Witcher 3 - PCWorld: First Impressions

There's a setting to turn off undiscovered map markers. Perhaps you have this set and rune doesn't. The default is to show them.

Ah ok. I just realized that I can scroll down and see more options in the HUD configuration menu that I wasn't aware of. Cool.. it looks like I can remove those button prompts after all. :)

As far as the map markers though, I only see an option to toggle them on the mini map. I thought rune was talking about the main map. I wouldn't know what the mini-map shows because that was the first thing I disabled.

I have to give CDP some major props for allowing the HUD to be this configurable. I hope other developers are taking notes.
 
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Hmm, I don't see exclamation points on the regional map with the POI markers on or off. Maybe if I progress further in the first part along the road.

Sadly I've had to reduce graphics to medium, otherwise movement is a little sluggish like moving through molasses.
 
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I preordered the witcher 3.
I didn't started it yet, because I want to play the roche sides of the witcher 2 first
and I am leaving for a vacation to Alaska the beginning ofJune :p

I rather start playing after my vacation, so I can fuly delve in to it. The things I read here and on other sites, do give me a good feeling and make it very hard not to go home and install it right away :p

on a side Note: Thrasher and JDR13 stop discussing who is right. It has no use, the only thing that matters now is playing The Wild Hunt and enjoying it ;)
 
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I haven't visited here much over the last year or 2 but this place never changes - the same characters arguing about the (very) minor details :)

Welcome back, mofo, the man with the avatar from Boiling Point, isn't it? A clunky but interesting factional open-world game that was. You may not remeber, but you made a text mod for me years ago for The Precursors, I believe it was -- another interesting game. That was no minor detail for me, so thanks again. :)
 
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still on the fence as I was really disappointed with TW2 and also not liking the consolification path cdpr has been going.

Combat is important to me so I'd like to know if strafing/backpedalling is in and if it's enough to let you dodge attacks without using a dodge/roll move the game gives you?
 
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still on the fence as I was really disappointed with TW2 and also not liking the consolification path cdpr has been going.

Combat is important to me so I'd like to know if strafing/backpedalling is in and if it's enough to let you dodge attacks without using a dodge/roll move the game gives you?

Combat seems pretty slick so far, and yes you can strafe and backpeddle. Also, dodge and roll are both in the game as separate moves which I think is nice.

What did you find so disappointing about TW2 if you don't mind me asking?
 
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still on the fence as I was really disappointed with TW2 and also not liking the consolification path cdpr has been going.

Combat is important to me so I'd like to know if strafing/backpedalling is in and if it's enough to let you dodge attacks without using a dodge/roll move the game gives you?

Combat is very similar, but also improved.

If you didn't like it in TW2, you probably won't like it in TW3.

As for "consolification" - that sounds like a biased and imaginary issue.

It's true that they're releasing the game for consoles too, meaning they have to take multiple platforms into account when developing the game - but this is clearly one of the most impressive PC games out there, as is.

AFAIK, there's only a single game with this kind of budget in development that's PC-exclusive and that's Star Citizen.

That's not a developer issue, that's a real world issue of having to make a return on the investment, if you want to play with big budgets and get proper suit support.
 
The controls and UI in TW2 felt like a console game to me. That's not my imagination although I make no claim to it being a univeral truth, just the way it feels to me personally. Unlike one very prominent personality here :)D) I don't feel that a game developed on PC as well as on mobile or on console automatically makes it a mobile or console game that's just ported to PC. Nor do I think a game has to be PC-exclusive to be non-"consolified" By contrast, TW2 (like Oblivion and Skyrim) felt to me like it was designed for console first.

Thank you for your input on the combat btw. I think I might just wait till a combat mod comes, if ever, that makes it more my kind of game.
 
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Fair enough :)

I can't say the controls themselves felt like a "console game" to me - and I don't really distinguish between a console game and a PC game. I tend to distinguish between good controls and bad controls, good games and bad games.

TW2 had mediocre controls, overall, but I found it to be much better than TW1 - which was even more clunky and awkward.
 
I definitely got the console vibe from the witcher 2 but I can happily say I haven't felt it with the witcher 3.

I'm also very impressed with the dodge move. I thought I'd end up just using roll because I've always favored it but dodge in this game just feels right. It's a subtle side step and is very effective. The hit boxes are very accurate so you can stay in Close and use dodge to side step and slip attacks just as you would in real life. Is very impressively done IMO.

The great thing is they made the dodge so good but still keep the roll relevant. The roll is great for creating distance. So you use dodge in close to slip an attack and then riposte and you roll to create distance and get to safety. It really is a great system that compliments each other.

If I had to have little grips about the combat. I wish they'd bring the flipping over enemies back that they had in the first game. No real reason other than I liked it.

Also wish they'd let me zoom the camera in and out. This feature is left out of most third person action games and it's annoying. I like to zoom in right to OTS in combat and then out of combat I like to zoom out and see the surroundings.

Finally it would be nice if other weapons were just as effective as swords, but I guess that's a lore limitation and not really something they can control.

Those are minor complaints though and over all I find the combat fun and challenging.
 
I agree that a zoom feature would have been nice. Not being able to zoom in/out felt awkward at first, but I stopped thinking about it after the first hour of playing.

What I really would have liked is the ability to place items in chests. I hate that you can only remove things.
 
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Is it possible to play with shield and sword?

Don't think so, no.

Geralt is a very defined character when it comes to his arsenal, but I find that you can develop your own playstyle by picking the right combination of Signs/Potions and so on.

For instance, they've implemented some powerful passive skills, where you pick between magic, fast, strong and defensive styles. If you combine the heavy armor passive with investment in the defensive Quen sign, you should be able to play a tanky character.

But it's NOT the right game for living out your dream character.

Personally, I'd kill for a proper bow and some stealth mechanics, but this just isn't the game for that kind of thing.
 
Played for a bit last night. I haven't quite managed to dodge poperly - using M+K with default settings. Seems awkward - Do you press one key (WASD) or ALT first? Or at the same time? So subtle I can hardly see if anything is happening. Rolling is intuitive and works well. Also can't seem to manage a strong attack - I saw mention earlier of holding down the left-mouse, but I don't think that does antthing. Not if I just draw my sword outside of combat. Also the mode change key "LShift" doesn't seem to change my attack style?

THe game is not quite as smooth as I first thought - I have noticed a very slight hitching when I run around (I have Ultra settings, 1080p, GTX980, older i7, SSD, lots of RAM), I imagine it will get choppy when I approach a large town or settlements. Which is to be expected I guess without a top top range PC.
 
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Played for a bit last night. I haven't quite managed to dodge poperly - using M+K with default settings. Seems awkward - Do you press one key (WASD) or ALT first? Or at the same time?

Just double tape the direction key (one of WASD) it does the same thing.
 
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Just on the question marks on the map (they are not exclamations marks). They generally appear when you take the stuff from the noticeboards or during side-quests. I don't really have a problem with them simply because it's a more realistic world than skyrim say and doesn't have something to find around every single corner so while there is plenty of scope for exploration you may prefer to focus on these questions marks. Or not. Up to you.
 
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