TW3 General Feedback [SPOILERS]

[Smurfin]

Imo a slice of a very huge area still counts as an Open World, it gives believable space and distance for everything in it, the multi regions are used because the distances are ridiculously long, the only region that doesn't count as Open World for me is Vizima, but even that is generous and still give the impression of an Open World. Overall the whole Witcher 3 universe is entitled as an Open World.

The Witcher 3 isn't a kiddy game, even though the mature content was kinda nerfed, but it's NOT a kiddy game xD

The problem with The Witcher 3 is it is too awesome, and we expect A LOT MORE from it. ;D

 

[mysticque]

I believe the OP was pointing out why there are borderlines on each region as opposed to completely being open world as CDPR had mentioned... He didn't understand that there are limitations towards the open world system in Witcher 3. If there were no borders in the map players could easily exploit the game and able to skip through quest only to come back at a later time if there is need. The complexities within the quest system limit these possibilities henceforth boundaries are required. I didn't mind it at all since leveling through the game is actually quite sufficient.

I can relate why he is actually very disappointed with the game because there are plenty of bugs/glitches. Majority of them are minor and doesn't affect the overall gameplay nor require immediate attention well excluding to some exceptions like High Stakes. As far as I remember there something in that quest where I believe they might have just overlooked the safe checkpoint/autosave on Sasha/Finneas card play transition. And you have no other way out if Finneas knocked you out. I'm very bad at fist fight and fighting against Finneas was near impossible on deathmatch. Another thing I could think off was the battle against Imlerith during Bald Mountain quest. On Deathmatch difficulty he was simply impossible to beat that I had to change my difficulty setting to least minimum in order to get through the stage and switch it back right before I was about to kill him.

Storyline, I think was amazing I definitely love it and want more. I did not play the previous Witcher games so I do not know what's it like. Witcher 3 alone doesn't highlight Geralt more like it tells us about the Elder Blood story. Not sure if Witcher 3 Wild Hunt isn't loud enough to emphasize its structure. However, anyone that is involved with the Wild Hunt is pretty much covered in the main plot.

I just wish there are more stories to add later on with Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri. I love Geralt so much I want to play more of this game.

 

[KOngo-Otto]

The bottom line is a game that should have been a huge piece of gaming history turned out to be nothing more than another big game and a company turned Ubisoft, Ea, Microsoft, or any other vanilla company that went for console volume and demographic restrictions instead of quality and holding to statements made during development.

CD Projekt RED is no longer the company it 's bold statements state it is. It is a console company pandering to kids and volume over quality and promises of what they stated they were doing verse what they actually did. They did create a big game. They did finish Geralts witcher story. They failed at everything else they had stated and promised and turned into just another company developing games for consoles and kids.

Really? For me it's pretty obvious that you do not have the slighest clue what you're talking about!

 

[TheWotcher]

In regards to the game itself...
The game's main plot kind of disappointed me towards the end, aswell as the last act/battle with the WIld Hunt. It felt a bit too "fantasy" to me, with all the magic and stuff. But it didn't make me like the game any less.
The choices, other than some in the Bloody Baron questline and at the very end with Ciri, didn't really matter much I think, aswell as your choices from Witcher 2. The most you get out of them is a little side quest with Letho and his cameo in the Battle at Kaer Morhen. Henselt dies anyway, Vergen gets fucked anyway, mages get hunted anyway, Triss and Geralt split up anyway... Though I actually liked how they handled the Ciri choices. Be a controlling and overprotective dad to her? She won't want to come back to you.
About the open world, I like that there are zones. What I don't like however is accidentally coming to the end of them and getting thrown into the map. They could have done it better, like barricaded the ends of the zones with something, or maybe a stupidly high leveled monster that doesn't let you pass, instead of just throwing you into the world map. Kind of kills immersion and reminds me that it's just a game.
I wouldn't say the combat suffered, I think it's fantastic. Though, they definitely made it less brutal since the gameplay demos last year. Way less blood (which is just a paint-like texture now instead of actually looking like fluid like it used to), the screen doesn't shake nearly as much and it even "sounds" less brutal.
The graphics are obviously not as good as advertised. Not nearly as good as the 2013 videos and not as good as the 2014 trailers and 2014 gameplay demos. End of discussion. Geralt's character model is better, but everything else is worse. Draw distance LOD, lighting (especially indoors), color palette, everything. If they wouldn't have shown it off even last year, it wouldn't bother me at all though. They're still OK, though the game doesn't perform well enough consider how it looks.
I feel as if the game was casualised aswell. Unlimited oils, potions and bombs refilling everytime you meditate.... It just doesn't make sense why they'd do this other than to appeal to casuals and people who didn't play the previous games.
And they've said they delayed the game so much to fix bugs. Kind of weird considering how many bugs there are in the game, and how worse the game started to look after the delays. Gee, I wonder what happened during the delays.

