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How I learned to love The Witcher 3

It happens.

I had the exact same problem when I tried to play Dragon Age Inquisition. I felt the combat was so uninspired and the quests were just busywork.

I don't know how that game got so many glowing reviews and even Game of the Year awards.

But unlike Dragon Age, I hear there's quite a bit of impressive stuff in that game. Great choices that matter, excellent side quests, a fully realized world. I'm not saying your opinion is wrong , if anything I'd advise putting it down and coming back to it later. Maybe on lowered difficulty. I don't think the Witcher 3 will be the Dragon Age of this year. Because I can actually see what's good/impressive about it.
 
So far, i'm really enjoying my time with it, and my two biggest gripes are:
  • Can the boat be ANY slower?

Boat works the same as the horse: double tap accelerate as you would to make the horse sprint to sail the boat at a faster speed.

Took me half the game to work this out.
 
yes, and I don't run past enemies like most people who's game i join (another reason why BB is not hardcore). I wanted to become as strong as possible, and use the most weapons I can. and if the game allowed me to grind my character to get to level 80 by the time I reach say...the cathedral ward. I did so, I put in the work. Whereas most people just run through the game inviting their friends in and thus they are level 95 on NG +++.

See, that's a completely different way of playing compared to mine. For me, grinding to overpower my way through the game wouldn't be satisfying. I don't level like crazy and I certainly don't run past everything or summon. Did all the bosses on my own, optional ones included, and am now a NG++ character in The Old Hunters and the end of the main game with a level of around 170. It's pretty challenging, I can tell you.

To me, not being overleveled and each fight being a about skill, that ebb and flow of finding openings, of nailing that perfect parry, of dodging at the exact right moment, of findind new strategies to down a boss, to me that tension makes it my favorite game of this gen so far.

But again, to each his own.
 
I don't think you know more about the combat when you're having just as much difficulty with the game as people with a quarter of your stats. Also you don't need to toggle lock on to roll.

Witcher 3 is bad because none of that feels good to do. That's the issue with open world games. They want to let you do everything, and in doing so that don't stop to make sure that any of it actually feels good.

I'm not having diffficulty lol, the game is not that hard.

but logic would say that if these stats even matter, and if it's REMOTELY an RPG no one would be able to NG+++ at level 85. it simply wouldn't happen. It's not even about SKILL at that point, your weapon wouldn't drain any health.

but that's not the case now is it? how suspicious....

and yes, to roll in BB you need to exit lock-on.
 
I'm not having diffficulty lol, the game is not that hard.

but logic would say that if these stats even matter, and if it's REMOTELY an RPG no one would be able to NG+++ at level 85. it simply wouldn't happen. It's not even about SKILL at that point, your weapon wouldn't drain any health.

but that's not the case now is it? how suspicious....

and yes, to roll in BB you need to exit lock-on.

What's your point? I don't understand what is this secret you know about bloodborne that nobody else knows? What's so "suspicious" about it?

It's a game with its own system. It's not trying to be anything it's not
 
I'm not having diffficulty lol, the game is not that hard.

but logic would say that if these stats even matter, and if it's REMOTELY an RPG no one would be able to NG+++ at level 85. it simply wouldn't happen. It's not even about SKILL at that point, your weapon wouldn't drain any health.

but that's not the case now is it? how suspicious....

and yes, to roll in BB you need to exit lock-on.
Increasing your stats early on makes a world of difference. It is the difference between being able to take one hit or two hits before you are dead. Leveling up is never absolutely mandatory, though, so you can set your own difficulty with leveling up to alleviate the burden. I've gotten pretty far at level 20, but it wasn't easy. Every stat point mattered to get the desired damage output and be able to equip the gear that I want to use.
 
Much praise here for Witcher 3's quests, but they amount to nothing but following a quest marker to the next location and using detective, sorry, witcher vision to know where to press a button to trigger the next dialogue/cutscene, repeat as necessary until the quest is finished.

Sorry,even Bloodborne's quests are so much better.

Please, Bloodborne's nothing but go here, kill that, pull a switch, repeat, repeat. Yawn. Plus the dialogue trees are pathetic and the player character isn't even voiced. Step your game up From, it's 2015.
 
Boat works the same as the horse: double tap accelerate as you would to make the horse sprint to sail the boat at a faster speed.

Took me half the game to work this out.

:O

Glad you told me before i got to Skellige, lol.

