can anyone run down what changes to the systems Witcher 3 will bring? i'm afraid to google it in fear of W2 spoilers
Here is some info I copied from the first reveal and various posts. There is a lot more newer info, but I think this should be enough for now, I've deleted potential spoilers but not really sorted the info, so some bits may appear twice.
- This is Geralt's final adventure.
- It'll be easy for new players to enter the game, and won't require knowledge of the past games to enjoy.
- It'll have more than 100 hours of gameplay.
- The sidequests and main story can be resolved in any order.
- The game is entirely open-world, and is 35 times bigger than The Witcher 2.
- It's a branching story and the world is "completely open."
- Quicktime events will be gone entirely
- Aiming for no load times between indoor and outdoor environments
There will indeed be 36 different "world states" that your decisions will cause to go into effect, and there will be three different playable 'epilogues.' I asked what the difference was between an ending and an epilogue, and it sounds like when CDPR says epilogue, they really mean ending.
Geralt will react differently in combat—his stance will be more relaxed when he's fighting one enemy, because he knows he'll win. But he'll be more tense and more careful when he's fighting a group. Looking at your stance, you'll be able to tell whether your opponent is a threat or not. Pretty neat.
They've built an animation system that has far more unique combat animations, which are somewhat randomly selected and chained together depending on where Geralt is swinging and what direction he's moving.
Every button press gets you a single move in combat, meaning that you'll be able to break up your attacks much more easily than in The Witcher 2.
The dodge is no longer a roll—now, Geralt will pirouette to dodge enemies. No more roley-poley combat.
Parrying will now be active, and you can hold down a parry button and move, sort of like in Assassin's Creed.
Several of the screenshots show Geralt in a boat--you'll definitely be able to control the boat, though you won't get to fight the whales. They'll be more of a hazard you'll have to avoid. Aw. I was hoping for next-gen whaling gameplay.
You'll technically be able to fight from horseback, or at least, CDP is planning to let you do that, but it won't be a focus in the game. They were sure to point out that Geralt is a sword-master who is best at fighting on ground; he's not a cavalry knight. You won't be going after monsters on a horse, as that's not how Witchers work.
- Game will be broken up into 3 main areas (Skellige Island, No Mans Land, Novigrad)
- The main story ~ 50hrs
- Sidequests ~50hrs
- Sidequests are hand crafted, not random generated like in Skyrim
- Each sidequest will be directly related to the region you are in.
- The larger sidequests also impact the main story and game state, and there are more than 1 outcomes for these sidequests.
- Point of interests are always in view. Meaning wherever you are on the map there is always something in the distance to draw your attention
- Open world is 20% bigger than Skyrim
- Monster hunting will be a large part of the game and will be an integral part of earning money and upgrades
- No scaling of enemies. They are going for the Gothic 2 model where certain monsters will be very tough
- There will be many villages, medium size towns and a big city. Flotsam from Witcher 2 is compared to a village in Witcher 3.
- Graphically they are yet to add the DirectX 11 effects. What you see right now is the old DX9 renderer. The final game will look vastly different
- Development team is double the size of the Witcher 2
- New UI. PC version & console version UI will be completely different and cater to each platform
- Combat animations increases from 20 in Witcher 2 to 96 in Witcher 3
- New combat camera, so you are always aware of your enemies
- Hand to hand combat is part of the new combat system. No more QTE fist fights like in Witcher 2
- Dialogue with other game characters has been upgraded. Characters are no longer standing still, it's been upgraded to look more lively
- Geralt can swim or sail to any island. Many areas will be unreachable by swimming.