The Witcher 3 : Wild Hunt ! [XO, PS4, NX, PS5, XBSX|S, PC]

[szymku]

The story and the world world have quality, they did put much attention there, but the rest is sadly sub standard or simply broken.

I disagree. It took some time to get used to but after few hours I think controls and menus are quite good. Not perfect, but much better than most Capcom or Koami titles (Resident Evil brrr).
There are plenty things you can do in Witcher on instant - fight with two kind of swords (fast or strong attack), fist fight, throw bombs, shoot crossbow, cast signs, block, parry, roll, sidestep, jump, climb, run, call horse, target enemies, use witcher senses and that makes controls slightly more complicated than usual, but it's you who decide what witcher will do. There is a diffrence between Witcher and for example Assassin Creed which has "simplified" gameplay, where tapping the same button will give plenty of diffrent outcomes, depends on situation, but in fact the game offers you automated gameplay. In Witcher you have to push proper button yourself or you will fail - the game won't decide for you.
I admit I had some troubles with jerky movement of our hero, but I tweaked camera sensitivity to 0,7 of initial value and it's great.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I'm really enjoying the main and side quests so far in Velen, not only are they interesting, good for leveling up but also rewarding in other places too , there's hardly any dull moments in this game which is a surprise for an open world game. And that lighting simply gets better and better.

Velen is amazing. I spent about 15-20 hours in Velen before progressing naturally to Novigrad and immediately missed Velen. I'm certainly not done with Velen though, looking at the map I reckon I properly explored maybe a third of it - as opposed to just running away from high level things through it! There are lots of ? on the map and even some towns with noticeboards I've not visited yet. I did some exploring to the south of the map as a lvl 10 or 11 and there's much to fear down there plus I have some high witcher contracts to conclude twice of thrice my level.

I've noticed that I rarely use fast travel in this game because the environments are just so good and the lighting is brilliant. Dawns and dusks are spectacular but even when the sun and high and you're tracking through a forest, the sun piercing the trees and casting shadows makes the game look great. Rain and storm are similar epic as is the mist and fog.

I've lost many an hour seeing something interesting in the distance then making my way there to find out what it is. It's not many games that can grip me so long - or make me miss a place I've already spent a crazy amount of time in, usually I'm looking forward to a new environment.

I've gotten used the controls, which were fiddly at first, and the UI which was initially confusing.

 

[orangpelupa]

@ultragpu what pic was that in the spoiler? i clcked it and quickly hide the spoiiler again.

 

[ultragpu]

Velen is amazing. I spent about 15-20 hours in Velen before progressing naturally to Novigrad and immediately missed Velen. I'm certainly not done with Velen though, looking at the map I reckon I properly explored maybe a third of it - as opposed to just running away from high level things through it! There are lots of ? on the map and even some towns with noticeboards I've not visited yet. I did some exploring to the south of the map as a lvl 10 or 11 and there's much to fear down there plus I have some high witcher contracts to conclude twice of thrice my level.

I've noticed that I rarely use fast travel in this game because the environments are just so good and the lighting is brilliant. Dawns and dusks are spectacular but even when the sun and high and you're tracking through a forest, the sun piercing the trees and casting shadows makes the game look great. Rain and storm are similar epic as is the mist and fog.

I've lost many an hour seeing something interesting in the distance then making my way there to find out what it is. It's not many games that can grip me so long - or make me miss a place I've already spent a crazy amount of time in, usually I'm looking forward to a new environment.

I've gotten used the controls, which were fiddly at first, and the UI which was initially confusing.

Absolutely, so much to do, to explore to see in Velen and I've not even scratched the surface here. Often times I find myself just checking out the scenery, the lighting, the weather and getting the best angle for screenies. I'm gonna take my sweet time with this game, exploring each corner, all the side quests and whatever that's on offer. Although the leveling and crafting system are a bit confusing at first, currently I'm reading a quick guide for beginners and it really helps.

@ultragpu what pic was that in the spoiler? i clcked it and quickly hide the spoiiler again.

Weird, works fine for me. Check the PM convo.

