Main Campaign Really Needs an Enhanced Edition after Hearts of Stone [SPOILERS]

[saladin1701]

I would gladly pay for an Enhanced Edition, but it's something that the studio would probably feel the need to release for free because of the precedent that CDPR established and because of how other studios have adapted it (Divinity: Original Sin, Wasteland, etc.). Even BioWare released the extended cut for Mass Effect 3's atrocious ending (as meager as it was in content) for free, and they have fallen from grace long before that debacle.

I don't see a problem with paying a symbolic price, but that revenue may not be worth it for CDPR, if it causes major backlash. Here's to hoping that they do it for the sake of being amazing supporters of their fanbase, as with The Witcher 1 and 2.
:hatsoff:

Unless I'm mistaken, ME3's extended cut was some extra bit slapped on it's laughably bad ending. As bad as The Witcher 3's ending is, the game needs a lot more attention than that, it needs an entire act (3) being revamped, at least one major romance fixing, another act (2) expanding with the proper people being in the proper place at the proper time and several characters being completely re-written from the ground up because they're a complete joke. Add to that a re-design of the final battle and it amounts to a lot of work.

I'm not saying don't give it to me for free, if they want to do that, knock yourselves out, but I am prepared to pay for that if it gets me the game TW3 should have been. Give Geralt the send off he deserves. Fix the game.

 

[Pug.]

Unless I'm mistaken, ME3's extended cut was some extra bit slapped on it's laughably bad ending. As bad as The Witcher 3's ending is, the game needs a lot more attention than that, it needs an entire act (3) being revamped, at least one major romance fixing, another act (2) expanding with the proper people being in the proper place at the proper time and several characters being completely re-written from the ground up because they're a complete joke. Add to that a re-design of the final battle and it amounts to a lot of work.

I'm not saying don't give it to me for free, if they want to do that, knock yourselves out, but I am prepared to pay for that if it gets me the game TW3 should have been. Give Geralt the send off he deserves. Fix the game.

The game doesn't need anymore Triss fixes. This isn't a waifu simulator. The focus of the plot was always on Geralt and his relationship with Ciri. If they are going to flesh out anything further, let them work on that, developing the game's central antagonist, and things of that nature.

Also, go easy on the developers. It's much easier to criticize than it is to create something. The game has its faults, but it's still significantly better than the other rpg's that I've played in recent memory.

 

[BladeRunnerBlues]

Also, go easy on the developers. It's much easier to criticize than it is to create something. The game has its faults, but it's still significantly better than the other rpg's that I've played in recent memory.

True enough, yet precisely because it is so good, it would be a shame not to go that extra mile the same way as they did with the previous two games in the EEs. Both were significantly improved, gaining a huge amount of additional replay value. Of course such an update is a big deal, requiring a lot of work, but it would certainly pay off in the long run for both CDPR and the players.

 

[ilayoeli]

I would pay for an enhanced edition as well. The game is crying out for it, so many are the inconsistencies in the writing and (in places) poor game design choices.

> Triss romance still needs a lot of work.
> Shani romance is inconsistent with the others.
> Eredin is a joke, both to fight and as a bad guy.
> Kaer Morhen is probably the most boring place to be in the entire game.
> Radovid the caricature.
> Dijkstra's brain fart.
> Bald Mountain is as creepy as an empty room.
> Boss fights are pathetically easy.
> World state is confused due to lack of proper import.
> Act 3 is a total mess.
> Act 3 is linear due to lack of content (in the main game) outside the MQ.
> That ending...
> The 'lock in' mechanism for romance
> Pacing is off in places
> The Wild Hunt is more like the three stooges (in terms of threat)
> Roche acts like your best mate even if you sided with Iorveth in TW2

I may add:
> Near complete disregard to the previous games existence. Not only in terms of choices but also character behaviors, built-up premises (Geralt's and Eredin's deal, Phillipa's control over Saskia etc..) and so on.
> boring-to-tears Novigrad act
> Ciri's contrived and forced C&C

The game doesn't need anymore Triss fixes. This isn't a waifu simulator. The focus of the plot was always on Geralt and his relationship with Ciri. If they are going to flesh out anything further, let them work on that, developing the game's central antagonist, and things of that nature.

Also, go easy on the developers. It's much easier to criticize than it is to create something. The game has its faults, but it's still significantly better than the other rpg's that I've played in recent memory.

We've come to expect better from CDPR, and from TW last installment by extention. We compare TW3 to the previous games in the series so criticism is completely valid.

