Witcher 3 - most amazing game ever? Probably

I'm going to admit it, I'm not a huge fan of fantasy settings (I prefer historical fiction for my middle ages/knights content) but the Witcher series has totally captivated me. I started the series out on the Witcher 2 which had a better combat system than the first one. I played through that one and was terribly confused by the plot which didn't do a very good job of filling you in on the first episode in the series - although it wasn't all that difficult to figure out. In the end, I was amazed by the game - its immersion into the world, its strong story and character development, and yes, its more mature elements. Afterwards I got Skyrim amidst all of its hype, and I couldn't even finish that game. Even for an open world (as opposed to the witcher 2) it felt just so linear and flat.

When Witcher 3 trailers started hitting the internet, I knew I had to go play the first and second all over again. I'll admit that the first has one of the worst combat systems in the action RPG genre but once you get used to it, its not so bad. While the story starts off slowly, it ramps up and gets more and more interesting as you move through the story. You get introduced to the overarching storyline in the first one, but it really is only touched upon in passing.

In the second one, you start to see how the events are cascading into an ultimate culmination. With whats been shown of Witcher 3, its going to be really epic to be dealing with all of these elements.

The video game made me read the english-translated novels which, again, I'm not a huge fan of fantasy. I enjoyed the first one even though its style is more akin to a series of short stories that simply revolve around the main character Geralt - they develop him as a character in much like the first video game does for the players. The game forces you to make a bunch of morally conflicting decisions. Do you help the order of the flaming rose who stand for law and order but who are non-human racists and want to kill them all, or do you help the scoia'tel who want their freedom but who are ruthless killers of innocent people? All of the choices you make in the main plot line are tough and not black and white.

Anyways, I highly recommend the series. It may not be your cup of tea, but it gets all my parts feeling fuzzy. Especially the "Killing Monsters" trailer that I'll paste below.
*Opening cinematic*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C8yTTfuXQE


*Warning, adult language in this one*
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sr-DKyAVU34

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJlkMAZTEPI

I much preferred the combat in the first game, more to it, more options and depth. loved both games though, this will be the best game of next year, calling it now :p

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Originally Posted by Kirsten

I much preferred the combat in the first game, more to it, more options and depth. loved both games though, this will be the best game of next year, calling it now :p

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It just got delayed until May 19th :(

yeah I saw that. I actually don't mind personally, I have a huge backlog of games to play, plus I am expecting it to be truly epic and a real 'next gen' game, so if they want more time perfecting it, then by all means.

Just getting through the 2nd novel now and OMG amazeballs - its getting me more and more pumped up for the 3rd game. They say that the 2nd playable character is Ciri.

If they are including a female PC might actually buy this one. Unless it's jsut like Catwoman in Arkham City o something.

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Originally Posted by eldargal

If they are including a female PC might actually buy this one. Unless it's just like Catwoman in Arkham City o something.

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Well, yes unfortunately. The player isn't going to be able to just jump between Geralt and Ciri. You'll take control of Ciri at pivotal times in the main quest supposedly but the majority of the time you have to play as Geralt.

Not sure if this series is the right one for you EG (and excuse me if I seem to be off the mark in my reasoning). There are a ton of really developed, strong, powerful female characters (Yennefer, the brunette in the first video I posted above who singlehandedly stops a heavy cavalry charge, basically manipulates the main character for the entire first couple of books) in the novels, but the overarching storyline is basically a child/damsel in distress story (even though Ciri doesn't need help from anything other than the Wild Hunt since she's a badass herself by the time she grows up). The games themselves so far haven't revolved around the novels other than some cameos from characters - but the third looks like its directly tied to them.

That being said, Ciri is no typical hapless, powerless damsel in distress either. She's gone through witcher training and is herself a powerful sorceress. You can check out some of her moves in the latest trailer...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcB7vMFJRs4

Did a little bit more fanboyism reading of news stories and apparently CDProjektRED has stated that while this will be the last Witcher game centered on Geralt, there will be more titles with a different protagonist. I'm willing to bet that Ciri is going to be that new main character.

that would be cool

Sounds good, I like the sound of the Witcher series but I only buy games with female protagonists now on principle (whihc isn't a criticism of games with male protagonists). Except the Arkham series because Batman.