I played on Death March and even though I was overleveled combat remained a challenge for me. It felt like Dark Souls where even when fighting weaker enemies, I still had to hold my shield up and be careful. Even at level 35, I can still be killed by a group of level 10 nekkers or a pack of wolves if I am not careful.
You can drop your stuff anywhere in the world and it will remain there when you come back. However, your stuff can occasionally disappear if you do a major quest. The only quest I know of that does this is the Isles of the Mist because I lost my stuff. There are major quests that follow that might make your stuff disappear but you should be fine up until that point.
For books and notes, read them and throw them away. The only junk worth dismantling are the pieces with colored backgrounds. The other stuff just turns into common things you likely already have an over abundance of.
You can drop your stuff anywhere in the world and it will remain there when you come back. However, your stuff can occasionally disappear if you do a major quest. The only quest I know of that does this is the Isles of the Mist because I lost my stuff. There are major quests that follow that might make your stuff disappear but you should be fine up until that point.
To be a little bit more specific, continuing the Assassination side mission hinges on how you treat Djikkstra when you meet up with him again in the main quest.
I think I will start ignoring the endless ? on the map.In Skellige and there must be a billion of them.I did almost everything in velen but now I am really tired of them and thats something I dont want to feel when I am playing this game.Maybe I will return later.The loot sucks anyway.
Just the secondary quests and missions from now on.
I think I will start ignoring the endless ? on the map.In Skellige and there must be a billion of them.I did almost everything in velen but now I am really tired of them and thats something I dont want to feel when I am playing this game.Maybe I will return later.The loot sucks anyway.
Just the secondary quests and missions from now on.
This game is so good
I thought I was turning in a regular Witcher contract then turned into another mission "Stranger in Strange Land" which is connected to a previous mission I did
…and the credits have finally rolled for me. I did every sidequest and contract I found bar 2 which bugged out, but didn’t go out of my way to explore points of interest for the most part. I’d estimate my playtime at around 100 hours (that is bugged too because of rest mode on ps4).
Overall I’d call this game a flawed masterpiece. I can go own for a long time with criticisms and gripes but largely that is missing the forest for the trees because when you look at what the game is overall it’s hard not to be engrossed by the rich, believable world, excellent story and truly staggering amount of content.
The writing in this game has really impressed me, especially considering just how much of it there is. They made me really care about the main characters, the game was frequently very funny and many of the choices were quite nuanced and not just the simplistic black and white ones some games go for. I’m eager to do another play through making different decisions. Also, whoever did the localisation really deserves major plaudits because I’d never have guess it wasn’t originally written in English.
I was fairly satisfied with the ending I got which was
Ciri hanging up her sword and going to Nilfgard and Geralt and Yen going to live in the mountains
although I wish
Geralt and Ciri had stuck together
. Would have been nice to have a bit more prologue and see how the characters get on in their new lives rather having old and inexplicably british Dandelion tell me about it which felt a bit rushed. Curious to see what the other ending there are.
In terms of design my biggest complaint - and this is I think the game’s biggest flaw overall - is its reliance on the witcher senses. To begin with the mechanic was really cool but after a while it becomes tiresome just following footprints and pixel hunting the environment for red objects, which led to a lot of side quests feeling repetitive. It just needed to be more fleshed out and provide some more options and variety. Like for instance instead of having just one scent or trail to follow, have there be multiple ones with red herrings that make the player actually need to use their brain and pay attention to details to pick the right one. Having said that the game does still kick the shit out of every other open world game I’ve played in its quest design and is the new benchmark for which I’ll judge futures games, so they still did a pretty good job I suppose. Pretty much every sidequest had some cool backstory or a twist that subverts your expectations.
The main quest in particular had lots of amazing moments. The bloody baron arc, getting
drunk with your witcher bros
,
the battle for Kaer Morhen
, the first time you arrive in Skelige, journeying through
other worlds
,
Ciri going into beast mode and wrecking the wild hunt warriors near the end
, and that’s just off the top of my head.
From a gameplay standpoint I found it to be ok. I think I probably enjoyed the combat more the most; while it obviously is nowhere near as good as say, Bloodborne, it never felt like a chore and was quite satisfying. I enjoyed using signs and the challenge felt about right for me on the second hardest difficulty. I wish they had made alchemy more useful, I didn’t put many points into it because none of the abilities sounded particularly good and the items didn’t provide enough benefit for me to want to invest a bunch of time specifically seeking things out, which by the way is also not great since there are no treasure map equivalents so I don’t know how you’re supposed to know where to look for manuscripts and such apart from just pot luck. I ended up with loads of enhanced and superior versions of things but never found the stock version so I wasn’t able to craft them. I like the idea of doing preparation and brewing concoctions based on the type of monster you’re hunting but it just never felt like there was enough benefit to put the time or points in.
