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[Carn82]

This is Neogaf, indeed.

Game is getting universally praised (though with problems, like any other game in the spectrum) and people are making this thread a mess...

According to certain GAF-standards Red Dead Redemption would be 'unplayable shit' and contain 'too many boring fetch quests".

anyway, judging from W3 reviews it has some flaws but is probably the best open world fantasy-RPG in years (beating Dragon Age Inquisition), and quite possible more impressive than Skyrim. That means it's pretty good in my books.

 

[jim2point0]

I'm wondering why this is scoring so high when almost every review says there are loads of fetch quests, the combat isn't great, the framerate is struggling and there are a lot of bugs on PS4?

That's why everyone should read the reviews instead of just looking at the scores. Maybe there are things that bother you more than they bothered the reviewer.

 

[Leb]

Loved the combat on M+K, didn't like it with Xbox360 gamepad (and I play most games with him now).. you see, people have different tastes and preferences

Aye. I never used the lock-on feature and instead used the floating crosshair to rapidly acquire/switch targets, and this playstyle simply wasn't possible with a controller.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Reviews matter now!

I didn't need an arbitrary number or grading to tell me this game would be great but but but it's great to see them scores.

 

[Skyzard]

This is Neogaf, indeed.

Game is getting universally praised (though with problems, like any other game in the spectrum) and people are making this thread a mess...

I understand not liking some things, like the combat (I never played Witcher 2, as my RIG never allowed me, but I'm changing that with a new i5 970 rig) or the performance. These are deal breakers to some people.

It's a shame though, because the strong points seems to make the game excellent and a worthy sequel to the games that I'm growing to love.

Can't risk another purchase like DA:I...if the action (which is the major gameplay for me) isn't up to scratch, I'll likely struggle to want to play on, despite how appealing it may seem in other aspects.

Tempted to pick it up now because of the non-pre-order price and the hype but I think I ought to wait for user impressions on PC.

 

[Karak]

I wonder if that was a Warner Bros decision or CDPR.

Not sure but as they say there is a reason for everything so I am going to be looking into it. I have a pretty good relationship with Warner despite hammering the shit out of them a couple times So I am of course assuming technical issues.

What saddens me though is reading some of the reviews, a couple sites have .5 to 1 page for a Witcher 3 review. That his is criminal even if they were masterful writers.

 

[LifEndz]

This will be my first witcher game. Really excited to try it. Glad it got great scores. I'm just wondering if I should wait to see whether it's broken.

 

[RDreamer]

I'm wondering why this is scoring so high when almost every review says there are loads of fetch quests, the combat isn't great, the framerate is struggling and there are a lot of bugs on PS4?

No they don't.

Almost every review says there are quests, which may or may not be fetch quests depending on your definition, and which may or may not be great, depending on the review.

Someone just posted a bunch of reviews talking about the combat, and "isn't great" definitely isn't the consensus.

Most mention framerate, though the consensus seems to be that it works well enough and the problems don't really get in the way of the game. And I don't think the consensus is that there are "a lot" of bugs.

You're reading a lot into a few things.

 

[Apoleptica]

So many reviews. Which one do I watch guys? And by that I mean does the gamespot review have a ton of spoilers?

 

[Bl@de]

Loved the combat on M+K, didn't like it with Xbox360 gamepad (and I play most games with him now).. you see, people have different tastes and preferences

Same here. Usually I play these games with a gamepad in front of my TV but Witcher 2 was so much better with KB+M. Controller felt really bad. KB+M and Full Combat Rebalance 2 = Best version of W2. I hope that's how W3 is (with better Controller controls).

 

[His Majesty]

I'm wondering why this is scoring so high when almost every review says there are loads of fetch quests, the combat isn't great, the framerate is struggling and there are a lot of bugs on PS4?

So far I have only seen IGN mention fetch quests. How does this translate to almost every review? I have seen a lot of praise for how the game handles quests and most reviewers seem to like the combat. The only recurring theme is the PS4 performance problems.

 

[banefirelord]

Always a great moment when you go to watch a glowing review for a game but first have to sit through a pre-roll ad for the same game.

 

[InsertNameHere]

I loved the second Witcher game, I'll probably love this one. Hell, I'm glad it's so long. Fetch-quests or not. I'm having surgery in two weeks and need something to keep me entertained while I recover.

 

[RenegadeXV8]

Loved the combat on M+K, didn't like it with Xbox360 gamepad (and I play most games with him now).. you see, people have different tastes and preferences

Same here. I had zero issues with W2's combat on M+K.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

The DF face-off thread for this game is going to be legendary. Double dipped on the PC and PS4, mainly want to play it on the PC, but going to be traveling for a few weeks in June and want to play it then. PS4 is a lot easier to haul around than a desktop machine obviously.