Regarding CDPR...
I pretty much can't trust them anymore. It's easy to see they've turned into just another AAA dev. Showing off an incredibly good looking game just to make it look worse, the PC version feels like an afterthought (b-but muh hairworks), giving typical PR non-answers constantly and outright lying on their own forums to their own fans (I'm talking about the whole graphics controversy and how it was promised the game will look exactly like the SoD trailer when it's released), and of course that famous "slap in the face" quote. In terms of hyping up fake footage and PR they're no better than Ubisoft and the rest of them.
The worst thing about it is there are still tons of people on forums (not just these) who just can't see this, they're blinded by CDPR's "good guys" marketing shtick and defend them as if their lives depended on it, and no bigger media outlet will report on the downgrade and lies like they did with Watch Dogs, simply because it's not "cool" to criticize CDPR as much as it was to criticize Ubisoft.
So I guess it worked out for CDPR in the end. Got a shitload of money, sales and new fans and the vast majority doesn't care about the downgrade and whatnot.

Witcher 3 was the only game I was actually looking forward to in the last 4 or so years, after beating W2, and CDPR were supposed to be different than the rest of the industry, but I guess that's what happens. Still love the game, it's amazing and one of the best I've ever played, but it's disappointing to see what happened to CDPR.

 

[SolemnXII]

I cringe every time someone mentions "open-world." To this day in 2015, every game has a virtual boundary.
Whether they are hidden or exposed, single or multi-regions are still present.
It's a misconception that was spread about some nonexistent borderless game for people to compare to.

I asked someone to show me a true open world.
They mentioned Minecraft.
I laughed.

 

[Calloveri]

Open world it is, no loading screens when entering in a dungeon or building. And the map parts are huge. Also you cannot blame companies making games for kids, its the new age that arent prepared for mature content so in-order to make sales they have to listen countless of customers complaining. (the game os too long, the game is rpg not fps) some people even get offended if they see women vag in game, in hippie time era that wasnt even a thing.

 

[randyrhoads]

Woah OP, you went full sith there m8. You do raise a few valid points but then you go completely overboard with them.

The last 1/3 of the game indeed doesn't feel finished the way they intended to.
CDPR did cater towards a more casual base, but they've been stating that since day 1. I'm not that bothered by the toned down mature content.
I agree on the bugs part as well, there appear to be one too many.
The open world was great, I don't get the complaints on that.
Graphics don't bother me apart from the absolutely horrible draw distance.
The controls on pc are just unresponsive at times and we were right to be weary of the lack of M&K demos at pre release events.

Bottom line CDPR aren't the devils you make them out to be. Perhaps the hype train did hurt their rep with the most loyal fanbase but it's nothing serious.

 

[scorba]

the key binding for PC keyboard is really a problem for me.

how come that after you Reset to Default, "Strong Attack" is set as "None"? isn't this supposed to be a very basic thing?

and then when I try to modify some things, it makes really unnecessary changes elsewhere.

like, I'd like to set Spacebar for Galopping instead of left shift. when I do this, suddenly it resets "dodge, roll, surface" to none. but why? these are not mutually exclusive. there's no way I'll dodge, roll or surface on horseback. why can't they be the same button?

 

[paulthu]

CDPR didn't keep their promise to make a separate UI for KB/M. Controls and UI are complete shit again. Otherwise a great game.

 

[IoriYagami76]

Same here. I had a huge amount of respect for CDPR. All of that was lost with this game. All the systems around gameplay are clearly unfinished and have Beta aspect. It's a huge let down. And again yes, it's clearly visible the consolization of all it's aspects.

 

[willcurtis057]

first of all I enjoyed the game very much, thank you CDPR. However I did feel like they cut a lot of content in the game, because there were bits in some of the trailers that were not in the final game. the wild hunt should have shown up a lot more (that was a really big disappointment). although I enjoyed the endings I think the witcher one could have been fleshed out a lot more (maybe do a contract with Ciri teaching her techniques etc).

the way CDPR used Triss was disappointing, she felt more like a secondary character and if you pursue a romantic relationship with her it did not feel much of an impact in the story. it feels like the game is set more towards a relationship with Yennefer because she is in the game a lot more and if you romanced her it impacts the story a lot more than it does if you romanced Triss.

the biggest let down however are the sequences where you controlled Ciri. Each sequence was very brief, although her powers were very cool there were not that many of them, a lot of running away and she got way too OP at the end. CDPR promised something like 5-10 hours worth of her gameplay and in the final version it was 3 at most (unless you want to kill spawning enemies for a few hours).

What I think CDPR should do is develop a post ending expansion after the already announced expansions, where it explores the consequences of all the actions you have made. characters like Ciri, Triss, Yennefer, emphyr, Phillipa, avallac'h, etc should return. it would be difficult due to the difference in endings but if any developer can pull it off CDPR can.

 

[moonknightgog]

The game was not open world as promised and was an instanced world instead, a technical design choice but still misleading to consumers..

