The Witcher 3 GOTY Edition

[hivemind]

out of complete boredom i went ahead and torrented all 35 gigs of witcher 3: the wild hunt. I installed it. I launched the game, set preset to "high", game began running at perfect 60fps with minor dips only when grafix happened all of a sudden.

I did the intro. I admit I could not stomach the interminable cut-scenes, and after the intro where you run w/ Siri I just mashed SPACEBAR, not unlike my preferred method of playing Pillars of Eternity I should add! Ah, it was a welcome familiarity!

I finally, finally got "access" to what I suppose is the "open world", like 4 hours and 50 tutorials later (the tutorials were actually well done, though), but more egregiously: cutscenes.

More cutscenes.

Non-stop characters giving exposition and periodically assaulting me, the player, with a completely meaningless and superfluous "dialog choice". Now, now, I know the game actually does feature "worthy" "choices" in its "dialog choices", not from having played it but because it seems that the consensus about witcher games among the "true RPG gamer" crowd (i.e. morons who post here, like me, except dumber) is that the game's "choices" actually "matter", so I assume the might-as-well not-have-them dialog responses from the game's first few hours are not indicative of its BRANCHING CONTENT.

Either way, that actually does not matter whatsoever to me, or at least it is only peripheral. F: NV is the gold standard for "AAA-type open world RPG" and it will never be surpassed, and one of F: NV's biggest strengths is that almost none of its (unmatched by any other in its category) many, many, many "choices" are almost never gotten to or made by "dialog responses".

In F: NV it is the underlying gameplay systems such as the factions, quests done or not done, stuff you have acquired or not acquired, people you've talked to or not talked to, place you've discovered, people you may have killed or instead maybe left them alive; in F: NV the main way the player shapes his role playing experience is usually by doing shit, rarely via a dialog.

Anyway, back to Witcher 3.

Oh right, so I set out into the wild yonder and I just simply could not, cannot, understand the game's appeal. I had never actually before PLAYED witcher 3 (only w1 years ago), and I have to say: this is the prettiest interactive cut-scene with hiking simulation built-in that I've seen in a while!

Probably the prettiest!

I thought, somewhat smugly, that I am actually enjoying playing ELEX and Nier: Automata much more than Witcher 3, with Elex fitting more into W3's category of course. I don't particularly like ELEX, I think it's a boring sandbox that's bereft of any mechanical depth, with little incentives for the player to care about the game other than jet-packing around for a few mins.

I still find it a more recognizably "RPG"-like game than Witcher 3, though. Look, fuck it, I will not argue that W3 isn't an RPG. I'm just gonna finish by saying that after my 4-6 hour brief experience playing W3 and then promtply uninstalling it I think it plays more like a standard action-adventure game than an RPG, with even stuff like Skyrim evoking more RPG mechanics/stuff than Witcher 3 (!).

(Emphasis on the 'adventure' part as my god, this is worse than Metal Gear. Metal Gear is great cut-scene fun time because kojima, ninjas, la-li-lu-le-lo, psycho mantis, SNAAAAAAAKE, etc...

...Boring Witcher 3 cutscenes, er, please maybe less of them for next time? I remember W1 didn't feature this cut-scene assault. I remember it was quite a focused game.

TL;DR: After hating, and I mean hating W3 and its fans for ranking high in the Codex poll, and finally buckling down nad playing it, I'm now just confused instead of angry. It's a really run-of-the-mill game with nothing that stands out, and it's a faaar cry from the greatness of Fallout: New Vegas or even, dare I say it, Morrowind.

the witcher is a game for white men so a spic not being able to appreciate it is pretty expected

 

[2house2fly]

I always find it interesting when I bring up the game's flaws in an online discussion and people get really angry. CD Projekt have successfully cultivated this image of being highly pro-consumer and gamer friendly, to the extent that people will hate you if you say, e.g., that their game's combat is not very good because they think of that as an insult to their friend. A good technique if you can pull it off.

 

[v1rus]

I always find it interesting when I bring up the game's flaws in an online discussion and people get really angry. CD Projekt have successfully cultivated this image of being highly pro-consumer and gamer friendly, to the extent that people will hate you if you say, e.g., that their game's combat is not very good because they think of that as an insult to their friend. A good technique if you can pull it off.

TBH, even with all fanboys around (myself included), I'd say no one on this forum would call W3 combat anything other than terrible.

 

[hivemind]

Yes, people only get angry because their minds are infiltrated by CD Project's psyops marketing team, and not because my points are retarded and make no sense and people on hobby websites tend to react negatively to that kind of stuff. That can be the only way anyone could potentially disagree with my refined, patrician tastes and opinions on videogames.

