A Critique of 'The Witcher 3'...

[@jakehenderson2959]

It’s almost 10 years old and its better than a lot of games we’re getting these days

[@CyraXFactor]

Better than most, if not all. There hasn’t been anything like it since. I’d give BG3 the cake for RPG, but aside from that… nothing else.

[@ISGAMINGFORNERDS]

@@CyraXFactorand what makes it worse it didn’t cost them a lot of the money that’s being made to make slop these days.

[@Thevikingninja117]

You can say that again.!

[@nenadmilovanovic5271]

Witcher 3 and MGS5 tricked us. I thought games would get better. They didn't lol

[@maso303]

I would argue that there is absolutely zero correlation between the newness of a video game, and it's quality. I'd even say that one might have an easier time arguing that older games are inherently better than newer ones, than vice versa.

[@GRR1MN1R]

I will never forget that first moment when Geralt finally gets to Skellige and the Ard Skellige theme started playing it was too perfect and is still my favorite map ever

[@musthavechannel5262]

What a memory. A beach area with amazing environment, a new amazing soundtrack, new enemies flying overhead, and a promise of a huge area yet to be explored. What a moment.

[@bodigames]

The Bloody Baron music is my favorite.

[@lua_moura]

One of the most special moments in the game ❤

[@surebow7270]

Very interesting. Cause I think its the most frustrating part of the game due to the slow boat travels and numerous Islands. I like the environments and how beautiful it is. it just gets annoying after a while and all those floating loot with map markers.

[@bodigames]

@ yeah imagine not being able to fast travel in Skellige….. an absolute hell. The guy who made this video is very wrong on that part.

[@Berrytenor]

I am currently going through my FIRST playthrough of Witcher 3. I tried to play it multiple times but it never stuck with me. Currently 40 hours in and loving every bit of it. Masterpiece

[@wolflarson71]

I bailed after 10 hours after trying for the first time about 6 months ago. What made it stick?

[@andreypokesaround]

Same here, 20 hours in. Just about reached the part where Priscilla helps Geralt find the doppler. Nine years later, I'm finally giving this masterpiece another try.

[@DS-ss1gm]

I never finished it years ago. Just started playing it again last week. I'm the same totally addicted to it now. Not exactly sure why. Think maybe a lot of it has to do with the next gen update. Love the auto apply oil option.

[@neoey]

@@wolflarson71 for me it helped hugely to read the books, to get a better idea of the backstory

[@shift7808]

Took me 10 years to return to it after quitting in 2015. Just beat it at around 4am this morning. It gets okay at the very very end but it was a slog.. all the systems in the game quickly become redundant, no matter what difficulty you play it on, so it you dont enjoy the narrative, youre just screwed. i dont feel like i regret finishing the game... But its a very miss miss miss miss miss HIT type of game, where good content is sprinkled here and there, while the vast majority of content is just pain.

[@replay717]

I have to disagree with the fast travel statement. I’m a dad of two with two jobs, man. I only have 1-2 hours to play sometimes. I don’t want to waste 30 minutes having to travel through land that I’ve already traveled through multiple times just because it breaks your immersion. If you don’t want to use it, then don’t use it. If someone wants to overuse it , that’s their choice. I only use it when I feel like I really need to. for instance, like you mentioned earlier in the video, where I have to go to multiple shops to find something I need. But not everyone has so many hours a day to play games. I get what you’re saying, but I think fast travel is a good thing that allows people to play games in a more convenient way in real life.

[@thisistori1]

so true. majority of the players don't have the luxury to play hours a day - probably everyday - and get money/benefits from it. the fast travel could be disabled in options for people like him, but again, but removing fast travel will not be good

[@darthraven1054]

mods fixed it for me, really improved the experience

[@theflood24]

Same here man. I’m a dad, work 70 hours a week. I even installed the “fast travel from anywhere mod”. I don’t have time to ride around everywhere. Especially since I’ve beaten the game several times.

[@replay717]

@ yeah not every aspect of the game has to be immersive. I just want to enjoy the game.

how about you raise those kids instead of ruining video games?

[@machodgdon]

Ah yes Witcher 3 the game that not only changed gaming, but put Luke on the fast track to where he is now. Congrats on all your success man!

[@GallumA]

how did it change gaming? people are down right rewriting history for that game.

[@Simp_Supreme]

​@@GallumAgamers are notoriously hyperbolic and forgetful, happens with the passage of time. The game put CDPR on the map but wasn't exactly revolutionary, just a great game.

[@AF2277S]

@@Simp_Supremena the game was by far a revolutionary game. It changed the way people looked at the standard for an open world RPG. Prior to this it was Skyrim. It took until Baulders Gate 3 to topple the view of best rpg let alone open world rpg

[@atomicheat6]

​@AF2277S i still think for me personally bg3 wasn't as good as the witcher 3, I much prefer the witchers open world/world in general

[@CactousMan]

@@AF2277S the "open-world standard" was already established with GTA5, even if not an "RPG" per-se

[@marconeves1979]

2:27:10 Yes, the entire Gaunter O'Dimm theme plays in Blood and Wine (upon completing the Spoons/Wight quest), after you speak to the old lady you save and your butler at Corvo Bianco. So, yes: it was Gaunter who caused trouble yet again.

[@GabrielBlackwood7]

If I remember well, it plays at Corvo Bianco when she explains what happened to her, is that right? I kinda remember it not being straight away just after a little bit of time, when she finishes eating.

[@StefanConstantinDumitrache]

Gaunter's traces are present all over Toussaint, and are symbolized by mirrors broken in a very specific way. So basically whenever you see a broken mirror you should assume he may have been involved in whatever happened around that area.

[@johanaugustsandels3501]

@@GabrielBlackwood7 It plays when she is eating at corvo bianco and Geralt tells her story to BB

[@Roptica]

The best game I’ve ever played, and one of the rare few that transcends being just a "game." It’s an unforgettable experience that leaves a lasting impact on you.

