The Video/PC Game Discussion Thread

A couple of early impressions before I finally go to bed.

Firstly it looks stunning and so far, runs excellently, even though I'm lacking certain aspects of the recommended spec.

Combat, well I haven't been in any really serious fights yet but so far it is similar to the last game in some ways but expanded. I need to get used to it to form a proper opinion. All I can say really is that I finished off a few ghouls, drowners and wolves with ease but nearly got killed and had to leg it from a wraith.

I took my first screenshot just to celebrate:

So far the game hasn't given me reason to regret getting it. Some surprises in that certain things differ from what I was expecting (which may be due to me deciding not to watch or read pretty much anything about it for months). Most notably Wild Hunt's idea of an open world is a bit different to Elder Scrolls/Fallout open worlds. Where those games use one main continuous worldspace The Witcher 3 is done in chunks, and you can't walk/ride directly between them because you'll hit, not exactly an invisible wall, but a 'you're reaching the end of the world' message, and you won't be able to continue too far before it forces you into the world map. This isn't exactly a problem because the areas are quite big, especially the No Man's Land one and you can go back and forth between them, though you have to advance the main quest to unlock more of the world, rather than just being able to jump in and explore anywhere. The nagging issue for me here is that the game's world map is a lot bigger than the regions you can visit, so it looks like there should be a lot more to explore but you just can't. I guess the expansions will be adding new regions, but I expect most of the map is there for modders. 

Jeez man, how cynical of you. 

Besides, CD Projekt is not an AAA publisher in the same sense Activision or EA are. They're just an ambitious polish company with limited resources, it's as simple as that. Honestly, I didn't even know a success like that was possible here, until now. 

The hype is there because CDPR have proven their game is ambitious, not because they're a super powerful corporation that can build hype around even the shittiest of games.

Yes! Also, the whole feminist gaming movement started by Anita Sarkeesian (with whom I agreed at first, but eventually came to the conclusion that she's so biased and her approach to the subject terribly oversimplified) only makes things worse and harms games like The Witcher which depict a sexist/racist world yet DO NOT promote these things (quite the opposite, actually, Sapkowski is one of the few left-minded fantasy writers in my beautiful country).

What I always say, and I consider myself a more left than right-minded person, is that we we need popularization of gender studies instead of traditional feminism. Feminism has become obsolete and gender studies are what has come to replace it. An update, if you will. That's why many people grew tired of feminism - not because they do not agree with its principles, but because its principles are limited and, in many ways, out of date compared to the complex and contemporary nature of gender studies.