Ediros
Water Chip? Been There, Done That
The template was taken from DirtyOldShoe's review of Fallout 4.
16.25/20 points
81,25%
Interior/Clutter Design: 1.0
In Witcher 3 every location is believable and makes a lot of sense. The level of detail put in basically every single location makes every location different than the one before it. Of course there are similarities – caves or peasants' houses can't be that different from each other. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed looking at different villages and cites, which differed greatly from each other. The areas themselves made sense, like in the first village there was a peasant house, where there was a kitchen, some cupboards, three beds for three people and a homey feeling. Overall, no complaints here.
World Design: 1
The world is truly massive, even if it is split into a few different hubs. There are a lot of places with their own history and interactions. There are elven ruins, abandoned villages, huge living cities etc. The cities themselves look realistic and make lot of sense. There are people strolling around minding their own business, bandits, prostitutes, vomiting people (a lot of that) and many, many more. Compared to Skyrim or Oblivion, cities in the Witcher 3 are much bigger and offer much more than anything bethesda has done.
Atmosphere: 1
The atmosphere of the Witcher 3 is truly astounding. There are different sets of music for different areas, which add a lot of personality to the world. The storms, snow, sunny days all look truly amazing and I have found myself just admiring the scenery several times. The armour gets wet when it rains, the water splashes on your screen as you swim through the ocean. Just amazing atmosphere.
Suspension of Disbelief/Balance: 0.75
Here things get a bit icky. The balance in this game is okay, but it could have been better. I am not a hardcore RPG player, who goes and gathers everything he sees and then sells it back to merchants. However, after doing quite a bit of that I had 19k gold, which I had no clue what to do with. Maybe, that's because I have played on normal, but still it was very easy to sustain yourself. I also dislike the fact that sign based witcher is pretty bad all things considered. Some skill trees and perks like alchemy are pretty useless, while swords are much better than them.
Suspension of Disbelief – No complaints here. The world makes sense, people act like they should, the story is well thought out and not filled with plot holes. I have never found myself scratching my head or questioning the characters. Overall, another point for the Witcher 3.
Main Story Writing: 1
The story follows the events of the Witcher 1 and 2, but you can jump straight into it and you won't be confused. The story is explained pretty well and you can understand the characters and their motivations. Not to mention side quests affect the main storyline, which is something I haven't seen in a long time. You can fail the quests and even get a bad ending if you are not careful, which is great. We do not create our own character but Geralt is so well written that you just want to follow his story.
Side Story Writing: 0.75
As much as I love all the quests in the Witcher 3, I have to admit they got a bit repetitive after a while, especially killing the monster type of quests. That said, the quests themselves are well writing and deserve quite a bit of explanation.
First of all, you can come across quests by simply travelling or checking the notice board. There are different types of quests, all of which have got recommend level for your character.
There is monster hunting, finding treasures, taking on thugs and religion, helping the wizards etc. Solid content overall.
Faction Story Writing: 0.75
There are multiple different factions, all of which have got different goals and agendas in mind. You can see the struggle between three powers and how it affects life of ordinary people. The downside is that all you can do is help them, but you can never join them, which makes sense. What I missed was some quests that would let us push one side to win over another, which is why I had to take down a quarter of a point. Still, thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
Dialogue: 1.0
Rich, well written, amusing and straight out fun. The amount of responses, the quality of dialogue, even the idle talk is just incredible. It is really hard to compare but it reminds me a bit of Fallout 1 and 2, especially the darker parts.
NPC Design: 0.75
Different NPCs with different attires. Some of the patterns repeat like thieves look a bit too similar to each other for my taste. There are multiple different characters you can interact with, all of which have got distinguishing features. Also, the lip sync is top notch and I truly felt immersed when characters talked with each other. However I have only tested Polish version, so I can not compare it to other languages.
Combat: 1.0
Tactical, dangerous, no level scaling and a big diversity. Geralt can wield axes, swords, crossbows etc with a huge skill, allowing you to choose the one, which suits you the most. The enemies themselves often attack in group, which can quickly bring you down, if you are not careful. Many attacks can not be blocked, which means you can not just dance around opponents without care in the world or just turtle them out. Tactical use of potions, signs and terrain makes it possible to defeat even stronger than you opponents.
Ai: 0.5
This is one of the weaker aspects of the Witcher 3, I am afraid. Human enemies sometimes just stand in one spot, while your magical turret tears them apart. Sometimes they get stuck in corners, especially golems. However, these are pretty rare occurrences and most of the time you have to watch out for them. Also, many opponents go back to their territory if you go to far, so you can bait them and kill them slowly from a distance.