You can also fast travel to any visited port when on a boat.
I should say, i play without minimap and try to fast travel as little as i can (if they tell me to go back halfway across the map from the place where i JUST came from, then i'll fast travel).
 
I'm not having diffficulty lol, the game is not that hard.

but logic would say that if these stats even matter, and if it's REMOTELY an RPG no one would be able to NG+++ at level 85. it simply wouldn't happen. It's not even about SKILL at that point, your weapon wouldn't drain any health.

but that's not the case now is it? how suspicious....

and yes, to roll in BB you need to exit lock-on.

Suspicious? What are you suspicious of? If a weapon takes more than 0 damage it's not a "true rpg" or whatever? 1. That's absurd. 2. The genre of the game has absolutely nothing to do with how good it is. Genre is 100% irrelevant.

And you absolutely do not need to exit lock on to roll. I've been doing this the whole game.
 
Much praise here for Witcher 3's quests, but they amount to nothing but following a quest marker to the next location and using detective, sorry, witcher vision to know where to press a button to trigger the next dialogue/cutscene, repeat as necessary until the quest is finished.

Sorry,even Bloodborne's quests are so much better.

When people praise Witcher quests it's more about the the way you can influence the outcome, often you can choose if you just want to pay money which affects the economy system as another important gameplay device for a fantasy medieval RPG, you can do some nosing around, you can talk your way out when having spent the required experience on the respective skills, you can decide on whether you trust the character or not and do or don't do what he wants. Just because From games don't give a flying fuck about story, characters, decision making and a vivid world, doesn't mean we should just disregard it when other RPGs do it.

But yeah, this is the reason we can't compare them and this just screams like another "please look at Bloodborne" thread to me. Different directions.
 
I'm not having diffficulty lol, the game is not that hard.

but logic would say that if these stats even matter, and if it's REMOTELY an RPG no one would be able to NG+++ at level 85. it simply wouldn't happen. It's not even about SKILL at that point, your weapon wouldn't drain any health.

but that's not the case now is it? how suspicious....

and yes, to roll in BB you need to exit lock-on.

Is Final Fantasy VIII not an RPG? I've seen runs of that completed at lower than lvl10.
 
Suspicious? What are you suspicious of? If a weapon takes more than 0 damage it's not a "true rpg" or whatever? 1. That's absurd. 2. The genre of the game has absolutely nothing to do with how good it is. Genre is 100% irrelevant.

And you absolutely do not need to exit lock on to roll. I've been doing this the whole game.

Locked on you dodge. Not Locked on you roll

How did this become a BB thread? Lol
 
Please, Bloodborne's nothing but go here, kill that, pull a switch, repeat, repeat. Yawn. Plus the dialogue trees are pathetic and the player character isn't even voiced. Step your game up From, it's 2015.

In 2015, we also discovered that letting people roleplay as anyone they wanted through a character creator is a good idea, and is also a common feature in rpgs....

Lol imjk, I know you were being sarcastic.....


...
 
Folk have different tastes, not your fault OP.

I personally loved it. Played on the hardest difficulty (as I always do) and completed it. Waiting for both expansions to release and will go another round on new game plus!

P.S. Gwent is the single best mini game I have ever played. Just brilliant. Unbalanced as hell, but so addictive.
 
See, that's a completely different way of playing compared to mine. For me, grinding to overpower my way through the game wouldn't be satisfying. I don't level like crazy and I certainly don't run past everything or summon. Did all the bosses on my own, optional ones included, and am now a NG++ character in The Old Hunters and the end of the main game with a level of around 170. It's pretty challenging, I can tell you.

To me, not being overleveled and each fight being a about skill, that ebb and flow of finding openings, of nailing that perfect parry, of dodging at the exact right moment, of findind new strategies to down a boss, to me that tension makes it my favorite game of this gen so far.

But again, to each his own.

BB's mechanics don't allow for much real technical "skill" to flourish lol maybe if we were talking...ninja gaiden, then we'd have a conversation. but BB isn't the type of game, where...my ability to work my way around a controller will benefit me much. it's more of timing, patience based affair. i wouldn't necessarily say that falls under technical skill.

but anyway, you're right, i clearly made the mistake of actually taking BB's RPG system seriously. As moving through the game without utilizing your maximum potential seems stupid and short-sighted to me, so of course i took advantage of leveling my character.

but i didn't realize BB was catered towards your average joe who's not going to do any of that.

because you forget, none of my leveling mattered anyway lol the game scales....

and you forget....grinding levels multiple times while people invade your world, actually allows you to get better than most people outside of the statistical sense. especially if we're talking initial play-through alone.
 
