General gaming discussion

Jordan 199

I do like the snowy landscape in GTA: Online at this time of year.

johnny_ultimate

The Witcher 3 is a mechanically bland and uninteresting game in many ways. The open world adds a lot of fluff to the experience, and the RPG systems are often a mess to work through. But yeah it’s the mission design and storytelling that set it apart, if you can get to that point. Obviously still looks stunning on a decent PC too.

I can understand someone not getting into it though. To me the good stuff outweighed the bad in the end (opposite to Cyberpunk at the moment) but can imagine the scales tipping the other direction.

I do hope CDPR don’t rush back to the Witcher well immediately to regain some of their cred. There’s a lovely finality and closure to 3 (and apparently Blood & Wine, which I still haven’t played) which is very rare in video game franchises. There’s perhaps another, non Geralt direction they can go - but there’s something exceedingly pleasant about the idea of a franchise bowing out on a high, on its own terms like W3 did.

Varik

CDPR made a new deal with Sapkowski a while ago, so definitely more Witcher coming.

Jordan 199 wrote: »

I do like the snowy landscape in GTA: Online at this time of year.

Can't stand it.

White outs making it hard to see the ground, I've slammed into the ground and sea so many times.

The snow isn't just cosmetic and actually effects grip, and some vehicles such as large delivery ones are a right pain. The post van isn't great to drive in normal weather, and I can't wait until it's over.

Glico Man

Varik wrote: »

CDPR made a new deal with Sapkowski a while ago, so definitely more Witcher coming.



Can't stand it.

White outs making it hard to see the ground, I've slammed into the ground and sea so many times.

The snow isn't just cosmetic and actually effects grip, and some vehicles such as large delivery ones are a right pain. The post van isn't great to drive in normal weather, and I can't wait until it's over.

Agreed, it's pox. Lost count the amount of times I've landed in the sea trying to find my submarine.

And then driving is just pointless. The time trial is nigh on impossible in the snow cos you can't get any traction.

At least Cayo is nice and sunny, with plenty of riches to be found!

Jordan 199

Varik wrote: »

Can't stand it.

White outs making it hard to see the ground, I've slammed into the ground and sea so many times.

The snow isn't just cosmetic and actually effects grip, and some vehicles such as large delivery ones are a right pain. The post van isn't great to drive in normal weather, and I can't wait until it's over.

There wasn't a hope I was going to drive a commercial/heavy goods vehicle in the snow. No way.

I went out on a motorbike where I went flying off it in the snow more often than I would in normal conditions.

Still don't mind the snow as it's a bit of a change.

MOH

For anyone who was thinking about My Time at Portia when it was being discussed a few pages ago but didn't get it then, it's free on Epic until 4pm tomorrow

dreamers75

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

The Witcher 3 is a mechanically bland and uninteresting game in many ways. .

you talk some ****e in fairness.

wotzgoingon

dreamers75 wrote: »

you talk some ****e in fairness.

I don't know. I'm only a hour or two into the Witcher 3 and left it. And to really stir the pot I haven't gone back to Zelda BOTW. I'm about 3 hours into that and left it also. I always meant to go back to it same as W3 but never do. They both didn't click with me.

J. Marston

I'll tell you who talks some shíte, Hideo Kojima.

Finished Death Stranding, enjoyed the game but the story was scutter. Does he have no-one on staff to reign in his nonsense a bit?

Thecageyone

pixelburp wrote: »

and what little I've played

Answer right there - I don't complain about games I've barely played or not played enough. TW3 is amazing, can see it being so for all levels of gamer given a proper chance. You haven't played it enough, simple ... or it's just not your cuppa, this doesn't justify your negativitiy

Thecageyone

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I don't know. I'm only a hour or two into the Witcher 3 and left it. And to really stir the pot I haven't gone back to Zelda BOTW. I'm about 3 hours into that and left it also. I always meant to go back to it same as W3 but never do. They both didn't click with me.

An hour or two!??? you've not really played it then tbh, Tw3 is a 150hr+ experience if done right. People who don't like it tend to be those who just didn't out the time in, you cannot judge a game like this on a couple of casual hours. Did you even get past the tutorial?

pixelburp

Thecageyone wrote: »

Answer right there - I don't complain about games I've barely played or not played enough. TW3 is amazing, can see it being so for all levels of gamer given a proper chance. You haven't played it enough, simple ... or it's just not your cuppa, this doesn't justify your negativitiy

So how much is enough to be 'allowed' have an opinion in your own? So I can justify my 'negativity' as you call it? I hate how the game feels with its two core, basic mechanics of combat and movement so is that going to magically get better if I give it
... What? An extra 10, 20, maybe 30 hours?

You obviously love Witcher 3 then more power to you but don't have a go because I don't meet your personal yardstick of 'enough played'. Don't be precious. I like RPGs in general but Witcher 3 plays like a dog. I put 50 hours into Witcher 1 back in the day and it had godawful player control too - I'm surprised the basic feel of the game was never refined (ala Mass Effect, which got significantly better to play) can I complain now sir? :rolleyes:

Edit: I think Retro has it right in that it's a game I want to be in the mood for, but each time I've been so, the games basic gameplay is like wading through mud.