[@CactousMan]

yeah, not bad...

[@Al_Lergic]

The best game from the 2010s.

[@guillaumeinjjuz1744]

The gameplay socks thats what keeps me from platine this game

[@PartyQuest]

agreed

[@deadfisher0000]

​@@guillaumeinjjuz1744I think you're right about the gameplay, especially compared to really action forward games (dark souls/nioh/etc) What worked for me was to not think about it like a reaction skill game. Handle difficulty by focusing on your builds, play the rest like it's a book. Seriously it's great.

[@EliasHall7]

I'm currently playing it for the first time. 100 hours in and its mind blowingly good imo. I absolutely love it!

[@dominikbakony2705]

just imagine how good the 4th will be considering the fact they moved to unreal 5, with todays technology, holy

[@alu161]

@@dominikbakony2705let‘s hope they learned from Cyberpunk and take their time for this one. But I‘m optimistic!

[@mototoe]

​@@dominikbakony2705 Different devs, a lot of them left a few years ago and made their own companies. Hopefully w4 is good though

[@Bloczek7940]

@@mototoe without them, cdpr made excellent Phantom Liberty DLC for Cyberpunk. No worries

[@bodigames]

I’m 60 hours in. Completed all white orchard Velen and novigrad question marks including DLC hearts of stone. Only thing I have to do now is Kaer Morhen Skellige and Toussaint + main story which

[@IamWonderBread]

Just started playing the Witcher 3 again this week and man the quality I forgot is so absurdly good compared to the majority of the industry currently.

[@Venom-xd9st]

It’s insane how the majority of the industry can’t just have fun and make a game like this nowadays- always gonna have to leave it to those studios that are given the creative freedom to make something fun for us fans

[@austinpugmire2843]

The saying of "Evil is evil" is often misrepresented by people trying to explain the world. It was early Geralt leaning into that ideaology, but Geralt as a character grows as his journey makes him see that he HAS to choose. He cannot simply not choose.

[@MrTD343]

Can't believe that Joseph Anderson still hasn't done a witcher 3 video yet.....

[@osmous]

yea that video is never coming out

[@TheSiscoKid2112]

Tbh my heart skipped a quick beat there for a sec when I saw this cause I thought it was finally it.

[@chasecrappel9480]

I’ve been praying for a GOW Ragnarok review. Joseph had a stream where his thoughts were very similar to my own but I want a 3 hour masterpiece critique haha

[@MrTD343]

@@chasecrappel9480 as much as I would like that too, I'm pretty sure that critique is dead in the water as he said during the year he played the game that if he didn't finish the video by the end of that year it would never come out.

[@membou]

I was looking for this comment. If he eventually makes it I'll still probably watch, but for now we've got this one. Saving it for the work drive tomorrow.💪

[@grzegorzlewandowski3859]

Important part to remember about not choosing the lesser evil quote is that he is wrong there. Learning in the same story, it's a misguided approach. It's often misrepresented, especially in the Netflix series missing it completely. Life and world around witcher are messy, trying to idealistically to not compromise in the slightest, just leads to greater tragedies down the path. So him making choices in the game is not a thing forced by nature of gaming. It's older Geralt remembering his youth. He might be an idealist at heart, but too expirianced to let it blind him to the situation at hand.

[@igorpodemski9596]

23:00 But Velen isn't separated from Novigrad and Oxenfurt. Only White Orchard is because it's a sort of a prologue to the main story. And obviously Skellige because it's far away from the other places.

[@kityhawk2000]

Thank you! I could have sworn I remembered riding to Novigrad from Velen

[@xMiMilicious]

Also, isn't Wizima like 3 days horse ride from Velen? And White Orchard is an additional one day. In my opinion it would feel weirder if you could get there within few minutes.

[@igorpodemski9596]

@@xMiMilicious It is.

[@austindavis6855]

@@xMiMiliciousyes the travel time between those places and Kaer Morhen are day long rides. The system they had was perfect for portraying the scope of the world.

[@xMiMilicious]

@@austindavis6855 yeah my thought exactly. Was it like this also because of the limitations at that time? Probably yes but I feel that they worked with it and executed it very well.

[@gamemode6526]

What's the problem with fast travel? If you want to go from point A to point B with Roach (and enjoy all of the environment) you can do it. But some people want to save their precious time with fast travel and they should be able to do that too.

[@Uselesscommentary]

And then he also complains that Roach is too fast. Nah brother, it ain't. It could be a bit faster to make traversing the world feel better.

[@dudaseifert]

it's so gatekeepy i almost clicked out of the video

[@CatToaster]

I've just played Witcher 3 the fourth time. It is all about players choice and riding and getting stuck on every stick is nothing I want to repeat over and over again. Installed FastTravel from everyhere, together with having all map-items already marked as Mods. I love it, how CDPR is not forcing me how it is "played right". Trust the players, they will figure it out. Deathmarch, Story: play it your way and have fun!

[@chuyista]

He'd be the first one to complain if there were no fast-travel in witcher 4 lmao

[@1stIsOnlyInCash]

It’s just that an overall redesign of the open world rpg would be better than what we have in tw3 where once you approach midgame you start constantly teleporting due to the whole game design. A better example is Elden Ring where you have lots of teleport points but the flow of the game doesn’t push you to using them every few minutes.

[@lonleybeer]

I hear alot of people saying they can't get into the witcher while i got instanty hooked from the start i don't understand..

[@RHQ7]

it's called brainrot 😂😂, people say the same about rdr2.

[@KiiDxLegacy]

From my experience, after playing through it two times; and attempting to get friends into it? I believe it's the intro sequence and White Orchard. For someone who doesn't instantly get hooked to the idea and setting, or if it doesn't cause them to atleast ask themselves even a basic question like "Who is that black haired lady?" then the story and world won't grab them. And even the first "main" contract being killing the Griffin, is quite a length into White Orchard. So if they're not even a tad bit interested in the story, it's just a dialogue slog.