 

[Haplo]

I always find it interesting when I bring up the game's flaws in an online discussion and people get really angry. CD Projekt have successfully cultivated this image of being highly pro-consumer and gamer friendly, to the extent that people will hate you if you say, e.g., that their game's combat is not very good because they think of that as an insult to their friend. A good technique if you can pull it off.

TBH, even with all fanboys around (myself included), I'd say no one on this forum would call W3 combat anything other than terrible.

Witcher 2 combat was terrible (that roll-fest... ugh). W3 combat is serviceable IMO. Industry average for action cRPGs perhaps. Not on par with Dragon's Dogma or Dark Souls, certainly. But few games are. Wish it was better, but it could have been worse.

Now if you were discussing itemization or character development systems and level based damage/armor, I'd be inclined to say these things are terrible. But combat... is one of the game's least problems.

 

[v1rus]

I always find it interesting when I bring up the game's flaws in an online discussion and people get really angry. CD Projekt have successfully cultivated this image of being highly pro-consumer and gamer friendly, to the extent that people will hate you if you say, e.g., that their game's combat is not very good because they think of that as an insult to their friend. A good technique if you can pull it off.

TBH, even with all fanboys around (myself included), I'd say no one on this forum would call W3 combat anything other than terrible.

Witcher 2 combat was terrible (that roll-fest... ugh). W3 combat is serviceable IMO. Industry average for action cRPGs perhaps. Not on par with Dragon's Dogma or Dark Souls, certainly. But few games are. Wish it was better, but it could have been worse.

Now if you were discussing itemization or character development systems and level based damage/armor, I'd be inclined to say these things are terrible. But combat... is one of the game's least problems.

Well, serviceable is still pretty far from commendable. Then again, the thing that hurt combat the most is actually another big fault of the game - tons of filler and needles content. I was pretty over leveled during the whole game, and as such, Id just walk around slashing everything in two, even on deathmarch.

 

[DragoFireheart]

It is always fun to read post by someone right about one game (New Vegas) and moronically wrong about another one (TW3). This is why I go to 'dex

Who are you talking to?

BTW, my wife made a funny comment (in reference to the herbalist)

Why is she bent over that way?

Does everyone have a great ass in this game?

 

[Lithium Flower]

Since the discussion around the game and its flaws/strengths is picking back up, would anyone be interested in a mod compilation provided by yours truly? Its basically a bunch of mods (Better Combat Evolved 3 and Primer are the main ones) by people more talented than I held together with my compatibility patches and tweaks. This inelegance does not translate to the actual game, which I will go as far as to say has less issues and bugs than the patched vanilla experience. Summary of features: better combat through the addition of stamina management and deadlier enemies, alchemy/preparation system from Witcher 1, more meaningful day/night cycle, rebalanced economy so now hobomode extends to ~level10 and late-game moneysinks might actually break your bank, better upscaling without HP bloating and removed artificial difficulty from monsters that outlevel you by 5 or more levels, as well as a slew of other changes, tweaks and bug fixes. Overall the experience is less vanilla than Ghost Mode but much more vanilla than Enhanced Edition. Plus I've never seen Primer integrated with a gameplay overhaul that works with the latest version of the game, and that mod is basically the best thing to ever happen to this game.

I put this thing together for myself and my friends as getting these mods to work together with the latest version of the game is a pretty demanding process. Recently I realized that most people will never bother doing what I did, so I'm wondering if I shouldn't release the pack here for posterity.

 

[Storyfag]

Gimme.

 

[hivemind]

ye men that would be cool

 

[RoSoDude]

Since the discussion around the game and its flaws/strengths is picking back up, would anyone be interested in a mod compilation provided by yours truly? Its basically a bunch of mods (Better Combat Evolved 3 and Primer are the main ones) by people more talented than I held together with my compatibility patches and tweaks. This inelegance does not translate to the actual game, which I will go as far as to say has less issues and bugs than the patched vanilla experience. Summary of features: better combat through the addition of stamina management and deadlier enemies, alchemy/preparation system from Witcher 1, more meaningful day/night cycle, rebalanced economy so now hobomode extends to ~level10 and late-game moneysinks might actually break your bank, better upscaling without HP bloating and removed artificial difficulty from monsters that outlevel you by 5 or more levels, as well as a slew of other changes, tweaks and bug fixes. Overall the experience is less vanilla than Ghost Mode but much more vanilla than Enhanced Edition. Plus I've never seen Primer integrated with a gameplay overhaul that works with the latest version of the game, and that mod is basically the best thing to ever happen to this game.

