5183

That was me. I don’t play deck games, don’t know the difference between a deck collectible or deck building game, never have been able to get into all the games like Ascension that everyone loves, and felt like stopping to play Gwent just did not fit the “role” of Geralt. (I have read the first 3 books and think that really adds a lot to playing the game - I never played W1 or 2 - and not once does Geralt feel like someone who wants to stop and play cards for hours.)

But then I played a game or two of Gwent for some reason. And came THIS close to winning. Realized, OK, if I’d done this I would have won. So had to try it again. Won by 1 point. Played again, same thing. Played again, and the guy kicked my ass, and I felt like his cards were so much better than mine I could never beat him. Not even close. Played a second game against him just to make sure and came close. And I was hooked. Dammit.

I feel like I’m never going to be good enough to beat really good players with strong decks - my Northern Realm deck is still the only one strong enough to actually use. The other decks don’t even have enough cards to use, though I buy and win every card I can find (remember though that I am only level 13 at this point, meandering around trying to find POIs with the ?s turned off, piling up side quests.)

One thing I may be missing - PS4 - once you finish a game, there’s no button that lets you immediately start another one, right? You have to see the results, exit, then hit the dialog option to start a new game?

5184

I’m sure I would love to play Gwent but this game is just too huge It’s taking me months just to get to level 18 without any card playing.

5185

I saved my game just before the Gwent tournament, ready to reload in case I lost any of the rounds. The game makes such a big deal about this tournament, I was nervous my deck wasn’t good enough. I lost the very first round… but the ensuing quest that came from losing was so intriguing, I dismissed the idea of reloading and kept right on playing. That’s a testament to the quality of the quests in this game.

5186

Oh here it is. 125 hours in the bit where the main plot shuts me in with someone with a million hit points. Game is transformed from best entertainment experience ever to something I don’t want to pick up again.

5187

We must be playing different games, because I don’t remember such a thing at all.

5188

Can’t you just lower the difficulty?

5189

At the big tree?

5190

Yeah. I will lower the difficulty if attempts 20 - 30 bear no fruit :/

5191

Or just do another part of the game, another trunk of the main quest or do contracts or side quests, and return with three more levels. The game is “static-level based” for a reason. No need to lower the difficulty.

5192

I remember cheesing that boss a bit via bomb use. :)

5193

A little achievement glitch today for me: got “Passed the Trial” Finish the game on any difficulty. Except that I’m only 35 hours in, level 13, and am still in Valen. Oops.

5194

Hmm… I got the same thing.

5195

The boss fights in the last act of the game are garbage, way too many hit points to be interesting. It’s not even about learning the pattern or figuring a solution to the patern, it’s about proving you can repeat the solution 100 times in a row. Special props to the one that has a incredibly long but utterly trivial first phase, followed by an instakill second phase. So you hit hit dodge dodge hit dodge dodge repeat for 10 minutes to get a new 15 second shot at learning the second phase pattern. Dropping from hardest to second hardest changed that into a two minute fight on the first try, with the boss stunlocked in the first phase and never even getting into the second.

Which is to say, don’t waste your time with another 10 tries. Just lower the difficulty now and move on to the good parts. Those fights are not rewarding. I wouldn’t leave and do other quests either, at 125 hours in you should easily be powerful enough.

5196

Yeah that guy made me rage a bit until I slowed down and stayed patient.

DARK SOULS

5197

Ok, I dropped down and made it past him. It’s strange because the big fight a little before this one was really good, with lots of targets, stages and action. Hour 126 ahoy!

5198

Hour 127… I love this game…

5199

I went over 100 hours having played maybe 2 or 3 games of Gwent. Then the tournament thing came up and I needed to get more cards. And I found a strategy that works more often than it doesn’t. Now I’m wishing someone made a multiplayer Gwent game for my phone.

5200

Denny, you can’t say “I found a strategy that works more often than it doesn’t” without sharing the strategy! ;)

5201

New Game + DLC is up on Xbox.

5202

I hit hour 130 today, and still a ways (I think) from the end. I’m currently clearing out the Witcher contracts in my quest log, then I’ve got about 10 secondary quests saved up. And then I think I’ll unhide and tackle all of those Points of Interest. And then I finish up the main quest.