DDL on 4/2/2013 at 09:42
One of the problems the witcher had was quest timing: "I need to wait till midnight to do X", followed by "X is done, I need to wait till noon to tell Y", which was clever, semi-realistic and quite engaging, since it made the world feel slightly less 'entirely revolving around you', but it also meant that the overriding impression you were left with was "man, witchers do a fuckton of waiting."
And while they had a fireplace meditation fast-wait mechanic, you needed to find a fireplace first, and then (if it wasn't night time and thus a combat zone that allowed you to FIREBALL) find a flint to light it.
Also, the quests tended to spread across several chapters, often with no real hint that this was the case, leading to you searching for NPCs that were not actually going to spawn until you'd done the next bit of the main quest.
I still haven't finished it: every time I dive back in it just fails to grip me enough.
faetal on 4/2/2013 at 10:37
Quote Posted by zajazd
Yes, I know that taste is subjective, but common sense isn't.
Common sense is a cognitive bias. Known troll or no, you could at least try to be good at it.
Eldron on 4/2/2013 at 11:02
Quote Posted by van HellSing
I meant the inexplicably incandescent patches of ground, if it wasn't obvious enough.
HDR, since the screen is not capable of outputting the same ranges of light we would see in real-life in that very same scenario, it fakes the overbrighted areas due to the eyes having adapted to the dominant dark areas of the scene.
Bad bloom is a scenario like in syndicate where despite having the screen covered with bright areas your in-game eyes do not want to adapt, while in reality they would've and the bloom would've gone away.
CDprojekt have a ton of great artists, they know what they're doing!
Angel Dust on 5/2/2013 at 03:26
Quote Posted by Yakoob
That basically sums up the tutorial in the fortress, but the game opens up after that letting you roam around the whole village; did you not get that far or also found that portion restrictive (which, I can see how)?
I don't know, he could be talking about the game in general because compared to the likes of Skyrim etc, The Witcher games are quite linear and boxed in. Even more so with the sequel than the first one.
My biggest wish for the third game would be that they've gone and ripped off the melee combat mechanics from the Souls games. I love a lot of things about the Witcher (the world, writing, moral ambiguity) but the combat been pretty meh in both of them.
Yakoob on 5/2/2013 at 03:32
Quote Posted by DDL
One of the problems the witcher had was quest timing: "I need to wait till midnight to do X", followed by "X is done, I need to wait till noon to tell Y", which was clever, semi-realistic and quite engaging, since it made the world feel slightly less 'entirely revolving around you', but it also meant that the overriding impression you were left with was "man, witchers do a fuckton of
waiting."
And while they had a fireplace meditation fast-wait mechanic, you needed to find a fireplace first, and then (if it wasn't night time and thus a combat zone that allowed you to FIREBALL) find a flint to light it.
Huh. Frankly while I do remember a few time sensitive quests I don't recall ever having to wait, I always had plenty to do. I used the fast forward mechanic maybe a handful of times, mainly to encounter some night time monster
Beleg Cúthalion on 5/2/2013 at 06:57
"His [the Witcher's] movements are extraordinary." Yeah, actually it was funny to see that swordfighting was incredibly slow in the Witcher 2 ((
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjT4JepA-Vc) even slower than what real people do today) despite the general impression given in the book that they are fast as hell. However, with some fencing background the fencing scenes described in the book make you feel sick, so badly are they written and so unelegant is real world stuff implemented. In general I had the feeling that the Witcher as a roleplaying game was better than the novels as fantasy literature. Violence, naked women and randomly chosen funny names for persons don't exactly make a believable organic world or even a good story. I still liked it and read the whole series or at least what is available in German (until the "Lady of the Lake") but it was nothing outstanding.
Thanks for the heads up on the Witcher 3, looking forward to it. Hopefully it takes longer than the second one or at least has a better arranged dramatical curve.
faetal on 5/2/2013 at 12:08
Quote Posted by Angel Dust
My biggest wish for the third game would be that they've gone and ripped off the melee combat mechanics from the Souls games. I love a lot of things about the Witcher (the world, writing, moral ambiguity) but the combat been pretty meh in both of them.
That's a good call. Personally though, I've been forever waiting for something which has similar mechanic to Blade of Darkness.
Yakoob on 5/2/2013 at 19:09
"Geralt is Special .... great threat to mankind .... geralt is awesome..."
I see Witcher is continuing on its path towards genericness...
Quote Posted by Beleg Cúthalion
However, with some fencing background the fencing scenes described in the book make you feel sick, so badly are they written and so unelegant is real world stuff implemented. I would disagree with you there on one account, though - I did like the brevity of them. Like, a whole fight was a paragraph, I prefer than spending 3 pages describing every single tiny thrust in detail. Though I admit I am not a martial-artist of any sort and thus cannot disagree or comment on the "quality/accuracy" of the combat.
Quote:
Violence, naked women and randomly chosen funny names for persons don't exactly make a believable organic world or even a good story. I still liked it and read the whole series or at least what is available in German (until the "Lady of the Lake") but it was nothing outstanding.
