Witcher 3 Review after 60 hours:

[Necroshine]

So, I own this game on GoG, but like everyone else play most games here on Steam. GoG key was only $26 so I couldn't pass it up. Steam won't let you write reviews of games you don't own on the platform so I figured I'd throw this here for anyone thinking of picking this up. (Long story short, just f'ing do it! It is pretty much the best game ever...) This will be a long post so if you don't want to read, you may just want to hit the back arrow now.

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This is hands down the best $26 I've ever spent on a game and I actually feel guilty about not paying more. After 60 hours, I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface.

To start off, I am older than dirt and have been playing RPGs since Adventure on the 2600 in 1984-85. Some of my favorite games of all time are the 2D Final Fantasy games, The original Zelda games, the Tales series, Skies of Arcadia, Lost Odyssey, Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series, Chrono Trigger ect..... the list goes on. If it is a decent RPG, I've probably either played it or at least looked into it somewhat.

Also, I will probably get a lot of crap for this but, I HATED Witcher 2. Could not stand that it was so linear, hated the battles, didn't like the character progression, the story was decent but it seemed really disjointed and basically seemed like a tech demo for W3. I gave it over 25 hours before giving up on it for many reasons, but I just didn't care for it at all.

So, I waited until a friend of mine bought W3 and watched it for a bit. It seemed like they had fixed a lot of what was wrong with W2 (main fix being that it was completely open world) so, I decided to buy it and give it a try.

I CANNOT STOP playing this game. I just now got done with an 8+ hour marathon and decided to turn it off when my vision seemed kind of messed up, lol. This game, as my roommate says, makes Skyrim it's "prison bi__h". The battles are more fun, the character progression is much better calculated and most of all the world, my god, the world is ridiculous. It is huge and uniquely detailed to a point that I cannot fathom. How many hours a day did these people spend on this game?? I think they need to look into labor laws as working 23 1/2 hours a day is illegal in most countries. The side quests are very, very well written and some are long enough to make you think that they are part of the main quest. The spoken dialog for 95% of characers is top notch quality also.

The graphics are second to none. I am playing @ 1080p with a mix of high/ultra on a 4k TV so, it is upscaled to that resolution. If I have one suggestion, it is this: Find a good deal on a 4k/60fps capable TV and even if you don't have the ability to play your games in 4k, the upscaling that these TVs are capable of is amazing. I've never seen a better looking game... even after dumping 30+ mods on Skyrim. Kudos to CDPR for this.

The side game Gwent has consumed the last 15 hours of my playtime and I'm building 4 decent decks now with one that can beat most on the first try. This game by itself is worth $20... and let me reiterate, this is just a MTG style card game within the W3 world.

As stated before, I am just over 60 hours into this game and have so many quests, side quests, bounties, treasure hunts and other stuff open that when I look at the map and all that is left that I have to do, I become overwhelmed and just exit the game. This game will consume at least 2-300 hours of my time and that is without DLC as I will have to find everything in the game and that is not happening any time soon.

So, to sum up, this will surely be GOTY for me as nothing this year has even come close to it and no game since Mass Effect Trilogy has sucked me into it's world so completely. I forgot what I was even playing before this..... oh yeah... Darksiders 2. That game is awesome, but it is a distant memory now that I have W3.

Get this game NOW if you don't have it!

Bethesda, you better put the polish like a mother f__ker on Fallout 4 and the next Elder Scrolls game as CDPR has just raised the bar to a ridiculous level regarding 3D, open world RPGs.

Witcher 3 11/10. Best game of the year so far and likely in the list of my top 10 of all time.

[Necroshine]

Origineel geplaatst door Warlord:

Origineel geplaatst door OverkillWFO:

I didn't use the "older card" to make my opinion seem more valid, as a contrary, I was just poking fun at myself as "out of date" with things.

Any game of this size and magnitude will have bugs/glitches, but to tell you the truth I've bought Fallout 3, New Vegas and Skyrim at launch and ALL 3 of those games were in much, much worse shape than Witcher 3 is (especially New Vegas, it was basically unplayable at launch) and all of those games are quitel literally a fraction of the size of W3.

Also, other than the occasional character glitch, I really have not had any problems. Are you running an AMD setup? That could be why. I won't even get into AMD vs Nvidia but.... um yeah. Buy Nvidia. lol.

W3 is running great on my end aside from a few little graphic glitches here and there and with the absolute staggering size of this game, I can't believe the problems aren't much worse.

You may be right about Bethesda. I don't buy their games at launch because they aren't good without mods.

Witcher PC games aren't good if they are made by CD Projekt now.

