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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |OT3| Metz Some Ploughing Good Ladies In the Forest
- Thread starter Coreda
- Start date
Controller works great, although there are a few instances where I feel like I could use another button and/or have to take my hand off a thumbstick to do something. No worse than Dark Souls though.
Coreda
Member
It's somewhat ironic just how much more vulnerable they are in their natural habitat than on land.
Which controller? I did fiddle around with W3 a few times on a friend's PS 4 and the DS4 seemed to work ok. Just wondering if something else or KB/M is better.
I use an Xbox 360 controller, but I guess they're all pretty much functionally the same at this point. It only affects minor stuff, like wanting to change potions (which are bound to the d-pad) while moving. On KB/M potions are bound to QERT I think, so you can just hit them freely rather than having to take your thumb off the stick to rotate through and/or consume them. I personally wouldn't give up a controller for something like that, but if you're just starting out, no reason not to try both.
darkwing-buck
Member
Finally beat Blood and Wine for the first time. I loved it. I chose
Anyone know if it's worth going back and
to take syanna out of the fabled world and got her to listen to reason during her trial.
Anyone know if it's worth going back and
doing the quest line where you look for the elder vampire instead to bring out detliff?
endlessflood
Member
It's cool to check it out at least once, there are
some cool 'gravity' effects if you go down that road.
proceed down the elder vampire path until you get into the secret cave entrance, but not actually proceed to meet the elder. Then you can pick up a few pieces of cool loot (not the full set from that quest line though) and leave, and go back and continue along the path which you originally took (i.e. land of fables, or whatever it's called).
MadYarpen
Member
I replayed the ending to see this path and IMO it was worth it. The
Elder
darkwing-buck
Member
It's cool to check it out at least once, there areIt's the bleaker of the two endings though. What you can actually do though issome cool 'gravity' effects if you go down that road.That approach kind of maximises your experienceproceed down the elder vampire path until you get into the secret cave entrance, but not actually proceed to meet the elder. Then you can pick up a few pieces of cool loot (not the full set from that quest line though) and leave, and go back and continue along the path which you originally took (i.e. land of fables, or whatever it's called).
Cool, I'll check it out.
endlessflood
Member
I should clarify that when I talked about the approach that maximises your experience, I meant that for after you'd seen the full path that you missed out on. I did both, and then did the 'maximise' path as my final approach
Sanctuary
Member
Nearing the end again of the vanilla content, and about to play the expansions for the first time. A few things:
1. I really still think the combat sucks, although it's not "the worst" I've ever seen. It's just that it's not actually very engaging, and there's really only a few simple "tactics" that works on most everything in the game. Early on, especially if you aren't using bombs or signs, troublesome swarms of nekkers, drowners or ghouls really is just a game of attack a few times (or toss a sign if using them), then mash quick dodge backwards to regain stamina, since for whatever reason, it uses none. Blocking isn't really an option since it doesn't actually get you anywhere other than lost durability. Quen usually only absorbs one hit initially, so it's actually a waste of a sign use during the actual fight, unless your build is almost entirely melee based. Just cast it right before you engage for free. This "game" is mostly just a long, interactive movie where the actual "gameplay" seems to be the filler in between.
2. Human encounters are a complete joke; except archers, which are grossly imbalanced not only in damage, but because they can shoot through trees and walls. No one in melee is a threat though. Parrying > them. If using signs, Aaard = two-shot to groups of them, or you can just toss Igni as a form of crowd control and percentage based damage ticks over time (it's actually the most powerful sign overall).
3. I am still scratching my head over the Firestream nerf. I just don't get it. I ended up restarting and playing a fast attack/light armor (general skills), alchemy build until I had three mutagen slots available. Igni's default wave is just borderline broken, since it does percentage damage per burning tick. Wanna kill an enemy that's 16 levels above you? No problem, if it can burn, just toss Igni and watch thousands of hit points drain every second and a half. In most cases, it can also be used as a perma-stun crowd control as long as you don't attack whatever is burning. Most everything but elementals can burn, and pretty much everything that can burn other than a troll will lose 75% - 85% of its health from one cast of Igni, no matter how many hit points it has. I read somewhere that signs "don't scale well on NG+, so they are mostly worthless". How does knocking an enemy down and killing them with one button press, or burning thousands of hit points away not considered scaling? Haven't bothered with NG+ yet, so I guess the mechanics might be different, or there's a cap on the total amount of health that can be burned, or enemies might be more resistant to Aard waves.
