A lot of good ideas here!
@moonknightgog: "I think the character progression should be based more on the stats only, with a really minimum auto-buff to you basic stats" ==> THIS!!! It would be so much better if it was Dark Souls like.
@moonknightgog: "I think the character progression should be based more on the stats only, with a really minimum auto-buff to you basic stats" ==> THIS!!! It would be so much better if it was Dark Souls like.
OMG! Thank you for designing this game. For a gamer who is seeking open world exploration and a good dose of adult realty (environment and social interaction), Witcher 3 has completely busted through the boundaries (fantasy equivalent of GTAV). I understand all the posts about what could be better, but for me, Witcher 3 has delivered on so many important immersive elements. I really feel like i'm escaping into this world. Great job...
No loading screens
Monsters aren't everywhere you go, mostly only off the beaten track
The stories and interactions feel real, the characters feel real (shame about the relentless pommy accents though)
Building interiors and caves are in real time, part of the seamless world
Swimming and underwater
The external environments look like real places
Everything in the game looks freaking amazing (ultra high end graphics, love the hair)
Important note: I have a very high end PC, so the game runs sweet. Maybe not so awesome on lesser spec platforms?
No loading screens
Monsters aren't everywhere you go, mostly only off the beaten track
The stories and interactions feel real, the characters feel real (shame about the relentless pommy accents though)
Building interiors and caves are in real time, part of the seamless world
Swimming and underwater
The external environments look like real places
Everything in the game looks freaking amazing (ultra high end graphics, love the hair)
Important note: I have a very high end PC, so the game runs sweet. Maybe not so awesome on lesser spec platforms?
Assumptions on the part of the Game
I've been noticing this pattern while playing The Witcher 3. I love the story. I love the combat (mostly). I love the exploration. I love the role play. Yet there are all these tiny little things, like ants at the picnic, that very quickly turn playing this game into an experience of pure frustration, and ALL of these things boil down to the same problem. Somebody decided that the game should make decisions for me.
The game: you want to switch to this sword now. I mean this sword. I mean this sword. I mean this sword.
Me: AAAAGH!
The game: You want to put your sword away now.
Me: No, I really don't. I mean, I REALLY really don't. AAAAGH!
The game: You want to cast Aard at this villager, and Oh, by the way, you can't attack that target.
Me: No. No I don't. I'm trying to open that door.
The game: You want to cast Aard at this villager. You can't attack that target.
Me: No! I'm trying to open that door!
The game: You want to cast Aard at this villager. You can't attack that target.
Me: AAARGH!
The game: You want to cast Igni at this villager, and Oh, by the way, you can't attack that target.
Me: No. No I was trying to set that pile of corpses on fire.
The game: You want to cast Igni at this villager. You can't attack that target.
Me: Oh... bloody hell.
The game: You want to cast Igni on this exploding wine casket.
Me: NO! NO I REALLY DON'T! I wanted to set those beehives on fire to get the honeycomb! Oh GOD! There's a woman nursing an infant beside that barell! RUN! RUN AWAY! Oh. Dear. God...
The game: you want to cast Igni on this exploding mushroom gas.
Me: Oh OWCH! No! I was trying to light that brazier in the other farking direction!
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm trying to talk to this person.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm trying to talk to this person.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm really trying to talk to this person.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm NOT! I'm trying to talk to this person.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm really, actually, honestly not trying to light these candles! I'm trying to talk to THIS PERSON.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: AAARGH!
The game: You wan't to be ready for combat now.
Me: NO! NO I WANT TO GRAB THAT LEDGE!
........... oh bugger.
Yeah.
A little more control over what Geralt does would be much appreciated. The soft targeting in TW2 seemed to work very well. At the very lease I knew who / what I was aiming / interacting with. Now I'm just... regularly frustrated. And, for future games: I humbly request that you please stop trying to replace my ability to think with lines of if/then code.
Please.
Pretty please.
With a cherry on top?
My sanity will thank you.
I've been noticing this pattern while playing The Witcher 3. I love the story. I love the combat (mostly). I love the exploration. I love the role play. Yet there are all these tiny little things, like ants at the picnic, that very quickly turn playing this game into an experience of pure frustration, and ALL of these things boil down to the same problem. Somebody decided that the game should make decisions for me.
The game: you want to switch to this sword now. I mean this sword. I mean this sword. I mean this sword.
Me: AAAAGH!
The game: You want to put your sword away now.
Me: No, I really don't. I mean, I REALLY really don't. AAAAGH!
The game: You want to cast Aard at this villager, and Oh, by the way, you can't attack that target.
Me: No. No I don't. I'm trying to open that door.
The game: You want to cast Aard at this villager. You can't attack that target.
Me: No! I'm trying to open that door!
The game: You want to cast Aard at this villager. You can't attack that target.
Me: AAARGH!
The game: You want to cast Igni at this villager, and Oh, by the way, you can't attack that target.
Me: No. No I was trying to set that pile of corpses on fire.
The game: You want to cast Igni at this villager. You can't attack that target.
Me: Oh... bloody hell.
The game: You want to cast Igni on this exploding wine casket.
Me: NO! NO I REALLY DON'T! I wanted to set those beehives on fire to get the honeycomb! Oh GOD! There's a woman nursing an infant beside that barell! RUN! RUN AWAY! Oh. Dear. God...
The game: you want to cast Igni on this exploding mushroom gas.
Me: Oh OWCH! No! I was trying to light that brazier in the other farking direction!
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm trying to talk to this person.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm trying to talk to this person.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm really trying to talk to this person.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm NOT! I'm trying to talk to this person.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: No, I'm really, actually, honestly not trying to light these candles! I'm trying to talk to THIS PERSON.
The game: You want to ignite these candles.
ME: AAARGH!
The game: You wan't to be ready for combat now.
Me: NO! NO I WANT TO GRAB THAT LEDGE!