 

[Sam2305]

I would pay for an enhanced edition as well. The game is crying out for it, so many are the inconsistencies in the writing and (in places) poor game design choices.

> Triss romance still needs a lot of work.
> Shani romance is inconsistent with the others.
> Eredin is a joke, both to fight and as a bad guy.
> Kaer Morhen is probably the most boring place to be in the entire game.
> Radovid the caricature.
> Dijkstra's brain fart.
> Bald Mountain is as creepy as an empty room.
> Boss fights are pathetically easy.
> World state is confused due to lack of proper import.
> Act 3 is a total mess.
> Act 3 is linear due to lack of content (in the main game) outside the MQ.
> That ending...
> The 'lock in' mechanism for romance
> Pacing is off in places
> The Wild Hunt is more like the three stooges (in terms of threat)
> Roche acts like your best mate even if you sided with Iorveth in TW2

I'm sure I could go on but I'd have to search the forum more than I can be bothered to right now. Hopefully you get the point.

The only thing I disagree on is the timing. Introducing it before the next expansion could create even more problems. It should come after the next expansion so as to incorporate any issues that crop up in that.

Add that the save import is a mess. No consequences for those who chose Iorveth's path in TW2. Also, there is only one quest about politics

 

[saladin1701]

The game doesn't need anymore Triss fixes. This isn't a waifu simulator. The focus of the plot was always on Geralt and his relationship with Ciri. If they are going to flesh out anything further, let them work on that, developing the game's central antagonist, and things of that nature.

Also, go easy on the developers. It's much easier to criticize than it is to create something. The game has its faults, but it's still significantly better than the other rpg's that I've played in recent memory.

Both Triss and Keira need to be at Kaer Morhen at the beginning of Act 2 like the story suggests they should be. You should also be able to tell Cerys and others that you're no longer with Yennefer but with Triss, or at least no longer with Yennefer which caters to both the Triss and Batchelor routes whilst being consistent with Geralt's private nature. Beyond that, I agree. I also agree on this being the best RPG in years and have been highly complimentary on many aspects of this game and its writing and characterisation of 'cast' members but I will temper that with continued criticism where it's due. Finally, I made it quite clear that I was listing complaints from various sources on this forum. I tried to include the major complaints in the list, from most of the threadnoughts.

---------- Updated at 04:48 PM ----------

I may add:
> Near complete disregard to the previous games existence. Not only in terms of choices but also character behaviors, built-up premises (Geralt's and Eredin's deal, Phillipa's control over Saskia etc..) and so on.
> boring-to-tears Novigrad act
> Ciri's contrived and forced C&C




We've come to expect better from CDPR, and from TW last installment by extention. We compare TW3 to the previous games in the series so criticism is completely valid.

As I said, that list is not my own, that list is a compiled list of major complaints from this forum. I haven't seen any large threads complaining about Novigrad unless you're talking about Act 3 in which case it's been listed. This isn't my list, people, I'm just compiling it all in one place.

---------- Updated at 04:50 PM ----------

Add that the save import is a mess. No consequences for those who chose Iorveth's path in TW2. Also, there is only one quest about politics

Save import was already listed. It's a major complaint on this forum. If there are major complaint threads I've missed off that list (not one or two pages of people arguing the toss over minor details) then I'll add them. I'm trying to make it easy for CDPR to view what we're unhappy about in one single place rather than trying to keep track of multiple, lengthy threads.

 

[Toyen]

You know what would also be a cool nasty little detail?

If you sleep with Keira after you said Triss you love her, then Triss breaks up with you later!

True, most people will get the chance to have sex with Keira before they romance Triss or Yen but I guess it can be done the other way around too.

If you upset Keira and do not kill her, she goes to Radovid and before she does, she meets Triss and tells her Geralt cheated on her.

If you dont upset Keira and she comes to Kaer Morhen, even if Geralt cheated, she won' t tell anyone because you are on good terms with her of course.

This could only work with Triss of course since she is the one who meets Keira before she goes to Radovid, not Yen.

 

[Zireaelle]

Enhanced Edition? It is necessary. I never forgice CDPR one thing: that how they ruin Eredin and other Aen Elle elves. I have enough of reading requests about more Triss or something like that. Triss isn't so much important as the Wild Hunt (dammit, WH is the main antagonist... And title of the game also is WILD HUNT, not Witcher 3: Everybody love Triss, nanananana...)

 

[saladin1701]

I'll break down the list in to two categories.