Weapon/Armour Design: 1.0
The swords and weapons all have got unique models and stats. Weapons and armour all look practical and fit the world. No complaints here.
Player Character: 0.75
As I have stated before, we do not create our own character and there are some limitations on what we can do. However, Geralt can be played in different ways like a cold killer, warm witcher or something in between. It reminds me a bit of mass effect, but it is really well done.
Atributes/Skills/Perks: 0.5
Solid, but not flawless. We can choose to play our witcher as a swordsman, sorcerer, potion addicted junkie or a hybrid of those. That said, some of them are worthless, while others too good, especially sword skills. The game wants us to specialize, but it makes it hard to play as an alchemist or sorcerer.
Loot: 0.5
This is a bit of grudge I have got with this game. The loot you get from quest or searching locations is pretty small, especially in Velen. In fact, you get more stuff by simply stealing from peasants who sleep on rare ingredients for whatever reason. There are too many unique weapons, which takes away from them feeling unique. In fact the witcher gear is probably the most unique.
The problem comes when it comes to gold, you get from quests and other activities. It is pretty much worthless most of the time. I had around 19k gold and I had no clue what to do with it. It is not like I can buy rare ingredients from merchants so whatever.
Voice Acting: 1.0
One of the best aspects of the game. The characters sound just great. You can sense emotions when you deal with desperate couple or a band of bandits. Not to mention, main characters, which truly felt alive thanks to the voice acting.
Player/NPC interaction: 0.75
You can interact with a lot of people, but there is a huge number of people, who will just say a one line and then go away. That said, if you say betray one person or fail to protect someone you will see that NPCs actually react to your actions. You can even lose some money and get attacked, if you steal in front of the guards. Still very good.
Replay ability: 0.5
You can replay this game a few times, but after that there isn't much to do. There aren't many faction specific quests and I found myself not wanting to play once more for some marginal changes in the plot.
Exploration: 0.75
Three huge places you can explore, all of which are filled with hidden treasures, places of power, bandits etc. There is actually so much exploring, especially in the later part of the game, that I couldn't give a damn anymore about every single one of them. I wouldn't mind if there were less places, but with a bit more treasure and more enemies.
Sound/Music: 1.0
The sound and sound effects are truly amazing. Combat music is just great to hear and there is huge diversity in it. It also fits the world and is easy on the ears allowing you to listen to it for hours. Overall, no complaints here.
16.25/20 points
81,25%
Interior/Clutter Design: 1.0
In Witcher 3 every location is believable and makes a lot of sense. The level of detail put in basically every single location makes every location different than the one before it. Of course there are similarities – caves or peasants' houses can't be that different from each other. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed looking at different villages and cites, which differed greatly from each other. The areas themselves made sense, like in the first village there was a peasant house, where there was a kitchen, some cupboards, three beds for three people and a homey feeling. Overall, no complaints here.
World Design: 1
The world is truly massive, even if it is split into a few different hubs. There are a lot of places with their own history and interactions. There are elven ruins, abandoned villages, huge living cities etc. The cities themselves look realistic and make lot of sense. There are people strolling around minding their own business, bandits, prostitutes, vomiting people (a lot of that) and many, many more. Compared to Skyrim or Oblivion, cities in the Witcher 3 are much bigger and offer much more than anything bethesda has done.
Atmosphere: 1
The atmosphere of the Witcher 3 is truly astounding. There are different sets of music for different areas, which add a lot of personality to the world. The storms, snow, sunny days all look truly amazing and I have found myself just admiring the scenery several times. The armour gets wet when it rains, the water splashes on your screen as you swim through the ocean. Just amazing atmosphere.
Suspension of Disbelief/Balance: 0.75
Here things get a bit icky. The balance in this game is okay, but it could have been better. I am not a hardcore RPG player, who goes and gathers everything he sees and then sells it back to merchants. However, after doing quite a bit of that I had 19k gold, which I had no clue what to do with. Maybe, that's because I have played on normal, but still it was very easy to sustain yourself. I also dislike the fact that sign based witcher is pretty bad all things considered. Some skill trees and perks like alchemy are pretty useless, while swords are much better than them.
Suspension of Disbelief – No complaints here. The world makes sense, people act like they should, the story is well thought out and not filled with plot holes. I have never found myself scratching my head or questioning the characters. Overall, another point for the Witcher 3.
Main Story Writing: 1
The story follows the events of the Witcher 1 and 2, but you can jump straight into it and you won't be confused. The story is explained pretty well and you can understand the characters and their motivations. Not to mention side quests affect the main storyline, which is something I haven't seen in a long time. You can fail the quests and even get a bad ending if you are not careful, which is great. We do not create our own character but Geralt is so well written that you just want to follow his story.
