The Witcher 3 | Review Thread

Steve Youngblood said:
I don't really think I'm presenting a controversial take here. Further, I want to note that I'm honestly not suggesting CDPR do anything differently. I'm not throwing anything out there out of left field or suggesting anything radical here. There's this argument for the context of the time of Sapkowski's upbringing, the era he was basing his fantasy universe on, and the fact that these were written primarily for a Polish audience. All completely fair. Really, I agree that these observations are all perfectly valid.

But the Witcher video game series are being produced decades after the first books and aren't considered canon by Sapkowski. Obviously, it probably wouldn't be a good idea to ignore the novels and start from scratch. But why would calls for more diversity in the current games necessitate that? I don't even really understand what we're arguing anymore. All I'm getting at is that you can't completely hand wave away criticisms about representation by noting that this was a universe created in the 80s for a Polish audience when the games are being created now for a global audience. Reminding people of the context of how the Witcher universe came to be is important and something Gies perhaps overlooked. But that doesn't mean that any and all similar cries are null and void because the setting of the Witcher universe is set in stone.
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Oh in that case I agree that criticism is valid even if ultimately fruitless. Just like it's fair to criticize a hyper racist grandpa and not waive it off as "He's from a different time".
 
Folks, it's fine to discuss Gies' review. But I refuse to let this thread get derailed by encouraging discussion of a stupid Twitter spectacle of Gies arguing with people in 140 character bursts.
 
OmegaDL50 said:
Do we have a map of the entire Witcher world, or at least a map with arrows that charts the path where Geralt's journeys have took place and how far his travels took?
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Geralt's journey in the games:

BwnpKxP.jpg


Haven't included minor locations from W3, also not sure where the game will start.
 
Inferno313 said:
He's probably under leveled to fight that guy. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think this game has Oblivion-style level scaling. Each enemy has a level and you don't wanna take on something significantly higher than you.
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Yep, Witcher 3 doesn't have level scaling of any kind. If you find golem that is level 30 it will be level 30 when you return 20 hours later.

Difficulty scales enemies by slightly decreasing or increasing their HP, aggression levels and attacks they use.
 
Inferno313 said:
He's probably under leveled to fight that guy. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think this game has Oblivion-style level scaling. Each enemy has a level and you don't wanna take on something significantly higher than you.
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Yes. Drowners can absolutely kill you, and easily, at lower levels.
 
Spinluck said:
Oh this isn't the last one?

Dear God this game looks phenomenal.
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Nope. They just said its Geralts last game. They have stated they are interested in continuing the franchise without him. Many people think Ciri will be the playable character in Witcher 4 due to her coming into the games now and being playable. Could be wrong though but it for sure looks like the Witcher series will continue. Especially with Witcher 3 already having over 1 million pre orders.
 
Speaking about difficulty, I have not been able to find this piece of information in the reviews I've read: Do you guys know if you can change the difficulty at any time? or once you start the campaign you are stuck with it? I want to try higher difficulty levels since everyone seems to think it is a tad easy, but if it becomes too difficult I may want to tune it back to normal again (the game is long enough already without me retrying each combat 10 times)
 
Inferno313 said:
He's probably under leveled to fight that guy. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think this game has Oblivion-style level scaling. Each enemy has a level and you don't wanna take on something significantly higher than you.
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oh nice-does killing an enemy/monster of higher level yield more xp?
(sorry if this is well known-Ive been pretty good at not watching/reading too much)
 
Gies's review fails to mention the origin of the Witcher, which is Poland. Polish sci-fi/fantasy (e.g. STALKER) tends to not have people of color simply because people of color are a rare sight in Poland. I just see this depiction of race--which actually does address racism in fantasy, and doesn't go Tolkien and make the villains a different color than the protagonists--as pretty progressive. Gies seems to be arguing from U.S. norms against Polish norms (I see similarly framed arguments when Polygon talks about Japanese games). As far as sexuality goes, Gies won't hear any complaints from me. The Witcher 1 and 2 both have some nervy elements of sexism. At least in the Witcher 2, these elements are muted (and there's no "collect sex cards!" achievement) with fully realized female characters, who use both their sexuality and their craftiness in an oppressive system to get ahead. It's very Chaucerian in its characterization of women--women have to adapt to an unkind system--the failure comes in when it gamifies women's sexuality for the male protagonist. Geralt's use of prostitutes seems unwise...a devolution of Geralt's character and a way to get pre-pubescent boys into the game without worrying about politics. It's rather purposeless in the game (as opposed to the very sexy and well-executed Triss scene from W2).

Given The Witcher's "low fantasy" and its ability to stand by that genre (as opposed to hamfisted claims of satire in GTAV), I think that the shocking, violent, and oppressive elements in Witcher's world are justified by the narrative.
 
