The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[tobert]

I have picked this up again having stopped playing it around june time. I have just left novagrad (which was a bit of a drag and one of the reasons I stopped playing) and arrived at Skelig which looks amazing. This game is huge in scope but I am hoping this next section is a bit more focused around a main plot line (like the bloody baron) so I can follow that more closely.

[carlospie]

All I wanted to do was bone the witch but she keeps sending me on missions!

[BruceBruce]

Hah! I just discovered his "Witcher May Cry" haircut..

By the way, am I the only one who wishes they had an online version of Gwent to play against friends?

[davejm]

Loving those screenshots. I remember when the game launched I wasn't a fan of the really colourful visuals; so I used one of those post-processing filters to tone down the colours a touch. It looked even better; but when that stopped working after an update I had to go back to vanilla; and I love it now. Those screenshots look really nice. Yeah the colours are very over-the-top, but I like it.

[Mr Ben]

Just had an email from GOG saying I had about £5 or so in credit so grabbed the expansion while it was slightly discounted for the grand price of £2 odd. Utter bargain!

[Rowan Morrison]

I'm really enjoying this (picked it up on sale on the PS4). Combat gets a bit irritating with multiple enemies, but there's so much more to the game that it's only a minor irritation. I think one of my favourite features is the lack of any requirement or reason to grind - at least so far. I'll go off road and fight some Drowners for fun, but it does sod all to my level - I have to complete missions, which keeps me invested in the game and the world. Not that I need much incentive to stay invested in a world where a village full of people who sound like Slade is never more than a signpost away. I could have sat chatting to the Bloody Baron for hours.

I get the definite feeling it's going to cause no end of trouble when I go back to Dark Souls, though.

[Rudi von Starnberg]

You'll never have to grind in the game at any point. None of the Witcher games have been about that.

[Benny]

I finally started playing this yesterday. I have a modest PC but it's so pretty I think my eyes might bleed. The game isn't bad either.

[Oz]

I finally started playing this yesterday. I have a modest PC but it's so pretty I think my eyes might bleed. The game isn't bad either.

My thoughts exactly re:graphics. What are you running it on?

[Benny]

My thoughts exactly re:graphics. What are you running it on?

i5 2500k 3.2gz

2gb ATI 270X (very overclocked)

and 8gb ram

Apart from a few hitches it seems similar to the PS4 version just with better textures.

As for the game - The Bloody Baron questline and its conclusion might be one of the best I've ever come across in an RPG.

[BruceBruce]

You'll never have to grind in the game at any point. None of the Witcher games have been about that.

Yeah he basically caresses his female companions. Geralt doesn't do the grind.

[Jamin]

Oh man those Blood and Wine screenshots. Can not wait.

[Oz]

i5 2500k 3.2gz

2gb ATI 270X (very overclocked)

and 8gb ram

Apart from a few hitches it seems similar to the PS4 version just with better textures.

As for the game - The Bloody Baron questline and its conclusion might be one of the best I've ever come across in an RPG.

I played on the PS4 until the bloody baron quest (which sadly I didn't finish). Then Taken King came out Much happier now because I restarted on the PC. It imported my Witcher 2 safe so that was better. Very similar specs to yours and the same reaction as well. Better textures and much better performance!

[Mr Ben]

Blood and Wine are set in a completely new area isn't it? Damn, I need to play and finish Hearts of Stone sometime soon. Damn Fallout 4!

[BruceBruce]

Yeah it's a new map with a another massive city. Should be great.

[Oz]

Witcher 3 on sale for 25 quid on Steam. If you are reading this and have a remote interest. Buy it for fuck's sake.

[Benny]

In terms of value for money I think it must rival Baldur's Gate 2. It's fucking massive and there are just a ridiculous number of quests. And none of them feel particularly like filler so far.

[Guest]

Witcher 3 on sale for 25 quid on Steam. If you are reading this and have a remote interest. Buy it for fuck's sake.

It's £17 on Xbox One at the moment (as long as you buy it through the Singapore store, which is really quick and straightforward).

I'm really, really tempted, but I have so little time to play the games I already have I'm not sure I should.

[Oz]

No offense but you'd be a fucking idiot to miss out.