 

[Golgo 13]

Going to GB for the reviews is like subscribing to X-Art for the cinematography, it's there, but you're kinda missing the whole site's raison d'être.

True dat. Giant Bomb is a fucking joke, especially insofar as reviews are concerned. It's sad really.


On topic, my jaw dropped when I saw these reviews. Witcher 2 is among my favorite RPGs of all time, I'm happy that this game turned out as great as I'd hoped. Hell yeah.

 

[Tall Paul]

Awesome!! Pre downloading to XB1 whilst away on a course in London...gotta love technology. Got it for £35.54 using cdkeys gift card codes and the pre order price on XB1 so happy chappy.

 

[SlasherJPC]

mind going into detail? because I always thought they had a choice of review versions.

From what I was told and understand. PS4 versions only went out to people with dev kits that could play early code, etc. Only the playstation versions. As for PC, they were still working on the day one patch for content that will be ready for launch and I'd assume the same is for Xbox One. This is why we don't see more reviews either cause no retail release has actually gone out. When PR was asked by other people, they claimed still only dev kit builts and waiting for retail code to distribute to everyone.

 

[M0G]

So hyped for this. Spent two weeks on holiday in Cyprus trying to get all the books read in anticipation. Last book this week and then heading straight into this game While I just gave up on all the meaningless crap in DAI eventually I think this is basically gonna be my life at home until I clear it. I guess GTA V is gonna have to go away for a while.

 

[King Cobra]

I am feeling a little bit better after seeing these reviews, the only thing on my mind is that framerate issue. I am hoping they will have a day 1 patch.

 

[spekkeh]

Regarding combat and conflicting reviews, tried to pick some of the bigger media outlets:

Gamespot


Game Informer


IGN


Kotaku




Games Radar


Metro

Hmm that's a bit of a conflicting message I'm getting. I was one of those that thought Witcher 2's combat was truly something awful. In fact I stopped playing after about 3-4 hours because I got tired of pretending I was having a good time. It's nice that they designed around a controller this time around, but if it's essentially the same, then that's still not a very good thing.

 

[Ushay]

Well this just makes my Xbox preorder all the more sweet.

Bring on May 19th!

 

[cakely]

I'm wondering why this is scoring so high when almost every review says there are loads of fetch quests, the combat isn't great, the framerate is struggling and there are a lot of bugs on PS4?

So, you'd give The Witcher 3 a score of 8/10? Without actually playing it first, I mean.

 

[Uno Venova]

Think I'll sit this one out, the combat from TW2 was mostly serviceable and un-engaging, and it appears similar and even easier this time around, and padded out missions with no real motivations sounds like it will drag like GTA5 did. I'll see what happens when the hype dies down.

 

[arevin01]

what happened to their promise of no fetch quests?

Theres no such thing as no fetch quests in a open world RPG.

 

[TechOne]

Phew... preorder justified.

 

[MistBreeze]

I know most western RPGs are more technically advanced and open more than japanese ones but most japanese RPGs have better gameplay mechanics better bosses and better design,,,,

yes open world games are good but most of them are empty and have nothing interesting to do,,,

japanese RPGs are linear some of them are semi open but they are more focused have interesting characters and enimies,,,

I have realized also more and more open world games try to follow batman arkham games gameplay while it is good I feel it is not suitable for RPGs,,,,

these are my opinions still but I hope the witcher 3 not falling in this category of games

 

[Khalifa Jayy]

Thread is delivering so far.

Throwing dirt behind him-gate.

"what else would you do with the dirt?"
"I don't know, I'm not a farmer."
U ever dug a hole m8? lol

And

"Wow. dat foliage physics."

"GTAV should be ashamed."

"... why is that a 'wow'?"

lol. GAF is the best.

 

[-MD-]

Guy needs a vacation from games.... his GOTY for 2014 was Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

Was it for real?

Edit: wow, his list was bad last year

 

[KZObsessed]

Sounds good. I'm really excited to play this, in the mood for a good open world RPG. I enjoyed Dragon Age Inquisition but I need moar.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I know most western RPGs are more technically advanced and open more than japanese ones but most japanese RPGs have better gameplay mechanics better bosses and better design,,,,

yes open world games are good but most of them are empty and have nothing interesting to do,,,

japanese RPGs are linear some of them are semi open but they are more focused have interesting characters and enimies,,,

I have realized also more and more open world games try to follow batman arkham games gameplay while it is good I feel it is not suitable for RPGs,,,,

these are my opinions still but I hope the witcher 3 not falling in this category of games

Most generalisations generally mean nothing.

 

[Blade30]

I'm wondering why this is scoring so high when almost every review says there are loads of fetch quests, the combat isn't great, the framerate is struggling and there are a lot of bugs on PS4?

