Topic: The Witcher 3: early 2015 GOTY?

To my surprise, I am genuinely struggling to get into this for three basic reasons:

a) Too overwhelming; unfortunately, for someone with very little time to play games, the 'world map' is overbearingly vast to the point of feeling like a burden.
b) The combat is very finicky and clunky; after spending the past few months (gradually) going through Bloodborne, in which its combat is a genuine delight, The Witcher III feels dull in comparison.
c) The visuals are really, really good (on the PlayStation 4) to the point that I get easily distracted by all those little attention to details that's scattered around the land. Perhaps this isn't a negative point as such though!

Yeah, I am thinking of putting this to one side for the time being. Sometimes, you just do not have time to play games like this anymore, which is a shame in all honesty.

@Peek-a-boo I know that feeling. It's a sucky one. Hopefully if you go back to it at some point you'll enjoy it more. I know that's worked for me with many games I previously just didn't like.

The big problem is the inventory system, so bad lol

Beat the main story quest yesterday after 60 hours, reckon it will be another 60 to finish up the quests and explore most of the world (so far I have White Chapel and Kael Morhen pretty much explored to the fullest, that I know of).

I don't like RPG's, and it has some minor faults, but this is probably in my top 3 games list of all time.

The Witcher 3 is an excellent game, if your into RPG's it's easily one of the best out. In fact it kills almost every other RPG out there, apart from From Software's that is. In every way & that includes combat, the detail in the game is unbelievable, it really is when you consider how big the game is. The Witcher 3 has definitely set a new benchmark for RPG's.

Just moved on to Skellige finally, do you get a proper ship to sail? Or just more of those tiny slow ones?

Haven't played it but along with Arkham Knight it looks like a great excuse to upgrade.

Beat it, did nearly all of the sidequests. Firmly in my top 3 games ever made. This game manages to do what I wanted the Mass Effect Trilogy to due in an entire series in a single game. It has a massive, believable world, has characters that are layered, memorable, and have an impact on the plot at large, and manages to have stakes that get very high towards the end and makes the choices you've made up to that point come to a logical conclusion. I have never played a game that is this big that was able to fully absorb me. The fact that it's as big, as polished, and has as much heart as it has blows me away. Just... wow.

Yeah now bring on Cyberpunk 2077!!!
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/witcher-3-dev-not-planning-t...
...Assuming it comes out before 2077...

My cousin has this on the Xbox one.

Seems pretty great. The over world is so big its not even funny.

Though the laughable part of this game is the height that falling damage activates

I don't supriscibe to the notion that the Witcher (1-3) is some ultra deep, mature storyline. It has elements of moral ambiguity, but every choice in the game tries to guilt you over the results in a very blatant, not very sophisticated way. There are some interesting quests, better than most, but I don't feel like any but a couple are fleshed out enough to have any sort of memorability. Having played only the Witcher 2 and 3, I don't think 3's storyline holds up. It's just too full of characters that don't get proper interactions nor arcs. The ending especially is a random joke of a thing. It's easy to see how games like Symphonia: Dawn of the New World and the Last of Us tell much more potent stories with a smaller cast.

The combat... just like Batman and AC I hate this style of combat. It's just too sloppy, even for a contextual system. I think Shadow of Mordor was much more competent. I'm also not a fan of the pretense of difficulty; limited fast travel, high fall damage, high damage enemies, and minimal health regen. It's just not good enough of a game to suit that.

The Witcher 3 is an interesting game that is neither as well designed of an open world as Skyrim nor as fulfilling of a storyline as a linear JRPG. I really disagree with the design of it, as it feels like a compromise between those two different styles of game.

So, no, I think the Witcher 3 is a laughable GOTY. The only reason it gets any note in that respect is it's AAA look and pretense of quality. It's combat gets walked all over by Monster Hunter 4 and there are many other stories I prefer to it already in 2015.

Just started playing this (first current gen game) and pretty impressed with how it looks. Looking forward to exploring this world though it's going to take me forever to get through this game I have a feeling. I also like how they gave you a physical map, compendium, and soundtrack which is so rare these days for regular editions. The inventory system is going to take some time getting used to it, so many options... JRPG' menus and shops, the few that I have played, seem so much simpler. Anyway. game is awesome so far, just can't play it around the kids.

Edit: Also the fact they are releasing post launch DLC for free is pretty great to.

This is my second full retail game purchase on the PS4 after the Arkham Knight (not including SSF4 and the Game of thrones thing), and I must say I'm disappointed. Although the size of the game, the graphics and voice acting is impressive, I do feel it's excessively drawn out with cut scenes (which make it feel like a film that you have to keep unpausing more than a game) and riding back and forth to collect something to give to someone just so I can level up to face another task of a higher rank- it artificially drags you back. The fighting is few and far between but I find that the controls and menus mean most of the time I just spam square as there doesn't seem to be that much to do with timing, especially if 6 monsters are attacking you at once. Plus I don't really care if Gerald gets eaten because he's quite obnoxious.

Maybe I'm too set in my ways of the adventure of Zelda and Suikoden, and the fighting systems of Bayonetta and Batman, but this game is trying to do both and doesn't really convince me either way. I will persist, but after 6 hours and still having no fun I get the feeling this game isn't for me.

Gerald, lol. But honestly, the cutscenes were the best part of Witcher 3. I'd rather have more of them, not less.

Haven't gotten to Witcher 3 yet, but I just wanted to leave you with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yQzDbv6rS8

So you're saying it's a game that controls simple and well, and doesn't force the player to go back an arbitrary amount of game length every time you fall off a 10 foot ledge? Wow, it sounds like a fun video game.

Also, the Batman combat is the least interesting part of Shadow of Mordor. The most fun way to play it is climbing, sneaking, mind controlling orcs, and springing traps.

Yes, Assassin's Creed with simplified Batman combat, 2014 Action Game of the Year™.

=_=;;

To be fair, as someone who has not played Shadow of Mordor yet and especially considering both Bayonetta 2's saminess and 2014 being a constant disappointment for AAA games, that really cool Nemesis system putting the game above other games makes sense to me.

(though GOTY in reality was Shovel Knight anyway)

Are you sure you're not American!? Not everyone has to win, some things can just be fun.

Inquisition was my favorite game of last year, but /OT

I'm really into Witcher III - I'm level 28 now, and have practically completed it (where possible - see later), however I'm deliberately not finishing it because it's so good I don't want it to end! Not only that, but I've just got into the in-game card game "Gwent" too - brilliant.

There are some serious flaws with the game - including a few quests that can't be completed due to bugs, which is a shame - hopefully the devs will patch them soon; the support from them so far has been amazing.

I'll certainly be buying theextra DLC when it comes out. Witcher is definitely my GOTY so far. Best game I've played on any system in a long time.

BTW To me it's less like GTA and more like Red Dead Redemption, but with swordplay and magic rather than guns. RDR was another game i really enjoyed. GTA, not so much.