[SPOILERS] What's your opinion on Hearts of Stone?

[swordsandroses]

I've just finished the expansion and what a ride it was! Absolutely amazing! Brilliant. Stunning. Breath taking. I laughed. I cried. I had fun.

1. The Wedding
It was a little bit obvious I'll be going there with Shani when I've read her invitation, but never did I suspect what is waiting for me there. The atmosphere, choreography, the dialogue script are all top notch!
Vlodimir character is the star of that show, felt absolutely enchanted by his antics and camaraderie with Geralt.
The chain of events is spot on, a perfect mix of fun, serious and interesting. It breathed with life and the immersion was complete.

2. The Heist
I've anticipated this one the most, but probably the weakest link in comparison to the other parts of the expansion.
It was still captivating and interesting in gathering the crew and doing the heist. Except I perhaps expected more stealth elements and less brute force tactics.
The auction was interesting, Vesemir's old love was interesting. The two brothers however, did not really invoke much interest, sympathy or anything else really, but I guess that was their role in the main story.

3. Iris and her dream
Beatufiul. Absolutely gorgeous scenery, superb writing and a constant flow of feels.
The Caretaker I thought was good difficulty, did not have any issues on Blood and Bones once I figured out the system. Same with her biggest fear boss.
Iris is a very interesting character, and her story was told in a captivating way which left me thinking about her until the very end.

4. Shani
Mixed feelings, but overall good. Her dialogues script is excellent, fits her book and game character and the situations she is currently in.
However, it feels like her English VA is ill fitted for the role. Her voice sounds like that of a young girl, and the shift between English and American accent was constantly pressing on the immersion. This is not to say VA did a bad job, but perhaps casting could have done their research a bit better.
But, looking at the whole picture, Shani is still interesting and fit in this story perfectly.
Thumbs up on not making her a waifu.

Olgied
I'm not saying he's as likable as Bloody Baron, but he came close. Expert writing on getting me attached to him, and VA was well chosen for the role. A bit of a cliche character, but he didn't get on my nerves, so the character served the story as intended.

Gaunter O'Dimm
The absolute star of the show. Phenomenal writing, voice acting and directing of his every appearance.
To be honest, he started off by getting on my nerves as a cliche arrogant bad guy, but once the story got going, and as I was more deeply sucked into the pace, he grew on me.
And his impact never faltered or lessened. It continuously, slowly but surely grew, up to the grand finale.
I don't know if Eredin will ever get a do over in the vanilla, but with Master Mirror you've definitely redeemed yourself CDPR!
Bravo!

 

[cyberpunkforever]

-the Arnskrone castle ruins in the forest/swamp, what a great, awesome, atmospheric environment, and with that leshen totem :geraltfeelgood:
keep up the good work cdpr

 

[johnchristy00]

I just beat it, and its utterly amazing! Its what the OG should've been like, in terms of difficulty (I played Wild Hunt the first time on regular, and the second and current time, I'm on blood and broken bones). However, it really REALLY should've been longer. There are tens of thousands of virtual square kilometers not being used! Especially in Skellige, my favorite place. Or Kaer Morhen.

 

[Kake1]

I noticed many movie and game references:
Arrow in the knee from Skyrim
An assassin named Professor form Bourne Identity
Faceless man from Pan's Labyrinth


Might be coincidence, but still.

 

[coachstefen]

I personally did not like the wedding part in the story it was painful for me to do that quest, the possession stuff was ok, it was just boring for me to do that and could not wait till it was over, I did like the heist and the last two parts of the game but the wedding was not enjoyable for me, do not care what others think of that.

 

[Vafailelaine]

I noticed many movie and game references:
An assassin named Professor form Bourne Identity

The professor appeared in Andrzej Sapkowski's novel 'Times of contempt', which was written in 1995. He was described as an infamous person who wore '' spectacles - made of polished crystal, with bluish reflections and gold frames - which were planted on his hooked nose'', and who got killed by Geralt in a tavern in Anchor. What i want to say by mentioning that, is the fact that the novel was written in 1995 while 'Bourne Identity' was launched in 2002, so the professor from the novel couldn't have a reference to the movie, since the novel was written long before the movie being released

 

[squirrely1]

I LOVE IT!! It's amazing. I'm going to put mine in spoilers just to help some unfortunate soul who may wonder in here to avoid spoilers just in case.....

Spoiler

I loved the whole Shani quest line and that love scene WOWZER!! *pants* I think it was more intense than even the Triss or Yennifer romance scenes. I want to replay it now to have Geralt dump both Yen and Triss and hold off for Shani. LOL

As for the Rune wright thing, I don't know if my game glitched or what but that quest never showed up in my journal or off the boards in Seven Cats Inn I was really disappointed. Finally when I was almost finished with the game I looked up the location to that Rune Wright and went there and low and behold I was able to then trigger the quest. I wish I would've looked the location up earlier since I didn't really get to avail myself of the cool buffs and other new runes you can craft.

I did experience a sort of glitch or bug which I intend to log with in the bug thread, but I crafted up a Greater Mending Glyph and a Greater Binding Glyph and put them on my boots and after combat the Glyphs were gone. YIKES! This was really irritating because they are not cheap to craft up. I really hope they get that fixed soon.

