The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[artemicion]

Gameplay/combat to me is what holds Witcher 3 back from being a truly great game. As it is, it's quite good, but the combat controls aren't very tight (hitboxes seem to be off-I take damage when it looks like I've made a clean dodge). Combat is also quite repetitive. Fighting a person is the same as fighting a bear is the same as fighting a drowner is the same as fighting a werewolf.

I also find the recent trend in RPG games rather annoying where the difficulty level of enemies is wildly inconsistent and nonsensical. I.e., the first griffin you fight in the game posed to be badass but it's a chump compared to a high level drowner. Or like in DA:I where bears were super hard to kill in the end-game, despite the fact your party has an easy time fighting demons and mages. Witcher 3 also lacks the enemy "progression" I enjoyed in old school RPGs that really reinforced the feeling that your character was getting more powerful--i.e., building up fighting rats, then wolves, then goblins, then trolls, then dragons by the end of the game.

Witcher 3 pretty much lets you fight every mob type in the game early on, which really reinforces the feeling that level progression is really just level gating. Your character isn't getting more powerful, you're just forced to cope with arbitrary limitations on what monsters the game allows you to fight.

 

[Artorias]

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/54899-Patch-1-08-Notes?p=1870752#post1870752

The next patch will be arriving quite soon. Please check the list of changes below.

PERFORMANCE:

• Overall improvements to performance, including some issues that may have been caused by 1.07.

UI:

• [Japanese Only][PS4 Only] Fixes an issue where the background text of certain books would flicker.
• Fixes an issue where part of the Kaer Morhen map would not display properly.

GAMEPLAY:

• Fixes a rare issue where items would disappear from the stash.
• Fixes a very rare issue which would cause Geralt to get stuck when trying to run.
• The interaction pop-up will no longer appear on lootable objects that are empty.
• Fixes an occasional glitch in one of the dwarf combat animations.
• Heads chopped off during finishers will no longer disappear.
• "Players can perform a roll just before landing to significantly reduce the damage caused by falling.
• We've added a tutorial pop-up window explaining this to make it clearer."
• In patch 1.07, the level requirements for certain items were scaled up, leaving some players stuck with only unusable gear. With patch 1.08, we are introducing the Wolven Hour potion. This potion will be available in everyone's inventory once they install the patch. It will reduce level requirements on all gear for a period of one hour. This will give players time to level up or find alternative equipment using the gear that was available to them in patch 1.05 but became unusable after patch 1.07. After one hour, the potion's effects will cease and the requirements for all gear will revert to their original, pre-potion values.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to compare their items with ones sold by merchants.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Players will now be able to complete the Card Collector achievement.
• Achievements are now working properly again and will be unlocked if players meet their requirements after installing this patch (PC version).

GRAPHICS:

• Fixes an issue where interiors would sometimes not display properly on the minimap.
• Fixes an issue where certain world elements would sometimes be missing and noticeable visual glitches would be present while in Novigrad.

QUEST:

• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "It Takes Three to Tango" quest, even though they had obtained wine at the Kingfisher.
• Fixes an issue where Geralt would sometimes die after traveling to Velen in the quest "Something Ends, Something Begins."
• The entrance to the area where the Sunstone is obtained will no longer be blocked off if the player exits it prematurely during "The Sunstone" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to complete the "Get Junior" quest on certain occasions.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "Scavenger Hunt: Viper School Gear" quest due to a closed gate.
• Fixes an issue where some players were unable to investigate rooms during the "Family Matters" quest, effectively blocking their progression.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "Hey, You Wanna Look at my Stuff?" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to talk to Roche during the "An Eye for an Eye" quest.
• Fixes an issue where Roche would stay at his camp instead of going to the Oxenfurt Bridge in the "Get Junior" quest.
• Fixes an issue where, under certain circumstances, Yennefer would not appear in Oxenfurt during the "The Great Escape" quest.
• Drowners will have a harder time killing Nidas during the "Black Pearl" quest.
• Fixes an issue which led to an infinite loading screen during the "To Bait a Forktail..." quest under certain circumstances.
• Fixes a rare issue where the basement was locked during the "King's Gambit" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to free the merchant during the Person in Distress event in the Claywich area.
• The trolls at the Circle of Elements will no longer attack Geralt if he opts for a peaceful resolution.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to talk to Roche during the "Brothers in Arms" quest.
• Fixes an issue where Zoltan's card was unobtainable.

