The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt

[213374U]

Huh.

I actually let Gaunter have him, first time around. I'm a monster slayer for hire. I don't slay diddly squat for free. And frankly seeing the smug **** beaten at his own game was very satisfying.

 

(I blame mutations)

 

I reloaded, though. For an omnipotent being, the rewards he offers are weaksauce, and Iris kicks so much ass it's not even a contest.

 

 

 

Regarding BaW

 

 

 

I understand what they went for; everything from the perma-sunny weather to the penchant for speaking in rhyme and other reminders that Toussaint is a land of fable makes it difficult not to notice. Still, I didn't like the overly campy and parodic tone. Knights being completely useless is especially jarring, considering that the two guys that take you there make short work of bandits in Velen even if you don't help them, and from a canonical pov, in a feudal society with no gunpowder weapons, there is simply no better fighter than a knight. In the game they are consistently portrayed as blowhards that couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag... except conveniently when you're fighting them, like the tourney end boss.

 

edit: missed the Heath Ledger reference. Haha, nice.

 

 

 

About to start NG+, only to find that the current main mod I have installed is incompatible with it. Dagnabbit.

Edited August 9, 2017 by 213374U

[Zoraptor]

HoS

 

I'd argue that Geralt going after Gaunter without promised payment is fine in that case because of his nature. Gaunter clearly has an Interest in Geralt given his appearance in White Orchard, manipulated him into a deal and most of the expansion is about Gaunter fulfilling the letter but not the spirit of his deal with Olgierd. Forcing his hand in those circumstances makes sense since otherwise he might decide to try a repeat later.

 

 

B&W

 

I suspect there is a bit of cultural variation in how 'competent' knights are regarded as- when I think of knights I'd typically think of them getting slaughtered by yeomen at Agincourt/ Crecy/ Poitier or even Bronn destroying that guy at the Eyrie in GoT. I actually found Sir Gregor (or whatever paraphrase they used for the champion's name) to be a very easy fight, the melee beforehand was far harder as it was scripted to be 5 on one.

 

[Labadal]

HoS

 

Also, one is the lesser evil of the two. Olgierd, becomes mortal and will die. Gaunter is a persistent evil.

 

 

I need to play more BaW but so far, HoS, I feel is much better. I do like the new area, though. Some cool fights, too.

[Zoraptor]

Finished B&W

 

Overall I liked it a lot. Not sure if as much as HoS or the base game as they manage to be different yet similar experiences and tonally different yet similar as well. I'm a bit of a sucker for subverted fantasy tropes so the setting was fine by me. Got the good ending because Geralt tells himself he's monster slayer for hire but is actually a grade A amateur relationship councilor and certified bleeding heart; then went back and got the Hamlet ending for the lulz. Meh, good ending probably ain't that good anyway, hard to see the Toussaint nobility letting Syanna's murder of four of their number slide, no matter how much 'compassion' is supposedly a virtue.

 

I really didn't like the Detlaff fight though, first part was trivial, second part required near perfect roll timing to avoid the ravens or was instakill (in part this was a build issue though, since I didn't put any effort into upping vitality nor to wearing the best damage reduction armour) but was otherwise pretty easy, third part was just kind of wtf and trivial. I probably died at least a dozen time in the 2nd phase- every time to the ravens- while I didn't die once in the other two. As previous, Detlaff was also disappointingly undercharacterised since he should in theory have been sympathetic but was, basically, just a plot driver and manifestation of the Family Drama between the two Annas.

 

Favourite part: Finding Guillaume the 'Knight' drunk before the medal ceremony. Exactly the sort of pathetic response I expected. Funny that in a game with Radovid, Eredin, Imlerith, Gaunter, Olgierd etc etc he was the guy who I actually disliked most of all and he's just some random love sick stereotype trying to make someone else's problem all about him.

 

 

 

172 hours, 73% achievements on Galaxy (though having a look through there are at least three I should have got but didn't so Galaxy's tracking is off) and a rather satisfied feeling. Not a perfect game by any means, but then none of my favourite games are perfect- and I feel the immediate urge to replay a game it took me 170 odd hours over about 8 weeks to play. I'll buy the inevitable sequel (prequel/ paraquel/ whateverquel; who cares if Geralt ain't the main character) sight unseen. Just please, please don't be an MMO.