Must be fixed:

The problem with Triss' romance is the flow, the timing are off leading to disjointed story.
The problem with Radovid and Dijkstra is their actions are out of character.
The problem with Bald Mountain is it feels like a Country Fare than a Satanic ritual.
The problem with The Wild Hunt's boss fights is they are relatively easy and underwhelming.
The problem with The Wild Hunt (including Eredin) comes from a lack of characterisation.
The problem with the Aen Elle is, again, a lack of characterisation.
The problem with Act 2 is no Triss or Keira at the start and a lack of content outside the main quest.
The problem with Act 3 is a lack of content outside of the main quest.
The problem with the ending is its contrived and mishandled by way of its determining factors.
The problem with romance in general is the lock in mechanism. You should be forced to choose rather than end up alone.
The problem with the world state is it fails to recognise your choices from previous games due to lack of proper save import.


Would be nice:

If Triss had a second love scene to bring parity between her romance and Yen's.
If there was more variety in the love scene animations (currently all but one has the same stock animation).
If there was more post-ending content.
If Iorveth was written back in to the game.
If the Lodge had a bigger role.
If there was reference to a former encounter with Ves.


I believe this pretty much covers most of the complaints in threads on this forum. If people want to add to this, remember that any Enhanced Edition we're lucky enough to get would cost money so it has to deal with issues in the base game rather than adding content you feel should be in (e.g. more characters to seduce). If I've missed something, let me know. This list does not necessarily represent my own opinions. I agree with some, disagree with others but have listed what most people have complained about. Don't shoot the messenger.

 

[BladeRunnerBlues]

Enhanced Edition? It is necessary. I never forgice CDPR one thing: that how they ruin Eredin and other Aen Elle elves. I have enough of reading requests about more Triss or something like that. Triss isn't so much important as the Wild Hunt (dammit, WH is the main antagonist... And title of the game also is WILD HUNT, not Witcher 3: Everybody love Triss, nanananana...)

I can see why people were complaining about lesser content for Triss, it was really strange in the latter part of the game that she was almost completely silent. I think that CDPR did enough regarding this matter with the new lines they added for the characters and I think that the romances are decent enough right now. Issues like Eredin and the WH, weak reflection of Witcher 2 choices and the badly-presented political background seem like much bigger storytelling problems for me at this point, and improving them would also requite much more work than merely adding a few lines of dialogue. I would prefer to have these shortcomings addressed before all else, but of course there's room for improvement in other departments as well.

Unless I'm mistaken, ME3's extended cut was some extra bit slapped on it's laughably bad ending. As bad as The Witcher 3's ending is, the game needs a lot more attention than that,

It was a laughable amount added to a laughable ending. I was just referring to the fact that the huge community rage forced a studio such as BioW....or who am I kidding - such a studio as EA to release a DLC/extended content for free, which is pretty hilarious considering their terrible practices.

 

[sv3672]

The new lines added in patch 1.10 make only a minor difference, and they are mostly near the end of the game. In my opinion, if the game was originally released with those additions, the same complaints would still have been made anyway. Given that it is only a small amount of (and to be honest, not very well made) content, and that the other issues were either ignored by the developers, or the response was that it is not going to be changed, I would not have very high hopes regarding an enhanced edition. Especially one that would rewrite parts of the story, or make any other major changes. If one was going to be made at all (and there were no such promises so far), I guess it would probably focus on technical and gameplay related improvements, rather than adding new content.

 

[Pug.]

We've come to expect better from CDPR, and from TW last installment by extention. We compare TW3 to the previous games in the series so criticism is completely valid.

Fair enough, but a lot of this criticism is entirely subjective. I, for instance, thoroughly enjoyed the Novigrad act, even more so than Velen. Demanding that the developer rewrite an entire portion of the game merely because you found it boring isn't very realistic.

It's also worth bearing in mind that within the first two weeks of release, Wild Hunt sold approximately 6,000,000 copies. At any given time, there's about 300-500 people frequenting these boards. That's about .00000833% of the fan base. CDPR's forums hardly constitute a majority, and trying to cater to every request on here is probably not the most prudent course of action.

 

[ilayoeli]

Fair enough, but a lot of this criticism is entirely subjective. I, for instance, thoroughly enjoyed the Novigrad act, even more so than Velen. Demanding that the developer rewrite an entire portion of the game merely because you found it boring isn't very realistic.

It's also worth bearing in mind that within the first two weeks of release, Wild Hunt sold approximately 6,000,000 copies. At any given time, there's about 300-500 people frequenting these boards. That's about .00000833% of the fan base. CDPR's forums hardly constitute a majority, and trying to cater to every request on here is probably not the most prudent course of action.

