Definitely. Just live with your failures and mistakes. Makes the game so much more enjoyable!
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The Witcher 3, near 300 hours later
- Thread starter EatChildren
- Start date
Twilight Princess
Member
Is this why you are no longer a mod?
I've only played through the game and its expansions once, completing as much content as possible (although clearly missing some things). It's one of the best games ever made.
I already look forward to the day I return to it with a better monitor, GPU, mods and having forgotten many details of the quest lines.
I already look forward to the day I return to it with a better monitor, GPU, mods and having forgotten many details of the quest lines.
Stahsky
A passionate embrace, a beautiful memory lingers.
I'm a 188 hours with two playthroughs, another planned later in the year. My second run had tons of quests I've never seen before and it really bewildered me on how I missed out on so much on my first run.
It really is one of the best things to come out in a long time.
It really is one of the best things to come out in a long time.
GillianSeed79
Member
I spent about a year and a half to two years 100 percenting it plus all of the expansions. Amazing stuff.
Garrett Hawke
Member
I wish I shared the enthusiasm many have for it, but I just couldn't get into it properly. Think I played about 50 hours and I was done.
I just thought the gameplay was incredibly clunky and the world presented in game is ceaselessly misogynistic, I just got kind of tired of it.
Game was gorgeous w/ hairworks though, I loved Geralt's beard and the direction I shaped my version of him.
I just thought the gameplay was incredibly clunky and the world presented in game is ceaselessly misogynistic, I just got kind of tired of it.
Game was gorgeous w/ hairworks though, I loved Geralt's beard and the direction I shaped my version of him.
Darkstorne
Member
Friendly HUD is a fantastic mod if you play on PC. I have it set up so the HUD is always 100% disabled while exploring. Once combat starts the health bar and weapon icons show. If I want the minimap and quest log to show then I use Witcher Senses (I figure it's like Geralt focusing on where he is, and where he needs to be). And I can toggle everything on/off by clicking L3. So it's a beautifully contextual HUD setup that's completely off most of the time so I can lose myself in the world.
I finally finished the main story a couple of weeks ago, with GOG saying I have logged 141 hours so far. I've just stepped into Touissant but barely started the main quest (stopped when I got the villa) and haven't even started Hearts of Stone. I'm sure I can get another 100 hours of bliss from this game <3
Amon-Lau
Member
I know I've played too much of this by recognizing what quest that pic is,Wild Hunt is my comfy escapism. I'm pretty sure I have a problem, akin to the addiction and compulsion shared by MMO addicts who simply cannot log off. I'll often boot it up just to wander; immerse myself in the gorgeous landscapes and their unmatched sense of natural presence to its layout and composition. This cycle of play has lead to my Steam counter sitting at 284 hours.
Today's adventures:
The session prior, only a couple of days ago, had me stumble on an undiscovered quest in Skellige, too.
CDPR, this has to stop. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep finding new shit after all this time. I need to sleep. I need to have a life.
Please help me.
I think it's cause after finding her dead husband I saw her walking so I followed her all the
way to his body where she stayed sobbing
way to his body where she stayed sobbing
John Kowalski
Banned
I'm at 400 hours. At some point after doing nearly everything i could, i just decided to walk around the whole map going from interesting spot to interesting spot.
Now i'm replaying it again not using fast travel or horse ridding and it's a lot of fun.
It's an ok game i think.
Now i'm replaying it again not using fast travel or horse ridding and it's a lot of fun.
It's an ok game i think.
Despite its near flawness art design and impressively diverse range of NPCs, I couldn't get in to Horizon's lore and supporting cast. I was telling myself "These quests are pretty much the same setup as The Witcher, why are they so uninteresting?" . I found myself skipping through all non-important dialogue during sidequests, yet when I explored the world, I couldn't understand why it just felt like a playpark with a lack of believability.
So, I fired up The Witcher 3 after I finished the game to check if it was just rose-tinted glasses and immediately I was drawn in. There's just something about that world, despite being nowhere near as shiny or pretty, that just draws you in - maybe it's the atmospheric music, sound effects or VA but it just has that special something. Ended up doing a regular quest about a mysterious death on a construction site that lead to tracking a monster down, y'know, a regular day for Geralt but I just found myself in those 40 minutes so much more immersed than I ever did in Horizon.
Not to create a Vs. thread, it truly bothered me playing Horizon as I couldn't really put my finger on what it was it was lacking in.
