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[Deleted member 80556]

I think I know why some parts after the Kaer Morhen battle bother me. It's because whoever wrote the story of those quests, essentially made this mistake. Some things came out of left field, like Crach an Craite suddenly fighting Eredin, when previously he had not said he would join the fight with the Nilfgaardians to defeat the Hunt. How Eredin magically knew that Avallac'h was taking Ciri to the tower. How in two endings Ciri just returned, with no explanation of what she did to prevent the White Frost from happening (even if it was done to keep the suspense on whether or not she survived or had died) when she was with Geralt.

And well, obviously the other things like powerpoint endings (I played the previous games a long time ago, did they do the same back then?), neglecting Triss' character, and making characters like Dijkstra make a decision out of his character (as if Geralt would have really left Roche, Ves and Thaler to die there). It's a shame, it kind of sticks as a sore thumb for me, because the rest of the game is just spectacular. And it's not like they're very low lows, but in a game that keeps the bar so high throughout the entire journey, it makes me sad that they made those small mistakes right at the end.

 

[The Jackdog]

I think I know why some parts after the Kaer Morhen battle bother me. It's because whoever wrote the story of those quests, essentially made this mistake. Some things came out of left field, like Crach an Craite suddenly fighting Eredin, when previously he had not said he would join the fight with the Nilfgaardians to defeat the Hunt. How Eredin magically knew that Avallac'h was taking Ciri to the tower. How in two endings Ciri just returned, with no explanation of what she did to prevent the White Frost from happening (even if it was done to keep the suspense on whether or not she survived or had died) when she was with Geralt.

And well, obviously the other things like powerpoint endings (I played the previous games a long time ago, did they do the same back then?), neglecting Triss' character, and making characters like Dijkstra make a decision out of his character (as if Geralt would have really left Roche, Ves and Thaler to die there). It's a shame, it kind of sticks as a sore thumb for me, because the rest of the game is just spectacular. And it's not like they're very low lows, but in a game that keeps the bar so high throughout the entire journey, it makes me sad that they made those small mistakes right at the end.

i totally agree with this. the final act felt very rushed and seemed like they made a lot of story compromises to get it wrapped up.

 

[The Jackdog]

the more i think about it the more i realize how bizarre it is to end a game with a 3-5 min cutscene that took 100+ hours to get to, with characters youve played with for 3 games equally as long.

 

[a secret-boss]

Finished it Yesterday
I got Ciri as Witcher because Geralt and Yenn left the business to leave happily Ever After. Emyr is still Emperor and Temeria got its country back. Ciri's reputation as a witcher rises so... I guess Emyr learns his daughter is alive.

The last part does felt rush and Crach dying felt like we need somebody to die during the climax. I was worried Avalach is going to be a second boss battle. I'm glad CDPR avoided that cliché
It's hard if I want this as GOTY because of the bugs almost game breaking even

 

[Doran902]

the more i think about it the more i realize how bizarre it is to end a game with a 3-5 min cutscene that took 100+ hours to get to, with characters youve played with for 3 games equally as long.

That's if you view the ending as that 3-5 minute cutscene imo. I viewed the ending starting from the point of no return at the start of the last chain of quests and the cutscene and the after the tower sequence gameplay were like the epilogue to me.

 

[Paulee]

Is Regis from the books in the game ? I know he is mentioned in one of the books about vampires ingame

 

[Denton]

the more i think about it the more i realize how bizarre it is to end a game with a 3-5 min cutscene that took 100+ hours to get to, with characters youve played with for 3 games equally as long.

Wrong way to look at ending. I for example didn't actually expect such a nice playable epilogue, so for me the ending started with the dialogue in the inn with Yen, Zoltan and Dandelion. The epilogue was beautiful ending, and the cutscene summary at the end was just a cherry on top. Could it have been even longer and more extensive ? Sure. But I was very satisfied already.

