The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[davejm]

Benny, I use Imgur for uploading screenshots to use for hotlinking. Retains original quality.

[Takizawa]

Those KM shots are wonderful, I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw it for the first time.

[Benny]

I'll hotlink some hi res ones if I get chance later, as the texture work really comes alive close up.

[BruceBruce]

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?

The majority of the update was was actually things related to the Hearts of Stone expansion even if you hadn't purchased it. The free DLC wasn't a massive download. But the game was never really broken at all, by any means. Just the occasional glitch. Seems most everything has been fixed though.

[Thwomp]

I got this bought for me for Christmas and I'm not terribly happy about the performance on PS4. I was under the impression it ran at a fairly consistent 30fps. It's just a constant slideshow.

[BruceBruce]

Glad I got it for PC then..

[Thwomp]

Actually I think my PS4 may be on its way out as it kept freezing during Fallout 4. I just put it down the the game being borked at the time but in the past week it's started sounding like a jumbo jet, having its fans on full all the time.

[Uncle Mike]

I got this bought for me for Christmas and I'm not terribly happy about the performance on PS4. I was under the impression it ran at a fairly consistent 30fps. It's just a constant slideshow.

Really? Are you on the latest patch (it was sometime before Christmas, maybe even November) - I found that one utterly changed the framerate. I'm not hugely sensitive to drops in framerate, but my brain had clearly noticed the issue prior to that, because once I'd updated to that patch, I was wandering the wrold in surprise and wonder at how smooth it had become.

[Oz]

I played about 10 hours on the PS4 and then upgraded my graphic card and restarted on the PC. I do not have a problem with a game running at 30fps but uneven framerates and frameskipping really takes me out of the experience. I am so glad I switched. This may be one of my favourite games of all time. I am fucking dumbfounded as to how this studio made this much content for the game. My quest log is just silly at the moment. I am finally getting into the levelling system properly mixing upgrades and mutagens. What a gem of a game. I think it is worth getting a PC to play this properly. The PS4 is not doing it justice.

[Thwomp]

I'm on patch 1.11 and it did suddenly get a lot smoother, so maybe it was installing during playing. My brother logged me into his GOG account to see how the PC version runs but I've only got a gtx 750 ti, so performance will likely be no better. I just had a go of it on his PC and it was like a different game, it felt much more responsive to control.

[Talk Show Host]

Both versions are good, but on PC everything feels smoother and more responsive. The PC optimization was simply amazing from the beggining, a far cry from any other PC open world RPG at launch in my experience, especially considering the astonishing graphics.

[Benny]

What I can't get over about the game, is that it makes every other recent RPG effort look like they've been half-arsed, even if they were quite good...

I mean, you've even got those Walking Dead games promising stuff like actions influencing outcomes that ultimately fails to deliver, in a game developed from the ground up to be just a narratively driven experience, and yet Witcher 3 comes along and provides real consequences for your actions in a huge world with combat and exploration and all sorts.

I mean seriously. I think it might be better than Planescape: Torment, and I'm nowhere near finished yet!

[Talk Show Host]

I think it can be compared to Planescape: Torment and that for me is enough. CD has no peer in writing RPGs, even from the first game, but this is on a whole other level compared to the competition. What really blew me away is the quality of the side quests, from cutscene direction to writing and the consistency of the world. Compare these to Fallout 4 quests and the quality gap is unbelievable.

[Oz]

So does anyone have any insight into CD Project Red. When everyone else is complaining that games are too expensive to make, no one seems to be making any money, micro transactions are added to everything, companies going out of business, companies moving away from big game development (Konami), games are released broken, games are released unfinished, companies complain about used games, complain about mobile games killing the market, complain about piracy, this company just comes out of a country with no big development money (as far as I know) and confidently releases this beast of a game. How the fuck did they do it? I will happily buy this on every platform I own.

[Talk Show Host]

I have no inside information of course but their mentality "players first" is not just words, as in most companies. They could have easily made more money if they released something half arsed and save development costs but they know the press would not be as forgiving as they are with Bethesda. The fact that salaries are lower in Poland could also factor in to their business plan. Even the expansion embarrassed other companies with its quality and price.

[Oz]

Books are also good by the way if anyone is keen and likes Geralt as a character. I have the Last Wish and have enjoyed it quite a bit. Some things are different from the game particularly in Wild Hunt but captures the same feel.

