The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - GOTY Edition

[sukraj]

I was thinking of getting Fable Legends but after watching some videos of The Witcher 3 I'm leaning more towards this game.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by sukraj

I was thinking of getting Fable Legends but after watching some videos of The Witcher 3 I'm leaning more towards this game.

Why can;t you get both? Though they are both fantasy games they are pretty different. Witcher is an open world rpg while FL looks to be more of a dungeon hack n slash than an open world RPG like Fable 1-3.

I'll be getting both.

[Zivouhr]

The Witcher 3 is suggesting it has one of the biggest RPG worlds of all time, which is a popular claim, but definitely shows their ambition. I like game worlds that are so large you never get to see it all after months of playing.

[Cook]

Originally Posted by Zivouhr

The Witcher 3 is suggesting it has one of the biggest RPG worlds of all time, which is a popular claim, but definitely shows their ambition. I like game worlds that are so large you never get to see it all after months of playing.

Its supposed to be bigger than Skyrim's map which is .

[sukraj]

Originally Posted by detective392

Why can;t you get both? Though they are both fantasy games they are pretty different. Witcher is an open world rpg while FL looks to be more of a dungeon hack n slash than an open world RPG like Fable 1-3.

I'll be getting both.

I suppose I could get both but I'd rather just get one game instead of two games.

[NARMAK]

I'm looking forwards to.this game, but i'm hoping to read reviews before diving in unless I find a great deal.

Everything i've seen screams a game I would love to play, yet the admissions regarding technical.issues is what concern me. For a game this ambitious, i'd prefer to make sure all mechanics are working properly. Skyrim had an issue, and although playable.was a PITA. These issues however seem to be a bit more serious on the technical side.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by NARMAK

I'm looking forwards to.this game, but i'm hoping to read reviews before diving in unless I find a great deal.

Everything i've seen screams a game I would love to play, yet the admissions regarding technical.issues is what concern me. For a game this ambitious, i'd prefer to make sure all mechanics are working properly. Skyrim had an issue, and although playable.was a PITA. These issues however seem to be a bit more serious on the technical side.

Project Red is a very capable team that takes great care in making there games work. I'm sure if PR can't get something to work they'll scale it down or try something else and not release a buggy game like Skyrim was.

[JJ]

Originally Posted by detective392

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt - Traveling Monster Hunter - YouTube

Holy COW! I found my first 2015 game. Looks to be the clear successor in all aspects to Skyrim to me, which I had a blast playing.

[detective392]

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ”The Trail” Opening Cinematic - YouTube

[ratandjmt]

Originally Posted by detective392

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ”The Trail” Opening Cinematic - YouTube

No clue about what is actually going on in the clip but wow.

[detective392]

Originally Posted by ratandjmt

No clue about what is actually going on in the clip but wow.

It's the opening cinematic. It will make more sense as we play the game and learn more about the story I'm guessing.

[Elandyll]

I am very very excited for Witcher 3, but when I look at the raving following of CDPR, I sometime wonder if people aren't using rose tinted glasses.

The first Witcher (which I liked more than 2) was really good, but all in all just an above average RPG with very janky animations and an awful combat system (what saved it was the dialogues, the characterisation and parts of the story which was dealing much more in shades of grey than the traditional good vs evil tropes of most RPGs).

Witcher 2 had a ton of potential, but ended up much shorter than I thought it would be, still had an awful combat system, and with artificial barriers (tied to the story) which made the areas seem much more confined and limited than in Witcher 1 (a problem I often have in the Witcher Games is that some areas become "artificially" closed up after the game's story decide you should move on). Again, the story, dialogue and characters (but also the gorgeous graphics on PC) saved it imo.

It -looks- like CDPR has fixed a lot of the problems they had, here in W3, but I will still need to see that combat system revamp.

