Small Changes That Could Make a Big Difference
With the new patch rolling out soon, I figured now would be a good time to discuss some small changes that could really improve The Witcher 3 in some meaningful ways. I've put a little over two hundred hours into the game, and these are some things I'd really like to see put into the game.
1. Music Frequency: In The Witcher 3, the soundtrack is almost always playing, and while it is absolutely wonderful, hearing it so often can become a little old. There are times in the game when I think it would greatly enhance the atmosphere if there was no music. Just hearing the ambiance of the world for stretches of time could really add to immersion. Having the soundtrack playing over every battle can become tiring, especially when it's for a small pack of wolves of something that takes about half a minute to handle. Some players may like hearing the soundtrack constantly, but putting in an option for how frequently you want it to play outside of cutscenes would be really nice since it plays a lot by default.
2. Turn Off Finishers: Currently, there is an option to disable automatic finishers, but it'd be nice if there was an option to turn them off entirely as well. I'm not going to complain about finishers being included since some players may really like them, but I think there are probably a good number of people who don't like them that much, especially since there are so few which means seeing a lot of the same animations over the course of the game. I'd honestly just prefer to have every combat encounter devoid of them, the regular gore is already morbidly satisfying without the finishers. Personally, I also find the finishers to be a little bit goofy too. The decapitation one is just a tad bit over the top, and there are times when they don't really sync up well because of the geometry, which can hurt immersion for me. I'd like to reiterate that I only want the option to disable finishers, leave up to the player to decide if they really want them or not.
3. Turn Off Auto-Sheathing For Swords: This one seems to come up a lot in these forums, so I'm sure I'm not covering any new ground here, but the main reason I think an option for this would be nice is because there are times when I'll mop up a pack of enemies right before another engages and Geralt will sheathe his sword I'll end up blocking with my fists until he either automatically unsheathes or I do it myself. Having there be an option to turn off auto sheathing would just be really nice, and there seem to be a lot of people in a agreement on this.
Well, those are the small changes I think could have a large impact, but I'm sure you guys probably have a number of other ones you think would help, so post 'em in the comments. Before I end, I'd like to just reiterate that I only want these to be options because different people like different things. Giving players more to tinker with never hurts, the HUD in this game is great example since it has all the information you could ever need, but you also have the option to turn off or enable almost all of it (barring the date and time thing, which it would also be great to have an option to turn that off because when I'm outside I can generally see if it's raining or late in the day, and if I can't Geralt will tell me anyways "Wind's howling").
---------- Updated at 02:23 PM ----------
If the non-privacy of the poll bothers you, I'm sorry. The wording of the option confused me. If there is a way to edit the poll, let me know if that's something you'd like.
With the new patch rolling out soon, I figured now would be a good time to discuss some small changes that could really improve The Witcher 3 in some meaningful ways. I've put a little over two hundred hours into the game, and these are some things I'd really like to see put into the game.
1. Music Frequency: In The Witcher 3, the soundtrack is almost always playing, and while it is absolutely wonderful, hearing it so often can become a little old. There are times in the game when I think it would greatly enhance the atmosphere if there was no music. Just hearing the ambiance of the world for stretches of time could really add to immersion. Having the soundtrack playing over every battle can become tiring, especially when it's for a small pack of wolves of something that takes about half a minute to handle. Some players may like hearing the soundtrack constantly, but putting in an option for how frequently you want it to play outside of cutscenes would be really nice since it plays a lot by default.
2. Turn Off Finishers: Currently, there is an option to disable automatic finishers, but it'd be nice if there was an option to turn them off entirely as well. I'm not going to complain about finishers being included since some players may really like them, but I think there are probably a good number of people who don't like them that much, especially since there are so few which means seeing a lot of the same animations over the course of the game. I'd honestly just prefer to have every combat encounter devoid of them, the regular gore is already morbidly satisfying without the finishers. Personally, I also find the finishers to be a little bit goofy too. The decapitation one is just a tad bit over the top, and there are times when they don't really sync up well because of the geometry, which can hurt immersion for me. I'd like to reiterate that I only want the option to disable finishers, leave up to the player to decide if they really want them or not.
3. Turn Off Auto-Sheathing For Swords: This one seems to come up a lot in these forums, so I'm sure I'm not covering any new ground here, but the main reason I think an option for this would be nice is because there are times when I'll mop up a pack of enemies right before another engages and Geralt will sheathe his sword I'll end up blocking with my fists until he either automatically unsheathes or I do it myself. Having there be an option to turn off auto sheathing would just be really nice, and there seem to be a lot of people in a agreement on this.
Well, those are the small changes I think could have a large impact, but I'm sure you guys probably have a number of other ones you think would help, so post 'em in the comments. Before I end, I'd like to just reiterate that I only want these to be options because different people like different things. Giving players more to tinker with never hurts, the HUD in this game is great example since it has all the information you could ever need, but you also have the option to turn off or enable almost all of it (barring the date and time thing, which it would also be great to have an option to turn that off because when I'm outside I can generally see if it's raining or late in the day, and if I can't Geralt will tell me anyways "Wind's howling").
---------- Updated at 02:23 PM ----------
If the non-privacy of the poll bothers you, I'm sorry. The wording of the option confused me. If there is a way to edit the poll, let me know if that's something you'd like.