Gaming The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

I can understand his frustration when his books start appearing in bookstores featuring artwork of The Witcher 3 on the cover. He knows there are a lot of ignorant people out there who play the game but don't know the books exist, or think the books are based on the game's success. Geralt is his character and now he sees the video game creators reaching a far wider audience than he ever could and getting all the credit, no matter how honest and respectful their intentions.

But yes there is certainly a generational thing, he doesn't like video games in general and doesn't appreciate them. He considers the medium far inferior to classical literature. Typical ignorance on the matter of a man his age, I can't really blame him.

I wouldn't say ignorant is the right word in the first case. Unaware is what I'd say.

In the second case I would say it is. I've met numerous snobs from writing, tv and films in the course of making games, people who think because it's a new medium to them it doesn't matter. One would think creative types would jump on any chance to express themselves and ideas and tell their stories to reach new people, but meh, what do I know.
 
Ohhh, how I remember reading your initial posts. "It's good but not THAT good".

:D

Did you go to the fairytale land? That was one of the most creative segments in terms of settings I've ever seen. I accidentally crushed poor Thumbelina when I was exploring the mini town. Her poor screams. :lol:
Yep, I went to the fairytale land. That bitch witch was difficult, until I spent a few points on the alternative Yrden sign in which case it became a trivial fight.

I also bought that ribbon which was a nice thing to do.
 
Man, it's taken me a long time to get into this. It usually takes a while before a game sucks me in, but this is a bit daunting in its size, mechanics, etc. Feel like I'm finally getting there, though ^_^

Can see why everyone's raving. You can get seriously lost in this...
 
Man, it's taken me a long time to get into this. It usually takes a while before a game sucks me in, but this is a bit daunting in its size, mechanics, etc. Feel like I'm finally getting there, though ^_^

Can see why everyone's raving. You can get seriously lost in this...

How far are you in?
 
How far are you in?

Not that far in. Got a pass from the Baron so that I can make my way to Novigrad. I've of course been doing side quests and random exploring, too.

If you mean how many hours in I am, I'm not sure. Will have to check next time I fire up the game.
 
Not that far in. Got a pass from the Baron so that I can make my way to Novigrad. I've of course been doing side quests and random exploring, too.

If you mean how many hours in I am, I'm not sure. Will have to check next time I fire up the game.

Oh man, you've basically just started :lol: the entire bloody baron questline is epic. Basically could have been a game by itself.
 
Oh man, you've basically just started :lol: the entire bloody baron questline is epic. Basically could have been a game by itself.

I know I've only just started... level 11, got some fantastic gear that I can use in another 19 levels :lol:

There's not enough hours in the day, man.
 
I know I've only just started... level 11, got some fantastic gear that I can use in another 19 levels :lol:

There's not enough hours in the day, man.

Quit work and stop socialising, then if you take enough pro plus and cocaine you get about 23 hours a day to witcher. Still, could do with somehow finding that extra hour.
 
Quit work and stop socialising, then if you take enough pro plus and cocaine you get about 23 hours a day to witcher. Still, could do with somehow finding that extra hour.

No go on quitting work. Considering the size of this game, I won't have time to complete it before my power gets shut off :lol:

Also, I've no way to source cocaine... bloody countryside!
 
I'm so glad I had a break from it. It took over my life for a period of time.

I enjoyed every minute of what I played if it, but I'm so glad I managed to get out when I did.

The next step is uninstalling it from my PC. I'm keeping it 'just incase' but I have far too much going on to get sucked in again.
 
So, was thinking about going back to this. Completed the game initially upon release but wanted to go back to do more side quests etc... I had always intended to

Saw it on sale on psn, decided to trade my hard copy and buy it digitally. Was in for a shock when I discovered my save does not carry over to digital version, and no chance do I want to start again.

That's about 100 hours down the drain
 
So, was thinking about going back to this. Completed the game initially upon release but wanted to go back to do more side quests etc... I had always intended to

Saw it on sale on psn, decided to trade my hard copy and buy it digitally. Was in for a shock when I discovered my save does not carry over to digital version, and no chance do I want to start again.

That's about 100 hours down the drain
Have you done the DLCs? They're very very much worth playing and they're capable of being done in isolation without grinding through again
 
I already finished this over a year ago but it just occured to me, while defending this game in overrated games thread, that I absolutely want to play this again and actually prefer to do that over getting some of the newer games out there now. I think I want to go through the whole game again.