I like CDPR a lot, but I can't fathom how some are putting them already on the same level (or higher) than Bioware (Baldur's Gate, Kotor, Dragon Age, Mass Effect) or Bethesda (Elder Scrolls series, Fallout 3).

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

I am very very excited for Witcher 3, but when I look at the raving following of CDPR, I sometime wonder if people aren't using rose tinted glasses.

The first Witcher (which I liked more than 2) was really good, but all in all just an above average RPG with very janky animations and an awful combat system (what saved it was the dialogues, the characterisation and parts of the story which was dealing much more in shades of grey than the traditional good vs evil tropes of most RPGs).

Witcher 2 had a ton of potential, but ended up much shorter than I thought it would be, still had an awful combat system, and with artificial barriers (tied to the story) which made the areas seem much more confined and limited than in Witcher 1 (a problem I often have in the Witcher Games is that some areas become "artificially" closed up after the game's story decide you should move on). Again, the story, dialogue and characters (but also the gorgeous graphics on PC) saved it imo.

It -looks- like CDPR has fixed a lot of the problems they had, here in W3, but I will still need to see that combat system revamp.

I like CDPR a lot, but I can't fathom how some are putting them already on the same level (or higher) than Bioware (Baldur's Gate, Kotor, Dragon Age, Mass Effect) or Bethesda (Elder Scrolls series, Fallout 3).

Witcher 3 seems to have really fixed the combat from the first 2 games based on gameplay vids and live demos. It's also supposed to be the biggest open world game with no barriers so we'll have to see on that.

As far as Bioware goes they are one of my favorite companies and I rate them higher than CDPR.

I think CDPR is a lot better than Bethesda. They can't seem to release an Elder Scrolls or Fallout game without a TON of issues at launch.

Plus we gotta remember that CDPR isn't as big as the other studios and has already surpassed a lot in terms of story, graphics, characters etc.

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by detective392

It's the opening cinematic. It will make more sense as we play the game and learn more about the story I'm guessing.

It looks like Geralt is tracking Yennefer, his long lost love and a powerful sorcereress who lost her memory a while ago (that story predates the first game).

Long story made short: Geralt made a pact a long time ago with the King of the Wild Hunt (of whom we discover the real identity in Witcher 2) to let Yennefer go in exchange for him. A "hunt" of Geralt ensued, after which he was left for dead, and is when he was found out and helped back to health by a bunch of Witchers and Triss right before the events of Witcher 1.
Since then, he has figured out that Yennefer is still alive, has lost her memory, and he is looking for her, while the Wild Hunt is about to start invading the Northern Kingdoms (following the chaos caused by the Emperor of Nilfgaard in Witcher 2, as he had organized a plot to have all the other kings assassinated by a renegade Witcher to take over their territories, and blame the only other power able to oppose him in the process: The Lodge of Sorceresses).

PS: I think the intro for Witcher 2 was better, technically (more impressive if you will). It looks like they went more for the "feels" on this one, but imo you would need to be really familiar with the story to understand what is happening here.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings - Intro - YouTube

[detective392]

Originally Posted by Elandyll

It looks like Geralt is tracking Yennefer, his long lost love and a powerful sorcereress who lost her memory a while ago (that story predates the first game).

Long story made short: Geralt made a pact a long time ago with the King of the Wild Hunt (of whom we discover the real identity in Witcher 2) to let Yennefer go in exchange for him. A "hunt" of Geralt ensued, after which he was left for dead, and is when he was found out and helped back to health by a bunch of Witchers and Triss right before the events of Witcher 1.
Since then, he has figured out that Yennefer is still alive, has lost her memory, and he is looking for her, while the Wild Hunt is about to start invading the Northern Kingdoms (following the chaos cause by the Emperor of Nilfgaard in Witcher 2, as he had organized a plot to have all the other kings assassinated by a renegade Witcher to take over their territories, and blame the only other power able to oppose him in the process: The Lodge of Sorceresses).

Wow, do I really need to read up on the Witcher. Witcher 3 will be my first Witcher game. Sounds cool though.