[@bronzin1445]

I’m convinced people don’t want to like it even if they do. As to why? Your guess is as good as mine

[@infrared6973]

I mean the combat is atrocious and looked incredibly boring when i watched someone stream it for the first time. I think thats a huge turn off for alot of people.

[@ValiantInstance]

It took me 3 attempts over 3 years to be fair. Now it's my favourite game of all time.

[@mikedanilov8978]

Luke: "I hate that Geralt has to do so much non-witchery stuff, he should make most of his income by witchering!!!" Luke, like 2 minutes later: "why doesn't Geralt have a place to call home in the main game??? I hate it!" Brother, witchers are traveling tradesmen, they sleep in ditches, on a bench at a dingy inn if they're lucky. make up your mind if you want witcher 4 to be about being a witcher or an everything rpg of your dreams.

[@dudeunkown]

The Leshen encounter in skellige is still the best folklore monster encounter of all time. It is dark, frightening, mysterious. It takes you to the thought of existence of devil, witches, which suits the fantasy setting. Everything that is there is put because it should be there or is the natural extension which is very difficult to do. The witcher 3 by far has been the greatest game I ever played

[@jacoblennartsson2977]

2:06:57 fast travel in witcher isnt unlocked until you already ventured to the location in question, therefor giving you the chance to explore on your way to the location.

[@coleanderson3422]

There is also no random events so once you have seen the POI on the way, it’s literally just choosing to ride roach

[@Magabes_]

The crossbow is very useful during boat rides and underwater. It's very powerful during those times.

[@mascarpone-1337]

you also need to use it to stop monsters from flying

[@jeromevaleska2014]

4:29 When he said, “…but with all that said…” it cut perfectly to an ad belting out the song, “Darling hold my hand!” 🤣

[@MonkeyDLuffy-ed4fj]

I’m about to buy it right now, it’s only $10 right now and the sale ends later tonight

[@StefanConstantinDumitrache]

It is the complete edition? If so, you're in for one hell of a ride!

[@atomicheat6]

Please pick it up

[@monolog1349]

Have fun with it

[@jmorgmate]

Please reply to this comment in a month's time to let us know your thoughts. I wish I could experience it all for the first time. Masterpiece of a game.

[@DenDGLegionhardhouse]

No hesitation, just buy it and you will thank us later! Masterpiece

[@igorpodemski9596]

1:53:45 That's literally what the Wild Hunt was trying to do. They tried to save their own world from destruction and their kin from extinction. That's why they needed Ciri. To move and start living in another world.

[@chrisj320ac3]

Bro, you're in your mid 20's. You don't get to call yourself old.

[@dMb1790]

It will be one of those comments he looks back upon one day and says, "Man, I had _no idea_ what I was talking about."

[@brendanmonshall9834]

Ah yes. I've been looking for this comment. True. Dude is a bab

[@kityhawk2000]

If he was 19 10 years ago that means he's nearly 30 now. That's not mid 20s

[@Blu3Blaze18]

He's in his late 20s. Didn't he say he was 19 when he released his first Witcher review 8 years ago?

[@Urikhai]

Was more like 7 years ago his first video, which will have been a bit of time after the release of the game, so he's probs like 26. Very young!​@@kityhawk2000

[@viniciuseduardobomfim]

I have no doubt Witcher 4 horses will be a notable upgrade over it's predecessor, it's too big of a thing for CD Projekt RED to simply ignore it after W3's feedback. Now the reason horses in Red Dead Redemption 2 look and animate so amazingly *(in fact even Red Dead Redemption 1 horses are better than the majority of other games)* is because Rockstar did Motion Capture on *ACTUAL FREAKIN' HORSES.* Animators can be as good and talented as possible, they will never compare to the real thing, and Rockstar understood that assignment 😂

[@Simp_Supreme]

if TW4 doesn't have horse ball physics I'm uninstalling

[@panpawe9738]

If Kelpie won't teleport on the roof I'm reporting CDPR to the Temeria's Intelligence Service.

[@budgetreviews616]

I love cdpr but witcher 4 will not have better horse physics than rdr2 the horse is not as integral as it is in rdr2. cyberpunks peds don't even have better physics than gta iv 2008 game lol

[@SteCollects]

RDR2 horses are too realistic to a point where it becomes annoying when you fall off so often

[@awiseman9882]

@@SteCollects skill issue

[@afroponix3414]

Finally, the critiques that brought me to this channel like 5 years ago. Bring them back please

[@e_bomb3338]

your idea about the witcher contracts is great in theory. but unless you only want roughly 5-8 throughout the entire game its just not viable. im fine with how they did it in w3 which is a side quest with some required prep if you play on death march and a little bit of story attached to that town providing the contract. that way we get plenty of them throughout the game with some variety.

[@rigs9801]

yeah and besides the whole thing with witcher contracts in the books is that they don't get paid much. maybe they could do it like there are some shopkeepers in town who always want ingredients and stuff and are always willing to pay more, and that would create an interesting balance between using those ingredients from monsters to make potions or to make money with the shopkeepers, but it makes no sense for random villager x to be willing to pay 5000 crowns for a contract.

[@AbdijovskiA]

@@rigs9801 The thing is he's read the books!! Like hell yeah it's more profitable to be a Merchant, they have never said being a Witcher is lucrative, alone for the fact that People are stingy and don't know how much killing monster costs or how hard it is, and not having those funds in general, there are so many points in the vid where after years of watching, it sounds tone deaf for the first time, like thinking the auto oil toggle was always there and on when it was added as an QOL update, or the fast Travel system.

[@BlueBEAZY45]

Almost a decade later and it’s still my favorite game of all time. It’s definitely showing its age now but for its day especially it was a massive breath of fresh air. It essentially had the same impact that the original Call of Duty had back in 2003, where it did things so differently in its respective genre that it pretty much changed the blueprint for those genres for years to come. You pair the beautiful open world, with the fantastic writing, believable and relatable characters, and the gorgeous soundtrack.. you have a recipe for greatness. I really hope they can carry that same energy into the new trilogy and the Witcher 1 remake.

