The Witcher 3 and Mass Effect Andromeda thread

Would be nice if it was New Vegas getting all this praise instead, but I guess CDP marketing machine claimed it

The article makes some valid points of course, but it's hard to treat seriously when a) it claims Liam's loyalty mission is the best quest in MEA and at the same time can't even write his surname correctly.

It is about marketing though. New Vegas did everything TW3 did regarding meaty open-world quest design, writing and structure AND did it even better but it's TW3 getting all the mentions and props years later and acting as if it's the first game ever to do it. I mean I can't hate on CDP's marketing tricks, it's a feat in itself to steal the thunder from another studio completly, but it doesn't make it a fact. TW3 ain't the first and best gold standard of quest structutre and writing, it's simply the one that managed to position itself the best to be seen as one

So.... we're all waiting for the perfect game? or maybe just the perfect critic

There was also a big difference in budgets between the two, if the numbers I've seen are fairly accurate - so that has to be factored in.

Can't readily compare these very large games - compare parts of them, praise the parts that engage you as a player, complain about the disappointments and annoyances. If a game engages me and transports me to another realm (warts and all) I'm probably going to get my money's worth. I figure some DLC, a patch, and/or some mods might make it more enjoyable.

Its because TW3 is a hit both with the RPG community and most gamers in general. While Fallout New Vegas is a RPG fan's wet dream, it doesn't have the popularity to be mentioned over and over again as a comparison. The Witcher 3 generate clicks, views, thumbs up and all that jazz. Personally i still think The Witcher 2 is the superior game of the franchise, but i am in the minority there. 

The thing is that I find that TW3 wasn't even the best in recent memory at what it gets the most praise for (the side-content). In terms of design, New Vegas and its multiple ways of solving almost every problems craps all over a fifty shades of Witcher senses simulator where every quest tries to throw a twist ending at you at the last minute (come to think of it, Andromeda has a similar structure oftentimes...). Not that the side-content in TW3 is bad by any means, but I find that it's not this jaw-droppingly awesome-fest that must get hyped every single day until the end of times. 

Yeah, TW3 had much better presentation values, less bugs and a more linear story that allowed it to deliver well-written emotional punch but there are loads of things New Vegas did better, too, and I think it's a better example of side-quest design and (especially) choice and consequences than TW3. I'd also hate every single RPG in the market to be compared to that game, because bloody hell yes it's good but there's surely room for other types of RPGs somewhere.

It's why I can rarely agree with these articles; is TW3 a great game? Absolutely. Better than Andromeda? Yeah, definitely. But to me, it didn't actually set many standards, because everything it did, I can name an RPG that did it better. Maybe it does set a standard in presentation/production values, granted, but in the end I don't think that is extremely important in an RPG.

My principal disagreement with this article that it does not note the main difference between the Witcher 3 and Andromeda.

For me, where the main difference lie between a game like the Wicther – a game without a party with a fixed protagonist- and a game like Adnromeda is how the writing has to be weighed.

In a game like Witcher, the only character that sees the entire story through the game is geralt, and only Geralt. He interacts with episodic characters, each of whom shows up for one quest where they can shine and have no continuation.

In Andromeda, each of the seven squadmates have to be written to see the entire game, comment on it, and interact with other 6 squadmates and Ryder during it, send e-mails, and have the long dialogue sequences, staying in-character, or evolving in a believable way over the course of those dialogues.

Witcher 3 writer does not have to worry about long-term. Keira the Hot Vixen will have nothing to say to Geralt after he’s done with her quest.

A BioWARE writer has a complete package for each companion that most players (unless they spend years on the game) will never see.

You got to decide what is more valuable to you as a player, the solo journey through episodic content with bright one-quest wonders, or the companionship of the characters that are witnessing your entire journey of a mixed bag of quests, no matter who you picked to accompany you.

I personally remember Jade Empire as the only game that managed both the great companionship content and quest awesomeness, but it was long ago, and I am not sure I remember as it truly was or embellishing.

I love TW3 but I'm so sick of these comparison.

So, I minor NPC is compared with a major NPC within different games. The witty Keira Metz vs a traitor!? At least PCGamer can still see Liam is nothing but a traitor. And people wonder I want him spaced out of an airlock let alone not being able to bond with such an idiot.
As already stated, bad writers and propaganda of the feels without using any reason ever. See and emulate what I do, never think thru what I do.

PCGAMER
During 'All In' there are several dialogue choices involving Liam. The whole reason you're here is to rescue an angaran he leaked secrets to—essentially committing treason out of his eagerness to make friends with aliens ......

Luckily Keira is an NPC because real she would be insulted and surely reciprocate.
Liam a security and response specialist?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!

Picard's memes never get old in this forum...

Standards change. Mass Effect and Dragon Age: Origins were the gold standard. Then it was Skyrim that was the gold standard, now The Witcher 3 and in time that will change as well.