I guess Firestream was nerfed because it's "broken" to kill your enemies in a few seconds, as opposed to waiting almost 10s and having a similar result (yet the Igni wave is actually easier to hit more enemies at once with). Whatever. Easy is easy.
4. Almost finished the main game, and the quest pacing and gear level scaling is just all over the place and nonsensical. First tier of Wolven gear is level 14, but unless you skip almost every side quest entirely, by the time you can actually grab it, you should be at least level 18 already. I don't know how much experience you would gain for doing a quest not more than 5 levels above the minimum, but if you're 10+ above it, you pretty much gain 1-5 experience, which is pretty stupid. Why bother even giving experience points in this game at all if they don't want you to out level the already easy content, but they still want you to see most of the side quests and obviously the main quests anyway?
5. It seems like "points of interest" are pseudo mandatory. There are a lot of enemies you'll not even encounter, or only fight once or twice during the entire game if you aren't roaming around in their vicinities. This playthough, I've almost exclusively avoided every single point of interest on the map after White Orchard, unless it was on the way to another objective already (which in this game is actually pretty fucking rare, since they are spaced apart just enough that you'll almost always miss them when following the main quest and most secondary quests). In terms of the overall narrative and pacing, they make zero sense and feel almost like post-game stuff, except you're already way above the enemy levels for most everything by then.
On a similar note, since I've been going out of my way to avoid them, I've still yet to find a single fucking Cocatrice Stomach, or Arachas Venom, and I'm level 27. Not that I actually need them mind you, it's just that it would be nice to not still be missing the requirements of some second tier potions and an oil...
1. I really still think the combat sucks, although it's not "the worst" I've ever seen. It's just that it's not actually very engaging, and there's really only a few simple "tactics" that works on most everything in the game. Early on, especially if you aren't using bombs or signs, troublesome swarms of nekkers, drowners or ghouls really is just a game of attack a few times (or toss a sign if using them), then mash quick dodge backwards to regain stamina, since for whatever reason, it uses none. Blocking isn't really an option since it doesn't actually get you anywhere other than lost durability. Quen usually only absorbs one hit initially, so it's actually a waste of a sign use during the actual fight, unless your build is almost entirely melee based. Just cast it right before you engage for free. This "game" is mostly just a long, interactive movie where the actual "gameplay" seems to be the filler in between.
2. Human encounters are a complete joke; except archers, which are grossly imbalanced not only in damage, but because they can shoot through trees and walls. No one in melee is a threat though. Parrying > them. If using signs, Aaard = two-shot to groups of them, or you can just toss Igni as a form of crowd control and percentage based damage ticks over time (it's actually the most powerful sign overall).
3. I am still scratching my head over the Firestream nerf. I just don't get it. I ended up restarting and playing a fast attack/light armor (general skills), alchemy build until I had three mutagen slots available. Igni's default wave is just borderline broken, since it does percentage damage per burning tick. Wanna kill an enemy that's 16 levels above you? No problem, if it can burn, just toss Igni and watch thousands of hit points drain every second and a half. In most cases, it can also be used as a perma-stun crowd control as long as you don't attack whatever is burning. Most everything but elementals can burn, and pretty much everything that can burn other than a troll will lose 75% - 85% of its health from one cast of Igni, no matter how many hit points it has. I read somewhere that signs "don't scale well on NG+, so they are mostly worthless". How does knocking an enemy down and killing them with one button press, or burning thousands of hit points away not considered scaling? Haven't bothered with NG+ yet, so I guess the mechanics might be different, or there's a cap on the total amount of health that can be burned, or enemies might be more resistant to Aard waves.
I guess Firestream was nerfed because it's "broken" to kill your enemies in a few seconds, as opposed to waiting almost 10s and having a similar result (yet the Igni wave is actually easier to hit more enemies at once with). Whatever. Easy is easy.
4. Almost finished the main game, and the quest pacing and gear level scaling is just all over the place and nonsensical. First tier of Wolven gear is level 14, but unless you skip almost every side quest entirely, by the time you can actually grab it, you should be at least level 18 already. I don't know how much experience you would gain for doing a quest not more than 5 levels above the minimum, but if you're 10+ above it, you pretty much gain 1-5 experience, which is pretty stupid. Why bother even giving experience points in this game at all if they don't want you to out level the already easy content, but they still want you to see most of the side quests and obviously the main quests anyway?
