Who Witchers the Witchmen?

(Not my joke.)

Even if we can't move posts out of PWB 2020, I figure I should at least attempt to spin out Witcher chat into its own thread.

So here it is.

I'm going too start my Death March NG+ run soon(TM), I swear, and a few of you guys going through the early stages means I might be able to roughly keep pace, for a while at least - until you leave White Orchard and the whole thing goes all sandbox-y.

I'm as yet undecided as to whether or not I'll try and make any different decisions this time, in part because I can't remember what decisions I made last time.

Gar don't open until you've finished the Bloody Baron questline.

Spoiler - click to showI definitely want to finish that one differently – in my original game he ends up swinging from a tree. Although I can't remember any of the choices I made to affect that. I assume there's a happier ending in there somewhere… although this being The Witcher, maybe not.

One thing I am avoiding this time is Gwent. Loved it first time around (Gar you should definitely get involved) but I don't want to get bogged down in card collecting this time. Anyone remember if there are any major story beats I'll miss, without a Gwent deck?

I killed the griffin! Which is probably about 1% of 1% of the game but I've found an awful lot of stuff to do already and it's really got its hooks into me.

It's funny because we've all played a LOT of open world games this generation (the last two Ass Creed games clearly took their lead from this game) but this immediately feels like a cut above. It's just weightier, and more considered, and the writing so far seems great. The world feels lived-in and full of detail, and the general grittiness is a long way from the usual videogame plot of "you are a mute with amnesia and everyone thinks you're wonderful for no reason" (helllooo DQXI).

Had a few issues with tutorials and basic stuff initially but starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of it a bit now.

I think the biggest criticism I see levelled at Witcher 3 over and over again is that compared to Skyrim or something it lacks freedom in terms of its role playing. Yes, you can build Geralt how you like to an extent, but it's still Geralt doing Geralty things. I kind of get that - but i wonder if it's possible to have a world as rich and detailed as the one in Witcher 3, with quests as nuanced, without having a fixed central character?

i wonder if it's possible to have a world as rich and detailed as the one in Witcher 3, with quests as nuanced, without having a fixed central character?

Yes.

Spoiler - click to show(Maybe not in videogames, though. At least not anytime soon, and not without terabytes of audio alone.)

And the broken backs of thousands of weeping developers.

Gar don't open until you've finished the Bloody Baron questline.

Spoiler - click to showI definitely want to finish that one differently – in my original game he ends up swinging from a tree. Although I can't remember any of the choices I made to affect that. I assume there's a happier ending in there somewhere… although this being The Witcher, maybe not.

I can't remember what I did on that one, either, but I got a very different outcome.

Spoiler - click to show The baron and his daughter reconciled(ish), I freed the wife from the witches (though she remained a bit of a husk of a woman), and the baron took her away for a quiet life.

One thing I am avoiding this time is Gwent. Loved it first time around (Gar you should definitely get involved) but I don't want to get bogged down in card collecting this time. Anyone remember if there are any major story beats I'll miss, without a Gwent deck?

Don't believe there's much (any?) plot related to gwent, but I'll be playing the hell out of it again, because A. gwent is amazing, and B. a bug on my last game means I'm forever one card short of the trophy. 😭

EDIT:

i wonder if it's possible to have a world as rich and detailed as the one in Witcher 3, with quests as nuanced, without having a fixed central character?

I mean, the closest I can think of would be something like Dragon Age Origins, which has a relatively wide reach in terms of who you can be, even if the world isn't as technically well-realised as Wild Hunt's. The character maybe doesn't need to be as clearly-defined as Geralt, but I think there has to be some kind of structure to hang personality options on.

Something like Skyrim, while wide-ranging, is ultimately very shallow, and I never felt like I was existing in, or influencing that world as a character, as much as merely projecting my own murderous, kleptomaniacal tendencies into it.

DA:O is a good shout, I just re-installed that. Maybe the third one (er…. Inquisition?) though is quite close to a character driven Witcher 3. Is it good? I remember vaguely enjoying it.

I never bothered with Gwent because I couldn't be assed learning it and the game is long enough, if you want an easy way to avoid it just think how basic it is now compared to the standalone version of Gwent. Admittedly you'd still be pouring time into Gwent just not during W3 time.

Gwent question - when I start, do I only have cards for one of the four deck types? Looks that way to me but I might be misreading the screens. It's kind of prebuilt one for me and I don't have any cards apart from weather cards for any of the other three categories.

I played and won one game and won a card but it appears to be a new variety of the Leader for the deck I'm already using.

I think you start with Northern Realms, yeah.

Don't forget to talk to merchants, most of them sell a couple of new cards each. God I loved Gwent first time around. I might just go for it again.

Gwent isn't that good. Play Witcher then log off and play Hearthstone or Magic Online.

Oh, you bastards. I've had this for ages and never played it.

Fine then. FINE.

Just get a D&D group already!