Which way will be better - starting a new game in the one I already have, or should I give them money again and buy GOTY collection? I think I'd prefer the latter, the downside will be not having your previous character but I actually enjoyed building it and would probably not mind doing this over again, and I'd be able to start from scratch, meaning I would get to enjoy the whole thing in full. It will also include both DLCs and I am yet to do Hearts of Stone!

Or maybe I should actually do Hearts of Stone now, and then buy GOTY edition sometime around 2nd anniversary in two months.
 
I already finished this over a year ago but it just occured to me, while defending this game in overrated games thread, that I absolutely want to play this again and actually prefer to do that over getting some of the newer games out there now. I think I want to go through the whole game again.

Which way will be better - starting a new game in the one I already have, or should I give them money again and buy GOTY collection? I think I'd prefer the latter, the downside will be not having your previous character but I actually enjoyed building it and would probably not mind doing this over again, and I'd be able to start from scratch, meaning I would get to enjoy the whole thing in full. It will also include both DLCs and I am yet to do Hearts of Stone!

Or maybe I should actually do Hearts of Stone now, and then buy GOTY edition sometime around 2nd anniversary in two months.

From where I stand, anyone that says that they have had a good go at TW3 and it's not their cup of tea is fair enough, but the people that don't understand why this game got so much praise are beyond me. That tells me that they haven't spent long enough doing much of anything in the game, or even worse just watched a few game play vids and seen that you can't kill NPC's GTA style or some crap like that. IMO there are some games that as a gamer, you HAVE to at least appreciate even if you don't like it, and this is one of those games.
 
I already finished this over a year ago but it just occured to me, while defending this game in overrated games thread, that I absolutely want to play this again and actually prefer to do that over getting some of the newer games out there now. I think I want to go through the whole game again.

Which way will be better - starting a new game in the one I already have, or should I give them money again and buy GOTY collection? I think I'd prefer the latter, the downside will be not having your previous character but I actually enjoyed building it and would probably not mind doing this over again, and I'd be able to start from scratch, meaning I would get to enjoy the whole thing in full. It will also include both DLCs and I am yet to do Hearts of Stone!

Or maybe I should actually do Hearts of Stone now, and then buy GOTY edition sometime around 2nd anniversary in two months.
I had the same feeling before Christmas and went to play it again, but the game is so fecking massive that I got about 20 hours in and stopped cause something came up. You really need time to dedicate to it.
 
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I already finished this over a year ago but it just occured to me, while defending this game in overrated games thread, that I absolutely want to play this again and actually prefer to do that over getting some of the newer games out there now. I think I want to go through the whole game again.

Which way will be better - starting a new game in the one I already have, or should I give them money again and buy GOTY collection? I think I'd prefer the latter, the downside will be not having your previous character but I actually enjoyed building it and would probably not mind doing this over again, and I'd be able to start from scratch, meaning I would get to enjoy the whole thing in full. It will also include both DLCs and I am yet to do Hearts of Stone!

Or maybe I should actually do Hearts of Stone now, and then buy GOTY edition sometime around 2nd anniversary in two months.

I've been debating it myself for a few weeks but I just don't know if I have what it takes to do it all again. I really want to but it needs an enormous commitment. I miss it more than anything in the world.
 
I've been debating it myself for a few weeks but I just don't know if I have what it takes to do it all again. I really want to but it needs an enormous commitment. I miss it more than anything in the world.

I'd probably once again take 5 months to complete it, I don't mind. Good thing about me is that I have very short memory for games, movies etc. I played GTA 5 again last year having completed it 3 years ago and most of it felt completely new to me. I don't remember the endings of 90% movies that I watched.

I still need to finish Horizon and Zelda which is easily going to take me 60-70 more hours, then get down to Dishonored 2, Watch Dogs 2 (which I have finished in 50-60% already), Mafia 3 (I have maybe 50% done too) and maybe get back to some of the backlog on my shelf (I have Arkham Knight, Far Cry 4, Middle Earth and probably a couple more games which I own but still haven't finished), but will probably get back to Witcher before going to any backlog. I also want to get Yakuza 0 which is very long, and then when they drop in price I'll probably get Nier Automata and Nioh (this one is pretty long too). Thinking about this, Summer will be nice time to get back to Witcher. Looking at the release calendar between May and August there is not that much out there. In fact, there's nothing, so having a good backlog will be convenient. I'll get GOTY Witcher though, I want to start from scratch (the save will not work even with the current copy I think because I played this on PS4 and switched to PS4 Pro since, and my save data is in cloud). If I manage to finish Horizon and Zelda by the end of April, I will get this for anniversary.
 