5. It seems like "points of interest" are pseudo mandatory. There are a lot of enemies you'll not even encounter, or only fight once or twice during the entire game if you aren't roaming around in their vicinities. This playthough, I've almost exclusively avoided every single point of interest on the map after White Orchard, unless it was on the way to another objective already (which in this game is actually pretty fucking rare, since they are spaced apart just enough that you'll almost always miss them when following the main quest and most secondary quests). In terms of the overall narrative and pacing, they make zero sense and feel almost like post-game stuff, except you're already way above the enemy levels for most everything by then.
On a similar note, since I've been going out of my way to avoid them, I've still yet to find a single fucking Cocatrice Stomach, or Arachas Venom, and I'm level 27. Not that I actually need them mind you, it's just that it would be nice to not still be missing the requirements of some second tier potions and an oil...
endlessflood
Member
That was a very well written post. Some of my thoughts on those topics:
1. Dodging doesn't cost stamina, because unlike the roll move, it doesn't give you a lot of separation from enemies (and so is much more dangerous, particular with respect to enemy AoE attacks). You need to have much better timing with the dodge move, so you have a choice to make between preserving stamina, or staying safer.
Although you can parry some monster attacks, I generally only parry human enemies and rely on dodging/rolling against monsters.
How you use signs during combat is personal preference. The secondary Quen ability is a fantastic tool for healing for example, and can only be used during combat.
2. Archers are a part of most of the human enemy encounters, and as you point out they are a constant threat - they're the counterpoint to the parry > them argument. You can develop an arrow parrying ability, and in the DLC there's the opportunity to develop armour which is immune to arrows, but those are more 'quality of life' upgrades than anything else. Countering is a lot of fun though, so I tended to enjoy human encounters the most (especially the huge ones in Blood and Wine).
I tended not to use Igni much at all, since I could generally kill the enemy myself well before the fire damage did. It comes down to your build though, I generally had a fairly melee centric build.
3. As I said, I tended not to use Igni very much anyway, so can't comment on the firestream nerf.
4. The Witcher gear is exceptional, and generally worthwhile well beyond the 'regular' level for it due to the perks.
In such a big game, the sheer number of permutations with respect to levelling and quest choices just boggles the mind. Ultimately the player gets to choose how difficult they want the game to be though by deciding when to do quests, and I'm a big fan of that approach.
5. They're completely optional. I don't know why you would want to avoid them, outside of the ones at sea in Skellige (which is the only content in the game that feels like 'busywork' if you ask me), given that they're generally a lot of fun, but each to their own. Whether you want to explore the world as a Witcher is up to you. Personally, I tended to explore the world before hitting up the major quests, unless I got bored first (in which case I'd do a quest to mix things up). Many people seem to feel that you should take the opposite approach, but I really loved the exploration.
If you don't explore the world, you're not going to find some of the rarer monsters/ingredients. To me that seems fairly reasonable. There are a few ingredients which are incredibly hard to find though, even when you come across the right monster.
Sanctuary
Member
No you don't, since for almost every non elite/boss attack, you can simply mash the quick dodge backwards until your stamina refills and avoid being hit by everything that's not a projectile (which just means you need to dodge back and then to the side). The roll in general is pointless for most everything other than trying to get OUT of combat, since the game has the shitty mechanic that locks you into facing enemies and not being able to turn around and run if you accidentally get stuck in an encounter you didn't mean to engage. Using the roll is almost entirely useless (other than reaching an archer) during an actual fight you want to stay in. It gains you slightly more space, but for what? You still need to re-engage and all you've done is lost stamina for no reason really.
I used that with my first playthrough last year, and while it helps quite a bit with the first 10 or so levels when swallow potions (or the alchemy talent that gives 25% of your health back from quaffing one) are scarce, once your sign itensity hits 100%, there's no reason to use it since it's easier to avoid damage while dealing it than taking it and having to heal it back, without dealing any.
Haven't played Blood and Wine yet, but I used the talent briefly in my current playthrough. While "amusing" I guess, it was still faster usually to just run or roll to an archer and kill it.
Not the first tier of Wolven. It's a mishmash of Griffin and Bear, while not being exceptional in any way. It doesn't even out perform the hybrid playstyle you'd get out of the Griffin gear you could be wearing by that point until the second or third tier.