[@shutup1037]

Fresh of breath air

[@phononanon]

Your point at 1:10:00 about Yrden makes me think you might not have tried the full mage build with grandmaster griffin armor. It supercharges Yrden into a DOT powerhouse that also buffs your attacks and signs, and makes for a really fun way to play. Combined with fully upgraded Aard, you never need to even use your sword

[@AbdijovskiA]

or even igni being underutilized and then later on saying that first time players go for that as an upgrade, also, igni is overpowered if anything and for someone who's played this game more than a lot of people these takes sound tone deaf, like the friend most likely used a decoction without knowing the name bc it looks similar, these aren't the takes i expected from someone whose played the game so much that this info should be like second nature.

[@von1590]

⁠@@AbdijovskiAI just made a comment about Luke’s take on yrden and igni. Both are great with the right build. The griffin armor set was my favorite so I was very spell heavy.

[@gerardocruz6440]

The fact I’m playing the Witcher 3 at moment and one of my fav KZbinr makes a video about! That’s the way to start the year!

[@ughneyko]

Just want to say that comparing your old Witcher video to this one now is really inspirational to someone like me who feels like he is at that exact spot in content creation where you were back then. It's amazing to see what is possible.

[@austindavis6855]

I understand the want for a more cohesive map, but I think the maps being separated helps portray how massive the world is. White Orchard is supposed to be pretty far removed from the main parts of Velen and Novigrad. And Kaer Morhen is supposed to be so far North that not much else is even close to it. Being able to travel there with 40 second points of interest wouldn’t make much sense because it implies anybody could find just stumble upon that fortress in the far North. I also assume it helps with performance which is a big problem lately in a lot of open world games.

[@ferdinandt]

I respect your opinion a lot. That said. First pleading for radiant quests and then for a homebase doesn’t make the Witcher more Witcher. It makes it more assassins creed;).

[@proximacentauri9635]

I bought the game in September 2022 but didn’t like it at first because it was too gloomy and since I was living alone for the first time I preferred playing some “brighter” games (Horizon Zero Dawn, Red Dead Redemption 2, Ghost of Tsushima). In July 2023 I decided to try it again and that’s when I fell in love. I’ve played it for months and completed the Blood and Wine dlc last January. What is special for me is the story, the characters and their evolution, the exploration and the music. I never got bored and every main or secondary quest or contract, was well written and fun to do. It is definitely my favorite game for PlayStation and together with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, it is the game that had the biggest impact in my life. This is the longest comment I’ve ever written on KZbin but I wanted to express my love for this game, a true masterpiece.

[@Brennbare]

About the crossbow. It was actually pretty useful against flying monsters, Noon- and nightwraiths when they split up, underwater drowners. It did a pretty good job for me.

[@ivanherasymenko1778]

As for 7:52, I don't know about the US, but in Western Europe hype around Witcher was big even starting from the first game which is considered as classic of RPG, and won a decent amount of GOTY 2007 awards as well. So most people at least in mentioned area had faith in Witcher 3 and that it will be one of the GOTY contenders for sure.

[@axel9473]

46:18 Couldn't have anything to do with the fact that she is currently living through a witch hunt that has already claimed the lives of many of her fellow mages, while also dealing with a war, the whole Ciri/Wild hunt/Geralt regaining his memory and remembering Yen thing, etc...

[@macsgrave]

READ THE LAST WISH! It’s the first in the Witcher books. The “rather not choose at all” between lesser evils is horribly misunderstood by a lot of fans. It’s a great short story, but so many fans misunderstand that theme of the games. The tridam ultimatum sums up most of the choices geralt makes.

[@JebberGamingJaws]

9 full play throughs under my belt. Best game of all time, truly.

[@lucasgasperim5124]

The game that changed a industry and my life

[@y_corruptor_y]

Insane that such a old game is way better than the shit today

[@DrJones0801]

Let's not act like we don't get any amazing games today. In the past 3 years we have gotten some incredible games

[@mannydatboy]

i've never played the Witcher 3, picked it up for dirt cheap during a steam sale with everything included. Starting my first playthrough now!

[@owieczkacs]

Update us tomorrow about your first hours :)

[@oxenfurt89]

you are lucky then, having the opportunity to play the definitive edition on a current gen console or a good pc

[@mannydatboy]

@@owieczkacswill do!

[@mannydatboy]

@@oxenfurt89actually gonna be both, lucky enough to have pc version via steam and the ps version off ps plus. Gonna be using cross save to play on whichever is more convenient at any given time, plus it’s nice since I also have a ps portal to game handheld with.

[@atomicheat6]

Let us know how you go with it! I'm jealous you get to experience it for the first time

[@09spidy]

Just FYI, the toggle for auto applying oils was literally added last year in the 4.0 update.

[@max_blackened]

Dude, the people of Toussaint are actually subjects of the Nilfgaardian empire. Their beloved duchess is like relative to Emhyr. They're totally fine with the war in the north.

[@TheCephalon]

Because you’re in the game review and critique business, your tastes have diverged from ours. Most people have no issues with the UI, fast travel, lack of interaction between random city NPCs on the street that you do. We don’t nitpick and try to find every single detail that isn’t a 10/10 in a game

[@lighthousefilms5530]

Replaying the witcher 3 on series x. It's still so damn good. Favorite game of all time

[@markhobbs8320]

What the hell. I've watched some of your videos on the Witcher 3 today, as I bought it recently with all dlc for £7. And vowed to give it another go having tried throughout the years. I'm 20 hours in so far and loving it. Then you come out with this. Decent.

[@matturso2224]

Love your content, Luke! Your authenticity and relaxed approach is really pleasant.

