The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

Yep, Witcher 3 has been confirmed which shouldn't come as much of a surprise really.

More info here http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/02/0...-3-is-official
I really like the idea of a more open world and nice to see mounts finally made it into the game.

[vinh834]

I can't wait to see the new engine's graphical ability. With the imminent release of the Redkit, we'll just see how this game will be able to compare to a Bethesda game.

[Jaketh]

GI is going to have a big reveal tomorrow for digital subscribers and for print subscribers two weeks from now.

Some highlights.

Coming in 2014 on PC and "all high-end platforms available" (CD Projekt RED isn't saying flat-out that it's a next-gen game, but it's a safe bet that new console announcements in the coming months will define the term "high-end platform"), The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt stretches from stormy islands to war-torn forests and a sprawling dark fantasy metropolis without a loading screen anywhere to be found.

This standalone sequel takes the fascinating stories and characters, non-linear plotlines, and difficult decisions that the franchise is known for and puts them all in an open world 30 times larger than the previous game – an enormous setting even larger than Skyrim's vast expanse, made possible with the new REDengine 3 technology that developer CD Projekt RED is debuting with the game.

[Antissa]

Neogaf's discussion thread already has significant amounts of preview information

www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511690

It appears to be quite an ambitious project, but I'm looking forward to the official reveal by CD Projekt RED; they're truly an outstanding and phenomenal developer.

Reveal: (Geralt and Ciri?):

General:

- Enemies don’t scale to the player’s level

Plot:

- Can abandon the storyline, but will have repercussions later
- Not doing a plotline is a choice the player has
- Multiple branches of narratives that feed into each other
- Don’t have to do anything outside the main storyline to beat the game
- Could have help in a main-line encounter from an ally you gained in the Skellige archipelago if you’ve completed certain quests in certain ways
- Major events in the main storyline are “gates” for the state of the world

Combat:

- Combat system: three big changes to solve the problem of being locked into long animations
- Every button press mapped to a single strike
- Each move takes a roughly equivalent time to perform
- Can always interrupt your current action to immediately dodge or block
- Can block/dodge when out of stamina, but you’ll be staggered
- Team wants to make the combat “more intimate”
- “You don’t run – in the Witcher 2 you were running constantly. You walk, but your attacks are very fast. Your opponents also walk but they have charges and things like that.”
- Geralt’s dodge roll replaced by a pivot move
- It retains its defensive utility without game-breaking mobility
- Swordfighting: can unlock new strikes and boosts such as improved stamina and parrying

Interview with CD Projekt RED:


http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/a...wild-hunt.aspx

[Tankfriend]

Great news.
Some more info:

- The game once again stars Geralt, his memory now restored, who is done fighting for others. His new missions include everything from solving mysteries to slaying monsters. And there will be no chapters, acts, or artificial break-points to slow him down.

- game world 20% bigger than Skyrim and 40 times larger than Witcher 2 - traversing it takes 30-40 minutes on horseback

- open world, no loading screens

- area-dependent mini-games are in; example: knife-tossing game in Skellige for exclusive rewards

- three-level narrative:

• Lowest Level: Free-form activities such as crafting, monster slaying (which seems to be more extensive in the third iteration), and going on quests. (There are over 100 hours of hand-scripted quests. These include helping villages and engineering the succession of the Skellige kings. Though, I think the latter would apply to the Next Level.)
• Next Level: The political situation of the Nilfgaardian invasion is resolved through a core plot line for each area, including Skellige, Novigrad, and No Man’s Land.
• Final Level: Geralt’s main storyline, his search for his loved ones, and the chase of the Wild Hunt.

- different parts of the land have their own storyline branch

- Major events in the main storyline are said to be “gates” for the state of the world. For example, a village threatened by bandits might be abandoned after certain events if the player doesn’t step in with a helping hand.

- dynamically generated weather effects modeled as real, volumetric clouds in the game world

- no scripted boss sequences

- information gathering on monsters and enemies via fighting, books and dialogues; level of information determines possible critical strikes or special effects. When fighting a vampire, for example, you can negate its poison attack by hitting its venom gland. Or, you can strike at both its hearts with a thrust attack for an instant kill.

- time of day influences presence and/or abilities of monsters

- crafting/customization system

- 96 combat animations (Witcher 2: 20)

- new "weighting" system that keeps most dangerous opponents in the frame (-> camera focus to keep them on the sceen would be my guess)

- mounted combat still in testing stage and not definitely confirmed, but horses will definitely be in as a movement aid and possibly as a mobile access point to the players storage chest

- Witcher 3 team double the size of that for the previous games

- Witcher 3 as conclusion to the trilogy
http://gematsu.com/2013/02/the-witch...hunt-announced

[MrBoBo1]

Holy crap, a beard.

[Legio]

I am so excited.

[Markas]

After The Witcher I thought 'That was pretty good, but they really need to improve the combat system'. After Witcher 2 I thought 'That was really good, but if only they made it open world'. Now this...