I already explored 90% of them on my first playthrough. I also thought they were one of the reasons I might have been "overlevelled" (which actually wasn't the reason I've found out this playthrough). I was trying to play the game this time around in a more logical progression, which actually means skipping almost everything on the map entirely. Most of the points of interest devolve into the exact same few archetypes too. Same thing with most of the side quests as well actually. The main thing that sets them apart typically is just the dialogue or creature you have to kill. Hopefully there's more variation in the expansions...
endlessflood
Member
Don't the Drowners (etc.) turn you to mince meat if you do that? They destroyed me if I did that. I mean like dead within 15 seconds.
As I mentioned: AoE attacks. Dodging won't cut it against enemies with AoE attacks.
That's the personal preference but I was talking about. Your approach works well if you're really confident of not getting hit again before killing all of the enemies you're facing. If you're worried that you might take another hit or two, then you'd probably want to heal up first.
By logical progression, do you mean finding Ciri before doing anything else? As to levelling, the suggested levels are just a relative indication of difficulty. You can change difficulty on the fly yourself and you can also set enemies to scale to your level, so being over levelled is sort of meaningless in W3.
If a game has been made that has more unique side quests than the Witcher 3, then I'm yet to hear of it. I would've thought that was one aspect of the game that was absolutely beyond reproach!
Alchemy build is still best build
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNFFyScdduI&t=489s
i <3 100k crits.
And even this is not the most OP you can be if you really wanted but more would be pretty pointless since everything will be long death anyway .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNFFyScdduI&t=489s
i <3 100k crits.
And even this is not the most OP you can be if you really wanted but more would be pretty pointless since everything will be long death anyway .
TL;DR: Is the Feline set worth getting and upgrading on normal difficulty?
So my character is level 36 and I'm currently doing Hearts of Stone expansion for the first time. I have a build mainly focused around Light Attacks with the Cat school technique because that's the kind of playstyle I enjoy in most games, fast in-and-out kind of combat.
I was talking to a friend and I offhand mentioned that none of my gear matches and he seemed baffled that I never did the Treasure Hunts for a set of witcher gear to upgrade. I'm wearing a mashup of whatever Light armor and weapons I've found and it's red/purple/green and looks pretty funny. So last night I went and gathered all of the diagrams for the base level Feline gear, and unlocked the master armorer and smith. Now there's like 5-6 more quests where I have to get the upgrade diagrams and I don't even know what materials or crowns I may be missing to get that done... I have almost 10k crowns currently but I heard it's expensive.
Basically my question is, is there anything hard enough to justify going through all the effort? I'm on the normal difficulty "Sword and Story." The hardest things in the game so far are the fire golems and the
. I plan to play Blood and Wine later where my friend says the hardest stuff is.
So my character is level 36 and I'm currently doing Hearts of Stone expansion for the first time. I have a build mainly focused around Light Attacks with the Cat school technique because that's the kind of playstyle I enjoy in most games, fast in-and-out kind of combat.
I was talking to a friend and I offhand mentioned that none of my gear matches and he seemed baffled that I never did the Treasure Hunts for a set of witcher gear to upgrade. I'm wearing a mashup of whatever Light armor and weapons I've found and it's red/purple/green and looks pretty funny. So last night I went and gathered all of the diagrams for the base level Feline gear, and unlocked the master armorer and smith. Now there's like 5-6 more quests where I have to get the upgrade diagrams and I don't even know what materials or crowns I may be missing to get that done... I have almost 10k crowns currently but I heard it's expensive.
Basically my question is, is there anything hard enough to justify going through all the effort? I'm on the normal difficulty "Sword and Story." The hardest things in the game so far are the fire golems and the
Prince Toad, althought I did not die and it was a "fun" kind of difficult for me
Ruthless_Barbarian
Member
Feline is the goat witcher set. Shreds anything in seconds.
On normal you will be a god with it.
Honestly, no reason not to complement your build and playstyle with the set.
On normal you will be a god with it.
Honestly, no reason not to complement your build and playstyle with the set.
MadYarpen
Member
on normal difficulty it is matter of looks I guess.
Sanctuary
Member
Not playing on normal, and on normal you're pretty much a "god" in any set, even Ursine. Regardless, light armor in general (with Cat School Techniques) is probably the strongest route to go in the earlier levels, regardless of what your planned build actually is. It's also hard to argue against Fast attack (with or without Whirl) with a hefty investment into Alchemy being the strongest build type in general. Just kind of boring.
