I never got a chance to play The Witcher as my PC always seemed to be too slow for AAA titles. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, however, is a totally different story. A friend of mine kept hounding me to play the second installment for at least a few months after the initial release and for some reason, I never got around to it. About a year ago, I finally played the fantasy RPG for the first time and was instantly blown away. From story to graphics, The Witcher 2 was well-rounded in all of its features. Taking control of Geralt and exploring places such as Flotsam and Loc Muinne was absolutely engaging due to the design of each area. Seriously, what more could you ask for in a game?
With The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt only a month away, I couldn’t be more excited. So far, developer CD Projekt Red has revealed a plethora of new features that will be added to the third installment, but here are a few features that I am most anticipating:
Open World:
Who doesn’t enjoy a good sandbox game? From Grand Theft Auto to Elder Scrolls, having an interesting open world to explore forces players to pick up the controller more frequently. Even Final Fantasy XV: Episode Duscae was an open and that was a just demo. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is thirty times the size of The Witcher 2 and larger than Skyrim. Traversing through the world of Wild Hunt will take some time, but I cannot wait to explore every inch of it. When asked about the length of the game, Senior Game Designer Damion Monnier said “mmmm hard to say, if you do everything I d say 200+ hours.” Good thing we get a horse to speed things up.
Horseback Riding:
To help me on my crusade, Developer CD Projekt Red has implemented a horseback feature into Wild Hunt. Riding a horse seems popular these days, with titles such as Red Dead Redemption and Elder Scrolls utilizing this feature and bringing a different feel to each game. There was even horseback riding in The Last of Us, but that was only for one section. Yes, having Geralt on horseback rather than walking to each new destination will be much more enjoyable.
New Playable Character:
Everybody loves Geralt, but having a new playable character to control will be a nice change of pace. The character Ciri was part of the book series, but as far as her role in the Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red’s Robert Malinowski said “Ciri is playable only during certain moments in the game –You won’t play as her for long periods of time, but since she’s crucial to the plot, we thought that additional insight will allow gamers to better bond with this cool character.” What’s great about this feature is that it’ll give a bit of insight into this character and then it’s back to Geralt.
Beard Growth:
This feature has no bearing on how the game will play, but is still interesting nonetheless. Geralt’s beard will grow over time as he moves from various locations. While the beard can potentially grow to a decent length, it wont be as long as Gandalf’s. That’s too bad; I would have loved a taste of Lord of the Rings.
you got to be kidding… but sex on a unicorn didn’t make the top 4? or does that count as horse back riding 🙂
why you delete my comments? n e way yeas theres no other gams where you ride a horse, this will be gr8 and beards growths is good cdpr spent their times on that and not other gam mechanics such as combats
p.s nobody care you like this gam
I know this is going to sound crazy (just means I fit right in here!), but I never use the horseback riding feature in games because I feel bad when/if the horse gets killed. I just walk everywhere & fast travel when I can.
No fast travel for me.
So you walk back & forth everywhere?! Wow, you’ve got way more patience than I do!!
Oh yeah!! 😀
Fast travel kills our involvement in the game. I hate that. I used to climb the 7000 stairs in skyrim each time. Just kidding.
The beard growth feature is like the “fish move when close to them in COD”. It’s just a change in hair length. No different than a change in face animation just about. Just not special at all. I feel it would be made fun of if it was mentioned in a COD or Battlefield game.
I’ve pre-ordered Witcher 3, but none of these points really make me want to play it. These features may be new to the franchise but not new to gaming. Guess I’m just a scrooge. What sold me is graphics and a “modern” high budget role playing game.
What really should sell you is the Developers history of making games.. They have made epic RPG’s in the past.. The Story is spot on.. and leaves you craving more. You will also get 16 free DLC pieces for free. This is the Developer you should support, because if all developers followed these guys as role models.. the gaming industry would be a much better place.
I recommend you playing both of the previous Witcher games. You won’t regret it.. They are easily still both a couple of the best story’s in a RPG in gaming. They also enhanced the graphics.. so they still look pretty crisp on a nice PC.
I hope you enjoy the Witcher 3.. I know I will..
“I would have loved a taste of Lord of the Rings”…sigh.
I’m picking this up, really hope I’m not left scratching my head, as In what the hell is going on, as I didn’t play the last two ..from what I’ve seen looks amazing ..
I would say the dynamic world that will react to your choices combined with open world is a far superior feature to everything else listed here.
I wish that they would add a feature to toggle the HUD on & off, or maybe have it auto fade or something. Sometimes I just want to experience the game without all that info on screen, I also don’t want it in screenshots.