Must read before buying. (A brutally honest review)

[Ronin Ghost]

I"ll make this as Short and Sweet as possible. Or as Long and Sour....as necessary

Right off the bat any gamers who has played gems like "Shadow of Mordor" or the "Arkam Knight" series are going to recognize similar elements this game shares.
Such as "Witch Vision" which highlights items and areas of interest in the game to be investigated.

Blocking and parrying mechanics which are reminiscent of the previously named games.
However this title does not share in any way the fluid and nearly blinding polish the other games have in terms of mechanics and gameplay.
Shadow of Mordor plays like an experience. You block, parry, counterattack and perform killing blows in a manner that allows you to literally take on dozens and dozens of enemies at once. And these enemies are of varying difficulty levels, bosses included.

The Witcher III, well, not so much. Granted the games designed to simulate better games. But in practice its just not fun and fails to emulate the polished combat of other titles.

The first hour in game felt like work. Real work.
While trying to follow after one of the NPC's in the opening movement tutorial, I could not stop myself from falling off ledges, overstepping doorways, and bumping into walls.
Dozens of times I had to retrace my steps because the controls didn't allow a smooth approach to a door, or ledge.
The controls were just simply horrendous.

The same goes for combat. The combat tutorial was a chore. There is zero intuition in terms of parrying or blocking, and any enemy with a modicum of skill will have you backing up and cornered quickly.
Once out in the world and fighting actual monsters, your basically just locking on to them and swinging away with next to zero planning or technique.
Unlike games such as Dark Souls, Shadow of Mordor, Arkam Knight, where you feel like every ounce of combat is a carefully orchestrated chess match and balet combination, The Witcher III is soul less and empty combat.
Unlike games such Assassins Creed, where your movement through the world is amazing and fun, this game feels choppy, annoying and tiring.

Overall, this game is so far a big disappointment.
I've gotten over an hour into and without even mentioning how boring the cinematic scenes are, or how mediocre the Graphics actually are, I would recommend a big fat pass on this title.
Sadly, I'm not sure I can even mount the courage to continue playing past my first hour or so to see if it gets better. Because the flaws I've mentioned are not storytelling flaws, or commentary about the game not being fun due to nothing exciting.
They are issues with game mechanics, and handling which in essence are the cause for the game not being fun, or almost unplayable in my opinion.
Things like poor fighting and movement mechanics don't get better deeper into a game. And about an hour is all I needed. In comparison, Games like Shadow of Mordor, Arkam Knight, Dark Souls, etc... All had me fully entrenched and enjoying every second of combat within the first 10 minutes.

My Breakdown: 1-10 with 10 being best, and 1 worst.

Graphics: 6 (Sometimes the graphics inch up to be amazing, but mostly they're just ok)
Gameplay: 2 (Horrendous controls and combat mechanics)
Sound: 7
Cinematics cutscenes: 4 (They have you looking for the "Skip" icon every time)
Story: 4

Overall Rating: 3 (Because sound doesn't weigh as heavily as gameplay)
Unless your dead set on buying and playing this game I'd say STAY AWAY....

[Sunken Stars]

You missed the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ console FOV that makes people sick.

[-shhfiftyfive]

Publicado originalmente por Hilander:

You missed the ♥♥♥♥♥♥ console FOV that makes people sick.

when i was watching someone else play tw3, yes. that witcher sense mode fov was very sickening to watch.

but when i played it myself it didn't make me sick because my eyes were focused on the thing. i mean it still sucks, but it hasn't been sickening for me. but i definitely know it is bad for say viewers if you want to stream this on twitch or broadcast on steam or make youtube videos...

[Waldo [M as in Mancy]]

Publicado originalmente por Nice-sama:

This profile is private.

x2

Easiest way to discern trolls from legitimate steam users.

OP sucks, needs to harp. Go play skyrim, rpgs for kids.

[~desu]

Hey guys, don't listen to this casual, go ahead and buy this masterpiece right now. Bet u'll have a lot of fun with those smooth and silky controls and unimaginable 60 fps graphics without any crashes. And this guy is just a troll, and I'm not, really-really not (he-he, they don't even know what's coming).

[MachoRob]

I'm loving every minute of this game and can't believe some one hates it this much. I agree the movement can be a little on the clunky side but the combat is really fluid if you know what your doing. It's really satisfying taking out a whole group with a mixture of signs, parries and dodges.

