Topic: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt thread

@crimsontadpoles If you haven’t figured it out, you can use the crossbow underwater which one shots any enemies you come across.

Life was much easier in those underwater section once I figured this out..

@Ralizah Yeah, they do, at times it can feel like there are three main quests active at the same time.

@Octane @Ralizah The intricate and large side quests may have been part of what was off putting for me. Not that their design isn’t impressive and well done, it’s just I inherently think of a side quest as something to start and complete real quick — like maybe knock a couple of them out in one play session and then do a story mission too — but when 3 hours goes by whilst you chasing just one side activity and it’s still unresolved when you stop for the day, well it makes you think twice about how much time you’re going to need for each play session. I think I wasn’t mentally prepared for that.

@Octane Only three? Look at how many I have active right now (granted, one of these is more of a 'broad goal' than anything)

And countless contracts/side quests/etc.

There's certainly not a lack of content in this game.

@Th3solution Not sure about PS4, but you can save anywhere in the PC version, so I don't mind at all. I can just pick back up if my play session needs to be cut short.

@Ralizah Yeah, it seems a lot. But three of them are actually more like broad goals; the first two and the last one. The second one in blue is the starting quest for the Hearts of Stone DLC by the way. And realistically, you won't do the Pyres of Novigrad until you're level 10. I always dealt with the low level quests first.

There's definitely a problem of over-leveling if you do every quest, and as a result, you get little exp; but there are just so many quests that it wouldn't be possible otherwise I think.

@Octane Well, those broad goals are likely to splinter into multiple other main quests, right? So, in reality, it's actually a lot more than six main quests available to me atm.

I think the game over-rewards the player for completing main quests and under-rewards them for completing side content (20xp... yippee...), personally. I've basically stopped doing side content at the moment because there's very little incentive to do so.

I hear contracts reward the player well, but most of those are well above my current level. I'm going to try out one that's a few levels above me later and see if it gives me any problems.

@Ralizah I never did the side quests for their xp, but quite a lot have interesting stories/characters, or a new piece of lore. That was the reward for me I think. And of course, you never know what side quest will have a beneficial affect later on in the game.

@Octane The only really impressive content I've seen so far has come via the main story quests. It's all very cinematic. The side quests have been very rudimentary, Bethesda-esque stuff so far: kill this enemy, brew this potion, find my pan, etc. Not bad, by any stretch of the imagination, but nothing really notable. Maybe that's because I'm early in the game, though.

Regardless, I think the game's reward balancing is skewed. It doesn't destroy the experience or anything, but I hope they address it in Cyberpunk 2077.

I've actually been really impressed with the side-quests in another game I'm playing: Dragon Quest XI S. They're not hugely elaborate or anything, but they're frequently charming and, usually, reward you with a crafting recipe you wouldn't have access to otherwise. And, in that game, I rarely have issues finding the materials to craft whatever new recipe I get.

One thing I do like in this game (TW3, that is) is that environments seem to reward poking around. Most of my best equipment so far has come from finding little pocket areas off the beaten path when I'm doing main story missions.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Yeah, those crones are terrifying. Very fun monsters.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy @Ralizah I did the opposite and freed the trapped creature against the crones' wishes. It was tricky to decide whether or not the creature was telling the truth, but I wanted to believe in it and hope for a good outcome.

@crimsontadpoles That ambiguity is a sign of good writing. I like the inherent uncertainty of choosing between two untrustworthy options.

@Ralizah That was really tough decision and up there with one of my fave side missions. I think most of my favourite ones have that ambiguity about them.

Eh, if there is going to be a leveling system, and if you gain EXP primarily from quests, as you do in this game, then there needs to be some balancing in that regard to make side-quests feel adequately rewarding if you tackle them near the suggested level.

It's all over the place. You play a lot of them, and they reward basically nothing. I just completed a side-quest a few minutes ago that rewarded me 500+ EXP. It wasn't longer or harder than the others. There was no reason for this disparity to exist. It's just bizarre.

This system where you craft oils/potions/etc. once and then refill them with alcohol is... very weird. But I don't dislike it.

Geez. Almost 25 hours of locked 60fps gameplay, and then I get to Novigrad. Now, my framerate keeps wobbling between the high 40s and mid 50s. Maybe I'll just lock it at 30fps when I'm running around here.

Cyberpunk is going to be a 30fps experience on my PC for sure. I COULD upgrade my GPU, but I don't see the point when it looks like the PS5 is going to be a beast of a system.

So, how did the Bloody Baron and return to Crookback Bog quests go for other people? In my playthrough, I turn the evil fetus thing into a friendly ghost and kill the spirit in the tree. Eventually, we discover that the servant of the crones is actually Anna, the missing wife of the Baron. But she has lost her mind, and the Baron takes it upon himself to escort her to a healer in the hopes of getting her back to some semblance of normality, something his daughter Tamara eventually agrees to. The children, unfortunately, were eaten or something by the crones.

Not the best possible outcome, I'm guessing, but things could have gone worse.

I've been playing this game for six hours straight, and I'd still be playing if I could afford to ignore the outside world any longer.

@Ralizah yeah my base ps4 struggled with novigrad, thought it would take off and fly round the room! I had the same outcome as you for the bloody baron, though I tried to kill the botchling and it mutated to some crazy monster! The progression arc in the game is broken but the stories and world the game crafts are amazing! I keep writing thing to tell you only to delete them as I don't want to spoil things!! All I can say is enjoy!

@Ralizah glad you are enjoying it!

@Ralizah That's a better outcome for Bloody Baron and Crookback Bog than what I got.

@Ralizah Man, you should have seen Novigrad when the game first released, it was an utter mess! CDPR did sort it out eventually on PS4, but it took a few months for that to happen.

@QualityGeezer I'm still in the middle of the game (about to go to Skellige), but my favourite scene so far is when you face off with the Wild Hunt for the first time in that cave with Keira. Up until then, they're portrayed as a super tough threat that should be avoided at all costs, and suddenly you're having to defend yourself from them.

I was eager to finally go to Skellige after doing lots of side quests, but didn't have the 1000 coins needed as I'd just spent all my money on various things. So instead I did the fist fight challenges and some contracts to earn gold. Next time, I should finally be able to go there.