I don't think more than half of the demands put out in this forum are realistic anyway whatsoever. I mean, changing the entire act 3? Rewirte the ending? Rebuild the Wild Hunt character? Let's face it, CDPR won't spend a złoty on things which their loyal fanbase alone is griping about no matter how endlessly we do so. They attracted an other bigger fanbase with TW3 and it's unrealistic to believe they'll put so much resources into satisfying us, such small market share, for FREE.

But I don't think we're complaining about all this in hope for a REAL Enhanced Edition, definitely not in this scale.
I think most just enjoy the discussion or, perhaps, the more entitled of us signaling CDPR not to fuck up their future installments so badly.

But that's just my thoughts here.

 

[BladeRunnerBlues]

They attracted an other bigger fanbase with TW3 and it's unrealistic to believe they'll put so much resources into satisfying us, such small market share, for FREE.

Might as well be true. Nevertheless, since they did invest a lot in the Enhanced Edition of the previous two games, it seems to make sense to have such discussions and analyze what could be potentially improved - as you say, if for nothing else than for the pure enjoyment of discussion. Of course many of the issues raised will probably not get addressed, maybe none of them will be. If that's the case, it will become clear that one can no longer except the same support from the studio that it used to provide; "CD Projekt Red is dead, long live CD Projekt Red" and many players active in discussions will call it a day, knowing that the studio has indeed shifted its focus completely.

But until it hasn't been officially confirmed that there certainly won't be an EE at any point, why not be slightly optimistic? As it has been mentioned a few posts back, despite all the strong financial arguments that CDPR doesn't need to care anymore about its fringe audience active on forums and discussion threads, it is not unreasonable to hold the studio to the standards that they themselves set.

 

[Vigilance.492]

The Witcher 3's ending is, the game needs a lot more attention than that, it needs an entire act (3) being revamped, at least one major romance fixing, another act (2) expanding with the proper people being in the proper place at the proper time and several characters being completely re-written from the ground up because they're a complete joke. Add to that a re-design of the final battle and it amounts to a lot of work.

Have you ever considered that maybe you just need to come to the conclusion/acceptance that the game isn't very good (Or at least the plot side of things) and move on?

Much of what I'm seeing being asked for here goes well beyond the realms of an "Enhanced Edition", and veers far into, "I want half the game re-made". If you look back at TW1/2's EE's, they didn't go hugely messing around with the plot, or doing anything outrageous. If you take TW2 for example, they added some dialogues, a handful of quests, but most of it was lots of little gameplay fixes and just putting an extra layer of polish on the game (And TW1 was mostly bug fixes/polish like the VA's, Loading Times etc).

I was disappointed in various narrative aspects of the game, and I doubt that disappointment will ever go away considering how much I love TW2 (And not quite to the same extent, but TW1 also), but ultimately it just means TW3 won't be a game I'll be going and replaying much, if at all. Plenty of other games to play and things to enjoy, CDPR seem generally content with how TW3 has turned out, so I'm not holding out hope for an EE, and especially that an EE will receive the level of huge changes being requested here. It's simply unrealistic really.

 

[Toyen]

Also, about the Lodge having a bigger role........I am definitely up for that!

And I still think Ciri deciding to join the Lodge and go into hiding with them somewhere and let them teach her to control her powers should have been a legit ending.

Hell Djisktra magically won the war which was so out of the realm of reality and out of character, so Ciri should have been able to have left with auntie Philippa!

We now know that there were probably bigger plans for the lodge since we saw that leaked dialogue about Yen betraying them and since Sile was meant to be a main character again according to the early leaked documents.

Such shame it went down that way.

It would be hard to incorporate it to the main story though.
But I have a quick suggestion!

Maybe adding the option to kill Avalach at the tower could do the trick! Seriously I cannot be the only one who was disappointed we didn' t actually get to kill him right there!

So it would go like this:

If you kinda messed up with Ciri but not completely so she doesn' t die(and went with her to the meeting of the lodge), she returns later through the portal once everyone is gone from Skellige after the battle thinking she had died.

She finds Avalach's corpse and is rather upset.

Then Philippa appears and tells her it was Geralt who did this and asks her to go with her.

In the heat of the moment, Ciri agrees and decides not to contact Geralt or Yen again leaving with her.

This opens the possibility of her turning into a rather negative character in the future, unlike the ending where she dies.

They should have done something like this instead of her and Geralt dying because well ,we know what happens to characters who can die in previous games...right.

 

[saladin1701]

Have you ever considered that maybe you just need to come to the conclusion/acceptance that the game isn't very good (Or at least the plot side of things) and move on?