[@stefanuifalean5803]

32:01 also very intresting to mention, the one who cursed the wight was actually Gaunter, you can see that by checking her logbook, where she says she was cursed by a mirror seller. Gaunter is also called "Master Mirror", making the parallel clear. That also explains the spoon correlation between the 2 stories and the riddle she was given, as we know Gaunter to use riddles.

[@youngpro00]

Thank you for the incredible effort that you put into these videos. Keep up the good work!

[@itszaque]

My largest issue with Witcher 3: it has small mountains... No really, they're really just streched, slippery textures that look pretty bad when viewed up close. I don't know if this means much but it's something I've always noticed.

[@zmar121]

So crazy that you posted this video today. I just completed my first playthrough on the ps5 version last night! Have yet to start the DLCs though.

[@usbgus]

I sort of enjoy that the open world is split in to different parts. It makes the world feel huge. A single map may be huge by itself but you get to see it all and there's noting else. When it's split in to different maps, you get the feeling that there is a lot more to this world. It sort of feels like the real world, where you are familiar with different disconnected places and don't really know well the areas between them, apart from the travel route.

[@ValiantInstance]

Nice, I watched your original critique recently and thought it was worth a revisit. The Blood & Wine review in particular.

[@Dr.Kiwi934]

26:27 this is why i love cyberpunk 2077. You subconsciously begin to appreciate and value the small stuff. like hanging out with you significant other at your apartments, by just doing dumb quests that make no sense like the flaming crotch man, by talking to the NPCs and even just driving/walking around the map. Eventually, you realize that the action blurs together but those moments of peace, where its just your friends and allies and quiet, those stick together a whole lot more. You can always kill more corrupt corpos, stop more crimes, do more action, but panam trusting you, judy admitting her feelings for you, johnny realizing his time has passed, or that its almost time for the end, those hit so much heavier when you think back on it.

[@Venom-xd9st]

Hell yeah- I’m sure this will be something that they expand upon in the Witcher 4, especially adding just the dumb fun stuff like those kinds of quests you mentioned

[@hemigod2]

Sorry if this offends you, but I hope that the devs of the next game take zero advice from you. Out of the countless arguments that have come up as I’ve listened to you I’ll choose this to stand on for now. The economy is great in this game. You’ve missed the whole point about Witchers not being paid enough for witchering I mean, Geralt ended up killing another Witcher because of this problem. It is a dilemma that is part of the story of the game. If devs smoothed over all of the gripes you have it would lessen the games value because your lack understanding

[@caliburn1123]

Not getting enough work is not always the same as not being paid enough. You can get handsomely paid for your job and still not have enough work as there aren't many monsters around. But even here we have ludonarrative dissonance as despite the lore saying there's a scarcity of monsters there seems to be monsters everywhere on the game map.

[@linden1763]

Glad someone said it. Luke kinda doxes himself here as either he hasn't read the books and didn't pay much attention throughout the game, or he is lacking in some media literacy (maybe he should go replay Veilguard...). The witchers are dying out for many reasons, but one of the main ones is that there are just easier ways to make money in this world, and its a brutal gruelling job. Witchers are becoming sell swords because they can't earn a decent living as Witchers. Letho (a Witcher), the main antagonist of the Witcher 2 is basically a Mercenary of Nilfguard so he can earn enough money to re-create the school of the viper. The world of the witcher is brutal and cruel, and god I hope they keep it that way for W4

[@SynisterSylens]

@@linden1763 He also doesn't seem to understand the nomadic lifestyle of Witchers when complaining about Geralt having no specific home or base he can go to "collect himself" until Corvo Bianco.

[@schlagzahne6741]

I was such a miser when I played witcher 3 and had tons of coin so it was kinda funny after having read the books and how Geralt could never manage to have enough credits. Guess I did it wrong

[@codygonzales]

Regarding fast travel, there needs to be some way move very quickly across the map. Most people don’t have hours to spend playing a game, especially if that game has heavy story moments occurring in long cut scenes. Fast travel allows the player to access the critical path with minimal disruption. Imagine spending your allotted free time trying to play RDR2 and spend most of riding your horse from one town to another. It’s beautiful for sure, but it could take me multiple days to resolve some quests.

[@bodigames]

“The easy combat” is exactly why I go into fights ridiculously underleveled. Right now I’m beating level 37 monsters when I’m level 21 myself.

[@mladabitanga2677]

You can turn on enemy scaling in the menu. I'm playing on medium and I'm level 40, it's just the right amount of demanding, a pack of wolves or couple more drowners can mess me up if I am not careful enough.

[@pievancl5457]

@@mladabitanga2677yea but scaling isn’t real difficulty, it just makes the fights more tedious while maintaining the same mechanics. Unlike many, I don’t mind the combat of Witcher 3, but it is very easy. I just hope they may make it more of a challenge in W4, or at least give those of us who want a challenge an actual viable option. I enjoy learning mechanics and systems and in W3 it was far too easy to break the game open and make combat far too easy too early, and not get a serious challenge until Blood and Wine DLC

[@mitchellbrough1615]

​@@pievancl5457witcher 2 was the best combat of the series, try playing that and you can see how they made it easier for a wider audience.

[@scottsmith9192]

Shout out to Valhalla, I played it on my Xbox. On my run, at around the 3 hour ish mark, my game literally crashed and lost the save file…. Never played it again..just thought I would share

[@lucanaumann34]

Hell yeah! 3 hours of luke talking about one of my favorite games

[@Cyprian161]

I wouldn't want to have just one map without loading screens, because that would restrict us to only one area of the world. I like the system in W3, maps were huge and you had multiple locations with their own climate, culture and vibe

[@connorpoole2194]

It wouldn't restrict you to one area of the world. It would connect all separate areas of the map and allow you to travel between them without a loading screen.

[@Cyprian161]

@connorpoole2194 then the map is going to be very small and unrealistic. How do you want to do no loading screens between for example Skellige and Touissant? Its literally thousands of miles between this places. So its either going to be very small map, that breaks the lore, or its going to be loading screens.