[beckyolt]

They're making it open world? I dont get why. In open worlds storytelling tends to suffer, only exception to that I ever saw was RDR. Witcher should be focused on storytelling,not trying to compete with ing Skyrim. Haven't finished TW2 yet but its already leaps above Skyrim.

TBH it's in my " not having high expectations" book for now.

[Cooraan]

The story wasn't really the strong point of Witcher 2 imo, it was good but it wasn't the reason you played the game. I feel like the gameplay and the setting are it's best features. Moving to an open world system makes sense to me.

[blank]

They're making it open world? I dont get why. In open worlds storytelling tends to suffer, only exception to that I ever saw was RDR. Witcher should be focused on storytelling,not trying to compete with ing Skyrim. Haven't finished TW2 yet but its already leaps above Skyrim.

TBH it's in my " not having high expectations" book for now.

Well, ideally, they'd assign the same employees to work on the narrative side as before, while the remainder of the team (and all the new recruits) are tasked with developing the world and gameplay system, which should result in a comparable level of quality as earlier.

So in my opinion, the biggest uncertainty for W3 is not a weak story, but rather an open world that is devoid of detail and not fully fleshed out (due to the team not possessing sufficient experience in that field).

[Diglytron]

Really exited. Just after I thought Gerald could not look any more like a fighter or a man he gets a beard. Epic! Especially that its open plotted and that monster hunting will become more important. This is good, since I really liked that aspect in the book series. Basically you're going to discover the world and sometimes villagers animals or other things will get you on the trace of a monster after that you have to find clues ''solving a mystery'' and track down the monster.

Exactly like it was in the books !

Monster hunting;

Clues build up information
Books garner information about monsters
Townsfolk provide information
Potions and such are important
Time of day and other conditions affect where monsters appear, and their abilities

Its cool to see the time of the day etc becoming important. Especially considered its a open world game !

About fighting a monster;

Critical strikes in areas that matter depending on how much you learn about said monster
You can disable a vampires poisoning attack by hitting its venom gland (Vampires are poisonous?) or skewer BOTH ITS HEARTS with a thrust attack (instant kill)
Monsters drop loot like unobtainable alchemical and crafting ingredients for unique potion, mutagen and item crafting.
Provides income as well

Sounds good too. As long as the combat is of similar quality as in the Witcher 2 I'm happy

More on Neogaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=511690

And... teaser well quite borring teaser tbh... Like the first Elder Scrolls Online teaser.



And for the ones who are really exited (I know you are Legio)

here;

WALLPAPER!!! WARNING BIG

[intel]

I totally agree with Diglytron. I feel that making it open world is a good design decision and I know that they won't screw it up (why would they?). Open world allows for more focus on monster hunting, improves realism and allows for whole lot of new ways to expand the gameplay. And even though the world will be much bigger, it doesn't neccesarily mean that it will be worse. In fact, we will probably get 3 vastly different regions, 40% of Skyrim's size each.

Myself, I'd like The Witcher 3 to be (sort of) Western gaming's response to Monster Hunter series and fundamental part of gameplay. An interesting opportunity.

Also, maybe with open open world, a multiplayer will finally come to the Witcher saga.

[Aanker]

Inspired by Skyrim, apparently. That should make the whole CD Projekt Red vs. Bethesda competition that some people have constructed for trolling and/or flaming purposes be all the more interesting.

But we all know the winner is Dark Souls in the end, right?

[Musthavename]

Will be buying this on release day, no questions asked. Witcher 2 was my GotY in 2011 and I loved every minute of it.

[PGeo36]

Hopefully CDPR will do a correct open world. The problem with Skyrim is it had a world the size of an ocean but with the depth of a pond, and it got boring because of that. You were playing in the same dungeons going on the same quests, and none of what you did seemed to affect the world as a whole.

[MrBoBo1]

I dont agree at all. Skyrim has lots of depth, problem is it was just badly designed or not meaningfull imo.
Witcher 2 had probably shallower gameplay than Skyrim, at least outside of story-telling. And also fairly badly designed in some respects. e.g. you put stuff on your sword and drink stuff without having a clue what you would be fighting...

[intel]

I dont agree at all. Skyrim has lots of depth, problem is it was just badly designed or not meaningfull imo.
Witcher 2 had probably shallower gameplay than Skyrim, at least outside of story-telling. And also fairly badly designed in some respects. e.g. you put stuff on your sword and drink stuff without having a clue what you would be fighting...

Just as in real life, that is? I don't find it so annoying. You go for a Nekker hunting quest, you use a certain oil on your sword and drink battle potions. You wander randomly across the forest - use whatever suits you. You are about to enter the cave - use the Cat elixir. Etc.
Drinking potions, applying oils and runes mid-battle made combat way too easy in the Witcher I. Now it requires some planning, but still some unexpected enemies can catch you with your pants down. Just like IRL.

[hellheaven1987]

Be honest I am a bit tired to play Geralt and want to play as Ciri.

[Kanaric]

Will be buying this on release day, no questions asked. Witcher 2 was my GotY in 2011 and I loved every minute of it.

Very few companies will I buy a game before word of mouth first,a nd this is one of this.

I expect to not be disappointed here.