Oh and yes, the movement is clunky and it’s annoying, particularly on horseback. But I just got used to after a while.
Regarding the visuals on PS4 the game is a very mixed bag. It’s big achilles heel is draw distance and the level of detail far off. Any time when you can see off into the distance and this flaw is exposed it’s a real eyesore, you could take some real ugly screenshots if you wanted. However sometimes in enclosed spaces like a village or a swamp, and when there’s some nice effects going like a sunset or a storm it is the best looking game I’ve ever played. Framerate could be bothersome occasionally but wasn’t too bad overall. If only I bad a kick ass PC to experience it in its full glory.
So yeah overall I thoroughly enjoyed the game and it will definitely be a GOTY contender for me. I expect CDPR will be showing up other open world games for some time.
Quick random thoughts to finish:
- Gwent, hey? I was rolling my eyes during the tutorial but it actually turned out to be a nice surprise
- Kinda wish I’d gone with Triss
- Team Cerys
- Fuck Radavid
- I’m still cringing at that stupid Imp joke, Geralt
- Hope they do a Ciri game, she’s a great character. But they’d have to nerf her power a lot unfortunately.
Yeah, if there's one complaint I have in the game it's that the loot system and treasure hunts are rendered irrelevant by the Witcher specific armor and weapon sets. The Cat/Wolf/Bear/Griffin sets are so superior to anything near their level that you only loot other weapons and armor it for money.
I finished the game at level 33. By that time, I had two weapon diagrams that were for level 37 and 42 swords specifically and no armor diagrams above level 30. By the time you hit level 30, the game is nearing an end anyways so those high level weapons and swords are only useful if you want to do every single sidequest. Even by that point, you often are so powerful, you just end up curbstomping everything with your current equipment.
I think I will start ignoring the endless ? on the map.In Skellige and there must be a billion of them.I did almost everything in velen but now I am really tired of them and thats something I dont want to feel when I am playing this game.Maybe I will return later.The loot sucks anyway.
Just the secondary quests and missions from now on.
I see this a lot and it makes me feel like most gamers have OCD. I leave the markers on and ignore them unless they appear in my minimap, in which case, I pick them up on the way or ignore them if I feel like doing that. You guys are insane.
Beat the game just now after 101 hours. Amazing, amazing game and right now my clear winner for GOTY at the moment. Easily going to break into my top 10 favourite games of all time. All I have left to do is finish my Gwent collection and track down a few pieces of Witcher gear and then I've cleared every quest (that I found). 150+ POIs to unlock still but I can't be assed to marker chase in this beautiful game.
My ending:
Nilfgaard wins the war for the north, restores Temeria as a puppet state. Geralt and Triss settle down together on Kovir. Ciri becomes a Witcher and lives on the path.
Overall, I'm really happy with the ending I got. If New Game+ comes out as a DLC in a few weeks I'll probably play again just the main quest on Death March and make alternate decisions. If not, I'll be waiting for the DLC anxiously!
Does anyone else think the text in this game is too small? I have an eye problem and so the game is essentially unplayable for me. I can't read anything on screen unless I sit super close. And that makes my head hurt.
Something I found strange about the beginning of the Family Matters quest, is that the investigation in Tamara's room, with the letter from the Witch Hunters, and the trail that leads you to the Eternal Fire shrine, both go nowhere. It's not mentioned to the Baron, even though the letter found by the shrine implicates his involvement in their disappearance greatly. Instead, you have the option to bring up the unimportant, ugly doll... Just found that weird.
…and the credits have finally rolled for me. I did every sidequest and contract I found bar 2 which bugged out, but didn’t go out of my way to explore points of interest for the most part. I’d estimate my playtime at around 100 hours (that is bugged too because of rest mode on ps4).
Overall I’d call this game a flawed masterpiece. I can go own for a long time with criticisms and gripes but largely that is missing the forest for the trees because when you look at what the game is overall it’s hard not to be engrossed by the rich, believable world, excellent story and truly staggering amount of content.