If the Balance glyphword actually allows the Cat set to work with the Griffin School Techniques, then it might even be the best for a dedicated sign build until you're able to get the Grandmaster bonuses.
Thanks guys, I spent about 2.5 hours last night getting and crafting the entire set up to Mastercrafted. It cost me nearly all of my money, dropped from almost 10k crowns down to about 1000, but it rises up quick from selling garbage to the same NPC's I gave all those crowns to. Can't wait until I get to B&W and get it grandmastered. I had almost all of the materials I needed just from playing the game, except for materials for daconid leather (chitinous shells), that I had to dismantle some stuff for.
Also I think I'm fairly close to the end of HoS, I've
. Are the side quests/treasure hunts worth doing for HoS?
Edit:
I did a few side quests in HoS and thought they were pretty meh, decided not to finish the rest for now but might do more later. Finished the main story of it though and liked it overall, although I thought
. The parts of HoS that I did took around 11 hours, pretty good.
I think next I will take a break to play FFXV and then do Blood and Wine.
Also I think I'm fairly close to the end of HoS, I've
fulfilled two wishes and on to the third
Edit:
I did a few side quests in HoS and thought they were pretty meh, decided not to finish the rest for now but might do more later. Finished the main story of it though and liked it overall, although I thought
the quest "Scenes from a Marriage" was pretty boring and dragged on WAY too long. I ended up letting Master Mirror kill Olgeird in the end have no regrets about that.
I think next I will take a break to play FFXV and then do Blood and Wine.
Extra language packs, perhaps? Those are free anyway, so...
New to the thread. So much "doo doo" talk in this game. What the h? >_>
And I'm annoyed that Priscilla has giant boobs. Why does everyone need giant boobs? It looks forced on her body type/with her face structure. Pfft.
Really fun game, though. Although it seems glitchier and glitchier as I go along.
And I'm annoyed that Priscilla has giant boobs. Why does everyone need giant boobs? It looks forced on her body type/with her face structure. Pfft.
Really fun game, though. Although it seems glitchier and glitchier as I go along.
His Majesty
Banned
you're aware Dudu is the name of someone, right
Not everyone. Ciri for example.
Coreda
Member
Yen also shares the same model. Most of the character models beneath are nearly identical, it's their clothing that perhaps gives the impression otherwise.
Nope. But someone did post this in the first OT
How far are you into the game? Because this is not true at all.
Shouta
Member
Hmm, I was reading JP reviews for some other games and I decided to read some for the Witcher 3 on Amazon. Not as many reviews as JP games but super glowing reviews.
Big thing I found out that that EVERYTHING was translated into Japanese. Apparently, even the random quips by the townsfolk that you here as you walk by. That's kinda nuts...
I'm actually a bit interested in eventually picking up the GOTY edition and playing it entirely in Japanese to see what it's like.
Big thing I found out that that EVERYTHING was translated into Japanese. Apparently, even the random quips by the townsfolk that you here as you walk by. That's kinda nuts...
I'm actually a bit interested in eventually picking up the GOTY edition and playing it entirely in Japanese to see what it's like.
I can't believe I've been playing this game for roughly 20 hours or so now, and I've only just realised how toxicity works :/ I was having quite an intense fight and I noticed the green bar going up, and it kept going up the more I used potions and then all of a sudden I couldn't use anymore potions and I thought, hang on, hang on...ooo now it makes sense.
I'm such an idiot noob
I'm such an idiot noob
Coreda
Member
Kinda curious what they thought of the combat, or if that even factors into their general impressions, seeing as a vocal group on GAF constantly compares it to other Japanese titles. Google Translate doesn't seem to want to translate the page for me, states it's too large :/
Is it really that weird? It's a full dub - same thing with German, English, French or Russian version. You reminded me that official Witcher twitter account once posted an interview with a Japanese man, Honma Satoru who headed the translation effort and was also the first man in the world to play to end of the game.
Here is the link. It's in Japanese so maybe you will be able to tell if there is anything interesting there.
I'm going through my second play through currently and basically choosing all the options I didn't the first time around. I gotta say, Triss character design is significantly worse than that of Yennefer. Everything from her appearance to her voice acting. Her voice acting is poor and the actual tone of her voice is annoying.
Ruthless_Barbarian
Member
That's hilarious. If anything I would replay the game in Polish because the songs, ballads etc are a lot better sounding that they are in English.
If only I knew Polish
Yeah, not a fan of Trish. TeamYen forever.