It seems the OP has never played the other Witcher games and used to the more timing based group combat like shadow of mordor and batman games. This game is made to make you use everything you have in a fight and use a bit of strategy not just tap a button in time.

He mentioned locking on, this is a big no-no in a group fight. It restricts your movement and makes fights so much harder. It sounds like the OP really didn't get how the combat works.

I can understand not linking the story as it's not for everyone but what did the OP expect from an RPG. These games have always been very story driven. If you skip all the cut scenes of course your not going to be invested in the game as you don't know what the hell is going on.

I respect the OP's opinion but it just sounds like he bought a game he knew nothing about and was upset that it's not just another watered down console RPG.

[dbSeeker]

I fully agree with OP. On top of it the missions are hard to find because wp suddenly vanished from my screen. Any mission I activate doesn't have the wp highlighted so that I can proceed to my mission. I got so frustrated with trying to find my missions that I gave up and just randomly ran around just trying to find SOMETHING to kill. I've been playing this game pretty much ALL day and I just got off just now but man, I'm actually frustrated and dissapointed. The graphics are very nice but the music and story really started to get annoying and I felt as if I was forced to sit through these cutscenes because everyone kept talking about how this game's story was so good, well, it isn't. It's entirely boring just like the previous Witcher. I dunno, I really wished this game was great but it just isn't and this is my opinion. And I don't care what other game sites rated this game, I'm telling you the OP is right on the money.

[-shhfiftyfive]

Publicado originalmente por MachoRob:

He mentioned locking on, this is a big no-no in a group fight. It restricts your movement and makes fights so much harder. It sounds like the OP really didn't get how the combat works.

clearly it is you that doesn't understand this game. lock on camera is not optional feature that you can disable in the settings. you just proved the point.... lock on camera is big no no... too bad we can't turn it off... and no, the Z key only there to choose who you want to lock on to... turning that off just means the game will lock onto any random enemy in your area....

[AronHK]

Publicado originalmente por -shhfiftyfive:

you CANNOT disengage the lock on camera. that is built in. it even says so in the tutorial. it is automatic.

there is an option to "choose which enemy" you want to lock onto, so it won't swap between multiple enemies, but you have no choice to not lock onto any... period. tehre is no freecam mode.

what? I played 10 hours of the game and I only ever used the lock-on feature once (outside the tutorial).

[yongbing1]

Publicado originalmente por Ronin Ghost:

I"ll make this as Short and Sweet as possible. Or as Long and Sour....as necessary

Right off the bat any gamers who has played gems like "Shadow of Mordor" or the "Arkam Knight" series are going to recognize similar elements this game shares.
Such as "Witch Vision" which highlights items and areas of interest in the game to be investigated.

Blocking and parrying mechanics which are reminiscent of the previously named games.
However this title does not share in any way the fluid and nearly blinding polish the other games have in terms of mechanics and gameplay.
Shadow of Mordor plays like an experience. You block, parry, counterattack and perform killing blows in a manner that allows you to literally take on dozens and dozens of enemies at once. And these enemies are of varying difficulty levels, bosses included.

The Witcher III, well, not so much. Granted the games designed to simulate better games. But in practice its just not fun and fails to emulate the polished combat of other titles.

The first hour in game felt like work. Real work.
While trying to follow after one of the NPC's in the opening movement tutorial, I could not stop myself from falling off ledges, overstepping doorways, and bumping into walls.
Dozens of times I had to retrace my steps because the controls didn't allow a smooth approach to a door, or ledge.
The controls were just simply horrendous.

The same goes for combat. The combat tutorial was a chore. There is zero intuition in terms of parrying or blocking, and any enemy with a modicum of skill will have you backing up and cornered quickly.
Once out in the world and fighting actual monsters, your basically just locking on to them and swinging away with next to zero planning or technique.
Unlike games such as Dark Souls, Shadow of Mordor, Arkam Knight, where you feel like every ounce of combat is a carefully orchestrated chess match and balet combination, The Witcher III is soul less and empty combat.
Unlike games such Assassins Creed, where your movement through the world is amazing and fun, this game feels choppy, annoying and tiring.

