5403

Expansion preview

5404

Eurogamer was disappointed.

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone doesn’t quite fulfil its expansion billing

5405

Yeah, but the rest of that preview is pretty positive. Just the headline is a little nitpicky, objecting to the term expansion for a 10 hour experience.

5406

I think their main letdown was that it all takes place in the same map area the main game uses, and that the content itself isn’t much different from the regular Witcher 3 stuff. More of the same, which I guess could be disappointing if you were looking for a traditional “expansion” that changes things up from the vanilla game.

Hell, I started an NG+ game last week, just to check out stuff I didn’t see the first time around.

5407

Yep, they seem to be hung up on term “expansion”, as in “traditional expansion”, which usually included a new location, or whatever. Except, they forget those “traditional expansions” were usually $30, not $10. They mention the difference in price and how expectations should differ… but in practical terms, they don’t seem to have followed their own hint.

5408

They’re stuck in a specific way of thinking about expansions. 10 hours of new quests/encounters and game mechanics with the same quality we saw in the main game? That’s expansion enough for me.

Also, the second expansion will have a new “map”, so to speak. CDPR said from day one that the first expansion wouldn’t have such a thing.

I’m just excited about more Witcher 3. And Shani! I can’t wait to see what the writing team did with Shani.

5409

I thought CDP was the one pushing the expansion label over the typical flimsy DLC?

I guess I missed the PR because I thought they were both 20-30 hours. Maybe that was combined for both?

Anyway, it sure works for me. I’d rather jump in for 10 hours and be done.

5410

I will definitely get both expansions, but I’m not sure how many play throughs I could do of the game. Anyone know what level this storyline is aimed at? I don’t want to wait for the 2nd expansion before I play this, but if I don’t I’m worried I won’t play the 2nd.

5411

Level 30 is the minimum for Hearts of Stone.

5412

RPS mentioned there wasn’t a lot of combat. I’ll just use my over-levelled character and blast through it. Not really the draw.

5413

First 10 hours, second 20 hours, for a total of 30 hours.

5414

Then maybe I’ll use my current character who’s in the 30s and start a new game for the 2nd expansion. I have many areas in Skellige I didn’t fully explore, I think along with some area in the south.

5415

I have zero doubt the 10 hours figure is conservative and I will have no problem spending 20 hours doing all sidequests in this first expansion. And yes, it is a fucking expansion, Eurogamer.

5416

It comes down to semantics but I agree that billing something as an expansion usually means you’ve deviated in some significant ways from the base content. DLC is usually more of the same. So I do get Eurogamer’s point.

5417

Yeah, this does sound like DLC to me. Good DLC worth getting, not a shy expansion like Half Life: Opposing Forces where you push around a box for hours.

5418

The way I differentiate it: DLC is lightweight crap made by the B team that you probably don’t need but you’ll buy anyway, and expansions are actually good.

The Eurogamer piece did make me ask myself what non-standalone expansions have come out in the last 7-8 years that they could compare to.

I exclude the expandalones because that’s where you’d expect more of a compartmentalized experience.

5419

Weird, most expansions I have ever played were more of the same. Lord of Destruction for Diablo 2. Throne of Bhaal for Baldur’s Gate 2. Shivering Isles for Oblivion. Etc.

In any case, CDP stated many times they consider as DLC the small stuff (few quests, new weapons, armors, etc) and will provide that for free, and then larger expansions that provide lot of new content, storylines etc will be paid.

5420

From reddit: here’s a comparison shot of how they built in the northeast part of the map for the expansion. Minor spoilers I guess.

5421

Hmmm, so they actually expanded the map somewhat. I like that.

5422

Regarding the next patch:

The patch is on the way. Was just looking at the changelog and it looks really impressive - the list of changes is massive. The update will bring a lot of fixes and improvements including PS4 performance (as well as other platforms) plus many more. We ask for a bit more patience.

This is the patch that supposedly includes the additional Triss dialogue.