Having never played any games in the Witcher series before, I was curious about this latest
entry. All the glowing reviews and fan praise also helped sway my decision so I finally
caved in and bought the game. After about 25 hours into the game, here are my thoughts.
Pros:
– The story and side quests are definitely layered and feel less monotonous. I haven’t yet
encountered any “Collect x amount of y” fetch quests so that’s a plus!
– I love the idea that you are a protagonist who isn’t particularly special in any way, that
you’re just someone on a personal mission and stumbling upon something bigger. There’s a
build up there that makes the narrative open up in an interesting way.
– Exploring the world and coming across something that might kick your ass in two
seconds flat gives a sense of imminent danger everywhere you go. I have only ever felt this
way with Dragon’s Dogma.
– Voice acting is exceptional and on par with Bioware. Compared to the first Witcher
game, there has been a tremendous improvement. I was surprised to find that Jo Wyatt
(Female Hawke from DA2) voices Ciri in the game. I won’t admit to whether this tidbit of
information factored into my buying decision.
– Cutscenes are very well done and intriguing. I shouldn’t feel nostalgia for seeing
conversations pan close in a cinematic style (looking at you, DA:I) but I do.
– The NPCs and side characters are delightful and make you connect more with the world.
– Playing as Ciri is a blast and I wish her segments weren’t so few and far in between. It is
refreshing getting to play from her perspective as opposed to just being told what happens
to her. Hopefully, if the series does continue Ciri can become the main character.
Cons:
– The camera is awful, especially in smaller environments. I had to tone the sensitivity
down because at the default settings it just spins without a dead zone.
– The animations feel cumbersome and clunky (check out Geralt’s jump lol), which makes
the combat a chore. Geralt performs unnecessary ballerina spins just to swing a sword,
leaving him open to attacks during the animation. Controller input is unresponsive and
sometimes you have to mash a button twice to get it to register. Basically, Geralt moves
like a fat man on skates.
– Riding on horseback is a joke. I hate hate hate hate Roach!!! This stupid horse stops all
