Witcher 3 - Review @ TechRaptor

Andrew Otton (TechRaptor) has written an excellent review for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Some snippets:

The Witcher 3 may offer you the opportunity to kill or let someone live, but they are for Geralt’s reasons. That doesn’t mean you aren’t playing some part in the story, as your decisions do have great consequences plenty of times. You’re the one setting the tone and deciding which way Geralt leans, but it is still ultimately Geralt giving you the options to choose from. Most of these decisions are difficult, have unforeseen effects, and may even crop up in other quests down the line. You’re often unaware of the power of those decisions until later down the line.

Click to expand...

The exploration becomes even more compelling when you choose not to have the game guide you by turning off the minimap and other directions. Every quest will give you directions like “go West until you hit the lake, turn until you find the big rock and then head into the trees.” You can use the guiding system if you’d like, or you can try and figure it out for yourself which will really help engage you in the world. This is also great for randomly stumbling onto something out in the world as you guide yourself with nothing but the map.

Click to expand...

One of the great things about the exploration is the lack of cookie cutter designs. Many of the caves you explore will be unique and often geared towards whatever resides inside. That is also true for buildings throughout The Witcher 3. Obviously, some of the smaller ones will be similar, as they are simply just four walls, but you’ll still be hard-pressed to find others with more complex designs sharing similar layouts. Taverns have a wide range from massive three story buildings filled with dark wood, to small ones with just a few tables and some planks for walls. The only similarity, again, you may find is in the simpler taverns that have little to work with. For the most part though, everything you run into will be unique.

Click to expand...

Final Score: 10 = Classic

Summary : The Witcher 3 is one of those games that both meets expectations in most areas and surpasses it in some, leaving behind one of those games that will have a huge impact on all of gaming.

Click to expand...

More information.

What can I say? - I agree - get a good gfx-card and play this thing!

I have to agree now that I got it running on my GTX670 on most settings HIGH and a couple at medium. The game looks great and the quests are good. Loved the Frying Pan quest and the well quest I'm getting 35-45 FPS most of the time and sometimes in 50's on my GTX670 and Intel I5-750. Only the videos run at 20fps. I am loving this game so far!!

So, yeah, perhaps this is the Witcher I have been waiting for.
Perhaps it will take the crown from TW1. But, not yet.

Hey! There should be a pool on RPGWatch- to rate the game.
Or it is not necessary, most people here like the game anyways.

HiddenX said:

What can I say? - I agree - get a good gfx-card and play this thing!

Click to expand...

This weekend is my last chance to get that 960 GTX + TW3!! It's now or never! (Well, now or later, much later. )

It's not a 10 imho, but it's very, very good. I'd say it's the best open-world RPG since Gothic 2+NotR.

Best writing in an RPG by far.

Black Rune said:

So, yeah, perhaps this is the Witcher I have been waiting for.
Perhaps it will take the crown from TW1. But, not yet.

Click to expand...

Be serious! I loved TW1 but TW3 is MUCH better!

I can't say for sure yet - and I don't rate games 10, but I think it's probably the best game I've played. Last game I called the best was Skyrim - and though this is quite different, it hits the same notes while it also manages to enthrall me in the writing. It doesn't have the same freedom and flexibility - but I guess the emotional journey wins out here.

As it stands right now, it's a 9.5 - 9.7.

But I'm still only ~35 hours into it. Nothing really.

I'm in the 8-9 region, it would surprise me if it's not my GotY this year. It's an excellent game, but hardly without flaws.

I am also in the 8 - 9 crowd as well and I think W3 is certainly in my top 5 games of all time right now.

Also as JDR13 said above best writing in any game I have ever played. And I will go further and say the writing can even compete with other media such as books, movies etc for quality.

You guys are tough

What games rate above 9 for you? Just curious!

Yeah, I can't fathom how it could be in someone's top 5 yet only be an 8-9. I'd have to assume that person hasn't played very many games.

Unless something happens to bring it down before the end, it's a minimum 9/10 for me. More likely a 9.5

For me the game is at least a 9.5. It could be easily a 10 if not for a few minor imperfections. To be honest it likely still deserves a 10, but I am one of those people who reserve score of 10 for complete perfection. Maybe when they release enhanced edition?