........... oh bugger.
Yeah.
A little more control over what Geralt does would be much appreciated. The soft targeting in TW2 seemed to work very well. At the very lease I knew who / what I was aiming / interacting with. Now I'm just... regularly frustrated. And, for future games: I humbly request that you please stop trying to replace my ability to think with lines of if/then code.
Please.
Pretty please.
With a cherry on top?
My sanity will thank you.
one of the latest patch were supposed to fix lighting candles or torches and casting aard on them when near a door or something,
The Witcher 3 lacks the grim atmosphere. -6(00.000) (HoS brought some +2)
That sense of understatement in the end is... quite heavy. -3 (In HoS there is no real need for that +1)
Story at times performs some strange frills. -1. (In HoS that is a feature +2)
Other things is so minor, that I'd not even bother to count them on fingers.
The Wild Hunt is 90/100 for me. (95/100 with Hearts of Stone)
That sense of understatement in the end is... quite heavy. -3 (In HoS there is no real need for that +1)
Story at times performs some strange frills. -1. (In HoS that is a feature +2)
Other things is so minor, that I'd not even bother to count them on fingers.
The Wild Hunt is 90/100 for me. (95/100 with Hearts of Stone)
Fulfilling a promise....and a peculiar praise...
So years ago I swore I would not get TW3 without NG+ but that IF it was implemented post release I would have bought it in a heartbeat.
So it took me a few months to get to it (new job...crazy hours....a move...) but I fulfilled my promise -tho not a perfect ng+ function but with a few tweaks and a save file on USB it will suffice for infinite playthroughs-. I am after all a man of my word....Not to mention it makes me feel all giddy to think that so many looked down upon those who asked for NG+ in contempt swearing CDPR would never add the feature....
But I digress.....I wanted to praise CDPR for being perhaps the ONLY studio who knows the bloody difference between diegetic and non diegetic music and for not tying the two of them together in the menu under a single slider. Thank you, a thousand times thank you for this as to me it is one of the most irksome things in an immersive rpg to turn the music off (sorry I find it distracting) only to find out that ALL the music including the diegetic kind as been silenced as opposed to just the non diegetic one.
So years ago I swore I would not get TW3 without NG+ but that IF it was implemented post release I would have bought it in a heartbeat.
So it took me a few months to get to it (new job...crazy hours....a move...) but I fulfilled my promise -tho not a perfect ng+ function but with a few tweaks and a save file on USB it will suffice for infinite playthroughs-. I am after all a man of my word....Not to mention it makes me feel all giddy to think that so many looked down upon those who asked for NG+ in contempt swearing CDPR would never add the feature....
But I digress.....I wanted to praise CDPR for being perhaps the ONLY studio who knows the bloody difference between diegetic and non diegetic music and for not tying the two of them together in the menu under a single slider. Thank you, a thousand times thank you for this as to me it is one of the most irksome things in an immersive rpg to turn the music off (sorry I find it distracting) only to find out that ALL the music including the diegetic kind as been silenced as opposed to just the non diegetic one.
My Review after over 200 hours of gameplay
just to get this out of the way.. i believe Witcher 3 is the best RPG i've ever played and one of the best of ALL TIME. yes, i said that.. i believe it ranks up there with Final Fantasy and Mass Effect 1. both of those games had profound impacts on me as a gamer.. and im sure they did on many reading this as well.
Final Fantasy introduced me and many others around the world to RPGs for the first time and Mass Effect 1 brought action, story, and choice to gaming like no other game ever did before it.
I believe Witcher 3 does the same thing for this generation. How?
First, the atmosphere and the world. i dont think there has ever been a game like this one when it comes to bringing a game to life. if you have a Razer Kraken, put those headphones on and sit back. you would think you were actually in Tamriel.
Second, the graphics. the environments, the characters, the water, the way the wind sways the trees, the monsters, etc.. you combine this with above and like i said, you would think you were there.
Third, story. now objectively, i didnt think there were as many impactful choices in the witcher 3 as there were in Witcher 2, but the story was still amazing.. even the side quest content and witcher monster contracts contributed to the lore in some way. heck, just go to an abandoned town and if you look hard enough you can see the story of what happened to the town simply by walking around the environment. everything in the game happens for a reason.
while we are on story, i would like to take this time to respond to some of the critics that claim this game isnt diverse enough. this game is basically set in Northern Europe. that area of the world is whiter than the snow in Alaska. dark skin just isnt that prevalent.
also, its not like racism and bigotry isnt explored. walk around Novigrad for 5 minutes and tell me there isnt racism and bigotry being brought to the forefront. bigotry, hatred and the struggles of the minorites in Novigrad is pretty much the entire plotline of that area. heck, even homosexuality is hinted at.. at one point.. not going to say when for obvious spoiler reasons, but it's there.. and the entire scene is awesome.
thus, objectively, i dont think people have that much to stand on regarding this. the game addresses a lot of social issues, and does it in a very mature way. well done CD Project Red.
Fourth, the customization.. you can go the min/max route and pick the school of choice for your playstyle.. OR.. you can say F-it.. i want to do my own thing.. your choice. and there is a TON of gear and schematics to find. and pretty much all the loot makes sense in some way. swords are generally found in chests or on humans, monster parts are generally found on monsters, meat is found on animals, etc. the entire loot system is pretty great.
Fifth, the crafting. I know this part of the game might take some criticism because from the outside it would seem that the crafting system doesnt have many unique items. and in some ways i agree with that. there is no legendary item system in the game.. no "rare" items, etc.. and im personally ok with that. this isnt Diablo 3. but it IS a system where you can craft an entire set of gear specifically tailored to your playstyle.. and each of these sets have their own unique look. you also have a ton of more "common" schematics that are still decent stat wise, but may not be the most optimized... that said either play style is viable.
the other part about the crafting that is great is the Alchemy system. there are a ton of cool potions that you can craft that do more than just replenish health or stamina. a couple examples:
Chort Decoction - Provides complete resistance to the Stagger effect and reduces the Knock-down effect to Stagger.