When people praise Witcher quests it's more about the the way you can influence the outcome, often you can choose if you just want to pay money which affects the economy system as another important gameplay device for a fantasy medieval RPG, you can do some nosing around, you can talk your way out when having spent the required experience on the respective skills, you can decide on whether you trust the character or not and do or don't do what he wants. Just because From games don't give a flying fuck about story, characters, decision making and a vivid world, doesn't mean we should just disregard it when other RPGs do it.

But yeah, this is the reason we can't compare them and this just screams like another "please look at Bloodborne" thread to me. Different directions.
There is a 82 page Bloodborne story/lore thread. The amazing thing is you can 100% ignore the stories in those games and its still a great experience.
People who dont care arent forced to watch hours of cutscenes and dialogue, people who care actually get to discover it with real effort, like being attentive. Seems pretty good to me.

Edit: Its also CDProjekt that have been drawing comparisons since Demons Souls. They will probably say their next Witcher game is inspired by Bloodborne.
 
well no, because ninja gaiden actually has a contextual combo system. same with DMC or bayonetta.

you can LITERALLY play the witcher 3 like BB. except it's a bit easier because you have no stamina, the dodge actually dodges 99% of the time. and you don't have to toggle lock-on to roll, and you can parry at the same time....while using signs...

wait, why is the witcher 3 combat bad again? lol

why do I feel like I know more about the combat in both of these games than the people who are having all these """opinions"""? probably people who NG++ BB at level 110 or something too.
Sure, I guess you could play The Wither 3 like BB, I guess. It wouldn't be good nor fun tho.
 
Your analysis of the Witcher 3's quests are amazing. Tell me more about Bloodbornes dynamic quests with branching paths.

BB's quest design takes a different approach, and what I like about it is that the game tells you so little about them. What happens next is defined by the player's actions, instead of clicking in a window with multiple choices, which happens in so many games.

Examples would be what happens in Iosefka's clinic, what Eileen's fate will be or if you will see her at all, whether you fight the Moon Presence at the end or not, how the Vileblood situation will be resolved, etc. It also uses subtle environmental storytelling. Not every player will discover what happened to Gascoigne's daughter for example.

I really like that, it's all very subtle and understated.
 
In 2015, we also discovered that letting people roleplay as anyone they wanted through a character creator is a good idea, and is also a common feature in rpgs....

Lol imjk, I know you were being sarcastic.....


...

Character creators only exist so lazy, cheap devs like From don't have to pay a character designer.
 
Are some of you guys Gaming since 2009 that you think Witcher 3 Combat is bad?

I can understand that, after playing the Souls games, every other RPG lacks in the Combat department, but NOT because it's BAD, but because Souls is just better, it focused on Combat.

I played Witcher 3 on Console and it felt great, Quests are great, Dialogues are really good and the Atmosphere is some of the best i've seen in recent RPGs.
 
I'm playing Bloodborne for the first time at the moment and really enjoying it. But I prefer Witcher 3.

It's so weird that so many Bloodborne fans (not all, obviously), a game which requires immense amounts of patience and determination, can be so dismissive of other games. Even when these other games have only passing similarities to Bloodborne.
 
Character creators only exist so lazy, cheap devs like From don't have to pay a character designer.
This has to be a joke. They have some of the best artists around. The npcs designs have been great in all their games.
Nevermind, I assume your posts are sarcastic.
 
I absolutely love Witcher 3, and I never got into W1 or W2. The combat isn't great, but IMHO everything else is. The combat feels a bit unresponsive.

I played the game on easy so that that the combat wouldn't get in my way, and I had a blast. This and Bloodborne are my favorites this year by far.
 
What's your point? I don't understand what is this secret you know about bloodborne that nobody else knows? What's so "suspicious" about it?

It's a game with its own system. It's not trying to be anything it's not

erm..having a leveling system that eventually becomes meaningless is indeed attempting to pull the veil over the players eyes....

how are you not understanding what i'm saying? lol

let me ask you a question, if stats matter, should a level 200 character get say...half his vitality taken from a hit from a hunter. while a level 100 character gets half of his health taken from the same hunter?
 
