I found TW3 overrated. The following is what I wrote about it shortly after finishing it. My opinion hasn't changed much.
I found much of Witcher 3?s dialogue fat and uninteresting (coming from someone who enjoys long talkies like The Wire). It got to the point where I would pick the answers that would get these dull characters to shut up faster. I became more bored with the story as it transcended dimensions and became about saving the world. I preferred the stronger focus on political intrigue and personal stories in Witcher 2.
The world would have been more enjoyable for me to continue in with tighter and more versatile controls.
The controls and animations are unresponsive. Geralt understeers, doesn?t stop fast enough and often runs when holding Ctrl. He moves inefficiently, even for a middle-aged man. A middle-aged supernatural martial artist, I should say. The automation works against you a lot of the time. Geralt will automatically stop and turn towards a hostile, even if you just want to run by. You can?t disengage the targeting/battle system. Also, he automatically draws his swords. There were a few times that I accidentally sheathed my weapon because of it. They give you two evade buttons during combat, which makes it so that you can?t climb anything during combat. You?re forced to fight until everyone is dead or until you?ve gotten enough distance. I want to be able to jump and climb during combat to evade danger or flee. Especially if I?m near death. I see no reason for mobility to be limited during combat. They could have kept the leap, regular dodge, climb and jump during and outside of combat by making the battle system manual. Why are the evade and run buttons not the same one? It?s the same principle. Using your legs hastily. It?s a video game standard that makes sense.
The combat is repetitive. It?s the same exaggerated attacks over and over. Left click, left click, left click. I seldom used the strong attack. Found it rather useless. I liked how Chivalry and Ocarina of Time let you do alternate attacks with with the Z button, the Alt key and the mouse wheel.
The inventory is tedious. So much useless junk you have to inefficiently sort through. The build I played had no sorting options, like ?View by name? or ?Search?.
I don?t like the way the status bars are displayed. In the Souls games, I have a clear understanding of how much stamina, health and magic I have left because the bars are all equal. With Witcher 3?s small, round adrenaline bar located off to the side, I was often surprised that I couldn?t dodge or run.
Roche randomly stops on bridges and other paths, which is infuriating during races. Someone told me it?s the same on a controller. Speaking of Roche, I find it funny that he will appear anywhere instantly, including on deserted islands. It makes me think the devs weren?t that confident in the open world. I would have had Roche follow from a distance and not show at all on isolated islands. I would have done alternative transportation, fewer islands and fewer uncrossable waters. Then again, I wouldn?t have made a spacious, largely empty open world to begin with because I value tight, purposeful level design.
Ciri?s sections contradicted the game. Enclosed, linear paths, auto healing and no weapon durability or inventory. Her ability to teleport made things too easy. I think I?d have preferred her flashbacks as shortened cutscenes or narrated pictures.
Something I do like about the combat is that you can switch targets simply by moving towards the other, unlike in the Souls series, where you need to move the right stick and thus are unable to move the camera during combat, and Zelda, where you can?t switch targets at all.
The combat is at least more realistic and less finicky than in TW2, but the upgrade system is worse because the paths are all separate. As a result, you can?t acquire a lot of the upgrades that you would like, unless you waste a lot of time and overpower yourself. I preferred the branches of The Witcher 2 over the separate, linear paths in Witcher 3.
The maps were mostly natural, the art was good and I liked how unique the stories were, but I got somewhat bored traveling so much.
Witcher 3 also has a really ugly filter that breaks the fourth wall and ruins immersion.
