Witcher 3; would I like it?

[tippy2k2]

Some of you may remember me as the guy who heard great things about The Witcher 2, played it for about ten hours, and got so frustrated with how clunky the combat was and how I didn't have any clue what was going on that I quit (Also, damn, you have one hell of a memory! How in the world did you remember that?). I have now continued to hear great things about The Witcher 3 and my curiosity is finally breaking me down to play it.

So the long story short is that one of my major complaints (What the fuck is going on in the story?!?!) is taken care of as you need no real knowledge of the series to play W3. I have W3 ready to go but haven't actually played it but I see the Season Pass is on sale.

So a few questions for you Witcher peeps...

#1. Can you play the story knowing minimal about the previous stories? I basically know Geralt is a Witcher, which are barely tolerated by society for their monster killing abilities, the black haired lady and the red haired lady is/was his lady friends of the sexy fun kind, and that's about it.

#2. Is the DLC incorporated into the world, similar to how Fallout does it where they are just quests out there for you to find or are they just their own things you click on when you're ready to play outside of the main story like Dragon Age Awakening?

#3. Is the combat still super clunky and the potion system dumb? So for reference for what I didn't like...I felt like it took Geralt a year to do anything in a fight he was so slow. I would generally lose a decent chunk of health because it felt like it took seconds between when I told him to swing and when he swung his damn sword. The tips I was told to help in fights was to roll around like a God Damn bouncy ball the entire fight, which felt less like "Bad Ass Warrior" and more like "Bowling Ball just hoping it goes well".

The potion system I hated too because it seemed stacked against you where you had to know what you were going to be fighting in order to use the right potion and the only way you knew what you were going to be fighting is if you happened to know what was coming up or if you got yourself killed and had to reload.

So anyone want to help a gamer out here and answer my questions three?

 

[Casual Shinji]

#1. Can you play the story knowing minimal about the previous stories? I basically know Geralt is a Witcher, which are barely tolerated by society for their monster killing abilities, the black haired lady and the red haired lady is/was his lady friends of the sexy fun kind, and that's about it.

The main plot is about a character that had at that point (to my knowledge) not been in the previous games. I was completely unfamiliar with the story too, and I had little trouble following it. And the best part narratively is all the side quest stories anyway. Almost each one has a unique and engaging little tale to tell.

#2. Is the DLC incorporated into the world, similar to how Fallout does it where they are just quests out there for you to find or are they just their own things you click on when you're ready to play outside of the main story like Dragon Age Awakening?

Yes. I only played Blood and Wine, but it starts with you activating the quest and then meeting a couple of soldiers who will then take you to the DLC world.

#3. Is the combat still super clunky and the potion system dumb? So for reference for what I didn't like...I felt like it took Geralt a year to do anything in a fight he was so slow. I would generally lose a decent chunk of health because it felt like it took seconds between when I told him to swing and when he swung his damn sword. The tips I was told to help in fights was to roll around like a God Damn bouncy ball the entire fight, which felt less like "Bad Ass Warrior" and more like "Bowling Ball just hoping it goes well".

The combat's nothing special, but it's actually adequate now. It's still a bit clunky, but it certainly isn't as shit as it was in The Witcher 2. You press the Attack button now and you attack, no bullshit. The game also gives you a nice tutorial at the start. You can also fight on horseback which is extremely effective. I never even saw the need to use potions and oils at all on Normal difficulty.

Just prepare to put in some hours into it, because this thing is a fucking beast. I still haven't finished the son of a *****.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

It is a completely different game to the Witcher 2. Worth it as a stand-alone title. I also couldn't enjoy the second game no matter how often I tried. For similar and other reasons. But honestly, they have made a different beast entirely. Just try not to let the second game taint your perception of this one without giving it a go at least. The developers have really worked on previous criticisms so well, it's admirable.

 

[Baffle]

I really wanted to enjoy it, but everything just took too long. I've got a job you know!