I put this thing together for myself and my friends as getting these mods to work together with the latest version of the game is a pretty demanding process. Recently I realized that most people will never bother doing what I did, so I'm wondering if I shouldn't release the pack here for posterity.

This game has been sitting in my Steam library for a good while now -- I was considering trying it sometime with the Ghost Mode mod. How does your setup compare? I'm not so concerned with how vanilla things are, because the vanilla mechanics and systems didn't impress me. The caveat to this is that some modders don't know what the hell they're doing, and this shows the more that they change; Enhanced Edition seemed cool at first but ultimately looked bloated and too motivated by "muh realism" over sensible gameplay design.

 

[Lyre Mors]

I put this thing together for myself and my friends as getting these mods to work together with the latest version of the game is a pretty demanding process. Recently I realized that most people will never bother doing what I did, so I'm wondering if I shouldn't release the pack here for posterity

Would this mod pack require starting a new game?

 

[Lithium Flower]

Alright, pack will be uploaded in a few hours.

Would this mod pack require starting a new game?

Ideally. I don't think you strictly have to, but I am not going to be responsible for shit breaking if you choose not to.

This game has been sitting in my Steam library for a good while now -- I was considering trying it sometime with the Ghost Mode mod. How does your setup compare? I'm not so concerned with how vanilla things are, because the vanilla mechanics and systems didn't impress me. The caveat to this is that some modders don't know what the hell they're doing, and this shows the more that they change; Enhanced Edition seemed cool at first but ultimately looked bloated and too motivated by "muh realism" over sensible gameplay design.

Ghost Mode seems like a really good effort and probably the most polished and problem-free overhaul. IMO it doesn't go far enough in two major areas:

1. Combat: while certain porcine pilgrims may disagree, as long as one has a rudimentary sense of timing, the entirety of Witcher 3 can be beaten by spamming left click and occasionally pressing the step-dodge button to interrupt your attack animation and evade the enemy. Now, some enemies have movesets that are trickier to dodge, and large groups will require you to dodge more often, but as long as you can follow the rhythm of a tribal drum beat you don't really need to change anything about your playstyle. You may even cast some sort of sign whenever your stamina bar fills up if you feel particularly inclined, but in 90% of encounters that is not even necessary. The point is that most of the time you are trying different strategies, tactics, and builds because you are too bored of left clicking everything all the time, not because different situations actually push you to diversify your playstyle (with the exceptions of certain enemies that typically require 1 sign to be made vulnerable, like axii vs alghouls and yrden vs wraiths)

BCE fixes this by introducing stamina costs to every action, from dodge to attacks, and making it impossible to do said actions if your stamina is too low. Think Dark Souls. This happens to make a world of difference; in the vanilla game, over-extension and positioning are rarely concerns, but with the mod they are one of the many tactical considerations that are on the player's mind most of the time. Since you can't dodge forever, powerful solitary monsters can wear you down and hordes will utterly gangrape you unless you actually use your brain and employ various tactics. Debuff or thin out the enemy with bombs and the crossbow, use signs to create vulnerabilities and chokepoints, always reposition yourself to avoid becoming surrounded, and come prepared with the right potions and oils. Every melee attack now has a role - fast for dodgers, heavy against parry-happy foes, rend against armored opponents, and whirl against tightly-packed groups - and are available from the start, along with alternate sign modes, so that you have all the basic combat options from the very beginning of the game.

2. Alchemy. Unfortunately GM is designed to work with Preparations, which emulates the dickless alchemy system from Witcher 2. I use Primer which I consider to be the single greatest mod made for the entire Witcher series. Simply put, it tries to recreate the Witcher 1 alchemy system as faithfully as possible. Alchemical preparations need certain base substances to be created, however each base substance can be derived from 10-20 different ingredients, so its never a matter of grinding for the single correct material. For instance, Rebis is a base substance that can be found in Celandine (a common plant) as well as Drowner Brains and about a dozen other things. What this means is that acquiring ingredients is no longer akin to mindlessly fulfilling a checklist like in the vanilla game or GM but rather the natural result of exploration and combat. While potions are harder and more expensive to make than in vanilla, they also last for the better part of the day with some skill investment, which means that potion use is less of a temporary buff and more of a major mechanic you actually need to approach with some planning and forethought. Witcher 1 alchemy is wonderful because it creates a very engaging and, for the lack of a better term, """immersive""" gameplay loop of exploration and preparation before major combat encounters. For example, after taking on a witcher contract and identifying the monster in question, you may have to actually return to an alchemist/settlement or set up a campfire in the wilderness and take a second to brew the right oils/potions/bombs for the job, which rarely happens in the vanilla game as typically you have all the resources you need at all times.

