Meanwhile, all of the other attending press were focused on story missions or the first main quest. Some were deep into dialogue trees, and others were fighting huge monsters. I looked around the room, worried that I was left behind or that I might be missing something important that I should be writing about in this preview. A representative told me not to worry about progress. Just run around and have fun, he said.
I did.
Above: This griffon is not easy to take down.
A better fight
My journeys eventually took me to the first story mission, which had me taking up a contract to kill a griffon that had been terrorizing a village.
Just about all of the key events and battles of The Witcher 3 have a multipart approach, this one included. First, an investigation takes place. In the case of the griffon, I had to ask around to find someone who might have witnessed an attack by the beast. I found a hunter that was able to direct me to an area where it devoured a couple of victims. It did a number on them.
Following the investigation, Gerald’s supernatural Witcher sense is put to use. I used his heightened vision to search the site for clues, which had me following bloody footsteps to the griffon’s nest, where I learned why it was attacking nearby villages. From there, the preparation phase starts. I tracked down a herbalist that guided me to a special plat that I could use as bait to draw the griffon to our desired battle ground.
Though I died four times trying to take the beast down, I could still appreciate the improvements in the combat system over the previous game. It’s simplified and feels much easier to get into. Fighting feels fresh and fast, and it has little in the way of a learning curve. Too bad CD Projekt Red couldn’t work this combat engine into the previous game.
Having to investigate and prepare before a battle made for a very satisfying experience. It immediately had me looking for another fight.
A heaping helping
This game is gigantic. The area where I began playing seemed endless on its own. I feel comfortable saying that I barely glossed over a couple of villages and two or three wooded areas in my three or so hours of play. I could have spent a day there alone.
I later got a peek the Skellige Isles, which were modeled after the Scottish Highlands. It was downright cruel to put me into this beautiful valley and its dazzling castles for such a short time. I bet I could have spent days exploring there on a virtual vacation.
In that three or so hours, I didn’t see any of the dungeons the development team teased, some of which they say are city-sized. In that time I only fought one key battle. I only gained one level out of 50 or more. I barely scratched the surface.
CD Projekt Red says that I saw about 2 percent of the total game. The Witcher 3 is 30 times bigger than its predecessor and has about 35 endings. It should clock in at 100 hours or more for most players.
A great first impression
My take is that The Witcher 3 is going to be good, and I can already tell that it fully deserves its placement on the top of all of those “most-anticipated games of 2015” lists. It’s the open world that makes it so great; this was the best possible move for the franchise. It might just be that I’m new to the world, but it feels like they’re just getting started with this final chapter
Again, I can’t wait.