Retr0gamer

Well I can tell.you that kat bailey who has great taste in rpgs used to talk about not liking witcher 3 for months after putting 5 hours in. She went back to it and says she was wrong and it's one of the best rpgs of all time.

Retr0gamer

J. Marston wrote: »

I'll tell you who talks some shíte, Hideo Kojima.

Finished Death Stranding, enjoyed the game but the story was scutter. Does he have no-one on staff to reign in his nonsense a bit?

I've always said hideo kojima needs people to say no to him. His best games have been when he has had those kinds of people around him or has let other developers take more control of the project.

pixelburp

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well I can tell.you that kat bailey who has great taste in rpgs used to talk about not liking witcher 3 for months after putting 5 hours in. She went back to it and says she was wrong and it's one of the best rpgs of all time.

Dunno who that is, and I take everyone's point, civility notwithstanding; I think, on reflection, I've got to a point with gaming that I don't have the time or patience to fight a games mechanics to get to the good stuff.

As said Witcher 3 doesn't feel any more refined than that first, janky àss game I sunk a lot of time into before bailing on. Back then playing games til 4am was kinda standard - ironically as I've got older I demand more instant gratification lol. And it's not the size of story either; Hades has a metric tonne of dialogue but its core gameplay loop is mirror polished and incredibly gratifying. Witcher 3 fights me, while BOTW sits at the back smiling ruefully (though its weapon degradation system can burn in hell lol)

CastorTroy

Although I haven't played The Witcher 3, I never understand games that take 10+ hours to get going. You'd think games would be designed in such a way to stop people dropping it after a few hours.
Considering people these days can have less time to play games, why would they want to waste time on a game they might get to like and if they don't they just wasted all those hours they could've spent on a better game.

I know it could be overdone, but having a hook like "this is where you can be" can be a good idea. Like Samus having all her powers in Metroid before losing them, the opening fight in the new God of War or even train hanging off a cliff in Uncharted 2, though that has more action in it from the early chapters.

RocketRaccoon

I'm gaming 30 years at this stage and tbh, if a game doesn't grab me in the first 1-2 hours I'm not going to keep going with it. There's too much choice out there, I may have missed out on some classics like the witcher but it just wasn't for me.

Retr0gamer

pixelburp wrote: »

Dunno who that is, and I take everyone's point, civility notwithstanding; I think, on reflection, I've got to a point with gaming that I don't have the time or patience to fight a games mechanics to get to the good stuff.

As said Witcher 3 doesn't feel any more refined than that first, janky àss game I sunk a lot of time into before bailing on. Back then playing games til 4am was kinda standard - ironically as I've got older I demand more instant gratification lol. And it's not the size of story either; Hades has a metric tonne of dialogue but its core gameplay loop is mirror polished and incredibly gratifying. Witcher 3 fights me, while BOTW sits at the back smiling ruefully (though its weapon degradation system can burn in hell lol)

She has is a games journalist that has a podcast just about rpg games. Just highlighting it as even someone that loves rpgs and has played more than most people had the same reaction as you and ended up loving it. It seems like a game you have to be in the mood to put the time in to it before it clicks.

BalboBiggins

dreamers75 wrote: »

you talk some ****e in fairness.

Ah Johnny is great. Him and Retro keep this place going

gizmo

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well I can tell.you that kat bailey who has great taste in rpgs used to talk about not liking witcher 3 for months after putting 5 hours in. She went back to it and says she was wrong and it's one of the best rpgs of all time.

Probably because The Witcher 3 is one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

It also features combat which, at best, could be described as serviceable, clunky-ass character movement and poor combat balancing. To put it more generally and riff specifically on the fact people are talking about hours of playtime, the greatest problem with it is that it feels no different, mechanically or functionally speaking, after 5hrs as it does after 150hrs+.

Judging by what pixelburp has said, that's something he'll just need to come to terms with if he's going to settle into it. What should absolutely be driven home, however, is what he'll experience along they way, from the characters he meets, to the environments he'll explore and the stories which unfold around him, both due to his own actions or external ones, absolutely make it all worthwhile.

Penn

I definitely agree. The combat and much of the general gameplay of The Witcher 3 was okay at best, and most of it was simply just tolerable. It was everything else in terms of story, gwent, characters, writing, gwent, world building, environments, gwent and that card game they had that really helped create a fantastic game.

pixelburp

gizmo wrote: »

...

Judging by what pixelburp has said, that's something he'll just need to come to terms with if he's going to settle into it. What should absolutely be driven home, however, is what he'll experience along they way, from the characters he meets, to the environments he'll explore and the stories which unfold around him, both due to his own actions or external ones, absolutely make it all worthwhile.

