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[mindfreak191]

I think the removal of roll in Witcher's arsenal will profoundly effect the gameplay. And, even though it doesn't quite line up with the lore, the decision to improve the moment-to-moment gameplay by nixing the necessity of drinking potions before battle is appreciated. This should especially help since the game is now open-world, and there will be more random encounters to accompany a sense of discovery. The game is less RPG-like and more RDR. I find it fascinating that all three Witcher games are generally distinct from one another, despite having a larger plot and world that ties them all together. Comparing the changes in scope and combat from TW1, 2, and 3, to Mass Effect's more minute changes is pretty incredible. TW2, to me, was analogous to a game like Mass Effect 2, with different hubs and side-missions that resonated throughout the endgame. TW3, meanwhile, is a different beast entirely. I really hope that CDProjekt nails the gamefeel. I definitely get the sense that they've done their homework and worked hard to emulate those elements that made RDR so successful.

You literally just repeated what the guy from the gamespot coverage said....

 

[ScepticMatt]

Can someone clear up for me: The Witcher Games take place after all the novels/stories, correct? If I'm wrong, when?

5 years after Geralt's end of story in the Lady of the Lake novel.

 

[Aldia]

Skyrim has stilted animations, middling voice acting, and decent graphics. Still GOAT for some people.

Dark Souls has no lip synching and framerate issues. Still GOAT for some people.

TLOU is linear, has an functionally invisible partner character, and meh crafting. Still GOAT for some people.

You can launch pretty major complaints at any of the best games of last gen, and I'm sure we'll have plenty to complain about in TW3, but it'll still be phenomenal overall and that's largely what we'll remember it for years later.

Be positive, people.

 

[Chaos17]

Skyrim has stilted animations, middling voice acting, and decent graphics. Still GOAT for some people.

Dark Souls has no lip synching and framerate issues. Still GOAT for some people.

TLOU is linear, has an functionally invisible partner character, and meh crafting. Still GOAT for some people.

You can launch pretty major complaints at any of the best games of last gen, and I'm sure we'll have plenty to complain about in TW3, but it'll still be phenomenal overall and that's largely what we'll remember it for years later.

Be positive, people.

I like your way of thinking.
+1

 

[tuxfool]

I just can't think of other open world games that look this good. I guarantee Wild Hunt will be usurped because it is, in many ways, the very first open world game specifically for current gen hardware. Every open world game in existence takes a hit visually and in production consistency (eg: quality of lip syncing) compared to smaller, linear games. The only exception to the rule is Rockstar's game, but arguably nobody else in the industry has decades of experience with the genre like them, along with the manpower and money.

This is true. But to me even R* open world games still suffer from things like dead eyed models etc.

 

[The Illiterati]

5 years after Geralt's end of story in the Lady of the Lake novel.

Thanks. I think I'm going to try and read what's available before 3 comes out. I've played 1 and 2 but I finally feel the need to really drench myself in the lore and the characters before playing Geralt's last adventure.

 

[misho8723]

TW3 played in a cinema (in Berlin)

And some news about console footage:https://twitter.com/MilezZx/status/591226568942424066

 

[ogbg]

The environmental stuff looks awesome apart from the ridiculous way the trees move to give the illusion of wind. I get that it's hard to accurately model a real wind system but surely they could slow and tone down the effect a little bit.

 

[Denton]

This is true. But to me even R* open world games still suffer from things like dead eyed models etc.

Yep, I am playing GTA V PC now and frankly, the lipsync/character models are vastly inferior to Witcher 3. I know it is crossgen game, but anyway.

Skyrim has stilted animations, middling voice acting, and decent graphics. Still GOAT for some people.

Dark Souls has no lip synching and framerate issues. Still GOAT for some people.

TLOU is linear, has an functionally invisible partner character, and meh crafting. Still GOAT for some people.

You can launch pretty major complaints at any of the best games of last gen, and I'm sure we'll have plenty to complain about in TW3, but it'll still be phenomenal overall and that's largely what we'll remember it for years later.

Be positive, people.

Great post. Some of my favourite games ever could be nitpicked to death - Deus Ex, horrible animations and combat and rudimentary stealth! Vampire Bloodlines, horrible animations and crashing and bugs! Gothic, horrible inventory system and controls! But they are still best fucking games ever made, flaws and all.

TW3 played in a cinema (in Berlin)

And some news about console footage:https://twitter.com/MilezZx/status/591226568942424066

Goddammit I want to be there.

 

[Genio88]

TW3 played in a cinema (in Berlin)

And some news about console footage:https://twitter.com/MilezZx/status/591226568942424066

That's me with my HMZ-T1, if only it wasn't so uncomfortable to wear...