Forktail Decoction - Combining fast and strong attacks with Sign abilities increases Attack Power for melee attacks and Sign Intensity when casting.
and the above just scratches the surface on crafting.. you also have a rune system and mutagens which can help further optimze your preferred character build.
Sixth, the gameplay. the combat is more of a hack and slash style but there is plenty of customization as i described above. there are a ton of different styles.. do you want to focus on signs, do you want focus on more of a melee attack oriented build.. how about alchemy? its all up to you. and the swordplay is really fun and fluid.
in addition to the character customization and swordplay, their are quite a few monsters and boss fights in the game. i will admit that the strategies can get repetitive but the fights are still challenging and fun.
Seventh, Gwent. who would have thought that a MINI GAME could be one of the major highlights. Gwent is a fantastic game on its own. in fact, i hope CD Project takes the hint from their fans and makes a completely seperate game 100% focused on Gwent. its the one game that can compete with Hearthstone on the digital front in my opinion. i believe its that good. and could become that popular.
and not only is the game fun, but it also incentizes you to visit EVERY innkeeper and blacksmith/armorer.. because if you dont, you wont be able to collect the full set of cards.
one last thing to think about:
there is no pre-order DLC nonsense and no nickle and diming micro-transactions.. its just.. here's a game.. have fun.
oh yeah, i forgot.. it does have alternate skin packs, additional gwent cards, more hair styles, and a DLC mission or two.. thing is.. THEY'RE FREE. EA, i hope you are paying attention. this is how you monetize your game. if a smaller company like CD Project Red can do it and still make a great profit.. you can too.
Conclusion:
all in all, witcher 3 will go down as one of the best RPGs of all time and i would argue will end up being regarded as one of the best video games ever made.
just to get this out of the way.. i believe Witcher 3 is the best RPG i've ever played and one of the best of ALL TIME. yes, i said that.. i believe it ranks up there with Final Fantasy and Mass Effect 1. both of those games had profound impacts on me as a gamer.. and im sure they did on many reading this as well.
Final Fantasy introduced me and many others around the world to RPGs for the first time and Mass Effect 1 brought action, story, and choice to gaming like no other game ever did before it.
I believe Witcher 3 does the same thing for this generation. How?
First, the atmosphere and the world. i dont think there has ever been a game like this one when it comes to bringing a game to life. if you have a Razer Kraken, put those headphones on and sit back. you would think you were actually in Tamriel.
Second, the graphics. the environments, the characters, the water, the way the wind sways the trees, the monsters, etc.. you combine this with above and like i said, you would think you were there.
Third, story. now objectively, i didnt think there were as many impactful choices in the witcher 3 as there were in Witcher 2, but the story was still amazing.. even the side quest content and witcher monster contracts contributed to the lore in some way. heck, just go to an abandoned town and if you look hard enough you can see the story of what happened to the town simply by walking around the environment. everything in the game happens for a reason.
while we are on story, i would like to take this time to respond to some of the critics that claim this game isnt diverse enough. this game is basically set in Northern Europe. that area of the world is whiter than the snow in Alaska. dark skin just isnt that prevalent.
also, its not like racism and bigotry isnt explored. walk around Novigrad for 5 minutes and tell me there isnt racism and bigotry being brought to the forefront. bigotry, hatred and the struggles of the minorites in Novigrad is pretty much the entire plotline of that area. heck, even homosexuality is hinted at.. at one point.. not going to say when for obvious spoiler reasons, but it's there.. and the entire scene is awesome.
thus, objectively, i dont think people have that much to stand on regarding this. the game addresses a lot of social issues, and does it in a very mature way. well done CD Project Red.
Fourth, the customization.. you can go the min/max route and pick the school of choice for your playstyle.. OR.. you can say F-it.. i want to do my own thing.. your choice. and there is a TON of gear and schematics to find. and pretty much all the loot makes sense in some way. swords are generally found in chests or on humans, monster parts are generally found on monsters, meat is found on animals, etc. the entire loot system is pretty great.
Fifth, the crafting. I know this part of the game might take some criticism because from the outside it would seem that the crafting system doesnt have many unique items. and in some ways i agree with that. there is no legendary item system in the game.. no "rare" items, etc.. and im personally ok with that. this isnt Diablo 3. but it IS a system where you can craft an entire set of gear specifically tailored to your playstyle.. and each of these sets have their own unique look. you also have a ton of more "common" schematics that are still decent stat wise, but may not be the most optimized... that said either play style is viable.
the other part about the crafting that is great is the Alchemy system. there are a ton of cool potions that you can craft that do more than just replenish health or stamina. a couple examples:
Chort Decoction - Provides complete resistance to the Stagger effect and reduces the Knock-down effect to Stagger.
Forktail Decoction - Combining fast and strong attacks with Sign abilities increases Attack Power for melee attacks and Sign Intensity when casting.
and the above just scratches the surface on crafting.. you also have a rune system and mutagens which can help further optimze your preferred character build.
Sixth, the gameplay. the combat is more of a hack and slash style but there is plenty of customization as i described above. there are a ton of different styles.. do you want to focus on signs, do you want focus on more of a melee attack oriented build.. how about alchemy? its all up to you. and the swordplay is really fun and fluid.
in addition to the character customization and swordplay, their are quite a few monsters and boss fights in the game. i will admit that the strategies can get repetitive but the fights are still challenging and fun.