[@AbdijovskiA]

@@connorpoole2194 not only would that make in a smaller map then loading different ones, the different areas are days apart in travel, Wyzim being 3 days from Oxenfurt, White Orchard being a day from Wyzim, it would make no sense for all that to be connected.

[@Solaxer]

Close enough, welcome back Joseph Anderson

[@АлександрПирогов-д3ы]

He will never realize his critique, he lost in persona 3

[@Trai1b1aze]

He's having a 3-way writers block staring contest with George RR Martin and Patrick Rothfuss to see who will blink first.

[@scottshannon3654]

"Triss is like woe is me, pouting in a corner" Bruv all mages are being hunted like rats in the city she's in 😂😂

[@SynisterSylens]

She and her friends are being hunted 24/7, she's watched friends and colleagues be burned at the stake and they're all relying on HER to get them out of the mess somehow. There are times when what Luke says makes me wonder whether Luke paid attention at all when he played game. "Why's Triss such a buzzkill?" lol, dude.

[@oxenfurt89]

Life is basically a 3-year cycle between Witcher 3 playthroughs

[@tha_alien]

How crazy is it that just two weeks ago I came across your "Ultimate Critique" from 7 years ago and it made me want to play The Witcher 3 again. And here we are today 😂

[@tha_alien]

I've put in 50+ hours since two weeks ago, and I am not ashamed. I'm loving it even more now than I did 6 years ago when I first played through the game.

[@OrlandoGouveiaaa]

Finally, a long form essay type video which is the main reason I subscribed in the first place. Getting pretty bored of the low effort reading a news artcle type vids, wish Luke stuck with this type of content

[@ImYourHuckleberry-98]

The KZbin $$$ went to his head. He just regurgitates the same talking points over and over again about games that are popular to hate on (Starfield, Fallout 4, Suicide Squad, modern day Assassin’s Creed games)

[@OrlandoGouveiaaa]

*Game A releases* Lukes next 3 vids - "Skepical look at game A" - "I tried game A" - "Game A has a serious problem" - Just kinda boring and predictable these days

[@cianboy97]

These videos are basically the same thing, with all due respect to him. There isn’t much critique of how the actual game works, just a list of things which are good and bad. Which is fine but not very interesting

[@Gatitasecsii]

you think he put a lot off effort into this one? LMAO There's a ton of mistakes and mic pulling. He's just spouting sh t out of his a s s

[@jackfromthejungle7538]

I love love love video essays like this one - it puts into words what i felt everytime playing this game through many times... gives a whole new level of appreciation for this piece of media

[@mxyellow]

To appreciate TW3, you have to go back to TW1 and TW2. The improvement on each installment is so massive and the lore is so deep you know that the developers really care about the source material

[@JayTCU]

23:04 I'm sorry, did i hear you just critique segmented cities and locations? Forget book knowledge, what open world medieval setting has just one land mass and that's it. Feels like a critique for the sake of critiqing something.

[@AbdijovskiA]

Sadder still, for the fact that he's read the books, after years of watching him, first time I've noticed some of the Tone deaf takes, that only someone who's forgotten what games are, would make.

[@mikeschwartz1764]

31:45 Gaunter also notably kills the drunk man in the inn with a spoon. That's quite a bit of spoon imagery.

[@MrArjay123]

im playing my first play through of this game right now ! damn this game is hard

[@drakeafletcher]

Slight disagreement 1:03:59 I think Blood and Broken Bones is a better difficulty level. Deathmarch is cool for challenge runs but BaBB still has the most forgiving mechanics stripped out (meditation doesn’t heal you) but the enemy health doesn’t feel like you’re slamming into a brick wall over and over again if you’re just like fighting a ghoul. You can also fight in a much more aggressive style because monsters do more damage than on the easier difficulty but you still feel like you can afford to take a hit, which is absolutely not the case in Deathmarch. I genuinely think that a lot of people don’t like the combat because they play on Deathmarch lol

[@vladimirshishkov3846]

Totally agree. Always doing blood&b.bones run. Best balance, I think

[@Turalcar]

DM without scaling is fine if you go through most of the content since you're almost always overleveled

[@drakeafletcher]

@ not for the first like 15 hours

[@snoopdogace007]

It’s so crazy to watch KZbinrs grow and grow while the older ones move on or retire completely while new spring up that are closer to us in age versus from when we started it’s just a little mind blowing 🤯, crazy how time flies.. Luke being one of my favorite KZbinrs and being only 2 years older than is me is so cool but so weird 😂❤

[@Hailie_Broko]

Still a masterpiece, a decade later🤌

[@martymcfly88mph35]

The amount of branching storylines is what hooked me. You can really change up the story from how your buddy played. Its crazy.

[@OneVoyager1]

The comment about white orchard not being connected to the whole map of velen is due to the fact that white orchard is in a different parts of what is called the "continent" which is the whole known witcher universe. There's a map u can look at that shows u how big the witcher universe is and white orchard and velen are very far from one another that's why they are 2 different maps you have to fast travel between. In the witcher universe going from white orchard to velen is like a full days ride or even 2

[@nachosama05]

This game just hit it for me, I remember I just got my PS4 after saving money and went straight to it. When I hear the music it just takes me back to those looong TW3 sessions, today I can't really play like that anymore bc I have a kid and work, but I just want to believe that some day my kid will play this game and feel all the things that I felt playing ir for the first time.

[@SirShadeyy]

We got ANOTHER Luke Stephen’s Witcher analysis before Joseph Anderson’s Wild Hunt video AND GTA 6

[@troyn5305]

Really love this video! I enjoy this channel as a gaming news + review channel. But these critiques will always be my favorite content!

