Only a 10? A real game should have forced Gamespot to skip their scale and grant a rare 11. Pfffft
Bateau
1743
I think that happened before the reviews went live :P.
For balance, Jeff Gerstmann at Giant Bomb tweeted that he couldn’t get into it.
So there’s that.
I’m not really sure Jeff likes video games any more, just listening to him talk on the GB podcast.
The Gamespot review is great (and the only one I’m reading), but whatever you do, don’t read the comments. Really. REALLY.
Review of the initial reviews
GameSpot: Like a lot of reviewers, he just can’t help spoiling minor side events in an open world game. His review is littered with little examples that might work better as a pleasant surprise. I don’t need to go in blind, but it bugs me how people toss out minor spoilers that aren’t necessary to make a point. But all is forgiven when he says the game “allows its spaces to breathe,” which is exactly the phrase I use to judge open worlds. He later says “some of the joys that arise in the wilds are quiet ones.” Well, I’m not saying I’m not Kevin VanOrd.
IGN: They take a lot of flack, but I give this guy credit for sounding like he actually played TW2 and is able to contrast it coherently with TW3. I just hope the “main quest sucks but the open world is awesome” theme doesn’t catch on too much, or we’ll never hear the end of it. I didn’t get that sense from anyone else.
Game Informer: More minor spoiler examples but they’re all pretty harmless. Good description of positives not mentioned elsewhere: more complex romances, and she evoked a sense of the interesting dilemmas Geralt will face without merely saying “OMG shades of gray.” The phrase “intense decisions” caught my eye. I haven’t felt that very often since Dragon Age. Her description of the Ciri sequences remind me of Catwoman in Arkham City: faster, but less variety due to fewer tools.
Eurogamer: Superb contrast with the state of AAA open world gaming. They also admit the mechanics are a little less compelling than some RPGs – surely they’re thinking of the Souls games here without directly mentioning them and causing us all to roll our eyes. Combat that is “crunchy, knockabout fun, and sometimes strategic” is about what I expected and more than enough for me.
I respect Gerstmann’s inability to get into certain games. I struggle with that too. My list of genres that interest me is quite small these days.
Which is why he said “another million”, because one million already went by. ;)
Bateau
1749
Oops, totally missed that. Hype is definitely in full swing for this game.
Allright I’m in too. I’ve barely looked at screenshots, never watched any trailers, never read anything on the plot, avoided reading even tangential plot elements described upthread. Bring it on :).
I’ve been mulling the piracy angle of this game. DRM-free it’s clearly going to be pirated by millions. It’ll be interesting to follow this side-story.
Gerstmann’s inability to get into the game doesn’t bother me. His tastes fall outside the range of a zillion-hour deep RPG.
I don’t get a sense that anyone over at Giantbomb likes the kinds of games I get super into, which is a pity as I really like those guys and I miss discussions on the titles I’m interested in. Let’s hear more about wrestling, though! Eh, it’s fine, what can you do?
As for the IGN comment on the main story, I sort of suspect it has at least a little to do with the breakneck pace the reviewers had to complete regardless of how good the story might be. Hell, I get antsy trying to sit through a two hour movie these days, so I expect TW3 to take me two to three weeks of steady play, with plenty of breaks in between.
There were a few comments about small areas of concern: out-leveling the main quest, some glitches here and there, load times between maps and pop-in after fast traveling.
The harsh leveling still bugs me. I still think CDP heard how much gamers hate level scaling and decided to take the opposite extreme without considering how to make it work. I don’t know if the value gained from overcoming an occasional bullet sponge above my level is worth the value lost from steamrolling the main quest.
This is only a concern at this point. We’ll have to see how it plays out in practice. It’s one of those things better judged by the community than reviewers’ individual experiences.
For everyone getting super-excited about the high early review scores, remember that GTA IV got crazy high review scores at first, then…not so much.
I mean, I hope I’m wrong, and I’ve got the game coming in any case since I bought a GTX 970, but let’s all keep our heads.
This is right up Vinny’s alley, but since he’s not on the podcast anymore we don’t really hear his point of view on these kinds of games. He’s also got a play style similar to my own (inveterate completionist) so I really miss his perspective on things.
It’s always that way. Look at Dragon Age: Inquisition. Crazy good reviews initially, then opinions started to split.
Cyrano
1757
That’s exactly what I was thinking. We’ve been burned with early reviews before. I’m still buying it on the first day, though, based on how much I love the first two.
Yeah, reviews for me are mostly a curiosity. I have my share of 10/10 games I didn’t really like, and my share of 5/10 games I really enjoyed. Also, being a fan of the Witcher universe, Witcher 3 is a game I would play even if it sucked, because, well, I have to. :)
All I can say is that I hope I love the game.
PC Gamer is unable to do their review until the Day 1 patch goes live.
http://www.pcgamer.com/when-is-our-witcher-3-review-coming/
That’s a bummer, but that was a pretty darn good pun there.
Understood. I was trying to offer a bit of perspective is all.