Do you know what open world means?

 

[NicodemusTNT]

I just wish there are more stories to add later on with Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri. I love Geralt so much I want to play more of this game.

Amen

 

[Froshshock]

I have to agree with the overall view on the story, not to mention most of the game i've spent a lot of hours in already. The game suffered because they had to split development to multi-platform, because this was their first game going even bigger than previously. It also suffered because they were going for the accessible approach, meaning that you didn't have to play the previous games to jump into it. I must say i've been dissapointed with the importing from the previous games, not to mention some previous characters are not even mentioned or showing a cameo.

All in all, this game could've been much more than what it is, and there's a simple explanation for it not being so.

 

[Smurfin]

A true definition of open world will never be implemented in a game, but Open World as a genre in video games do exist with limitations. A true open world would only happen if the world was created simulating the earth. 510,000,000 square kilometers in size, in which 70,9% or 361,9m sqkm of it is water. Even the most mobile person on earth will never had the chance to visit and step foot on 5% of it, probably even less throughout the lifespan.

 

[krakuus]

Thoughts after reading first post

Buuuuullshit

 

[ONLY_ONCE]

The more I play this, the more I dislike the stamina bar when it comes to sign casting.
It would be way more fun to just cast when I want, maybe let us do that on story mode
I also think the walk,jog,run should have an option to be like it is in RDR/GTAV.
I & many others just want to walk and not have to ever worry about pushing the LS up to far.
If devs could only set the walk speed of Geralt just before he starts to jog, and leave it, it would be awesome.
That, and let us map our own buttons! Man if devs add these options now and ever make TW3 EE, Oh yeah.. you better believe I'll double dip!
lol..

 

[Deathstruck92]

Finally finished the game. My thoughts. [No spoilers]

I've just finished the game after 168 hours and 23 minutes. I really don't know what to say now. Had to sit down after that and comprehend that it just ended..

It has been an epic, very epic ride. Both emotional and fullfilling and more than a worthy finisher of the saga about Geralt of Rivia. When I thought the game would end (Kaer Morhen battle), it just went on, strong as ever. The final bosses were more than entertaining to fight and even the ending has left me totally content and satisfied, which is not something that can be said for many games of this decade (got the 'very good' ending). And the music? The epic fantasy soundtrack, the slavic-tune, the signature Witcher melody.. just perfect.

While it may lack CC, it makes up for it in almost every other department that makes an RPG. It may not have your waifu/husbando Bioware romances (Yen and Triss romances are not as expansive, but you have to remember it's built on an established character and history), but the dynamic relationship between Ciri and Geralt is just much more emotional and deep than anything I've ever experienced. And that's just a daughter-father relationship.

It even barely tops Deus Ex, my favourite RPG of all time.

For me it's GOTY 2015. I have no idea what Fallout 4 might be (coming out in November), but probably just another 200 hours wasteland safari/theme park with plot as an afterthought and terrible dialogue. I seriously doubt it's gonna beat TW3, at least for me.

But is it the ultimate, best game ever? Of course not, it has its flaws but for me The Witcher 3 has just set the bar. A bar that I will use to measure all other RPGs in the future.

In any case, I need to go back to contemplating again about the fact that TW3 just ended, heh. Will do a second playthrough, maybe even replay the entire series again.. but as they say, nothing compares to the first one.

My utmost respect, applause and standing ovation to CDPR. I am now looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077 more than ever.
...And maybe other games from the Witcher universe (without Geralt)?

 

[MattMk1]

What a load of nonsense.

It's almost like a game review version of "2/10, would not bang." It reads like it was written by a teenager, but I'm afraid it wasn't.

The game is a fucking triumph. Every single game developer who talked about doing something similar - an open world game but with the focus on the story and unique content of a single-player RPG - has failed miserably. They either created big but empty worlds, worlds filled with repetitive scavenger hunts, or worlds of flavorless procedurally generated content. CDPR delivered on this aspect of the game beyond my wildest expectations - and as far as I'm concerned, that was the the most important thing they promised.

It also looks amazing... It easily holds its own against the best out there, and if the technical quality *and* the art direction of it are not enough to make you happy enough to stop bitching about some long-ago tech demo, and appreciate the many genuinely beautiful scenes it delivers - then I'm not sure whether to feel pity for you, or be appalled by your utter lack of taste.

The open world "issue"... frankly isn't worth wasting words on.

If you think that all the things this game does amazingly well aren't enough to make up - several times over - for missteps like the lousy inventory screen, or leveled loot, or even the bugs (not especially bad given that it's probably one of the most complex games ever made), then you're everything that is wrong with gaming today, and the shitty, unambitious EA and UB games you complain about are just what you deserve.

 

[Mohasz]

Only the last 4th of the game felt a bit disappointing, I hope CDPR will do everything with the expansions and the patches to make the last part of the main storyline a bit more interesting - even if it won't ever be perfect.