Is Regis from the books in the game ? I know he is mentioned in one of the books about vampires ingame

Sadly not, although yes he is referenced. I still hope he is alive, somewhere, regenerating.

 

[Damerman]

I honestly feel like the perfect ending is when Ciri goes off to rule the empire... it was just so classy and emotional. the whole time i was playing it felt so gut wrenching, like some imminent thing was coming that involves the white frost... as if ciri only temporarily held off the white frost. It felt like she was only there to say goodbye to geralt before really sacrificing herself. was somewhat relieved to find out that she was acting strange only because she would go off to rule the empire. I was relieved but at the same time so emotional about the bittersweet goodbyes between Geralt and Ciri. and that last shot of her riding off and geralt holding her sword was pure class.

my favorite game of all time.

 

[Deleted member 80556]

I seriously hope that RPG developers don't keep doing powerpoint slides for endings. It annoyed me in Mass Effect and it's also bothersome here.

I'll stop talking about that aspect. It's just that after investing in characters just to see them in a couple of pictures or not at all was just, argh.

EDIT: And the ending was a great conclusion to Zoltan, Geralt, Triss/Yen, Dandelion and Ciri. Depending on the ending you got. But the rest of the cast, even after being highlighted in many parts of the games are just left out or reduced to mere seconds. EDIT 2: Priscilla, which became one of my favorites in the game stopped appearing all together after the plot was done with her.

 

[Damerman]

I seriously hope that RPG developers don't keep doing powerpoint slides for endings. It annoyed me in Mass Effect and it's also bothersome here.

I'll stop talking about that aspect. It's just that after investing in characters just to see them in a couple of pictures or not at all was just, argh.

EDIT: And the ending was a great conclusion to Zoltan, Geralt, Triss/Yen, Dandelion and Ciri. Depending on the ending you got. But the rest of the cast, even after being highlighted in many parts of the games are just left out or reduced to mere seconds. EDIT 2: Priscilla, which became one of my favorites in the game stopped appearing all together after the plot was done with her.

the character that was most tragically thrown away was the king of beggars.. he was pretty cool.

 

[Deleted member 80556]

So how about this: Ciri becomes empress, but something happens, which puts her on the run, to survive, she must become a witcher, she encounters Geralt and co. in her travels. Bang, The Witcher 4.

Everybody's happy.

the character that was most tragically thrown away was the king of beggars.. he was pretty cool.

Absolutely. Him too. I had stopped playing some days, so I forgot about him, but he seemed a very good character. They pretty much only used him to intro Triss and give info on Whoreson Junior. The whole underworld of Novigrad is left in limbo considering that Whoreson Junior is out of the game (because he either lost everything or Dudu got his men out into legal ventures) and Djikstra is either dead or left to become ruler. Don't have any idea what happened to the mages and witches in Kovir either.

 

[EatChildren]

End game slides are a homage to CRPGs of the 90s, and a workaround to having some form of resolution while also keeping production expectations in check. I'd love everything to be interactive or video footage, but sometimes it's not possible. The way it worked in old CRPGs is that usually the main quest would be resolved via an ending cinematic or whatever, and then you'd see a narrated montage of side quests and world states portrayed with slides.

In Wild Hunt the political nature of the story was mostly left to slides as it was secondary to the personal journey, which received a playable epilogue.

I don't really know of an alternate solution without boosting production requirements.

 

[El Jaffe]

Is Regis from the books in the game ? I know he is mentioned in one of the books about vampires ingame

BOOK SPOILERS

Spoiler

Regis dies at the end of The last book against Vilgefortz

Hell,

Spoiler

Geralts whole posse dies in that fight, which kinda pissed me off

 

[RoKKeR]

Just finished. Was really smiling at the ending, really well done and a good way to wrap up the story.

I'm bummed about botching the Triss romance and completely failing to do the "chose the emporer" side quest but overall really enjoyed it. Total play time was about 75hrs with me rushing to finish off the main quest near the end. Definitely could have taken more time but I don't have nearly enough of it these days.

