The Witcher 3

EoinMcLovin

While we think it’s a really cool opportunity to grab a collectible item, we also keep in mind that many of you have purchased the Expansion Pass that already grants you access to Hearts of Stone. So, if you bought the Expansion Pass and are interested in obtaining these two decks of cards, we’ve got you covered!

Using this website, you can generate a special code that will enable you to buy the Monsters and Scoia’tael deck set from http://www.witcherstore.com.

Before you proceed, here’s what you need to know in a nutshell:

The offer applies to gamers who bought the Expansion Pass in digital format (PC: GOG.com, Steam, Origin, Uplay; Xbox One and PlayStation 4).
The code you receive from this website enables you to purchase the two decks of Gwent from http://www.witcherstore.com. Standard shipping fees apply.
Please keep in mind that the number of Gwent decks is limited and we will process the orders in the “first come, first served” model. One code per email allowed.

http://redeemgwent.com/

The expansion also introduces a brand new system of Runewords that significantly affects gameplay. Each Runeword will impact a different aspect of in-game mechanics and will allow the players to experiment with various strategies and tactics.

http://thewitcher.com/news/view/1113

Description for DLC

Some monsters are born, others are made.
Hired by the Merchant of Mirrors, Geralt is tasked with overcoming Olgierd von Everec -- a ruthless bandit captain enchanted with the power of immortality.
Step again into the shoes of Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer, this time hired to defeat a ruthless bandit captain, Olgierd von Everec, a man who possesses the power of immortality. This expansion to “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” packs over 10 hours of new adventures, introducing new characters, powerful monsters, unique romance and a brand new storyline shaped by your choices.

• Defeat your foes using a variety of new weapons and enchanted artifacts.
• Level up even further by fulfilling new monster contracts and battling unique enemies.
• Enjoy some leisure time playing with new gwent cards, or engage in a new romantic relationship.
• Fulfill a contract for the soul-stealing Merchant of Mirrors, a mysterious traveller who helped you find Yennefer.
• Fulfill three impossible tasks to defeat Olgierd, a ruthless bandit captain under an immortality spell.
• Choose your own way through an adventure that includes recruiting a crew of break-in artists, spending a night partying with a ghost and outsmarting the most bizarre creatures Geralt has ever faced.

http://www.gog.com/game/the_witcher_3_wild_hunt_hearts_of_stone

FreudianSlippers

So I presume this takes place after the ending of the main game?

Seems very much like a stand-alone game where the choices/romances from the main game are irrelevant. That'd be disappointing.

Corvo

Anyone recognize the man from the trailer? You meet him in the tavern in White Orchard?

Zero-Cool

Corvo wrote: »

Anyone recognize the man from the trailer? You meet him in the tavern in White Orchard?

I think he said he was the man of glass or man of mirrors which I think has something to do with the 2nd expansion pack as well.

I see you can pre-order hearts of stone on PSN for €8.50 at the moment, usual price is a tenner.

Corvo

Zero-Cool wrote: »

I think he said he was the man of glass or man of mirrors which I think has something to do with the 2nd expansion pack as well.

I see you can pre-order hearts of stone on PSN for €8.50 at the moment, usual price is a tenner.

That's him. Knew there was something about him, knew far too much about Yen and he kind of stood out.

I'd love those Gwent cards that are limited edition. Yes, I'd have no one to play it with and I would be beaten up for being a nerd, but they look so cool.

jones

Just finished the

Radovid assassination mission

apparently its very easily missed and depends on your responses but i got it none the less. Going to try hoover up the last few missions before finishing.

Love this game right up there for game of the year for me

Thargor

jones wrote: »

Just finished the

Radovid assassination mission

apparently its very easily missed and depends on your responses but i got it none the less. Going to try hoover up the last few missions before finishing.

Love this game right up there for game of the year for me

I loved that mission because of the sheer number of humans you got to kill, the street was clogged with them at some points! Game needed more proper brawls like that.

EoinMcLovin

Walkthrough of them you get if you pre order Hearts of Stone or purchase the Expansion Pass. Also there will be new Witcher Gear

Jelle1880

Got it yesterday because it was 30% off on Steam.