Seventh, Gwent. who would have thought that a MINI GAME could be one of the major highlights. Gwent is a fantastic game on its own. in fact, i hope CD Project takes the hint from their fans and makes a completely seperate game 100% focused on Gwent. its the one game that can compete with Hearthstone on the digital front in my opinion. i believe its that good. and could become that popular.
and not only is the game fun, but it also incentizes you to visit EVERY innkeeper and blacksmith/armorer.. because if you dont, you wont be able to collect the full set of cards.
one last thing to think about:
there is no pre-order DLC nonsense and no nickle and diming micro-transactions.. its just.. here's a game.. have fun.
oh yeah, i forgot.. it does have alternate skin packs, additional gwent cards, more hair styles, and a DLC mission or two.. thing is.. THEY'RE FREE. EA, i hope you are paying attention. this is how you monetize your game. if a smaller company like CD Project Red can do it and still make a great profit.. you can too.
Conclusion:
all in all, witcher 3 will go down as one of the best RPGs of all time and i would argue will end up being regarded as one of the best video games ever made.
7 aspects of Witcher 3 that REALLY need work. (OPINION)
Hey there everyone!
First off I LOVE the Witcher 3 such an amazing game and I have sunk over 150 of hours into it. However I was disappointed with a couple things in the game that made it WAY too easy even on Deathmarch.
THE MOST broken things about this game right now in my opinion is Igni. This sign is WAY too strong. Any enemy that can be set alight you basically have an ensured kill with Igni. Now this is something I notice in my play through, mind you I have a hard focus on Signs and I wear full Griffin armor and use Greater Blue Mutagens. Now it did occur to me "Maybe I played too much and just got really strong" but even enemies that FAR out level me die with 3 Igni's max after they finish burning. This is just too easy IMO you rarely fight a HUGE group of people (that can make it harder to burn everyone) and even then you can essentially just Igni catch as many as you can dodge, rinse repeat and they will all burn to death, ALSO then also say you're fighting any contract creature that can be set on fire. No worries cause you're usually only fighting one enemy in a contract so this mean you can do any level of monster because Igni will kill it within no time. Even creatures who don't "stun" when on fire (you know screaming and shit) still take obscene damage from Igni fire. I watch it chunk over 1200-1500 PER PROC (enemy level depending) that's ridiculous for how long it lasts. Also I noticed Igni has a progression in the skill tree to have percent chance to ignite chance for lighting enemies on fire, maybe it's just me but 98% of the time already I set enemies on fire with the 1st Igni.
On to another broken sign. Axii. Now Axii has a tier progression as to where you are suppose to control up to two people! Sounds awesome right? It is! Except I've been doing that since level 10 with the secondary sign mode. Any time I was in a quest fighting humans that were REALLY strong I just would Axii two of them and make sure to keep the Axii debuff applied to them the entire fight and watch them mop everything up (%60 damage increase is SUPER big IMO I watch Enemies 1-2 shot each other so it makes cleaning up a group of them REALLY easy no matter the level gap). So is this a bug that I can do this or is Axii just always too strong? A question I do not know the answer too.
On to the Decoctions and majorly this will be the "ARCHGRIFFIN DECOCTION" and slightly the "EKHIDNA DECOCTION" The Archgriffin Decoction has an absolutely a ridiculous buff for how long it lasts and with mediation it is essentially an eternal effect. Now I with only one tier one skill leveled 3 times (Acquired Tolerance) in Alchemy I am able to rock both of these decoctions at anytime w/o losing vitality. The Archgriffin decoction gives you the ability to chunk 5% of an enemies HP AFTER damage is calculated if ANY stamina is available (it will just use it all) with your strong attack, like WTF already right?! Now pair that with Ekhinda Decoction which any time you use a stamina dependent action you regain HP. I can literally on Deathmarch stand in front of a golem that out levels me by 2-3 levels and spam strong attack and never die with this combo of decoctions. This made EVERY fight WAY too easy. I had ZERO trouble at the end of the game with final bosses like legit easiest boss fight I have ever encountered in a game even on Deathmarch. You're almost always able to have these effects current on you with meditation (and there are endlessly abundant dwarven spirits in the game) and the fact decoctions last FOREVER.
The following are not nearly as big in my opinion as game breaking elements but I would still like to address them.
Then you have another decoction the "WEREWOLF DECOCTION" this one gives you the ability to Run/Jump/Sprint outside of combat without using Samina! Sounds awesome for long treks in Novigrad, but isn't the game always like this? Literally I can run forever but jumping when stamina gets low it auto regenerates so I sprint forever as is. Maybe that is a bug as well?
So the economy in the game, I can't see how anyone would ever be short on money. Are you suppose to be a rich ass Witcher, Mr. Moneybags? From the start of the game I have never had any money problems. There are so many Runestones and Glyphs you find that sell for so much (as well as Relic weapons) I have stayed constantly no less than like 10K gold since I entered Novigrad. There is so much money everywhere in this game. On top of that there is like NOTHING you need to buy ever. (Maybe cause I rob people's houses due to no repercussion I will get into that later)
There is also a thing that ties in with the economy in the game is contracts. There are a couple of thoughts I had on contracts, first off the payout on them just never seems realistic. Like a peasant who gave me a quest to talk to some "Allgod" lardass gave me 50 crowns! after he had just stated how broke they were and had NOTHING to give. Then when I rid a village of a DANGEROUS ass creature that was killing everyone and THE WHOLE VILLAGE was suppose to chip in and I get paid 300 crowns? Like how many people live here and that's all you got!? Who else was going to kill that monster. Okay, okay, okay, enough of my little rant, maybe in the Witcher Universe this is normal pay for a Withcer. Then it comes to haggling. There is zero point to haggle because in almost EVERY contract you can only choose like between 285 or 300 anything over 300 almost never works (and when it does it's like 310) except on one contract in Skellige where you fight the "dragon" I got 600. What is the point of haggling when it starts at about 250 and you can never ask above 300? Is EVERY job done worth about the same amount? I wouldn't think so. Makes getting paid for contracts seems almost not worth it and the only reason worth doing it for more lore, also makes the immersion of haggling and fair pay seem non-existent.