I enjoyed playing Dragon Age: Inquisition last year, but that game looks like amateur's work in every aspect after playing Witcher 3. I have to bring up this comparison because both of the games are large open-world triple A RPGs that have come out reasonably close to each other.

At this point I am 100 hours in and it looks like there may be almost as much still ahead. At no point during this time I felt like I was doing something tedious or not enjoyable. To me this is a huge achievement on its own.

I feel like W3 will actually do what I've thought to be impossible and dethrone Planescape: Torment as my favorite game of all time. While I still feel like the latter has better writing overall it is very close in that regard and W3 surpasses Planescape in other ways.

P.S.: Yes, this is my first post on here, but I am a long-time lurker.

DArtagnan said:

You guys are tough

What games rate above 9 for you? Just curious!

Click to expand...

Probably only G2 NotR and BG2 for me. I suppose MM7 was close to a 10 back in the days, as I considered that very close to perfect.

MorphlingV2 said:

For me the game is at least a 9.5. It could be easily a 10 if not for a few minor imperfections. To be honest it likely still deserves a 10, but I am one of those people who reserve score of 10 for complete perfection. Maybe when they release enhanced edition?

Click to expand...

I'm hoping they do an enhanced edition. With a few changes it could really become an all time classic.

MorphlingV2 said:

I enjoyed playing Dragon Age: Inquisition last year, but that game looks like amateur's work in every aspect after playing Witcher 3. I have to bring up this comparison because both of the games are large open-world triple A RPGs that have come out reasonably close to each other.

Click to expand...

It does surpass DA: I for me as well, but it's not as if it does everything better. The savegame importing for example is a complete joke compared to that of Dragon Age. In fact, they could've just ignored it and set certain default values the way PB does, because the current version just doesn't work. It feels wrong on so many levels for someone who replayed TW2 only a few weeks ago.

I suspect the reason they didn't just set defaults is because they had much bigger plans, but didn't have time to implement it. So either they should have just scrapped it or reduced the scope of the game in order to do that aspect properly. I'd probably prefer the latter as it has gotten tedious for me at this point (witcher senses, track beast, kill it, repeat).

MorphlingV2 said:

P.S.: Yes, this is my first post on here, but I am a long-time lurker.

Click to expand...

Welcome!

Maylander said:

Probably only G2 NotR and BG2 for me. I suppose MM7 was close to a 10 back in the days, as I considered that very close to perfect.

Click to expand...

Fair enough - thanks for answering

I guess I'm just extra impressed by the scope, writing, passion and technical achievement this game represents.

Yeah, this is right up your alley. In fact, anyone who wants a "more focused Skyrim" or some such thing should be head over heels in love with it.

Well, I wasn't looking for a more focused Skyrim - as I love the open and freeform nature of Skyrim. I prefer that, actually.

But the writing and quest design is simply superb. Combat is also really good - and there's just a tremendous feeling of a plausible world.

Skyrim, as much as I love it, doesn't have great writing - and it has a lot of repetition in terms of the quests.

So, for me, a Skyrim with Witcher 3 combat, writing and technical prowess would be the ideal goal in this kind of genre.

But I can see TW3 being a bit of a struggle if you play games almost like a machine - and you just want to get through all the content. Must be a bit on the tiresome side, I suppose.

DArtagnan said:

Well, I wasn't looking for a more focused Skyrim - as I love the open and freeform nature of Skyrim. I prefer that, actually.

But the writing and quest design is simply superb. Combat is also really good - and there's just a tremendous feeling of a plausible world.

Skyrim, as much as I love it, doesn't have great writing - and it has a lot of repetition in terms of the quests.

Click to expand...

That's mainly what I was referring to: TW3 has the focus of a more story driven RPG and not the watered down generic nonsense usually delivered in massive, open world games.

DArtagnan said:

But I can see TW3 being a bit of a struggle if you play games almost like a machine - and you just want to get through all the content. Must be a bit on the tiresome side, I suppose.

Click to expand...

