DarkoMaledictus
Tier Whore
Nice and got it for 29$ on pc, perfect 
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The Witcher 3 | Review Thread
- Thread starter Kenzodielocke
- Start date
Yep, who gives a fuck.
Seems like things are balancing themselves out to me.
If their reviews are biased, inaccurate, whatever then that will get out there and people will put little stock in them.
If the majority of people still put stock in them then they are dumb and there is little your complaining about it can do to change them.
I don't think a third option like the following exists. People are intelligent enough to hear your criticism of Polygon and after doing so will rally to your cause but have incredibly limited memories and need to constantly be reminded that that is the case. Or that there is a constant stream of intelligent members joining the site who need to have it explained to them for the first time.
You've taken what I'm saying to utter extreme, you make it sound like I'm demanding something or accusing the developer of some heinous crime. I'm not even going to begin to refute parts of your post, which I could, because much of it seems to be said out of some kind of misguided idea of what I'm saying.
I'm not saying I have the solution, I'm not saying it would be easy, I'm not saying that it needs to be some kind of fucking realism simulator.
It's just I have a dislike for the blatant nature of Far Cry style base liberation, and I was really hoping TW3's "version" of it wouldn't feel so "gamey" (And based on my interpretation of a developers comment on the forums I was led to believe that), but it does. It's not the end of the world, I'm simply a bit disappointed.
great, thanks!
Roddslayer
Member
Watching a stream right now, is the combat as dry and repetitive as it looks?
Norwegian_Imposter
Member
Soooo why isn't the preload for ps4 downloading. Getting a ce error everytime I try. Any tips?
Ivory Samoan
Gold Member
Super Stardust
Member
I wouldn't worry about the combat, here's a great post from this thread
I don't have a problem with that Polygon review at all. It's always interesting to see opinion on a game from a different angle. All these reviews are like pieces of jigsaw, helping me see the bigger picture and form my own opinion removed from PR fluff... Also, i like to curb my own enthusiasm and dial the hype down to a more realistic levels.
Still, the waiting pain is real, lol.
Still, the waiting pain is real, lol.
hermeslyre
Neo Member
Developer talks about that here. He says the cutscene was just letting you know that it was happening but it won't always happen so overtly with a cutscene. It sounds more complex than the Far cry liberation thing.
His EGX talk, here, talks about the mechanic too. He calls the mechanic a simple "switch" in this talk.
Kenzodielocke
Banned
That puts you way, way ahead of a lot of posters. People get emotionally invested in the wrong ways and take insufficiently positive game reviews as personal attacks. You'd think folks would be able to accept a difference of perspective and brush off criticisms they didn't really find relevant, yet here we are.
HP_Wuvcraft
Banned
People that don't like Uncharted 2 have a mark against their character.
Sanctuary
Member
The reviews actually explain how the combat is worse. For anyone who likes to do more than mash a single button anyway. Many of the reviews have highlighted how much easier it is, and the very first in your post claims that you should probably raise the difficulty above what you would normally use.
The only thing that has actually been improved (from all of the gameplay videos) as well as being mentioned in reviews is the fluidity of it. But more fluid animations, and a more fluid feel of the combat doesn't really make it any deeper over "mash X to win" like in TW2 on pretty much any difficulty. It wasn't quite that simple of course, but it may as well have been.
That's not reassuring of good gameplay over 50+ hours.
Neither of the previous games had good combat, but the rest of the game was so far above average that the combat couldn't kill the enthusiasm to continue until the end. Since this is an open world game ala Skyrim, exploration and story should be the primary consideration for whether or not you want to play it. By all accounts, the combat in this game isn't really going to interest you if you got bored with the combat in TW2 and should only be looked at as a means to an end. Which kind of sucks since you have skill trees and gear for customization.
Honestly, since CDPR doesn't seem to understand balance, or compelling combat (due to customization or whatever), I'd rather they just took away character customization since we aren't actually playing anyone other than Geralt anyway. Give him the moves he would have in the stories and build the combat around that instead. It would probably be much easier to make far more interesting combat that way.
Solemn_In_Berlin
Member
Well said. Besides, that review has done more good than harm. Curiously, there's been healthy discourse (to go along with the backlash) ever since it came up. If Gies is able to make the community think critically about the issues he brings up in his reviews regardless of whether or not they are warmly received, then I welcome him every time. I mean, sure it lowers the Metacritic average from a, say, 94 to 92 but then again, I believe reviews shouldn't have scores in the first place.
Oh dear that is kind of worrying, considering how big combat is part of the game.
