The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Hype Thread

[Easy]

Now, I've always been a fan of the Witcher series of videogames - and by "always," I mean "I knew almost literally nothing about them until about a year ago, when I saw the first two on Steam Summer Sale and thought that it'd be worth trying out the first two for something less than $3.00 total."

The first game takes off with a fairly slow start, in my opinion, but it didn't take long for things to get very serious (those of you who've played it, I figure, will know what point I'm referring to). Now, if what you really, really want in an RPG is the ability to self-insert as a character in the game world, this series may not necessarily be for you - not, that is, unless you habitually see yourself as a century-old, white-haired, cat-eyed badass mutant swordsman/alchemist/warlock Slavic dude, who exterminates monsters and breaks curses for hire, and loves sexin' up the ladies (and only the ladies). In which case, hey, perfect fit.

But if what you're looking for is not just a compelling story, but one that's constantly putting you into situations where, even though no one side is necessarily right or wrong, the choices you make have real, serious, and lasting consequences with far-reaching effects on the story line... look no further. And while the first two games are great value for your money, the real magnum opus of it all is The Witcher 3. I'm not gonna list everything that's awesome about this game, because that would take way too goddamn long (though some of you are probably thinking I must have covered it all over time on Skype already). I'm just gonna hype up how, after many long months of waiting, the release date for the final expansion, Blood and Wine, has finally been set for May 31.

Adding an estimated 20 more hours of gameplay (a number which, if ProjektRED follows the trend of their past releases, is if anything likely to be underinflated), this expansion is intended to complete Geralt's story and encompass his final mission. And while they've been total teases with any revealed info beyond a couple of sneak peeks and, just now, a very short new trailer, everything about this expansion so far promises to be legendary as fuck. And now, after sitting for months on the pre-order, it's finally just another three weeks away.

You hype?

Cause I'm fuckin' hype.

 

[AndyM03]

i too am hype.

 

[TimTh33nchant3r]

I've been thinking about shelling out for the season pass, but I haven't even finished the main story yet.

I've been a fan of The Witcher for a very long time though. As far as the western RPG "character as self" thing goes, I weirdly feel like The Witcher does a far superior job to other RPGs that tout player choice as a big selling point. Making different decisions in The Witcher games seems to have a much greater impact on the story you experience, if not the world itself, than say, Mass Effect. The Witcher 2 is almost 2 games depending on what you choose at the end of the first third. You just don't find that kind of diversity in content anywhere else.

If there is one thing I can say it's missing, it's more Shani. Triss was ok, and Yennefer just pissed me off, but Shani was a pretty cool character imho.

 

[Easy]

Yeah, in terms of how much control (it feels like) you have over the story based on your personal preferences, there's definitely a lot of self-insert potential there. All's I meant was that the base character customization is nonexistant. It's not like, say, Mass Effect, where you can name a Shepard after yourself and have him/her look just like you, choose between mage, tech, or fighter, gay or straight paragon of virtue or anti-hero, etc. Witcher 3 in particular is great about making you always use your swords, Signs, and alchemy, and you're always gonna be Geralt the witcher, and whatever choices you make are always gonna be carried out Geralt-style. (i.e., usually delivered with heaping amounts of rage, sarcasm, or both.)

Shani's totally a thing in the Hearts of Stone expansion, incidentally. Some of which is a little filler-like, but which overall, I feel, adds more than the promised amount of extra content and a whole bunch of fun new fights and mechanics with a pretty good new side-story. Hard to say for the full 100%, since B&W isn't even out yet, but I'm pretty confident about recommending that season pass for when you get done with the main story.

 

[Requiem]

Choice based RPGs are gonna have to start developing content that locks out other content so that you replay it. Other wise choices just don't mean anything. It was awesome the way it was, but now we need it in different ways.

I'm down for a good RPG that does a singular character well though. Those are always great. I know the Witcher is great as well, I've just always felt slightly intimidated by the sheer scope of the game, for some reason. I'm fine with jumping into a game like Star Ocean or Final Fantasy that takes doze 's of hours to play, but when the Witcher gives me dozens if not hundreds of hours, plus incredibly in depth game play and story, it throws me off a little. I just gotta get that outta my head, lol. My only issue is I have so many good games to play that I haven't touched. It's the library syndrome I'm getting. Just building up that backlog, ugh.

 

[Easy]

Choice based RPGs are gonna have to start developing content that locks out other content so that you replay it.

?

I don't follow.

But... yeah. The Witcher world is quite big and detailed, as game worlds go, to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if a newcomer has some trouble jumping in on Wild Hunt. The first game will pretty much hand-walk you through understanding the setting, though, and the second one is pretty much entirely about how things build up to the third. I'd personally recommend playing them sequentially, if you're not in any rush, though that's far from absolutely necessary.

 

[Requiem]

?

I don't follow.

That was in reply to Tim. He mentioned that Witcher 2 plays like two different games almost depending on how the first part ends for you.

The Witcher 2 is almost 2 games depending on what you choose at the end of the first third. You just don't find that kind of diversity in content anywhere else.

Since that's the case, choice based RPGs are gonna have to all naturally step up their game over time in order to make themselves more intricate and complex. With Mass Effect, you basically play the same game twice depending on whether you go renegade or paragon. It's really not that different when you play it again, so your choices, while interesting, aren't meaningful. Making it so that choices lead you into specific content you can't get to without having made those choices in the first place is interesting and entertaining to me. Knowing that my choice means something and directly impacts the overall game gives gravity to the choices themselves rather just being a specific flavor of the same course of events.