So, I fired up The Witcher 3 after I finished the game to check if it was just rose-tinted glasses and immediately I was drawn in. There's just something about that world, despite being nowhere near as shiny or pretty, that just draws you in - maybe it's the atmospheric music, sound effects or VA but it just has that special something. Ended up doing a regular quest about a mysterious death on a construction site that lead to tracking a monster down, y'know, a regular day for Geralt but I just found myself in those 40 minutes so much more immersed than I ever did in Horizon.
Not to create a Vs. thread, it truly bothered me playing Horizon as I couldn't really put my finger on what it was it was lacking in.
WonkyPanda
Member
To me, BotW and W3 are the two pillars of open world design. W3 sets the bar for absolutely fantastic story telling, quest design, and overall world building.
W3 is truly a generational game.
W3 is truly a generational game.
MadYarpen
Member
IMO one of the important things when it comes to the world of the witcher is that it is generally believable. I mean, if fantasy was real, it could look like that
I haven't played H:ZD yet, but that's what I always think about this world.
Night.Ninja
Banned
I have this on disk I need it on digital I really should have bought it when it was £12.50 I really hoping it gets a good discount in the Xbox sale
Just a heads-up, Blood and Wine takes place after Hearts of Stone, narratively.
IMO one of the important things when it comes to the world of the witcher is that it is generally believable. I mean, if fantasy was real, it could look like that
This...walking in the wilderness in W3 somehow makes me feel like at home (obviously i am not from wilderness but i have this homely feeling)
Edit: I haven't played any of the DLCs and i dont have a ps4 anymore.. So if i get pc version and DLCs , is there any chance to start right from them?
Brawndo Addict
Banned
The fundamental problem with the Witcher 3 is that it has a completely terrible main plot/story that doesn't ever get close to the quality of Witcher 1, let alone Witcher 2. The pacing is just atrocious and utterly handicapped by the need to get you to the next big set-piece or major side-plot hub. They completely jettison all the interesting political intrigue and storylines from 2 (does anything from that game matter aside from letting Letho live or die?) as well as retconning the White Frost into such a dumb thing that it makes you wonder if they simply forgot they had to end the game at some point and scrambled to figure out what to do. The epilogues come out of nowhere and the mechanics by which they are actually chosen are nonsensical at best.
Now don't get me wrong, most of the major side plots and side stories in this game are amazing and that's where you can clearly see the team that made the Witcher 2 coming through bright as day. But to screw up the main plot this badly feels like it goes a bit beyond the inherent compromises you're going to get with open world games. Although I never felt they justified the size of their open world either if I'm being honest. I think Blood and Wine shows the team excels with (and needs) a more Witcher 2 style format of smaller, more dense open-world environments. I think the Witcher 3 would be a much better game if you had isolated Chapters taking place in the three major regions (Novigrad, Skellige, Velen); that would let you cut out a lot of the excess space/geography and help make the main narrative more tightly paced.
Now don't get me wrong, most of the major side plots and side stories in this game are amazing and that's where you can clearly see the team that made the Witcher 2 coming through bright as day. But to screw up the main plot this badly feels like it goes a bit beyond the inherent compromises you're going to get with open world games. Although I never felt they justified the size of their open world either if I'm being honest. I think Blood and Wine shows the team excels with (and needs) a more Witcher 2 style format of smaller, more dense open-world environments. I think the Witcher 3 would be a much better game if you had isolated Chapters taking place in the three major regions (Novigrad, Skellige, Velen); that would let you cut out a lot of the excess space/geography and help make the main narrative more tightly paced.
Coriolanus
Banned
There's a gta4/5 vid that explained that one dev had the job of spreading all kinds of dirt and trash around the world, because that was the thing that brought cohesiveness to a lot of scenes, and without some trash lying around here and there, the game just didn't feel right.
In a way, i feel that that's something that the Witcher series gets: the world must be dirty. It can't be too clean, otherwise it feels off. Dirt is, of course, not just a graphical effect. It should be represented in speech and story too.... and that's what horizon lacks. Things are just too clean, too pretty, too perfect. And so i bounce right off.
Kinda makes sense tho, given that the robots
sterilized the planet
but then, Toussant didn't feel wrong, so its not just that.
Rhomega Beta
Member
Started playing myself. The game is beautiful, I'll give it that. Game has encouraged me to do more stuff before continuing on, so I'm going to explore and do bulletin board stuff.
captainnapalm
Member
I just love the writing in the Witcher games. All the characters seems to have their own rich lives that come through in the dialogue, their own adventures and experiences, their own quirks, their own point of view. It makes the world feel alive and authentic.