BB's mechanics don't allow for much real technical "skill" to flourish lol maybe if we were talking...ninja gaiden, then we'd have a conversation. but BB isn't the type of game, where...my ability to work my way around a controller will benefit me much. it's more of timing, patience based affair. i wouldn't necessarily say that falls under technical skill.

but anyway, you're right, i clearly made the mistake of actually taking BB's RPG system seriously. As moving through the game without utilizing your maximum potential seems stupid and short-sighted to me, so of course i took advantage of leveling my character.

but i didn't realize BB was catered towards your average joe who's not going to do any of that.

because you forget, none of my leveling mattered anyway lol the game scales....

and you forget....grinding levels multiple times while people invade your world, actually allows you to get better than most people outside of the statistical sense. especially if we're talking initial play-through alone.

The game does not scale. You are mistaking the soft cap and the diminishing returns that come with it with scaling.

For example, once your endurance is at level 40, any points you put into endurance will not raise your stamina. Your stamina is locked at 160 at that point. You will however get a minor gain in resistence. That is why you are not seeing a big difference between someone who is level 120 vs 200.
 
There is a 82 page Bloodborne story/lore thread. The amazing thing is you can 100% ignore the stories in those games and its still a great experience.
People who dont care arent forced to watch hours of cutscenes and dialogue, people who care actually get to discover it with real effort, like being attentive. Seems pretty good to me.
The Souls games have a good lore, and an interesting way to tell their stories, but let's not pretend the same amount of work goes into it, as it does for something like Witcher 3.

Souls is good at what it does, but it doesn't try to do everything, and that's alright.
 
erm..having a leveling system that eventually becomes meaningless is indeed attempting to pull the veil over the players eyes....

how are you not understanding what i'm saying? lol

let me ask you a question, if stats matter, should a level 200 character get say...half his vitality taken from a hit from a hunter. while a level 100 character gets half of his health taken from the same hunter?

There are soft level caps Stats matter a lot at first but a certain point they lose effectiveness. This is common knowledge.
 
The Souls games have a good lore, and an interesting way to tell their stories, but let's not pretend the same amount of work goes into it, as it does for something like Witcher 3.

Souls is good at what it does, but it doesn't try to do everything, and that's alright.
I wouldnt know as I ignore the stories in all the Fromsoft games. But hey, at least CDProjekt had thousands of pages of books to draw from.
 
The Souls games have a good lore, and an interesting way to tell their stories, but let's not pretend the same amount of work goes into it, as it does for something like Witcher 3.

Souls is good at what it does, but it doesn't try to do everything, and that's alright.

Same amount of work might not go into it but they're so clever at world building. I enjoy exploring in those games more than I do in any traditional open world game
 
erm..having a leveling system that eventually becomes meaningless is indeed attempting to pull the veil over the players eyes....

how are you not understanding what i'm saying? lol

let me ask you a question, if stats matter, should a level 200 character get say...half his vitality taken from a hit from a hunter. while a level 100 character gets half of his health taken from the same hunter?

Do you know what a soft cap is? Do you know why you don't see people running around with Lv 200 characters?

You're not revealing any big secret.
 
I kinda felt the same about it. The combat was just so so bad. When you hit an enemy it's like you're hitting a tree, there's no impact, you don't feel that OOMPH.
 
BB's mechanics don't allow for much real technical "skill" to flourish lol maybe if we were talking...ninja gaiden, then we'd have a conversation. but BB isn't the type of game, where...my ability to work my way around a controller will benefit me much. it's more of timing, patience based affair. i wouldn't necessarily say that falls under technical skill.

but anyway, you're right, i clearly made the mistake of actually taking BB's RPG system seriously. As moving through the game without utilizing your maximum potential seems stupid and short-sighted to me, so of course i took advantage of leveling my character.

but i didn't realize BB was catered towards your average joe who's not going to do any of that.

because you forget, none of my leveling mattered anyway lol the game scales....

and you forget....grinding levels multiple times while people invade your world, actually allows you to get better than most people outside of the statistical sense. especially if we're talking initial play-through alone.

Timing is definitely skill. Actually, NG (one of my fave games ever) has quite a bit in common with Bloodborne combat. Both have incredibly aggresive enemies gunning for your throat and similar means of evasion, the dash in Gaiden 2 is very similar to the one in BB for example. If you're talking about stylish, combo focused combat like Bayonetta then sure, but that's an entirely different kettle of fish to begin with.

And to me there is a difference between grinding, something I really dislike, and making the most of its systems. Going through a game overleveled would be boring as hell to me but to each his own.

