(This is a post from another thread I had created for an enhanced edition and it would really fit perfectly in this thread.)
Hi
I loved both Witcher 1 and 2 (and actually still do), which are of the best RPGs I have ever played. But the third installment is to me without a doubt a game turned to an art form.
Congratulations to all those who helped create this game. Pure artistry.
Since there might be a possible enhanced edition in production, I'd like to make some suggestions to further enhance gameplay. Now some of these suggestions might not be for all players of course. Since some tend to be a bit hardcore. But hey, a witchers life should not be a pussy ride.
First of all, new game plus on death march still feels somewhat easy (playing on PC, 200 hrs exp.). As lots of mods seem to address this by creating a higher difficulty, they still seem greatly unbalanced and buggy at some parts. Leaning more towards a dark souls experience would greatly benefit this. By for example only being able to meditate or save in inns or by campfires (Keeping in mind main quest chain save points). Or changing the dodge mechanic, so it is necessary to use your brains with the environment instead of spamming dodge. Another thing that could increase difficulty is changing the alchemy mechanic a bit, so it is necessary to go search and collect herbs if you want to replenish potions and bombs every time. And reducing herb availability with vendors. Just using simple alcohol one time to replenish all, negates the use of all those herbs planted around the map. (I know there are people who appreciate this, but making it an option or tying it to a specific higher difficulty might be great) The game is full of resources and most are just plain useless. That is a shame. Same for the food. Nobody uses that. Introducing a mechanic where u need food to survive and hunt would definitely make the experience better. Or to sleep so stamina or other stats do not get affected by getting tired. (and increasing day/night cycle time so you do not have to sleep every 20 minutes. I already increase this with a mod) And actions like fast travelling should cost gold or experience.
This should be a witchers world. Though, harsh and unforgiving. Scoiateal ambush parties would have been cool too. Drinking potions and applying oil should have a mechanic tied to it, so you really see geralt drink or apply oils even in combat. This could make preparation and studying the situation more important. As you can get hit while doing it in combat. (There is a mod out not so long ago that fixes some of these stuff, but its not really balanced and bugfree yet to my opinion).
Secondly what I really miss is a hood and cape. Makes me look badass. Mods fix this but its not always working like a charm and there is clipping with weapons. It can also introduce protection against weather elements like freezing cold or body temperature drops because of rain exposure to increase the hardcore survival experience.
Thirdly what I also miss is the great looking skill tree from the first witcher game.
Most general skills are not used by anyone, since they are a waste. We only have so much slots to fit with better skills.
I also never use heavy attacks. Light attacks are very fast and overpowered. They just do the trick in every situation. I think many players will agree on that. Maybe light attacks can be used tactically to influence a combat situation, but without doing heavy damage like it is now. We have heavy attacks for the damage, or so we should.
Also noteworthy is the 'almost' useless crafting and breaking down of items. I barely used it. Only to create set items, but then I just bought the required items from a vendor quickly. Since there are soooo much (useless) relic items, I just sell them and have tons of gold to quickly buy my set items. Creating set items is not even a challenge except the grandmaster set which requires a lot of rare items (gold?). And the latter is what makes it rewarding. Its also very easy to get rich in this game. According to the lore, witchers do contracts to earn their bit of cash to survive. Geralt does not need contracts it seems. Only items from chests to sell. Instead of a vineyard (BaW) I could have bought Beauclair castle with my bank account. Maybe reducing the amount of items in chests and their worth; including money found, and reducing vendor cash supply. It should also be way harder to find armor, weapons and the like, so the crafting mechanic would have its use. Crafting in W2 was better, because I needed it way more to survive.
I know CDPR no longer makes DLC because of the work on cyberpunk. But some extra witcher contracts with those awesome micro stories attached to it would be incredible. Hell, I would gladly pay for stuff like that! (and the hardcore things already mentioned here!)
I hope these suggestions make some appeal, since it seems there are a lot of people on other forums who really want some of this stuff. And more importantly before anyone gives negative comments: the 'hardcore' stuff should apply only to the hardest difficulty, so the casual players still have a good time of course.
Witcher 3 is for me the greatest game ever made, great visuals, coding, audio, incredible storytelling and so on. Great support and patching and all. But it still feels like a walk in the park. Although I have really enjoyed it. And I wish CDPR great succes with their Cyberpunk project.
Cheers.
(PS. I got laid with Yennefer, but I still don't get the unicorn thing...)