Yeah. I will completely disagree. I'm having almost no issues with W3 at all whatsoever and what little issues I am having are completely, 100% overshadowed by what is certainly one of the most awesome, exhaustive, in depth, beautiful RPGs ever made.

Agree to disagree, no matter to me either way. Myself and literally over a million others agree, so I know I'm not alone here....

Also, again, are you running AMD or Nvidia?

[RamMack]

Origineel geplaatst door OverkillWFO:

Origineel geplaatst door Warlord:

You may be right about Bethesda. I don't buy their games at launch because they aren't good without mods.

Witcher PC games aren't good if they are made by CD Projekt now.

Yeah. I will completely disagree. I'm having almost no issues with W3 at all whatsoever and what little issues I am having are completely, 100% overshadowed by what is certainly one of the most awesome, exhaustive, in depth, beautiful RPGs ever made.

Agree to disagree, no matter to me either way. Myself and literally over a million others agree, so I know I'm not alone here....

Also, again, are you running AMD or Nvidia?

I think Warlord has an IPad or Tablet and is mad cause he can't play the game. the only thing he will admit to is negativity and he has plenty of that.

[Necroshine]

Origineel geplaatst door dmcpherson65765:

Origineel geplaatst door OverkillWFO:

Yeah. I will completely disagree. I'm having almost no issues with W3 at all whatsoever and what little issues I am having are completely, 100% overshadowed by what is certainly one of the most awesome, exhaustive, in depth, beautiful RPGs ever made.

Agree to disagree, no matter to me either way. Myself and literally over a million others agree, so I know I'm not alone here....

Also, again, are you running AMD or Nvidia?

I think Warlord has an IPad or Tablet and is mad cause he can't play the game. the only thing he will admit to is negativity and he has plenty of that.

I am also guessing that his system is weak for W3. This game is demanding and if you have an outdated system it will not run well without turning stuff waaaay down or lowering the resolution.

[jss1138]

Origineel geplaatst door OverkillWFO:

I will probably get a lot of crap for this but, I HATED Witcher 2. Could not stand that it was so linear, hated the battles, didn't like the character progression

I won't give you any crap, just a counterpoint opinion.

What you hated about W2 was what I preferred. What I'm not especially fond of in W3 is that I'm constantly running across enemies I'm nowhere near capable of handling. Makes me feel kinda 'small and ineffective' as a Witcher.

Whereas in W2, if I ran up against something, it's because I was ready for it. And being the biggest badass in the (game) world is no small part of the joy of gaming. That my character is the top-dog may well be an illusion. (I'd lose soundly in the final Lethos battle if I took him on at level 1.) But with a linear story, that illusion is well preserved. In an open world, we're constantly being spanked on this one. That takes a lot of the fun out of playing.

I also really enjoyed finding new and improved weapns, armor and diagrams in W2. In fact, finding that better weapon or armor piece was actually a big part of the motivation to play on, because if I found it, I could use it. Whereas in W3, getting my ass kicked by a werewolf when I have a significant armor upgrade sitting unused due to my level sure is frustrating.

And since most all stories ARE linear in their prorgession, I also found the story of W2 much more immersive, in that I felt I WAS Geralt, whereas in W3 it feels more like I'm just...playing a game.

[Warlord]

Origineel geplaatst door UncivilS3rvant:

Origineel geplaatst door Warlord:

I was going to be at the range today, but thunderstorms.

I'm pretty annoyed my saturday plans have been changed to waiting for patch 1.08

Just give it up, you're fooling no-one...

Weather lightened up and I went. Today was a good day. No farting around for patch 1.08 that's for sure.

[RamMack]

Origineel geplaatst door jss1138:

Origineel geplaatst door OverkillWFO:

I will probably get a lot of crap for this but, I HATED Witcher 2. Could not stand that it was so linear, hated the battles, didn't like the character progression

I won't give you any crap, just a counterpoint opinion.

What you hated about W2 was what I preferred. What I'm not especially fond of in W3 is that I'm constantly running across enemies I'm nowhere near capable of handling. Makes me feel kinda 'small and ineffective' as a Witcher.

Whereas in W2, if I ran up against something, it's because I was ready for it. And being the biggest badass in the (game) world is no small part of the joy of gaming. That my character is the top-dog may well be an illusion. (I'd lose soundly in the final Lethos battle if I took him on at level 1.) But with a linear story, that illusion is well preserved. In an open world, we're constantly being spanked on this one. That takes a lot of the fun out of playing.