We're trying! There's a guy at work who wants to run one, so we're recruiting numbers. It'll happen. Currently though, we're playing Magic on a weekly basis.

Top tip for anyone starting this fresh: there’s an option for Alternate Movement which makes a massive difference to the way Gerald controls. Much more responsive and agile. I’d recommend just starting with that enabled.

You weren't playing in the before times, when Geralt was World of Tanks Geralt. When that option arrived there was much rejoicing.

Gods, I'd entirely forgotten about the old movement…

Top tip for anyone starting this fresh: there’s an option for Alternate Movement which makes a massive difference to the way Gerald controls. Much more responsive and agile. I’d recommend just starting with that enabled.

Petition to change his name to Gerald.

I played with Tank Gerald for about five hours before checking the options menu. I will say that being able to go through doors on the first rather than the fourth attempt is quite the improvement.

I will say that being able to go through doors on the first rather than the fourth attempt is quite the improvement.

Just wait until arthritis catches up with you.

I've played more of this now than I ever did. It's a very dangerous game for me: the kind where 90% of the content has absolutely nothing to do with the main quest, meaning I never actually make any progress. It's why, when I played Oblivion, I racked up over 30 hours of play and never even met Sean Bean, meaning I never encountered an Oblivion gate or even started the story.

It's nice, I guess. Very pretty. Far too much going on in the menus and other mechanics. Absolutely no idea how to do alchemy or craft bombs, which apparently I need to destroy monster nests (of which I've found a few already). I'll stick at it, see where this goes. Already anxious about the potential for playing this leading to me not touching anything else until at least April. Hmm.

One tip I've just remembered, after replaying a certain mission, is don't just blindly follow the quest objective. Oftentimes you're rewarded for further exploration. It's usually nothing earth shattering, but sometimes whole quest avenues will open up because you poked around more.

People don't always tell you the truth.

One tip I've just remembered, after replaying a certain mission, is don't just blindly follow the quest objective. Oftentimes you're rewarded for further exploration. It's usually nothing earth shattering, but sometimes whole quest avenues will open up because you poked around more.

Okay, good to kno-

People don't always tell you the truth.

Wait, now I don't want to believe you. Goddamn it, MPH!

One tip I've just remembered, after replaying a certain mission, is don't just blindly follow the quest objective. Oftentimes you're rewarded for further exploration. It's usually nothing earth shattering, but sometimes whole quest avenues will open up because you poked around more.

You have the ability, in an early questline involving a sorceress, Spoiler - click to showto burn all the research/evidence in the tower she sends you to investigate, which completely changes her attitude to you. The game never tells you it's an option; you have to just think to start blasting igni.

See, that's interesting because I've already

Spoiler - click to showstarted experimenting with Igni and it's done fuck all. The windmill stairs are blocked by wooden pallets and there are hay piles everywhere, but shooting fire in both instances does nowt. I was expecting them to go up and reveal something. Bit shit that it lets you use it in some isolated instances, but not others. Sure, they need to stop folk setting fire to everything, but a bit of logic wouldn't hurt.

Yeah, it’s frustrating that you can, for instance, blast some wooden doors open with a telekinetic blast, while other identical doors are completely impervious. It’s very much a game world in that respect, and most of the time I forget I’ve even got Signs as it’s usually clearly sign-posted when you’re expected to use them.

Also, is it just my setup or maybe a wonky HDR implementation but is the colour balance in this game really odd? When the sun comes out everything is heavily over-saturated but the shadows are inky black so it’s really… contrasty, for lack of a better word. Storms are incredibly dark, darker than night time even. Sunsets are dazzling. It’s a really strange mix and I can’t fix it with the game’s gamma setting, as for HDR it seems to have combined lightness with brightness so as I try and lighten things up a bit, the whole display becomes progressively more dazzling.

I’ve ended up adjusting my TV settings just for this one game, and I never do that.

My TV settings are fine for all games, except this one. The gamma screen at the start, the 'barely visible' logo was only there with the option cranked all the way up. It's very strange.

I'm not noticing any crazy HDR things on my Pro, but then I'm not an expert on what stuff should and shouldn't look like.

I play without HDR because I have a scrub TV, and that's not unlike my experience, either; it's just a very extreme-looking game. I wonder if it's an engine thing; I loaded up a save in Beauclair the other day, walked outside, and the whole screen turned solid white for about 30 seconds before adjusting itself down to something approximating visible.

I've just finished the prologue and made it into the first main area.

Am I missing something? On the map, it's marked 'Recommended LV.5' but I only just cleared Lv4 as I left White Orchard and bar one question mark that was behind a locked door (the bridge you exit over), I did every single thing you could do. All discoveries, all side quests. So how come I'm under-levelled? For reference, I'm playing on the lowest difficulty since I really can't be arsed dying over and over, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't have an effect on levelling.