[@Marci.B]

Suuuuper disagree on the Rockstar movement being used as a positive example. The sluggishness of the movement is what stopped me from playing RDR2 in my theee separate attempts. Arthur controls like a tank, you press D and he takes five business days to turn. I believe there is a happy medium between the almost feline movements of Geralt and the trapped in quicksand feel of Arthur Morgan. Honestly one of the most satisfying 3rd person movements is Helldivers 2 for me, although it wouldn't really work with the melee fights in the Witcher

[@JebberGamingJaws]

Dude, saaame. I wanted to play RDR2 so badly, started it over like 3 or 4 times. Controls so horribly, I just cannot do it. Shame!

[@A..M..A]

I feel like RDR2 and Rockstar games (In general), are better experienced using a controller. (For basic movement anyway, not driving or gunplay) The movement is slow, yes, however IMO, it adds so much to the realistic approach of the story. Also: Geralt = Witcher Arthur = Human

[@alishalileh]

@@JebberGamingJawsYou have no idea what you are missing out on.. RDR2 is probably the greatest game I have ever played.

[@marsnr1]

The "This is my story, not yours. You must let me finish telling it." sentence is so great. It's Ciri's story....you were just a background figure in her story the whole time. So great.

[@qwertasdfg3447]

Absolutely no one thought Geralt was going to be the protagonist in the Witcher 4, dude.

[@DourFlower]

that first critique was new when it got me into your channel, this is great

[@pgh3316]

I love roach, but they're the worst controlling horse I've ever rode in a game

[@rybug15]

I didn't remember how bad the controls were when riding Roach but, now that I'm playing through the game again, my god are they bad.

[@pgh3316]

@rybug15 imo movement is the worst part of Witcher 3 by far. Horseriding and just general traversal feel sluggish, yet weightless in a way that makes Geralt awkward to control at times and Roach damn near impossible bc that damn horse gets stuck on a 2 inch change in elevation. The only part of the game that I remember feeling out of date when the game came out. I avoid the races every time I replay and have taken to just walking everywhere to avoid that horrible horse. It can't turn around easily or walk backwards 90% of the time either so you have to dismount if you bump into anything

[@yxon1ph]

@@pgh3316 tbh i agree movement is weird but yk game goated anyway

[@TheBasedBalkan]

Hot take but I think Witcher 3 graphics in that 2013 trailer almost look better than what we got, those washed grey colors made everything look so dark and gloom

[@AbdijovskiA]

oh no, the absolute shit show that is the World of The Witcher is dark and gloomy, who would have thought, also look at Toussant which is in a better spot in the world and economically definitely better.

[@Peatnik9]

It’s the Bret Hart of videogames. Best there was, best there is, best there ever will be.

[@mitchellbrough1615]

I think that's far too broad a statement to make across game genres. For Rpg's I agree apart from 'will ever be' as KCD2 is about to take take that title and I was a massive witcher fan played the second game, followed the news for the 3rd for years and reordered but what we've seen of KCD2 it has all the points of the first that made it amazing (many of the same things that made W3 amazing) and seemingly removes most problems of the first game. Just my opinion anyway.

[@twinmama42]

Dear Luke, your TW3 critique "then" was the video that made me subscribe to your channel. I'm elated that you returned to the game albeit it is in connection with the announcement of the next game. Btw: Sapkowski is pronounced: sup KOFFS ki. Conc. the world: 1. White Orchard is near to Wyzima (you can see the "skyline" from specific places on the map. Wyzima and Novigrad are pretty far apart. Of course, we don't have maps with distance markers in the game or otherwise but I guess the distance between the two cities at least about 3 times the diameter of the combined Novigrad/Velen map. 2. Toussaint is even farther away - at least 2-3 times the distance between Novigrad and Kaer Morhen which is at least double the distance from Novigrad to Wyzima. Traveling from Novigrad to Toussaint takes a few weeks or months. 3. A single open world in this game was not feasible as the distances between the interesting parts were too far in the established lore of the franchise. This is not an original invention by CDPR and as they always try to stay true to the source material they had to split the map into 6/7 parts. Recommended difficulty: Deathmarch: No, no, and no. You (as in YT reviewers) only look at your own demographics. I'm nearly 60. I started gaming with 45ish. I don't have the reflexes or the precision of young people (who still have more than a decade of gaming under their belt). I need all the assistance of alchemy and other systems to get through the game at the lowest difficulty. And don't tell me to "git gud". I play for the story and to relax. I don't want and don't need the challenge of Deathmarch. 1:05:37 It's the opening sequence of Blood and Wine not Heart of Stone Beastiary: Play with keyboard and mouse, press "b" and you're directly in the bestiary (there are shortcuts for all the inventory pages) You didn't imagine it. Gaunther O'Dim's theme is playing at the Trastamara estate. I love the game to bits and even after almost 10 years can't get enough of it. CU Twinmama

[@Davidium84]

You are wrong about his movement imo! He has physical weight attached to him which might make you bump into a wall in tight turns or tricky surroundings but it's for damn sure not because of the opposite which would be him being to agile and fast. I love RDR2 but in that game it's almost like running in quicksand at all times.

[@AF2277S]

Yeah but how else should a cowboy run around? Video game running almost always looks so unnatural

[@huckberry17]

I played Witcher 3 day 1 of release on PC and finished it in a week. I didn't actually encounter many bugs or performance issues. Maybe I got lucky, but other than hairworks tanking performance and some odd quirks with Roach, it was all very smooth for me.

[@The_Apothecary]

Its now nearly 10 years from release, I'm on my third play-through exploring and unlocking everything on the maps. Just got the Aerondight Sword. The game is incredible and sets the benchmark for any Single Player Open World game. Looking forward to the new: 'The Blood of Dawnwalker' game made by Witcher 3 developers.

[@StefanConstantinDumitrache]

After you finish the run do an NG+ and level Geralt to 100 and get TWO fully upgraded Aerondights!

