RPGWatch - Game of the Year 2013: Most Promising RPG in 2014

[Pongo]

Wow… I don't find any of the other titles even close to The Witcher 3. For me, it's TW3 by a landslide with Wasteland 2 and PoE a distant 2nd and 3rd.

I tried TW2 - didn't like gerault, didn't like the combat. It looked great and everything, and it's nice that the studio looks after their fans so well , but I'll probably pass on TW3.

 

[JDR13]

I tried TW2 - didn't like gerault, didn't like the combat. It looked great and everything, and it's nice that the studio looks after their fans so well , but I'll probably pass on TW3.

All I can say is that you're a hard guy to please.

 

[Couchpotato]

Wow… I don't find any of the other titles even close to The Witcher 3. For me, it's TW3 by a landslide with Wasteland 2 and PoE a distant 2nd and 3rd.

I'm still quite sure that TW3 won't get released in 2014 though.

Why do think it will be delayed and not released in 2014? The PR machine is already started, and from one of the last interviews the game is already done.

Dariusz Wolak: Is TW3 ready yet?

Adam Kiciński: You can play through the entire game already, although it obviously still needs some work, performance optimization, polishing graphics and so on. But it looks like it's nearly finished. 3/4 of the whole studio is involved in TW3, the rest working on CP2077. The boxes design is complete. The standard edition will be very rich, the collectors edition will be extraordinary. There will be 12-15 language versions (TW2 had 11, + 3 fan-made). Deals with the biggest retailers (like Gamestop or Amazon) are set, including all the details for presale campaigns.

DW: We only don't know the launch date.

AK: It will be unveiled in the first half of the year.

 

[DArtagnan]

I'm pretty sure it will be out in 2014 - though it might not make the current release date.

 

[Kordanor]

All I can say is that you're a hard guy to please.

Add me in. Loved the story of GW1 but thought the combat was horrible. One of the few games where I set the combat to easy just to experience the story and "click away the combat".
Bought the CE of WE2 anyways. First time I played it I stopped before finishing the prologue because I just couldn't stand the console-control combat. Became a little better after the big patch which included combat changes. With that I made it into the first town. But again was put off by the combat controls and by the "outside world" of which I expected much more than running through corridors within the forest. Might have enjoyed it more if I also just played it on easy and clicked through the combats, but that's also not really what I am playing a game for. I need to be challenged by the game to really have fun.

Therefore I will wait till Wither 3 (and Cyberpunk) releases and let a friend play it first (who also disliked the combat for the same reasons but not as much as me) - and if he says that I might enjoy it, I might give it a try.

 

[Tragos]

I voted for Dragon Age Inquisition as my #3 after PE and TW3. I want to believe BioWare will fix that franchise.

I want to believe that too , Bioware is the only company that makes party based games i enjoy to play .

 

[greywolf00]

I'm in the dislike of Witcher 2 combat camp too. I probably enjoyed the combat in 1 more than other people. Also didn't like the way the broke up long sections of unfolding story with short, rather pointless sections of player control.

As for DA: I falling so low, DA 2 and ME 3 didn't do them a lot of favors, especially coupled with Origin. As someone else mentioned, they've lost a lot of people who worked on the older titles, simply not the same Bioware.

 

[Feist]

I'm in the dislike of Witcher 2 combat camp too. I probably enjoyed the combat in 1 more than other people.

X3 I thought the combat-system in the first game was mediochre but the combat-system in TW2 was a step below mediochre. The story in the second game was also rather fragmented and uninteresting. I loved TWEE but felt that TW2 was a dissapointment in practically every aspect (combat, character advancement, environments, story) except for graphics & sound.

This is why my expectations for TW3 are much more modest than they were for the sequel.

 

[JDR13]

Add me in. Loved the story of GW1 but thought the combat was horrible. One of the few games where I set the combat to easy just to experience the story and "click away the combat".

Setting it to Easy was probably your first mistake, you should have done the opposite. The combat in TW1 is a lot more enjoyable if you set it to Hard. It removes the icon that tells you when to swing, and actually gives it some challenge. It also gives you the need to use alchemy to assist in combat. The default difficulty is far too easy already.

Bought the CE of WE2 anyways. First time I played it I stopped before finishing the prologue because I just couldn't stand the console-control combat. Became a little better after the big patch which included combat changes. With that I made it into the first town. But again was put off by the combat controls and by the "outside world" of which I expected much more than running through corridors within the forest. Might have enjoyed it more if I also just played it on easy and clicked through the combats, but that's also not really what I am playing a game for. I need to be challenged by the game to really have fun.

That really doesn't describe TW2 accurately at all.

There's nothing console-like about the combat, unless you're simply one of those people that thinks 3rd-person = console. The controls feel perfectly natural with keyboard+mouse. I'm one of those gamers that particularly hates it when a PC title feels "consolish" in the least, and TW2 did not.

Not sure what you mean about running through corridors outside. The world is completely open, although far from huge. You mention that you made it to the first town which tells me that you didn't play very long. If you had kept playing, you would have seen that the later parts of the game are significantly larger and more free-roaming than what you saw.