[Oz]

I just failed the fucking botchling de-incantation about 300 fucking times. Those fucking wraiths!!! Really ruined for me what was a superb part of the story. Real keen to see where this will end up. I went looking for the daughter in another town now. Wish me luck. This game has me by the balls now. Seems like fallout will have to wait a long fucking time.

[ChewMagma]

Bought this for the wife for Christmas and she has just fired it up only to be greeted with an 18gb "update". Even on my unlimited BT broadband, that is going to be an hour. How broken was this game ffs?

[Mogster]

Bought this for the wife for Christmas and she has just fired it up only to be greeted with an 18gb "update". Even on my unlimited BT broadband, that is going to be an hour. How broken was this game ffs?

So broken they released 18GBs worth of extra content as free DLC, the bastards.

[ChewMagma]

Right

[Oz]

That's a shit ton of haircuts and new outfits for yennefer. you'll be pleased.

[Andy XC]

Bought this for the wife for Christmas and she has just fired it up only to be greeted with an 18gb "update". Even on my unlimited BT broadband, that is going to be an hour. How broken was this game ffs?

When faced with an update like that, I often play without the update and then put the unit in standby in order to finish the download.

[mogawoods]

Day one Witcher 3 players might remember my controversial articulations of disappointment at the way the game loaded in the environments as you moved around the world. I absolutely loathe conspicuous pop in, and since videos of the game appeared to show it in abundance I decided not to buy it for PS4 until it was cheap. Yes, for that reason.

What a fucking idiot.

Grabbed it cheap in a US PSN sale, sure enough, and saved playing for Christmas Eve, and ... I don't think I've gone outside since. My entire life has taken place in Velen and Novigrad for four days straight.

Wasn't at all convinced about the combat at first, nor about the widely lauded writing, but the vastness, mystery and downright beauty of the world kept me playing. Days later and I think I agree about the writing - hardly literary brilliance, sure, but riotously funny and sometimes boldly fucking dark at times, and most impressively of all manages to avoid cliche for the most part (considering its subject matter - dwarfy, magey high fantasy shite). The combat has proved way better than I first judged too, after upgrading skills and improving weapons.

It's the world building though that really blows everything else away, isn't it? 'Even on consoles' it's fucking gorgeous - not just gorgeous, but cohesive, more crafted than randomly generated. Despite my initial stubborn 'aaaaargh, pop in, gross' stupidity, it's maybe just as well I didn't play this until the end of the year - for all the open world amazingness we've been treated to this year, nothing has managed it this superbly.

Also, Gwent. I spent all of yesterday just running around buying cards and challenging merchants to games.

I am willing to eat all the crow rllmuk puts before me - really, I am - but it'll have to wait until I've found a ship to Skellige. Back soon.

[Oz]

This update improves performance and ads a ton of options. I would not do without this one. But support the idea in principle.

[partious]

I got the first 2 games on the steam sale for pennies and now i don't know if I should play them before the 3rd game or just play the 3rd one first...

[Oz]

Wasn't at all convinced about the combat at first, nor about the widely lauded writing, but the vastness, mystery and downright beauty of the world kept me playing. Days later and I think I agree about the writing - hardly literary brilliance, sure, but riotously funny and sometimes boldly fucking dark at times, and most impressively of all manages to avoid cliche for the most part.

Are you playing on hard? Combat is fucking brilliant on harder difficulty settings. Very demanding and has a nice rhythm to it. Like a dance of sorts rather than button mashing. Plus is not another Batman. I also do think there is brilliance in the narrative particularly considering what you get in most big budget movies. I am actually stuck at the moment on a choice I have not been able to make. So I am running contracts instead while I decide (it involves a talking tree and painting). I also think Geralt is a superb character, so maybe that helps, although I know he is not for everyone.

[Benny]

SCREENSHOT TIME

I'm consistently wowed by the visuals in this game, and I don't even have a brilliant PC. Static images don't do it justice though, as everything just comes alive with the wind in the trees that you can see even in the tiniest ones in the distance and the great sound design where you can hear it whistling through them which really makes it feel alive.

Spoilered as it contains images from a bit further into the game:

EDIT: attaching images seems to have crushed them so they look shite. Pity you can't link Steam screenshots properly.

EDIT 2: fixed!