Oh well
@Polygon lack of black people comment
I live in second largest Polish city and there is no many black people here, I see one or two per week, that's just true, maybe it is hard to imagine living in New York but it is a fact. Poland didn't have colonies (like UK, France even Netherlands) so there was not way for black people to migrate here. There are some non-whit students that come for one semester but that's all. I imagine 50 years ago there was ZERO non-whit people here. Game is based in middle ages, everything points that it is re-imagination of old Poland. Lack of Black or Asian or Indian people is just being true to our history. That is not great nor bad, it is just how it was.
I live in second largest Polish city and there is no many black people here, I see one or two per week, that's just true, maybe it is hard to imagine living in New York but it is a fact. Poland didn't have colonies (like UK, France even Netherlands) so there was not way for black people to migrate here. There are some non-whit students that come for one semester but that's all. I imagine 50 years ago there was ZERO non-whit people here. Game is based in middle ages, everything points that it is re-imagination of old Poland. Lack of Black or Asian or Indian people is just being true to our history. That is not great nor bad, it is just how it was.
TechnicPuppet
Nothing! I said nothing!
Have any of the reviews mentioned how easy it is to find your way around? I was always getting lost in the Witcher 2, it was frustrating.
jimbobsmells
Member
Not at all surprised at the Polygon review.
I expect the next Mario game to get a 7 because of a lack of a strong female lead character.
I expect the next Mario game to get a 7 because of a lack of a strong female lead character.
joking
ok only half joking
BigTnaples
Todd Howard's Secret GAF Account
Got lost? The Witcher was a linear game, most areas were paths that had some sort of barrier on either side.
This is an open world. So navigation isn't really comparable.
They both use a similar minimal though, but you will use a world map a lot more in Wild Hunt because of the nature of the game.
Sanctuary
Member
Because somehow, the series went from ARPG to straight up "RPG" (which shouldn't matter either since the classic turn based RPG combat could still be more compelling) according to certain poster logic. I mean, it doesn't even matter that the game is listed as an ARPG I guess.
Honestly though, the biggest problem with the combat from what I've seen is that Capcom and FROM exist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWatmDmKGDA
AntiFacebook
Member
The reviews praised the combat, actually
Obliterator
Member
Thanks for some more insight Bloodworth. You've shared a lot with us in this thread and its nice to have a reviewer in here discussing with us. Can't wait to have my hands on the game myself!
blummer102
Member
The last segment of Polygon's review should have surprised no one; they've made themselves known as a site that prefers to highlight issues regarding feminism and racial diversity in gaming, and several of their major reviews have taken pains to include at least a paragraph or two discussing these topics.
I concede that the Witcher games have never been great at portraying unsexualized females, though they really have come a long way since the first game. But as for Polygon's argument about there being a lack of persons of color, I wish that they'd frame this issue from a more international viewpoint rather than such a US-centric one. I realize this is probably impossible, seeing that most of the site's staff is American, but The Witcher games are very much rooted in the Eastern European-inspired lore that Andrzej Sapkowski created for the books. Much of the racism that occurred throughout Poland's history happened to groups of people who were technically "white" but still perceived as "different," and Sapkowski used the non-human characters of his work to explore these themes, more so than many other old school fantasy authors have done. I think it's a bit shortsighted to ignore this simply because the elves and dwarves of the Witcher world still appear Caucasian.
I concede that the Witcher games have never been great at portraying unsexualized females, though they really have come a long way since the first game. But as for Polygon's argument about there being a lack of persons of color, I wish that they'd frame this issue from a more international viewpoint rather than such a US-centric one. I realize this is probably impossible, seeing that most of the site's staff is American, but The Witcher games are very much rooted in the Eastern European-inspired lore that Andrzej Sapkowski created for the books. Much of the racism that occurred throughout Poland's history happened to groups of people who were technically "white" but still perceived as "different," and Sapkowski used the non-human characters of his work to explore these themes, more so than many other old school fantasy authors have done. I think it's a bit shortsighted to ignore this simply because the elves and dwarves of the Witcher world still appear Caucasian.
JimmyRustler
Member
Yes, lost. I got lost too in these woods of the first town because the map was to worst thing the world has ever seen.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
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.
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.
Sanctuary
Member
They really don't. They praise how it controls better and that it's more fluid. Nothing else really mentions why the actual mechanics behind it are better. And when you suggest raising the difficulty, that just screams easy-mode button mashing.
Basically: Fable > Assassin's Creed > ??? > TW3 is what I'm seeing in terms of repetition.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os1N_D4-vXY < combat is the same as TW2 according to this. There's no real feedback in the combat.