Side Story Writing: 0.75
As much as I love all the quests in the Witcher 3, I have to admit they got a bit repetitive after a while, especially killing the monster type of quests. That said, the quests themselves are well writing and deserve quite a bit of explanation.
First of all, you can come across quests by simply travelling or checking the notice board. There are different types of quests, all of which have got recommend level for your character.
There is monster hunting, finding treasures, taking on thugs and religion, helping the wizards etc. Solid content overall.
Faction Story Writing: 0.75
There are multiple different factions, all of which have got different goals and agendas in mind. You can see the struggle between three powers and how it affects life of ordinary people. The downside is that all you can do is help them, but you can never join them, which makes sense. What I missed was some quests that would let us push one side to win over another, which is why I had to take down a quarter of a point. Still, thoroughly enjoyed all of them.
Dialogue: 1.0
Rich, well written, amusing and straight out fun. The amount of responses, the quality of dialogue, even the idle talk is just incredible. It is really hard to compare but it reminds me a bit of Fallout 1 and 2, especially the darker parts.
NPC Design: 0.75
Different NPCs with different attires. Some of the patterns repeat like thieves look a bit too similar to each other for my taste. There are multiple different characters you can interact with, all of which have got distinguishing features. Also, the lip sync is top notch and I truly felt immersed when characters talked with each other. However I have only tested Polish version, so I can not compare it to other languages.
Combat: 1.0
Tactical, dangerous, no level scaling and a big diversity. Geralt can wield axes, swords, crossbows etc with a huge skill, allowing you to choose the one, which suits you the most. The enemies themselves often attack in group, which can quickly bring you down, if you are not careful. Many attacks can not be blocked, which means you can not just dance around opponents without care in the world or just turtle them out. Tactical use of potions, signs and terrain makes it possible to defeat even stronger than you opponents.
Ai: 0.5
This is one of the weaker aspects of the Witcher 3, I am afraid. Human enemies sometimes just stand in one spot, while your magical turret tears them apart. Sometimes they get stuck in corners, especially golems. However, these are pretty rare occurrences and most of the time you have to watch out for them. Also, many opponents go back to their territory if you go to far, so you can bait them and kill them slowly from a distance.
Weapon/Armour Design: 1.0
The swords and weapons all have got unique models and stats. Weapons and armour all look practical and fit the world. No complaints here.
Player Character: 0.75
As I have stated before, we do not create our own character and there are some limitations on what we can do. However, Geralt can be played in different ways like a cold killer, warm witcher or something in between. It reminds me a bit of mass effect, but it is really well done.
Atributes/Skills/Perks: 0.5
Solid, but not flawless. We can choose to play our witcher as a swordsman, sorcerer, potion addicted junkie or a hybrid of those. That said, some of them are worthless, while others too good, especially sword skills. The game wants us to specialize, but it makes it hard to play as an alchemist or sorcerer.
Loot: 0.5
This is a bit of grudge I have got with this game. The loot you get from quest or searching locations is pretty small, especially in Velen. In fact, you get more stuff by simply stealing from peasants who sleep on rare ingredients for whatever reason. There are too many unique weapons, which takes away from them feeling unique. In fact the witcher gear is probably the most unique.
The problem comes when it comes to gold, you get from quests and other activities. It is pretty much worthless most of the time. I had around 19k gold and I had no clue what to do with it. It is not like I can buy rare ingredients from merchants so whatever.
Voice Acting: 1.0
One of the best aspects of the game. The characters sound just great. You can sense emotions when you deal with desperate couple or a band of bandits. Not to mention, main characters, which truly felt alive thanks to the voice acting.
Player/NPC interaction: 0.75
You can interact with a lot of people, but there is a huge number of people, who will just say a one line and then go away. That said, if you say betray one person or fail to protect someone you will see that NPCs actually react to your actions. You can even lose some money and get attacked, if you steal in front of the guards. Still very good.
Replay ability: 0.5
You can replay this game a few times, but after that there isn't much to do. There aren't many faction specific quests and I found myself not wanting to play once more for some marginal changes in the plot.
Exploration: 0.75
Three huge places you can explore, all of which are filled with hidden treasures, places of power, bandits etc. There is actually so much exploring, especially in the later part of the game, that I couldn't give a damn anymore about every single one of them. I wouldn't mind if there were less places, but with a bit more treasure and more enemies.
Sound/Music: 1.0
The sound and sound effects are truly amazing. Combat music is just great to hear and there is huge diversity in it. It also fits the world and is easy on the ears allowing you to listen to it for hours. Overall, no complaints here.