GENERAL:

• Preparatory features paving the way for the introduction of New Game + in the future.

 

[Carfax83]

Kotaku does a lengthy comparison between DAI and the Witcher 3..

Although I think the Witcher 3 is a significantly better game (especially story wise), I'm still not sure it's a fair comparison. DAI had the legacy consoles to deal with, which had a big negative impact on the gameplay features and graphics that Bioware could implement.

Since the Witcher 3 is current gen only, it could afford gameplay and technical advantages to improve the overall game, such as the seamlessness, or making much larger and more densely populated areas to increase suspension of disbelief.

I gave DAI a solid 8.5. Witcher 3 on the other hand is basically a masterpiece and is easily a 9.5. The only thing stopping it from getting a 10 in my book, is the downgrade thing. I hope they release a DX12 patch to improve LoD and extend the draw distance, plus add the other high end effects they had to remove..

 

[Evilviking]

Fantastic game. I would like to see them patch in more gwent. Gwent challenges. Gwent tournaments. Something that scales.

 

[StinkyPinky]

Kotaku does a lengthy comparison between DAI and the Witcher 3..

Although I think the Witcher 3 is a significantly better game (especially story wise), I'm still not sure it's a fair comparison. DAI had the legacy consoles to deal with, which had a big negative impact on the gameplay features and graphics that Bioware could implement.

Since the Witcher 3 is current gen only, it could afford gameplay and technical advantages to improve the overall game, such as the seamlessness, or making much larger and more densely populated areas to increase suspension of disbelief.

I gave DAI a solid 8.5. Witcher 3 on the other hand is basically a masterpiece and is easily a 9.5. The only thing stopping it from getting a 10 in my book, is the downgrade thing. I hope they release a DX12 patch to improve LoD and extend the draw distance, plus add the other high end effects they had to remove..

I like DA:I. Thought it was a good game myself. But Witcher 3 is defintely a grade up from DA:I. I agree, it's a genuine masterpiece and will go down as one of the great rpg's.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Difficulty? I played on maximum easy being super lazy. :awe:

i think i'm on the 2nd most difficult. i'm a pretty shitty witcher - i've gotten bitchsmacked by a stuff lower level than me

 

[tential]

This is why I wait for patches. So I can play a game with full detail and really enjoy it.

 

[frozentundra123456]

One thing though, has anyone else finally gotten tired of "use your witcher senses to find x,y,z"? I am getting sick of mashing right mouse and looking for little red tracks and magnifying glasses that tell me to examine something. Especially since I apparently suck at it and often have to alt/tab out to YouTube to find one simple thing I missed that blocks the entire main quest.

The latest was when you have to find the goat that is staked out, and I wandered around for at least half an hour before I went to YouTube to find you have to examine a tree to find the scent. Think I am about ready to just stick to the main quest and be done with the game.

 

[Subyman]

One thing though, has anyone else finally gotten tired of "use your witcher senses to find x,y,z"? I am getting sick of mashing right mouse and looking for little red tracks and magnifying glasses that tell me to examine something. Especially since I apparently suck at it and often have to alt/tab out to YouTube to find one simple thing I missed that blocks the entire main quest.

The latest was when you have to find the goat that is staked out, and I wandered around for at least half an hour before I went to YouTube to find you have to examine a tree to find the scent. Think I am about ready to just stick to the main quest and be done with the game.

I scan around for anything red. It hasn't taken me any longer than 5 minutes or so to progress through those events. I remember the goat one. Ringing the bell was more annoying than finding him. I practically ran straight to it by following the tracks.

 

[zinfamous]

i think i'm on the 2nd most difficult. i'm a pretty shitty witcher - i've gotten bitchsmacked by a stuff lower level than me

I'ts a little difficult starting off, particularly with the early contracts where you really do need to learn the mechanics of fighting some of the monsters--like night or day wraiths, yrden and proper grenades.

But eventually, you just level and gear past anything where none of the buffs or signs really matter from monster to monster. I had to switch from 2nd hardest to hardest difficulty by ~level 21 or 23 because everything was way, way, way too easy.

I can't imagine playing this on easy. You're just mashing buttons at that point and not playing any kind of game, imo.

