I know, it's a weird question. I have The Witcher 2, played about 10 hours of it before I decided that it wasn't for me, but I really do like the story. I just found the combat a little frustrating, and the world felt really tight and compact. I'm aware that the latter is definitely not an issue for 3, but I'm still a little hesitant despite it only being $30 right now. I'm really craving a good, long, satisfying action-adventure experience like Zelda, and Witcher 3 seems like the closest thing. Is my assumption correct, or should I be looking elsewhere?
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Game » consists of 27 releases. Released May 19, 2015
CD Projekt RED's third Witcher combines the series' non-linear storytelling with a sprawling open world that concludes the saga of Geralt of Rivia.
If I like Zelda, will I like The Witcher 3?
Maybe, maybe not. The two games have almost nothing in common so there is no way to tell.
Also, what Zelda games are we talking about? The earlier ones that offer a satisfying sense of progress and discovery or the recent entries that hold your hand for hours and bore the shit out of the player? If it's the earlier, I'd recommend a Souls game as a modern Zelda-fix (over Darksiders).
Zelda has great gameplay and garbage story. Witcher 3 is the opposite.
Maybe you'll like the Witcher 3, but definitely not for the reasons you like Zelda.
It's definitely not a Zelda game, but it might be like... 5% more Zelda-like than Witcher 2 because it has an "overworld" now.
To be a little more in-depth: it's not going from dungeon to dungeon, there's not really any puzzle solving, the combat isn't very Zelda-esque (you can't just straight up block attacks, for example. It's always dodge around, jump in and get a few hits when you can, jump out, throw out a magic spell, repeat), and the progression isn't item-based like a Zelda game (rather, it's loot-based where 99% of the stuff you pick up will be vendor trash or crafting materials that you'll never know if you actually want).
It is also a very good game, so maybe you should try it out when it gets a little cheaper, if $30 is still too much. I will add that there are boats and even though I barely did this, there is an area that is just a bunch of islands you could hypothetically explore like you would in Wind Waker-- just don't expect there to be anything on the islands other than the same monsters and more loot you don't want.
In The Witcher, progression isn't really gated by any sort of unlock system. Once you have cleared out an area, you are pretty much done with it and because of that Witcher feels almost like its a linear game that just happens to have an open world. Compared to Zelda there tends to be a lot more strategy in The Witcher 3 (I played on a harder difficulty so your milage may vary), you need to prepare for fights with things like buffs and spells and that level of busy work can be a major turn-off for some people. Also, my biggest complaint with Witcher 3 is the fact that the developers buy into the whole Role-Playing aspect of RPG's and because of that there are a lot of convenience that Beethesda games get right, that CDProjekt ignores. For example, the fast travel systems are fucking broken.
If those things sound like a turn-off for you, then avoid the Witcher. If you can ignore those shortcomming / purposeful design decisions then $30 is a great deal for one of the best story focused titles out there.
@cptbedlam: I'm the guy who loved Skyward Sword.
Witcher 3 combat isn't anything like Zelda combat aside from being in the same perspective and using swords, so its hard to say if you'd enjoy it. I do like Witcher 3 combat more than Witcher 2 so maybe? The story and world is amazing so I recommend everyone at least try it out to see if you dig it or not. Make sure to turn on the alternate movement if that is something that matters to you.
I wouldn't recommend getting Witcher 3 just because you like Zelda though.
Witcher 3 is good, but it's not really like Zelda, and its combat system is not really the reason it's well-regarded. The combat took maybe an evolutionary jump from Witcher 2 rather than revolutionary, and I don't find either game to have particularly world-beating combat.
If you're looking for something closer to Zelda, I'd give the Souls series a shot. Or Darksiders, though that's less of an open-world.
I've heard good things about Yakuza 5, so I hope you enjoy it!
Geralt was like a "mature Link"
From my experience, that is the worlds worst comparison. Wow. Who said that?
Zelda is all about the puzzles, bosses and dungeons. The Witcher is all about lore, story and characters, with some neat monsters/bosses thrown in. In terms of monster fighting I suppose you could compare the two, often you need special items to fight beasts in the Witcher, like special items in Zelda. But Link is barely even a character, he's just a pair of legs and arms that runs through the world. Link is intended as a blank slate. Geralt is plain but does react to the world around him and develops... this is speaking from my time with the original game.