Aside from the PS4 comments since I played on PC, I agree with everything you've said here. I like the Witcher senses as a narrative tool but the gameplay application should have been more more compelling. Especially for something that it leans on so often.
Actually, I do disagree on one thing... #teamYennefer
This game so desperately needs a complete soundtrack release.
I want the instrumental version of Whispers of Oxenfurt badly. Such a great piece of music.
I hit level 21 today and am now just exploring Skellige. I know I'll probably outlevel a bunch of stuff here but I did practically everything I could in Novigrad before moving on. Now I get to really get into the Geralt/Yen thing and see if I prefer her to Triss (which is gonna be tough going cause I've spent two games with Triss!).
I played on Death March and even though I was overleveled combat remained a challenge for me. It felt like Dark Souls where even when fighting weaker enemies, I still had to hold my shield up and be careful. Even at level 35, I can still be killed by a group of level 10 nekkers or a pack of wolves if I am not careful.
This is what I love. I'm level 19 at the moment and I'm overleveled for a couple of quests in Velen and White Orchard but goddamn those nightwraiths still hit hard, and the god damn nekkers can be quite a pain in large groups.
Stil have to use all of my abilities, block and parry to win.
Makes it so much more satisfying to win a battle too. Killing a pack of god damn drowners, dodging all their attacks, burning their asses, killing them off, unscathed, still feels good even after so many hours.
Skellige is amazing as everyone has said. Riding the horse down the major paths next to the coast is glorious.
Swamp Thing Contract:
One week?! I'll meditate here for one week. I need to get paid.
Lambert quest:
Wow, tough choice. All the evidence points to a changed man. I spared Karadin but I hope it won't spoil the relationship with Lambert. I hope I see him again later.
Black Pearl:
Damn. Letta. Felt sorry for Nidas. I actually thought he was going to cheat me of my reward.
Wow, tough choice. All the evidence points to a changed man. I spared Karadin but I hope it won't spoil the relationship with Lambert. I hope I see him again later.
It doesn't, he's the same regardless. Perhaps reason sets in after he cools down, and he actually comes to trust Geralt's judgement... That, or he does actually go back by himself to kill him.
Heh, had a glitch last night where I was having my way with a certain sorceress, and then when the next scene loaded up she was still naked whilst walking through a feast with Geralt.
Man, I didn't realized how horrible the crafting/alchemy menus were until I got them full of diagrams.
So much f'ing scrolling, the grouping of items make no sense.
I mean, why is it alphabetical order instead of by name of armor?
Currently it's like
Griffin Enhanced
*Lots of other crap*
Griffin
*Lots of other crap*
Griffin Master Crafted
*lots of other crap*
Griffin Superior
It's putting "Enhanced" before the base armor, then Mastercrafted before Superior due to it being alphabetical. It's nuts. I have so much crap I have to scroll through.
This would be so much better,
*Lots of other crap*
Griffin
Griffin Enhanced
Griffin Superior
Griffin Mastercrafted
*Lots of other crap*
Plus, if I have an item I don't have all the parts for, I should be able to click the part in question, it should automatically either make it (if I have the resources) or take me to the part in the crafting menu so I can make it.
Also, why even bother showing Armor when at a Blacksmith or showing Swords at an Armorer? It's just needless scrolling, especially since it forgets that I've closed some of the lists anytime I go off that menu.
Scrolling through items is my biggest gripe in the game. I avoid it whenever I can. Takes a second to load each category. Hope they can somehow address it in a later patch.
Nearly 5 weeks and I'm only now at the end. Wish that experience bug wouldn't have screwed me I don't see myself getting higher than 33, which is too low for some very cool armor. Pretty much have done every quest available up until this point. Even with so many annoying things about this game, it's still fucking amazing and damn near perfect.
Nah he doesn't count. I think it's Keira, Hjalmar, Roche & Ves, Ermion, Zoltan, Triss. Not sure if Letho is optional, could be since he'd be dead for some anyway.
Nah he doesn't count. I think it's Keira, Hjalmar, Roche & Ves, Ermion, Zoltan, Triss. Not sure if Letho is optional, could be since he'd be dead for some anyway.
Mind Control is just a fun ability. So if you have something else that you think is more useful, get that.
The Force push ability is great even without spending any points in it. You can spend one point in the 2nd tier version so it hits everything around you, but that isn't required either.
And you can always re-spec using a potion, so do whatever you feel like for the time being.
