Witcher 3

[PZ]

Anyone know much about this game?

Spoiler

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - 35 Minutes of Gameplay (HD 1080p)

[Art Blade]

sorry no. However, I played one of its predecessors. Done, had fun, and no need to return.

[PZ]

I got the game as a freebie through GOG, and am doing the preload now - 40 gb of data.  The graphics look good, but I understand it is an RPG, which I have not been that fond of in the past.  However, if the graphics are good enough then it might be worth a go or two

60fps game play

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_--X9a2U5EM#ws

[PZ]

Gamespot rates the game 10/10, Game Informer is 9.75/10, IGN is 9.3/10 - should be interesting to see how it goes.  I'm pessimistic though - there are 7 pre-install files, a 300+ mb patch, and DLC that all needs to be installed - that's lots of files and plenty of install failure potential.

On an encouraging note, I read 8 pages of comments on the Witcher site and not one comment rated the game less than 5/5

[wiki]The Witcher 3[/wiki]I'm reading that this game (got for free due to GTX980 purchase) available for download on Gog is free of DRM, and even offers free DLC that actually appears to be "real" DLC.  The claim is that this version is 30 times bigger than previous Witchers and 20% bigger than Skyrim

The game is built using the new REDEngine 3 game engine specifically designed for a complex multi-thread story set in a huge open world environment.

I've downloaded the game and DLC plus the patch and will try to install it.  Will see how it goes.

What I like so far is the claim that no client is needed, no activation codes or online connection required.

Launch day trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?t=35&v=hBoCRYX6Vq0#ws

[PZ]

Well, just installed the game and the experience was exactly as promised.  I downloaded all the files from Cog this past week at w@&k, plus the 300 mb patch this morning.  I didn't have a large drive, so burned everything to DVD (took 6) and then copied to an install folder on my PC.  Clicked the installer and everything completed within 5 minutes - no activation code, no stupid online client.  Nothing but an icon on the desktop to launch the game.

When I started the game, I did not even need to adjust any of the settings - everything defaulted to ultra.

Maybe the game will be no good (I don't like RPGs that much), but the installation was the most pleasant installation I have experienced since FC2

[Art Blade]

glad to read that you had a good experience installing a game :) I had the same simple installation experience with GTAV. Downloaded, installed, logged in to Rockstar social club (already had an account) and the game started. Perfect, considering it is also a "GTA online" game :)

[Art Blade]

I got the game today for half the price on steam. It is a galaxy away from the original Witcher that I played aeons ago which was what kept me from buying the sequel. This game here, however, is epic. I watched a playthrough on youtube some time ago so today, for 50%, I didn't hesitate :)

[PZ]

Nice!  :-X

Looking forward to your experiences and pics.  As usual, I did not finish the game.

[Art Blade]

 :)

What I can say so far is that the game is essentially what we like here at OWG: a fully open world that you can travel across to your heart's content and you don't even have to follow the main story. Well, you will, but you can take your own time. There are a gazillion side quests that you may or may not wish to play. And there is Gwent, a "card" game, and all across the map there are Gwent players of different skills. Playing that game alone is almost worth buying this game :-()

Side missions and the main story offer choices and those will affect the game up to the ending. So, theoretically there are tons of replay variants. Practically, I think the game is just too big if you take on all those side quests to actually want to start over again. However, you can.

I think that there are only two downsides to the game: steering is bloody mushy and about the opposite of precise. And XP gained during side quests is by comparison laughable. Say, if you get 500 XP for a main mission, then you'll only get 50 for a side mission. And levelling up is a few thousand XP away. So you don't get very far going only after side missions and some of them are virtually impossible to finish with a low level character so you might have to return later.

The graphics are splendid and my game runs maxed out on Ultra settings, smooth as silk, and I like the voice acting, too.

All in all, a game that might keep me busy for quite some time. :)

[smg id=8747 type=preview align=center caption="Gwent"]
[smg id=8748 type=preview align=center caption="sunset"]

[PZ]

Sounds like you're going to have loads of fun, AB  ^-^ :-X

[Art Blade]

hehe, you're right about that :)

Man, the game world is huge. Really huge. There are areas on the world map you click on and then you'll see a new map detailing that area and that seems to as big as the entire FC2 world. And there are quite a few of those. Whoa.. ???

I came across a settlement that popped up on my map and it said it was infested either by bandits or monsters. Weren't bandits but I think wolves. I killed them and then the settlement was declared liberated, I got some XP and a merchant to trade with and so on was now available. It wasn't even a quest, it was just some random location.

[smg id=8749 type=preview align=center caption="random location"]
[smg id=8750 type=preview align=center caption="game world 01"]
[smg id=8751 type=preview align=center caption="game world 02"]

No matter how you travel (on foot, on horseback, by boat, fast travel) you're very likely to see something that is very much suitable for a sudden demise. Doesn't have to be a monster or a bandit or an animal, there are toxic mists and who knows what else, too. So.. quicksave, manually save, autosave, checkpoint save.. just save early and often. The game does that for you, too, but you can never be too safe  :-D

[smg id=8752 type=preview align=center caption="save often"]

[Art Blade]

It's getting me now, that immersion. The main story as well as those side quests and random events, all of it is building up something that keeps me going, makes me want to keep on going and allows me to enjoy keeping on going. Landscapes, towns and villages.. and the growing power of magic and stronger weapons, it just keeps me going :-()

Witcher and Hunter. Sharp senses, they can hear a dog fart.

