After a few tries, I just can't get into Witcher 3... (Help me love it)

So basically, I've tried to play Witcher 3 with little success. The game is fine, but I always lose interest. And I know the game isn't uninteresting, It just won't stick with me.

Does anyone have any advice or tips?

Some info to help posters:
* My first Witcher Game
* The most RPG-like games I've played are Fallout NV, Skyrim, and Dark souls I & III. (FO3 and 4 are not RPGs)
- I'm including this because perhaps I'm just not used to an RPG of this depth
* I'm having no technical issues with the game, it's purely my experience.
* Just checked Steam, I've got 9 hours on it. (I expected a lot more, the game is too slow for me so far)

TL;DR I don't like Witcher 3 but I want to. Am I going about this all wrong, should I just keep playing, or is it just not the game for me?

If you've played 9 hours and you don't like it then you might just not like it. I've gotten in to it recently and after most of the tutorial stuff was out of the way and I got past my aversion to crafting and magic and all that I've been really enjoying it.

I can't remember much that was memorable in white orchid, once you get to velen or whatever it's called the story picks up a bit and there's some more interesting characters.

I absolutely love TW3, but I think if you don't get into the spirit of the lore and the conversations then maybe it is very very boring.

But how can you not love the views? There has been no other game in my life other than Red Dead Redemption where I'll just spend time riding around for the scenery. Also, I've never once wanted to take screenshots in a game, but coincidentally today I couldn't help myself and figured out how to get some captures.

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Its Defiantly not a game for everyone,But you already have 9 hours in it and I don't think there is anything i could say to help u enjoy the game more.

I'm a sucker for lore, but so far the gameplay is very... unlikable and seems to take away from story. even story quests seem very rudimentary and sometimes fetch-y. I'm not a fan of magic. but the physical combat is jarring for me. I get my ass kicked in all difficulties except for the easiest, in which I rek.

Should i play with my 360 controller or M+K?
I only use my 360 controller for Dark souls, i havn't tried on witcher

If you haven't played Witcher 1 & 2 then you're appreciation will be limited and there's no getting around that.

Just relax. Do you feel a bit overwhelmed by all the quests that you probably picked up early? One of the problems with CDPR is that every Witcher game takes time to open up and it's easy to feel overwhelmed. So don't worry about it. Keep doing story missions only until you get to Novigrad. That is, make sure you complete the Bloody Baron quests and quests related to the village witch (Keira Metz). When you get to Novigrad the game truly opens up.

Maybe look into some mods that will make your experience better.

That is not true. Even every last side quest had story behind it and lore details. But if you do not know the world at all and you do not read thoroughly any book you find you might miss the lore. So my advice would be to watch the cinematic movies/recaps of the previous two games first. Having more knowledge you will find the lore info on the side quest more intriguing since they stick well with the world.

Witcher 1 recap:

Witcher 2 Cinematic movie:

As for the combat this post basically covers everything and give you good tips on how to survive. When you understand the mechanics W3 is actually a bit too easy on the first two difficulty levels. The best experience would be in the second highest one.

Tips post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/witcher/comments/36h1nt/the_witcher_3_tips_tricks/

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I'm a huge fan of the Witcher series, having played all three games and also read the books (always been a fan of the fantasy genre in general). Lore, characters and scenery/setting are the strong points of the game and I agree the combat can get a bit fiddly at times. You should check out how the combat worked in the first Witcher game haha!

Having said all that I think if you don't like something, there isn't much point in trying to force yourself into liking it haha.
I would recommend the books though if your solely after some sweet sweet lore into the Witcher universe.

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I appreciate your willingness to help. and when I criticized the missions, that was purely on the structure of the missions, and it took away from the lore that I know is there

I know it may be a bit much but if you read the books you'll get a LOT of references throughout the game. Blood and Wine dlc has huge emphasis or people and events that were in the books. I gotta admit I've heard people criticize the gameplay when it comes to fighting but this is the first time I've heard someone mention a dislike of the quests. I thought, with almost universal popularity, that the quests (including the sidequests) were really well done. Not every quest is going to be some fascinating story but they are a serious cut above pretty much anything that's come out in years as far as I know. Anyway, if you feel up for reading the books here's a link to some of them in PDF format:

https://teksyndicate.com/comment/1430741

Good luck!

I too just jumped in there having not played a ton of games and no Witcher games, and I must say I had to play a bit out of White Orchard to really start getting into it as well. I had my concerns that it was gonna be boring too, but I already spent money on it, and I'm glad I played it on because it gets amazing. This is a rare game where you can literally play it longer than most entire other games are and get a different experience.

I dove in hardest difficulty, and it kinda sucked for 20 hours, but after I reached Novigrad the money situation changed and it really leveled off in hardness for me. I got the hang of it. There is definitely more thinking in this combat system. Now I must admit that after 100 hours, I haven't finished, sort of a completest-ish, I'm probably slow, and I take pretty long breaks from the game and come back. I've just taken off and explored a bit without aim as well, and you find all kinds of ruins where I'm dying to know what "history" they may have for this thing or that. It's deep.