Much of what I'm seeing being asked for here goes well beyond the realms of an "Enhanced Edition", and veers far into, "I want half the game re-made". If you look back at TW1/2's EE's, they didn't go hugely messing around with the plot, or doing anything outrageous. If you take TW2 for example, they added some dialogues, a handful of quests, but most of it was lots of little gameplay fixes and just putting an extra layer of polish on the game (And TW1 was mostly bug fixes/polish like the VA's, Loading Times etc).

I was disappointed in various narrative aspects of the game, and I doubt that disappointment will ever go away considering how much I love TW2 (And not quite to the same extent, but TW1 also), but ultimately it just means TW3 won't be a game I'll be going and replaying much, if at all. Plenty of other games to play and things to enjoy, CDPR seem generally content with how TW3 has turned out, so I'm not holding out hope for an EE, and especially that an EE will receive the level of huge changes being requested here. It's simply unrealistic really.

As I've repeatedly said, all I've done is compile all the rage post complaints in to a single, easy to read list. I'm helpful like that. When this game's development cycle has fully complete and there is no way there is any Enhanced Edition will be made, then I'll move on. Permanently because I have not the slightest interest in ever buying Cyberpunk. Would I like everything on that list 'fixed'? No but certainly a lot of it. Do I expect everything on that list to be fixed if there is an Enhanced Edition? Most certainly not. You should think of it like a buffet rather than a feast.

 

[Pug.]

But I don't think we're complaining about all this in hope for a REAL Enhanced Edition, definitely not in this scale.
I think most just enjoy the discussion or, perhaps, the more entitled of us signaling CDPR not to fuck up their future installments so badly.

Your post just proves my point. Going on CDPR's boards and saying that they "fucked it up" isn't going to win you any fans among the developers, or make them any more inclined to take your suggestions under consideration. There is a difference between constructive criticism that has an attainable, realistic end goal in mind, and the disrespectful carping of a vocal minority that, as you yourself admitted, is asking for things which are not within the realm of possibility.

 

[BladeRunnerBlues]

Your post just proves my point. Going on CDPR's boards and saying that they "fucked it up" isn't going to win you any fans among the developers, or make them any more inclined to take your suggestions under consideration. There is a difference between constructive criticism that has an attainable, realistic end goal in mind, and the disrespectful carping of a vocal minority that, as you yourself admitted, is asking for things which are not within the realm of possibility.

I agree about the constructive criticism, but I think that the attainability of the improvements shouldn't necessarily be a factor limiting the discussion. If CDPR ever cared about the carping of this vocal minority regarding The Witcher 3, surely they are very well aware of all that has been mentioned in this thread already, since it's been repeated countless times since the game launched. They will decide whether to act on any of it or not - I'm pretty sure that they are the best judges of what is attainable and what is not. You're right that it is good to keep expectations and hopes at bay, especially when talking about an Enhanced Edition.

On the other hand, discussing what could be improved inadvertently touches on storytelling shortcomings that people perceive as crucial flaws of the game, and when one is discussing the good or bad aspects of a narrative, it is hard to limit oneself to talking about what is attainable. It's simply a criticism of writing and execution that can be as far reaching as "redoing" half the game. Certainly unrealistic, but I don't think that people should be called out on voicing complaints that can never be addressed.

This discussion will probably go on through various threads as long as CD Projekt RED does not officially announce that there won't be an Enhanced Edition or if they do one, until it's released. While it may be annoying to some to read the same complaints over and over again in the forums, at this point the story of The Witcher 3 still seems like an open book that could see minor alterations and/or additions. Under such circumstances, fiery debate from the core audience seems absolutely natural, including theories and suggestions that reach far beyond the realm of calculated attainability. In many ways, I think this is what keeps core audiences active and alive, and as bitchy as it may sound a lot of times, such discussion is also what separates a critical audience from blind fandom.

I'm not trying to say that the pragmatic-minded attitudes are misplaced, but I don't think that they could or should stop more far-reaching debate, even regarding an Enhanced Edition. In addition to that, most of the major threads about story complaints that I've read were pretty articulate, constructive and respectful, and obviously launched because of the players' deep investment into The Witcher 3 and CD Projekt RED who proved to be exemplary developers in the case of the previous two installments.

 

[Sam2305]

Guys, they won't change nothing. Read this:

http://gamerant.com/cd-projekt-red-cyberpunk-2077-153/

The last thing new we will see should be Blood and Wine (and it's have been delay until May-June) and that's all. In my opinion, the only reason which explains why they are not sayin anything about our demands it is because the don't want to lose clients. That's all