faetal on 6/12/2015 at 19:45
I'm exactly at that point Sulphonamide! Just looking guiltily at the icon on my desktop thinking "soon".
Starker on 6/12/2015 at 22:10
Quote Posted by faetal
I'm still trying to drag myself through TW1 in order to play through 2 and then 3. Really hoping it's worth it.
It does have a pay-off, sort of. Or at least I went, "Huh, that's kind of neat."
faetal on 6/12/2015 at 22:51
How much of the game is there left at this stage? Or more importantly, how much good stuff is there in the latter part and will I be worse off for not having played it? Bearing in mind I can read the plot points online.
Starker on 7/12/2015 at 02:21
I remember the first two chapters being a boring slog and somewhere in the third chapter was where it finally started to pick up and the story hooks started to pay off. Sounds like you're in the middle of third chapter right now (Vizima's Trade Quarter?). Next chapter will take place in a completely new location and the chapter after that is mostly a lot of wrapping up. Maybe finish the current chapter and see if you like the next one at all?
faetal on 7/12/2015 at 02:36
Yep, that's where I am. I'll stick with it for a bit then.
henke on 7/12/2015 at 06:27
Just after my last post I realized that I can meditate to refill my potions and bombs. That makes things considerably easier.
faetal on 2/1/2016 at 04:27
Holy MOLY this game is a time sink. I only just reached Novigrad and apparently GOG tells me I've put in 79 hours.
Lawks.
Loving it a lot.
henke on 1/2/2016 at 06:43
After a month long break, I got back into Witcher 3 again last week, picking up where I'd left off at the start of Novigrad. I've done all the main missions there now and am trying to decide whether to head to Skellige or help Dijkstra out with his plot.
Also, I turned off most of the HUD elements, and the minimap. You really get to know the world better when you have to pay attention to your surroundings and not just follow the little line on the minimap to get where you're going. When I first got to Novigrad it was a confusing labyrinth, but by the end of my stay here I can find my way around easily without consulting the map.
faetal on 1/2/2016 at 06:56
The game is perfect in all but one part - the combat. I'm sucked in by the setting, characters and story like no other game. It is story-telling par excellence independent of the medium, which for a game is super rare, particularly one as dispersed as this one. But the combat is a bit too shallow for my liking. Even on super hard mode, the combat mostly just takes longer - I never feel like I'm really applying anything tactical, other than the use of blade oils and specific bombs & signs. I guess I'm a bit spoiled by Dark Souls. If the combat felt like Dark Souls, the game would be a strong 10/10 for me rather than a steady 9/10.
henke on 2/2/2016 at 19:41
As it happens, here's a video I just uploaded of the combat!
[video=youtube;Z0q853dbvl0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0q853dbvl0&feature=youtu.be[/video]
Anyway, I like it! For sure, it's a bit wonky. It's certainly nowhere near as tight as Dark Souls. There are little annoying things about it like how you can't do a backwards roll, then hold down the throw bomb button and come out of the roll expecting Geralt to get into bomb-throwing pose. Instead he just stands there like a dumb idiot(2:20 in the video) until you let go of the throw button and press it down again, because apparently if you press it while the roll animation is playing it's ignored. Grrr. But anyway, despite all that, the combination of reading up on monsters before entering a fight, preparing for it, and then the useage of various tools and spells and the slick animations of Geralt do all work towards making me feel like a total badass during the fights. And at this point I'm so worn out by Dark Souls and Batman style combat in games, I'm just glad to see a game doing something different, even if it isn't as tight as either of those well-worn systems.
btw, progess report: I'm in Skellige!
