(SPOILERS) Will our choices from previous Witcher games really matter in Witcher 3 ?

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(SPOILERS) Will our choices from previous Witcher games really matter in Witcher 3 ?

I am worried since CDPR is approaching the Witcher 3 in a way to ensure new comers would enjoy the game as much as people who have played the previous entries, we might not see the full potential of our choices from the previous titles. I felt like my choices from Witcher 1 really did not effect the Witcher 2 at all, for example right off the bat you wake up naked next to Triss even if you chose Shani in Witcher 1. We saw some references to our choices in Witcher 1, but for me that was not enough. I think CDPR releasing the Witcher 2 on Xbox 360 played a huge role in this situation, because they had the same approach as they have for Witcher 3. I'd alsoreally like to see the return of memorable characters especially Thaler and kalkstein from Witcher 1.
I think this is a major issue that CDPR has, and it should be addressed. I want to see my choices from Witcher 2 and possibly Witcher 1 alter the relationship between Geralt and other characters and alter the political state the kingldoms in Witcher 3 significantly in major ways.
 
Highly doubt something like that will happen in the next decade or two....

It's just not possible to create a game which fully shows the effect of every choice you made in the last 2 games since there's many variants in TW2 that can change the political landscape of the North extensively. It will be like creating multiple different games and while 'possible' would be the wrong word since given a huge budget one might be able to pull it off, it's just not feasible to actively show effect of every major landscape changing choice.We can have little references like NPCs mentioning it in passing or a minor character telling us as a tale of how the kingdom of X is now ruled by Y because of Z events but I doubt it will be anything more concerning political choices. The only way that can be done I guess is reskins of characters and different characters in the same place while keeping almost similar dialogue.

Other than that, I would guess yes choices that won't require the game to be changed severely for each choice will be implemented.

EDIT: As viva pointed a few posts below, the way the game is being designed currently(what we know so far) those areas become irrelevant but the above explanation is for why it would be impossible if they tried to make every choice's effect be visually apparent.
 
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Its too huge of an undertaking especially in the case of TW2 carrying over to TW3.CDPR could half ass it and do reskins or whatever but then it wouldn't be satisfying or worth the trouble.Every game in the series lets you play around with relatively self-contained possibilities and then we can probably fill the gaps on our own.

In the end there needs to be a strong , fixed backbone for the story and this can only achieved by keeping only some of the choices "cannon" and CDPR's writers obviously get to deliver a certain vision.

Of course , I know many would disagree with that. :v I tend to see choices in Witcher games as interesting what if scenarios and a pivotal part of the games ,but somewhere a long the lines CDPR has its own story to tell.



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Don't expect it to have much more effect than TW1 did on TW2, which is to say, just a few references here and there about what you did.
It's simply not practical to have gigantic game altering decisions that impact a ton of shit with many variables in an open world game of this size. But I really don't care that much to be honest. Unlike certain other companies, CDPR never went out of their way by telling us that choices would have big consequences between games. They would rather focus on making the game itself good.
 
Well, in reality it shouldn't be that hard. If to speak about different political situations, first of all, the war changed things. Whoever got Temeria - Radovid, Anais and Natalis, it was split between Henselt and Radovid, or into provinces - is irrelevant because it was overrun by the Nilfgaarians and turned into NML. So the only reflection can be in dialogues.

Second, we won't go to Aedirn (and Kaedwen) in TW3, so the fate of Saskia's state won't have a prominent place, and can be reflected only in dialogues as well. The same goes for Henselt's fate, Stennis' fate and the rest of Aedirn.

Whether there is a Council, or a witch-hunt should be reflected in TW3. It was a global choice that affected the entire region.

As for the rest, CDPR will need to track our surviving NPCs and make an effort to incorporate them in a story of TW3.

So, it seems, it is not that much of a variation, after all, and quite manageable.
 
Even if it were practical, having imported decisions influence the game significantly would be undesirable. The game is not Witcher 2 Expansion Pack; it is Witcher 3, and it has to be substantially complete and stand on it own no matter what conditions may come from the previous game. There can't be an imported decision that cuts off any quest line or even a substantial part of a quest.

Siegfried being present and helpful in Act III if you spared him in TW1is the model I would like to see for imported decisions. Finding yourself sleeping with Triss even if you blew her off in TW1 is the sort of blunder that I hope the developers will not repeat.
 
Yeah, I hope we won't wake up in bed with Triss again after blowing her off in TW2. Otherwise it will look like Geralt is schizophrenic, and no short codex entry will remedy this.
 
He's even regained his memory now, wonder how much that will affect his perception of chars.
 
I'd like something along the lines of Siegfried's appearance with a lot of Mass Effect 3 thrown in there.

it is Witcher 3
Precisely because of this previous choices should matter a lot. We spent the entirety of TW2 making choices that affected the world, but we didn't have any real payoff for that in TW2 it should be in TW3.
 
While the very politics centric plot of W2 was nice, W3 is supposed to be about Geralt and his loved ones. For me personally reading about what transpired in the journal or hearing a bit of dialogue between NPCs will do. As for known NPCs from previous games, a cameo or even a secondary mission here and there, but nothing that would affect the main plot.
 
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Even if it were practical, having imported decisions influence the game significantly would be undesirable. The game is not Witcher 2 Expansion Pack; it is Witcher 3, and it has to be substantially complete and stand on it own no matter what conditions may come from the previous game. There can't be an imported decision that cuts off any quest line or even a substantial part of a quest.

