The Witcher 3 thread - now with more goat

There's no info about my waifu Cynthia in TW3 to my knowledge.

If only BioWare would've put their bullshit aside and start putting quality and substance on their games.

I'm close to the end of my Witcher marathon. Only the last part of Heart of Stone's main quest and the endgame of the main game are left.

Unsurprisingly, I found again that TW3 is the best game in the series in many aspects, including combat mechanics and the huge amount of high-quality content in character interaction, while TW2 was superior in main story weight within the game - TW3 had too much optional stuff, to the point that I left many places in Skellige's outlying islands unexplored because I simply couldn't be bothered especially considering that sirens were everywhere. Considering that I'm usually an obsessive completionist (and did explore everything everywhere else), that's saying something. I think I did all the side quests and contracts, but likely missed a few treasure hunts in Skellige.

What was really susprising is how much better TW2 looks in direct comparison. In general, TW2's graphics were too effects-intensive in places, to the point that it sometimes looked artificial, mostly because of overdone light reflection, but TW3 removed so much of that that the overall effect was detrimental, especially noticeable in character faces and vegetation. Most noticeably in vegetation, TW2 looks *way* better than TW3, which is really damning considering how much you look at the green stuff in TW3. As an example, I might mention the rose vines in Corvo Bianco's garden compared to the rose vines in TW2's elven baths. The former look flat and unappealing in comparison. I heard the damnable idea of "console parity" being blamed for this. I don't know if it's true, but it only makes me more determined to never buy one of those quality-destroying machines.

I think I'll post more after I'm through. So far I have seen no reason to rescind my opinion that this trilogy is one of the best game sequences that exist. One would wish, at times, for a little more roleplaying freedom, but then you should know what you're getting into with Geralt before you start playing. It's not exactly a secret that he's more defined than most protagonists in games of this kind that still aspire to the roleplaying genre.

I'm the opposite of most people in this regard. I hate sunny weather, a side-effect of growing up in the tropics I'm sure. Give me cold and gloomy any day. So I prefer Velen and Skellige to Toussaint and most of DA:I — Storm Coast's alright.

Y'all basement dwellers or what?! I don't want that depressing German rainy shit weather in my games!!!

I can't take direct sun in the summer for long because my skin burns within 15 min but I LIKE the sun. Gloomy weather really affects my mood. German winter makes me actually depressed sometimes. Hate coming home from work and it's already night. Hate not seeing the sun at all for weeks. I haaaaaate rainy days.

I'm like a lizard, I need a lot of warmth to feel good. The air conditioning in the office turns my fingers white. Ugh. I hate being cold so very much and I feel cold quickly soooo...

I do not like extreme heat (obviously not used to it) so when I visited a friend in Arizona some years back I was VERY surprised how much I enjoyed the desert and sandstone formations. The light in that area is just wow. How it illuminates the rocks. The blue blue sky every day. Walking between sandstones was the most peaceful soothing almost religious experience in my life. Sure, I was sweating like crazy but that's OK. Not sure exactly why that landscape and the light has such an effect on me but it was downright magical. I was so very happy. I even hiked in Death Valley (in October, mind you) and it was super interesting. Then I compared the photos to the ones from trips to Austria and HOLY SHIT is it DARK here in central Europe!!! Even on a sunny day, the light is completely different. And it hit me...

Germany is vanilla Skyrim!!!  Dark. Depressing. GODAWFUL. Got myself a nice ENB eventually and finally enjoyed some blue skies with a soft filter. The first ENB I used had a blue tint. UGH. Blue tint is THE WORST. Makes everything seem cold... I like yellow or red tints. Sony TV's with their very obvious yellow tint are perfect for me. *g*

Anyway, as for what I do in FO4? I build settlements!!! I have a YT channel too where I show them off. I spend between 20-50 hours building ONE settlement, so... uhhhh... yeah...

Ieldra Since we both live in Germany I believe, I too experience that "awful" heat spell. My apartment heats up to over 30 degrees in such weather if I turn on the PC. But since I live next to the forest it also cools down enough for me to be quite comfortable at night (at 27 degrees). I still cover myself with a blanket...
Germans are never happy with the weather, it's a cliche that's actually true. I don't have a problem with this summer. In fact overall I much prefer it to our usual rainy summers. It's a disaster for our farmers, however. So that sucks. But the way people complain here as if it's a torture chamber, ridiculous! I don't think I drink more than usual. I don't particularly sweat when I'm not moving around much at home. So no need. I do stay inside until the sun goes down too and then take a walk later than usual. And I'm more tired than usual from the heat. But I'm not suffering.

Anyway, I got the bad ending because some of those triggers made no sense to me. And it was so DEVASTATING. I felt awful for weeks. It's still painful for me I failed so hard. I think part of the reason I made the wrong choices was my reading progress of the novels. At the time I was in total protect little Ciri from those nasty sorceresses mode. Literally everybody Ciri comes across in the novels up to a point abused her. So I expected this to be the case in the game as well. So I guess I was playing an overprotective parent... *sigh*

I watched the other endings on YT and much prefer the witcher ending. Emhyr like all the kings is an awful human being if you ask me. He wanted to marry his own daughter and impregnate her, hello?! He is not as bad as Radovid though, that's correct. And he does have a shred of decency. Some sort of honor, and at the end of the book series it's this bit of humanity that let's Ciri go...
Ironically in the game I made Ciri meet him because it should be her choice and THAT is also kind of a bad thing. What?! Ugh. I suppose one could say the Nilfgaard ending is the one where Ciri sacrifices happiness for the good of the people. So that's not a bad ending at all. A just ruler will always have to give up their own dreams in the service of others to a degree. But after all they went through, especially with regard to the books, they damn well deserve to be together at last as a family. No obligations. Ciri saved the world, she already saved all those ungrateful awful people. About time she got to do something for herself. So if I were to replay I'd aim for the witcher ending.

It *was* a torture chamber for me, I'm just that kind of person. You'll never hear me complain about rain or cold, except in a lighthearted offhand manner if I'm forced to go out in a rainstorm or blizzard.


Things like that are why I keep saves at several points in the main story. It might just be that I don't want to replay the whole game, but want to see alternative endings. The key point for choosing between the gooding endings is at the aftermath of the Kaer Morhen battle, when you are behind the castle and go down to confer with the others. On the path towards the good ending you'll get the snowball scene then, immediately followed by the decision to go to the emperor or not.

I did mention I like the witcher ending too, right? Both good endings are very satisfying, and Ciri has certainly more enduring freedom in the Witcher ending.

This is exactly the ending I got (except for Skellige. I sided with Cerys).



I have no regrets whatsoever.

First time I played it blind. I messed up in the snow ball fight and got Ciri Drunk instead and I chose to go with Ciri to talk with the mages. I got all the other ones right though. I even took her to see Emhyr.

eh, I could never feel bad for not taking Ciri to see Emhyr. He's caused too much damage and I feel if he really changed and wanted what was best for Ciri and not himself or his legacy, he'd stay faaar away. This is just my opinion though, so I'm not trying to attack how anyone feels about it.

I just can't get the books out of my head and they're probably the reason why she'll always end up as a witcher in my games. I will admit though, if I can ever overlook the books, the Empress ending is very emotional and beautifully done.