I share your caution in regards to overly ambitious mods and EE, by the way. I tried to look for elements that would fix specific problems or implement specific features that were lacking rather than just add new shit just 'cause.

 

[Perkel]

I can never understand why devs don't simply give roads names, have signposts, milestones, travellers and tollhouses that can give you easy to follow directions.

"You want the ruins of Clontarf Castle? Follow the old Ribbledale Road until you come to Ribblesby, turn north on to Tor Street and follow the path up into the hills. Clontarf looms over the area still and will soon be in view."

Yes, this is superior way.

I always find it interesting when I bring up the game's flaws in an online discussion and people get really angry. CD Projekt have successfully cultivated this image of being highly pro-consumer and gamer friendly, to the extent that people will hate you if you say, e.g., that their game's combat is not very good because they think of that as an insult to their friend. A good technique if you can pull it off.

TW3 has obvious and well documented flaws. Like mediacore combat, lack of multitude of direct choices, weak loot etc. But on other hand delivers shitload of interesting side quests, amazing writing for almost whole game. It plays more like a book rather than game.
Especially when you do side quests it plays like collection of short stories and good stories at that.

This is where TW3 strenght comes from.

While C&C choices are rather small consequences are just as heavy as in previous games mainly thanks to side-quest heavy structure of the game and unilke most of the games TW developers do know how to make proper consequences of your choices which is second huge plus of TW3 and TW games in general.

Does everyone have a great ass in this game?

Ass definition comes mostly from costumes as all females in game share more or less one body type

 

[DragoFireheart]

DAT ASS

 

[Immortal]

Ass definition comes mostly from costumes as all females in game share more or less one body type

The default nude body that is used by prostitutes / bath house attendants has pretty good ass.
I think the limp old lady asses are the ones baked into costumes.

 

[Lithium Flower]

Ass definition comes mostly from costumes as all females in game share more or less one body type

The default nude body that is used by prostitutes / bath house attendants has pretty good ass.
I think the limp old lady asses are the ones baked into costumes.

The default nude body also has so few polygons in that area that one could probably shred themselves against that ass.

 

[Immortal]

Ass definition comes mostly from costumes as all females in game share more or less one body type

The default nude body that is used by prostitutes / bath house attendants has pretty good ass.
I think the limp old lady asses are the ones baked into costumes.

The default nude body also has so few polygons in that area that one could probably shred themselves against that ass.

Doesn't it have several LOD Meshes? Which mesh are you referring to?

 

[Sykar]

The butthurt Witcherfags at it again. Accept it, you are the fucking decline, rabid fanboy retards.

You try too hard, newfag.

 

[Wyrmlord]

 

[anvi]

The "Witcher 3 sux!" comments are pretty retarded. The story, characters, engine, graphics, and voice acting are all far above average for gaming. The game makes Skyrim look like total amateur hour which most sentient people already knew, but it is nice for something to come along and show how far behind acceptable that game was. My only problem with Witcher 3 (and all Witcher games) is the bad combat, and fighting is mostly what you do, so it ruins the whole thing for me. But all the other stuff was great. And the combat is shit in Dork Souls games too. It might be the new standard for melee combat but it is a shit standard, and I mostly blame console tards who don't know any better.

 

[Morm]

No, "all the other stuff was great" is just wrong. The progression system is shit, the itemization is the worst i've seen in a "RPG" and the level-design is just absent (to name just a few).

And the combat has nothing to do with Dark Souls (no stamina management, contextual attacks, only one weapon ...).

 

[roll-a-die]

No, "all the other stuff was great" is just wrong. The progression system is shit, the itemization is the worst i've seen in a "RPG" and the level-design is just absent (to name just a few).

And the combat has nothing to do with Dark Souls (no stamina management, contextual attacks, only one weapon ...).

Itemization worst you've ever seen in an "RPG"? Have you not seen any fucking bethesda game ever? Now quit fucking exaggerating.

And he was referring to the spam rolling across half the room, and swinging your weapon wildly, then backing off before a counter attack from the enemy, that occurs for most low skill souls players.

 

[Paul_cz]

If anyone plays any of the witcher games for loot and number whoring, they are doing it wrong. That does not excuse that these aspects are not the best ever, but still, the focus was elsewhere.

 

[MoonlitKnight]

If anyone plays any of the witcher games for loot and number whoring, they are doing it wrong. That does not excuse that these aspects are not the best ever, but still, the focus was elsewhere.

The focus is on quests and story, which in TW3's case aren't good at all