Excited to see what the expansions have in store. Had no idea how many alternate endings there are, lots of reading to be done here! I got Ciri as a Witcher which I was so stoked to see, felt just right for the way my story had been progressing.

 

[Deleted member 80556]

Maybe I am asking for too much, Eat. The ending slides bothering me is probably unchecked expectations.

I won't let go some of the writing problems after Kaer Morhen though!

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

So how about this: Ciri becomes empress, but something happens, which puts her on the run, to survive, she must become a witcher, she encounters Geralt and co. in her travels. Bang, The Witcher 4.

Everybody's happy.

Nah, I would like CDP to explore an entirely new part of the Witcherverse, one that isn't so tied into the books if they continue the series. There's a lot of directions the series can go without Geralt and co. I'd them to allow save importing so you can see what the effects of your decisions in Witcher 3 are though.

 

[Showaddy]

Finally completed my final Blood & Broken Bones playthrough.

Ended up in Kovir with Triss, the North prospers under Dijkstra's rule, Emhyr's dead, Cerys rules Skellige and Cirri's a Witcher. Pretty much the perfect ending for me.

Time to give the game a rest now finally.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

CDPR has said that this is the last Witcher game starring Geralt, correct me if I'm wrong.

Also on the topic of endings I can't believe how many people let Dijkstra kill Roche. Must be non-Witcher 2 players, lol.

 

[endlessflood]

Also on the topic of endings I can't believe how many people let Dijkstra kill Roche. Must be non-Witcher 2 players, lol.

Maybe they're just Iorveth guys.

 

[Staf]

CDPR has said that this is the last Witcher game starring Geralt, correct me if I'm wrong.

Also on the topic of endings I can't believe how many people let Dijkstra kill Roche. Must be non-Witcher 2 players, lol.

Never played Witcher 2 unfortunately. However, when one of my bros is trying to kill another of my bros i always side with the non-murdering bro!

 

[Betty]

Just finished this, Ciri lived, Radovid rose in power (wished I'd killed him now) Emhyr was killed Caeser style and Geralt & Yen lived happily ever after.

As good as the writing and characters of the game were, I think the gameplay became quite repetitive and dull, but this was after like close to 80 hours into the game or something so it lasted a good while.

A much, much better game than Dragon Age Inquisition, though The Witcher 3 had just as many bugs, glitches and janky moments I felt.

 

[Flipyap]

In Wild Hunt the political nature of the story was mostly left to slides as it was secondary to the personal journey, which received a playable epilogue.

I don't really know of an alternate solution without boosting production requirements.

That's only true for the bad ending. Otherwise you get to see the ending to the sidekick's personal journey and the protagonist gets a powerpoint slide send-off.

As for a solution... how about sacrificing some of that sex scene production time and investing it into a proper ending instead?

 

[Roussow]

Triss is super underused after her Novigrad sidequest. I wouldn't be surprised if most people confessed love to both Yen and Triss because of how oddly spaced and separate their stories with Geralt are. Having the Triss/Yen side content not run parallel is super damaging to the players romantic decision to make between the two of them. You've got absolutely no investment with the Yennifer character by the time you have to either let Triss go (perhaps forever) and tell her their's a chance between you. No ways about it, that's just bad structure.

 

[Iorv3th]

Also on the topic of endings I can't believe how many people let Dijkstra kill Roche. Must be non-Witcher 2 players, lol.

Maybe they're just Iorveth guys.

I saved Roche. At least Roche and Vess came to Kaer Morhen to help fight the Wild Hunt. Dijkstra didn't help.

 

[The Jackdog]

CDPR has said that this is the last Witcher game starring Geralt, correct me if I'm wrong.