Finally finished up Blood & Wine last night. Great expansion. I still think Hearts of Stone is better, but not by a whole lot. Got a little misty eyed at the end before the title card. Been with this series since launch day of Witcher 1, and have loved every second of time spent in all three games. It's a very special series with some of my favorite characters both in gaming, and in fiction.
With that, I've got 400hrs (and level 53) in the game, all main quests, side quests, and witcher contracts completed across the entire game. All that's left are a handful of treasure hunts and a million ? markers on the map.
I'm not done with the game yet. Picked it up on PC as well and will start my deathmarch run on that platform. Blood & Broken Bones difficulty wasn't very hard, so looking forward to the jump in difficulty.
With that, I've got 400hrs (and level 53) in the game, all main quests, side quests, and witcher contracts completed across the entire game. All that's left are a handful of treasure hunts and a million ? markers on the map.
I'm not done with the game yet.
Picked it up on PC as well and will start my deathmarch run on that platform. Blood & Broken Bones difficulty wasn't very hard, so looking forward to the jump in difficulty.pluginbaby121
Member
What's a better combo between melee/signs or melee/alchemy? I'm a level 17 with all but one place of power unlocked, not including Skellge? I like signs but I feel between Yrden, igni, quen there isn't much versatility. If I do go melee/alchemy what skills should I focus on?
Shouta
Member
Quite a few I read were a little lukewarm on the combat. They got used to it though. One of the folks pointed out it felt very same-y like most ARPGs are into combat. Another said if they combined this with Dark Souls combat, it'd be the perfect RPG.
I've heard JP locs are really hit and miss or kinda lazy. FIGS makes sense because of the huge audience but Japan isn't exactly very famous for playing Western games so going to that effort for a title the size of The Witcher 3 is really impressive. I mean, the JP reviews pointed out that everything was translated which really impressed them.
Just got the platinum and this was long one in the making. It's such a lovingly crafted experience and all the more impressive considering CDProjectRed's humble beginnings. Late game alchemy build was OP and really liked the crazy mutant look Geralt had at high toxicity levels. Made a little more sense when people called me a freak. Gonna take a bit of break before getting into the expansions. Just wanted to share.
LurkerPrime
Member
Signs/alchemy is absolutely bananas. There's nothing you cannot do.
But otherwise, melee/alchemy. Toxicity extenders let you down more of those monster decoctions; some of them are incredibly powerful. Plus it gives you more flexibility in combat with regular potions. Alchemy is all-around useful but very easy to underestimate.
Melee/signs would give you a lot of offensive utility, but very little in the way of defense, aside from Quen and better dodges. IIRC.
I second this, you don't even need to invest that much for alchemy to make a big impact as heightened tolerance and acquired tolerance in the first row should serve you well and allows you down lots of decoctions and potions. While you don't necessarily need this to complete the game, it makes combat a little more diverse and interesting and even makes the deathmarch difficulty a joke. Also instead of using Yrden on wraiths and foglets try out those moon dust bombs on them as it completely stops their disappearing act and keeps them from going into ethereal form.
I have been in Velen for a couple of hours now, did some side quests, finished Finding a Witch and am a quest on the Isle. I have been putting Bloody Baron on the side cos I wanted to save the best for the last (heard good stuff) so I wanna embark on a couple of smaller quests before I jump on that.
What are the more memorable side quests in the area? I am a level 6.
What are the more memorable side quests in the area? I am a level 6.
I finally had the chance to play this and wanted to share some thoughts. Sorry for the length, but I've rolled all of my general thoughts into a single post.
I came into the Witcher series with Assassin of Kings. I attempted the first game, but found the combat and sort of weird jank (by 2012 standards)... not fun, so I just watched most of it online. W2 led me to reading The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny and Blood of Elves. Really fell in love with the series, but a rough/busy 2015 led me to skipping Wild Hunt until now.
Finished Wild Hunt two nights ago after a two week long devotion to it. Absolutely loved the ride. I couldn't be happier with it. Only about 55 hrs to get through all of. Next is to start New Game+ on a higher difficulty. Take my time, visit all the towns and really dig into the side quests. Probably get to the expansions after Christmas. And Gwent. I didn't play enough and collect enough first time through. Found myself getting stomped in Novigrad late game.