I'd probably once again take 5 months to complete it, I don't mind. Good thing about me is that I have very short memory for games, movies etc. I played GTA 5 again last year having completed it 3 years ago and most of it felt completely new to me. I don't remember the endings of 90% movies that I watched.

I still need to finish Horizon and Zelda which is easily going to take me 60-70 more hours, then get down to Dishonored 2, Watch Dogs 2 (which I have finished in 50-60% already), Mafia 3 (I have maybe 50% done too) and maybe get back to some of the backlog on my shelf (I have Arkham Knight, Far Cry 4, Middle Earth and probably a couple more games which I own but still haven't finished), but will probably get back to Witcher before going to any backlog. I also want to get Yakuza 0 which is very long, and then when they drop in price I'll probably get Nier Automata and Nioh (this one is pretty long too). Thinking about this, Summer will be nice time to get back to Witcher. Looking at the release calendar between May and August there is not that much out there. In fact, there's nothing, so having a good backlog will be convenient. I'll get GOTY Witcher though, I want to start from scratch (the save will not work even with the current copy I think because I played this on PS4 and switched to PS4 Pro since, and my save data is in cloud). If I manage to finish Horizon and Zelda by the end of April, I will get this for anniversary.

Yeah, if I have like 3 summer months completely free of any responsibilities then I would be able to finish it from start to the end of the second expansion, I just don't know if I'll ever have that much free time again.
 
Ahh feck, Dishonored 2. My list just grows and grows, I refuse to let it be one of my many games left unopened! :lol:

I've barely touched this and I was so excited to get it. Coming to think of it, I should probably even finish main campaign in Battlefield 1 as it is supposed to be good. NBA 2K17 is a bitch, whenever I get a new game and start playing it, at some point during session there comes a time when I want to stop and play NBA for a few minutes which then turn into an hour, and then it's time to stop playing.
 
I already finished this over a year ago but it just occured to me, while defending this game in overrated games thread, that I absolutely want to play this again and actually prefer to do that over getting some of the newer games out there now. I think I want to go through the whole game again.

Which way will be better - starting a new game in the one I already have, or should I give them money again and buy GOTY collection? I think I'd prefer the latter, the downside will be not having your previous character but I actually enjoyed building it and would probably not mind doing this over again, and I'd be able to start from scratch, meaning I would get to enjoy the whole thing in full. It will also include both DLCs and I am yet to do Hearts of Stone!

Or maybe I should actually do Hearts of Stone now, and then buy GOTY edition sometime around 2nd anniversary in two months.
I bought Zelda and Horizon, all they did was make me realise again how good TW3 is and I ended up going back to play that instead. I've since sold them both, including the Switch and just gone back to TW3.

If you can I'd recommend doing both DLC and using that save to start an NG+ on Death March with level adjustments turned on. The mutations, runes and weapons from the DLC are good and add another layer for a new play through. It feels good starting fully powered up too like a proper Witcher. I started with Manticore armour, I can't remember the steel sword I have and Aerondight silver sword. I'm near the end of The Bloody Baron quest and still using them, although the steel sword is going to need replaced soon I like all the bonuses. Aerondight is fantastic since it levels with you and if you land 10 hits without being hit then every swipe becomes a critical.
 
I bought Zelda and Horizon, all they did was make me realise again how good TW3 is and I ended up going back to play that instead. I've since sold them both, including the Switch and just gone back to TW3.

If you can I'd recommend doing both DLC and using that save to start an NG+ on Death March with level adjustments turned on. The mutations, runes and weapons from the DLC are good and add another layer for a new play through. It feels good starting fully powered up too like a proper Witcher. I started with Manticore armour, I can't remember the steel sword I have and Aerondight silver sword. I'm near the end of The Bloody Baron quest and still using them, although the steel sword is going to need replaced soon I like all the bonuses. Aerondight is fantastic since it levels with you and if you land 10 hits without being hit then every swipe becomes a critical.