Also on the topic of endings I can't believe how many people let Dijkstra kill Roche. Must be non-Witcher 2 players, lol.

i stopped him from killing roche, but i remember thinking 'wait they arent gonna kill roche if i say see ya right thatd be cray'

 

[Interfectum]

Triss is super underused after her Novigrad sidequest. I wouldn't be surprised if most people confessed love to both Yen and Triss because of how oddly spaced and separate their stories with Geralt are. Having the Triss/Yen side content not run parallel is super damaging to the players romantic decision to make between the two of them. You've got absolutely no investment with the Yennifer character by the time you have to either let Triss go (perhaps forever) and tell her their's a chance between you. No ways about it, that's just bad structure.

I think Triss was put in there purely for fan service and a fun choice. The game and story obviously wants Geralt to get back with Yen. But yeah, they should have either run the love plotlines parallel or given you one last choice at the end of the game since they spread the love options out so much.

 

[The Jackdog]

Triss is super underused after her Novigrad sidequest. I wouldn't be surprised if most people confessed love to both Yen and Triss because of how oddly spaced and separate their stories with Geralt are. Having the Triss/Yen side content not run parallel is super damaging to the players romantic decision to make between the two of them. You've got absolutely no investment with the Yennifer character by the time you have to either let Triss go (perhaps forever) and tell her their's a chance between you. No ways about it, that's just bad structure.

thats what i did!

I was like k so i never see triss again, have barely even seen yen, soooo im gonna say dont go.

loved the it takes three to tango quest idea, but i would of loved to be able to reconcile my choice a little there since it was so unclear. otherwise the ending is just 'geralt was alone forever' and i had no idea what happened to the triss or yen

 

[Ultimadrago]

Man, the Triss firework scene was a sweet (if not vanilla) set-up. Too bad I had to turn 'er down!

 

[xenist]

I saved Roche. At least Roche and Vess came to Kaer Morhen to help fight the Wild Hunt. Dijkstra didn't help.

Seriously. Fuck Dijkstra. Interesting guy but I wouldn't turn my back on him even he was buried up to the neck in the ground.

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

I saved Roche. At least Roche and Vess came to Kaer Morhen to help fight the Wild Hunt. Dijkstra didn't help.

For what it's worth, Dijkstra said it himself that he isn't a fighter, and he does help you if you complete his quest properly.

 

[endlessflood]

Seriously. Fuck Dijkstra. Interesting guy but I wouldn't turn my back on him even he was buried up to the neck in the ground.

For someone who supposedly goes on to be a great statesman, he did a pisspoor job of swaying me to his side in that scene. His argument was basically "go away." As pretty much the most dangerous man in the entire world, you'd think Dijkstra would have put a little more effort into convincing Geralt to side with him over Roche & co, or at least have waited until Geralt had left before betraying his co-conspirators.

 

[Cpt.Underpants]

I wonder if you guys were put in the same Djikstra and Roache situation. Just replace Djikstra with Iorveth. Who would you choose?

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

For someone who supposedly goes on to be a great statesman, he did a pisspoor job of swaying me to his side in that scene. His argument was basically "go away." As pretty much the most dangerous man in the entire world, you'd think Dijkstra would have put a little more effort into convincing Geralt to side with him over Roche & co, or at least have waited until Geralt had left before betraying his co-conspirators.

It says in the character gallery that Dijkstra thought Geralt would leave due to his neutrality in politics. Don't know how much he even knew regarding the Geralt x Roche relation.

I wonder if you guys were put in the same Djikstra and Roache situation. Just replace Djikstra with Iorveth. Who would you choose?

That doesn't even make sense no matter how you spin it.

 

[xenist]

I wonder if you guys were put in the same Djikstra and Roache situation. Just replace Djikstra with Iorveth. Who would you choose?

Roche. All the way.

 

[Cpt.Underpants]

It says in the character gallery that Dijkstra thought Geralt would leave due to his neutrality in politics. Don't know how much he even knew regarding the Geralt x Roche relation.



That doesn't even make sense no matter how you spin it.

heh, It wasn't a serious question.

Roche. All the way.

aww yis

 

[endlessflood]

It says in the character gallery that Dijkstra thought Geralt would leave due to his neutrality in politics.