Hardly a struggle, it's probably GotY this year and most likely would have been last year too. However, having explored the vast majority of Velen and Skellige by now, I've found the exploration to be rather tedious at this point.

The main problem is most likely the loot system, combined with the sheer scope of it all - finding or being given some named relic should feel special, not just like an "iterative upgrade" which is likely to be replaced by some drop from a bandit two levels later. This is something that BG2, G2 and MM7 all nailed - finding a hidden cave with some fantastic item could really mean a lot and was well worth it.

In TW3 you might as well just grind out a few levels, ignore the loot, and buy some random junk from a blacksmith as it's likely to be better than Uber Legendary Badass Ancient Sword of Hackslashery passed down through generations of jarls and kings on Skellige. Combine that with the fact that Uber Legendary Badass Ancient Sword of Hackslashery has a value of 1500 gold, and suddenly deteriorates at a crazy rate despite having survived through the ages, and you get insane repair costs to boot. Grab a 150g sword off a bandit or a blacksmith and you're much better off, and that just feels wrong to me.

For me, it's a provisional 9.5 out of ten. Absolutely wow, but with a number of relatively minor flaws. I never give a 10 anyway, nothing is perfect.

Like others, I am especially impressed by the tremendous amount to detail and the overflowing sense of passion and Wille zur Qualität' that is so evident in this game.

I'm not sure other studios will be able to fully emulate this passion and attention to detail (at least not in its mad and glorious entirety), but they can certainly learn from it.

Maylander said:

That's mainly what I was referring to: TW3 has the focus of a more story driven RPG and not the watered down generic nonsense usually delivered in massive, open world games.

Hardly a struggle, it's probably GotY this year and most likely would have been last year too. However, having explored the vast majority of Velen and Skellige by now, I've found the exploration to be rather tedious at this point.

The main problem is most likely the loot system, combined with the sheer scope of it all - finding or being given some named relic should feel special, not just like an "iterative upgrade" which is likely to be replaced by some drop from a bandit two levels later. This is something that BG2, G2 and MM7 all nailed - finding a hidden cave with some fantastic item could really mean a lot and was well worth it.

In TW3 you might as well just grind out a few levels, ignore the loot, and buy some random junk from a blacksmith as it's likely to be better than Uber Legendary Badass Ancient Sword of Hackslashery passed down through generations of jarls and kings on Skellige. Combine that with the fact that Uber Legendary Badass Ancient Sword of Hackslashery has a value of 1500 gold, and suddenly deteriorates at a crazy rate despite having survived the ages, and you get insane repair costs to boot. Grab a 150g sword off a bandit and you're much better off, and that just feels wrong to me.

Click to expand...

I can see that being an issue, and it's one that almost all these huge open world games suffer from.

That said, I haven't personally felt that items weren't great to find. I've found worthwhile upgrades while exploring - and I've had great fun hunting "Witcher Gear" - which has been very powerful and satisfying so far. I've yet to find any gear at a vendor or smith that compared with the best stuff I've found exploring.

That said, I'm only level 9 still. I've been playing for ~35 hours - and my Griffin Hunter (IIRC) gear has been great and really made me a lot more powerful - especially the armor.

I really like that I can later upgrade the armor, so I don't feel like I'm discarding it.

Also, I don't feel the game is one where "grinding levels" applies - as they come at a relatively slow but steady pace - mostly based on doing excellent quests, and those take time.

I guess that changes later on? Unfortunate.

Again, I think it has to do with how you approach games. Since you're not as much of a fan of open world freeform games, I assume you don't really invest yourself in the world like I do - and that you don't "pretend" you're really there and get all excited about the immersion?

I could be wrong, but you seem to have this mechanical pace where you go through game after game - and it's hard to imagine how that can be combined with the child-like wonder I get when playing TW3. That's extremely rare for me, though, but when it happens it's really something.

That's why I love the genre, as I can truly forget that it's just a game - where most other games just won't allow that to happen.

But I do admit that handplaced and carefully designed loot would have been preferable, but it's extremely hard to do in a game that's this non-linear and flexible regarding the order of things. Games that allow "uber special loot" to be found near the beginning of the game tend to fall apart very quickly in terms of balance.