Alcoholikaust said:
oh nice-does killing an enemy/monster of higher level yield more xp?
(sorry if this is well known-Ive been prety good at not watching/reading too much)
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You only get XP for completing quests. Don't know if you get more or less on higher difficulties though.

ioriyagami said:
Speaking about difficulty, I have not been able to find this piece of information in the reviews I've read: Do you guys know if you can change the difficulty at any time? or once you start the campaign you are stuck with it? I want to try higher difficulty levels since everyone seems to think it is a tad easy, but if it becomes too difficult I may want to tune it back to normal again (the game is long enough already without me retrying each combat 10 times)
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You can.
 
Alcoholikaust said:
oh nice-does killing an enemy/monster of higher level yield more xp?
(sorry if this is well known-Ive been pretty good at not watching/reading too much)
Click to expand...

Fairly certain that XP rewards are only for quests.
 
EatChildren said:
RE: Representation of non-whites in medieval fantasy.

I understand and appreciate the argument that when it's strictly fantasy and an entirely fictional setting there's no reason people other than Caucasian could be represented. But I also understand that fantasy settings are frequently influenced by real history. Even though ultimately fictional, the cultures, architecture, topography, clothing, and art draw heavily from the closest historical time period and location. In the case of The Witcher universe all of this is built from a template of Eastern and Northern European middle ages, down to the colour of skin.

And I'm not stating this as an argument against the inclusion of non-whites, so much as the thought process and reasoning behind the aesthetic direction and why it's not exclusion with malicious intent, or nor (in my opinion) said exclusion is disappointing or offensive. It simply is what it is, and for me personally, as someone with an interest in diversity in settings and representation of people, the frustration comes not from deliberate historical influence in settings like The Witcher, but the absence of stories with settings where the alternative is more prominent. Give me a middle ages inspired setting that draws extensively from Spain, Portugal, Egypt, and so on, where European Caucasian is a minority, drawing upon those regional and historically relevant cultures and people. It sucks we don't have those.
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Can I ask why you think that Spain and Portugal is minority European Caucasian? I have a hard time believing that you think that you can make a post about race while being that ignorant.
 
Zakalwe said:
Honestly, the polygon review seems like it's taking a hot topic and applying it to the game just so the author can make a statement about the topic itself rather than the game being problematic and actually warranting the discussion.

Maybe the race diversity issue has some weight, but the commentary on misogyny seems misplaced. The game is set in a world and a time where women would be treated this way, it's not a sexist game it's a game set in a time/place where sexism and gender oppression is rife.

Obviously my opinion may change when I play the game, but the first two games handled their female characters and he way the world surrounded them in a mature and intelligent way. It set its own rules based on the way the world was and stuck to them creating a believable environment for the characters.

Honestly, if anything the first two Witcher games are great examples of how to do this right. I can't imagine the third game deviates from this.

Time will tell.
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I think it's great that there are more reviews pointing out issues like the polygon review. Calling this a "hot button issue" as if this sort of thing is just a fad that will pass is completely wrong-headed.

I also want to point out that the advertising material itself placed the game in the middle of this discussion on race. That trailer from a couple weeks ago advertised a realistic world that included "... war crimes and even racism." So the marketing materials for this game are pointing out that topics of race relations are a reason to buy this game, but for some reason reviewers should be discouraged from discussing it? Also, the historical accuracy argument is weak and always has been as a defense of fantasy genre tropes and cliches.

Regarding any misogyny that may be present in the game. It's more of the visual stuff, rather than the narrative stuff that seems potentially sexist and outdated in this game. It's the continued trope of big bouncy breasts on female characters that is really starting to annoy people. I already know of one scene in Witcher 3 where a female characters top literally dissolves to expose her breasts. I just think that in general people are getting justifiably sick and tired of model thin supporting female characters in all forms of media. It looks like Witcher 3, does have some strong female roles, and it even features a playable female character later in the game, which is fantastic! But the underlying visual tropes i.e. skinny bodies and big exposed breasts seem to be as prominent as ever.

As an aficionado of French cinema, sex and nudity is not the issue. Rather, it's the quicktime events and/or cutscenes that validate a heteronormative male gaze de-humanizing the female experience and breaking up the female body into series of titillating exaggerated objects.

I'm someone who will probably buy this game, but I think that reviews like this are important. In fact, that Polygon review seems to be largely positive, which seems to be lost in some of the reactionary and regressive backlash that it has received by some here. Perhaps the Polygon review isn't the most articulate review in the world, but it's still far more interesting than reviews that spend 90% of the word count talking about "fun-ness" or whether the game lives up to the marketing hype.
 