Having just assassinated the King of Redania. Lol.

 

[zer0das]

Well, I just finished the game.

Got the Witcher ending. Geralt's with Triss in Kovir, emperor is alive, Temeria is a vassal state. I only got the snowball fight and the burial part right, but apparently skipping a Vizimia visit is a neutral choice, so I narrowly avoided the bad ending.

The last 20-30 minutes felt really rushed. The last two Wild Hunt bosses not having any real alternate tactics beyond their initial ones felt lame (considering the previous guy did- although he just got super fast). Still not sure what Crach was doing on that ship.
Kaer Morhen was much more enjoyable. I really enjoyed all of the Lambert conversations. I feel like he made out like a bandit all things considering, since he ended up with Keira. Near the end it felt like there was a bit of padding because there weren't any fast travel points near a lot of the last few locations, and they're geographically difficult to reach and the sorceresses will strand you, so you have to backtrack through an entire cave system. Triss really needs more lines near the end, even if they're optional.

Minor complaints though, one of the best games I've played certainly.

 

[Majukun]

That's only true for the bad ending. Otherwise you get to see the ending to the sidekick's personal journey and the protagonist gets a powerpoint slide send-off.

As for a solution... how about sacrificing some of that sex scene production time and investing it into a proper ending instead?

there was no sex scene production time actually... the animation and body types are recycled for every single woman.. the budget definitely didn't go there

 

[Lunar15]

Beat it tonight. I thought everything around the Wild Hunt and the final battle was metal as fuck, I strongly enjoyed how it all played out. Eredin, while woefully underdeveloped in this game (he needed a stronger presence, particularly in the Battle for Kaer Morhen), had an interesting final fight and death. I read about his history in the books, and I think everything makes a bit more sense now, but it wouldn't have killed them to bring that up a bit more in this game.

The same goes for arguably the weakest part of the ending, which was Avallac'h's "betrayal" and the bit with the White Frost. The white frost and Ciri's ability to end it are almost never brought up in this game, so it's completely jarring to have them just throw it in there at the end. Once again, I think the books provide a slight bit more context, but it needed a bit more setting up. Also, they kind of wimped out on explaining that whole part, instead focusing on what I think was a slightly unnecessary cliffhanger that is resolved almost immediately depending on your ending.

Now, I got the Empress ending, which I think is the least satisfying from a "what did they do next!" standpoint, but definitely the most satisfying in terms of what you actually do in the epilogue. Going hunting with Ciri, and the dialogue that ensues, is really really emotional, and the payoff there with her not telling Geralt about becoming empress was done well. I just wish it hadn't ended so abruptly.

I think the game needed just one more scene at the end, cheesy as it may be, to have some kind of establishing shot with Geralt or something. It's his final game, but all of the endings, save for the one where Ciri dies, basically ends on Ciri. I think we needed a bit more of a send off to Geralt, at least a scene where it shows who he ends up with outside of the illustrated scenes. I would have liked a slight bit more closure with him.

All that said, I think the main thing that deserves praise in this ending is how well Ciri and Geralt's relationship was written. I really liked how they never betrayed the idea that Geralt is not a hero of destiny or someone devoted to saving the world, but that everything was about finding Ciri and helping her to do what she needed to do. You save her by building her confidence in herself, and their dialogue in the final acts and the epilogue have such a great feeling of a true father/daughter relationship. It works so well and I enjoyed it immensely. Nothing about the ending makes Geralt feel anything different than what he truly is, and that I deeply respect.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

I got the Ciri becomes Empress ending. It's sad, but at least I know she would be able to die in her own bed.

That's what Geralt would've wanted, right?

RIGHT? ;_;

 

[ebevan91]

I like this new patch and all... except for one thing. I banged Keira and now I can't put my Griffin armor back on :|

Gotta somehow get half of a level while running around in my underwear with a a crappy sword and crossbow.