Another not so important thing is you can literally take anything from anyone in their house and mostly off the streets as long as there is no guards around. Even if the guards see you and you run they just de-aggro and everything is fine. If you want to clear out a room's items full of guard you just steal run rinse repeated. (With Igni you can legit kill any guard SUPER easy anyway so you could just slaughter everyone) now I like the fact the whole world doesn't know you're a thief (Cough Cough ES games) when you steal but the guy who was just attacking you a moment ago should recognize you not forget cause you ran 50m. Also why doesn't any citizen care when you EMPTY their house. Just way to easy to exploit.
Now I hope I don't get crucified for these opinions cause that's what they are, opinions that were formed from my decently extensive time playing Witcher 3. And I know a lot of what I said can just be simple as "not using those abilities or decoctions" but I feel one shouldn't have to not use items provided to them by the game to make it not ridiculously easy.
I would love some responses on what you guys all think of these things, so feel free to share your opinions as well, maybe add more elements I left out that you may have noticed.
Hey there everyone!
First off I LOVE the Witcher 3 such an amazing game and I have sunk over 150 of hours into it. However I was disappointed with a couple things in the game that made it WAY too easy even on Deathmarch.
THE MOST broken things about this game right now in my opinion is Igni. This sign is WAY too strong. Any enemy that can be set alight you basically have an ensured kill with Igni. Now this is something I notice in my play through, mind you I have a hard focus on Signs and I wear full Griffin armor and use Greater Blue Mutagens. Now it did occur to me "Maybe I played too much and just got really strong" but even enemies that FAR out level me die with 3 Igni's max after they finish burning. This is just too easy IMO you rarely fight a HUGE group of people (that can make it harder to burn everyone) and even then you can essentially just Igni catch as many as you can dodge, rinse repeat and they will all burn to death, ALSO then also say you're fighting any contract creature that can be set on fire. No worries cause you're usually only fighting one enemy in a contract so this mean you can do any level of monster because Igni will kill it within no time. Even creatures who don't "stun" when on fire (you know screaming and shit) still take obscene damage from Igni fire. I watch it chunk over 1200-1500 PER PROC (enemy level depending) that's ridiculous for how long it lasts. Also I noticed Igni has a progression in the skill tree to have percent chance to ignite chance for lighting enemies on fire, maybe it's just me but 98% of the time already I set enemies on fire with the 1st Igni.
On to another broken sign. Axii. Now Axii has a tier progression as to where you are suppose to control up to two people! Sounds awesome right? It is! Except I've been doing that since level 10 with the secondary sign mode. Any time I was in a quest fighting humans that were REALLY strong I just would Axii two of them and make sure to keep the Axii debuff applied to them the entire fight and watch them mop everything up (%60 damage increase is SUPER big IMO I watch Enemies 1-2 shot each other so it makes cleaning up a group of them REALLY easy no matter the level gap). So is this a bug that I can do this or is Axii just always too strong? A question I do not know the answer too.
On to the Decoctions and majorly this will be the "ARCHGRIFFIN DECOCTION" and slightly the "EKHIDNA DECOCTION" The Archgriffin Decoction has an absolutely a ridiculous buff for how long it lasts and with mediation it is essentially an eternal effect. Now I with only one tier one skill leveled 3 times (Acquired Tolerance) in Alchemy I am able to rock both of these decoctions at anytime w/o losing vitality. The Archgriffin decoction gives you the ability to chunk 5% of an enemies HP AFTER damage is calculated if ANY stamina is available (it will just use it all) with your strong attack, like WTF already right?! Now pair that with Ekhinda Decoction which any time you use a stamina dependent action you regain HP. I can literally on Deathmarch stand in front of a golem that out levels me by 2-3 levels and spam strong attack and never die with this combo of decoctions. This made EVERY fight WAY too easy. I had ZERO trouble at the end of the game with final bosses like legit easiest boss fight I have ever encountered in a game even on Deathmarch. You're almost always able to have these effects current on you with meditation (and there are endlessly abundant dwarven spirits in the game) and the fact decoctions last FOREVER.
The following are not nearly as big in my opinion as game breaking elements but I would still like to address them.
Then you have another decoction the "WEREWOLF DECOCTION" this one gives you the ability to Run/Jump/Sprint outside of combat without using Samina! Sounds awesome for long treks in Novigrad, but isn't the game always like this? Literally I can run forever but jumping when stamina gets low it auto regenerates so I sprint forever as is. Maybe that is a bug as well?
So the economy in the game, I can't see how anyone would ever be short on money. Are you suppose to be a rich ass Witcher, Mr. Moneybags? From the start of the game I have never had any money problems. There are so many Runestones and Glyphs you find that sell for so much (as well as Relic weapons) I have stayed constantly no less than like 10K gold since I entered Novigrad. There is so much money everywhere in this game. On top of that there is like NOTHING you need to buy ever. (Maybe cause I rob people's houses due to no repercussion I will get into that later)
There is also a thing that ties in with the economy in the game is contracts. There are a couple of thoughts I had on contracts, first off the payout on them just never seems realistic. Like a peasant who gave me a quest to talk to some "Allgod" lardass gave me 50 crowns! after he had just stated how broke they were and had NOTHING to give. Then when I rid a village of a DANGEROUS ass creature that was killing everyone and THE WHOLE VILLAGE was suppose to chip in and I get paid 300 crowns? Like how many people live here and that's all you got!? Who else was going to kill that monster. Okay, okay, okay, enough of my little rant, maybe in the Witcher Universe this is normal pay for a Withcer. Then it comes to haggling. There is zero point to haggle because in almost EVERY contract you can only choose like between 285 or 300 anything over 300 almost never works (and when it does it's like 310) except on one contract in Skellige where you fight the "dragon" I got 600. What is the point of haggling when it starts at about 250 and you can never ask above 300? Is EVERY job done worth about the same amount? I wouldn't think so. Makes getting paid for contracts seems almost not worth it and the only reason worth doing it for more lore, also makes the immersion of haggling and fair pay seem non-existent.
