Wednesday, July 8, 2015

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt review

I'm a gamer. I play computer games and watch esport (people competing in computer games, like in sport, but using the computer, you know) in my free time.

Some time ago a third instalment of a Witcher series was published. I bought it last year on gog.com (great, great and one more time great, site! Go and buy something there, its full of games from our youth!). This game and a busy schedule at of work are the ones to blame for lack of posts. What's funny is that despite over 70 hours I still didn't finish it! This short review is my way of getting back to regular updates!

Settings:

I'm playing the PC version using an Xbox gamepad. Most of the graphics settings are set to high with Nvidia Hairworks turned off.
Graphics:
The most talked topic about graphics of the Witcher 3 (especially on PC) is the DOWNGRADE... I don't care that much about  it cause the gameplay is the most important part IMHO, but the topic is interesting from technical point of view. Looking at some comparisons  it is clearly visible that the devs didn't take the heat for nothing. Because of low computing capabilities of current gen consoles (relatively to the mighty graphic cards available for PC) a lot of games is prepared in a way that they are playable on both the PC and consoles and does not differ too much in visual department (also why implement some sophisticated effects that works only on a smallest platform?).

For me the visuals are OK, the game looks great (I rarely play graphic intensive and new games). As always there is room for improvements, but the overall subjective (my!) opinion is that it's the best looking game I played :)

The world:

Andrzej Sapkowski (the guy that wrote books that the game is based on) created a magnificent world - it's complicated, with more shades of gray (pun not intended!) than white and blacked summed up. There's a lot of hatred, prejudice and ignorance. People are caring for themselves and and nothing more, cruelty and envy is common. I would say that the setting is rather depressive, but I love it (currently reading all the books again!).

I was a little bit afraid of the open world - I loved Witcher 2 for its closed, rather small area. I was able to search every inch in reasonable time and I like / feel the urge to explore every little corner. That's why Skyrim was too much for me, it was overwhelming. I travelled to the first city, took some quests, checked some buildings, than run somewhere, and out of nowhere some mountain giants is throwing me in the air... Decided to run in other direction, found some dungeon, searched and found out I can't kill the end boss. Had to go back the same route, run in different direction... Then I learned that I can have my house and so on... Waaaay to much for me to handle. On the other hand I liked the batman games (Arkham Asylum and City) - it was interesting main story + some additional content, which does not felt necessary to do (riddles).  Going back to the Witcher 3 - the world is huuuuuge and is filled with interesting places and quests to do. There are no: "The goblins stole my precious potato, go and get it back for the sake of my ancestors... blablabla". Most of them avoid being general fetch quests and usually offers nice story and some detective work to do. Each and every is well written and offers something - a lot of lore is hidden in those quests and you can learn new facts about the world. The main story is interesting, but I would rate Witcher 2 higher (the decisions in Witcher 2 were harder to make).

Fighting:

The fighting is responsive and fun. It consist of a few moves - dodge, roll, fast/strong sword attack, parrying, magic signs and bombs. Most are executed well  but after some time I found fights a little bit repetitive (probably because I play too much). I would rate Kingdoms of Amalur (more satisfaction), Batman (so easy to do cool things) and Sleeping Dogs (those combos) fighting systems a little bit higher, but only a little. They gave more satisfaction and were easier to execute, but the multitude of actions and the need to dodge/parry most hits (the monsters hit hard in this game) is really suitable to the Witcher settings.

RPG elements (level, items):

The skill system is original and interesting. On one hand it offers a lot of different options, but on the other hand it limits you which ones you want to use at the moment. It's not typical action RPG system (like Diablo 2), it has its own depth and I would say it is well balanced. There's also a way (pricey) to reset your skills if you went wrong way.

As skills are well designed the inventory is not. It's terrible! No storage space for you to hoard all the unique weapons and other stuff (books / crafting materials / alchemy ingredients). I quickly ended with the inventory filled up with stuff and Geralt overweighted and slowed down. WHY? I just don't understand the decision making behind it. In addition to very limited space the world is filled with items to pick up (food and drinks lying everywhere, can't resist taking it all). Fortunately the community has prepared the solution - weight mod. Go get it and don't worry about overweight any more.

Other:

The game has some minigames in it and one of them (the Gwent card game) is really fun to play. Add some more cards, better AI and it can be a standalone title!

It's very sad that this will be the last time we roll with Geralt (as developers said). There is possibility for next game in series but the lovely Geralt won't be the protagonist. So use it to the fullest and explore the wonderful grim world of Witcher 3.

TL; DR

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is great game with nice graphics, immersive atmosphere, interesting and full open world, great quests, good RPG elements and horrible inventory system. Despite some minor problems and great but not the best in the industry elements (fighting / skills) it's well executed and very addictive game. All in all I rate it:
10/10!
It is a must-play for any gamer.