Video Games

Witcher 3

I cannot get into it. I killed the griffin and the blokes outside the inn and did a little investigation about some blokes who froze a village when they tortured some dude.

Where are all the side quests and people to chat to? What about leveling up? I'm only level 4 and main quests are all saying level 6 or 7. Killing a few dogs here and there are giving me sweet fuck all in terms of XP. Also, the combat fucking sucks. Coming off of the back of playing AC:Origins it's so wishy-washy and unprecise. I also don't feel even remotely powerful.

What am I missing?

I'm back into Witcher in a big way, but agree it was a real slow burn to start with.

From what I can remember, the first place (White Garden?) is a bit perplexing - hard to find quests and get the XP to build up. And Gwent seems completely opaque initially. Have a ride around the map finding things to do - especially abandoned villages where you have to kill a naughty and then the villagers come back, bringing traders and Gwent cards and XP. It's Velen (which you get into quite soon) where everything starts to develop. Down to you if you want to stick around that long.

After a while you build up quite quickly so you can only be killed by a really strong enemy (or a modest fall).

Stick with it until you reach the bloody baron quest in Crows Perch (lvl 6 according to google). if after seeing that one through you're still not a fan it's probably not for you.

i'm replaying divinity: original sin. i think i squared away about 30% of the game first time round - some of the quest hints are so obscure i doubt the game can be 100%'ed without a cheeky google - it still looks and sounds amazing for what is ostensibly a screenbound OG paper & dice D&D dungeon crawler. Hope Larian releases the sequel for MAC OS.

Agree - think that's the first big thing in Velen, and where I got hooked.

Currently ticking off all the side-quests and contracts before hitting the last main quest.

Cheers kl / @HatBeard

I'll give it another go over the weekend and see how far I get. I like the story/characters so far but the actual gameplay just seems super overwhelming in terms of breadth of systems and super underwhelming in terms of enjoyment at the moment.

the first 10 hours is a bit shit, once you start getting more health and strength the combat opens up a lot. I still think it's very overrated though.

You can do the whole game ignoring the Oils and Potions and the only magic you actually need to use is Yrden. Do every side quest and don't worry about running away from any battles that are too hard.

how whoever is responsible for that witcher guff got away with not being sued by Michael Moorcock is a mystery.

maybe they took the youtuber anti-copyright stance that magically prevents all legal recourse when clearly copying someones work and wrote "no copyrighting intended"

10 hours is a big investment. Especially as I'm picking up Skyrim (again) for the Switch this week. I'll have a solid run at in on Sunday.
I usually sack off all magic stuff in most games (see Skyrim etc) so good to know you can skirt around that.

I will say that it looks fucking incredible in 4k HDR on the One X. I've started it before (got to a similar point) on my PC in 4k but HDR really ads to the majesty.

http://the-rageaholic.tumblr.com/post/39101214411/hi-i-saw-your-post-on-the-plagiarizing-issue-with

LOL

It might not be 10 hours but it certainly takes at least a few before it starts getting better.

You don't need the magic much - I generally just hit guys with a sword a lot, they generally die.

I generally just hit guys with a sword a lot, they generally die

This is my strategy for 90% of all games; including FIFA

All the Quen, all the time. It makes combat a lot easier (although getting better at dodging and parrying helps a lot too).
The other signs are sometimes useful, but nowhere near as often.

potions that let you up your toxicity tolerance so you can drink up to three concoctions that give you bonus skills/powers is totally amazeballs later in the game.

only found out on second playthrough though, 100% quest completion as a hack and slasher first time through.

Yep, as others have said unfortunately it's a case of weathering it for the first few levels - I remember feeling the same around that point - it wasn't at all obvious what to do next, but around the time of the Bloody Baron it starts to flow a bit quicker. As with all RPGs, killing as much stuff on your level is a fairly safe bet. There'll be drowners by the river for example, bears and wolves in the woods. It is a MUCH slower game than anything in the AC series - you really do get out what you put in. But I found it very rewarding in the end.

Agree with @kl about Gwent - completely skipped all Gwent quests to begin with but thought I'd try again on a recent play through and got really into it (and good at it).

Might give it another run through... :/

if anyone's still into CCG's, Star Crusade (terrible name) is all a bit Hearthstone in Spaaaaaaace, top fun tho, i've managed to cobble together a pretty OK deck without spending a penny.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/415270/Star_Crusade_CCG/

Nerd.

Finished The Last of Us Remasted, straight into my Top 20 games EVER

Recently finished both Wolfenstein Old Blood and New Order. Now doing replays of both because sneaky stealthy FPS silenced pistols are fun. Is New Colosus worth full whack or should I wait for the next sale? Spliter Cell series worth picking up? Where to begin with them?

Kinda checked out of the Resident Evil thing after 4 but apparently 7 is brilliant

Spliter Cell

Really enjoyed Blacklist. Story was meh, but, as you say, "stealthy FPS silenced pistols are fun"

Although it's third person...