The Witcher 3 (and all DLCs)

[Art Blade]

I bought/installed/played this game starting end of May, 2016. Added some DLC in June 2016 (by then I had all but one DLC) and finished playing in August 2016 which was also when I bought/installed the last DLC, "Blood and Wine," it was probably on sale. I never touched it. The reason why I quit: Shadow Warrior 2 was released, later No Man's Sky, Life Is Strange came out, lots of games in short succession. By the end of 2017 I finally got my grubby mitts on Hitman 2016 (as it was now a GOTY edition and all "episodical releases" were packed into one game) and then Kingdom Come Deliverance and Hitman 2.. it was just so much, all of that, that I never found the time to get back to the Witcher 3

However, I played a bit in January 2019 and yesterday I was watching a stream on YouTube by White Locks, the same guy who in my opinion created the best Kingdom Come Deliverance playthrough on YouTube. Yesterday he was playing The Witcher 3. We had some fun in the live chat and I finally decided to give The Witcher 3 another shot and I picked up on where I had left in January, which was when I had started the B&W DLC. Only started, not really played.

Took quite some time getting back into W3 because I am still so used to the keyboard layout of Hitman 2 and KCD hehe W3 is one of my all-time favourite games. Open world, open end after finishing the main quest, even a game+ option, and of course, free roaming is fun in a huge game world. It's got a very deep story, cool and many side quests, and tons and tons of loot, crafting, upgrading, character development regarding skills and all that (which can be changed quite simply and at any time and as often as you want) so.. all the good stuff that makes a good game for my taste.

It's a fantasy medieval setting with everything ranging from human to humanoid to animals and monsters, vampires.. you name it, it's all there. And of course swords. Also potions, magic spells (simple but effective, made for combat) crossbows, bombs (more like hand grenades) and oils to poison your swords with. Quite complex, all that.

Overall, still a rewarding game with still great graphics (doesn't look dated at all to my eye) and an excellent user interface. Combat mechanics are perhaps a bit hard to control, you may think that sometimes your character is just being unleashed doing what he wants for a few secs before you can control him again but you get used to that 

Ah, and it's 3rd person only. But there are NO micro-transactions and it is strictly single-player.

Well.. so I've picked it up again and finally I am enjoying the "new" DLC

This game was already mentioned in our old forum, just like FO4.. and it's just as alive

Geralt
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[PZ]

Cool 

I think I have Witcher 3, but never played it much.

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah I've seen a few videos and streams on this game, and as usual looks interesting maybe, but no first person, soooo..... hope you have fun with it!

[Art Blade]

cheers, D_B, sure do, and PZ maybe take a look and check it out and psst, there are cheats for you to make it fun to play

[PZ]

I might do that 

Although I have little time in the summer to game, winter is coming 

[Art Blade]

"Winter is coming," was that a Jon Snow quote?

[PZ]

 

Likely so!

[Art Blade]

I finished the extension "Blood and Wine" which was the last part of the game that I hadn't yet finished before. It was close to overwhelming, such a great and deep story, and the same goes for its characters. It was truly a great experience.

I am still amazed at how great the graphics look, even today, considering the game is four, almost five years old. Faces are so detailed, people are of different height and width, there are children in this game.. it's really, really good. A lot is playing out at night or dark rooms and whatnot, I really find it difficult to give you examples. The following pic at least illustrates different faces, depth of field, and how detailed faces and clothes (centre) are. They are detailed, even if you can't tell it just that well from the pic. However, playing it doesn't feel like playing an old game. I believe it set standards back then.

witcher 3 graphics example (PLEASE enlarge to maximum)
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[PZ]

I do recall the graphics were stunning, especially for the time. 

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah I watched some of the main story game play and was amazed at the quality, very nice. If only there was a first person option.....

[Art Blade]

you.. but indeed.. 1st person would be awesome. Kingdom Come Deliverance is quite similar (except no fantasy creatures) but that game is 1st person. It certainly is one of the reasons why I like it so much. I don't mind 3rd person, it can be cool but I enjoy it more when I can play in 1st person.

[PZ]

One series in which I really appreciate 3rd person is the Assassin's Creed games. It would not be nearly as much fun in 1st person.

[Art Blade]

I think the main reason for 3rd person in AC would be watching the finisher/kill animations. Can't go out of 1st into 3rd just to show them, and in 1st you don't see them. It's about the same with W3.

[PZ]

Yes, that and watching your character approach, then stick the target with a poison dart. Watching from afar makes it much more interesting to see how the target behaves and interacts with the immediate environment. 

[Art Blade]

agree, it is fun to watch your character, in either game, swing a sword, jump, dodge and roll around