The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is Really, Really Big

If this is the end of the game franchise, that's kind of doubly huge because it's ALSO the end of the novels' narrative, which started ALL the way back in 1994. So...that's a PRETTY big fucking deal. And also puts a LOT of pressure on them, but considering how much I love one and two (and the novels for that matter), I think it couldn't be in better hands.

Can't wait. Still enjoying the afterglow of Witcher 2

@MattGrant said:

Anyone know if the Witcher 3 will support save data from the first two in the series, as the sequel did for the original? Edit: Also! Fuck yeah! Ahem...

Well, I'm sure it will. The 2nd game had A LOT of variables that would have been different in the end of the game. I remember the Witcher 2 was able to carry over some of the items that I had at the end of the original Witcher.

@Undeadpool said:

If this is the end of the game franchise, that's kind of doubly huge because it's ALSO the end of the novels' narrative, which started ALL the way back in 1994. So...that's a PRETTY big fucking deal. And also puts a LOT of pressure on them, but considering how much I love one and two (and the novels for that matter), I think it couldn't be in better hands.

You can say dat again sista!

Saving for a new video card now...

This might get me to actually finish Witcher 2

Can't wait. If it turns out anywhere near as good as the first two, this will be the reason for my next PC upgrade.

@Undeadpool said:

If this is the end of the game franchise, that's kind of doubly huge because it's ALSO the end of the novels' narrative, which started ALL the way back in 1994. So...that's a PRETTY big fucking deal. And also puts a LOT of pressure on them, but considering how much I love one and two (and the novels for that matter), I think it couldn't be in better hands.

It's, especially in afterhand, incredibly impressive not just how well-made and -written the games were in their own right, but how fantastically well they fit in as a continuation of the excellent novels. Having claimed that this will be the final installment in the Witcher saga, I feel like they finally don't have to pull any punches, and might be able to lay on the exposition in regards to Ciri, the elves of the other world (after whom the game is bloody titled!) and the fabled doom of the world (The Time of the White Chill and White Light, The Time of Contempt"). There's just so much potential for story-telling left and right; hell, I've already worked up half a dozen theories about Geralt's and Yennefer's amnesia.

Also, something that only folks who've read the book will recognize is that they're recreating the setting of the entire book series with this third game. Just as Geralt & Co, travelled south through wartorn lands in order to locate someone (Ciri) who was in an unknown part of Nilfgaard, presumably held at court, willingly or not; now we'll have Geralt & Co travel south through a wartorn open world in order to locate someone (Yennefer) who is in an unknown part of Nilfgaard, presumably held at court, willingly or not!

It's fucking splendid how they've managed to weave the story together in such a continuous, pseudo-repetitive fashion. The Ouroboros snake, the concept of rewenal and eternity lying in the moment where past and future meets, all concepts that were heavily feautured in the books, are now rendered into the concept of the next, fucking game. IT'S BRILLIANT! FUCKING BRILLIANT, DAMN IT!

It's a shame so few people will understand the sheer depth of the game's premise.

@Seppli said:

@MildMolasses said:

"with the visuals we want"

Are they saying that the Witcher 2 fell below expectations visually? Holy shit

They are saying the Witcher 2 is not an open world game. Context.

I feel like the part where they say "in the world we imagined" pretty much covered that part. When someone says visuals, I don't usually think they're talking about their world.

The Witcher 2's combat was a real pain at first then for some reason I got it. I understood the timing and it all made sense.

Finally a game to be legitimately excited for.

Cyberpunk 2077 is this year right? I just want to play an RPG from CD Projekt Red and don't wanna wait until 2014.

@CrazyBagMan said:

@Seppli said:

@MildMolasses said:

"with the visuals we want"

Are they saying that the Witcher 2 fell below expectations visually? Holy shit

They are saying the Witcher 2 is not an open world game. Context.

I feel like the part where they say "in the world we imagined" pretty much covered that part. When someone says visuals, I don't usually think they're talking about their world.

Exactly. Hence context. Now finally they can create an open world that's as pretty as they want it to be - where-as beforehand they weren't able to make a seamless open world at the fidelity they wanted. They did not infer that The Witcher 2 was below their expectations in terms of looks however - that's my understanding of their statement.

From this I expect a seamless open world with about the visual fidelity of The Witcher 2.

I loved Witcher 2. I was impressed with their handling of branching story paths, down to a middle third that is completely different based on a major choice (BioWare could learn something from those guys). The world was also stunningly beautiful, something the murky Elder Scrolls games can't claim, despite their impressive scale. So the idea of the next Witcher going huge is so full of potential. First game I've heard of that might force my hand into buying a next-gen console sooner than I ever intended.

