Game of the year: Witcher 3

[night]

So of my buddies just got this and say it is a must buy. I am torn on getting this one or waiting for Elder Scrolls on PS4.

Are they still going to try and charge a monthly fee for ESO? I'm still playing Dragon Age and it will probably take a while to finish. I'm going to give Witcher 3 a chance when I'm ready to put it down unless Fallout 4 is released by then.

 

[cezero]

No monthly charge for ESO. I'm still on the fence about buying it, though.

Witcher 3 is tremendous fun. I got through the first main mission, but I'm waiting until work gets done in a couple of weeks before I delve further into it.

 

[Ilovemesomeme]

Have you ever played a Bethesda game on the PS3? The worlds are too big for the processors to handle. I have idea if this will still be an issue for the PS4, but I know I am not going to give them the chance on a console anymore.

When I get FO4, it will be for the PC.

They delayed the release for the consoles for over a year to make sure everything worked properly. I'm getting ESO on Tuesday, I'll give you some feedback once I get into it. And for what it's worth I didn't have any issues on PS3 with Skyrim.

 

[Ilovemesomeme]

Are they still going to try and charge a monthly fee for ESO? I'm still playing Dragon Age and it will probably take a while to finish. I'm going to give Witcher 3 a chance when I'm ready to put it down unless Fallout 4 is released by then.

I play Dragon Age now, but I get bored with games that aren't online.

 

[calsnowskier]

They delayed the release for the consoles for over a year to make sure everything worked properly. I'm getting ESO on Tuesday, I'll give you some feedback once I get into it. And for what it's worth I didn't have any issues on PS3 with Skyrim.

Really? It is to the point for me that it takes upwards of 1 minute to go through a door (it has taken as long as 5 minutes before). I have found that others have experienced this as well in my online searches.

To be fair, I am a hoarder, so there may be more loading needed for my game than is normal. But this is an open world where practically everything is interactive. If you cannot handle that, dont allow it.

 

[Ilovemesomeme]

Really? It is to the point for me that it takes upwards of 1 minute to go through a door (it has taken as long as 5 minutes before). I have found that others have experienced this as well in my online searches.

To be fair, I am a hoarder, so there may be more loading needed for my game than is normal. But this is an open world where practically everything is interactive. If you cannot handle that, dont allow it.

Nah, you're right, I've heard others say the same thing, just got lucky I guess. And also, I didn't spend 200 hours in the game either, I beat the main story line, and the thieves guild line, and then I stopped playing.........and from what I gather it was the players who logged a huge amount of hours that had the issue.

And in ESO, so much stuff is on the server I can't imagine that those same types of issues will come up. I'm sure there will be bugs, especially at first, but from reading up on the Beta runs it seems to be running well. I'll let you know next week.

 

[night]

I play Dragon Age now, but I get bored with games that aren't online.

That's understandable. I'm kind of the opposite. Hell, I've probably played the free games given out on XBL more than the games I've bought. Volgaar was so challenging I didn't want to put it down until I beat it.

 

[Ilovemesomeme]

That's understandable. I'm kind of the opposite. Hell, I've probably played the free games given out on XBL more than the games I've bought. Volgaar was so challenging I didn't want to put it down until I beat it.

Yeah, I don't know, it holds my attention for awhile, but for me much of my gaming is about socializing. I have a pretty good group of core friends from high school (I'm 35 now) and many of them have moved to different parts of the country, one of the ways we stay in touch is to play NBA2k together a night or two a week, drink some beers, and talk some shit. I'm getting ESO because a buddy of mine in Seattle is really into ES games so I'm going to play it with him.

I can't really play more than a game or two at once, I'm married with (soon to be 3) kids so I stay pretty busy.

 

[OutlawImmortal]

From what I've heard, ESO is like any other MMO, which doesn't sound too appealing. Monotonous quests with a simple combat system. We all have different tastes though so perhaps you'll like it.

 

[Clayton]

So I bought Witcher 3 due to all of the great reviews and Im really impressed with the atmosphere and really underwhelmed by the gameplay and they certainly seem to be hiding the gameplay at the start, too. I'll give this a couple of hours before I make any assumptions, though. There is a lot of potential in the depth in the combat but the game generally makes the assumption that you know how to gauge enemy power levels right from the start. The bonuses I get from weapons are irrelevant if they only do a small fraction to an enemy and without lots of fights, I can't actually tell if its a small amount or if the game just requires extended fights. Basically the game feels like Shenmue so far. Lots of "talk to Bob to see how Jim feels" gameplay.

I do expect a lot out of the story due nixing the ability to customize my character and my companions. It has potential here, too, but all of the games cool parts have happened outside of my control in the first hour or so and thats a bad sign.

