melmer

The Witcher 3: What Geralt Wants

Recommended Posts

Is there actually a way to quick access the inventory on PC and XBOX controller? Holding down the button that used to be select doesn't seem to work.

 

Anyway, the better inventory management and the quick access to the map have made this game even better. I think my biggest gripe at this stage is that the level up system is super boring.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Actually having now tried holding start to get to the map on the DualShock 4 and have it not work, I think there's some kind of weird divide here. If you're using a PlayStation controller, you can get quick access to the inventory but not the map, if you're using an Xbox controller you can get quick access to the map but not the inventory.

 

What the what?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I know for sure on the PS4 it's swipe up or down on the touchpad for the map, long press for the inventory. I think for xbox it's double tap start or back (whatever the normal menu button is) for map, long press for inventory.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Ok.. one more thing. 

 

My next main mission is Isle of Mists. I am at level 25. I have gathered that this mission is the point of no return. How does this work? Will I be able to continue doing side quests and the expansions after finishing the base game, or should I play though everything else before taking on this quest? I'm toying with the idea of completing the main game now, perhaps playing something else for a bit, and then coming back to my pre Isle of Mists save and finishing the expansions. Would this work?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

As I recall, the side quests it cuts off are ones listed as Secondary Quests, which mostly involve the your friends like Dandelion, etc? You can make a manual save and as soon as you cross the threshold you'll get a bunch of "quest failed" messages for whatever has become impossible to complete.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If I remember right that starts a pretty long chain of quests but eventually they let you roam the world again at one point, but yea some of the secondary quests will fail.  Believe expansions can be played after?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Isle of Mists is a point of no return for some quests but not nearly all. If you've done all the side quests up to around the same level (low-mid 20s) you will probably not fail any of them, but make a manual save before you start it and you should see whether any of them get failed. It definitely does eventually let you back into the open world to keep doing side quests and contracts, and it is not the end of the main quest as I had originally assumed.

 

That said, it is a fairly long chain and you'll probably gain a few levels as you do it, so if you don't want to be overlevelled for all the side content you should probably get all of the stuff up to the mid 20s out of the way anyway.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Thanks again guys. 

 

I think I will check whether there are any side quests that I still want to do before continuing the main quest, start Isle of Mists, and check whether any of the other quests fail. The missions I have left don't seem that relevant, so I doubt that many will fail (unless of course I haven't even triggered some of the quests). I try not to exhaust myself with The Witcher 3 like I did last year, so I think my best bet is to finish the main campaign, do something else for a bit (probably play Arkham Knight), then come back for Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. I am level 25 and I have understood that the recommended starting levels for the expansions are level 30 and 34, so this plan probably works quite nicely even if I may be over-leveled for some of the side quests, right?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There's a bit near the start where Geralt is inspecting a dead Griffin. "Thick shaft", he says, referring to the plumage. My girlfriend made me make him say it lots of times, for some reason?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It turns out there are still potentially dozens of game hours after you hit the point of no return. It is by no means closed off, it just prohibits you from doing story beats that would have an impact on plot outcomes.

 

You WILL be level 30 by the time you get done that sequence.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I finished the main storyline today.

 

This game is pretty good!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I also finished the main storyline today! I definitely felt closer to my adoptive daughter by the end than I had expected to.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Finally bought the expansion packs.

 

Good news: Game is still amazing, even a game-spawned generic Geralt felt familiar, UI tweaks have improved it greatly.

 

Bad news: can't really stream playing it unfortunately. That's about the only bad news.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I finished Blood and Wine. 

 

Like every time I play TW3, I play obsessively for a few weeks, get bored because there's so much to do, put it down for a few weeks then get back into it again. It was a great expansion, I thoroughly enjoyed all the main quests, and even some of the side stuff. I didn't bother with all the monster quests this time, because they all blend together at some point.

 

I still have problems with the upgrade system. They add a new upgrade system in the expansion, which lets you get some cool bonuses, and also acquire more skills. However, the upgrades cost so many points I just felt like it didn't do anything. Levelling up doesn't make you feel powerful in tW3, levelling up 5 times is equivalent to what a single level should be.

They also don't surface your HP, which makes it feel like you've never gotten stronger.

 

Oh, and fuck the food/drink system. It's so damn slow! You can't eat/drink multiple things at a time or the latests one just cancels out the previous one. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So this weekend, instead of getting No Man's Sky or something else new and relevant, I finally bought The Witcher 3!

 

I did not buy the bundle with the expansions, since there was no discount incentive. But now I know that this is a game that is good and that I like a lot, and if I can spend some dollars to make it even better I may. But is there a reason to buy the expansions now, or is it all post-vanilla game content? Buying epilogue content preemptively seems very silly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not necessarily post-vanilla but definitely late game. The recommended level for the first one is something like 30, I think, s you have ways to go. I don't think they add anything to the game that you can experience yet. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

The reason to get it now is that at some point before you finish the game it'll be level appropriate. Like Nappi says it's towards the later stages of the game, but it could potentially be encountered in the normal flow of play. So basically it's up to you whether you'd want to see it integrated into the whole story or tackle them as separate vignettes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sounds like I have many hours of game before I have to make that decision regardless.

 

I'm still at the point in my engagement with this game where I'm trying to decide if I want to buckle-up and really try to understand the combat system... or if I just wanna say "fuck it" and put it on easy. Really can't tell yet. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Hold on the expansions until youve gotten through the main game - it's a huge game! 

Expansion 1 (Hearts of Stone) is great, with lots of memorable characters and personality. Also has much more intricate and challenging boss battles than the base game, for better or for worse.

 

Expansion 2 (Blood and Wine) is getting great press but I haven't really connected with it yet, and I'm 4-5 hours in. It's got unbelievably good art - like, sometimes the Witcher looks better than real life - but something about it doesn't quite click with me. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sounds like I have many hours of game before I have to make that decision regardless.

 

I'm still at the point in my engagement with this game where I'm trying to decide if I want to buckle-up and really try to understand the combat system... or if I just wanna say "fuck it" and put it on easy. Really can't tell yet. 

Once you get some levels the combat gets pretty trivial, at least on normal.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Sounds like I have many hours of game before I have to make that decision regardless.

 

Yup, I have 100 hours on record, and I started skipping some side quests towards the end and haven't played the expansions at all yet.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

This is a banal (and certainly late to the conversation) observation, but Geralt is basically fantasy Batman. It's not a perfect analogy, but now that it's in my mind I can't stop seeing the parallels as I'm playing.

 

I think it first occurred to me when I played a segment as Ciri, who looks like the distaff counterpart of her adoptive father and has a similar set of abilities, functioning somewhere in between a Dick Grayson and a Barbara Gordon.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Btw Geralt is Sword Batman. It is cool to get two Batman games in one year.

 

 

This is a banal (and certainly late to the conversation) observation, but Geralt is basically fantasy Batman. It's not a perfect analogy, but now that it's in my mind I can't stop seeing the parallels as I'm playing.

 

I think it first occurred to me when I played a segment as Ciri, who looks like the distaff counterpart of her adoptive father and has a similar set of abilities, functioning somewhere in between a Dick Grayson and a Barbara Gordon.

 

Ahahaha yes I agree completely!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now