If we want to reduce both game's protagonists to "dudes with swords" then they're very similar, but that's a disservice to both games I think.
damn, i guess all the people telling me Geralt was like a "mature Link" were being totally facetious.
Ever seen those "sorta you isn't you" Esurance commercials? Geralt and Link are sort of like that.
They both have long hair, use swords, speak mostly in grunts, and are really, really good at killing monsters.
I wasn't very into Witcher 2 either but I'm loving Wild Hunt. Riding around in the open world has actually given me a lot of flashbacks to playing Zelda as a kid, but don't expect dungeons and puzzles and hookshots. It has given me a bit of hype for the next Zelda though, the first area of this game seems pretty similar to the new Zelda overworld.
If you like video games you will like Witcher 3.
Witcher 3 stars Geralt of Rivia, an expert monster hunter on the quest for his long lost love. Along the way you will accept quests, fight monsters, forge friendships, play gwent, fight monsters, gorge your eyes on wonderful landscapes, struggle with your horse, and fight monsters.
The thing that struck me with the game was the characters. Take Geralt, for example. I took one look at him from the boxart and I knew who he was. He was the bad seed with a heart of gold, from a troubled past where he did morally questionable things until he got himself on the right path. I imagined him basically as Clint Eastwood but with swords, so kind of like Toshiro Mifune. What I found instead was close but no cigar.
I haven't really seen a main character who was half part monster slaying badass, half part pun-slaying dad ass. I mean this guy is as willing to tell you a joke as he is to put a sword through your face. It was quite refreshing and one of the reasons I fell in love with the game so much.
But the combat is kind of lame so that is one caveat. Personally I was living large on the characters, the story, and the quests to such an extent that the combat didn't bother me, but a lot of people were turned off of the game as a whole because of it.
I give Witcher 3 a million out of a million stars and I love it and it's the greatest and you should play it.
If you like video games you will like Witcher 3.
Witcher 3 stars Geralt of Rivia, an expert monster hunter on the quest for his long lost love. Along the way you will accept quests, fight monsters, forge friendships, play gwent, fight monsters, gorge your eyes on wonderful landscapes, struggle with your horse, and fight monsters.
The thing that struck me with the game was the characters. Take Geralt, for example. I took one look at him from the boxart and I knew who he was. He was the bad seed with a heart of gold, from a troubled past where he did morally questionable things until he got himself on the right path. I imagined him basically as Clint Eastwood but with swords, so kind of like Toshiro Mifune. What I found instead was close but no cigar.
I haven't really seen a main character who was half part monster slaying badass, half part pun-slaying dad ass. I mean this guy is as willing to tell you a joke as he is to put a sword through your face. It was quite refreshing and one of the reasons I fell in love with the game so much.
But the combat is kind of lame so that is one caveat. Personally I was living large on the characters, the story, and the quests to such an extent that the combat didn't bother me, but a lot of people were turned off of the game as a whole because of it.
I give Witcher 3 a million out of a million stars and I love it and it's the greatest and you should play it.
Listen to this man.
If you like video games you will like Witcher 3.
I was about to come post this exact thing.
If you like video games you will like Witcher 3.
Not if you like video games for the gameplay.
Like, I have barely scratched the surface of the DLC I have already paid for because without the momentum from the main story pulling me along, the act of playing the game is just an exercise in tedium. I'm not saying the Witcher 3 is a bad game, it's definitely somewhere in my top 10 for this year, but I would never give it an unqualified recommendation, especially when someone's point of comparison is a game with a carefully metered progression wrapped around a finely tuned combat system.
If you like video games you will like Witcher 3.
Not if you like video games for the gameplay.
Like, I have barely scratched the surface of the DLC I have already paid for because without the momentum from the main story pulling me along, the act of playing the game is just an exercise in tedium. I'm not saying the Witcher 3 is a bad game, it's definitely somewhere in my top 10 for this year, but I would never give it an unqualified recommendation, especially when someone's point of comparison is a game with a carefully metered progression wrapped around a finely tuned combat system.