 

[RenegadeRocks]

I was thinking the combat is clunky, but I was wrong. Since I had sailed to Novigrad I found a merchant selling the respec potion.used it and respecced my build correctly and now combat is a smooth flow ! The point is to not play it like other RPGs, it has its own thing. Now I cast a Yrden sign, lure enemies into it and then slice them or set them on fire. All damage is double inside the sign trap area and .......boom..they all fall down ! Also, now I pay attention and use the correct stuff against enemies, my Igni is still a major weapon and all my signs are boosted to 40 or 50% .....in short all the clumsiness is gone simply by speccing my character correctly and now battles flow like cool lemonade on a summer day ! It wasn't the game's fault at all.

Now, everything has clicked !


And boy, I keep getting amazed by the side quests. Each one has such a good story that I keep finding myself doing side quests instead of the main story line. Did the werewolf one ! Really want to know what would have happened if I had listened to the missing wife's sister and told the hunter the lie. Can anyone tell me?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Absolutely, so much to do, to explore to see in Velen and I've not even scratched the surface here. Often times I find myself just checking out the scenery, the lighting, the weather and getting the best angle for screenies. I'm gonna take my sweet time with this game, exploring each corner, all the side quests and whatever that's on offer.

My Prima Official Guide arrived today (thank you, Amazon Prime) this morning so I'm reading bits here and there while trying to avoid spoiler bits for future story and decisions I didn't make. I really thought I was a fair way into the game but apparently not, having just got to Novigrad through the main quest line I'm a only third in!

Although the levelling and crafting system are a bit confusing at first, currently I'm reading a quick guide for beginners and it really helps.

Very.

 

[Daozang]

Now I cast a Yrden sign, lure enemies into it and then slice them or set them on fire

Is there a way to spec and be able to cast a sign twice, without waiting for the bar to refill?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Is there a way to spec and be able to cast a sign twice, without waiting for the bar to refill?

When fighting wraiths I've been able to spam Yrden so there are multiple concentric circles of ghost traps.

Now who you gonna call?

 

[Cjail]

I disagree. It took some time to get used to but after few hours I think controls and menus are quite good. Not perfect, but much better than most Capcom or Koami titles (Resident Evil brrr).

I got used to the controls but the unresponsiveness didn't go away.
It's not something I can change.

There are plenty things you can do in Witcher on instant - fight with two kind of swords (fast or strong attack), fist fight, throw bombs, shoot crossbow, cast signs, block, parry, roll, sidestep, jump, climb, run, call horse, target enemies, use witcher senses and that makes controls slightly more complicated than usual, but it's you who decide what witcher will do. There is a diffrence between Witcher and for example Assassin Creed which has "simplified" gameplay, where tapping the same button will give plenty of diffrent outcomes, depends on situation, but in fact the game offers you automated gameplay. In Witcher you have to push proper button yourself or you will fail - the game won't decide for you.

You can do way more in Asassin's Creed, Rocksteady's Batman games or Shadow of Mordor rhan in TW3.
Freedom of movement is superior in those games while vertical exploration in TW3 is limited and climbing is just horrible in TW3.
The combat system in AC, Arkahm or SoM is more varied and it's more tactical with more moves than TW3; in TW3 you have just 2 attacks no combos no finishers no stun combat moves nor you can grab enemies, counters are a high risk low reward move (CD Projekt got one of the basics of hack & slash design wrong) and don't even work on beasts, blocking is semi-useless because most of the enemies can ignore you defence (only dogs and wolves can be blocked perfectly), magic is poorly implemented, using the crossbow in combat is terrible compared to using the arrow in Shadow of Mordor or Dragon's Dogma, Witcher sense is a "ugly" version version of Detective mode or Wraith Vision, the horse is terrible to controls compared to Agro in Shadow of the Colossus and Caragors in Shadow of Mordor are a superiore mount and they are essentially big wolves.

Sure TW3 has the upper hand when it comes to dialogues and story but they neglected the core mechanics.

 

[Deleted member 2197]

I got used to the controls but the unresponsiveness didn't go away.

Happens sometime on the PC as well .... most likely a bug that will be patched.