And the story praise tallies with what I read before I started up the game, but I was still surprised just how crude & rudimentary the gameplay actually was - especially given this was the third game in the series and how the first played just as badly (well, to be fair, #3's not QUITE as janky as number one, so ... yay?). As if CDPR never quite got over that slight "eurojank" formula, which kinda jars with their status as a AAA publisher.

I like RPGs and open world games, the latter especially just to potter around in (I'm actually not sure I've ever finished the Skyrim main quest, thinking on the 100s of hours spent). I may power through the opening section just so I can arse about the Witches countryside. But as I said, just surprised how bad the moment to moment game plays.

dohboy

J. Marston wrote: »

I'll tell you who talks some shíte, Hideo Kojima.

Finished Death Stranding, enjoyed the game but the story was scutter. Does he have no-one on staff to reign in his nonsense a bit?

I dunno. The story is loopy but by the end he's just piling so much bonkers exposition on you that I just let it wash over me like a soothing wave of waffle, not really bothering to question any of it, just letting it take its own batshít course. I like the way it's freewheeling and unique and not at all reigned in.

johnny_ultimate

I'm genuinely surprised there's even any dissent to the suggestion that some of the Witcher 3's core gameplay is janky and a bit dodgy in places. Always got the impression most people considered the game great despite the combat etc.. rather than because of it. Things like the 'witcher vision' stuff is also fairly tedious (unless hunting a monster) detective mode gubbins, while a lot of the open world stuff boils down to repetitive tasks or crappy horse races and the like.

But I say that once again underlining that I really, really liked the game for its worldbuilding, storytelling, quest design and glorious, glorious Gwent. That's the stuff that compelled me to happily put dozens of hours into it rather than the more mundane stuff of having yet another fight against river monsters or random grunts. Even with the mechanical weak spots, I'd still put it in a top tier of big AAA releases of the generation.

pixelburp wrote: »

As if CDPR never quite got over that slight "eurojank" formula, which kinda jars with their status as a AAA publisher.

Don't go near Cyberpunk 2077 so, that's iffy eurojank with faux AAA swagger in a way that only makes me appreciate what The Witcher 3 accomplished more :pac:

But yeah would certainly recommend pushing through the first few hours of W3. IIRC the Bloody Baron sidequest should be available pretty early on in the game (think the second major area you get to? Been a while since I played the opening of the game) and that's rightly considered the side quest where everything clicks into place.

J. Marston

Either my fingers aren't as nimble as they used to be or the platforming in Crash 4 is pretty fúcking tricky. I'm dying loads.

dohboy wrote: »

I dunno. The story is loopy but by the end he's just piling so much bonkers exposition on you that I just let it wash over me like a soothing wave of waffle, not really bothering to question any of it, just letting it take its own batshít course. I like the way it's freewheeling and unique and not at all reigned in.

I let it wash over me in the sense of ignoring it. There's a bit at the end where you're on a beach and there's a person popping by to tell you backstory and it goes on for half an hour. I checked out after 10-15 minutes and got on my phone. Just couldn't be arsed.

There's still another 40-odd minutes of cutscenes after that but at least they were a little engaging. Still, nonsense ending aside, I enjoyed the game.

Zero-Cool

As for the Hideo chat, i like that his stories are bat**** crazy, at least they're unique. I enjoyed the death stranding story when i started sightly understanding it and completely absorbed from chapter 5 till the end. MGS 4 was absolute **** i actually fell asleep during a cutscene but I'd prefer he take chances and fail instead of being reigned in. More power to ya Kojima.

Anyone think 21 is looking a bit lacking game wise? I'm really looking forward to Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster but not much else on my radar. Any under the radar announcements i might have missed?

EoinMcLovin

Zero-Cool wrote: »

Anyone think 21 is looking a bit lacking game wise? I'm really looking forward to Mass Effect Trilogy Remaster but not much else on my radar. Any under the radar announcements i might have missed?

Well you have Hitman 3, Deathloop, Ratchet and Clank coming out next year along with Far Cry 6. I'd say given the fallout of Cyberpunk there are probably unannounced games planned for next year that won't reveal anything until they know they can release next year. Devs know that pushing release dates after the original one doesn't look good.

Zero-Cool

EoinMcLovin wrote: »

Well you have Hitman 3, Deathloop, Ratchet and Clank coming out next year along with Far Cry 6. I'd say given the fallout of Cyberpunk there are probably unannounced games planned for next year that won't reveal anything until they know they can release next year. Devs know that pushing release dates after the original one doesn't look good.

Far very 6 might be ok but i can see that getting pushed out. I never finished hitman 2, it never captured the magic of the first and i think of it was released in episodes like the first, it would have been better.

I'm all for lack of announcements of it means less delays and sooner release dates of games (from original announcement).

JimBurnley

Only seen brief clips, but Crimson Desert and Hood have my attention as well as already mentioned Deathloop and R&C. Possibly Dying Light 2 next yr too? Oh, and Cyberpunk for PS5 minus all the glitches/bugs..