 

[b0bbyJ03]

I think the windy trees look awesome. its not realistic but they do it for dramatic effect. I love it... especially the sounds of the wind through the trees. it adds lots of atmosphere imo.

 

[Daverid]

If their perception is that the models look like lifeless mannequins, so be it. They have different standards than you and other apologists have. That's cool and doesn't and shouldn't take away from your standards and feelings on the matter.

In the real world, when someone has an unrealistic expectation and blows it well out of proportion, we call that being naive and stupid, not calling the people who actually look at it from a more sensible, reasonable, objective stand-point, apologists.

Honestly what a complete load of illogical bullshit. It's not about "standards", it's about people being completely ridiculous, and using unnecessary exaggerations to make their point.
If someone just said, "I dunno, it's decent enough quality but something about it all still looks a bit uncanny valley" (or something along those lines, I'm probably being a little lax there with that line), then I wouldn't even respond. That's a fair, un-exaggerated assessment which veers enough into logical personal opinion that is fine. However I'm talking about the people who claim it's "bad" "atrocious" "cringe-worthy", it has nothing to do with standards, it has to do with straight up hyperbolic stupidity.

 

[Dictator93]

TW3 played in a cinema (in Berlin)

And some news about console footage:https://twitter.com/MilezZx/status/591226568942424066

In which cinema in berlin? (i live there!!)

 

[ironcreed]

And some news about console footage:https://twitter.com/MilezZx/status/591226568942424066

 

[misho8723]

In which cinema in berlin? (i live there!!)

Is there in Berlin a cinema called Kino International ?

 

[BigTnaples]

TW3 played in a cinema (in Berlin)

And some news about console footage:https://twitter.com/MilezZx/status/591226568942424066

Nice.


Looking forward to seeing how my PS4 copy stacks up against my PC on a 970 FTW/


Also, playing through TW2 right now, settings maxed aside from uber sampling, and running at 2560x1140 on a 4K 65 inch.

I must say that even though TW3 has seemingly seen some downgrades, it still looks like a generational improvement over TW2, and being that it also made the jump to Open Wold at the same time, that is rather impressive. Hoping to see not just some console footage, but also a video showing off some of the Nvidia features in greater detail. Like how/if it will use PhysX, and what all in the world will use HairWorks. (Geralt himself?)

 

[Turin Turambar]

I liked The Witcher 2 combat. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good base.

 

[Wolvesinthebathroom]

This game is shaping up to be everything I hoped for.

 

[SmoothRunningGun]

Well, in regards to TW2, this would refer to responsiveness and combat animations. Geralt in TW2 was extremely unresponsive. So much so that I actually went and installed the CDPr dev combat re-balance mod that indicated it increased Geralt's responsiveness by up to ~80%. However, that mod gave me a host of other issues so I promptly uninstalled it.

Another issue that was quite noticeable was that the animations were too inconsistent. Sometimes Geralt would burst into an entire array of fancy moves and other times he wouldn't. This got on my nerves because the animations should never really be an unpredictable factor for the player.

The hitbox/hurtbox issues were pretty bad. Most noticeable to me in Chapter 1, fighting the Scoia'tael in the woods. They would do their fancy spinning moves where they spin for ages and I would get hit from different sides despite not visual connect.

Those are the fundamental things I'm talking about. I don't particularly care if the combat apes another games or not.

This sums up my thoughts on w2 combat and my fear is w3 will be the same.

 

[Slackbladder]

I'm not sure why you're given an option to turn a quest down. Who's going to do that? What would be better is an option to barter for the reward on completing the quest. You can take it and get given whatever or say I'll do it for so-and-so.
Also, does anybody smile in the game? Everyone looks so pissed off.

 

[WhiskerFrisker]

I'm not sure why you're given an option to turn a quest down. Who's going to do that? What would be better is an option to barter for the reward on completing the quest. You can take it and get given whatever or say I'll do it for so-and-so.
Also, does anybody smile in the game? Everyone looks so pissed off.

They live in a pretty brutal world. Showing emotions would be a sign of weakness lol.

 

[Anton Sugar]

I'm not sure why you're given an option to turn a quest down. Who's going to do that? What would be better is an option to barter for the reward on completing the quest. You can take it and get given whatever or say I'll do it for so-and-so.
Also, does anybody smile in the game? Everyone looks so pissed off.

Speaking anecdotally, there were a lot of quests I turned down/didn't complete in DA:I.

The Witcher universe is pretty representative of the harsh, shitty living conditions of that "time period". People DO smile, though--even Geralt!

 

[Aldia]

I'm not sure why you're given an option to turn a quest down. Who's going to do that?