What an insanely fantastic game, and it scales so well on older hardware. Where my computer sometimes had issues with The Witcher 2, this one looks gorgeous and runs as smooth as possible.

edit: great to see that digital purchases for the expansion are also eligible for the Gwent cards

johnnysmack

Skellige....what a **** hole!

Just arrived, did couple of quests and place is a dump. Huge mountains so roach is struggling, loads of snow, lack of sign posts for fast travel....ciri can fend for herself, I'm off home to kaer Morhan.

J. Marston

Skellige is amazing. Just ignore all the ? markers in the sea.

EGriff

johnnysmack wrote: »

Skellige....what a **** hole!

Just arrived, did couple of quests and place is a dump. Huge mountains so roach is struggling, loads of snow, lack of sign posts for fast travel....ciri can fend for herself, I'm off home to kaer Morhan.

You meet these traders walking around Skellige, they have maps that unlock fast travel points on the islands without having to visit them.

jones

I didn't know that! i'm currently going around clearing up the "?" on skellige i've found all the other locations in the rest of the world so the completist in me wants to finished it all before i complete the final preparations quest. The mountains can be a right pain and it means you've to go around some of them rather than over them.

Pre-odered the hearts of stone dlc for €8 something during the sale. Considering the amount of time i've sunk into the game its money well spent in my eyes.

Thargor

Finished this last night, what a game, easily in the top 5 ever made. Felt a bit emotional at the end,

Kaer Mhoran all empty and stunning looking in the sunshine and me walking the battlements before exiting forever...

So much good stuff in it, more great moments in an hours play than in a whole other RPG and the production values especially the voice acting were spectacular, also the graphics in places like Ard Skellige were jaw dropping at times.

I might actually have been in love with Yennefer by the end aswell

Roll on Fallout 4 because theres feck all else that can beat this. The writing really was something else, the Bloody Baron and all that feel like different games I played last year or something but it was all the one experience. It needed more of the

Nilfgard vs the rest though, they barely touched on it, I never even had a reason to go into their camp that took up a good chunk of the map, I really wanted to see that but it never really came apart from the first couple of hours.

Loved the Witchering in it aswell, think I did every single contract, it really did feel like someones job to travel towns sorting monsters out, the peasants and other people giving you the jobs were the most realistic in any game ever aswell. I was thinking how am I ever going to summon the energy to drag myself through secondary fetch missions in another RPG when I know theres no chance they'll explode into big multi-mission quests the way there was always a chance here?

Then again there was a good bit to criticize, as I said they kind of did drop the ball with the Witcher Armour and swords, by mid-game I was skipping past marked locations on the map thinking whats the point in doing a Guarded Treasure fight when nothing I find there will be better than the Griffin armour Im wearing? That detracted a lot from it, I thought Id take a break from games for a while the way I usually do but I fired up Mad Max last night and I can tell Im going to be hooked because you're constantly trying to improve your gear, thats always been >50% of an RPGs appeal for me. Also major clipping issues running around in villages, on horse, on mountains etc, they needed to loosen him up a bit, scaling mountains and walking across glaciers etc was better in Skyrim because you weren't spazzing out all the time even though everything looks twice as epic in this.

The graphics though, Ard Skellige and Kaer Mhoran especially, the mountains looked almost photorealistic at times and the weather effects made you feel cold and wet when on the road especially places like Crookback bog, Ive never been in an in game forest that made me feel like I was walking in the woods this much either.



Feeling a bit sad now, will we ever get to play a game like that again? CD Projekt says this is Geralts last dance and they want to do something sci-fi next. Im looking forward to Fallout 4 but the thought of hours of standard Bethesda fetch quests really does not excite me now, never had a game leave a void like this tbh

jones

Great write up mate...don't forget the DLC is coming so there could be a few more hours spent in the wonderful world of witcher 3.

Totally agree with a lot of what you said the world itself is amazing. There has been some weird bugs in the game i've 4 missions i can't finish due to bugs that really annoys me but the sheer scale of the game and interlinking stories is quite the achievement.