Anyway, perhaps we should take it to a BB thread. ;)

All this thread needs right now is Dragon's Dogma fans entering this tread to complain you can't climb monsters in TW3. ;)
 
The game does not scale. You are mistaking the soft cap and the diminishing returns that come with it with scaling.

For example, once your endurance is at level 40, any points you put into endurance will not raise your stamina. Your stamina is locked at 160 at that point. You will however get a minor gain in resistence. That is why you are not seeing a big difference between someone who is level 120 vs 200.
right but most stats still scale....I knew to stop leveling endurance for example, past 40 ( which is funny, From if you are insistent on having your game play a certain way, why even have stats? you clearly didn't want people having an ass load of endurance either way)

and that doesn't explain people surviving the difficulty leaps in NG+ at low levels. it also doesn't explain how blood vials refill a set percentage of your overall health. indicating a tracking system of your level.

Do you know what a soft cap is? Do you know why you don't see people running around with Lv 200 characters?

You're not revealing any big secret.


see post above^
 
I kinda felt the same about it. The combat was just so so bad. When you hit an enemy it's like you're hitting a tree, there's no impact, you don't feel that OOMPH.

tumblr_novn8w6vEF1uw8kzyo1_400.gif


Zero oomph.
 
Why would you even compare those games?

Yeah I don't get that. I don't compare WIzardry 8 to Planescape Torment and say "Lol, combat sucks in Planescape Torment compared to Wizardry, so the game sucks". Witcher 3 and Bloodborne focus on other things. Bloodborne is 99% combat, while Witcher is a more classical RPG with quests etc. If combat is the most important thing, people should play Devil May Cry 4 after Bloodborne and not Witcher.
 
Depends what you want out of a game.

You want an open world which is both vast and very alive feeling due to how animated it is, interesting characters, some cool side stories and interesting dialogue and world building then the witcher 3 is the place to go.

You want fun combat and movement.... It's terrible in both departments.

I can see why so many people love this game but the very boring combat, awquard movement and technical glitches soured the experience for me. I appreciated what it did well but I rarely find games with gameplay I find dull hold my attention these days. I'm about 2 hours from completing it and I just have no desire to do so.

So if solid movement and action is what you are after then this game prob wont resonate with you.

If you are after exploration, story and world building you will prob love it.

It's a shame it doesn't have both. But combat has been pretty terrible in all witcher games so it was expected and its better than in 1 & 2. So there is that I guess.
 
Witcher 3 is bad because none of that feels good to do. That's the issue with open world games. They want to let you do everything, and in doing so they don't stop to make sure that any of it actually feels good.

Sure felt good when I made this completely optional jump from the sign to the ledges on the island and, to my surprise, succeeded because I couldn't figure out there actually is a hidden path underwater.

witcher_3_griffin_schn3j59.jpg


Or when I got into Freya's Garden by climbing that huge mountain and jumping over the wall because I had no idea how to open the gate.

9enigiyjgo.jpg


Perfectly dodging enemies with sidehopping and iframe rolls, parrying all of Olgierd's attack and controlling huge bugs with Axii that immediately kill other enemies feels good, too. So does getting a griffin out of the sky with Aard or your crossbow and then toasting it with Igni while trying to keep the distance. Also feels good to behead enemies from your hourse in slow motion.

2015-07-04_00032ltjpd.jpg


People that always shit on the combat of Witcher 3 should get locked up in a room with Skyrim, Gothic 3 and Dragon Age until they realize what CDPR actually achieved with Witcher 3 and how they implemented advanced action game elements with almost perfect Z-targeting. Not only do people take this for granted in an open world decision making game, they also shit on it.

There is a 82 page Bloodborne story/lore thread. The amazing thing is you can 100% ignore the stories in those games and its still a great experience.

Wasn't talking about fan headcanon and item descriptions, though. Anyway, for every single page of those 82 pages you could fill 20 pages in a Witcher, TES or Fallout lore thread.
 
I enjoyed W3 but the thing that stopped it from being a great game was the xp gain. You play through a quest for an hour and you get 5xp but you walk around reminiscing with someone 1000xp. I think this killed the enjoyment of the game for me.
CDPR came up with a great system were you can only have 12 active skills to prevent you from becoming op from a huge skill tree but because they screwed up with the xp gain you can only focus on one skill tree which prevented me from experimenting on the potion skill tree.
 
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