 

[AndyM03]

I disagree with you Req in that completing the game following your original choices still feels like a totally complete experience. The fact that the other content is there is just a bonus. I personally never played a Mass Effect game twice, or at least, never finished a second run through ( I don't really like replaying single player games), but I really don't feel like I missed out on anything or that choice based RPG's need to change at all.
But hey, intricacy and complexity is always better I guess.

 

[TimTh33nchant3r]

That was in reply to Tim. He mentioned that Witcher 2 plays like two different games almost depending on how the first part ends for you.

Since that's the case, choice based RPGs are gonna have to all naturally step up their game over time in order to make themselves more intricate and complex. With Mass Effect, you basically play the same game twice depending on whether you go renegade or paragon. It's really not that different when you play it again, so your choices, while interesting, aren't meaningful. Making it so that choices lead you into specific content you can't get to without having made those choices in the first place is interesting and entertaining to me. Knowing that my choice means something and directly impacts the overall game gives gravity to the choices themselves rather just being a specific flavor of the same course of events.

One additional thing that this would help is the "you must always choose the option relevant for the alignment you've chosen to play" problem I had with ME. TW3, or its earlier predecessors for that matter, don't really have a meta scale of what choices mean for your stat development. Your choices are literally just choices. They affect the outcome of the stories they happen in, and a couple of other things later, but you don't collect good or evil points ala KOTOR/ME/Fable/tons of other RPGs as tokens to power yourself up, and are therefore not punished for choosing a more neutral road where you AREN'T always a good guy or always a bad guy. Which in turn makes the character feel more real to me.

In TW3, this meant among other things

Spoiler

that I could choose to play Geralt as romantically loyal to Yennefer and not sleep with everything with a hole between its legs up until the point where I did her sidequest with the djinn and completely changed my mind, which I did because the necromancy bit in the main quest was a total OOC turnoff and I played the IC disapproval option as well. I guess what I'm saying is that Geralt makes for a very good vehicle for playing different roles despite not having a ton of customization options in terms of looks, sexuality, or arguably attitude.

Also, damnit Easy. Now I have to scrounge money for that.

 

[Easy]

Part of it is the scale; the ME games basically start off by telling you that the fate of the galaxy is in your hands, but once the credits roll, all that your personal decisions really change around is the survival rate of your individual crewmen. Some of them are pretty cool, mind you, but it still ends up feeling like a pretty small victory compared to what you could have been expecting.

On the other hand, the Witcher games never make any promises about the impact of your choices that they don't hold up their end of. Every one of them has some major event(/s) that end up happening that you absolutely don't have any control over, but it's never something you'd expected to have any control over in the first place. Why would you? You're just one badass dude with a bunch of potions and a couple of swords. Sometimes, you end up finding yourself in a position where such a person can make a really big difference. Other times, you don't, and that's totally fair.

Basically, you may not be omnipotent, but you don't end up feeling railroaded either.

 

[TimTh33nchant3r]

Basically, you may not be omnipotent, but you don't end up feeling railroaded either.

This. ^ This is what I love about The Witcher.

 

[Requiem]

I disagree with you Req in that completing the game following your original choices still feels like a totally complete experience. The fact that the other content is there is just a bonus. I personally never played a Mass Effect game twice, or at least, never finished a second run through ( I don't really like replaying single player games), but I really don't feel like I missed out on anything or that choice based RPG's need to change at all.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying. When it comes to Mass Effect, I'm agreeing with you. The game is practically the same both times through, so there's no reason to play it again for the choice system. It doesn't change anything in any way except for the flavor of the game. That's what most choice based RPGs do.

Since these games' choices are flat enough to make a second playthrough unnecessary, changing them to be more intricate and complex with content that can only be accessed by doing a different set of things than your first go through would be welcomed. That would add gravity to your choices.

 

[TimTh33nchant3r]

Dudes. No sooner do we have this discussion than the entire franchise goes on sale on GOG. Get some.

 

[Easy]

Dudes. No sooner do we have this discussion than the entire franchise goes on sale on GOG. Get some.

Including TW2 (AoK: Enhanced Ed.) for just $3 and TW1 (Enhanced Ed.) for just $1.50, and TW3 for just $25. That's hella value.

 

[Requiem]

If money weren't tight, I'd buy it right now.

 

[AndyM03]

Including TW2 (AoK: Enhanced Ed.) for just $3 and TW1 (Enhanced Ed.) for just $1.50, and TW3 for just $25. That's hella value.

I got the Witcher 3 for like 30 dollars and bought the Season pass without question, even if I never get around to playing the DLC I fucking owe Project Red all my dosh.

 

[Easy]

ONE WEEK.

Wonder if I should stream this shit once it's out. On the one hand, cool as shit content. On the other, potential spoilers for cool as shit content. It's a conundrum, that.

 

[AndyM03]

Futuristic Witcher fanart I saw on reddit.

 

[Easy]

Well drawn, but kind of silly. At that tech level, he could totally just have two different ammo types for the gun, rather than still be carrying those two swords around.

 

[AndyM03]

Well how about this phresh art ya dingus