 

[Cyan]

Absolutely, so much to do, to explore to see in Velen and I've not even scratched the surface here. Often times I find myself just checking out the scenery, the lighting, the weather and getting the best angle for screenies. I'm gonna take my sweet time with this game, exploring each corner, all the side quests and whatever that's on offer. Although the leveling and crafting system are a bit confusing at first, currently I'm reading a quick guide for beginners and it really helps.

Weird, works fine for me. Check the PM convo.

Which guide is that and where you can get it? I learnt everything about the game myself, for the most part -I didn't even know that you can parry holding the trigger instead of timing it-, and some fine tips like those of Kotaku's always help.

@Cjail to be totally fair, the Witcher senses existed well before those games you mention came out, when the first The Witcher was published.

 

[ultragpu]

Which guide is that and where you can get it? I learnt everything about the game myself, for the most part -I didn't even know that you can parry holding the trigger instead of timing it-, and some fine tips like those of Kotaku's always help.

@Cjail to be totally fair, the Witcher senses existed well before those games you mention came out, when the first The Witcher was published.

Oh it's just a beginner's guide from a website that I've forgotten the name now, could be Kotaku's. I'll try to dig it up again.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Which guide is that and where you can get it? I learnt everything about the game myself, for the most part -I didn't even know that you can parry holding the trigger instead of timing it-, and some fine tips like those of Kotaku's always help.

Somebody didn't pay attention in Witcher School during training!

Holding L2/LB is one of the first things the game teaches you at Kaer Morhen. But timed parries, needed to deflect arrows back at ranked attackers and stagger opponents, is tricky. I've not bothered investing any skill points in any abilities that required timed parries.

 

[Cjail]

@Cjail to be totally fair, the Witcher senses existed well before those games you mention came out, when the first The Witcher was published.

I said it' a ugly verion of Detective vision not that is a clone.
I am colour blind and I assure you that seeing red tracks on a green background is problematic for me.
Really instead of highlighting objects Witcher sense hides them to even more.
I never had this problem in Arkham or Mordor.

 

[Cyan]

Somebody didn't pay attention in Witcher School during training!

Holding L2/LB is one of the first things the game teaches you at Kaer Morhen. But timed parries, needed to deflect arrows back at ranked attackers and stagger opponents, is tricky. I've not bothered investing any skill points in any abilities that required timed parries.

Needless to say, I thought I was more to the deep end of the pool than to the shallow end.

Remember that part, learning with Vesemir, but I'd swear they gave more importance to timed parrying and in fact you had to perform timed parries several times.

Your choice of not using it sounds like a good idea to me. At 30 fps and a non fixed camera, timed parries are complicated to perform --about the same could be said if the game ran at 60 fps, actually. In normal and the third/fourth difficulty levels it can mean getting hurt a lot.

Maybe you could use the timed parries in the "griffyndor" battle, when he was diving, they could come in handy, but in most fights I didn't.

I said it' a ugly verion of Detective vision not that is a clone.
I am colour blind and I assure you that seeing red tracks on a green background is problematic for me.
Really instead of highlighting objects Witcher sense hides them to even more.

Hmmm, I think you should mention that to them in the official forums, they have been looking into bugs and listening to people there. What colour do you see the red in those situations periwinkle, olive green...for instance? I am myopic, but never experienced what you see.

It wouldn't be a bad idea if you could play with the brave DSoup , but the roles should be reversed. He has a thing for smacking baddies around or rabble and rabble-rousers looking at him funny and he could investigate instead and you do the fight.

 

[Globalisateur]

I perfectly understand the numerous critics about the combat system. It is not as tight as in Batman or TLOU for instance.

Personally I never parry, for many different reasons, but mostly because I found that it doesn't really work against strong foes and it's useless against small foes where you can easily dodge and kill them. The dodge or roll tactic is the most reliable way to beat opponents IMO, but I am still near the beginning of the game, so we'll see...

 

[Cyan]

I perfectly understand the numerous critics about the combat system. It is not as tight as in Batman or TLOU for instance.