Where did you get that from? As far as I know only IGN has said that there would be fetch quests (in a bad way).

 

[Anton Sugar]

Hmm that's a bit of a conflicting message I'm getting. I was one of those that thought Witcher 2's combat was truly something awful. In fact I stopped playing after about 3-4 hours because I got tired of pretending I was having a good time. It's nice that they designed around a controller this time around, but if it's essentially the same, then that's still not a very good thing.

I mean, out of those six reviews, four praise the combat system (with at least two of them specifically saying it has improved since TW2), one says it has the same issues at TW2, and the last says it is better than TW2 but not remarkable.

I personally didn't have a big issue with TW2's combat, but I also don't think you should only look at the one negative review saying it has the same flaws at TW2's combat.

EDIT: Fuck it, posting for new page:

Gamespot

The Witcher 2's combat was overly demanding at the outset, but The Witcher 3 is substantially easier; I recommend, in fact, that you choose a difficulty level one notch higher than the one you would typically choose, presuming you don't default to the most stringent one straight away. Even when things get easy, however, the combat is always satisfying, due to the crunchiness of landing blows, the howls of human foes scorched by your Igni sign, and the fearsome behavior of necrophages, wandering ghosts, and beasts of the indescribable sort. It's easy to get sidetracked and outlevel story quests, but even lesser beasts require a bit of finesse; drowners attack in numbers, for instance, knocking you about and making it difficult to swing, while winged beasts swoop in for a smackdown and require you to blast them down with a flash of fire, a shockwave, or a crossbow bolt.

Game Informer

Great writing and intense decisions aside, the gameplay has also vastly improved. This is the most accessible entry yet, thanks to different difficulty settings, a better interface, more lenient weight restrictions, and a less demanding alchemy system. Combat is much more responsive and action-packed compared to the stilted experience of past entries. This doesn't sacrifice any of the difficulty; outside of playing on story mode, a great deal of strategy is required in the tense battles. Exploiting enemy weaknesses with spells, crafting potions to give you an edge, blocking at the right time for counterattacks, and dodging in the nick of time are still of the utmost importance.

IGN

All of this shines through in The Witcher 3’s responsive, brutal real-time combat. Where combat in this series has up until this point felt vague and even a bit clunky, here it’s so fluid and satisfying that I walk around hoping for bandits to jump me just so I can repel their attacks with magical barriers, parry their blows with uncanny precision, and relieve them of life and/or limb with the occasional gory flourish. The Witcher has always done a great job of making me feel that I’ve outsmarted my foes, but for the first time here, controlling Geralt feels tangibly badass with every successful fight.

Kotaku

Wild Hunt’s combat is a significant improvement over The Witcher 2. It finally feels as though the PC-focused CD Projekt Red has warmed to controller-based combat, and the majority of the game’s controls sit happily beneath the player’s fingers. The left trigger puts Geralt into a guarded posture, ready to ward off most regular attacks. Players are given two buttons for dodging; a short dodge that doesn’t drain any stamina and a longer roll that does. Attacks involve stringing together various combinations of heavy and light thrusts. Geralt and his foes are animation-locked a la Monster Hunter and the Souls games, meaning combat is as much about careful timing and tactical position as it is about aggressive offense.

Geralt’s combat animations are remarkably detailed and fluid, and they have a tangible impact on the way the game plays. I regularly felt as though I was in control of an intelligent fighter and was impressed by how smoothly Geralt shifted his posture and focus to move between enemies, even on a crowded battlefield. Part of The Witcher’s appeal is the promise to let you feel like a wily, unstoppable badass, and Geralt’s elegant move-set and expanded arsenal accomplish that goal far more ably than previous games in the series.

Games Radar

The slippery framerate exacerbates issues with the combat system, which remains largely unchanged from the Witcher 2, and has inherited all of its problems. You attack by stringing together light and strong slaps with your sword, and can use an array of magical signs to protect yourself or pulverise others. The essential Quen spell casts a shield that negates a blow. Igni roasts enemies with a flame blast. Yrden lays a trap that slows them to a drunken crawl. Aard pushes them back with concussive force, and Axii stupifies enemies.

The long-range dodge can theoretically be used to dive out of the way of monster swipes and the new short-range dodge is designed to let you pirouette around strikes so you can counter, but both are very inconsistent in practice. Expect to take a lot of unfair hits, even in cases when the enemy's strike clearly sailed past you. This problem is instantly fixed when you step into Ciri's shoes for one of her brief playable flashback sequences. Her dodge is a short-range teleport, and is immediately more satisfying.

