I wrote up this review for my friends for the hell of it. I figured that I might as well post it here since someone might read it, and considering that I accidentally wrote >1000 words, I figured that I might at least try to get some people to bother reading it. I have been meaning to write up this review for the Witcher 3 for a while now. I have many hours in it at this point (52 iirc). Here are my impressions thus far.
The Witcher 3 was designed from the start to be a large, open world (or modularly open world as it were, with different open world sections). They spent all this time making it work. They have developed these maps that are large, pretty, and involved. There are tons of side quests every where. I am only on the second map section so far (I don't know how many there are, but I am expecting between 5 and 10 based on the main story's pacing thus far). The majority of the time that I have spent in the game has been spent running around doing various unimportant quests. I think that this was really exacerbated by the fact that for a while (it has been fixed now) quests weren't giving you the xp they were saying that you were getting, so the only real way to level up was through combat. If you go through all of the side quests before doing the major quests, you end up WAY over powered (I know that you can bump the difficulty, but having to do that means that there is a pacing problem or else you aren't meant to actually do everything there is to do). At least, that is the way it was meant to be, but with the lack of xp from quests, I have to do every mission in order to maintain my level for the main quests.
All of that to say, there is a lot more content in side quests than in the main quests. They made this giant world and then went about finding ways to fill it. Fortunately, the side quests are more interesting than fetch and escort for the most part, but not much more. It seems like the main quest line was developed independently of the maps and then they were brought together at the end and made to fit. This makes the pacing problem worse."You need to get this thing, but in order to get it, you need to find this person, and in order to find them you need this item, in order to get that item you have to clear this dungeon, in order to get to the dungeon you have to blah blah blah blah" and by the end, I am literally chasing a goat for a crazy man in order to get what I need. The main quest does not have enough meat in order to fill the needs brought about by this overly large world. I would love if they made it well, but they just didn't.
In comparison, Pillars of Eternity had us explore a lot of different areas and whatnot, but always with a very nice reason. I was never like "What else is there for me to do in between now and furthering the plot?" It was always "go", and never "go where?" I always had a good reason to be doing things. There was always well thought out plot in order to get me to do something. Why would I chase a goat when I could just beat that guy's head in for what I want? The main plot is just lacking. There is more a sense of "look at all this stuff" than a real sense of urgency. The main story line gives me more a sense of an excuse to run around and do shit than it does an actual reason to be doing anything in the first place.
And all of the side quests which people have been raving about, they aren't that good. They are better than the Elder Scrolls fetch and escort nonsense, but they aren't a good enough reason for me to want to really bother doing this shit. I feel like a roaming problem solver. "Woopie, the fifth village that needs to be cleared of looters and AWOL soldiers since I got to this damned island." "You need a thingy killed? Good thing that I am great at killing thingies." "Oh no, a mysterious vanishing? I bet it was one of those thingies that I am good at killing. I better go hunt down that person and the thingy and then kill he thingy and rescue the person." I'm a fucking ronin mixed with a handyman. Not exactly reason enough to motivate me to do all of this pointless and repetitive nonsense, grinding my level up so that I can do the harder pointless and repetitive nonsense.
So then why have I put 52 hours so far and only got to the second map? Well, it was partly the xp bug (which I didn't know about at the time, thus forcing me to just keep grinding away with side quests). Mainly though, the world that they made was just interesting enough that I could easily waste time in it. I never really felt like I was getting anywhere or accomplishing anything like with DA: I. However, I had fun riding my horse around, making the NPCs both love and hate me as a cold fixer of problems. Take away the shitty main story, take away the poorly hidden excuse to run around, and what you are left with is what they were trying to showcase in the first place. A fun and interesting world. Screw everything else, I am having fun being Geralt in this world.
I am having fun doing what I want, when I want, where I want. I am the motherfucking Witcher, goddammit. People whisper in fearful hushed tones when I walk into the room, and that is the way it should be. They hate me out of bigotry and fear my out of experience. I once split open five guys' heads because they were being dicks in a bar. I might not be able to go on the murderous rampages that I could in Skyrim, but I think that gives more enjoyment to the times when you can. You can't realistically murder everyone ever and expect people to not want to raise an army against you. You can't kill anyone who talks to you and still manage to get quests. It is the forced mixture of freedom and obvious necessity which makes the interactions engaging.
Is it the game of the year? No. Will I be talking about how great it is years from now? No. Will I put dozens of more hours into it anyway? Yes. It is shitty as a "game as art" but it is great as a "game as a fun time waster."