Overall, this game is so far a big disappointment.
I've gotten over an hour into and without even mentioning how boring the cinematic scenes are, or how mediocre the Graphics actually are, I would recommend a big fat pass on this title.
Sadly, I'm not sure I can even mount the courage to continue playing past my first hour or so to see if it gets better. Because the flaws I've mentioned are not storytelling flaws, or commentary about the game not being fun due to nothing exciting.
They are issues with game mechanics, and handling which in essence are the cause for the game not being fun, or almost unplayable in my opinion.
Things like poor fighting and movement mechanics don't get better deeper into a game. And about an hour is all I needed. In comparison, Games like Shadow of Mordor, Arkam Knight, Dark Souls, etc... All had me fully entrenched and enjoying every second of combat within the first 10 minutes.

My Breakdown: 1-10 with 10 being best, and 1 worst.

Graphics: 6 (Sometimes the graphics inch up to be amazing, but mostly they're just ok)
Gameplay: 2 (Horrendous controls and combat mechanics)
Sound: 7
Cinematics cutscenes: 4 (They have you looking for the "Skip" icon every time)
Story: 4

Overall Rating: 3 (Because sound doesn't weigh as heavily as gameplay)
Unless your dead set on buying and playing this game I'd say STAY AWAY....

I have always found that when someone says they are going to be brutally honest with you they have dishonest intention.

[Jason]

Publicado originalmente por lord_blex:

Publicado originalmente por -shhfiftyfive:

you CANNOT disengage the lock on camera. that is built in. it even says so in the tutorial. it is automatic.

there is an option to "choose which enemy" you want to lock onto, so it won't swap between multiple enemies, but you have no choice to not lock onto any... period. tehre is no freecam mode.

what? I played 10 hours of the game and I only ever used the lock-on feature once (outside the tutorial).

exactly,geralt will look at an enemy and follow them for a bit but the moment you turn 90 degrees away from them he is in free look again AND it only works on really REALLY short distances.

[-shhfiftyfive]

Publicado originalmente por lord_blex:

Publicado originalmente por -shhfiftyfive:

you CANNOT disengage the lock on camera. that is built in. it even says so in the tutorial. it is automatic.

there is an option to "choose which enemy" you want to lock onto, so it won't swap between multiple enemies, but you have no choice to not lock onto any... period. tehre is no freecam mode.

what? I played 10 hours of the game and I only ever used the lock-on feature once (outside the tutorial).

you don't "use" the lock on camera... it happens on its own. did anyone actually pay attention to the tutorial? why is this so fricken hard to understand people???? wth.

your camera locks onto random enemies near you.... it is nothing you can do about it. best you can do is hit Z key to choose which one the camera will stay focused on... you can't not focus on enemies when they engage you... there is no free camera mode...

[-shhfiftyfive]

Publicado originalmente por Jason:

Publicado originalmente por lord_blex:

what? I played 10 hours of the game and I only ever used the lock-on feature once (outside the tutorial).

exactly,geralt will look at an enemy and follow them for a bit but the moment you turn 90 degrees away from them he is in free look again AND it only works on really REALLY short distances.

oh, so it only takes geralt doing a 90 degree turn to break the fixation... right. that's not lame... especially when there is another enemy behind you.. oh boy, game just assumes let's lock onto that one instead.... LOGIC!

[Jason]

Publicado originalmente por -shhfiftyfive:

Publicado originalmente por Jason:

exactly,geralt will look at an enemy and follow them for a bit but the moment you turn 90 degrees away from them he is in free look again AND it only works on really REALLY short distances.

oh, so it only takes geralt doing a 90 degree turn to break the fixation... right. that's not lame... especially when there is another enemy behind you.. oh boy, game just assumes let's lock onto that one instead.... LOGIC!

LOL what are you doing getting surrounded by enemies, enough guy it's time you learn't to play.

[AronHK]

Publicado originalmente por -shhfiftyfive:

Publicado originalmente por lord_blex:

what? I played 10 hours of the game and I only ever used the lock-on feature once (outside the tutorial).

you don't "use" the lock on camera... it happens on its own. did anyone actually pay attention to the tutorial? why is this so fricken hard to understand people???? wth.

your camera locks onto random enemies near you.... it is nothing you can do about it. best you can do is hit Z key to choose which one the camera will stay focused on... you can't not focus on enemies when they engage you... there is no free camera mode...

it doesn't, though? I could move my camera 100% freely 100% of the time, unless I'm suffering from major amnesia.

[Jason]

I bet this guy watches those types of movies where the commander gets surrounded by enemies and they come at him 1 at a time. The commander of course dispatching his enemies with grace and precision.