@LiquidPrince said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

I want to love the Witcher but I cannot understand the combat for the life of me, finishing the tutorial in The Witcher 2 was one of the hardest things I did that year.

I don't understand how you don't understand it. Regular sword for humans, silver sword for monsters. Hit enemies with appropriate swords, dodge out of the way of attacks and so on. Also you have a few different types of magic. One creates a shield around you, and the others are offensive.

It's exactly the same as other games of this sort, except you need to know when to back off and roll out of the way. Unless you're playing on easy, in which case you can just mash attack. Simple as that.

I'd love to see the part in the tutorial that explains all this before throwing you into a fight against 3 dudes who kick your ass in 4 hits. Maybe they changed things since the game came out but at the time that part wasn't in the game.

@Mr_Skeleton said:

@LiquidPrince said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

I want to love the Witcher but I cannot understand the combat for the life of me, finishing the tutorial in The Witcher 2 was one of the hardest things I did that year.

I don't understand how you don't understand it. Regular sword for humans, silver sword for monsters. Hit enemies with appropriate swords, dodge out of the way of attacks and so on. Also you have a few different types of magic. One creates a shield around you, and the others are offensive.

It's exactly the same as other games of this sort, except you need to know when to back off and roll out of the way. Unless you're playing on easy, in which case you can just mash attack. Simple as that.

I'd love to see the part in the tutorial that explains all this before throwing you into a fight against 3 dudes who kick your ass in 4 hits. Maybe they changed things since the game came out but at the time that part wasn't in the game.

They did. They specifically updated the beginning of the game.

@Arx724: There's the problem I played the game when it came out.

@Arx724 said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

@LiquidPrince said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

I want to love the Witcher but I cannot understand the combat for the life of me, finishing the tutorial in The Witcher 2 was one of the hardest things I did that year.

I don't understand how you don't understand it. Regular sword for humans, silver sword for monsters. Hit enemies with appropriate swords, dodge out of the way of attacks and so on. Also you have a few different types of magic. One creates a shield around you, and the others are offensive.

It's exactly the same as other games of this sort, except you need to know when to back off and roll out of the way. Unless you're playing on easy, in which case you can just mash attack. Simple as that.

I'd love to see the part in the tutorial that explains all this before throwing you into a fight against 3 dudes who kick your ass in 4 hits. Maybe they changed things since the game came out but at the time that part wasn't in the game.

They did. They specifically updated the beginning of the game.

It's included with the update for the Witcher 2 in the PC that was part of the Enhanced Edition for the Xbox 360 that adds a tutorial mini-campaign and an arena mode, which is accessed from the main menu.

Also, IT'S FREE. :)

New engine!?

When Witcher 2 didn't already look awesome... CDProjekt RED, I fucking love you guys.

@kollay: They had to change it so it could accommodate their needs for an open world.

Woo! CD Projekt Red rules!

I'm really looking forward to this and Cyberpunk. If EA calls, Projekt, DON'T ANSWER.

@White said:

Do fans dig the Witcher 2 combat system? Or perhaps we can see them make a change to something more Dark/Demon's Soul-ish or even Amalur?

Those combat systems wouldn't work tough. Witchers are by lore wise almost dancers with the sword with pirouettes and parries. I say the same system as the second witcher but with some improvements like focus on parries.

@GaspoweR said:

@Arx724 said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

@LiquidPrince said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

I want to love the Witcher but I cannot understand the combat for the life of me, finishing the tutorial in The Witcher 2 was one of the hardest things I did that year.

I don't understand how you don't understand it. Regular sword for humans, silver sword for monsters. Hit enemies with appropriate swords, dodge out of the way of attacks and so on. Also you have a few different types of magic. One creates a shield around you, and the others are offensive.

It's exactly the same as other games of this sort, except you need to know when to back off and roll out of the way. Unless you're playing on easy, in which case you can just mash attack. Simple as that.

I'd love to see the part in the tutorial that explains all this before throwing you into a fight against 3 dudes who kick your ass in 4 hits. Maybe they changed things since the game came out but at the time that part wasn't in the game.

They did. They specifically updated the beginning of the game.

It's included with the update for the Witcher 2 in the PC that was part of the Enhanced Edition for the Xbox 360 that adds a tutorial mini-campaign and an arena mode, which is accessed from the main menu.