There are few other things that just have me so amazed and I just love the detail that the developers and writers put into this game. For one the couple that you meet up with in Without a Trace Quest in which you discover they were eating the halfling that disappeared. Geralt confronts them and you can kill them or you can spare them but Geralt makes them swear never to practice cannabalism again and they of course agree, he states he will be back later to check on them and well it's not in your journal anymore but we know that CDPR really gives certain closure to quests like this so I went back and low and behold I found the man standing inside of his house crying over his wife. But I can't get inside since the door is locked. I really wish I could find the key or be able to investigate what happened to her. Anyone find where that key is to unlock that door in the village of Erde? If so please let me know.

The other really cool thing is in the auction you buy the owl statue you can dismantle it and find a map to treasure and a key inside. It's really awesome that they allow that in game. Makes me wonder what else I should be trying to dismantle. Haha Also, ... I wonder (it seemed that Vezzy's lover was really interested in your buying that item as it flashed to her smiling at you when you won the bid) I was hoping there would be something toward the end where you could win over Vezzy's armor that she has in her prized witcher gear collection. I still have one more main quest to do so hopefully there will be a way to get that from her. Here's hoping.

Anyway sorry for the ramblings, but I can't say enough how gobsmacked impressed I am with this game, it continues to amaze me and if it doesn't get GoTY I'm going to riot!! Thanks CDPR for going the mile and delivering an awesome gaming experience!!

 

[Glaedr]

Enjoyed the expansion alot, full of nice little touches to the story and the runesmithing is a welcome addition,(pc user so i had a better time it seems )
As the Japanese would say: Thank you for your hard work!

 

[radulaur234]

I love how the Devs. put the fricking Tax Collector in the game to tell us that we are bad. My friend and I were playing in a party on PS4 and he got ganked by this Tax Collector asking about the Cow Hides,The pearls and Stealing from houses.That's all the bugs people exploited to make money.That's fricking sweet. )) I walked all over Oxenfurt and haven't been able to start that dialogue with the Tax Collector,could one of the staff,or any of you guys who knows why,can answer me why the Tax Collector isn't appearing at me?
Also FRICKING LOVE THE WEDDING! Make Geralt be posessed more often.That was very funny. The story of the expansions chills me tot the bone.The sidequests.preety good,but I don't think I found all of them yet.Also,aside from Olgierd and 2-3 other guys,who is playing Gwent?And what new cards there are?Thanks for the answers.

---------- Updated at 09:28 PM ----------

Dude,it is the Mastercrafted Ursine Armor

 

[Achro]

I love Olgierd von Everec, frieken amazing character. Much better than Eredin, if you ask me. And of course, the wedding scene was fantastic, especially the ending, you know, the boat ride. All in all, great expansion, makes me even more excited for Blood and Wine!

 

[dimonicus92]

The best DLC out there regarding value to price ratio.Keep it up CD Project

 

[AdeptR3D]

Just finished it yesterday. Definitely a huge improvement in quality, variability and depth of quests! Not to mention the awesome boss fights. Funny how a sewer frog and a gardener put the King of the Wild Hunt to shame now XD ... but I guess that goes to show what CDPR can really do when they have more time and money to work with. My only complaint about the expansion is the runecrafting system, but I already posted a thread about that. Can't say it hurt the expansion overall anyway. Very much looking forward to B&W!

---------- Updated at 12:38 AM ----------

I personally did not like the wedding part in the story it was painful for me to do that quest, the possession stuff was ok, it was just boring for me to do that and could not wait till it was over, I did like the heist and the last two parts of the game but the wedding was not enjoyable for me, do not care what others think of that.

Ya I see why someone wouldn't like it. It was very much a 'comedic relief' kind of scene, very different from the main game. Reminded me a bit of the Citadel dlc in ME3 in that regard. It did seem to go on a tad too long though, so I can see why you might have found it drudging.

 

[Tex_McNasty]

I loved it. All the quests and cutscenes, harder boss fights, scenes, protagonists. I never played Witcher 1, so never understood Geralt and Shani's relationship earlier. But I am pleased with what I did learn in this expansion about the two of them. I enjoyed the long wedding quest, and didn't want to rush through it, because I am more into the game for the story and cutscenes. I love a good book, and there is no game out there that compares as far as giving the same satisfaction for me.
I am pleased with the additional dialogue added that came with patch 1.10 as well. Anymore romance, and it would have been more of a romance game, even though I loved the look of Triss and the voice actor's voice.
Can't wait for the next expansion, I just hope I can bring my wife Triss with me in it haha.

 

[coachstefen]

Ya I see why someone wouldn't like it. It was very much a 'comedic relief' kind of scene, very different from the main game. Reminded me a bit of the Citadel dlc in ME3 in that regard. It did seem to go on a tad too long though, so I can see why you might have found it drudging.[/QUOTE]


Yeah it did go on far too long, I wanted to meditate to midnight but it would not let me, the only part I enjoyed about the wedding was when Gaunter showed up, other than that it was way too long, and personally I thought Voldomir was a jerk. So I do not know why people are saying the wedding scene was fantastic, maybe to them but not to me.

