The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt review

[Bassman]

The joys of a PS4... automatic updates for all your games. V1.06 is there (strangely missing out V1.05). A massive 7.5 Gb (with the inevitable Driveclub update wanting to run concurrently.... haven't used the PS4 in a few days.

The new version has a stash that is accessible from certain places on the map where you can store stuff. Books are sepated out in thec Inventory. Apparently Alchemy and Crafting items are now excluded from your weight limit. Some Quest bugs have been fixed.

I haven't tried the game yet to check these things out. Would be useful to clear a Hidden Treasure Quest I can't seem to clear.

[Yakumo]

The weight issue is a good addition. Looking forward to checking out the updates tonight.

[danholo]

1.07 is the newest update. I think it improves some UI/menu problems immensely and the different chests to stash items are greatly welcome by me. Alchemy and crafting items cannot be stored however...

Unfortunately I hadn't completed the DLC "Skellige's Most Wanted" yet and it's completely broken at least in the new patch. After defeating the final enemy, it moves to single spot on the playing field and becomes stuck in an animation loop. It's quite silly, but the guy refuses to die and the polygon creature just starts sinking into the ground. I hope the problem is fixed soon.

http://forums.cdprojektred.com/threads/53079-skellige-s-most-wanted-bug

I just need to commend how devoted CD Projekt Red is to their game and fans. I'm really enjoying the game and the detail that has gone into it. Also, free DLC... Unheard of at this day and age. I'd dish out cash just for the good treatment. I also heard they are releasing two expansions that are as big (or close to) the current game, the first expansion projected for the autumn. Is this true?! That's insane if you ask me.

All in all this is one of the best games I've played. I can admit the gameplay/fighting might not be perfect but it's highly addictive and fun. There's just something about this title that just makes it stand above the rest.

[Neon Ignition]

Been trying to get back into this, had forgotten how good looking it is in places. I'm still early on in though, by the looks about 1/5 of the way through the lengthy main questline. It's a really odd game so far, I've done a handful of sidequests but despite the volume of them available I haven't played any that were fun to do. Hopefully it's just a run of bad luck reflecting that I'm generally early on but they've all been standard dull fetch quest stuff. The main quest has been okay too but very low on action, all travel and talking for the most part. It's possibly why I've struggled to connect with the game so far. I can tell a mile off that it's one of the better crafted worlds this year, far better than either its predecessors and that I do have fun whilst I'm on it but there's no pull to it.

So far it's got the sense that the combat is **** but it's fun enough simply existing and exploring the vast land that the devs have put together but I'm going to need the experience to really step up for me to rate it highly. It's got the air about it that it's a deeply mediocre game wrapped in an exquisite world and mountain on content to tip the scale even again.

[Bassman]

I played for a few minutes to check out the update... until frustration set in as there were some enemies I couldn't use a sword against. Not worth fighting with a fist. Lost interest...

I know a lot of items no longer weigh anything, but I'm still at two thirds capacity!

[danholo]

It's got the air about it that it's a deeply mediocre game wrapped in an exquisite world and mountain on content to tip the scale even again.

Quite possible. A testament to that could be that I love this game and I'm a great admirer of mediocrity. I'm an avid Tales of -series fan, after all.

edit: Just finished the last Witcher Contract, aside from the DLC one which is bugged in ver. 1.07. If you can go to level 50 etc, I wonder why the last Contract was a 35 lvl one. I'm at level 27 at the moment.

[danholo]

I beat the game finally last night. The final battle was a bit underwhelming. Was playing on Death March and I only used Quen and some dodging. I will miss the game, however. The atmosphere is unparalleled and the characters memorable. It definitely shot straight to the top with some of my favorite games (Chrono Trigger, Tales of Phantasia, Final Fantasy, Mega Man/X -series). The battle system and amount of enemies could've been more varied and the central story a bit more fleshed out, and a more epic final battle, but I kept playing so something hit the right spot for me.

Until the expansion packs!

[wakka]

What I love about is this game is the quality of the characters and storytelling. I played 150 odd hours of Oblivion and 240 or so hours of Skyrim (the latter only last year), and yet I could barely name a single character. The kid who's your fan in the Arena in Oblivion and Ma'ik the Liar in Skyrim are the only ones I can really think of, and neither are central to the actual plot.

I dearly love TES but the characters and storytelling leave a lot to be desired. I like to apply the test of 'Can you describe the character without making reference to what they look like or what they do?'. In TES I can't do that - the characters are flat and two dimensional. But the characters in W3 like the Bloody Baron, Zoltan, Triss, Dandelion and others are brilliant memorable, distinct and well drawn. For me anyway. I can describe the personalities of all of them without actually referencing how they look or their jobs.

[doodledude]

I finished this earlier this week on PS4. The first few hours were tough for me and almost traded it on. I'm glad I didn't though because it started to click with me and in the end the disk didn't leave the PS4 till I finished!
The characters were good and I actually cared about them.
The finish wasn't great though and not as epic as I'd hoped. My choices didn't create the best ending either even though I can't really understand why as I was trying to 'good' I thought. So that annoyed me quite a bit and I was reading up and going through my choices again and what I 'should' have done differently. There hasn't been any games that actually made me question my choices before quite like this so I applaud it even though I'm not happy with the outcome.

I feel I've had my fill of Witcher 3 now, so I've sold it on but a solid 8/10 for me.

[Yakumo]

Just finished the last Witcher Contract, aside from the DLC one which is bugged in ver. 1.07. If you can go to level 50 etc, I wonder why the last Contract was a 35 lvl one. I'm at level 27 at the moment.[/COLOR]

Been cleaning up the map the last few day. Visiting all of the remaining question marks areas. Total playtime so far is 578 hours!! I can't wait for the expansion packs.

[danholo]

Is there anything interesting? I've left most question marks out, especially those that are in the middle of the seas of Skellige.

[Yakumo]

No, nothing much really. Just guarded treasure, bandit camps or small villages that have been taken over by thieves.

I'm only doing all the question mark areas because I'm addicted to the game need more Witcher 3 joy. Those add on packs are a long way off.

[danholo]

Yeah I felt empty last night when I didn't turn the game on. Maybe I'll just complete all the unknown markers just to get the feels. I only have a few in Velen/Novigrad, about 70 in Skellige.

[wakka]

Pretty much done everything I can at my current level of 20 in Velen/Novigrad, so shall be setting sail to Skellige for the first time this weekend.

Absolutely loving Gwent, just doing the Old Pals quest atm. Almost got enough unit cards for Nilfgard to start using that deck, only used Northern Realms up till now but I've been smashing everyone I meet

[Yakumo]

Gwent is the only part of Witcher 3 I don't like. I can't understand how it's played.