[smg id=8753 type=preview align=center caption="Did you hear that? -- Yes. And I smell it, too. LET'S BLOODY KILL IT!"]

And it is the only game featuring kids that I know -- at least one that I run around in with weapons.

[smg id=8754 type=preview align=center caption="kids 01"]
[smg id=8755 type=preview align=center caption="kids 02"]

[PZ]

Excellent reports, AB  :-X +1

Makes me want to go back into the game one of these days, although the last time I was in I was on a prior PC.  However, I go into that machine via terminal services, so I can get an old game save.

[Art Blade]

Thank you very much, PZ :)

I may have been a bit too harsh commenting on the XP given to the player. I came across a few quests and events that gave me a fair amount of XP. Low ranking as I am, I have only been needing 1,000 for the next ranks so far. To be fair, the comment was based on a comment of the player (Zemalf, the guy who inspired me to play X-COM and Mount&Blade hit me yet again :-() ) whose playthrough I watched before I got the game and I think that he either played it prior to the patch this game is currently running at (1.12) or that he needed far more XP for the next rank than he got from his side quests.

However, it is a cool game. You can simply horse around or trudge along, the stuff you will come across is very likely to arouse your interest one way or another so you won't be just stumbling around with a dull expression on your face. The witcher's sense is an inherent ability to be switched on and off and makes you see (yes, see) noises coming from dangerous animals or monsters or whatever it is, yet unknown and invisible, perhaps hidden behind bushes or hills and so forth, so you can either go for it or turn around and dash away. I dare not walk without that sense switched on while in the wilderness at night.. GAH :o :-D

[Binnatics]

 :-X :)

[PZ]

 :-X ^-^

[Art Blade]

Regarding RP, maybe the amount given and needed varies depending on the difficulty level you're playing at. I am on the 2nd option that probably translates to "normal," so I'm not on "easy" but Zemalf might have been playing on a higher difficulty level.

However, the graphics are amazing. In game, you can count the pores on the skin surface. :)
Uploading a pic to this site always blurs it a bit but you should still be able to recognise details.
[smg id=8757 type=preview align=center caption="skin details"]
[smg id=8758 type=preview align=center caption="skin details zoom"]

[Art Blade]

a few more screenies.

[smg id=8759 type=preview align=center caption="a place to hang around"]
[smg id=8760 type=preview align=center caption="chopped the block off"]

Yeah, yeah, it's like, "go places exotic, meet foreign people, and then kill them." :-D
[smg id=8761 type=preview align=center caption="going idyllic places"]

[Art Blade]

I was fooling around a bit and got trapped. Maybe a bit too much of might and magic, the game crashed moments later and spared me a miserable death
[smg id=8762 type=preview align=center caption="anger management WOOZAH"]
[smg id=8763 type=preview align=center caption="get out damnit"]

[Binnatics]

Crazy world, great pictures :)

[Art Blade]

cheers :)

I had a déjà-vu: I saw the same guy whose face I showed with a magnified image section used to be a butler to some king. Recently I met him again in the woods (there's water nearby) as a boat-builder reincarnate. So they kind of ran out of extremely detailed faces, apparently they have got a handful and redistribute them across the game :-D

[smg id=8764 type=preview align=center caption="dejavu"]

[PZ]

Nicely cone, AB!  :-X

[Art Blade]

thank you :)

It really is great game. Enormous the world, epic the story, fantastic the characters, plentiful the options for your character development. By comparison, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion looks like an oxcart while The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt looks like a royal horse-drawn carriage. :-D

[Art Blade]

Right now,

the new PATCH 1.20 has been released. Update states "1.20" but in-game it says "1.21"  ????

Contains Numerous fixes and HUD overhaul.

http://steamcommunity.com/games/292030/announcements/detail/853809625514558762

[Art Blade]

some more pics.

Nice weather effects. From sunshine to thunderstorm, you get it all.
[smg id=8765 type=preview align=center caption="weather like in Britain"]

More kids.
[smg id=8766 type=preview align=center caption="no sweets for you"]

The Bloody Baron.
[smg id=8767 type=preview align=center caption="sod off"]

Ciri.
[smg id=8768 type=preview align=center caption="oops face plant"]

And more of the big guy. He's actually nicer than he looks.
[smg id=8769 type=preview align=center caption="whom did you call massive"]
[smg id=8770 type=preview align=center caption="I am not grumpy"]

There are boxing fights as a couple of quests.
[smg id=8771 type=preview align=center caption="the lads keeping fit"]

and I would have said to him, "how would you like to pick up your teeth with two broken arms?"
[smg id=8772 type=preview align=center caption="I'll punch your lights out"]