Another not so important thing is you can literally take anything from anyone in their house and mostly off the streets as long as there is no guards around. Even if the guards see you and you run they just de-aggro and everything is fine. If you want to clear out a room's items full of guard you just steal run rinse repeated. (With Igni you can legit kill any guard SUPER easy anyway so you could just slaughter everyone) now I like the fact the whole world doesn't know you're a thief (Cough Cough ES games) when you steal but the guy who was just attacking you a moment ago should recognize you not forget cause you ran 50m. Also why doesn't any citizen care when you EMPTY their house. Just way to easy to exploit.
Now I hope I don't get crucified for these opinions cause that's what they are, opinions that were formed from my decently extensive time playing Witcher 3. And I know a lot of what I said can just be simple as "not using those abilities or decoctions" but I feel one shouldn't have to not use items provided to them by the game to make it not ridiculously easy.
I would love some responses on what you guys all think of these things, so feel free to share your opinions as well, maybe add more elements I left out that you may have noticed.
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what game version are you playing? if you instal the updates you'll notice the nerf on igni, it's no that powerful anymore
and regarding economy? you dn't need to loo and sell everything you find, and besides what's the problem on having crowns to buy things if needed? repairng armor, buying ingredients, formulae, diagrams, enhance weapons and armor?
i don't remember any reward higher than 285 crowns, most of the reward were relly low,
i didn't find the game that easy, i had to do every single contract, loot and sell to repair gear, and buy ingredients for new potions,
on ng+ it was a little easier, for most formulae and potios are already in the inventory, but signs and bombs are less effective and you need to use more bombs, repair gear often, harder enemies, better gear etc
i don't see a problem on having enough crowns
tw1 was way too difficult in that aspect, my geralt was always poor it feels good now that he can afford everything he needs
regrding stamina regen i don't understand what you're saying about jumping, there are no bugs, and geralt is a witcher it's ok that his energy regenerates fast
and regarding economy? you dn't need to loo and sell everything you find, and besides what's the problem on having crowns to buy things if needed? repairng armor, buying ingredients, formulae, diagrams, enhance weapons and armor?
i don't remember any reward higher than 285 crowns, most of the reward were relly low,
i didn't find the game that easy, i had to do every single contract, loot and sell to repair gear, and buy ingredients for new potions,
on ng+ it was a little easier, for most formulae and potios are already in the inventory, but signs and bombs are less effective and you need to use more bombs, repair gear often, harder enemies, better gear etc
i don't see a problem on having enough crowns
tw1 was way too difficult in that aspect, my geralt was always poor
it feels good now that he can afford everything he needs regrding stamina regen i don't understand what you're saying about jumping, there are no bugs, and geralt is a witcher it's ok that his energy regenerates fast
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I am playing 1.11 and Igni is still astoundingly strong.
The problem I have with the economy is the amount of money I have makes things incredibly easy not that I ever had to buy anything do to the world being abundant is everything but if I ever did need anything or ran across a merchant with good formulae and diagrams I could buy them out easily making me not have to decide at all what I wanted I can just take it all, that takes away a huge difficulty factor to the game. I had enough money in the game that I didn't even touch my contract book till right after Novigrad before Skellige (which is when I completed all the ones I had) never once was I like "oh my armor is broken and I dont have any way to repair it" I always had an absurd amount resources. With this much money and resources always available I never once worried about HP/Armor Durability/What Formulae to buy/What ingredients to buy, I always had so much money I bought everything.
About the contracts though, every contract I did almost base started about 200-250 and I would usually get paid 250-300.
I apologize for my ignorance but I do not know what ng+ means. Although I will say after Igni and those decoctions I stated I never once have had a difficult battle no matter the level cap and I never had a use for bombs again really.
EDIT: Okay some research NG+ mode I get now, but even in that with the way the mechanics are with the "exploits" I have stated the games difficulty in battle will not decrease that much so long as you can't spam "Cross" and "Circle" to dodge.
The problem I have with the economy is the amount of money I have makes things incredibly easy not that I ever had to buy anything do to the world being abundant is everything but if I ever did need anything or ran across a merchant with good formulae and diagrams I could buy them out easily making me not have to decide at all what I wanted I can just take it all, that takes away a huge difficulty factor to the game. I had enough money in the game that I didn't even touch my contract book till right after Novigrad before Skellige (which is when I completed all the ones I had) never once was I like "oh my armor is broken and I dont have any way to repair it" I always had an absurd amount resources. With this much money and resources always available I never once worried about HP/Armor Durability/What Formulae to buy/What ingredients to buy, I always had so much money I bought everything.
About the contracts though, every contract I did almost base started about 200-250 and I would usually get paid 250-300.
I apologize for my ignorance but I do not know what ng+ means. Although I will say after Igni and those decoctions I stated I never once have had a difficult battle no matter the level cap and I never had a use for bombs again really.
EDIT: Okay some research NG+ mode I get now, but even in that with the way the mechanics are with the "exploits" I have stated the games difficulty in battle will not decrease that much so long as you can't spam "Cross" and "Circle" to dodge.
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lack of support
i have lost all levels i had saved trying o get hearts of stone and saved to try the game+ starting a new game. the projekt red people hae never respnded to my issues over the last few days. i give projkt red a one out of ten for game support. egos must be running amok not responding to game issues. og has been trying to resolve the problem but it lies within the game itself. again one out of ten for witcher 3 support from the develpers
i have lost all levels i had saved trying o get hearts of stone and saved to try the game+ starting a new game. the projekt red people hae never respnded to my issues over the last few days. i give projkt red a one out of ten for game support. egos must be running amok not responding to game issues. og has been trying to resolve the problem but it lies within the game itself. again one out of ten for witcher 3 support from the develpers
I'm sorry that you've lost your savegames, but if you gave no more information than this (and your other post), then it would be very difficult to help you. Please try to describe the problem in detail, and also give details of your PC specs, and what you mean by "lost all levels".