 

[Clayton]

Ok, I played a bit more into it and apparently I just missed where the show the enemy's power level and I was making combat more difficult than it needed to be. I still let some guy go on accident because the game decided a horse chase was in order for no reason and I certainly didnt have the speed down on that yet. Im pretty sure I should have just been able to deal with the guy without letting him get on the horse first but I guess the game wanted to see if I got the horseback riding down yet.

It seems like a really good game, though

 

[Bunkamania]

I haven't really played any console games since 2007. The last two games that I played were GTA San Andreas and Guitar Hero III. I recently started playing games again and found that they are nothing like what I remembered. I have zero interest in Madden, First Person Shooters or, anything that requires me to watch an hour of cut scenes.

Are there any good games out there? I guess I'm stuck with playing games on the Wii U's virtual console until something comes along that its good. Maybe this is the reason that a lot of classic games and systems have soared in price recently.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

I've been in a serious game backlog for the last year due to having no time to play but recently finished WatchDogs and The Last of Us and I've been considering getting the Witcher 3. Sounds like the consensus is that it's solid so I guess I'll be picking that up.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

I haven't really played any console games since 2007. The last two games that I played were GTA San Andreas and Guitar Hero III. I recently started playing games again and found that they are nothing like what I remembered. I have zero interest in Madden, First Person Shooters or, anything that requires me to watch an hour of cut scenes.

Are there any good games out there? I guess I'm stuck with playing games on the Wii U's virtual console until something comes along that its good. Maybe this is the reason that a lot of classic games and systems have soared in price recently.

It's going to be hard to completely avoid cut scenes considering how narrative drives games so much nowadays. That's not to say all games that have a good narrative have an ass load of cut scenes, but many do. Anyway as far as your criteria goes I'd suggest the following:

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Open world RPG

Batman Arkham Asylum/City - Stealth/Action Adventure

Portal/Portal 2 - Puzzle games. I guess you could possibly label these as FPS games but they play completely differently.

Then obviously GTA V if you liked San Andreas. And since you have a Wii U Mario Kart 8 and Smash for Wii U are a must. Shovel Knight is also solid if you're looking for more of an old school feel.

 

[Clayton]

Witcher 3 is amazing and I recommend it

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Witcher 3 is amazing and I recommend it

Downloading that shit right meow.

 

[cezero]

i'm really enjoying witcher 3. i've put a lot of hours in, and feel like i barely scratched the surface. combat is clunky at times, and the inventory system is absurd, but it's still fun.

and i agree wholeheartedly with the advice about portal 2 and gta V if you haven't played much console in the past 5 years. those are a couple of games i can't imagine anybody not liking.

 

[Clayton]

i'm really enjoying witcher 3. i've put a lot of hours in, and feel like i barely scratched the surface. combat is clunky at times, and the inventory system is absurd, but it's still fun.

In a weird way the new Witcher is a better Batman game than the Batman game. I like the way investigating leads progresses the story without railroading you. Its very immersive.

 

[cezero]

the next patch will do the following. as a hoarder, i'm particularly happy about the ones i bolded.

• A new, alternative (optional) movement response mode for Geralt.
• A player stash for storing items, available in various locations throughout the game. Stash locations are marked on the player's map.
• Crafting and alchemy components no longer add to the overall inventory weight.
• Books are now placed in a dedicated tab in the Inventory and books that have already been read are properly grayed out.
• Multiple sorting options are now available in the Inventory.
• Alchemy formulas and crafting diagrams can be "pinned," meaning all components and ingredients required to make them will be conveniently marked in the Shop panel.
• Dozens of fixes for quest related issues, both major and minor.
• A few performance enhancements, including the optimization of FX, scenes, and general gameplay.
• Various improvements to horse behavior.

 

[Clayton]

the next patch will do the following. as a hoarder, i'm particularly happy about the ones i bolded.

• A new, alternative (optional) movement response mode for Geralt.
• A player stash for storing items, available in various locations throughout the game. Stash locations are marked on the player's map.
• Crafting and alchemy components no longer add to the overall inventory weight.
• Books are now placed in a dedicated tab in the Inventory and books that have already been read are properly grayed out.
• Multiple sorting options are now available in the Inventory.
• Alchemy formulas and crafting diagrams can be "pinned," meaning all components and ingredients required to make them will be conveniently marked in the Shop panel.
• Dozens of fixes for quest related issues, both major and minor.
• A few performance enhancements, including the optimization of FX, scenes, and general gameplay.
• Various improvements to horse behavior.

Pretty much everything that was keeping it from being Game of the Year lock is fixed there. The movement response and horse behavior issues might go a looong way into making the game less jerky which is really something that you get used to after awhile anyways but its much appreciated.

The inventory system did have a bit of a Mass Effect 1 problem. It looks perfect with the patch now.