I too think that Act 3 and afterwards was bit rushed, but what I really want from CDPR is to add a Kovir expansion pack to show life of Geralt and Triss, and how they really rooted in Kovir.
Welcome to the thread
I think we all share your disappointment with the game's third act. :X
As per your other stuff, I too would support a Kovir DLC. There's some problems but there's also some reasons why I think it could work. It is a little bit one-sided, with quite a bit of focus on Triss. I think in the future, they would likely want to avoid shifting focus again. As you can see, it didn't work out great for them. XP
However, there are a couple of reasons why I think, if handled properly, it could work. First and foremost, it doesn't need to be romance specific. Triss is an important character, romanced or not, and it wouldn't be out of character for Geralt to help her. If you didn't romance her, you show up and help her, business as usual and it's fun because it's a story and Witcher-ing is always good fun.
Perhaps they add a little Yen stuff on the side to appease 'them'. Second, Kovir could be fun to explore in it's own right. It's this mysterious neutral land to the north with problems of it's own, I am sure. Third, it's mentioned a bunch of times throughout the game. The Baron, Triss, the mage on Skellige, you can talk about it in the beginning. There are a few others too.
I think it unlikely, however, if they decided to do it, they could do it in a way that remains true to the story and I would certainly be okay with more Triss. :heart:
It's like all the great characters are gathered in Novigrad Triss>Roche>Priscilla>Zoltan>Ves>Djikstra>Dandelio n, to me it feels like home when I'm in Novigrad and all the quests and conversations are interesting and well thought.(I also like the Velen/Baron quest) then you go to Skellige, cold place with not really exciting characters or interesting quests and plus to the cold whether you have to deal with Yen too. Collectables are placed throughout the sea. After a while I got bored and didn't collect much in Skellige.
I agree. Novigrad is the height of awesomeness in that game. The sights, the sounds, the characters, even the quests, in my opinion, are more interesting. Skellige just feels empty by comparison. Novigrad is also home to our favorite red-haired sorceress. :wub: +10 for Novigrad. Not to say I didn't enjoy Skellige, I just didn't like it as much as Velen or Novigrad. I thoroughly enjoyed the quest to kill the giant. That one was awesome. Some of the contracts are pretty cool too - just, simply put, it's not as good as Novigrad. Also, yeah, the 500 smuggler's caches in the ocean? Forget those. I was on my way to my Mastercrafted Witcher gear so I gave up after about 10 of them. XP
On the other hand I would absolutely love more interactions some time before that, e.g. the night before the final confrontation on the boat taking you all to Undvik, or after setting up camp there; I find it likely that Geralt would be spending as much time as possible with the people who matter to him the most at that time. If such a preceding scene existed, the now infamous 'Good luck' would seem ok to me; maybe a little more could be done, like a quick squeeze on the arm and a significant smile, or a moment's hug, but if they spent a lot of time talking before walking into battle I think it would seem odd. It would also disrupt the build-up of tension, I think - unless rudely interrupted.
Well I never said it had to be
immediately before the final battle. Not necessarily right after the planning stage. There should have been something at some point somewhere on Skellige for Geralt to talk to those closest to him. The fact that Geralt and Triss plan their future together and that is the last real conversation they have just seems off. They've agreed to settle down far away in Kovir. They will be risking their lives in the coming days. That plan could fall apart at a moment's notice. They should be worried about one another. I just don't think there's any good reason for not including a conversation, not even a very long one, at some point before the final battle.
I also don't think it would have disrupted the build up of tension if handled properly. It could even add to it. Maybe seeing Geralt a little nervous for a change. Or Triss being properly nervous/worried about the next time they see each other. IF they see each other again. Nerves should be high before a big event like that. Like I said, it's not like there wasn't time, Avalac'h had the Sunstone. Everybody was there. I think in Mass Effect 3, they pulled it off quite nicely. Shepard calling up and talking to everyone of the former squamates was quite emotional. At least for me it was. Why not do something similar here? Say something to Yen, Triss, and Ciri. If you romanced Yen, her conversation would be different and vice versa.
If there was a proper comment/fallout from the kiss that would mollify one of my issues with it.
I am leaning towards leaving it in. Sometimes those big, emotional moments get the best of us. But this is if, and only if, they add some sort of fallout from it. Something from Triss in private. "What was with that kiss earlier?" or something with Triss and Yen in public. Not a catfight per se, but maybe a couple of harsh words between them. If they can't/won't add any reaction to it, then yeah, cut it out altogether.