Posted May 26, 2015
Hi,
I'm 13hrs into the game and have just reached the large area after the Palace of Vizima, and so far I have to say that I'm not very happy and somewhat disappointed with the game.
I don't like the new alchemy and crafting system. Having to brew and craft every potion, bomb and oil only once, and then getting unlimited magic refills through a bottle of Vodka just seems plain silly to me and makes gathering and collecting ingredients almost pointless.
Then you are limited to only a couple of potions, bombs and oil at a time, so you can't stock up. But what is worse is that you always have to equip everything before you can use it. So if you want to drink 3 or 4 different potions, go into the inventory, equip the potions, go back into the main game, press the hotkeys, go back into the inventory, equip the next potion, go back to the main game, hotkey again... this is ridiculous. I much preferred the way Witcher 2 just made you prepare in "meditation mode" to this annoying back and forth.
The crafting system feels like a mess. I appreciate the attention to detail, but do we really need to have so many different junk? Twine, cotton, thread, rope, string, steel line, wire... whatthafuck? Do I have to deal with the individual molecules and atoms too at some point? The vast amount of different clutter doesn't really add anything except complexity to the crafting system.
It goes on with the crafting diagrams. 13 hours into the game I have diagrams for something like 7 weapons, 10 pieces of armor and 30 component items. Most of the weapons and armour either have level requirements that are still way beyond me, so I won't be able to craft them for a long time, or they are for useless weapons and armour that are way beneath me. Yet all these diagrams are cluttering up the user interface so it's a pain in the ass to find things that might actually interest me.
The character progression and "perks" feel like a step backward from Witcher 2. The interface is a lot less attractive and everything feels a +5% of more of something modifier. There are almost no choices that make gameplay more interesting. It basically just boils down to "hit harder" or "defend better".
Next annoying thing is the map. Herbs and enemies showing up on the minimap might seem like a neat feature, but the effect is that instead of focusing on the beautifully rendered world which is one of the games really strong points, I'm constantly staring at the minimap while playing, because it's just more convenient and easier to detect herbs and enemies. I realize I can disable the minimap, but then I'm afraid of missing something or playing at a disadvantage. Both choices end up being somewhat unsatisfying.
I'm also not sure how I feel about all the "?" markers popping up on the main map once you check a noticeboard. Again, it's sort-of convenient, but then it also seems to suck the fun out of exploration, as you no longer experience the "high" of finding something special, as you already know where all the interesting things are to be found. You just travel through all the "?" markers until you uncovered them all and then you know you're done with that part of the world and can move on. It feels like replacing exploration with grinding. Sometimes I think I'm playing a stupid MMO like World of Warcraft. Talk to everyone with a "!" above their heads, go everywhere with a "?" on the map... it's lame.
Then there is the much lauded "open world", except it actually isn't. You have very large open areas, yes. But this is essentially the same as it was in Witcher 1 and 2, not an real open world like in Skyrim or GTA. The NPC's are boring and always hang around the same place, doing the same thing 24/7, no schedules, no variety, and again a step back from previous Witcher games, where some NPC's would actually walk around a bit and be at different places at different times.
I will probably continue playing it, if just for the story alone. As a fan of the Witcher series, I really want to know where the story is headed. And of course the game is not all bad. The graphics are excellent, being able to swim, dive, ride a horse and take a boat are really nice features. But I can't shake the feeling that most of the core game elements are a step back from the Witcher 2. And I don't really understand the extremely high praises the game is getting.
I'm 13hrs into the game and have just reached the large area after the Palace of Vizima, and so far I have to say that I'm not very happy and somewhat disappointed with the game.
I don't like the new alchemy and crafting system. Having to brew and craft every potion, bomb and oil only once, and then getting unlimited magic refills through a bottle of Vodka just seems plain silly to me and makes gathering and collecting ingredients almost pointless.
Then you are limited to only a couple of potions, bombs and oil at a time, so you can't stock up. But what is worse is that you always have to equip everything before you can use it. So if you want to drink 3 or 4 different potions, go into the inventory, equip the potions, go back into the main game, press the hotkeys, go back into the inventory, equip the next potion, go back to the main game, hotkey again... this is ridiculous. I much preferred the way Witcher 2 just made you prepare in "meditation mode" to this annoying back and forth.
The crafting system feels like a mess. I appreciate the attention to detail, but do we really need to have so many different junk? Twine, cotton, thread, rope, string, steel line, wire... whatthafuck? Do I have to deal with the individual molecules and atoms too at some point? The vast amount of different clutter doesn't really add anything except complexity to the crafting system.
It goes on with the crafting diagrams. 13 hours into the game I have diagrams for something like 7 weapons, 10 pieces of armor and 30 component items. Most of the weapons and armour either have level requirements that are still way beyond me, so I won't be able to craft them for a long time, or they are for useless weapons and armour that are way beneath me. Yet all these diagrams are cluttering up the user interface so it's a pain in the ass to find things that might actually interest me.
The character progression and "perks" feel like a step backward from Witcher 2. The interface is a lot less attractive and everything feels a +5% of more of something modifier. There are almost no choices that make gameplay more interesting. It basically just boils down to "hit harder" or "defend better".
Next annoying thing is the map. Herbs and enemies showing up on the minimap might seem like a neat feature, but the effect is that instead of focusing on the beautifully rendered world which is one of the games really strong points, I'm constantly staring at the minimap while playing, because it's just more convenient and easier to detect herbs and enemies. I realize I can disable the minimap, but then I'm afraid of missing something or playing at a disadvantage. Both choices end up being somewhat unsatisfying.
I'm also not sure how I feel about all the "?" markers popping up on the main map once you check a noticeboard. Again, it's sort-of convenient, but then it also seems to suck the fun out of exploration, as you no longer experience the "high" of finding something special, as you already know where all the interesting things are to be found. You just travel through all the "?" markers until you uncovered them all and then you know you're done with that part of the world and can move on. It feels like replacing exploration with grinding. Sometimes I think I'm playing a stupid MMO like World of Warcraft. Talk to everyone with a "!" above their heads, go everywhere with a "?" on the map... it's lame.
Then there is the much lauded "open world", except it actually isn't. You have very large open areas, yes. But this is essentially the same as it was in Witcher 1 and 2, not an real open world like in Skyrim or GTA. The NPC's are boring and always hang around the same place, doing the same thing 24/7, no schedules, no variety, and again a step back from previous Witcher games, where some NPC's would actually walk around a bit and be at different places at different times.
I will probably continue playing it, if just for the story alone. As a fan of the Witcher series, I really want to know where the story is headed. And of course the game is not all bad. The graphics are excellent, being able to swim, dive, ride a horse and take a boat are really nice features. But I can't shake the feeling that most of the core game elements are a step back from the Witcher 2. And I don't really understand the extremely high praises the game is getting.
