Witcher 3 - Blood & Wine Huge, "More Refined"

CD Projekt RED says that Blood and Wine isn't so much "better" than the original game as simply "more refined".

Update: And it's supposed to be really big - comparable to Velen.

The Witcher 3's upcoming expansion will feature a new area that's comparable to Novigrad, Skellige, and Velen. The new realm Toussaint, "rivals the size of those found in the base game," according to Michal Platkow-Gilewski, CD Projekt Red marketing lead.

Speaking to GameSpot, Platkow-Gilewski added that the expansion should feel "more refined" because the team was able to make it with the "sum of all the experiences we gained when creating Wild Hunt."

Earlier this week, a CD Projekt RED developer talked about Blood and Wine, the highly anticipated second expansion for the award-winning role playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, saying that it was even better than the main game in some aspects. However, the latest comments from the developer on the topic elaborate the previous statement and provide some additional clarification pointing out that The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine is rather “more refined” instead of “better” than the main game.

Those players who think the game-of-the-year award winning role playing title that was released last year could have delivered better in itself would likely be pleased to know what the latest comment from CD Projekt RED apparently implicates. The implication, subtly made, is that The Witcher 3’s second and last expansion is being put together piece by piece by the developer with everything that the team learned creating a saga that Geralt of Rivia’s final adventure is.

In an interview with GameSpot, CD Projekt Red marketing lead Michal Platkow-Gilewski explained how previous experiences are helping the team to create an experience that is not necessarily “better,” but definitely “more refined” than the main game in many regards. He went on to point out that along with all types of new monsters, quests and places of interest in the upcoming expansion, players can look forward to Toussaint, Blood and Wine’s new realm that competes with the size of those found in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. However, he wouldn’t get into a debate about what is “better.”

“Blood and Wine is the sum of all the experiences we gained when creating Wild Hunt, so it’s definitely more refined than Wild Hunt in many regards, but that doesn’t mean it’s better per se”

“I wouldn’t point fingers at what’s better separately, as each addition to Wild Hunt (including over 10 updates we’ve released so far) enriches the overall experience you get from The Witcher as a game in general. The base game with the expansions is simply better than without them.”

The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine expansion is set to conclude the legend of Geralt of Rivia, as it will feature him as the main character of the series for the last time. The expansion was set to arrive in the first quarter (January-March) of 2016, but is now expected in the first half (January-June) of 2016. Once it is out, players will be able to enjoy around 20 hours of brand new gameplay that it will have to offer.

More information.

More information.

What, they are adding more to the longest movie in history? 70 hours of cut scenes not enough? Sorry, have to troll the Bethesda haters a little. TW3 is a good game, but it has a cult like fan club, sort of like Planescape Torment, the difference being that TW3 is a good game.

Originally Posted by Hyperion
What, they are adding more to the longest movie in history? 70 hours of cut scenes not enough? Sorry, have to troll the Bethesda haters a little. TW3 is a good game, but it has a cult like fan club, sort of like Planescape Torment, the difference being that TW3 is a good game.

Another 70 hours of well acted and well written cut scenes? where do I sign up?

The expansion was set to arrive in the first quarter (January-March) of 2016, but is now expected in the first half (January-June) of 2016.

Nooooooooooooooooooo… an even longer wait for the EE

I've no doubt this will be their best yet, but I'm hoping that this will add something to the main game as well.
How it was done with, Night of the Raven or LoD expansions.

Originally Posted by Hyperion
What, they are adding more to the longest movie in history? 70 hours of cut scenes not enough? Sorry, have to troll the Bethesda haters a little. TW3 is a good game, but it has a cult like fan club, sort of like Planescape Torment, the difference being that TW3 is a good game.

And Planescape Torment is a bad game? You should probably lay off the pills for awhile bud…

Originally Posted by lostforever
Another 70 hours of well acted and well written cut scenes? where do I sign up?