To CDPR:
After some reflection and thought about the game in general I think I have finally come up with my overall impression of the game as well as how I think lessons from this game could improve future games.
As I'm sure is apparent by all my other posts, I think the game is amazingly good overall. A triumph of video game storytelling, character design, quest design and world design. It also has very solid gameplay overall. Kudos. Certainly a top two or three game I have played in the last couple gaming generations. So please don’t take any of my following observations, conclusions and suggestions as any more than that.
Having said that, these are the areas where I think there is room to grow in future games. Many of the things I am going to say I have said in other places, but thoroughly discussed all of my thoughts in one place. So here it goes:
1. The Antagonists of the game, The Wild Hunt are not portrayed as well as they could have been. Understanding the motivations of the Wild Hunt is extremely important to the game. Players who have not read the books do not. And there are characters who could reveal this information in some amount of depth: namely Ciri, Avallach and even Ge'el (who is one of the leaders of the Anne Elle). And I understand the limitations. Eredin is not going to explain anything to Ciri and Geralt about his motivations. But a flashback. dream or some sort of narrative device could have been used to greatly enhance the story of the the Wild Hunt in the game's third act. I personally advocate a flashback mission to Lady of the Lake chapter 5. Now, the way that the Man of Glass was portrayed on the other hand was excellent. So kudos for that.
2. Portraying Ciri's nature as the Lady of Time and Space was also not portrayed as well as it could have been. I think either that whole White Frost mechanism at the end of the story should have either been dropped entirely, or explained much more thoroughly (personally I prefer the latter). But the way the game currently is, there is little understanding of what she is doing, how she does it, etc. For those who are familiar with the Lore of the books, the endings seem to contradict the inevitable nature of the White Frost as portrayed there. This ties in pretty closely with the first issue. Basically major events in the main narrative need to be fully portrayed. Information doesn't have to be spoon fed to players, but some knowledge of what is occurring (without reading the books) would be preferable.
3. Decisions from prior games have less of an effect on the Witcher 3 than I would have preferred. Iorveth and Saskia are not present, which was a disappointment for those of us who played Iorveth’s path in the Witcher 2. There was no payoff for whether or not Saskia was still controlled by the Lodge. Adda was not in the game at all. The Order of the Rose was only present in a side quest in the HoS expansion. I don’t know of a way to give Triss back the Rose of Remembrance. These things are not game breaking, hence my overall opinion, but when you have a series of games like this, it is very satisfying when prior decisions have consequences on the current game. While overall the Witcher 3 is superior to Dragon Age: Inquisition, this is one aspect where DA:I vastly outperformed the Witcher 3. I would suggest that CDPR take a serious look at Dragon Age Keep as a model for sequel games in the future.
4. On the other side of the narrative, playing the game in the world after the main narrative ends is a bit of a let-down. There are still things you can do, but there is no story related reason to continue doing them for the most part. The other main characters are mostly gone. The consequences of the main narrative are not really apparent anywhere (especially regarding the war between Redania and Nilfgaard).
I also think that being able to customize that space would be awesome. For all there faults, Bethesda has always done a great job of giving you places to inhabit and make your own. I know Geralt is a Witcher, I get that, but if this is the end of his story, I think the game would have benefited from allowing players the chance to let Geralt live out his settling down. Celebrating a rest well earned. Also (and I’m still hoping this might happen), some sort of sendoff for the main characters we have grown to love would be very satisfying.
5. Alchemy and crafting overall and UI interface specifically could be better. It is a pain scrolling through the seemingly infinite list of decoctions, potions, swords, armors and etc. by the end of the game. Attaching levels to equipment was not ideal in my opinion (though I think it certainly trumps items leveling with the PC as a game mechanic).
6. Leveling. I understand that leveling has historical roots in all RPG gameplay going back forever. However, the more I play games, the more I’m coming to believe that the mechanic is beginning to outlive its usefulness. Yes it allows you to feel like you are progressing through the game to an extent, but the story does that as well … and having artificial levels on opponents based on geographic location is somewhat immersion-bending. I really liked the way gameplay progressed in “the Last of Us” as a comparison. I know that game isn’t an RPG really, but it seems more realistic to me. Geralt of Rivia should be a badass at the beginning of the game. He should have all of his signs and sword tricks already by that point. He shouldn’t be getting an exponentially more powerful Igni spell as the game goes on. Maybe opening up the number of slots you have available to do various things at once should increase, or maybe there should be more emphasis on potions that increase abilities, but the skills themselves should all be there at the beginning. I think more focus on upgrading gear, potions, etc is a more realistic portrayal of how it could happen.
These are my observations about the game and what I think could be done about them. Take them for what they are worth.
After some reflection and thought about the game in general I think I have finally come up with my overall impression of the game as well as how I think lessons from this game could improve future games.
As I'm sure is apparent by all my other posts, I think the game is amazingly good overall. A triumph of video game storytelling, character design, quest design and world design. It also has very solid gameplay overall. Kudos. Certainly a top two or three game I have played in the last couple gaming generations. So please don’t take any of my following observations, conclusions and suggestions as any more than that.