 

[Kordanor]

Setting it to Easy was was probably your first mistake, you should have done the opposite. The combat in TW1 is a lot more enjoyable if you set it to Hard. It removes the icon that tells you when to swing, and actually gives it some challenge. It also gives you the need to use alchemy. The default difficulty is far too easy already.

To me it didn't feel like a challenge and more of an endurance thing. Making boring fights even longer.

There's nothing console-like about the combat, unless you're simply one of those people that thinks 3rd-person = console. The controls feel perfectly natural with keyboard+mouse. I'm one of those gamers that particularly hates it when a PC title feels "consolish" in the least, and TW2 did not.

It's the "autoface" of the opponents when initiating an action and being locked into animations which I really hate. This of course gets hand in hand with being third person. You rarely have that in first person.
But that doesn't mean that I automatically dislike third person due to that. If you take a game like World of Warcraft for example, you can move and act much more freely. You can move even though animations are played. It might not look as realistic of course and you also have a targeting system - but your character doesnt automatically face the opponent - the control is completely in your hands by 100%. I remember reading an interview about that but can't find it anymore. All I found was this thread and I completely agree with the dudes there, just that I don't just feel the disconnect with other mmos but also with games like Witcher 2 - or Kingdoms of Amalur (though that felt better than witcher 2).

 

[JDR13]

To me it didn't feel like a challenge and more of an endurance thing. Making boring fights even longer.)

So are you claiming you tried it on hard?

It's the "autoface" of the opponents when initiating an action and being locked into animations which I really hate. This of course gets hand in hand with being third person. You rarely have that in first person.)

But that doesn't mean that I automatically dislike third person due to that. If you take a game like World of Warcraft for example, you can move and act much more freely. You can move even though animations are played. It might not look as realistic of course and you also have a targeting system - but your character doesnt automatically face the opponent - the control is completely in your hands by 100%. I remember reading an interview about that but can't find it anymore. All I found was this thread and I completely agree with the dudes there, just that I don't just feel the disconnect with other mmos but also with games like Witcher 2 - or Kingdoms of Amalur (though that felt better than witcher 2).

You seem to not realize that that is completely optional. You don't have to use the lock-on function if you don't like it.

 

[Kordanor]

So are you claiming you tried it on hard?

I did, yes. But I stopped playing it after a couple of hours. I played it through only later in "preparation" of witcher 2

You seem to not realize that that is completely optional. You don't have to use the lock-on function if you don't like it.

I honestly can't remember anymore what options you had to adjust the fight. Fiddled around a bit and found nothing I enjoyed.
And it just didn't feel right to set it to easy just to get to the story. So I didn't play it at all.

 

[JDR13]

Your loss. Out of curiosity, has there ever been a third-person RPG that you really liked?

 

[Kordanor]

Well, there aren't too many (on the PC at least) and to those there are I kept my distance to most times I guess.

I can't think of a single one where I liked melee combat (except MMOs like WoW, CoH, GW2, Rift...) but there are good ones with ranged combat.
Loved Mass Effect 2, but that was a cover-shooter and while the combat was decent it wasn't it's strong point.
Two Worlds 2 was also good. But the melee combat sucked. Therefore I went mage...which could just blast everything to pieces and was completely OP...the strong point in this game imho was the dialogues and the voice acting (english version).

 

[JDR13]

Yeah, we definitely have very different tastes. I liked Mass Effect 1 and (to a lesser degree) ME3, but I found ME2 mediocre in almost every way.

I need to get around to playing the Two Worlds games one of these days. They've been in my backlog for a long time.

 

[wolfing]

Another one not in the Witcher camp. I played a bit of the 1st one. I have the 2nd one in one of my libraries but not really wanting to play it. I guess I just don't like slashers (only exception being Mount&Blade).

 

[Phonix]

My list:

1- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
2 - Dragon Age: Inquisition
3 - Pillars of Eternity

I am worried about TW3 through, as I don’t like open world RPGs. Then it comes to games, I have some kind of OCD about see and complete everything, and frankly I burn out before I see the end of the game, if it’s to open. Therefore I love games as Bioware’s and the like, that is some kind of limit and has (sometime) a great story.

 

[Kordanor]

Well, maybe you just played the wrong open world games. Skyrim for example is doing a horrible job to keep the main story interesting - and after completing tons of sidequests - also the rest of the game because it becomes sightseeing. Avernum is doing a better Job here. Or the Fallout games (old and new).

 

[purpleblob]

My list was:

1. PoE
2. WL2
3. DA:I

So I guess I'm happy. Not a big fan of The Witcher series, but hope it turns out good for those who love the series Kind of surprised WL2 wasn't higher in the list.

 

[Dez]

Not many surprises on that list

I voted Project eternity, Witcher 3 and Orginal sin. Wasteland 2 is also a game I'm looking forward to.

I was a bit surpised that DA:I made to the list though. I also have high hopes for DA:I, but expected to see more resistance from watchers

As for Might and magic X, well I'm going to play it once my schedule gives more time for gaming, but definitely a game I wish to enjoy.