That’s usually how I do it as well. However, since the amount of replay wasn’t too severe, I took a gamble to see the ‘bad’ ending, and I’m so glad I did. Wouldn’t have had the same impact for me just via YouTube (especially since I think the gut-punch is from seeing it first and thinking ‘dear god, there is no way I end it like this’).
I was so pissed when i got my bad ending during my initial ps4 run because i didn’t feel like I did anything “wrong”. And when I looked the crucial choices up online, I was like, “Seriously?! Have a fucking snowball fight after I just had my ass handed to me for 20 minutes?!” So that’s what I did for my XSX playthrough (among other things) to get my better ending.
I felt the same way. And in my case, it was exactly the snowball thing that threw me into the bad ending on my first playthrough.
For the record, when you make the decision, you don’t know it’s going to lead to a snowball fight. I think the actual choice is whether to get drunk or something, and that’s what leads to the snowball fight? I can’t recall, it’s been 7 years. But yeah, I also didn’t choose the snowball fight. But that was much farther back in the game. The decision that takes place much closer to the end of the game is whether to let Ciri mess up the guy’s lab or not. Changing that decision changed the ending for me, so that’s how far back I went. There’s not much to play after that decision to get to the ending.
hah.
Remember, video games are just tools we use to affect our brains. The only important thing about a game is how our brain perceives it. Any choice, even a false choice, affects our perception of the game. All choices matter, even if they don’t affect your stats.
The difference with The Witcher 3 is that all of the most important decisions are hidden in plain sight. They seem like false choices, but they directly change the ending. Your words have enormous importance to your child, but they seem irrelevant to you. It’s exactly like …
Being a Parent.
I have two kids. It has been endlessly frustrating to me how bad a job pop culture, especially video games, does depicting this fundamental human experience.
The Witcher 3 is the first game I’ve ever played that really engages my parent brain. When Ciri came to me for advice, my experience raising my own daughters had an affect on what I chose.
Yes, it can be unfair. You can think you’re doing or saying the right thing, and it all falls apart. Welcome to parenthood.
I think this is cool and unique, and I wanted to make sure it didn’t pass without comment. It’s a shame it all happens so late in the game, because it’s really well-crafted.
Procrastination wins again! For whatever reason I only played about 5 hours of this a couple different times. Looking forward to finally diving into this for a real go round.
A big part of the reason I loved Witcher 3 so much was because I got the bad ending first. The balls to give me that ending after playing their game for a hundred hours, and the fact that it follows through on the dark themes of the game, makes it a better and more cannon ending than the others. I enjoyed getting the sweeter ending on a second playthrough, but it ultimately feels like a dream Geralt is having on his deathbed than a true conclusion.
And the fact that the choices in the Witcher 3, with Ciri and elsewhere, aren’t cut and dry and often backfire goes against the common wisdom of choice in rpgs in the best way possible.
I’m super stoked for this. I’ve played W3 3 times now, but never beaten it… I always burn out before I get to Blood and Wine
This time I’m going straight for the DLC
Both of the DLCs are freaking amazing.
this makes the fact that Inquisitor Martyr is trying to charge for the next-gen update even more annoying.
Sigh. I suppose I should finally buy this. I’d bought Witcher 1 and never got far. I bought Witcher 2 and never got far. So I’d vowed not to keep repeating that. But now I read this thread, and it’s on sale, 10 bucks including the DLC, and the update is coming.
Sigh.
Yeah, I sort of dislike the good ending because it is is just your bog standard happily ever after Disney fantasy story ending. The bad ending makes more sense within the setting, and I thought about it long after playing.
I sort of compare it to a little indie movie called Toad Road. The Witcher 3 bad ending is the Toad Road ending.
This is an excellent take, actually, and perfectly explains why my son and I had such differing opinions about the ending (and how you get to the various endings). I didn’t fully appreciate the why until reading that.
I hated the Witcher 1 – I’m pretty sure that game was made by horny drunk Polish people. I wanted to like the Witcher 2; it seemed like it should’ve been up my alley, but getting sucker-punched with the very first mission being an excruciating escort mission made me turn the game off permanently. And then the Witcher 3 ended up being one of my favorite games ever. If my experience is anything to go by, not liking their previous game will make make the Witcher 3 even more bafflingly good. It’s been years and I’m still confused about liking the Witcher 3 so much!
This made me LOL, since I could have written it word for word from my own experience. That first escort mission in W2 made me quit the game – it didn’t help that I was trying to play it with M+KB, but I eventually just said fuck this. W3 is easily my favorite game of this type I’ve ever played, and I’d be shocked if we ever see its like again. If not, we still have W3.
Umm, yes? :)
That said I wish you went back with your newfound appreciation and gave first two games another chance. Or at least the remake when it comes out in few years…
Do you mean the prologue/tutorial? Or the 5 minute lasting part after when you go to Flotsam?
Ok, now you guys sold me. Because those were exactly my experiences. Besides, it’s only ten bucks!
Best. Value. Ever.
Boughtened!
I tried W2 a couple of times and bounced off of it. Then tried W3.
I was a huge Skyrim fan, and the biggest reason for that was the open world they gave you in which you could just explore forever, always finding one more interesting thing, outside of the story. I kind of remember the main story, I remember pieces of the assassins story line, and even though I did all the quests through all the DLC, I don’t remember much of them. But I do remember in great detail many of the adventures I had trying to explore every inch of every map (and I did everything on foot.) I married and my badass wife and I had great adventures together. At one point we adopted a couple of kids after I built a house on a lake, my wife stayed home to take care or/teach/protect the kids, and at one point, after hundreds of hours in one character, I came home, gave my kids a gift, everyone was sleeping, took off my armor and stored my weapons, laid down on the bed next to my wife, and retired. One of my all time (computer gaming since 1981) great gaming experiences.
So when I started W3, it threw me that I could not create and role play my character to be who I wanted to be. I had a very specific character with specific morals etc, in Skyrim. Here my character is already created along with his motivatons. Secondly, I had all those question marks on the map, so there was no surprise of discovery. It was just run from marker to marker. None of the surprise and awe that came from some of the discoveries in Skyrim.
Then a funny thing happened. I turned off the question marks and explored on my own. And slowly but surely, this character grew on me. The writing blew me away: the normal side quest, yeah yeah, go get this and bring it back, but then I realized, most of these have decisions that are not at all black and white. There was tragedy and drama I’d never really experienced in an open world RPG like this before. I did shape my character, at least to a degree. I suck at melee and it threw me that I couldn’t play a stealthy archer but I got good enough, and at some point my magic armor set plus yrden gave me what I wanted. I actually stopped fairly early in my playthrough and read all of the available books, and that made a huge difference. There were encounters that had an additional layer, nods to what happened in the books (like someone telling me their limp was my fault, and it referred to an incident in the books.) The writing and the stories elevated this to a new level for me. Even some “little things” like wandering into the location of a big battle, and rather than the normal few bodies and weapons on the ground, being awed by how huge the field was with bodies and weapons everywhere. Thinking about the men who fought here.
By the end, after playing the entire game and DLCs in order, I had my moment that mirrored my retirement moment in Skyrim. Without spoilers, walking with the woman I chose around our property, sitting on a bench with her, and retiring with her. Very satisfying, even more than Skyrim in many ways because of the depth of the story I went through with her.
Too long, but I HIGHLY recommend that anyone who plays this turns off the question marks. Perhaps leave them on in the small intro area, to get a feel for things, but as soon as you get out of that intro area into the main world, turn them off, and explore. Don’t be in any rush to “win” the game. Just explore. Give the game plenty of time to grow on you. It will.