[213374U]

 

There are some variations to the ending. The one that supposedly fits the most with the Witcher lore from the books has Syanna killed by Dettlaff, and then Geralt earning a stay in prison. You are given a choice to let Dettlaff walk, which prevents Regis from becoming a pariah.

 

I actually went for the Unseen ending the first time, because **** Dettlaff and **** what he wants. After playing the other branch it's clear that devs didn't want you taking thist route and spent much less effort on developing it. You even miss out on some nookie, CDPR pls.

 

The Dettlaff boss fight is just not very well designed. To avoid being hit by the ravens you can simply sprint perpendicular to them, which works better than rolling. I got killed like a million times in the third phase before I learned that Igni staggers him, because his teleport combo was a OHK, and all it takes is a mistimed parry. Though I get the feeling that the mod I use upped his damage output. Regardless I hated it because it's made to drag on artificially by forcing you to put Dettlaff down before you can attack the nutsacks and he respawns in like 5 seconds, forcing you to deal with him again and again. And those ****ing unskippable cutscenes. Seriously CDPR, in [currentyear]?

 

As for Guillaume, I didn't see him. Does he become a drunkard depending on how his quest ends? I got him to bear the curse and didn't see him at all after that.

 

 

Just started NG+ with another overhaul mod (Ghost Mode) which took a bit of setting up because the savegame wasn't readily compatible, but I think I'm starting to feel the burnout. I wonder if all the stuff I left undone will be enough to overcome it.

 

But yeah, I'm a CDPR fanboy now. If I hadn't got burned so bad with MEA recently, I'd preorder whatever they put out next, no questions asked. I've read they are Bethesda-sized now though, so it's entirely possible they'll start churning out garbage titles every other year as well after Cyberpunk. Gwent is entertaining but apparently crippled by extreme netdecking dominance. Hope this changes when they release the full game.

Edited August 11, 2017 by 213374U

[Zoraptor]

B&W

 

I know there's the third ending, at this point I don't really want to replay so much to get it though. They definitely wanted you to do the Syanna rescue rather than visit the Ancient since you can do the first part of that quest then switch back to the other line but not vice versa, plus Regis pushes you against the ancient approach. Given the 'Night to Remember' trailer has Geralt going after Orianna- 3/4 of the character entry women in B&W have the name 'Anna', for some reason- I'd say that you're 'meant' to do the first part of the ancient quest then swap over.

 

I cured Vivienne's curse without Guillaume's input and she left which is presumably what triggers his drunkenness. Guy managed to really rub me up the wrong way quite comprehensively with his self pity, so no sympathy.

 

Oh yeah, the unskippable cutscenes in the Detlaff fight were just irksome after about the third time, exactly the same as with the Kayran fight in TW2. Should have learned from that.

 

 

The nookie mention also reminds me; I don't particularly care about whether or not there are sex scenes, but I'd definitely prefer there to be no sex scenes at all rather than near DAO style grundy wearing ones.

[Labadal]

I'm also done with BaW. All in all, it took me 170ish hours on Death March, with everything that I know of completed.

 

BaW was my least favorite part of the game, but I do like that they could throw in some really dark humor in there. The main plot was decent, with some minor issues. I didn't use different save slots to go for all endings in the OC or HoS, but I did play all endings here. In general, The Witcher 3 is one of the better games I have played lately. I especially like the attention to detail they put into the world. This game puts to shame any other open world game that I have played. It's not quite in my all time favorites list, but that's not the game's fault.

 

I didn't have much problem with the boss fight you guys mentioned. I did have some trouble with the third phase, but the first two were fairly easy for me.

[Pidesco]

While I didn't appreciate BaW's main plotline all that much, I thought it was serviceable enough to keep me interested.

 

 

What I liked the most about BaW is the feel that you are getting to know and setting up a place for Geralt to retire to. As someone who played and enjoyed the three games, I felt it was a really nice epilogue to the whole CDPR saga. It was more like tourism than a big epic adventure with high stakes. Like every other Witcher game, they really nailed the sense of place, I'd say.