I hope you like walking.
Starting with the positives, as always. The world building is fantastic. From the scenery to the characters, it hardly gets old. Many of the characters, including and perhaps especially Geralt, are really fleshed out and often become more interesting as the game progresses. Narratively, the game poses some mildly interesting choices such as choosing the Order or the Scoia'tael, based on their individual pros and (mostly) cons. The combat walked a thin line between fun and brain numbingly awful. Sometimes I enjoyed it, especially when mowing down multiple enemies with ease. Other times not so much.
Now back to walking. You walk. A lot. Most of this game is pressing W. It gets old, quickly. There was a something of a fast travel feature but it only appears in one of the Chapters and never again. The quests follow an uninteresting pattern too. Usually walk to quest giver, walk to next area, kill something probably, walk back to quest giver, repeat. When it isn't fun, it's a snooze. Looking at the problems with the combat... it's just so damn aggravating. You just left click on your keyboard over and over again and hope you don't die. Maybe with a potion or spell in the middle. With certain enemies, it can feel like you're sitting there for ever and the stagger mechanic is one of the worst things I've ever had to deal with.
This game at it's core can best be described as "if it's not fun, it's pretty damn miserable." I had plenty of fun though, so I can't complain too much. I wouldn't recommend this to most gamers, only those who look to get into The Witcher games.
Starting with the positives, as always. The world building is fantastic. From the scenery to the characters, it hardly gets old. Many of the characters, including and perhaps especially Geralt, are really fleshed out and often become more interesting as the game progresses. Narratively, the game poses some mildly interesting choices such as choosing the Order or the Scoia'tael, based on their individual pros and (mostly) cons. The combat walked a thin line between fun and brain numbingly awful. Sometimes I enjoyed it, especially when mowing down multiple enemies with ease. Other times not so much.
Now back to walking. You walk. A lot. Most of this game is pressing W. It gets old, quickly. There was a something of a fast travel feature but it only appears in one of the Chapters and never again. The quests follow an uninteresting pattern too. Usually walk to quest giver, walk to next area, kill something probably, walk back to quest giver, repeat. When it isn't fun, it's a snooze. Looking at the problems with the combat... it's just so damn aggravating. You just left click on your keyboard over and over again and hope you don't die. Maybe with a potion or spell in the middle. With certain enemies, it can feel like you're sitting there for ever and the stagger mechanic is one of the worst things I've ever had to deal with.
This game at it's core can best be described as "if it's not fun, it's pretty damn miserable." I had plenty of fun though, so I can't complain too much. I wouldn't recommend this to most gamers, only those who look to get into The Witcher games.