I agree that the 2nd games intro was much better than this one. The visuals and effects were just stunning.

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by detective392

Wow, do I really need to read up on the Witcher. Witcher 3 will be my first Witcher game. Sounds cool though.

Yeah the story is quite excellent, and I think the books it is basd on are also available in English

What attractd me to the first Witcher was the intro to the first game which at the time seemed sort of reminiscent of Claymore (The manga/ anime series):

The Witcher Intro - YouTube

[detective392]

CD Projekt announces generous Witcher 3 DLC plan

Everyone who buys The Witcher 3 will receive all 16 planned pieces of downloadable content (DLC) for free, developer CD Projekt Red has announced.

That's buying any edition from any shop on any platform and at any point in time. No small print: buy the game and that's it.

In an open letter, CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwiński lambasted the current state of affairs, where DLC acts either as carrot dangling in front of certain shops, or as supplementary revenue-booster at launch.

"We love games," he began. "We love collecting them, playing them, and everything connected to that experience. Every time we reach out for a new release, we expect to be taken care of. We expect support if we encounter any problems, we love updates constantly improving the experience, and we feel really special when we receive free content that gives us more than we initially paid for. It doesn't have to be huge, it can be an awesome skin for a character or an extra sword, or armour.

"Unfortunately this treatment is quite rare these days. As gamers, we nowadays have to hold on tight to our wallets, as [un]surprisingly right after release, lots of tiny pieces of tempting content materialise with a steep price tag attached. Haven't we just paid a lot of cash for a brand new game?

"At CD Projekt Red, we strongly believe this is not the way it should work and, with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we have decided to do it differently," he added.

"Cutting to the chase, everyone who buys Wild Hunt will receive 16 specially prepared DLCs absolutely for free, regardless of platform. You don't have to pre-order, you don't have to buy any special edition to get them - if you own a copy of Wild Hunt, they're yours. This is our way of saying thank you for buying our game."

The plan is to release a new DLC bundle - each containing two lots of DLC - on a weekly basis following the game's launch on 24th February 2015. The first batch arrives 25th Feb, then 4th March, then 11th March etc. In the first batch is the Temerian Armor Set and a Beard and Hairstyle Set for Geralt. Yes, you read that correctly. The second batch will include an additional quest and an alternative look for Yennefer of Vengerberg.

The other batches of DLC will be unveiled each week after launch.

The announcement comes a couple of months after Marcin Iwiński dealt with backlash about the Xbox One Collector's Edition of The Witcher 3 including a few exclusive physical items: two decks of Gwent (a card game within the game) cards and a cloth map.

As CDPR won't agree to make any exclusive game content for any platform, this kind of partner-placating exclusivity is what it's left with, he explained. He asked that the community give CDPR "the benefit of the doubt", and today he has rewarded the community in spadefuls.

The announcement also comes the month Dragon Age: Inquisition - a blockbuster RPG rival, albeit a different kind of RPG - arrives. And Inquisition will feature pre-order game content as well as special edition extras.

[dyne]

Bungie/Activision should take notice. This is how shit should be done. I support you by paying $60 for your game. You support me with more content down the line and don't nickle and dime me for it.

[RaijinUT]

CD Projekt Red has had a history of free updates for this series.

[NARMAK]

A part of me wonders whether there is a fine balance to be made.

Big hats off for CD Projekt Red BUT I also understand why some publishers are reluctant to offer all this amount of content free. Rather because of perhaps the used games arguement that they don't see any money from such sales, hence the EA "Buy a pass to play online" situation and charging for DLC as a means to recoup some revenue somewhere. I don't agree with all practices as I said that intendt to merely nickel and dime gamers.

I believe DLC done right and priced well;, will get gamers on side and they'll purchase.

Again, hats off, cause I plan on buying the game, but I hope if they do a big expansion for the game, they price it well and set another example