 

[VicBoss1935]

I played it far a straight 12 hours, no bloody joke.

 

[Pug.]

Kuddos for a Well-done Expansion

Just wanted to thank CDPR for the care and attention that they put into crafting Hearts of Stone. I won't get into spoilers, but the tale of Iris von Everec really stuck with me and definitely put me in mind of the bloody baron quest from the main game. Came close to shedding a few man tears by the time I reached mansion's end.

My only critique is that I wish the heist mission had been a little bit longer, and perhaps included a bit more player agency. The cut-scenes were very well-done, though.

The wedding scene was also stellar. Whoever came up with the idea of the donkey ears deserves a raise and promotion.

I'm really looking forward to Blood and Wine, and praying to the blessed mother Melitele that you all decide to do a third expansion after that.

 

[Tex_McNasty]

I agree, great job to CDPR for a great game, and great expansion.
Yea was sad what Iris went through, and did leave me with a sad feeling at the end of that part as well.

 

[FloDaKatarn]

It is one of better RPG DLC since a long time ago, the story is incredible and the characters so charismatics (special mention for the Mirror Master who s one of the best vilains in a rpg game). My time playing is approximately 25 hours with total exploration, achievements, crafting and die and retry a lot in max difficuylty plus mods ^^. The work on boss fighting is really efficient and the correction of a defect of the basic game. The only leak in my opinion is the gwynt (where is the Shani card for example?) ans the pugilat fighting.

Thank you very much CD Project Red for you excellent job and I will say just " GIVE US MOOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"

 

[Valkimedes]

Feedback for the devs : thanks so much for this brilliant expansion ! Clearly a 10/10 for me.

Pros :
-Pinacle of narrative art in the wake of, but not equal to, the Bloody Baron quest line ( which in my opinion is one of the best written, directed and designed RPG quests I have ever played )
-Complex, slowly unveiling moraly grey characters in pure CD Projekt fashion
-Runewords-glyphwords is a great addition
-New zone to explore integrates seamlessly to the Novigrad map
-The Wedding event is pure brilliance and one of the more funniest quests I've done in an RPG
-The "painting" segment is, again, a testominy of the creative talent of CD Projekt where bold choices in aesthetics serves the purpose of a marvelously well written classic ghost story
-Always incredible world design and art
-Shani is there although the expansion was over, yay !
- Always that self-mocking 2nd degree, I really laughed at the moment in the "Vault" where geralt says : "Who put candles there !"

Regrets (not flaws in itself)
-Expansion has no real impact on Geralt's life/view of the world, it is typically a side aventure a bit like some short stories fromr Sapkowski. Would like the next expansion(s) to be more engaging character-wise
- In a manner of paradox, the quests are so well written that the relationship to the characters of the game like yennefer, triss or ciri look shalow in comparaison. The complexity of a personality like the Bloody Baron or Olgried go way beyond the above mentionned whom's personality equation are fairly simple and do not evolve during the game by a significant amont. I have already found weird that the game left me with a feeling of having more empathy (or disdain) for someone like the Bloody Baron and his family, Olgried and Iris or even Crach and his children than with Yen, Ciri or Triss. Especially Triss ! Hope we can go more complex stories for the main characters in future expansions.

10/10 for me too! And as you say, the impact in the world, that's something that i missed. For example: Shani romance. If you are in love with Yennefer or Triss, why there's no dialogue? "Sorry Shani, i'm dating with Yen or Triss. And why Shani don't made questions about geralt's memory or his best friend Jaskier? This expansion felt to me like the first two books. Just Geralt doing his things.

 

[Ser_Volodorn]

Finished the expansion an hour ago now and also want to leave a brief feedback here. Well, to put it bluntly, it was brilliant! Chapeau, CDRP! I loved every single quest here and was glued to the screen throughout the story. The dialogues were superb, I liked most the dialogue between Geralt and Gaunter O' Dimm at the crossroads. Along with the music playing during this conversation really set up an eerie atmosphere.
The wedding quest was a wonderful mix of humor and seriousness. Vlodimir was such a funny character, I had to laugh often during this quest.
The heist (and the auction before it) were magnificent as well (kinda got some GTA 5 vibes there ). I liked how every possible member of the heist had an introduction video.
The Iris quest....I can't even describe how much I liked it! Even though I knew I'm playing as Geralt, the quest still managed to scare me...especially in the beginning.
All in all, the whole main story was much better for me than the vanilla main story. Not saying the main story was bad or anything cause I loved it a lot. Just wanna emphasize how much I liked the story in the expansion better. i liked the fact that you were playing as the Geralt from the "good old times" (without Ciri)where he was a simple monster slayer who happens to find himself in tough and strange situations.
Aside from the quests I liked the added weapons and armor. The bosses, especially in Olgierds mansion, and the fact that they were so frequent I liked as well! Also I got the feeling they were harder than bosses in the vanilla game, which I also approve.

Finally, I hope that the second expansion will go in a very similar direction as this expansion, in terms of the wonderful and exciting quests, characters and bosses.