With a lot of the North American RPGs, the writing is purely functional and mechanical. 'Hi I'm X, I work here at X or I'm part of the X, we are having a problem with X so would you mind doing X for me?
The characters just info dump the world and scenarios the writers and devs created, but there's no real synergy there between the world and the characters themselves.
With a lot of the North American RPGs, the writing is purely functional and mechanical. 'Hi I'm X, I work here at X or I'm part of the X, we are having a problem with X so would you mind doing X for me?
The characters just info dump the world and scenarios the writers and devs created, but there's no real synergy there between the world and the characters themselves.
KyanMehwulfe
Member
pretty much all I do in GTA V, MGS V, Witcher 3 -- basically the only 3 games I play anymore
All I do is load up whichever setting I'm in the mood for, and I just go have my daily dose of random open world.
W3 is like 250 hours, MGS V 500 hours, and GTA V (between PS3 and PS4) like 1000 hours -_-
Haven't played too many other games over the last 3 years o.0
CaptainofIndustry
Member
Fuck I really need to get back to this game.
One thing to remember is to not get bogged down by the open world stuff these games tend to have (the places of interest). Unlike many other games in its genre, that stuff is designed to be filler specifically for people that want it. The game has plenty of real content that it prefers you spend time on instead.
Kevin Shields
Member
What is wrong with me that I can't get into this? Tried like 8 times but the combat, inventory/rpg mechanics, and quest activities (like following blood trails) are leaving me cold.
I've bought and sold it so many times.
I've bought and sold it so many times.
TheStruggler
Report me for trolling ND/TLoU2 threads
i think ive done every side question minus the questions marks which are stash's etc and i dont wana finish the main story yet, wish there were more sidequests
MontyBrown
Banned
My first playthrough of the game took 60 hours.
My second with both DLC packs took 45.
No way is there enough content to spend 300 hours in the game.
And I say this whilst considering it one of the best RPGs ever.
My second with both DLC packs took 45.
No way is there enough content to spend 300 hours in the game.
And I say this whilst considering it one of the best RPGs ever.
Cross-Section
Member
There is no mandate on you to like this game.
I do agree that the W-2 story was better, BUT while the overarching narrative was lacking, it was composed of individual stories, some of them really good individual stories, such as the Red Baron, the cursed guy from Skelleige and the whole Throne of Skelleige storyline.
Hearts of Stone delivered in the main story too. All is forgiven.
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Much of the comfy immersion factor that keeps me returning can be attributed to the asset density, topographical believability, and additional touches/details that bring together entire scenes. I've raved about it before, but whoever at CDPR were involved in advising the artists and programmers on how foliage looks and is distributed, along with believable terrain erosion and structure, deserves a round of applause.
I think that's a key difference with Wilt Hunt above so many other games. There's some degree of procedural work; I'm fairly certain a lot of the foliage distribution is handled by terrain/texture format types being associated with specific foliage, rather than literally every blade of grass hand placed. But the cohesiveness of these algorithms and believability of the assets results in landscapes that are unbelievably high in detail that go on for miles and miles. The sense of scale is phenomenal, and never feels artificially zoned or segmented.
I think that's a key difference with Wilt Hunt above so many other games. There's some degree of procedural work; I'm fairly certain a lot of the foliage distribution is handled by terrain/texture format types being associated with specific foliage, rather than literally every blade of grass hand placed. But the cohesiveness of these algorithms and believability of the assets results in landscapes that are unbelievably high in detail that go on for miles and miles. The sense of scale is phenomenal, and never feels artificially zoned or segmented.
RustyNails
Member
Yeah, this game really makes me critical of other open world games due to how well realized the world is. I really enjoy playing Zelda but Hyrule feels more like a playground than a believable world.IMO one of the important things when it comes to the world of the witcher is that it is generally believable. I mean, if fantasy was real, it could look like that
Vulcano's assistant
Banned
I felt those endings I got were so rewarding that I can't bring myself to do a new game +.
I don't want to change what I did, I would rather watch someone else and experience it again from someone else's choices.
I don't want to change what I did, I would rather watch someone else and experience it again from someone else's choices.
therealminime
Member
Yeah the naturalism of the whole game is one of the least praised, yet greatest aspects of the game, probably due to the naturalism being hard to notice because... it's so natural. It goes such a long ways to making the world so believable. And I too am still constantly noticing little details of the world.
God, what a game.