Also, IT'S FREE. :)

I'll be honest with all of you; I beat the game on original release without the updated tutorials and I was perfectly fine on normal difficulty. I had also never played the original Witcher. I'm not trying to sound cocky in the slightest, but it really wasn't that hard to grasp. It wasn't an easy game for sure, but it was no Dark Souls. I still don't know what the fuck kindling does.

All this positive talk of The Witcher, but I've never played them. I feel like I should, though. Quick Look aside, should I play it, duders? How much like Dragon Age is it, exactly?

@graf1k said:

I really loved The Witcher 2 but when they say The Witcher 3 is x30 bigger, I really hope that also means it's a little more open. The one problem I had with The Witcher 2 was that the majority of areas were a very narrow path or a series of narrow paths. I hope that's what they mean and not just x30 the number or narrow paths.

That's what the devs are saying. Open world with no loading points or chapters in between, at least in their dev video the have up.

"By Geralt's Beard!"

I always wanted to say that.

I'm ready!!!

@Scratch said:

Cyberpunk 2077 is this year right? I just want to play an RPG from CD Projekt Red and don't wanna wait until 2014.

Cyberpunk is 2015. Witcher 3 is 2014.

@LikeaSsur said:

All this positive talk of The Witcher, but I've never played them. I feel like I should, though. Quick Look aside, should I play it, duders? How much like Dragon Age is it, exactly?

Witcher 1 is good but kind of rough in spots... I think you need to look into it and be into PC RPGs of a certain sort to recomend it.

I can recomend Witcher 2 without reservation. It does have a bit of a Bioware feel to it, but as far as choice its completely grey area and political as opposed to being mostly good vs evil like Bioware's stuff. It's a dark fantasy world for sure and is to a degree low fantasy. Like here you are deciding if you want to side with elven terrorists who are slaughtering innocents but also are greatly oppressed or humans who are trying to defend themselves against catastrophic terrorist actions by the elves that could ruin all the existing order... that kind of thing. The combat is also pretty much just action. It also requires a bit more thought than Bioware as far as preparation. And also of course you are solo in this so it feels quite different than Bioware's stuff. In W2 the second act of the game is totally different depending on the overall arc you follow so there's better replay value overall than Bioware's stuff.

STOKED!!!

This is some Cabella's link up, right? Can't wait to play The Witcher 3: Dangerous Hunts with my trusty light gun.

Great! I expect a trailer soon. Maybe, at the PS4 unveiling on the 20th? C'mon... It could happen!! / Also, no "Training Tree" this time. Those skills should be there at the beginning.

can't wait to give them my money

One thing i do hope for is that the collectors editions are not quite as limited a they were for Witcher 2. Stores in my country could not get any imported at all at release, and afterwards when traveling i could never find them anywhere else. And I really wanted one of those :(

@LiquidPrince said:

@GaspoweR said:

@Arx724 said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

@LiquidPrince said:

@Mr_Skeleton said:

I want to love the Witcher but I cannot understand the combat for the life of me, finishing the tutorial in The Witcher 2 was one of the hardest things I did that year.

I don't understand how you don't understand it. Regular sword for humans, silver sword for monsters. Hit enemies with appropriate swords, dodge out of the way of attacks and so on. Also you have a few different types of magic. One creates a shield around you, and the others are offensive.

It's exactly the same as other games of this sort, except you need to know when to back off and roll out of the way. Unless you're playing on easy, in which case you can just mash attack. Simple as that.

I'd love to see the part in the tutorial that explains all this before throwing you into a fight against 3 dudes who kick your ass in 4 hits. Maybe they changed things since the game came out but at the time that part wasn't in the game.

They did. They specifically updated the beginning of the game.

It's included with the update for the Witcher 2 in the PC that was part of the Enhanced Edition for the Xbox 360 that adds a tutorial mini-campaign and an arena mode, which is accessed from the main menu.

Also, IT'S FREE. :)

I'll be honest with all of you; I beat the game on original release without the updated tutorials and I was perfectly fine on normal difficulty. I had also never played the original Witcher. I'm not trying to sound cocky in the slightest, but it really wasn't that hard to grasp. It wasn't an easy game for sure, but it was no Dark Souls. I still don't know what the fuck kindling does.

You get on-screen text saying "In Lordran, kindle bonfires to rest and level up" as soon as you get to Firelink.

edit: To be specific, it increases the amount of flasks you get from resting at that bonfire by 5. The cost is 1 humanity (when unhollowed). On the other hand, improving your flasks by using Firekeeper Souls increases the amount each flask heals, regardless of where you rested.