And here I feel it may be a cultural issue - personally I loved the Witcher books (well, half of them, the middle ones and last one dragged). But I also recognized they drew a lot on Polish culture, lore and language. I've remarked on these forums before that I think non-poles would miss out on *a lot* reading them. I still want to replay the game in English just to see how they handle many polish-isms and what is lost.
van HellSing on 5/2/2013 at 20:07
They did set up the threat, and it does make sense within the lore. That's already a better performance than ME3 :P
Also note how they stress it's a personal story first and then say there's
also that threat.
In any case, the (
official announcement is up):
Quote:
<p>CD Projekt RED has officially announced the title of their next upcoming game: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weCw2s2U3Rw" target="_blank">The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (VIDEO)</a>. Further, they've announced that this, the ultimate game in the series, will also be the final Witcher game from the studio. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt combines CD Projekt RED's trademark decision-based storytelling flair with a living open world larger than any other in modern RPG history.
<span>“The captivating and nonlinear story of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes place in a rich, truly open world environment. A world which is thrilling to explore, full of daring adventures, momentous quests, memorable characters, and unique monsters. Players will freely travel through woods, lakes, mountains, cities, and villages. Each region is inhabited by distinct populations with their own customs, legends and problems. The world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is 30 times bigger than The Witcher 2," said Adam Badowski, head of the studio.</span>
<span>“Imagine playing a dark fantasy game with the same great nonlinear story as in the previous Witcher titles, but now told in a world you can explore freely with no artificial boundaries. The war-ravaged world is so huge that to reach further places you will need to ride a horse or sail a boat to get there. A world where your choices have truly epic consequences. From the development side, this goal is extremely demanding. Our team had to make significant design changes and our tech had to be rebuilt. But we believe that this will lead to a completely new level of nonlinearity and a whole new, richer gaming experience. As a gamer, I would love to play this kind of RPG and I think this is what many players are waiting for. This is our dream come true at CD Projekt RED, and we hope it will be the same for you!” adds Badowski.</span>
<span>The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the final episode of the award-winning RPG series and the last part of the legend of Geralt of Rivia. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the most robust and breathtaking game ever created by CD Projekt RED. Open world free-roaming exploration is an adventure in itself as the player will gallop through war-ravaged lands, sail misty waters and track down dangerous beasts for money. An improved combat system will allow players to feel like a real monster-hunter, a witcher who uses his superior senses and fighting skills to survive in a dark fantasy world--while he embarks on a quest to save his loved ones. The new core mechanics of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt immerse the player in the experience completely, with no Quick Time Events, only intuitive RPG gameplay.</span>
<span>Badowski continued, "People may ask if this is really going to be the last Witcher game. Yes, it is. Why? Because we believe that we should end the series on a high note. Technology has progressed to where we can finally tell the story the way we want, with the visuals we want, in the world we imagined. This will be the ultimate fantasy RPG experience, and while we're hardly out of stories to tell, we believe it's time for us to look to new worlds and new horizons to keep pushing the boundaries of what we can create."</span>
<span>For all of those who have never experienced the adventures of Geralt before, this will be their last chance. The game will be accessible all players--those who are fans of the series and those who just love RPGs--thanks to availability on all major high-end platforms and an introduction designed to smoothly introduce all those who visit the world of the Witcher for the first time."</span>
<span>The game will be released in 2014 simultaneously on all high-end platforms. Making use of the same remarkable art direction from The Witcher 2 combined with the support of in-house technology--</span><a href="http://eepurl.com/uKkdj" target="_blank">the recently-announced RPG-oriented REDengine 3</a><span>--The Witcher 3 will take full advantage of the technical capabilities of modern hardware and will set a new standard for RPG visuals.</span>
<span>CD Projekt RED has added a whole new section to their website. If you want to find more information, please go to </span><a href="http://www.thewitcher.com/" target="_blank">www.thewitcher.com</a>
<span>For more details check out the latest issue of </span><a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2013/02/04/march-cover-reveal-witcher-3-wild-hunt.aspx" target="_blank">Game Informer</a><span>, available for online subscribers starting from today. There you will find exclusive materials in a 14 page cover story, including early screenshots and concept artwork.</span>
<span>To celebrate this momentous announcement, the developers of the award-winning Witcher franchise are putting The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition on a 50% off sale on </span><a href="http://gog.com/" target="_blank">GOG.com</a><span> and </span><a href="http://store.steampowered.com/" target="_blank">Steam</a><span> for the next 72 hours. And for console gamers, the price of The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition on Microsoft's Xbox 360 is permanently decreased to only USD/EUR 29.99 USD/EUR or GBP 19,99.</span>
<span>To be informed about the start of official CD Projekt RED pre-orders for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and to receive the latest Witcher news please subscribe here:</span><a href="http://thewitcher.com/preorder" target="_blank">thewitcher.com/preorder</a></p>
The last Witcher game, huh...