TW3 may be close to an interactive movie, and I like other types of games anyway, but at least the dudes at CD RED have done it right, unlike nearly every other big western publisher. Full voice acting and elaborate cut scenes means jack shit if you have a bland copy-pasted generic world. But fanboys gonna fanboy, Todd Halfward is waiting with vaseline

Originally Posted by Hyperion
What, they are adding more to the longest movie in history? 70 hours of cut scenes not enough?

Hm… is it known how long the accumulated cutscenes are in an average playthrough?

Originally Posted by luj1
And Planescape Torment is a bad game? You should probably lay off the pills for awhile bud…

No, it's not bad, it's horrible, it's an entire new level of bad that is so bad, you can't even call it bad anymore.

Honestly, I don't like Baldurs Gate or any games of that era. When I started seriously gaming was in 2007. Before that I occasionally played a game but not too often and never really got into it. Anyway, the first games I bought were Dragon Age Origins, Oblivion, and Gothic 1. I liked Dragon Age and did not like Oblivion. Gothic just sat on my HD for a while and I never played it. A friend of mine talked me into buying it. One day I was bored and fired it up and I was hooked, spent more than 100 hours on that game and immediately bought the 2nd after finishing it.

The older games like Planescape and Baldurs gate were just too dated graphics wise and I couldn't get into them.

I like to poke fun of Planescape because the game has a cult like following, much like TW, and if you say anything bad about it, you will be attacked every time. This case, no exception. See?

Originally Posted by luj1
And Planescape Torment is a bad game? You should probably lay off the pills for awhile bud…

Originally Posted by Morrandir
Hm… is it known how long the accumulated cutscenes are in an average playthrough?

I don't really know. It was just too much for me. I have around 70 hours in the game. It's a good game, I'm not disputing that. I just got bored with all the cut scenes. And to be honest, I'm not that much into story in games, I care more about exploring open world, character development, and combat than I do story.

Originally Posted by Hyperion
No, it's not bad, it's horrible, it's an entire new level of bad that is so bad, you can't even call it bad anymore.

Ill be generous and give you 1/10 for trying

Originally Posted by luj1
TW3 may be close to an interactive movie, and I like other types of games anyway, but at least the dudes at CD RED have done it right, unlike nearly every other big western publisher. Full voice acting and elaborate cut scenes means jack shit if you have a bland copy-pasted generic world. But fanboys gonna fanboy, Todd Halfward is waiting with vaseline

I agree with you, the game is high quality without doubt. I voted it 2nd place here on RPGWatch in that poll for 2015 RPG games. I still think FO4 is a better game, but better in the sense that it's more my type of game. More free world roam, better combat, less cut scenes. The cut scenes are one reason I've never been a fan of the Final Fantasy series, it's just too much.

Originally Posted by luj1
Ill be generous and give you 1/10 for trying

If you read the rest of the post, you would understand why I said it. But never mind, I was just having fun.

PS:T is my all-time number one game. But I have no problem understanding people not liking it. There IS a lot of text in the game, and to fully experience it you have to spend a lot of time talking to party members and other npc's, again and again and again. Which is one of the many things that makes it number one for me, but it surely isn't everyone's cup of tea. And if graphics is important, well, the infinity games ARE old.

pibbur

Originally Posted by Hyperion
What, they are adding more to the longest movie in history? 70 hours of cut scenes not enough?

Seems someone mixed The Witcher with Metal Gear Solid.

Do not watch major spoiler…Every cut scene in the witcher 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox6O9J2pih8

13 hours

Wow, I wish I had 13 hours free to watch that. I watched a 6 hour Last of Us since I didn't have a Playstation. It was quite good.

Originally Posted by Toff
Wow, I wish I had 13 hours free to watch that. I watched a 6 hour Last of Us since I didn't have a Playstation. It was quite good.

Last of us is one of the best games I have played in awhile….not an rpg mind you, but fantastic.