Are you being serious? There are countless reasons to decline a quest. Maybe you're underleveled, maybe you don't want a cluttered journal, maybe you aren't interested in the quest at the moment. Why are you complaining about something like this?

 

[misho8723]

They live in a pretty brutal world. Showing emotions would be a sign of weakness lol.

Were there any moments in which the characters could be laughing or smiling? .. don't worry.. there are going to be many moments for the characters to smile - just wait for Dandelion or Zoltan Chivay to show up

 

[i-Lo]

TW3 played in a cinema (in Berlin)

And some news about console footage:https://twitter.com/MilezZx/status/591226568942424066

I mean, after all, it's not like they are also planning a big release on consoles.....

Just over 3 weeks now and there bloody better be some xbone/ps4 footage on Gamersyde.

 

[erawsd]

I'm not sure why you're given an option to turn a quest down. Who's going to do that? What would be better is an option to barter for the reward on completing the quest. You can take it and get given whatever or say I'll do it for so-and-so.
Also, does anybody smile in the game? Everyone looks so pissed off.

CDPR has said that turning down some quests will actually impact the world just the same as completing them. There actually is an option to barter for the rewards.

 

[Dictator93]

Is there in Berlin a cinema called Kino International ?

Yeah there is, not to far from Alexanderplatz. Damn, I wish I would have known. I will check and see if there are other events like this planned.

 

[Chaos17]

I'm not sure why you're given an option to turn a quest down. Who's going to do that? What would be better is an option to barter for the reward on completing the quest. You can take it and get given whatever or say I'll do it for so-and-so.
Also, does anybody smile in the game? Everyone looks so pissed off.

Because some people wouldn't want to some quest like :

Spoiler

go kill a child

(Pillars of Eternity) for example.

And why they don't look happy ?
Look at all the monsters, I wouldn't like to live in their world *shiver*

 

[Battle_Scarred Shogun]

Skyrim has stilted animations, middling voice acting, and decent graphics. Still GOAT for some people.

Dark Souls has no lip synching and framerate issues. Still GOAT for some people.

TLOU is linear, has an functionally invisible partner character, and meh crafting. Still GOAT for some people.

You can launch pretty major complaints at any of the best games of last gen, and I'm sure we'll have plenty to complain about in TW3, but it'll still be phenomenal overall and that's largely what we'll remember it for years later.

Be positive, people.

This.

 

[BigTnaples]

I mean, after all, it's not like they are also planning a big release on consoles.....

Just over 3 weeks now and there bloody better be some xbone/ps4 footage on Gamersyde.

Well they will. Not like they really have to though. Games release all the time only shown on one platform.


Skyrim didn't show the PC version before launch if I recall. And BF only shows the PC version in marketing.


TW3 will look like TW3 whether you play it on PS4/PC/XBO. Will it have differences? Yes. IQ, Pop in, Fur, etc will vary. But for the most part, the models, worlds, effects, etc will all be the same. CDPR have repeatedly stated this.

 

[Insane Metal]

GODDAMN at the sound production, holy shit. This sounds incredible.

 

[Bl@de]

This game will be so awesome. A bigger and better W2. All I ever wanted. Perfect.

 

[Boston]

Is this game anything like Red Dead Redemption? Well I know its fantasy and not in the cowboy era, but I'm trying to figure out if I will like this game. I play mostly FPS and RDR was one of the only games that I actually finished and got into. I loved the cut scenes and main character and open world of RDR.

Witcher 3 looks like my next RDR. You guys think I will like this game? I really want to get into a story and gameplay and take a step away from multiplayer fps's.

 

[BigTnaples]

Is this game anything like Red Dead Redemption? Well I know its fantasy and not in the cowboy era, but I'm trying to figure out if I will like this game. I play mostly FPS and RDR was one of the only games that I actually finished and got into. I loved the cut scenes and main character and open world of RDR.

Witcher 3 looks like my next RDR. You guys think I will like this game? I really want to get into a story and gameplay and take a step away from multiplayer fps's.

I think it's definitely going to be somewhat similar. I mean, TW3 will definitely be deeper/more RPG than RDR. But overall you may get a similar feel.

 

[Sinthor]

Skyrim has stilted animations, middling voice acting, and decent graphics. Still GOAT for some people.

Dark Souls has no lip synching and framerate issues. Still GOAT for some people.

TLOU is linear, has an functionally invisible partner character, and meh crafting. Still GOAT for some people.

You can launch pretty major complaints at any of the best games of last gen, and I'm sure we'll have plenty to complain about in TW3, but it'll still be phenomenal overall and that's largely what we'll remember it for years later.

Be positive, people.