Nah I won't be going on higher than normal difficulty. It's not the game in which I am looking for challenge, I'm in it for story and the world.
 
Yeah I did Blood and Wine on Death March without even realising. I like having to stay on my toes and the combat is fun when you have to think about what you're doing without just slicing through everything. It's nicely balanced and I don't want to go through it too quickly.
 
Took me so long to get into it. A lot of it had to do with the fact that there's so much to get your head around. Alchemy, smithing, diagrams, books and character descriptions that update as you go along, and so many points of interest and quest markers that you can easily start feeling overwhelmed. I might not get to grips with everything (I'm level 19 and still haven't touched oils and decoctions and the like, and I've barely started using anything other than swallow as far as potions go), but I've tipped over to the point that hours are flying by while I'm playing and muttering to myself how much I love this game.

Can't believe the nutters claiming the side quests aren't diverse in the overrated games thread. Compared to what?! Nothing in the last couple of console generations, that's for damn sure.
 
Took me so long to get into it. A lot of it had to do with the fact that there's so much to get your head around. Alchemy, smithing, diagrams, books and character descriptions that update as you go along, and so many points of interest and quest markers that you can easily start feeling overwhelmed. I might not get to grips with everything (I'm level 19 and still haven't touched oils and decoctions and the like, and I've barely started using anything other than swallow as far as potions go), but I've tipped over to the point that hours are flying by while I'm playing and muttering to myself how much I love this game.

Can't believe the nutters claiming the side quests aren't diverse in the overrated games thread. Compared to what?! Nothing in the last couple of console generations, that's for damn sure.
I can understand the general criticism of combat not being amazing, the loot system being useless and the weirdness of how you level up because those are things that certain people prioritise in games, and they're definitely shortcomings that the Witcher 3 possesses and seem to have been less important to them in exchange for other aspects of the game (which I personally love). But yeah, the last part baffles me too. No game is going to have perfect sidequests but The Witcher 3 is a damn sight better than any recent competitors in that sense.
 
Love the game but I'm getting consistently butchered by this fecking werewolf. Any thoughts anyone?
 
Love the game but I'm getting consistently butchered by this fecking werewolf. Any thoughts anyone?

Earlyish in the game? I think that arsehole fecked me up a bunch too. Igni, and dodge past his attacks and attack his back for higher damage. I think that, along with thunderbolt helped me take him down.
 
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Love the game but I'm getting consistently butchered by this fecking werewolf. Any thoughts anyone?
The first one near the tree, or the one in Skellige Garden? If it's the first, then Axii spam + thunderbolt and strong attacks. Key is to time to Axii's before he regens. Admittedly that's easier said than done.
 
Earlyish in the game? I think that arsehole fecked me up a bunch too. Igno, and dodge past his attacks and attack his back for higher damage. I think that, along with thunderbolt helped me take him down.

The first one near the tree, or the one in Skellige Garden? If it's the first, then Axii spam + thunderbolt and strong attacks. Key is to time to Axii's before he regens. Admittedly that's easier said than done.

Yeah, it's early doors. I've tried burning him and then attacking him from behind but he just regenerates and slowly pulps me.

Cheers all, I'll have another go tonight.
 
Love the game but I'm getting consistently butchered by this fecking werewolf. Any thoughts anyone?

I found werewolves tricky at first too because I had a rather defensive, measured playstyle at the time and it just didn't work in face of the werewolves (and vampires) regen abilities. I found going aggressive and offensive while just dodging a lot to be the best strategy. Never cease up on getting the attacks in if you can help it.

I've just been playing my NG+ playthrough and have this absolutely ludicrous build that takes practically no damage and can kill wild hunt warriors in one hit, and practically anything in less than 4. This on death march. Totally busted stuff, alchemy tree of course, considering changing it up to get at least a little bit of challenge back in it.
 
Took me so long to get into it. A lot of it had to do with the fact that there's so much to get your head around. Alchemy, smithing, diagrams, books and character descriptions that update as you go along, and so many points of interest and quest markers that you can easily start feeling overwhelmed. I might not get to grips with everything (I'm level 19 and still haven't touched oils and decoctions and the like, and I've barely started using anything other than swallow as far as potions go), but I've tipped over to the point that hours are flying by while I'm playing and muttering to myself how much I love this game.

