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

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

With the first expansion pack out, I was wondering how other players feel about the quality of The Witcher 3's original campaign.

Having recently completed the expansion, I felt that Hearts of Stone did many things much better than the original Witcher 3:

From a visual and gameplay perspective, it played around with the atmosphere and look of locations much more (going downright Silent Hill at one point), but even more importantly, it brought very decent boss battles to the table. While it was a swift change to suddenly keep dying numerous times after beating the Wild Hunt's generals to a pulp half-naked in the main game, I found the boss fights in Hearts of Stone unique, satisfying and rewarding, something that cannot be said about the original campaign's final confrontations.

Even more importantly, however, I think that Hearts of Stone highlights many of the storytelling failures in the Wild Hunt. Much has been written about how poorly Eredin and the Hunt are handled in the original game, but getting such new (semi)antagonists like O'Dimm and Olgierd von Everec makes them even more hopeless. Even if the characters from HoS are not incredibly original either, they are presented miles better than any of the Hunt's members (it probably helps that they are actually present in the game).

Another thing that struck me was how much better the break-in mission was in Hearts of Stone than the much-bashed Reason of State. I'm of the opinion that The Witcher 3's portrayal of Radovid is tragically bad (not to mention all the OOC moments for other protagonists at the end of this particular quest), but even in terms of design, ROS is a disaster. Even though one is an assassination and the other one a heist, just the fact that CDPR showed us that they can nail such a mission makes Reason of State a failure of epic proportions.

All in all, Hearts of Stone felt like a really good expansion and like a much more coherent story than what The Witcher 3 delivered in its second and especially third act. I think that this new content makes the shortcomings of the original game even more obvious and that it proves that The Witcher 3 is in dire need of a sizable Enhanced Edition. Obviously, Hearts of Stone is just a short story compared to the original game's narrative, but it also proves that CDPR could significantly improve the original game if the resources were devoted to this goal. Since there is so much unexploited and marred potential in the main narrative, I think it would be pity if the main game did not get the "HoS treatment' after the second expansion is released and before the whole studio moves on to Cybeprunk.
 
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Hell, I would too, even though I love the game as it is.
PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY !!!!

---------- Updated at 07:59 PM ----------

Hell, I would too, even though I love the game as it is.
PLEASE TAKE MY MONEY !!!!
 
Why dont just be happy, that the expansion was awesome, and the Wild Hunt storyline good.
Because certain aspects of the Wild Hunt's story are underdeveloped and very uneven across the game. But mostly because CDPR is known for caring enough to improve its games after release, so it makes sense to have discussions about potential content improvement in the first place. It certainly can't be taken for granted, but they have started a great trend with The Witcher 1 and 2, and continuing it would immensely benefit the third installment as well.
 
After two wonderful Witcher's Enhanced Edition (with some nice addition to the original games), I would expect that CDPR releases, at some point, an EE edition for TW3 Wild Hunt in the same spirit as the previous ones. Either it is free like the others or paid for the extra content and improvements, I would certainly acquire it and love it. Hope they are listening to their fan base as interested as they've always been so far. Specially because, apparently, they've grown really big from the studio that released TW1 years ago. I would expect that they have now a lot more resources to work in such Enhanced Edition for Wild Hunt.
 
Well, I always saw Wild Hunt as being more about Geralt reclaiming his past and his relationship with Ciri, so I don't really have any strong feelings about CDPR going back and retooling the character of Eredin. The base game had plenty to like, the main difference is that moments like the bloody baron or Priscilla's Song are spread out over 150-200 hours, whereas HoS is a 10-20 hour experience. The expansion seems much richer in content than Wild Hunt, when in reality it just has a tighter focus.

An Enhanced Edition would be great, but it takes resources away from other things. If I had to choose between CDPR allocating man power to flesh out the base narrative, or create a potential third expansion that is a self-contained but rewarding experience like HoS, I'd go with the third expansion. There are so many other things to explore in the Witcher universe, and this is probably the last chance that we'll get to spend with Geralt. Eredin and the Wild Hunt had their time.
 
There are so many other things to explore in the Witcher universe, and this is probably the last chance that we'll get to spend with Geralt. Eredin and the Wild Hunt had their time.
While Eredin and the Wild Hunt didn't get nearly enough focus, they are certainly not the only department that could stand an improvement. I personally think that it would be better for the legacy of both the Witcher franchise and CDPR to polish the solid foundations of the original game and make it into a true masterpiece, but seeing how well HoS turned out, I completely understand people who would prefer other additional adventures.

I just think that at the end of the day, the main game's story is the truly defining element of the franchise and that fixing its shortcomings would serve Geralt's saga better than creating additional self-contained content. Ideally, they could use Blood and Wine to make some of the The Witcher 2 choices seem more impactful (like bringing back Iorveth or Saskia, if the players didn't kill her in AoK) and focus on the rest of the issues in an Enhanced Edition. We shall see...
 
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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.
 
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.
I meant after Blood and Wine, before moving on to Cyberpunk, but certainly, resource and PR-wise it also makes more sense to release a potential EE as the final big content update.

He acts like that in The Witcher 2 too, even if you sided with Iorveth. Only change is not *romancing* Ves!
Roche was a pretty helpful guy throughout the game no matter the path one chose in AoK. Still, hearing at least one comment from him about Geralt siding with Iorveth in the previous game would have helped a lot. An extra 2-3 lines...
 
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He acts like that in The Witcher 2 too, even if you sided with Iorveth. Only change is not *romancing* Ves!

Not entirely. He helps Geralt out after he crosses the mist, but only because it serves his own purposes too. He doesn't act like he's his best man at his wedding. It's a minor thing, I suppose. It would just be nice if there was some kind of reference to Iorveth's path but of course, that can never happen because there's no proper save import!


I meant after Blood and Wine, before moving on to Cyberpunk, but certainly, resource and PR-wise it also makes more sense to release a potential EE as the final big content update.

I'd agree. Preferably after a third expansion in Kovir though ;)
 
Doubt it will happen, but I have to agree... ironically, the high quality of HoS has put a big, fat spotlight on all the shortcoming of the main game. Boss battles, hcaracters, romances, pacing, etc. Everything was superior in HoS.
 
I agree with you - it almost seems like different team wrote HoS

Well, I think focus and scale hd much to do with it, to be honest... doing a small, enclosed narrative and fitting it into an existing game sure has to be easier then building everything from scratch... still it's kinda charring in places. That's why I loved the EE's for the other games so much, because they went back with some distance and redid the stuff that was missing/didn't work to begin with.
 
Dear CDPR:

If you don't do it for us... Do it for the money!

 

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I'll add this topic to my list of why we need an Enhanced Edition.

I mean, most of us already think the last third of the game needs a do over, among other things, but HoS just makes it jarringly obvious..

If you haven't already, consider voting in the petition from my signature.

---------- Updated at 06:47 PM ----------

I'll add this topic to my list of why we need an Enhanced Edition.

I mean, most of us already think the last third of the game needs a do over, among other things, but HoS just makes it jarringly obvious..

If you haven't already, consider voting in the petition from my signature.
 
Dear CDPR:

If you don't do it for us... Do it for the money!

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:
 
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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.
you pretty much nailed it, so did @BladeRunnerBlues
 
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