Thanks for the new thread. This month is pretty crazy on game release front. I am particularly interested in Thaumaturge and Banishers, but given my backlog, it will be months before I get to them.
Wanted to address something from january thread..
I've been wanting to replay this on PC for a while but never got around to it but from what I remember about the game it has a lot of interesting ideas (and a lot of jank) but it kinda falls apart because they're trying so hard to make a realistic game and reality, especially back in the 1400s or whenever this is set, is goddamn boring. The most exciting thing you do in this game is hunt animals with a bow and brew potions with an actual brewing system that isn't just "gather junk, press a button and create new junk". There just isn't a lot going on in the game because the worst thing that can happen is you come across a few bandits on the road and then you have to try to fight them with that horrible combat system and likely die from the attempt because realism dictates you die in a few hits and you're just a normal guy not Geralt so fighting 3 guys at once is an almost guaranteed loss.
I am really gonna disagree with this post right here. Because saying "
back in the 1400s or whenever this is set, is goddamn boring. The most exciting thing you do in this game is hunt animals with a bow" seems awfully reductive to me. It completely ignores the dozens of well written, well designed quests and character interactions, for example. Or that one time I got lost in the woods at night and had to navigate by night sky to get back to civilization. Or the conquering of Vranik. Or investigating the counterfeiting operation. Or making sure my friend Johanka does not get burned at the stake by Inquisition. I could go on.
It grinds my gears to read what you wrote
, because this game is particularly fantastic
exactly because the developers couldn't rely on fantasy elements, magic, dragons and all that usual stuff, and still managed to pull of incredibly immersive and engaging experience - as long as one goes into it with an open mind and willingness to engage with it (which is also why I recommend hardcore mode, it forces the player to do that on deeper level).