I mostly like the gameplay, I think, and the atmosphere is good even though 90% of the content feels pointless. Really, really not a fan of the skill tree system though, and I don't feel like I have any incentive to explore the crafting or alchemy stuff outside of what the game forces me to via quests. I dunno, it's probably just me. I'll keep going, but it feels like a lot of busy work with a story attached.

Level ranges seem to be approximate - I've had no trouble taking on quests that are a couple of levels above me, so don't worry about it too much. Just don't try and take on a level 33 contract like I accidentally did, that was painful (although also very very brief).

The crafting isn't too bad, I don't think: so far I've been hoovering up components as I explore, then when I pass a blacksmith or armourer I have a quick check to see if I've got anything I can make or that's really close. It doesn't take up too much time and I like getting new things. Alchemy's much better once you realise (thanks MPH) that you only need to craft each potion, oil and bomb once, then when you meditate you automatically get refills.

I'd disagree that 90% of the content is pointless, though: some of the side quests I've done so far have been amazing. Nothing ever quite pans out in the way you expect it to. Weird colour/brightness issues aside, I am absolutely loving this.

Just don't try and take on a level 33 contract like I accidentally did, that was painful (although also very very brief).

As I entered the first proper area, the game thanked me for owning Heart of Stone and automatically set the first quest of that expansion to my current one… and then said 'Don't do it under Lv30!'. I'm Lv4. Wouldn't take a moment for the game to check that and know. Stupid.

Alchemy's much better once you realise (thanks MPH) that you only need to craft each potion, oil and bomb once, then when you meditate you automatically get refills.

Yeah, I saw that in a pop-up tutorial. It's not very clear about alcohol though and how much is consumed - is one enough to refill everything, one per item, something else? By 'hard alcohol', does it mean the red stuff with a name like alcohol, but not? Once again, the assumption that complexity is easy to understand is palpable. I hate it when the people designing stuff write instructions that seem clear to them, because they know how it's made.

I'd disagree that 90% of the content is pointless, though: some of the side quests I've done so far have been amazing. Nothing ever quite pans out in the way you expect it to.

Nothing like that so far for me. The arsonist got hung. The lying merchant told me to choke on the medicine I refuse to let him take. The noonwraith in the well felt the end of my sword. I'm sure something interesting will turn up though.

Really, really not a fan of the skill tree system though, and I don't feel like I have any incentive to explore the crafting or alchemy stuff outside of what the game forces me to via quests.

To be fair to the game, that's because you're playing on the easiest difficulty.

I'm not a glutton for punishment either – I usually settle for 'normal' – but if you played this on anything higher than the easiest setting you'd understand why crafting and alchemy are so important. An extra 25% damage from the oils becomes a necessity.

Well that Bloody Baron questline is definitely a thing.

This is the only thing keeping me going currently. I know it's something, but I've avoided all spoilers.

Still enjoying this a lot but it definitely slows down a bit once you get to Novigrad - it’s a bit Generic Fantasy City now and confusing enough to navigate that I’m spending more time looking at the minimap than the rest of the screen. Also, I’ve had several quests in a row revolving around characters that are clearly from earlier games in the series, which is a little deflating as I haven’t played any of those games and even reading their biographies in the (extremely well written) glossary doesn’t really fill you in.

Lots still to do though. Quest log full of things many levels above me and whole chunks of Velen I haven’t been near yet. And have spent all of ten minutes in Skellige. It really is quite a game.

Your reliance on the minimap is one of my main bugbears.

They worked on the game an incredible amount after release; patch after patch after patch. But they missed the only thing that could have really improved the game – floating UI.

OK so how DO you get any good at Gwent? I've got the basics down but my deck is so, so shit.

Early on I was able to pick up a few cards from traders but no-one seems to be offering them any more. I can win the occasional game against NPCs and I seem to get a single card the first time I beat them but it's usually for one of the other four types of deck.

Is there some kind of magic Gwent shop in this where I can actually buy some decent cards?

… and that's why they completely redesigned Gwent for Thronebreaker. Gwent is shit.

Gwent is actually shit, to be fair.

I'm not getting into Gwent either, personally. There's enough going on in the main game without adding that as well. I might do further along the line, I don't know. I ended up playing a lot of the card game in Knights of the Old Republic, and that was pretty simple in comparison.

I've found a very frustrating quest, where you have to defend some guys from monsters in order to get a discount pass to a city. It's impossible. The guys don't run away, they die in one hit, and the monsters come in groups of three that immediately split up and go after separate guys. I've tried a load of times, and I simply can't do it.

I failed that one too I think and got the pass another way.

Are you playing on the Switch, Gar?

Xbone.

I meant Gwent the place.

Welsh humour.

Is Gwent really a specific place though? There's certainly a police force associated with it, but they seem to operate all over the place. As far as I can tell, "Gwent" is more of a concept, and can be anywhere within a hundred miles of Newport. Gwent is a state of mind.

A shit state of mind.

Can we at least agree Newport is shit.