Does the game have like a chest or bank that you can store items? I hate games with inventory limits that also have no other way to store items. I was happy when they added one to DA:I in a patch.
 
SoraanTribal said:
Does the game have like a chest or bank that you can store items? I hate games with inventory limits that also have no other way to store items. I was happy when they added one to DA:I in a patch.
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Likely, even The Witcher 1 allowed you to store items with Inn Keepers.

I'm in the middle of playing Witcher 2, so I don't know if there is storage, but since the first game has it I would assume it does as well.

Witcher 3 however apparently has a much larger inventory over the 2nd game, so item space isn't that much of an issue.
 
OmegaDL50 said:
Likely, even The Witcher 1 allowed you to store items with Inn Keepers.

I'm in the middle of playing Witcher 2, so I don't know if there is storage, but since the first game has it I would assume it does as well.

Witcher 3 however apparently has a much larger inventory over the 2nd game, so item space isn't that much of an issue.
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Ah gotcha. I hope it does. :)

I'm about to start playing the Witcher 2 for the first time - I bought it a long time ago on a sale, but never played it besides the confusing tutorial (where they introduce so much time at once lol). I am using the no weight mod on that game, though.
 
I asked this in another thread:

Will this game have any kind of secrets to be found? Since it more open than the first (I guess the second one doesn't have secrets too).
 
Just booted up Witcher 2 on PC again, damn it still looks amazing. It did remind me how bad the controller stuff is though, and also the camera is so close to Geralt it's a bit claustrophobic. Hopefully both are fixed in Witcher 3? Have any reviews mentioned these two points?
 
Maedhros said:
I asked this in another thread:

Will this game have any kind of secrets to be found? Since it more open than the first (I guess the second one doesn't have secrets too).
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I was watching the IGN stream yesterday when they were playing the PC version. Apparently there are white circles which appear on the mini-map to indicated there is treasure inside that you have to find. He found this cave that had some chests in it, and when he went to loot them it was a bunch of what looked like armor crafting plans, and the CDPR guy tried to take the controller away because he wasn't supposed to show the names of said items or that they were even there in the first place. The IGN guy said during his review time he never found that many armor plans in a single chest before.
 
What people fail to understand is that the racism and sexism of the games is exactly as it's in the books. In the books there's maybe a one or two mentions of a person of other color than white, and the racism is actual discrimination between species (elves, dwarves, dryads, etc). Women tend to dress up sexily and use their sexuality to gain advantages in the world. Just like in real life atleast in the dark ages, wow.

A few examples right out of my mind:
I mean, even in the mages convention in 4th book (I think?) the sorceresses are overwhelmingly sexually dressed. A few have their nipples showing and are openly flirting with Geralt. In fact, it's very important for the sorceresses to look sexy as fuck, as they even sacrifice their ability to have children to magically make themselves appear stunning.

A certain girl spies on Nilfgaardian Secret Service officer (can't remember his or her name) by having a relationship with him, pretending to be a stupid blonde only good (rather excellent) in bed, and the guy tells him all of his stressful facts from work laying in bed after the acts.

Then in the last book in Toussaint Fringilla Vigo fucks Geralt for 3 months to gather information for the Lodge and trying to keep him from continuing his journey to find Ciri.

The books have always had the sexual themes as a big part of the storytelling, so it would be a shame to "fix it" in the games for the sake of some SJWs getting triggered. Though I do agree the first one went overboard with the sex cards etc.
 
OmegaDL50 said:
Do we have a map of the entire Witcher world, or at least a map with arrows that charts the path where Geralt's journeys have took place and how far his travels took?
Click to expand...
W1: Mostly Vizima and Outskirts (Big lake in Temeria). Game starts in Kaer Mohren, in the blue montains in Kaedwen.
W2: Starting in La Valette, Temeria. Going upstream the Pontar until Loc Muinne.
W3. Mostly Pontar river delta in Redenia/Temeria (Novigrad Oxenfurt), and Skellige Islands.

As you can see, it barely scratches the surface.

w1u9ksy.jpg

w2m6kv8.jpg
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ScepticMatt said:
W1: Mostly Vizima and Outskirts (Big lake in Temeria). Game starts in Kaer Mohren, in the blue montains in Kaedwen.
W2: Starting in La Valette, Temeria. Going upstream the Pontar until Loc Muinne.
W3. Mostly Pontar river delta in Redenia/Temeria (Novigrad Oxenfurt), and Skellige Islands.

As you can see, it barely scratches the surface.
Click to expand...

I thought there is no canonical map for The Witcher series. Sapkowski kind of made it up as he went along, and CDPR had him as an advisor when they were crafting their own maps.
 
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