When i bought the game originally i wasn't too keen on it (maybe it was the fact i'd never played a witcher game before) but after an hour or two things just clicked with me. I have this on PS4 and graphically its mostly great, some lower resolution pop ins at time but depending on the time of day this game can look stunning. I'd love to see how well it looks on a top end pc with everything maxed out.

Loved the soundtrack too i heard some people give out about it but i loved it. The control method was something that irked me in the beginning, i changed to the alternative method when it became available and it was a bit better but still not great.

I'll leave my final review for when i complete the last mission i'd say i've put around 60 hours into this (is there anyway to check on ps4?)

Thargor

Yeah I suppose, DLC never really does it for me though, think I prefer to leave it where I left it unless it starts getting rave reviews.

jones

Thargor wrote: »

Yeah I suppose, DLC never really does it for me though, think I prefer to leave it where I left it unless it starts getting rave reviews.

I'd usually be the same but any excuse to stay in the witcher world will do me ha

Cravez

Cd Projeckt Red have been working on a title called Cyberpunk 2077 for a while now. I'd say once they finish up any additional content for Witcher 3 they will focus on that next. Id highly doubt they will leave The Witcher series for good, probably will work on other titles as a break from it.

Skerries

maybe a Ciri spin off would be good

jaffusmax

Completed The Witcher 3 last night, in my 30 year CAREER as a gamer, it has to be one of the best games I ever played. U know a game is great when u get a sense of loss once u completed it!

FreudianSlippers

Cravez wrote: »

Cd Projeckt Red have been working on a title called Cyberpunk 2077 for a while now. I'd say once they finish up any additional content for Witcher 3 they will focus on that next. Id highly doubt they will leave The Witcher series for good, probably will work on other titles as a break from it.

They have as much as confirmed this. They have said their next project will be a Sci-Fi project - almost certainly referring to C2077 - and they have also confirmed that Witcher III and its various DLC will be the last journey with Geralt (but not the franchise). http://gamerant.com/the-wicher-3-ending-geralt/

Thargor

Not sure Id give a crap about a Witcher storyline without Geralt tbh.

Mickeroo

Thargor wrote: »

Not sure Id give a crap about a Witcher storyline without Geralt tbh.

They'd have to change the name of the game to "A Witcher" as opposed to "The Witcher" for a start.

Corvo

Thargor wrote: »

Not sure Id give a crap about a Witcher storyline without Geralt tbh.

It would certainly lose a lot of charm, but after TW3, I'd trust CDProjekt to come up with something just as good. Geralt is quite a cool character, but the surrounding world is just as interesting (in fact, a lot of Geralt's interactions are pretty low key), such as Dykstra and I thought Imelrith was very imposing.

I'm really looking forward to Cyberpunk now.

Kiith

Could always do a prequel. Plenty of stuff in there, and loads of room to add a younger Geralt. I don't think they'll do that, but it's not impossible. If anything, i'd say we'll see something 20 years down the line, where one of the Witchers

Actually, they lost the ability to create new Witchers, didn't they? So maybe we'll see something 50+ years later, where the process is rediscovered and you become the first of a new batch of Witcher?

Evade

Kiith wrote: »

Actually, they lost the ability to create new Witchers, didn't they? So maybe we'll see something 50+ years later, where the process is rediscovered and you become the first of a new batch of Witcher?

They did lose the ability to mutate people but in one ending

Ciri becomes a witcher so

there might be a future for withchers after all.

Thargor

Nah I think that just meant she was free to go off adventuring with her sword and her existing skills and powers like she wanted without being hunted or forced into court life, I doubt Geralt gave her the Trial of the Grasses with its high probability of death after the credits rolled

Kiith

Yeah, i think she just became a Witcher in the killing monsters and helping people kind of way, rather then drink potions and become a crazy, infertile mutant kind of way.

Evade

Kiith wrote: »

Yeah, i think she just became a Witcher in the killing monsters and helping people kind of way, rather then drink potions and become a crazy, infertile mutant kind of way.

I wasn't being clear, I meant this.

EoinMcLovin

new free theme for the PS4 featuring Ciri and Geralt

https://store.playstation.com/#!/en-ie/games/themes/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-geralt-ciri-theme/cid=EP4497-CUSA01439_00-ETH0000000000158