 

[zinfamous]

One thing though, has anyone else finally gotten tired of "use your witcher senses to find x,y,z"? I am getting sick of mashing right mouse and looking for little red tracks and magnifying glasses that tell me to examine something. Especially since I apparently suck at it and often have to alt/tab out to YouTube to find one simple thing I missed that blocks the entire main quest.

The latest was when you have to find the goat that is staked out, and I wandered around for at least half an hour before I went to YouTube to find you have to examine a tree to find the scent. Think I am about ready to just stick to the main quest and be done with the game.

like any other game, ever, a lot of this stuff feels fun and novel for a while, then just gets repetitive. It's simply unavoidable, I think. Such is the combat in this game, which I think starts out great and is rather punishing until you learn the very simple design that is blatantly forced on you: DODGE, IDIOT! After 200 hours, dodging, rolling, counterattacking and back-stabbing certainly does get just as repetitive.

The combat still feels very active for the most part, which I enjoy.

 

[alcoholbob]

Kotaku does a lengthy comparison between DAI and the Witcher 3..

Although I think the Witcher 3 is a significantly better game (especially story wise), I'm still not sure it's a fair comparison. DAI had the legacy consoles to deal with, which had a big negative impact on the gameplay features and graphics that Bioware could implement.

Since the Witcher 3 is current gen only, it could afford gameplay and technical advantages to improve the overall game, such as the seamlessness, or making much larger and more densely populated areas to increase suspension of disbelief.

I gave DAI a solid 8.5. Witcher 3 on the other hand is basically a masterpiece and is easily a 9.5. The only thing stopping it from getting a 10 in my book, is the downgrade thing. I hope they release a DX12 patch to improve LoD and extend the draw distance, plus add the other high end effects they had to remove..

Facial expressions are a big plus in Witcher 3. The quests seem so bland in DAI because all the NPCs just stare at you blankly like plastic dolls with no gestures while droning on about their problems in a monotone.

 

[futurefields]

wow, new game+ mode this game just keeps on giving

i doubt they will add a dx12 mode

it's not really needed

plus rather they work on their next game and I'd like to see them do something non-Witcher related

 

[Artorias]

wow, new game+ mode this game just keeps on giving

i doubt they will add a dx12 mode

it's not really needed

plus rather they work on their next game and I'd like to see them do something non-Witcher related

From what I recall I think CDPR said they are giving two years of support for The Witcher 3, two expansions and most likely a GOTY/Enhanced edition, I hope they think about doing a third expansion. CDPR also said that their Cyberpunk game is just concept and a bunch of papers at this point in time, that game isn't coming out for another four years I think.

 

[tential]

From what I recall I think CDPR said they are giving two years of support for The Witcher 3, two expansions and most likely a GOTY/Enhanced edition, I hope they think about doing a third expansion. CDPR also said that their Cyberpunk game is just concept and a bunch of papers at this point in time, that game isn't coming out for another four years I think.

Hopefully high res textures come. I hope on playing this game 2 years from now with all the expansions and high res textures on a GPU that I can play this game on in 4K at minimum hopefully.

 

[Eric1987]

Hopefully high res textures come. I hope on playing this game 2 years from now with all the expansions and high res textures on a GPU that I can play this game on in 4K at minimum hopefully.

They already have high res textures that consoles dont. And i play the game just fine in 4k. Where have you been?

 

[alcoholbob]

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/54899-Patch-1-08-Notes?p=1870752#post1870752

The next patch will be arriving quite soon. Please check the list of changes below.

PERFORMANCE:

• Overall improvements to performance, including some issues that may have been caused by 1.07.

Hopefully this fixes the tessellation issue in 1.0.7. Since launch I've been running Water on Ultra but after 1.0.7 patch I noticed when I have Water on High or Ultra fps is locked at 40 with vsync on, even though its actually 60+ fps with vsync off.

As long as water is on Medium my fps doesn't behave like that; i.e., even if it drops to the mid 40s it stays above 40 with vsync on, (fps counter fluidly goes from 42-60). But no matter what my framerate is, even if its 80fps with vsync off, the moment I turn on vsync and I'm close to a body of water my fps is locked at 40 for no reason.

It's super irritating to turn away 180 degrees facing away from water immediately fps shoots to 60, then turn 180 degrees back and its immediately locked to 40.