Metro

In terms of the actual combat some elements have been simplified form the previous games, but only in the sense that it’s now faster and more intuitive. The clumsy combos of the last game, whose animations couldn’t be interrupted, are long gone and although Geralt is visibly older than before he feels more spry and athletic when in action.

Lesser enemies can also be studied beforehand for an advantage in combat, with Geralt possessing a supersense that not only lets him track smells and footprints but also highlights weak points on a foe, which can then be aimed at specifically using a brief slow motion effect. Despite all this the combat in itself isn’t anything extraordinary, but it strikes just the right balance of complexity and accessibility given everything else that’s going on in the game.

 

[RedAssedApe]

have there been any recent open world games that have launched without some performance issues or bugs listed as minuses?

seems par for the norm unfortunately

 

[Goodacre0081]

Phew... preorder justified.

do you not have a retailer that doesn't take back unopened games?

 

[AntiFacebook]

Reviews matter now!

I didn't need an arbitrary number or grading to tell me this game would be great but but but it's great to see them scores.

Same.
it's nice to see the game getting some regocnition, but I didn't need reviews to know it's going to be a great game.

 

[Fox318]

have there been any recent open world games that have launched without some performance issues or bugs listed as minuses?

seems par for the norm unfortunately

Have there been any games?

 

[JAYSIMPLE]

Slightly worried about the lack of reviews for the Xbox One version, which is the one I have preordered. The framerate drops the reviews have found seem to be CPU-related, so they should not be worse in Xbox One...I hope

I'll be shocked if it's really bad. A dynamic resolution should allow it to stay at a lower res to keep the framerate up, surely? It's more likely the ps4 could have done with it aswell, but we know that's a no go for marketing and ps4 owners majority preference. Plus I'm sure CDPR know what to do to fix the framerate on the ps4 version so it will easily stay the best performing versio, out of the 2

 

[Deadstar]

So I guess it's time to buy that gtx 980?

 

[LurkerPrime]

have there been any recent open world games that have launched without some performance issues or bugs listed as minuses?

seems par for the norm unfortunately

Shadow of Mordor? It was a pretty skeletal game when you got down to it, though.

Hopefully Witcher 3 PC runs solid. I would be sad if it didn't.

 

[firebranded]

Holy shit

Can't wait, just ordered PSN money from Best Buy so I can go Digital. No regrets and no disc changing for Remote Play HELLS YEAH!

I do see CDPR working hard to iron out framerates and stuff over the next few weeks. Their support is Legendary, especially consider it's a SP franchise.

 

[Skyzard]

From what I was told and understand. PS4 versions only went out to people with dev kits that could play early code, etc. Only the playstation versions. As for PC, they were still working on the day one patch for content that will be ready for launch and I'd assume the same is for Xbox One. This is why we don't see more reviews either cause no retail release has actually gone out. When PR was asked by other people, they claimed still only dev kit builts and waiting for retail code to distribute to everyone.

Aren't PS4 devkits usually more powerful? And it still had framerate issues...?

 

[cakely]

Slightly worried about the lack of reviews for the Xbox One version, which is the one I have preordered. The framerate drops the reviews have found seem to be CPU-related, so they should not be worse in Xbox One...I hope

Do you have a link to the review that says that the frame-rate drops are CPU related?

 

[Dynasty8]

have there been any recent open world games that have launched without some performance issues or bugs listed as minuses?

seems par for the norm unfortunately

The only one I can think of is Xenoblade (not even fully "open" world, but still huge).

Also, glad TW3 is getting amazing reviews. It deserves the recognition it's getting and we need more games like it (and more talented devs like CDPR).

 

[Goodacre0081]

Aren't PS4 devkits usually more powerful? And it still had framerate issues...?

i think he means debug units

 

[kmax]

Preorder in place.

Day 1

 

[shadowhunter89]

So Nvidia... can we have the GTX 980 Ti now? My 780 needs a worthy replacement...

I might be playing this on my Laptop with the 980m since it has 4GB of VRAM and my 780 has only 3GB.

 

[arevin01]

Waiting for the XB1 and PS4 performance comparison.

 

[Gambit1977]

Have to echo the combat concerns, as TW2 felt like a fantasy Assassins Creed more than an RPG, really want that Skyrim style itch to scratch.

 

[EatChildren]

If we really fucking want to generalise with majority, the most accurate assertions are:
Most reviews state combat is improved over TW2 and remedies several issues.
Most reviews praise reduced traditional fetch quests, side quests instead weighed with substance and context.
Most reviews highlight the strong sense of adventure and sense of discovery.
Most reviews note performance issues and graphical bugs.
Most reviews say the writing, characters especially, is great.
Most reviews note great graphics and visual presentation.

Most reviews are clearly indicating Wild Hunt is a pretty okay game.