This.
I'm in a similar boat, though Witcher 3 was just outside my top 10. It's a good game and all (I'd say 4 out 5 good), but given the op is basically saying they didn't like Witcher 2 because of the gameplay, I don't think Witcher 3 was really that much better than 2 in that regard.
Adding some more thoughts to earlier:
Rise of the Tomb Raider was fantastic. I want them to go even further with the next one in terms of increasing exploration. The Assassin's Creed series might be worth a shot, but that is way more on the action end and less on the adventure end of the spectrum. Then again AC: Black Flag does allow you to explore a pretty decent sized area and discover a lot of things. If you've never played Okami, that's a game every Zelda fan owes it to themselves to play at some point. Okami was easily the best Zelda game that wasn't actually a named Zelda ever made. Okami HD is on the PSN for $13.99 (and has been on sale a number of times), and is IMO one of the top 5-10 games of the PS2 generation.
If you're looking for a Zelda-like game I think you're better off playing something like Darksiders 1. Going into any Witcher game expecting it to be like Zelda is just setting yourself up for disappointment.
Darksiders is the modern nostalgic video game of video games. I absolutely loved playing that game. OP, you sound like you should really play some Darksiders 1. Also, @rotnac, thank you for reminding me to put that game on my Games Beaten list!
I like Zelda and I just bought The Witcher 3, I'm waiting for it to download now. I guess I'll report back here with an update once I've spent some time with it?
But also, liking Zelda is complicated. Some people are heavily invested in the story and the lore, which I think is crazy. Zelda's lore started off being about damsels-in-distress and bloodlines and maidens of purity and other garbage like that, and hasn't really gotten much better since. (MM aside.) Some duders above noted that combat isn't The Witcher's forte, but I think the combat in Zelda games only really got decent in the GCN/Wii Zeldas, and has never been remarkably deep even then -- but it's not annoying, either, aside from waiting forever for OoT enemies to lower their shields. (Also, fuck ALTTP's combat. But that's a SNES game, so maybe it gets a pass?) On the other hand, some people seem to loathe The Witcher 3's combat by the sounds of it.
I'm into Zelda for the dungeons, puzzles/problem-solving, side-quests, exploration, the worlds and their quirky inhabitants, metroidvania elements, etc. Zelda Wii U sounds like it's really going to be up my alley, especially if there are actually elaborate side-dungeons for a change that wouldn't be discovered by the kind of player who mainlines their games. (Which surely will exist because the game will be huge and emphasize open-endedness, no?)
It sucks to hear that there'll be no real puzzle-solving or dungeons in The Witcher 3 (not even Elder Scrolls-style dungeons? I mean Elder Scrolls dungeons are pretty bare-bones, but they're something), but I can also get into progression and maintaining a character build and RPG systemsy stuff like reputation and guilds and whatnot, and I've also heard there's a fair bit of research/planning style gameplay in here which is kinda like problem solving, so I think I'll find something to like.
Y'know what has an experience similar to Zelda? Metroidvania games. Exploration, puzzles, finding weapons, item gating areas of the game, and some even have swords 'n' shields. You don't get villages or a top down perspective, but a lot of the rest is similar.
Check out Ori & the Blind Forest or Axiom Verge if you can't get your hands on some classics like Super Metroid or Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
I am going to say there isn't much similar between the games besides swords. Zelda games at their core are puzzle games and some light adventure games(adventure in the PC game sense) elements. Witcher games on the other hand have a much larger emphasis on story, combat, and have a greater difficulty level.
The biggest similarity is the puzzly nature of the combat, but still they are pretty different. The combat in Zelda is very binary (enemy A is best killed using hook shot, enemy B is best killed with bow, etc) and done very much in the heat of the moment. In the Witcher you usually know what enemies you will be fighting next, so you look up their weaknesses(most enemies have atleast 3) and you prepare(apply oil the enemy is weak against to your sword, craft bombs that they are weak against, etc); it's much less binary.
With that said I would be hard pressed to say if you like Zelda, you will like The Witcher.
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