Can't believe the nutters claiming the side quests aren't diverse in the overrated games thread. Compared to what?! Nothing in the last couple of console generations, that's for damn sure.
Yeah some of the complaints are nuts, what more could you want from side quests?

As far as oils go, if you know what enemy you're going to be facing(as you often do in Witcher contracts) then go in to the bestiary and it tells you along the bottom in the middle what oil to apply to your silver sword. In general I always have Hanged Man's Venom on my steel sword for fighting people and switch it for beast oil for bears, dogs or wolves. Once you get into oils for monsters it becomes a bit more complicated, but the bestiary usually tells you, especially after you fight a few. You get used to it eventually and it's not as complicated as it seems, but I still sometimes get confused between elementa and relics.

Yeah, it's early doors. I've tried burning him and then attacking him from behind but he just regenerates and slowly pulps me.

Cheers all, I'll have another go tonight.
I think Moon Dust might slow his regeneration, but don't quote me on that. I know it's got silver shards that work on a lot of enemies abilities. If not then I'd use Igni to set him on fire, take some Thunderbolt and Golden Oriole and then hit him with Devil's Puffball too. See if you can put enough status effects on him to negate the regeneration. Golden Oriole means that Devil's Puffball will be regenerating you and hopefully poisoning him. Obviously cursed oil helps too.
 
If all else fails, @Eckers99, nobody will hold it against you if you quickly drop the difficulty down a notch or two. ;)
 
I can understand the general criticism of combat not being amazing, the loot system being useless and the weirdness of how you level up because those are things that certain people prioritise in games, and they're definitely shortcomings that the Witcher 3 possesses and seem to have been less important to them in exchange for other aspects of the game (which I personally love). But yeah, the last part baffles me too. No game is going to have perfect sidequests but The Witcher 3 is a damn sight better than any recent competitors in that sense.

I agree with all of this.

I don't particularily like the simplistic combat, the alchemy/creation/loot system is pretty much pointless and the leveling both character and weapon is crude and under developed. Also, the difficulty is annoying, not because it's tough, but because I've always hated games that just bump up enemy health making it pointless. For example, you play on Death march with character levelling and then face those rats near the end of the Triss questline :lol:


That all being said, it's clearly a very decent game. The story, most of the quests (though there still are a fair share of boring ones it has to be said) and the world are simply fantastic. The amount of work gone into it is simply awesome.

Being a gameplay first and foremost player, of course this isn't rated so highly for me. But, and it's a big but (giggity), it's a gaming experience that will stay with me and that's worth it alone.
 
When The Witcher 1 came out in 2007, things began to change. Book publishers saw it as a way of reaching a new audience and so republished the series with game-related images and blurbs. It muddied the waters, making the distinction between game and author less clear. Not a problem in Poland, where Sapkowski was a household name, but to English audiences, where he wasn't published until 2008... "It was f***ing bad for me," he says.

As CD Projekt Red's star rose with each game released, the problem worsened. Take a look at the covers of the English books now and see for yourself. You can imagine why someone would mistakenly ask Sapkowski if he was the guy writing books about the games. "It happened," he says. "It happened. I can remember my reaction: I know many bad words and I used all of them, in many languages.

"In 20 years," he says, "somebody will ask, 'Witcher, the game - and who's the author?" No one will know, he says. "Somebody," they'll say. I get the impression it is his greatest fear.

You can understand his frustration and you can understand the confusion. But isn't it all water under the bridge compared to the money he has made from Witcher game sales? Well no, because - and herein lies his constant source of aggravation - he gets nothing.

"I was stupid enough to sell them rights to the whole bunch," he says. "They offered me a percentage of their profits. I said, 'No, there will be no profit at all - give me all my money right now! The whole amount.' It was stupid. I was stupid enough to leave everything in their hands because I didn't believe in their success. But who could foresee their success? I couldn't."
 
It sucks that he doesn't get much money from it (well, he got something when he sold it), but surely in an indirect way, the success of the game raised sales of the books. I think that a lot of people might have read the books after the games. Game of Thrones skyrocketed the sales of ASOIAF, and probably something like that (in a much lower scale) has happened here.
 
Had the GOTY edition collecting dust in my hoard for a while waiting for deadlines to clear up. Can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel :drool: