I purchased this game a while back when it was on sale, and finally decided to start playing it. I'm about 5 hours in, and I have to force myself to play it. GAF, where is this game you've been praising since its release? Is it hidden behind 20 more hours of gameplay?
1. The gameplay is pretty dull
Small enemy? Mash light attack until dead. Big enemy? Heavy attack, dodge, heavy attack dodge, heavy attack, dodge.
Parrying is pretty cool, but as someone who loves Soulsborne, it feels way too janky.
Magic is a joke. Maybe it gets good if you use all of your skill points levelling it up, or maybe it doesn't. But right now it feels like a totally underpowered, completely unnecessary afterthought.
2. The RPG systems are unnecessarily obtuse
Unlike the vast majority of open world RPGs, Witcher 3 does nothing to ease you into its gameplay systems. It gives you a short tutorial on combat, and then everything else is haphazardly explained through popups the first time you enter a menu.
By the time I actually want to use a feature, like crafting, it's been hours since I clicked through those popups and I have no idea where to even start. So, I can break down items for components? Which items? How do I break them down? What the fuck are specialties?
Worse yet, even games that are particularly infamous for messy design and confusing systems are much easier to navigate than this mess (e.g. Skyrim). Why did this game get a free pass?
3. The side quests are disappointing (so far)
After reading a thousand comments praising Witcher 3 for its excellent side quests, I'm pretty damn disappointed so far.
From an actual gameplay standpoint, they're all pretty much fetch quests. Sure, they have an added element of "investigation," which generally involves following footsteps or blood trails with your witcher senses and pressing X on anything that glows red... But 7 side-quests in, and I'm already annoyed at this silly mechanic.
The only saving grace, so far, is that these side-quests are a little bit deeper, story wise, than your average WRPG. But from what I've seen so far, they still don't hold a candle to the likes of New Vegas.
4. The main story isn't intriguing
Now, this could be because I haven't played the previous Witcher games, so I may not have the requisite emotional connection to the characters... But I really don't care about Geralt, or the sexy feminist sorceress, or the grown-up witcher child prodigy. The game has given me zero emotional context, and I'm just sort of expected to follow all of these characters around pretending I give a shit?
Even Fallout 4 had a more compelling plotline.
5. The world building is boring and lazy
Yes, it is dense and complicated. Yes, the morality of this world is awash with gray tones. And this would be really cool, IF the world was inherently interesting, or at the very least, if the exposition was done in a more interesting manner.
Instead, I have to run past hundreds of NPCs who I can't interact with and attempt to catch the subtitles that twitch sporadically above their head and read dozens of books I steal off of people's shelves--JUST to understand what the hell is happening around me.
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now, for a 40+ hour game, 5 hours is probably not representative. I really want to like this game, but I find it such a chore to boot it up nowadays.
So tell me GAF, did this game take a while to "click" with you? Or am I destined to dislike it, based on my initial thoughts?
1. The gameplay is pretty dull
Small enemy? Mash light attack until dead. Big enemy? Heavy attack, dodge, heavy attack dodge, heavy attack, dodge.
Parrying is pretty cool, but as someone who loves Soulsborne, it feels way too janky.
Magic is a joke. Maybe it gets good if you use all of your skill points levelling it up, or maybe it doesn't. But right now it feels like a totally underpowered, completely unnecessary afterthought.
2. The RPG systems are unnecessarily obtuse
Unlike the vast majority of open world RPGs, Witcher 3 does nothing to ease you into its gameplay systems. It gives you a short tutorial on combat, and then everything else is haphazardly explained through popups the first time you enter a menu.
By the time I actually want to use a feature, like crafting, it's been hours since I clicked through those popups and I have no idea where to even start. So, I can break down items for components? Which items? How do I break them down? What the fuck are specialties?
Worse yet, even games that are particularly infamous for messy design and confusing systems are much easier to navigate than this mess (e.g. Skyrim). Why did this game get a free pass?
3. The side quests are disappointing (so far)
After reading a thousand comments praising Witcher 3 for its excellent side quests, I'm pretty damn disappointed so far.
From an actual gameplay standpoint, they're all pretty much fetch quests. Sure, they have an added element of "investigation," which generally involves following footsteps or blood trails with your witcher senses and pressing X on anything that glows red... But 7 side-quests in, and I'm already annoyed at this silly mechanic.
The only saving grace, so far, is that these side-quests are a little bit deeper, story wise, than your average WRPG. But from what I've seen so far, they still don't hold a candle to the likes of New Vegas.
4. The main story isn't intriguing
Now, this could be because I haven't played the previous Witcher games, so I may not have the requisite emotional connection to the characters... But I really don't care about Geralt, or the sexy feminist sorceress, or the grown-up witcher child prodigy. The game has given me zero emotional context, and I'm just sort of expected to follow all of these characters around pretending I give a shit?
Even Fallout 4 had a more compelling plotline.
5. The world building is boring and lazy
Yes, it is dense and complicated. Yes, the morality of this world is awash with gray tones. And this would be really cool, IF the world was inherently interesting, or at the very least, if the exposition was done in a more interesting manner.
Instead, I have to run past hundreds of NPCs who I can't interact with and attempt to catch the subtitles that twitch sporadically above their head and read dozens of books I steal off of people's shelves--JUST to understand what the hell is happening around me.
---------------------------------
now, for a 40+ hour game, 5 hours is probably not representative. I really want to like this game, but I find it such a chore to boot it up nowadays.
So tell me GAF, did this game take a while to "click" with you? Or am I destined to dislike it, based on my initial thoughts?