[Talk Show Host]

Yeah, the books can be quite good. The Witcher games take place after the books that have been released, so they are a great background for the games.

[Oz]

Keira just thought me a lesson about casual sex.

[Benny]

I like Geralt's limerick skills:

"Lambert, Lambert. What a prick."

[Oz]

Some really disturbing shit throughout the Velen - Bloody Baron quest-line. Game did a fantastic job of making me feel like shit throughout. Every single decision I made I regretted. Really fucked up stuff.

Highlights included:

1) Killing Keira after having sex;

2) Betraying the talking tree last minute although I said I'd help him;

3) Giving that peasant the knife to cut his own ear with;

4) Leaving the Baron's wife with the witches and the kids ana the weird swamp monster to fuck off;

5) Various haggling and squeezing every penny from all contracts;

6) I always get paid. No charity work. It's the code!

Maybe I'll find redemption when I eventually come back to fuck those witches up. I will do this only when I am massively overlevelled for it as the witches scare the crap out of me.

[mogawoods]

Things I find mind-boggling:

How CD Projekt managed to go from two modestly sized games to this colossal, detailed, fully voiced, open world behemoth of a game, while maintaining (increasing?) the quality of almost everything in it. There's about five games in one here and yet the attention to detail consistently amazes.

How the quality of writing is so high. Are these Polish guys fluent in even the most colloquial of British dialects? Are there fantastic translators at work? Or were British writers hired from the outset? You expect janky dialogue from most European RPGs, but on the whole the script here is great.

[Rudi von Starnberg]

The English version was the primary version for Witcher 3, I'm pretty sure. They expanded their team for this game, including getting designers and writers who worked on games like Alpha Protocol to come on board.

[Oz]

English voice acting is fantastic too. Just getting to novigrad and the cockney accents the game has deployed are simply spectacular. Innit

[Mr.Crowley]

I keep coming back to this game, and every time I'm amazed how good it is. That is all. ☺

[Mr Ben]

The only negative I could find (I didnt actually look for one mind) is that the quest rewards are pretty bad, mainly due to not levelling with you. Other than that the game deserves all the accolades its gained.

[Oz]

Best rewards come from wondering around, merchants, treasure hunts and contracts as opposed to the main story. Did you clock it Ben?

[tobert]

Things I find mind-boggling:

How CD Projekt managed to go from two modestly sized games to this colossal, detailed, fully voiced, open world behemoth of a game, while maintaining (increasing?) the quality of almost everything in it. There's about five games in one here and yet the attention to detail consistently amazes.

How the quality of writing is so high. Are these Polish guys fluent in even the most colloquial of British dialects? Are there fantastic translators at work? Or were British writers hired from the outset? You expect janky dialogue from most European RPGs, but on the whole the script here is great.

This pretty sums up my feelings and it's why, despite only being about half way through having played it on and off since launch, is why it's my game of the year

[Mr Ben]

Best rewards come from wondering around, merchants, treasure hunts and contracts as opposed to the main story. Did you clock it Ben?

Yep, the best stuff (armour/weapons) come from the treasure hunts definitely. I finished with full Wolf Gear I think as I wanted Geralt to wear the armour of his own school. Played it on the PC, from GoG, so no achievements getting in my way. Still took me like a month or so to finish it mind. Fantastic game, and now Fallout 4 is done I can jump back in for the expansions.

[Oz]

BruceBruce asked me if I had the expansions which made me check for DLC the other day. Realised I had downloaded none of the free DLC packs which are available. Really impressed with that too. New outfit for Triss! They certainly know their target audience.

[Coltrane]

Played this on PS4 yesterday for the first time in about 6 months. I had forgotten how much fun it was. The combat took me a little while to get used to again but I soon got into the groove and have been riding around Skellige mopping up secondary quests and contracts. I just love how much detail and effort has been put into the environment and world you inhabit. It amazes me how each individual character seems to have been given a back story and personality. Extraordinary really when you consider how big the world is.

I love the little stories behind the contracts as well.

Anyway, is the dlc essential? I'm probably going to get it anyway but was just wondering if it's up there with the quality of the core game. I'm guessing that this being cdpr, it's going to be great.