 

[XiandreX]

Fantastic game. I would like to see them patch in more gwent. Gwent challenges. Gwent tournaments. Something that scales.

Agree 100% .. I love Gwent and have run out of people to challenge just about.
Its a highly addictive game.

 

[Chaotic0ne]

Once CDPR releases their tool kit, there will be a lot more mods coming out, as well as more complex mods like in TES games. They'd be smart to release the tool kit soon because that will keep people buying the game for years to come because people can personalize the game the way they want with community mods.

I noticed a lot of the textures in Witcher 3 are low resolution even at Ultra settings. DAI has higher resolution textures, and is much better looking on the small details like trees, grass, shrubs, vines, etc which all look really crisp. If I can get the camera up close to the texture and play count-the-pixels, and that's last gen quality textures. The game desperately needs a re-texture. That's probably why the game uses such a small amount of Vram.

Once REDkit comes out, then someone could make new textures, and fix the horrible physics in the game like the trees moving in the wind, etc. I'd rather the trees stand still than move like wet noodles.

 

[Igo69]

Agree 100% .. I love Gwent and have run out of people to challenge just about.
Its a highly addictive game.

It's certainly is a fun game but how do play it and win, I suck at it very bad

 

[cmdrdredd]

It's certainly is a fun game but how do play it and win, I suck at it very bad

It's more about the setup of your deck than the actual playing of the game. Maximize the number of cards you can draw with spy cards, sometimes submitting defeat in the first round but forcing the opponent to burn much of their hand can mean a win.

 

[XiandreX]

It's certainly is a fun game but how do play it and win, I suck at it very bad

The trick is deck quality (obvious), commanders horn (put 3 in deck), medics, spies and knowing when to throw the opening round.
If you get lucky with the card draw and get a Decoy use that carefully and only first round to retrieve strongest card.
Read card descriptions carefully.

It's more about the setup of your deck than the actual playing of the game. Maximize the number of cards you can draw with spy cards, sometimes submitting defeat in the first round but forcing the opponent to burn much of their hand can mean a win.

I used Northern deck for the longest time but now that my Monster deck is powerful I love that one, though for safety reasons, Northern is easier to win. Clear weather is very nice.
I avoid melee if at all possible with Northern deck and focus on Ranged.

 

[artemicion]

One thing though, has anyone else finally gotten tired of "use your witcher senses to find x,y,z"? I am getting sick of mashing right mouse and looking for little red tracks and magnifying glasses that tell me to examine something. Especially since I apparently suck at it and often have to alt/tab out to YouTube to find one simple thing I missed that blocks the entire main quest.

The latest was when you have to find the goat that is staked out, and I wandered around for at least half an hour before I went to YouTube to find you have to examine a tree to find the scent. Think I am about ready to just stick to the main quest and be done with the game.

There's a few quests where the thing you are looking for is annoyingly small and easy to miss. There's also been a few occasions where I swear the game didn't render the red glow-y spot correctly and I had to search over the same area 3-4x to get the quest to progress.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

The trick is deck quality (obvious), commanders horn (put 3 in deck), medics, spies and knowing when to throw the opening round.
If you get lucky with the card draw and get a Decoy use that carefully and only first round to retrieve strongest card.
Read card descriptions carefully.



I used Northern deck for the longest time but now that my Monster deck is powerful I love that one, though for safety reasons, Northern is easier to win. Clear weather is very nice.
I avoid melee if at all possible with Northern deck and focus on Ranged.

I use decoys only to retrieve enemy spy cards when they play them. Or if they obviously don't have any spy cards to play I use it to retrieve my medic cards and replay them to get another card back.

Only play spy cards in the first round. Get as many cards in your deck as you can and keep the enemy placing as many cards as possible. You will win every time.

 

[XiandreX]

I use decoys only to retrieve enemy spy cards when they play them. Or if they obviously don't have any spy cards to play I use it to retrieve my medic cards and replay them to get another card back.

Only play spy cards in the first round. Get as many cards in your deck as you can and keep the enemy placing as many cards as possible. You will win every time.

Unfortunately drawing spies and decoy does not always happen.
Its then that I prefer the bait and switch.
Spies are indeed very powerful and I will use my decoy to retrieve one if possible.