the open fields and beautiful valleys. Works in you favor if you are a kind of person who spams the screenshots button.
Witcher 3 doesn’t just rely on visuals to grab your attention. Wear your headphones and crank up the volume a little. You will hear all the nearby creatures. Some growl, some chirp, some talk.
So I was walking up a hill through a forest on the Skillege Isles. I saw the path fork into a set of stone stairs leading up to some place. I decided to visit it later and walked on the current path. After a few steps I heard a growl coming from that place. I said, f*** it, I wanna see what’s out there! So I climbed the stairs and reached a ruin like place. Right in front was a troll. He was several levels higher than me. Before I could decide if I want to fight it or flee, it hit Geralt and brought down his health to 10%.
I ran for my life and decided to avenge the humiliation some other day.
Witcher 3 is full of such events if you look at them that way. Be ready to get lost in this brutal yet mesmerizing world of Witcher 3!
Gwent 9.5/10
One of the major time pass in the game is the card game Gwent. It’s really easy to learn but very difficult to master. It’s a fun game and adds a lot of gameplay elements to the world. It’s actually a card collecting game. Remember how you used to go buy Pokemon trading cards, built decks, played and traded with friends and participated in tournaments? Every game you win will get a new card.
Gwent is similar. Buy and collect new cards from around the world, build a deck and play with a lot of NPCs around the world. Guess what!? They have a freaking in-game tournament for Gwent in one of the cities!!! Do not put away this card too early in the game. It needs a little getting used to. Once you get a hang of it, you will love it!
Fist fights and Horse Races 8/10
Fist fights are back, and this time its not QTE. It works like combat does. You are not allowed to use your signs during these fights. A good way to earn coins.
The horse races are good as well. It requires a bit of strategy, the stamina bar of your horse depletes very quickly. So you need to manage it well during the races.
There are other good things in the game too. I will leave it here so that there is still some surprise left for you when you play the game.
The last and final part of the review will deal about a few tips and tricks (100% spoiler free) before you jump into the game!
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