Yup, and it's not only the natural elements. Much has been said about the distribution of the settlements already, but things like transitions between roads and paths feels less artificial than other games with water pooling naturally and rocks and dust in the right places. Stepping into a battlefield that is a mess of shields and mud and blood while the terrain around it remains undisturbed is a magnificent thing. Really makes you feel this world is alive beyond you.
Going back to your flora/terrain comments, I think other good examples of games who strive for this level are Alan Wake and Red Dead, but of course, those have other limits and aims. The scale at which the Witcher does it is unmatched.
KyanMehwulfe
Member
I liked the gorgeous views so much I made 'ambient screensavers' from the game -_- (there's a bunch in the playlist)I too log on occasionally just to run around and get immersed in the world. The game is just that good!
Btw, I've already done that quest in the OP. You need to get on my level of 400+ hours
Edit: And the gorgeous views around every corner don't help either:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpbVtuqZ2R4&index=9&list=PLl0TH-2uvrVv4m8PPBuX4VUDTxNUd4bRv
Though to be fair I did the same in GTA V (also more in the entire playlist)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGL3KlMLqWI&index=3&list=PLl0TH-2uvrVuihYtj3ZGENzEzcYo1Yuxv
I would actually let GTA V just 'idle' while I work, and use the 'idle move' as a sort of ambient screensaver on my TV, just listening to the crows, windy, and the creaks of the oil derricks.
Tried to do the same thing in Witcher 3 but it would have just burned my plasma... the way the 'idle camera' in GTA V looks around constantly is sort an an unexpected blessing in that regard. Not sure why the game even has an 'idle mode' like that -- I mean, how many people ever actually just leave the GTA idling for a long time -- but for me I end up using it a lot. Wish Witcher 3 camera did the same thing, I can definitely think of a few locations I'd love to get the camera just 'idle' for hours.
Coriolanus
Banned
300? nah
100+? easily, if you do all sidequests.
mang, that scene hit me like a truck. such a good ending.
truestatic
Member
I had two major setbacks between which I easily lost 100 hours to during the main story, (my choices, going back to earlier saves, which left me at well over 150 hours before even getting to Skellige,) and I cleared out every single question mark in the game. Those chests in the Skellige sea are time consuming.
And yet multiple people in this thread have stated they've spent close to 300 hours or more, so your anecdote isn't proof against that.
If you take into account things like doing all or most of the PoIs, reading all the books, notes, bestiary entries, doing all the sidequests, main quest, running or using Roach to travel instead of fast travel, spending time trying out different builds (and mods on PC), exhausting dialogue options, going into interiors and looting, Gwent, it adds all up.
Even if that stuff took you, say, 150 hours instead of 300, you have to realize people have different playstyles and do things at a different pace in games, and in a huge open world RPG those differences are amplified.
I think he is referencing quests that use heavily Witcher sense.
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Novigrad is maybe best city ever made in games.
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Peroroncino
Member
Yes, there are options in game that will provide you with a character that is already leveld up optimally for the expansion.
Here's an example [right option]:
Spent a year and a half putting ~270 hours into it myself. Pretty much did everything on Death March difficulty and really loved it. Got all trophies, had literally nothing left to do in terms of quests or points of interest.
Some of the most memorable moments that still stick out to me looking back come from the slight diversionary sidequests that can take 5-10m to complete. The 'Red Hood' bandit mission you stumble on especially left me pretty floored, and that is just some easily missed optional town quest in the middle of the swamp somewhere. Up there with Hearts of Stone as some of the most memorable content in the game.
Some of the most memorable moments that still stick out to me looking back come from the slight diversionary sidequests that can take 5-10m to complete. The 'Red Hood' bandit mission you stumble on especially left me pretty floored, and that is just some easily missed optional town quest in the middle of the swamp somewhere. Up there with Hearts of Stone as some of the most memorable content in the game.
Just keep playing it OP.
I went in to this game Day 0 with absolutely no knowledge of the other stories and having never even watched a trailer, completely unspoiled. An unbelievably special experience that I doubt anything else will come close to.
I should replay it again before it's aged a bit, just wondering whether or not to go with New Game +.
I went in to this game Day 0 with absolutely no knowledge of the other stories and having never even watched a trailer, completely unspoiled. An unbelievably special experience that I doubt anything else will come close to.
I should replay it again before it's aged a bit, just wondering whether or not to go with New Game +.
BeltakiSauce
Neo Member
After about 240 hours I had to force myself to just go ahead and beat the game with about half Skellige side quests still incomplete. Still haven't done any of the DLC.
SomewhatGroovy
Banned
Was this game enhanced for PS4 pro? I may double dip if so