Yeah, the "world" map is pretty bad in TW2 and pretty much beyond useless. The minimap doesn't really help much either.
jimbobsmells
Member
This is a very important point that Polygon has overlooked.
Last Hearth
Member
A review is a subjective opinion, a reviewer can give the subject of the review any score he/she wants for any reason he/she wants. You, as the reader, however, is also free to pay attention or ignore the review if you find the reasons acceptable or ridiculous.
That's really the end of it.
I personally think the reason stated in the Polygon review is silly, and will probably never take any review from that person seriously henceforth. But I'm not going to get all worked up over it, it's not worth it.
That's really the end of it.
I personally think the reason stated in the Polygon review is silly, and will probably never take any review from that person seriously henceforth. But I'm not going to get all worked up over it, it's not worth it.
I think it's a bit dismissive to say "well Poland is just really white, so the Witcher is."
The primary antagonist for most of the Witcher 1 is clearly meant to either be Indian or Middle Eastern. So it's not like these countries don't exist in the world of the Witcher. Granted, it does stand that the majority of people would be modelled after Poland.
The primary antagonist for most of the Witcher 1 is clearly meant to either be Indian or Middle Eastern. So it's not like these countries don't exist in the world of the Witcher. Granted, it does stand that the majority of people would be modelled after Poland.
She is not the female Geralt, she is more powerful, I don't think she needs weather protection clothing really.
The real reason though is that some artists decided they liked that look. I think you can also dress Gerald with "summer" clothing.I guess the world is not that coherent after all, big deal.
plasmawave
Banned
To be fair tho, these people also praised the combat in the Witcher 2 as well.
Pop
Member
Beautiful
They did? All reviews seem to only compare it to the previous entry in this very franchise, in which combat was mediocre at best, from what I gather.
Well said. Plus it is based on a series of books, is he going to criticize Lord Of The Rings because there's no non-whites characters as well? It's ridiculous. Also why the diversity should come exclusively from color? There's elves, dwarfs and so on, and the Witcher seems to treat the subject of racism against elves apparently. So he's completely off base.
In that time period in that location it would be out of place and totally wrong to just toss people of colour into it. It screams of white knight stuff from polygon, like the person from Poland says even today it's a largely white population.
So it was totally out of place to have the villain of the first game be Indian?
hobblygobbly
Member
Yeah I agree with this. One needs to look at the influences used in creating fiction/worlds regarding representation of races. A lot of fantasy is based on European history and medieval ages particularly, a lot of influences are drawn from there.
To explain my view further it's like if a medieval game was made focusing on the asian part of the world, drawing influence from asia during the medieval age is a lot different than the European one. For example, Japan from 1180s-1500s, it was a feudal, if you build a fantasy game around influences from that era (which would be awesome), it would be odd and not fit into the world if you used white, black and other races in the world that has been created from medieval/feudal Japan, it doesn't make sense.
I don't think it's fair to criticise a game for these approaches, I think it's fair to criticise the industry as a whole as to why there are not games being made that have influences from other places in the world (i.e making a game that draws influence from Africa, Middle-east etc), I think criticising a game for not interjecting races into a game that has clearly been drawn from a particular era for influence is unfair.
I think it's possible to create characters in these settings that "shouldn't" be there as protagonists or antagonist or very important characters, like a "mysterious traveller from the west" in a game about asian medieval influences, but that character would be special and unique to a story and you couldn't have many different races involved, it wouldn't make sense, you can create artistic exceptions that are unique, but it can't be filled with it when you create a world drawn from very specific influences.
viveks86
Member
This is a fantastic example. It somehow does not seem odd when the demographic is primarily western, probably because we keep belaboring the point all the time, but including diversity for the heck of it in any other representation of ancient culture will feel completely incongruent. CDPR made the right call.
Denton
Member
Awesome post. Too bad there are no egyptian (for example) AAA development studios (at least I cant think of any).
We're not done here until BioGamerGirl weighs in.
Wait, what?
He was a singular immigrant from a land very, very far away. Like Marco Polo in China. So noit was not out of place.
Wait, what?
Not sure what the detailed breakdown of population looked like but before expulsion of Moriscos in late XVI/early XVII there was a heavy Moor presence in Spain that was even bigger during the medieval times.
I agree he was not out of place, that's sort of the point. He's not on a Marco Polo level though. He is unique enough that Geralt can ask anyone if they've seen a Zerrikanian but the people he asks aren't exactly shocked at the idea that there's one around. IIRC there's a couple minor characters in a short story from the same place.
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