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

The combat isn't clunky, it's actually very responsive. Potions can be taken during combat now and witcher signs and alchemy are also a lot more fun so you'll want to invest some ability points into them now. DLC is incorporated into the main game but you need to be a certain level if you want to have any hope of being able to survive it, and you don't really need any knowledge of the previous games or books in order to play it and to enjoy it. You still get a separate menu for all the characters that you encounter in the game in case you want to know more about who they are and what they're all about.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Initially, combat was meh, but once I figured the nuances of it out better, it felt fairly fluid and fun. Its not overdesigned, its not overanimated either, which a lot of games tend to do. Its also not overcomplex, but its also not very deep.
Storywise, its self-contained, and gives enough of a backstory from the previous that you don't need to have played either installment. As stated, DLC is incorporated into the game, but you can skip straight to it if you wish (I recommend playing through the main story first though, just because its worth it).
If anything, Witcher 3, for me, has the best sidequests and map design of any fantasy RPG I've played. The world feels fairly natural, geography-wise, not overdesigned at all.
If anything though, my biggest complaint is the materials for crafting can be annoying to find at times for things like bombs. I never seem to have the right shit to take out a few monster nests and have to backtrack and hope a merchant has the shit I need.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

The combat isn't clunky, it's actually very responsive. Potions can be taken during combat now and witcher signs and alchemy are also a lot more fun so you'll want to invest some ability points into them now. DLC is incorporated into the main game but you need to be a certain level if you want to have any hope of being able to survive it, and you don't really need any knowledge of the previous games or books in order to play it and to enjoy it. You still get a separate menu for all the characters that you encounter in the game in case you want to know more about who they are and what they're all about.

this. especially the potion part, I got the whirling blade move, gave my sword the increased radius rune from the first DLC, would down some potion that helped with that fight, and i turned into a whirling blade of death for alot of the fights.

OT: Honestly might be my favorite rpg ever played OP, every other open world type rpg pales in comparison in every single category, I was super cautious about them going open world before TW3 came out, but they blew me away with how good it is.


There are 8 billion things to do. most of it can be avoided, but I recommend playing through as much as possible, also it's worth looking into some guides about 60% the way through the main story, there are certain things you *should* do if you want certain endings.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Initially, combat was meh, but once I figured the nuances of it out better, it felt fairly fluid and fun. Its not overdesigned, its not overanimated either, which a lot of games tend to do. Its also not overcomplex, but its also not very deep.
Storywise, its self-contained, and gives enough of a backstory from the previous that you don't need to have played either installment. As stated, DLC is incorporated into the game, but you can skip straight to it if you wish (I recommend playing through the main story first though, just because its worth it).
If anything, Witcher 3, for me, has the best sidequests and map design of any fantasy RPG I've played. The world feels fairly natural, geography-wise, not overdesigned at all.
If anything though, my biggest complaint is the materials for crafting can be annoying to find at times for things like bombs. I never seem to have the right shit to take out a few monster nests and have to backtrack and hope a merchant has the shit I need.

not sure if you're playing on PC or not, but I added a few mods to my game that gave me higher stocks in loot from killing things, so thankfully this made things alot more natural with less grind on making potions/bombs/etc..doesn't break immersion and still makes you go out and find alot of things.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Initially, combat was meh, but once I figured the nuances of it out better, it felt fairly fluid and fun. Its not overdesigned, its not overanimated either, which a lot of games tend to do. Its also not overcomplex, but its also not very deep.
Storywise, its self-contained, and gives enough of a backstory from the previous that you don't need to have played either installment. As stated, DLC is incorporated into the game, but you can skip straight to it if you wish (I recommend playing through the main story first though, just because its worth it).
If anything, Witcher 3, for me, has the best sidequests and map design of any fantasy RPG I've played. The world feels fairly natural, geography-wise, not overdesigned at all.
If anything though, my biggest complaint is the materials for crafting can be annoying to find at times for things like bombs. I never seem to have the right shit to take out a few monster nests and have to backtrack and hope a merchant has the shit I need.

not sure if you're playing on PC or not, but I added a few mods to my game that gave me higher stocks in loot from killing things, so thankfully this made things alot more natural with less grind on making potions/bombs/etc..doesn't break immersion and still makes you go out and find alot of things.

I haven't tried it with mods yet, might consider doing so. Didn't actually think about doing it because the vanilla experience (minus the small loot issue) has been more or less wonderful.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Initially, combat was meh, but once I figured the nuances of it out better, it felt fairly fluid and fun. Its not overdesigned, its not overanimated either, which a lot of games tend to do. Its also not overcomplex, but its also not very deep.
Storywise, its self-contained, and gives enough of a backstory from the previous that you don't need to have played either installment. As stated, DLC is incorporated into the game, but you can skip straight to it if you wish (I recommend playing through the main story first though, just because its worth it).
If anything, Witcher 3, for me, has the best sidequests and map design of any fantasy RPG I've played. The world feels fairly natural, geography-wise, not overdesigned at all.
If anything though, my biggest complaint is the materials for crafting can be annoying to find at times for things like bombs. I never seem to have the right shit to take out a few monster nests and have to backtrack and hope a merchant has the shit I need.

not sure if you're playing on PC or not, but I added a few mods to my game that gave me higher stocks in loot from killing things, so thankfully this made things alot more natural with less grind on making potions/bombs/etc..doesn't break immersion and still makes you go out and find alot of things.