I also really enjoyed finding new and improved weapns, armor and diagrams in W2. In fact, finding that better weapon or armor piece was actually a big part of the motivation to play on, because if I found it, I could use it. Whereas in W3, getting my ass kicked by a werewolf when I have a significant armor upgrade sitting unused due to my level sure is frustrating.

And since most all stories ARE linear in their prorgession, I also found the story of W2 much more immersive, in that I felt I WAS Geralt, whereas in W3 it feels more like I'm just...playing a game.

I agree somewhat, in Witcher 3 I wanted to explore so bad, but I would encounter a monster of some sort and I was way outmatched. This did break the immersion of the game. So I would find myself looking at my journal and picking a quest that was at or near my level. Then I would have to look at the map to see where I was going. So I agree this part made it like I was just playing a game. Albeit a great one. I found myself much more intune with the story and Geralt in Witcher 2.
Although I think Witcher 3 has its flaws, at least for me, it is a great game and will play through again

[Cat]

The majority of people are not having any problems & the steam reviews show that. So far the reviews online are outstanding for TW3.
Not encountered 1 bug in my 70 hours so far and only had 1 crash. On Ultra in 1080p with hairworks on & foliage set to Ultra TW3 seems very well optimized for a game of this magnitude & just being released which in todays standards i think CD Projekt RED deserves credit for that, especially since they keep pumping out updates.
Obviously some people are having problems like the NPC rendering Warlord is currently having but for the majority the game is running perfectly fine apart from achievements not working.
Just because some people may be having problems, it doesn't mean everyone else is having the same problem.

[BalkanBiker]

I have no issues with the game so far. Granted I'm only about 5 hours in, but still, not a single problem.
I was even scared that I won't be able to run the game at 4k, considering how taxing it is.
I'm using 3770k oced to 4.5ghz and a 980Ti oced to 1500mhz, and the game is running amazing on 4k with everything maxed AND hairworks on.
No lag, no crashes at all.

[Viper]

Warlord loves throwing water baloons at a freight train doesn't he. Talk about a total waste of time. And nobody cares about your vidoes Warlord.

[Jimmy]

Totally agree, It's the best RPG ever made! (I have it through GOG too).
If anyone wants a second opinion (that totally agrees with the opening post!) I've got a little review up here[www.review-well.com]

[Cockroach]

Wait till you get to 100 hours, you will not say the same thing
DO NOT GET THIS GAME> YOU BECOME OVERPOWERED AND IT IS BORING

[cgillmore85]

Origineel geplaatst door Warlord:

Origineel geplaatst door jasonbarron:

As usual, a load of steer manure, Warlord, exactly what I've come to expect from you. Are you even capable of having an opinion that isn't misinformed, or at least free of obnoxious attitude?

Anybody can look at my profile and see my broad range of gaming interests for themselves. TW3 runs outstandingly on my hardware. Your complaints are a combination of lies compounded by hopelessly immature nitpicking, all directed at a company that just released a 7 gig patch and a ton of free DLC.

lol is this meant to be a joke with your hidden profile?

7gb of garbage......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et1i5BHmZ0w

I upgraded my GPUs yesterday and it eliminated this issue for me almost entirely. If I do see NPCs render, it's from probably 100 feet away where as pre-upgrade I had NPCs rendering 5 feet from my character in certain locations in Velen. Perhaps that 970 of yours isn't all it's cracked up to be? I bet if you turn down texture detail and NPC count it will fix it. Of course you're probbably afraid to try that as it would cement your fears: that your PC is inadequate.

[Cat]

Origineel geplaatst door molokoww:

Wait till you get to 100 hours, you will not say the same thing
DO NOT GET THIS GAME> YOU BECOME OVERPOWERED AND IT IS BORING

The game is not very challenging i agree but do i care? Hell no!!! People mostly play TW3 for the story & exploration etc.
If i wanted a challenge i would buy a challenging game like Dark Souls, that is designed to be difficult. If you really want a challenge, i heard there is a hardcore mod around.
End of the day, even if i got bored at 100+ hours, who cares? I got my moneys worth.

p.s. I think your Caps lock is broken

[RamMack]

Origineel geplaatst door molokoww:

Wait till you get to 100 hours, you will not say the same thing
DO NOT GET THIS GAME> YOU BECOME OVERPOWERED AND IT IS BORING

Sorry, finished the game at 200 hrs, it has a few flaws, but the total game expierence overall is great. Boring is not one of its flaws as far as I'm concerned.

[winterplantkill]

That was the moment that got me into gaming too, "Adventure" on the Atari 2600. So glad someone else remembers that. Will buy this game soon having started to read the books..