Siegfried being present and helpful in Act III if you spared him in TW1is the model I would like to see for imported decisions. Finding yourself sleeping with Triss even if you blew her off in TW1 is the sort of blunder that I hope the developers will not repeat.

Just to cover all the bases, CDPR should have us wake up in bed with Triss, Shani, Yen and Vess.

:p
 
Don't say it's impossible. Mass Effect had it figured out right until the end where they screwed up. Tellgate games does a good job of this in Wolf among us and the Walking Dead. @slimgrin well you are actually pointing out one of the flaws with Witcher. You could sleep with Triss, Shani, and Vess but it did not effect your relationship with them and their realtionship with each other.
 
Don't say it's impossible. Mass Effect had it figured out right until the end where they screwed up. Tellgate games does a good job of this in Wolf among us and the Walking Dead. @slimgrin well you are actually pointing out one of the flaws with Witcher. You could sleep with Triss, Shani, and Vess but it did not effect your relationship with them and their realtionship with each other.
Mass Effect? That's more like a poor example. They used a crappy excuse to go their own direction instead of making your choices relevant. It's all a bit hazy in my head but I can recall atleast one example

Oh you made a decision with the Rachni in Mass Effect1? Doesn't matter, in ME3 they'll be there regardless.
 
Mass Effect? That's more like a poor example. They used a crappy excuse to go their own direction instead of making your choices relevant. It's all a bit hazy in my head but I can recall atleast one example

Oh you made a decision with the Rachni in Mass Effect1? Doesn't matter, in ME3 they'll be there regardless.
In the Mass Effect example I was more referring to the relationship between characters and how it impacted the story. But still I get what you are saying. Isn't it time for this to change, though ? We are in 2014, and most game developers are trying to give us better and better graphics with the same old gameplay and story flaws. I think all developers should focus more these aspects of the games and improve them instead of only focusing on Graphics.
 
At first I was kind of hoping that the game would transfer drastic decisions across & that Characters from the previous games would all make an appearance where possible.
However I've realized not only is that very naive, but why would I want that anyway? Witcher 2 had a host of new Characters, each of them just as complex as the next & I there was not a single Main Character or Side Character that I didn't like. If TW2 had just re-used characters from TW1, maybe Yaevinn instead of Iorveth & whatnot, it wouldn't have allowed for these new, interesting characters.

The Witcher isn't marketed like Mass Effect, the entire series isn't built upon promises that your choices will be swung from game to game & have an impact on the next. So there's no getting your hopes up & there's no disappointment. Would I love to see Saskia again? Or Vess? Or Yarpen? Sure & with a 50-100 Hour game I'm sure there's more than enough room for them to show up. However I'd be just as satisfied to see only the vital characters return & if events or certain choices in the previous games are simply mentioned during conversations, then awesome & even if they're not, it's a happy sacrifice if the Story & Characters is still fucking great.
 
The game is not Witcher 2 Expansion Pack; it is Witcher 3, and it has to be substantially complete and stand on it own no matter what conditions may come from the previous game. There can't be an imported decision that cuts off any quest line or even a substantial part of a quest.
^This

Depending on who you let to live or die in TW2, cutscene variations and sidequests are enough for me, it doesn't have to be critical.
 
I really liked how CDPR approached it in TW2 in Prologue. If Aryan is alive, we'll meet him in a dungeon. If he is not, we'll meet Louise. I want something similar, at least concerning some characters. I would love to see Sile again, for example, but in half of cases she is dead. Let's say if she is alive, she will be in some important quest, and if not - some other char we won't meet otherwise. It will give a lot of re-playability, and would satisfy probably most of us.
 
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I hope so. I hope we get a direct continuation of the characters and events from the end of TW2. TW1 wrapped up nicely, with most plots resolved, while TW2 ended with a dozen unresolved plot arcs. I am hopeful that we will see the fruits of our labor of TW2 in TW3. The events of TW2 are so big and dramatic, I don't want to just hear about them in a journal entry, I want to see what happens first hand. I want that resolution.
 
Don't say it's impossible. Mass Effect had it figured out right until the end where they screwed up. Tellgate games does a good job of this in Wolf among us and the Walking Dead. @slimgrin well you are actually pointing out one of the flaws with Witcher. You could sleep with Triss, Shani, and Vess but it did not effect your relationship with them and their realtionship with each other.
Really? In my non-humble opinion, Telltale just gives you an illusion of choice for most of your choices. The path is very much predetermined and the decisions you make have VERY minor consequences. At most you have character A alive instead of character B. TW2's differences are FAR greater.
 
I really liked how CDPR approached it in TW2 in Prologue. If Aryan is alive, we'll meet him in a dungeon. If he is not, we'll meet Louise. I want something similar, at least concerning some characters. I would love to see Sile again, for example, but in half of cases she is dead. Let's say if she is alive, she will be in some important quest, and if not - some other char we won't meet otherwise. It will give a lot of re-playability, and would satisfy probably most of us.

Also Abigail in Murky Waters. She is replaced (apparently) with a generic 'healer'. I always thought she was a naive fool, but not guilty of what she stood accused (essentially all the ill doings of the whole of the Outskirts Village (plus the Reverend and Smuggler... & I always thought Mikhel was lucky to get away with his involvement... ).
 
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