I haven't tried it with mods yet, might consider doing so. Didn't actually think about doing it because the vanilla experience (minus the small loot issue) has been more or less wonderful.

oh I completely agree! I played the game when it first came out, and waited until a month ago when I got both the DLC's to attempt another playthrough, I increased my inventory weight as well (because as you know, you pick up a fuck ton of stuff and going back to town or choosing what you want to keep with you can be a pain) on top of the mods mentioned to you before, otherwise the vanilla experience is amazing.

 

[tippy2k2]

This all sounds promising (although so did the Witcher 2 )

I already have the game so no matter what, I'm going to at least give it a shot. The DLC is just on sale right now and people's comments are making me a lot less nervous about just picking up the pass now so that I've got everything up and running when it's time to play.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

This all sounds promising (although so did the Witcher 2 )

I already have the game so no matter what, I'm going to at least give it a shot. The DLC is just on sale right now and people's comments are making me a lot less nervous about just picking up the pass now so that I've got everything up and running when it's time to play.

Initially I hated the Witcher 2, only recently having gone back and played it and found it to be a lot easier to deal with. Might just be having had time away from it made me appreciate it more or just having played Witcher 3... which is odd because the gameplay is not the same at all.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

This all sounds promising (although so did the Witcher 2 )

I already have the game so no matter what, I'm going to at least give it a shot. The DLC is just on sale right now and people's comments are making me a lot less nervous about just picking up the pass now so that I've got everything up and running when it's time to play.

blood and wine is *amazing*, it takes you to a seperate part of the map (not accessible otherwise) and it honestly could almost be its own game, shit it probably has more content and polish to it than entire rpg's released today.

Heart of stone isn't bad, and it can absolutely be done during the main story if you want to (could be worth it, it has a couple of unlocks and stuff worth checking out perhaps prior to ending the main story.)

pro tip: if you plan on upgrading the custom witcher equipment to its fullest, it's going to take scrooge mcduck levels of gold, so save up gold for the 2 DLC's, and I recommend only investing in one or two sets of witcher armor fully, otherwise you're probably wasting money/resources on equipment you won't probably use (but cool to keep in your collection/storage)

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

This all sounds promising (although so did the Witcher 2 )

I already have the game so no matter what, I'm going to at least give it a shot. The DLC is just on sale right now and people's comments are making me a lot less nervous about just picking up the pass now so that I've got everything up and running when it's time to play.

The DLC is freakin' amazing! It's great value even at full price. It's a steal at any discount. People actually still debate about which DLC is better. Hearts of Stone is smaller in scope and more focused but the story might be even better than the vanilla. Blood and Wine is basically The Witcher 3.5. It's got more content than the entire TW2 and it's set in a new area of the map that is completely different in tone and atmosphere from other areas in the vanilla game. The story and the writing is also absolutely superb, but I kinda prefer the Hearts of Stone story myself, but only ever so slightly.

 

[HerrBobo]

Play it!

I did 18 hours in The Witcher. The combat was so shitty I just had to give up.
Witcher 2 was four hours. Some bullshit about a drunken Troll.
Witcher 3, 43 hours and counting.

 

[Rangaman]

To answer your questions:

#1: No, you don't. I, much like you, could never get into the the previous entries. The first game had a combat system that was just painful to use and the sequel just bored me to tears. TW3 gives you a little booklet explaining the story of the previous entries, but you can mostly just fill in the blanks and it still works fine.

#2: Well, the free DLC does. Hearts of Stone adds a few new side quests to the various in-game areas, to my knowledge. The only DLC that adds a brand new "click this for the side stuff" area is Blood and Wine.

#3: It's more responsive than TW2. I can't remember that games potion system that well, however. I'm pretty sure it's still the same in The Witcher 3.

 

[infohippie]

I really enjoyed all three Witcher games myself, but I think TW3 is one of the best games I've ever played in my three decades of gaming and probably the best action RPG I have ever played. You don't need to know any of the story to enjoy the third game, but it definitely helps to have completed the second so you already know certain characters and are familiar with the political situation of the world. Even without that, though, it's still an amazing game.

 

[mysecondlife]

Some of you may remember me as the guy who heard great things about The Witcher 2, played it for about ten hours, and got so frustrated with how clunky the combat was and how I didn't have any clue what was going on that I quit (Also, damn, you have one hell of a memory! How in the world did you remember that?). I have now continued to hear great things about The Witcher 3 and my curiosity is finally breaking me down to play it.