Personally I never parry, for many different reasons, but mostly because I found that it doesn't really work against strong foes and it's useless against small foes where you can easily dodge and kill them. The dodge or roll tactic is the most reliable way to beat opponents IMO, but I am still near the beginning of the game, so we'll see...

Dodging and rolling for me too, however you must use it carefully because you run out of stamina if you abuse it and can't cast signs until the stamina replenishes.

 

[szymku]

You can do way more in Asassin's Creed, Rocksteady's Batman games or Shadow of Mordor rhan in TW3.

Batman controls are superior, no doubt, not only to Witcher but to 95% of other titles. As for AC - yes, you can do more, all of which with one button . Which I did in four consecutive games and I think I had enough. I didn't play SoM so I can't compare

Freedom of movement is superior in those games while vertical exploration in TW3 is limited and climbing is just horrible in TW3.

Maybe it's because witcher is not known for his parkour/roof climbing skills but for killing.

The combat system in AC, Arkahm or SoM is more varied

Again - Batman is special in this regard, but AC combat is horrible - everyone is waiting for their turn, so a little bit of timing will give you easy victory, even over the strongest of enemies. i remember I didn't have motivation for upgrading my gear or skills beacuse I could beat anyone to pulp without that

TW3 you have just 2 attacks no combos no finishers no stun combat moves nor you can grab enemies, counters are a high risk low reward move (CD Projekt got one of the basics of hack & slash design wrong) and don't even work on beasts, blocking is semi-useless because most of the enemies can ignore you defence (only dogs and wolves can be blocked perfectly),

Where to start... It's obvious that you haven't played long because most of the things you mentioned improve vastly as you upgrade your level. And two attacks along with crossbow, bombs, signs, dodging, blocking, parrying gives you plenty of fun. It is no Batman, but in my book it's much better than AC.

magic is poorly implemented, using the crossbow in combat is terrible compared to using the arrow in Shadow of Mordor or Dragon's Dogma,

I find using magic (signs), crossbow and bombs very intuitive and well implemented.

Witcher sense is a "ugly" version version of Detective mode or Wraith Vision, the horse is terrible to controls compared to Agro in Shadow of the Colossus and Caragors in Shadow of Mordor are a superiore mount and they are essentially big wolves.

Witcher sense implementation and detective quests are the most fun part of the game - finding clues or trails is great and adds to the experience. And it's not too easy, which I like. Regarding horseback - could be better, but you should check SotC. Or RDR. Or TLoU. Or AC - it's on par with those titles, considering that terrain in Witcher is more varied and difficult to traverse. Only thing that annoys me about horseback is mounting, which takes more time than it should.

 

[Lightman]

I'm currently lvl 8 and my combat tactics are based on:
- for humans or humanoid monsters with weapons - parring and timed parring mixed with dodges work really well!
- for monsters - mainly dodges and Quenn sign

I do mix use of bombs or crossbow when appropriate. Bombs are very effective against groups of enemies in the first stages of fight before they get close. Crossbow with upgraded arrows is really good to use against distant enemies, especially when it causes bleeding! Before they get to you they usually are one slash problem or none at all

BTW I'm playing using XBOX 360 controller on PC and not being able to call a map with one button is a bit of a pain, luckily after today's patch I might be able to switch to keyboard + mouse to fix that! Saying that playing using controller is really good except getting used to walking/running threshold on left stick. I would prefer button combination for running or even toggle run / walk.

 

[Daozang]

The combat system in AC, Arkahm or SoM is more varied and it's more tactical with more moves than TW3

In my opinion, when it comes to combat, AC is the worst of the bunch (and when I say bunch, I mean the majority of triple A titles with combat as a major element of their gameplay). Truly awful combat mechanics that require no skill at all.
To me that game, requires no tactic whatsoever.
Batman is excellent, but not nearly as complicated as W3. To me it feels, first and foremost, an excellent fighting game.
SoM is a mix of the above.

I believe that CDPR had different priorities and a completely different approach to combat. And for the scope of the game, I find the result simply great.
If I have to compare it with something, I think it is more appropriate to do so with games such as DA and the TES series.