OT: Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt

[J_Cauthen]

Motion blur, depth of field, and the camera effect that brightens the middle of the screen should be turned off.

So that gets rid of the fisheye lens effect? I'm not a huge RPG'er, but for some reason, this one has me a bit intrigued. I'm hearing now that you have to have the most recent Nvidia driver (released earlier this week) for this game to run properly, yet if I install that driver, it causes The Golf Club to crash as startup. I would probably be more tempted to get this on PS4 anyway, even though I now have a PC that could do a decent job with it. Some of the comments I'm reading here have me thinking this one would be a bit too deep for me to jump back into RPG'ing on.

[XXXIV]

After playing about 4 hours yesterday and getting no where...So much to do I got into the swing of it this afternoon. Six hours of slow playing it and doing everything I could find in the beginner zone....This thing is so deep. Story, play and video game broad intrigue

Great game.

[XXXIV]

Yesterday I got a shave, got addicted to Gwent playing everyone I could find, met a witch who was taking a bath, saved a dude from a burning barn, "saved" a botchling?( that was some creepy s***), retrieved a goat, fought some really annoying golem, played a couple of flashbacks as someone else, and well just had a blast with this game.

Now around twenty hours in. I think I am going to like this one better than Dragons Age which is saying alot.

Need to build my card deck.

[TCrouch]

I had this conversation with the wife this weekend. I thought Dragon Age was quite possibly the best game ever made. Then Witcher came along. Between the two of them, I think they're the best bang-for-your-buck gaming experiences in history. Easily 300 hours of content between two games.

In the Witcher, it's a little darker, a little less "colorful fantasy", though. I like that it's not all shining-halo good guy or total dick, too. The choices are all shades of gray, which makes it pretty engaging.

[Macca00]

retrieved a goat...

Is this Greek slang for some funny business?

[XXXIV]

retrieved a goat...

Is this Greek slang for some funny business?

Well played.

[Sudz]

Would you buy this or wait for the Morrowind/Elder Scrolls/Skyrim MMO that is out in a few weeks?

[TCrouch]

Completely different types of games.

If you're into story and actually seeing the world change around you, it's Witcher in a landslide. But it's got slightly wonky controls still, and sometimes you can end up struggling against animations in fast fights. Geralt loves to spin around and sometimes you get hit trying to attack.

Elder Scrolls is an MMO--slower combat, even though some of the patches in the past year sped it up, multiplayer-based quest objectives where you have to find a group to complete it, etc.

Personally, I love both styles of games. But it really depends on what you're looking to get out of it. You can play ESO with friends. You can't with Witcher, but the story and world is MUCH better in Witcher than in ESO.

[Sudz]

Completely different types of games.

If you're into story and actually seeing the world change around you, it's Witcher in a landslide. But it's got slightly wonky controls still, and sometimes you can end up struggling against animations in fast fights. Geralt loves to spin around and sometimes you get hit trying to attack.

Elder Scrolls is an MMO--slower combat, even though some of the patches in the past year sped it up, multiplayer-based quest objectives where you have to find a group to complete it, etc.

Personally, I love both styles of games. But it really depends on what you're looking to get out of it. You can play ESO with friends. You can't with Witcher, but the story and world is MUCH better in Witcher than in ESO.

Thank you very much for the great reply!

[Danimal]

I came back to this last night after being gone for a week of golf. I'm just having such a hard time staying on task, I just wander and find something and it leads me into a quest chain. Hell I've found stuff that says it is a quest item but it hasn't opened any quests. I was mildly amused last night when a Drowner as clearly baiting me into a trap. He would run from me and if I stopped pursuing he would stop and dance around.

Like a mouse following some cheese on a string I kept going. Unsure whether it was an AI glitch or really a trap. I won't spoil it for anyone, let's just say s*** like this is why this game is some immersive.

[sportdan30]

I simply can't decide if I want to unwrap the plastic off this game. I've had it since this past weekend. I game an hour or less a night and this seems like such the time sink. I'll be playing this game until 2017 at that rate. Some of these open world games are so overwhelming for me (GTA 5 which is collecting dust in my top drawer), that I play them for a couple hours and shelve them. Heck, I'm still playing the Last of Us. I may just wait until Batman next month and pick that up instead.

Then, I read Danimal's experience last night with the game, and I want to play it. Gaming shouldn't be this agonizing or stressful.

[TCrouch]

Not unwrapping it would be a travesty.

But yes, it could go into 2017 (if not longer). If you gamed an hour a night and actually accomplished goals each hour, it would take you over 100 days to just finish the main story. Then another 100 days if you wanted to find everything, at which point another set of DLC missions and expansions would be out.

But if you only have an hour a night, I'd have a tough time thinking that The Witcher isn't a good way to spend it.

[Danimal]

But if you only have an hour a night, I'd have a tough time thinking that The Witcher isn't a good way to spend it.

I couldn't agree more with this. I'll be honest at this point it is not my favorite RPG of 2015 because I prefer another style of play. However as a open world rpg experience there is simply none better. I've decided that is how I'm going to play it as an experience, I'll get around to the story missions (hell I just killed the Griffon last night) but I just want to explore and see the world happening around me. Just a few more examples that likely most have encountered.

I find a hidden tomb just wandering around that turns into a trap with some great loot when I beat it. Which leads to a quest.

I find an abandoned village because it is overrun with wolves. I kill them off and the populace comes back. I find a dead body next to a bridge, well more like under it. He has a key, look in the water is a locked chest.

That's all from just wandering around, not taking an official quest or contract or posting board in town. Trust me Dan my gaming time is around yours most nights, occasionally I get a few more hours.

I would say open it.

[sportdan30]

Thanks Terry and Dan for your input. I agree, and I'll probably go ahead and experience the game this weekend. I absolutely loved Skyrim, and while people have said it's not a fair comparison, Witcher 3 is a much deeper game overall.

I've found myself watching more shows on Netflix than gaming lately, however I just finished Rescue Me and Mad Men, and purposely have not started a new series so I can re-focus on my gaming.

I gotta finish TLOU though, as it's up there as of the best playing and best storytelling games I can ever remember.

[TCrouch]

The way Dan explains it is a perfect summary. I don't even follow quest objectives. Something looks cool? Go check it out. There is something crammed into every nook and cranny in the world...more densely than in Skyrim, for example. Skyrim was awesome, but it's almost 4 years old now. Technology has come so far. Open world building has come so far.

Every town seems to have relationships with other towns. Trade routes, a purpose. NPCs seem to have roles that they fill. Some guys are out chopping wood outside of town, some guys are hunting. People are going about their business. That's been said before over the years, but the world feels like it's going on completely without you involved.

It's not a directed theme-park-like ride, either. You control what you see and what you get involved in. The choices and conversations feel more "real" than most games do. And Geralt is the perfect protagonist. He's jaded, he doesn't really give a big s*** about most people, but he does recognize right from wrong. It's not that YOU become the protagonist like some games would have you do, but Geralt becomes YOUR version of Geralt.

Does he refuse to take coin and do things as a do-gooder? You find relationships from NPCs you wouldn't suspect, and free rewards from a cousin who might be higher-up on the totem pole. Save a random guy in the swamps? You find out his brother has a key piece of gear that you REALLY need to progress further around. You make the call on choices, some of which are obvious, and some are a lot more subtle.

Without too many spoilers and keeping this as vague as possible (even misleading a bit), I went on a quest where I investigated an area, found somebody in need of help. Helped them, solved the quest--only to find out they were a bad guy and I basically f*cked over the whole area by unshackling them. But I didn't know that until I was riding away and heard all hell breaking loose. Returned as more of a "wtf?" moment, only to see the carnage I just unleashed. I have a strong feeling there's going to be a lot more to that seemingly insignificant choice later on.

But point remains--as an open world, it has no match. Not even GTA5. But the controls are very "European RPG"--they're slightly clunky, I'd like it if Geralt could just swing his sword instead of twirling around and dancing sometimes, but I learned to deal with that in Witcher 2. There's a dodge-side-swipe, dodge-rear-stab mechanic that you work out that lets you get into the game a lot more.

And again, I think it would be a horrible choice to never even try it for fear of it taking too much time. It's at its best when you let it immerse you.

[XXXIV]

Im glad for the break from hockey tonight as I need to work on my Gwent deck and finish of this certain quest Im on.

The twirling around sword swings can be annoying especially when you are trying to stay inside a protective force field created by someone else.
I am getting used to the controls which is taking a while especially since I sometimes still react using Dark Souls control scheme which doesnt work so well.

Dan and Terry nail it.

Aside from those tiny issues this is just a brilliant game.

9.8 / 10

[dbdynsty25]

Rented it for the PS4...played about 20 min. and then bought the PC version. Holy sh*t what a game. Barely made it through much in my 2 hours tonight, but damn it's impressive. Never really been into games like this, but this one actually has me hooked for now. Partially because the graphics are so ridiculous (way way way better on the PC, the lighting alone, holy sh*t)...but the rest is just so well put together and fairly seamless going from area to area. Can't believe I'm playing this type of game right now...just not me. But I'm in.

[TCrouch]

That surprises me on one hand, and doesn't on the other. It's not a game I would expect guys who aren't normally into RPGs to get hooked by, but if you go into it allowing yourself to be immersed, yeah...it can definitely get its claws dug in.

Glad to hear you're digging it so far, Scott.

[XXXIV]

This game is sick.

I spent most of sunday doing a lot but getting no where.

[RobVarak]

This game is sick.

I spent most of sunday doing a lot but getting no where.

I do kind of wish they had a few less "Let's make a deal" quests. It's a bit tedious knowing that every single story quest involves me bargaining with yet another shady character to do something or other to get another shred of the story. Rinse, repeat ad nauseam. The side quests are much more diverse and interesting.

[Danimal]

So I haven't paid much attention to crafting but now I am starting to find really cool diagrams for things and when I went to the blacksmith and asked him to make me something they don't show up in my list, nor are they in my inventory. What am I doing incorrectly here?

[TCrouch]

Wrong craftsman.

Some only make armor, some only make weapons. Make note of the craftsman icon on the map, which will have an armor icon or weapon.

For example, the guy at the Nilfgaardian Fortress in White Orchard does weapons, as does the guy in Crow's Perch in No Man's Land. Other guys, like the dwarf in the starter town and in some other town which has a name I forget, does armor.

Crafting is one of the most fun things in the game to me. Tracking down the components, building some bad ass sword or piece of armor that lets me slaughter stuff with ease.

But then you have to find the GOOD craftsmen, too. Their level sometimes won't allow them to craft what you want. So you have types, and ability all wrapped up in it.

[XXXIV]

This game is sick.

I spent most of sunday doing a lot but getting no where.

I do kind of wish they had a few less "Let's make a deal" quests. It's a bit tedious knowing that every single story quest involves me bargaining with yet another shady character to do something or other to get another shred of the story. Rinse, repeat ad nauseam. The side quests are much more diverse and interesting.

You are saying that the fat shady dude and his botchling was tedious? I thought that was all creepy.

Hasnt gotten tedious for me yet but that maybe because for the amount of time I have put into the game now, I have not done that much of the main story.

Going off on tangents. Side quests like the one with the blonde sorceress. No Triss but any port in a video game storm.

Much exploring, big into Gwent( silly but thats me) and a bounty or two. Tried one bounty early on where I learned to believe the game about quests far above my level. That sucker hit hard.

Flower picking is even better than in RDR.

[RobVarak]

I'm loving the game, but this ZP gets it about right...particularly about the crafting. Also the CSI: Narnia crack is most excellent.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/ ... unt-Review

[XXXIV]

Except for I like playing the card game, I Cant argue with that review. That guy be funny.