So the long story short is that one of my major complaints (What the fuck is going on in the story?!?!) is taken care of as you need no real knowledge of the series to play W3. I have W3 ready to go but haven't actually played it but I see the Season Pass is on sale.

So a few questions for you Witcher peeps...

#1. Can you play the story knowing minimal about the previous stories? I basically know Geralt is a Witcher, which are barely tolerated by society for their monster killing abilities, the black haired lady and the red haired lady is/was his lady friends of the sexy fun kind, and that's about it.

I haven't played Witcher 1, couldn't follow the storyline of Witcher 2.
I was able to follow up with Witcher 3 very easily. So, yes.

#2. Is the DLC incorporated into the world, similar to how Fallout does it where they are just quests out there for you to find or are they just their own things you click on when you're ready to play outside of the main story like Dragon Age Awakening?

The first DLC (Hearts of Stone) is incorporated into the main game. The second DLC (Blood and Wine) gives you a whole new region to explore (which you can leave for main game region anytime you like). Both have their own strengths. Hearts of Stone provides a "short episodic tale" therefore is more focused (with damn good writing). Blood and Wine has the end-goal of "Lets provide Geralt a happy ending no matter what happens" so the story can be uneven at times. But I found the world of Blood and Wine a lot more interesting to explore than the base game.

#3. Is the combat still super clunky and the potion system dumb? So for reference for what I didn't like...I felt like it took Geralt a year to do anything in a fight he was so slow. I would generally lose a decent chunk of health because it felt like it took seconds between when I told him to swing and when he swung his damn sword. The tips I was told to help in fights was to roll around like a God Damn bouncy ball the entire fight, which felt less like "Bad Ass Warrior" and more like "Bowling Ball just hoping it goes well".

Combat is pretty standard. Press X for normal attack, Y for heavy attack, B for dodge, double tap A for roll dodge. and so forth.
If you played Dark Souls and other similar games, you'll be very familiar with Witcher 3's combat.

The potion system I hated too because it seemed stacked against you where you had to know what you were going to be fighting in order to use the right potion and the only way you knew what you were going to be fighting is if you happened to know what was coming up or if you got yourself killed and had to reload.

So anyone want to help a gamer out here and answer my questions three?

You can get by without having to use Potions in normal difficulty. But when you're monster hunting you'll end up playing detective a lot. Once you gathered enough clues, you'll get the generic idea of which monster you'll be facing. For example, If I know I'll be fighting some sort of vampire I'll apply vampire oil on my sword, and assign hot key to throwable items that vampires are tend to be weak against.

 

[DeadProxy]

I enjoyed the story and characters immensely and I barely remembered the events of Witcher 1 when I played 3. The game does a good job of explaining characters pasts and Geralt's involvement when you meet important characters, so I was rarely wondering who the hell the this random person was and why they're important or not.

Except for the Blood and Wine DLC, everything is sprinkled onto the base game, but the Blood and Wine DLC has a much improved UI that I don't believe is patched into the base game, and it's pretty much worth it for that alone. Just about all the free DLC is worth grabbing too. There's a handful of free quests, alternate costumes for our leading ladies, and other small things, plus the NG+ which scales to your level, so it can get damn hard.

Can't really say if the combat was "improved" or not, cause I had a fine time with it during my time with the game. They did patch in a new movement option for Geralt though, so he didn't have to take all those wide turns just to 180. And the potion system is one of the best parts of combat. Sure it's boring prep, but it's all part of the hunt. You pay attention to your hunt, drink the potions and use the oils that give you the advantage, then do your best not to get cocky, or you get lucky and your hunt can actually be reasoned with. The bestiary is your friend in this game, as it will just tell you what oils, bombs, potions, and signs are useful.

This is totally one of the best games I've ever played.

 

[The Madman]

-Story is far more focused and character-driven as opposed to the big political scandals of Witcher 2, which makes it far more newcomer friendly.

-DLC are indeed implemented in the main game Fallout style, and are both exceptional.

-Gameplay is heavily improved and plays smoothly. Potions are streamlined and far less of an ordeal like they were in 2 while still being a useful game element.

As for whether you'll like it or not that's impossible to know till you play the game, but I'd definitely say it's at least worth you giving a try even if you weren't that keen on 1 or 2.

Except for the Blood and Wine DLC, everything is sprinkled onto the base game, but the Blood and Wine DLC has a much improved UI that I don't believe is patched into the base game, and it's pretty much worth it for that alone.

It is patched into the base game, you don't need the dlc for the improved UI.