This! Bottom line this looks like an awesome adventure/RPG game. Until the next Elder Scrolls game this looks like the open world I'll be spending the most time in...when I'm not in Bloodborne or Dark Souls II! Never got to play any of the other Witcher games but from what I have read, it seems like this game should be really, really good if it lives up to half of the past games. Can't wait!

 

[erawsd]

Heres a really good look at how large the world is.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zFfTSs2309k

 

[DOWN]

Heres a really good look at how large the world is.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zFfTSs2309k

So it doesn't look like it's contending for biggest open world, but it should take at least several minutes to cross the map in a direct route.

 

[Vincent4756]

Isn't that only one section? I thought there were around 4 zones. I could be wrong though.

 

[Stiler]

We know there are two "regions" separated by a loading time, and on top of that the devs have hinted at other "Wordly" places not shown on the map that we get to go to.

The regions are each bigger then Skyrim (According to gamespot).

 

[Stahsky]

So it doesn't look like it's contending for biggest open world, but it should take at least several minutes to cross the map in a direct route.

It's gonna be a lot bigger than that

 

[SnowFlakeCake]

The presentation of this game is just sublime, not seen anything this good from an open world game. But that's all it has, looks. The gameplay continues to look like janky shit and that's not going to change at this point. I mentioned this is another thread but got told that Witcher games are all about story and presentation. That's another way to saying the gameplay has always been dogshit and that ain't going to change with this title which is a shame. Do damn lovely looking though, wouldn't mind renting it just to travel around the world and send the game back after a few days. Then again I only have a PS4 and won't look brilliant on there, the console versions when shown will decide if it's worth bothering to live this game a go.

 

[Jay Shadow]

Another issue that was quite noticeable was that the animations were too inconsistent. Sometimes Geralt would burst into an entire array of fancy moves and other times he wouldn't. This got on my nerves because the animations should never really be an unpredictable factor for the player.

That's an issue that they sound like they've corrected this time around. They put more thought into "when I press the button at this moment, an attack that lasts this long will happen" rather than "we have all these animations, let's play them!"

Isn't that only one section? I thought there were around 4 zones. I could be wrong though.

The zoom out at the end shows most of the playable area. 2 zones are on one continuous map on the right, and the islands are on the left. There are some minor smaller zones that'll be available at some points, but the ones at the end of the video are the bulk of the game play.

 

[flaxknuckles]

I'm still excited but Geralt looks silly as hell spinning and jerking around like that for every attack and dodge. It looks so janky.

 

[erawsd]

So it doesn't look like it's contending for biggest open world, but it should take at least several minutes to cross the map in a direct route.

Yeah, we've known it was never going for that crown.

 

[LurkerPrime]

I'm still excited but Geralt looks silly as hell spinning and jerking around like that for every attack and dodge. It looks so janky.

He's a Witcher, not a warrior.

But, really, I half-agree with you - it'll depend a lot on how it is on release. There were times where it looked great, and times where it looked awkward. It might have a lot to do with the player's skill, or slight behind-the-scenes tweaks to how it works. The Arkham games (a clear inspiration) have similar issues.

Actually, the thing that jumped out at me the most is how easy all of the combat seemed, but IIRC (in Danny O'Dwyer's 3-part coverage of Witcher 3) it was mentioned that easy, normal, and hard have appropriate gulfs in their difficulty.

 

[BigTnaples]

So it doesn't look like it's contending for biggest open world, but it should take at least several minutes to cross the map in a direct route.

Of course it's not the biggest. Not with games like Daggerfall out for years and No Mans Sky on the horizon.


But we do know its approximately 3.5 times the landmass of Skyrim, which is PLENTY big enough for most.

 

[Codiox]

Of course it's not the biggest. Not with games like Daggerfall out for years and No Mans Sky on the horizon.


But we do know its approximately 3.5 times the landmass of Skyrim, which is PLENTY big enough for most.

If this is true then Holy shit, this game will take my life . I thought Skyrim was gigantic with all the caves etc. Can't wait.

 

[EatChildren]

Skyrim = 38 km2

Novegrad + No Man's Land = 72 km2.
Skellige Islands = 64 km2

CDPR have said it's 20% bigger though. Games being games, maybe the measurements are off. It also might seem a little smaller based on proportions and perspective.

 

[Turin Turambar]

If this is true then Holy shit, this game will take my life . I thought Skyrim was gigantic with all the caves etc. Can't wait.

They are discussing land size, not amount of game content. You needed 200-250 hours to do everything in Skyrim, I doubt it will be as much here.

 

[Gaz_RB]

Damn...I'm gonna savor all that exploration. Not too many games come around with such big worlds and such polish.