Having said that, these are the areas where I think there is room to grow in future games. Many of the things I am going to say I have said in other places, but thoroughly discussed all of my thoughts in one place. So here it goes:
1. The Antagonists of the game, The Wild Hunt are not portrayed as well as they could have been. Understanding the motivations of the Wild Hunt is extremely important to the game. Players who have not read the books do not. And there are characters who could reveal this information in some amount of depth: namely Ciri, Avallach and even Ge'el (who is one of the leaders of the Anne Elle). And I understand the limitations. Eredin is not going to explain anything to Ciri and Geralt about his motivations. But a flashback. dream or some sort of narrative device could have been used to greatly enhance the story of the the Wild Hunt in the game's third act. I personally advocate a flashback mission to Lady of the Lake chapter 5. Now, the way that the Man of Glass was portrayed on the other hand was excellent. So kudos for that.
2. Portraying Ciri's nature as the Lady of Time and Space was also not portrayed as well as it could have been. I think either that whole White Frost mechanism at the end of the story should have either been dropped entirely, or explained much more thoroughly (personally I prefer the latter). But the way the game currently is, there is little understanding of what she is doing, how she does it, etc. For those who are familiar with the Lore of the books, the endings seem to contradict the inevitable nature of the White Frost as portrayed there. This ties in pretty closely with the first issue. Basically major events in the main narrative need to be fully portrayed. Information doesn't have to be spoon fed to players, but some knowledge of what is occurring (without reading the books) would be preferable.
3. Decisions from prior games have less of an effect on the Witcher 3 than I would have preferred. Iorveth and Saskia are not present, which was a disappointment for those of us who played Iorveth’s path in the Witcher 2. There was no payoff for whether or not Saskia was still controlled by the Lodge. Adda was not in the game at all. The Order of the Rose was only present in a side quest in the HoS expansion. I don’t know of a way to give Triss back the Rose of Remembrance. These things are not game breaking, hence my overall opinion, but when you have a series of games like this, it is very satisfying when prior decisions have consequences on the current game. While overall the Witcher 3 is superior to Dragon Age: Inquisition, this is one aspect where DA:I vastly outperformed the Witcher 3. I would suggest that CDPR take a serious look at Dragon Age Keep as a model for sequel games in the future.
4. On the other side of the narrative, playing the game in the world after the main narrative ends is a bit of a let-down. There are still things you can do, but there is no story related reason to continue doing them for the most part. The other main characters are mostly gone. The consequences of the main narrative are not really apparent anywhere (especially regarding the war between Redania and Nilfgaard).
Some sort of post-story gameplay would be much more satisfying in future games. Assuming he doesn’t die at the end of the epilogue, I really think adding additional areas to the game for Geralt at the end to portray the area where you (1) settle down with Triss, (2) settle down with Yennefer or (3) if neither of these two apply live on your own should exist.
5. Alchemy and crafting overall and UI interface specifically could be better. It is a pain scrolling through the seemingly infinite list of decoctions, potions, swords, armors and etc. by the end of the game. Attaching levels to equipment was not ideal in my opinion (though I think it certainly trumps items leveling with the PC as a game mechanic).
6. Leveling. I understand that leveling has historical roots in all RPG gameplay going back forever. However, the more I play games, the more I’m coming to believe that the mechanic is beginning to outlive its usefulness. Yes it allows you to feel like you are progressing through the game to an extent, but the story does that as well … and having artificial levels on opponents based on geographic location is somewhat immersion-bending. I really liked the way gameplay progressed in “the Last of Us” as a comparison. I know that game isn’t an RPG really, but it seems more realistic to me. Geralt of Rivia should be a badass at the beginning of the game. He should have all of his signs and sword tricks already by that point. He shouldn’t be getting an exponentially more powerful Igni spell as the game goes on. Maybe opening up the number of slots you have available to do various things at once should increase, or maybe there should be more emphasis on potions that increase abilities, but the skills themselves should all be there at the beginning. I think more focus on upgrading gear, potions, etc is a more realistic portrayal of how it could happen.
These are my observations about the game and what I think could be done about them. Take them for what they are worth.
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Thank you for sharing your thoughts again, @Rawls . This is a rather good general summary of the game's weaker points, and touches on most of the more frequent critiques (many of which I personally share). While it may be too late to change the work as it stands now, I've little doubt CD Projekt RED will consider this and other thoughtful feedback for future titles.
(Moderator note: Out of regard for other players, I felt a spoiler tag was perhaps necessary, so I took the liberty of adding one. No other part of your text has been changed.)
(Moderator note: Out of regard for other players, I felt a spoiler tag was perhaps necessary, so I took the liberty of adding one. No other part of your text has been changed.)
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Thank you for making such an amazing artistic experience!! At the end of everything I feel as though I was part of the most epic of adventures! This experience will remain in my heart like the Final Fantasy games have all my life! Most game endings suck and I always feel so let down! Like Mass Effect totally killed my experience with how they ended it, but my god The Witcher 3 ending was just awesome! Thank you for that! ...And also thank you for letting us mod the game. Anything that wasn't perfect about this game, I was able to find a mod for just what I needed to make it perfect! The Witcher 3 was just that Epic of an experience for me and I felt a need to personally Thank You all that crafted it!! <3
Truly amazing game, I've never felt so down and sad after completing a game. (got the good ending) Anyway, the only thing I can think of I didnt like was that not every character got some closure in the end. Avallac'h, Eskel, Dandelion, Zoltan, Roche, Ves, Thaler comes to mind. I would also have loved if there was more quests about witchers in general. Reading about them in-game through the treasure hunt notes, etc. was very cool. For a game that took me around a month to almost 100% finish, Im more than satisified, so thank you, CDPR!
Anyway, the only thing I can think of I didnt like was that not every character got some closure in the end. Avallac'h, Eskel, Dandelion, Zoltan, Roche, Ves, Thaler comes to mind. I would also have loved if there was more quests about witchers in general. Reading about them in-game through the treasure hunt notes, etc. was very cool. For a game that took me around a month to almost 100% finish, Im more than satisified, so thank you, CDPR!Same issue with PC on 43 inch flat screen. I sit 5 feet away and can't read a thing.
Sam