I use the 360, feels more fluid, I could definitely see wanting some keyboard macro keys though.

Maybe if you look at it as more of an interactive movie than a game? Never played the 1st and didnt make it past the beginning siege of Witcher 2, but really love Witcher 3 (on my 3rd play-thru). For me its the combo of great visuals and story-telling.

well its not a casual game that will revel everything to you in 4 hours like call of duty... Its main story is around 40h of gameplay alone.

I myself have around 200hours and i still haven't finished last expansion pack blood and wine.
Game is full fantastic story, your choices have clear effect on the world of witcher. RPG's that you listed are very short in terms on story (story is almost absent from them actually)

Take witcher 3 slowly you won't beat it, in a day or 2. Again depends how you fight, if you don't know how to dodge, parry or kill enemies well; it may be better to learn basic controls.

Fuckin' scrubs each and every one of you :D
I have over 1000h on it. Played through the entire game including all the quests 5 times now and I still want more. I'm literally on my 6th playthrough. The Witcher 3 is for me what Skyrim seems to be for everybody else. And if you think that combat is hard, I play with Enhanced Edition mod on highest difficulty :)

I don't know. I have put about two hours in all thee Witcher games each. None have drawn me in. It tries to walk the scripted story and open world path. It fails at it for me. The atmosphere feels wrong as well.

Gameplay wise I found dull too.

It is OK to not enjoy it.

I know what your're talking about, I kinda felt the same for like the first 30 minutes. I immediately stopped playing and hesitated on what to do about it. But then, after I read the books (yes, all of them) and played through The Witcher 2 again, I couldn't stop and played for like 3 days straight during holidays. Your personal "realtionship" or attitude (or how ever you want to call it) towards/with the game depends vastly on the immersion into the Witcher universe. I got to the point where I recognized each and every character in the story from the books or previous games and in the end I was really sad the game was over.
So heres my advice: Go read at least "The Last Wish" and "Season of Storms" and figure out if you wan't to read the rest of the books. They are more a collection of short stories about Geralt and you can read them both in something in the neighbourhood of two afternoons. And then maybe play at least The Witcher 2. By the time you are gonna be much more immersed into the whole universe and it will be a lot more fun.

TLDR: The Witcher 3 (and The Witcher games in general) is somewhat compareable to the operas of Richard Wagner. They are very nice to listen to and pleasant to enjoy, but only once you fully understand whats going on.

I hope this helps a bit. Please excuse any language failure. Greetings from Germany!

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Well for starters, I'd say try it with a controller. My main issue with Witcher 3 was shitty controls. While they still kind of suck, devs have improved them. And it is much easier with a controller, in my opinion. And yes the game does have a lot of fetch quests and a lot of repetition. That's something I think most RPGs have. It does have that Oblivion feeling of "haven't I been here already/done that already". A lot of areas do look similar to others, but it also does have a lot of interesting areas as well. I think the real standout thing in the game is the actual witcher contracts. All the interaction surrounding a witcher contract - asking around about the monster, following the tracks, maybe preparing the bait, and finally slaying the monster. And of course the story, which I think is one of the best told in any games out there. The voice acting, the characters, the plots in between, are all damn near perfect. Actually the whole Bloody Baron plot line is one of my favorites. And not to mention two of the best DLCs out there: Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine. I especially enjoined Hearts of Stone. So if you think the gameplay sucks, don't care much about witchering or the story, then I guess it's not your kind of game.

I actually disagree that you need to play Witcher 2 in order to get into Witcher 3. I love Witcher 3 and I really did not like Witcher 2. It had godawful controls, an illusion of an open world, and I felt like the game was taking it self too seriously. Not sure how to explain that last point.

I have a similar issue with Endless Legend. Yes it's a great game, and I love that art style but I can't get into it. In this particular case for me, it feels like there's too much on screen at once, looks too busy, and that convoluted clusterfuck of a combat system.

Maybe you should really start with the first two to get the feel of the Witcher lore. I started with but ended up finishing it for later because I needed to play the first 1, and when I got to the first game, I was alienated by the poor and clunky controls but once I learned, It just felt natural.
You may have to understand the first two games first before you dive in to the third game because the story is what might keep you going.
I love video games with deep-branching storylines, and that's what made me love the witcher series.

Hey lovely posters.

SO, I went online and spent some time familiarizing myself with the story.
Then I started the game again, with a couple of quality of life mods, and this time around I'm taking my time and doing less side stuff (for now) so I can stay focused and not feel overwhelmed.
I also switched to a 360 controller which makes the game more mechanically accessible.

I'm having a much better time and I plan on seeing things through. Thanks to everyone for giving me a better perspective!

PS I also upgraded from a 770 to a 1070, so the game is actually pretty to look at now!