It's a damn shame that the rewards for most contracts are so meager (seems like looting boxes/chests is more lucrative). Some of my favorite moments in the first playthrough were getting into the side quests of an area. The overall tone of the game and contracts+side quests really leads to the game feeling closer to the books. Or at least, the short stories. Which stand as my favorite of the written works. I mostly like Robert E Howard's Conan stories for similar reasons. Slice of life (as it is) of a fantasy world. Thinking back on it, the Witcher 2 really seems like a straight up awful way to enter the series. Besides a few quests (the bridge troll comes to mind), it doesn't seem to reflect the source material as well as Wild Hunt does.
At the time, I recommended W2 to friends based on its production values, my personal growing interest in the series and it's protagonist. Discovered that most of my friends were turned off quite heavily. It was very impenetrable to them. A lot of this probably has to do with the complex politics of 2, coupled with difficult combat. At the time, I found myself reading wikis to get caught up. Going to try again by recommending Wild Hunt. Hopefully, they'll have a more open mind.
The setting and scenario feels unrivaled in western RPGs. I don't think I could do another Elder Scrolls game after this. I don't enjoy playing as the chosen one that becomes the leader of every damn faction. It puts me to sleep. This is a trope that seems common in pretty much the majority of WRPGs (and a lot of games in general). And unlike Bioware games, I often had to REALLY think about the decisions I would make and where that would lead things. It didn't always seem like straight good or evil. I made a few decisions that later I felt bad about or didn't realize the consequences. Combat was fine. Definitely felt more engaging than Dragon Age 3's MMO-lite mechanics.
Anyway, can't wait to start the expansions. Question for anyone that knows: should I start the expansions on my original save file or get to them on New Game+? I'm curious if the difficulty spike would make them less fun. I did have a problem late game in vanilla, where I felt way overpowered from getting 4+ levels higher than the plot required. Is there a consensus on when/how to enter the expansions?
I came into the Witcher series with Assassin of Kings. I attempted the first game, but found the combat and sort of weird jank (by 2012 standards)... not fun, so I just watched most of it online. W2 led me to reading The Last Wish, Sword of Destiny and Blood of Elves. Really fell in love with the series, but a rough/busy 2015 led me to skipping Wild Hunt until now.
Finished Wild Hunt two nights ago after a two week long devotion to it. Absolutely loved the ride. I couldn't be happier with it. Only about 55 hrs to get through all of. Next is to start New Game+ on a higher difficulty. Take my time, visit all the towns and really dig into the side quests. Probably get to the expansions after Christmas. And Gwent. I didn't play enough and collect enough first time through. Found myself getting stomped in Novigrad late game.
It's a damn shame that the rewards for most contracts are so meager (seems like looting boxes/chests is more lucrative). Some of my favorite moments in the first playthrough were getting into the side quests of an area. The overall tone of the game and contracts+side quests really leads to the game feeling closer to the books. Or at least, the short stories. Which stand as my favorite of the written works. I mostly like Robert E Howard's Conan stories for similar reasons. Slice of life (as it is) of a fantasy world. Thinking back on it, the Witcher 2 really seems like a straight up awful way to enter the series. Besides a few quests (the bridge troll comes to mind), it doesn't seem to reflect the source material as well as Wild Hunt does.
At the time, I recommended W2 to friends based on its production values, my personal growing interest in the series and it's protagonist. Discovered that most of my friends were turned off quite heavily. It was very impenetrable to them. A lot of this probably has to do with the complex politics of 2, coupled with difficult combat. At the time, I found myself reading wikis to get caught up. Going to try again by recommending Wild Hunt. Hopefully, they'll have a more open mind.
The setting and scenario feels unrivaled in western RPGs. I don't think I could do another Elder Scrolls game after this. I don't enjoy playing as the chosen one that becomes the leader of every damn faction. It puts me to sleep. This is a trope that seems common in pretty much the majority of WRPGs (and a lot of games in general). And unlike Bioware games, I often had to REALLY think about the decisions I would make and where that would lead things. It didn't always seem like straight good or evil. I made a few decisions that later I felt bad about or didn't realize the consequences. Combat was fine. Definitely felt more engaging than Dragon Age 3's MMO-lite mechanics.
Anyway, can't wait to start the expansions. Question for anyone that knows: should I start the expansions on my original save file or get to them on New Game+? I'm curious if the difficulty spike would make them less fun. I did have a problem late game in vanilla, where I felt way overpowered from getting 4+ levels higher than the plot required. Is there a consensus on when/how to enter the expansions?