When I said trailer, I met an actual trailer with gameplay. Seriously, though what is CD Project's RED's budget? I mean 30 times the size of the Witcher 2 world. Maybe, They're getting a little sumthin' sumthin' from a certain Next Gen hardware manufacturer. You know, the one with the big meeting on the 20th... ( It's been 5 minutes, and I already am rampantly speculating. It usually takes 10 minutes before I do that.)

@Max_Cherry said:

When I said trailer, I met an actual trailer with gameplay. Seriously, though what is CD Project's RED's budget? I mean 30 times the size of the Witcher 2 world. Maybe, They're getting a little sumthin' sumthin' from a certain Next Gen hardware manufacturer. You know, the one with the big meeting on the 20th... ( It's been 5 minutes, and I already am rampantly speculating. It usually takes 10 minutes before I do that.)

haha no way in hell.

CDPR is foremost a PC developer. This game will be on the next Xbox and PS as ports. And their games are much cheaper to develop because they are in Poland and they just happen to be a very good developer... not sure if it comes down to management or just being that good, but they get great results out of their time and budget.

well fuck me

Via NeoGAF

So there was some sort of press interview in Poland about the game and the CEO of CDPR said:

Some more info from CEO of CD Projekt for PAP (Polish Press Agency) Business.
http://stooq.pl/n/?f=700022
"Jest to także ostatnia część trylogii, w której będzie miał miejsce wielki finał fabuły. Nie jest to jednak jednoznaczne z końcem franczyzy. Franczyza będzie kontynuowana""
"This is the last part of the trilogy with a grand finale of the story. But it does not mean the end of the franchise. Franchise will continue"

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511781&page=5

So that's pretty cooll. The end of Geralt but the franchise will continue, sounds like.

I'm a little of the weary side on this one. I loved Witcher 1 and 2, but with this and Dragon Age aiming to be "more like Skyrim" I'm uneasy about where I'm going to find my top notch linear RPGs anymore.

Let me buy you, The Witcher 3!

:O can't wait

Damn, son. 30 times. That's like, a lot.

@Scratch said:

Cyberpunk 2077 is this year right? I just want to play an RPG from CD Projekt Red and don't wanna wait until 2014.

They said they're aiming for 2016 ;(

I hope you can import your save from TW2 on PC to the console versions. I dont think I can afford a new TV, XB720 & a new PC. (first world problems, yeah, yeah)

@MildMolasses said:

"with the visuals we want"

Are they saying that the Witcher 2 fell below expectations visually? Holy shit

I took that more as, "we tried to make Witcher 2 an open world game, but we didn't find the game to look good, so we scaled back. But now we figured out how to get those visuals in a much bigger world."

I doubt it will be a large a jump as you are thinking. it'll def look better than 2, but not by a huge margin.

OOOOOOH MAN. As a huge fan of the Witcher series, this sounds like CDPR is just spoiling me and other friends with everything they got. I was hoping it will be on their new engine; remembering the shear amount of detail in that game, it sounds like there will be boat loads of gorgeous, detailed environments. Not to mention how much space it will eat up on my drive. I'm not going to let the same thing happen to me again when the Witcher 2 came out: new GPU on that day. GERALD BE BEAUTIFUL.

I really need to start this copy of The Witcher I already have.

.....and this copy of The Witcher 2 I already have.

I wish I could get into these games! I just really hate the design of the main character and the combat in the first game did nothing for me. I bought the second during some steam sale but I just can't get motivated to play it out of fear I will dislike it as much as the first. Plus what I seen in videos didn't grab me any. Everything around the combat looked amazing, but the combat just didn't look like it was my thing.

@Sooty: The Witcher 2 is one of my favorite games, and I do enjoy the combat for the most part. However, the over reliance on quen needs to go; the beginning of the game is nearly impossible without it, and the end of the game is trivially easy once it is fully leveled.

@jacksmedulla said:

@Sooty: The Witcher 2 is one of my favorite games, and I do enjoy the combat for the most part. However, the over reliance on quen needs to go; the beginning of the game is nearly impossible without it, and the end of the game is trivially easy once it is fully leveled.

they nerfed Quen in the super big patch actually and used it way less in my dark mode playthrough.

@crusader8463: As someone who can't play more than ten minuets of the original Witcher without becoming frustrated with the combat, yet considers The Witcher 2 to be one of his favorite games of all time, I strongly recommend you play The Witcher 2. Everything from the combat, to the presentation, to the intricate, adult, Game of Thrones-esque story, is about as good as it gets in video games. If you enjoy dark fantasy and RPG's with a strong emphasis on story and complex combat, then the Witcher 2 will likely be right up your alley.

@Hef: Yeah I'm sure the Witcher 3 will require its own HDD.