 

[Dance Inferno]

Just finished the game and... did I get a bad ending? Ciri went up in the tower, never returned, and then Geralt went on a crazed hunt of the final Crone and just wrecked her. The way he frantically searched for Ciri's medallion clutched it to his forehead as all the monsters of the swamp converged on him was very sad and very emotional.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

Just finished the game and... did I get a bad ending? Ciri went up in the tower, never returned, and then Geralt went on a crazed hunt of the final Crone and just wrecked her. The way he frantically searched for Ciri's medallion clutched it to his forehead as all the monsters of the swamp converged on him was very sad and very emotional.

yeah that's the bad ending.

you were mean to ciri. >_<

 

[Dance Inferno]

yeah that's the bad ending.

you were mean to ciri. >_<

Damn, figured as much.

Well, time for a Death March playthrough where I totally save that lass.

 

[Hasphat'sAnts]

When Ciri gives her sword to Geralt before taking off...

 

[Sir Garbageman]

Finished the game at about 90 hrs.

Ciri is a Witcher
Geralt retired with Yen
Emeryr is King and hangs the conspirators
Cerys rules Skellige
Temeria lives on as a vassal state

Pretty much a perfect ending. GOTY for me.

 

[RealityCheque]

Finished the game at about 90 hrs.

Ciri is a Witcher
Geralt retired with Yen
Emeryr is King and hangs the conspirators
Cerys rules Skellige
Temeria lives on as a vassal state

Pretty much a perfect ending. GOTY for me.

Same here. I was incredibly satisfied. The ending gave a really good reflection of my approach to the game (I hate cruel kings, thought Yen had a fantastic ass, Charles Dance rules all and Cerys was 10 times the ruler her drunk ass brother would be).

It's going to really hammer my tolerance for dodgy story telling. The bloody baron is, IMO, a new high point in videogame narrative and shows how side quests, when done right, can add so much depth to the main story.

Just started Sniper Elite 3 as a pallette cleanser. Shooting off Nazi penises will surely help me forget that it'll be years before we see another Witcher game.

 

[GavinUK86]

Ok, just finished it.

- Ciri became a Witcher.
- Geralt carried on being a Witcher.
- Emhyr won the war and killed any traitors.
- Cerys rules Skellige.
- Temeria lives on.

I guess I got the good ending but I didn't like how some things were handled, like ending up with Triss or Yen was cancelled out by helping both of em, the game should've warned you that was going to happen. Saying that, I kinda like how Geralt didn't get the cliche settled down with the love interest ending, in my head-canon, Geralt will always be a Witcher so he carried on doing what he loved and I loved that he taught Ciri and then parted ways. I imagine they crossed paths now and again and told each other their stories.

I didn't get any resolution about the Baron and his wife either.

Also, how exactly did Ciri stop the White Frost? What happened to the Lodge? My imported save was one where I helped Iorveth so I was disappointed he didn't show up in the game and it was all about Roche. Sad I didn't see Saskia either, just a brief mention by Phillipa.

It was also weird when talking to Emhyr, I said someone's waiting for me, and he said Triss even though her an Yen told me to piss off. Why did he mention her? Didn't make any sense.

The overall, main plot was good but they really fucked up the endings for the less important characters.

Felt like the last chunk of the game was really rushed.

Anyone know how to find out how long you've been playing?

 

[Vyse The Legend]

Team Triss.

Yen was pretty intolerable for most of the game. She grew on me a bit near the end, but I told her the magic was gone during Last Wish. &#9996;

 

[HueyFreeman]

It's going to really hammer my tolerance for dodgy story telling. The bloody baron is, IMO, a new high point in videogame narrative and shows how side quests, when done right, can add so much depth to the main story.
.

I would take It one step further and say that the bloody baron quest line Is an example of how to weave "side" content seamlessly into the main narrative, so much so that it's difficult to tell whether you're playing the main narrative or not - and calling into question whether or not you give a damn if it's this good.