[@StreamGearTalk]

Working on my platinum run of the game now. Just started this run 2 weeks ago. Spent 30 hrs in velen. Saw so much I never saw in my previous runs. Story still hits. The world is dark and beautiful and filled with tragedy. I love this game. Genuinely a great game.

[@Zaney_]

holy shit joseph anderson uploaded the Witcher 3 video.. wait.

[@ogrodniczek3836]

You reminded me how good life used to be when I played witcher 3 in 2017 and I was 16 at that time. I had a blast with that game, because I am from Poland and this was the first game that I have played after building my first decent gaming pc. I think I will replay the game or finally buy cyberpunk, because I've been putting it off since launch.

[@ReedGarzone]

Still the best game I’ve ever played a decade later. Since most of the Witcher 3 devs have left CDPR (including the game director) I’m looking most forward to Rebel Wolves new game “Blood of the Dawnwalker”. It’s from W3’s director. Go show it support!

[@moira4707]

God you lot are tiring. Most of the people in lead roles for TW4 have been with CDPR for ages (including for TW3's development). CDPR's last project, Phantom Liberty, was great. Story-wise, visuals wise, RPG systems wise, it's been great all around - there's *0* reason to scream about the end of CDPR's greatness right now. Will TW4 be great? Who the fuck knows. But at least, you know, don't go in with a negative biais. You'll just spoil your own fun that way.

[@ReedGarzone]

@ Tiring? I’m voicing support for a little known game from a studio made up almost exclusively of former CDPR devs. And yes, MANY devs in former leading roles have left CDPR and have split off into studios like Rebel Wolves, Fools Theory, etc. Plenty remain as well. I’m a massive Witcher fan and want to see Witcher 4 do well, but I’m not going to bury my head in the sand and pretend I don’t see the changes in CDPR. The very fact that there is an ENTIRE studio called “Rebel Wolves” *hint hint* and the director there was kicked out of CDPR should at the very least make you skeptical. And yes he was Witcher 3’s director. Luke is definitely a more casual fan and harbors a relatively casual audience as he’s gotten at least 5 things factually wrong just in the first 20 mins of this video, but I don’t know if he’s read the books. (ie Velen and Novigrad aren’t separated by loading screens, Toussiant physically cannot be on the same map as it’s literally hundreds of miles/COUNTRIES away from Temeria/Redania, etc) I’m still giving Witcher 4 the benefit of the doubt, but I’ll remain skeptical as Luke always preaches. And Rebel Wolves has a gameplay reveal on Jan 13th so I want to get the word out.

[@DenDGLegionhardhouse]

Yes correct many people who worked on W3 have left CDPR shortly after witcher 3 was out. I think the writers and designers where absolute next level back then!

[@moira4707]

@@DenDGLegionhardhouse you mean, people like Pawel Sasko? Who is one of the leads for TW4?

[@ReedGarzone]

@@moira4707 Bellular just conveniently dropped a video on this exact topic today. You can go check that out for some solid objective info.

[@dee-jay45]

I agree with most of your point, but had less issues with the combat and pacing than most. In fact, it was arguably the most immersive game I had played to date when it came out. Looking back, my main issues were the following: The loot system was really unrewarding. You chose a Witcher set and then stick with it for the rest of the game. This makes 98% of the remaining loot irrelevant. Not a good system. I also don't recall having any issues with money. In fact, I recall it being abundant after the first few hours. But that might have been from selling loot. Imo, the Witcher 4 can aim for a slightly tighter experience. Open Worlds today don't have the same appeal they had in 2015. I'm much more down for a 60 hours experience, than a 100 hour experience. The game needs half a dozen core game-play mechanics (combat, dialogue, investigation, signs, alchemy, tools) it can combine in different ways to add more depth to quests and game-play. For context, the Witcher 3 had 3 (combat, dialogue, detective mode) as the others aren't really used outside of combat. As for fast-travel: It depends: Load-times are largely a thing of the past. If they remove it, the game needs to cater to it. But if I need to travel 4 miles just to hand in a quest, I'd like a fast option.

[@anearthian894]

What new players must remember is that it's not a game, it's a closest to an experience of a grim world you are gonna get from a so called RPG. There are tonnes of things to be disappointed about though but overall...greatest masterpiece so far.

[@randomjoker21]

your Witcher 3 videos are so well articulated, nuanced, fair, and entertaining that i rewatch them every once in a while just to reaffirm a great game analyzed by a strong content creator

[@bgko91880]

Geralt and Roach are floaty and too fast? Nitpick much? Arthur Morgan and the characters of Rockstar are based in reality. The characters of The Witcher franchise are based in fantasy. Apples and f****** oranges.

[@AbdijovskiA]

especially since both Roach and Geralt are SUPPOED to be faster than the average, it would make no sense to be as slow as Arthur.

[@Darkholow]

Man Witcher 3 was a truly magical experience for me. Being a HUGE Witcher fan since the first one and ending up after 8+ playthroughs of W1 & W2 along the years to finally ending up reading the novels in preparation for Witcher 3. Besides that, the decision to play the first two games again to import all my saves from W1 > W2 > W3 really made my first time ever 100% playthrough something truly special that very few games have managed to achieve for me (funnily enough the ones that have have been in my Top of all time for quite some time, newest addition being Nier Automata in 2017).

[@theoutsiderjess1869]

I never played the witcher 3 but the witcher impact on gaming was felt

[@mitchnewland4916]

You need to play it it’s once of the best RPG ever made. Also it has one of the best card games made Gwent

[@Dan01-01]

You should play it. But beware that once you do it will almost certainly raise your bar for games by a lot. This is what happened to me and it became very hard for me to enjoy games afterwards. I wish I was exaggerating but no

[@ValiantInstance]

@@Dan01-01 I played W3 and RDR2 back to back in 2018. Gaming has never been the same since.

[@kakun723]

​@ValiantInstance play rdr2 witcher 3 and bg3. This kinda game can ruin your expectations for gaming in general.. far cry 3 is another example

[@ValiantInstance]

@@kakun723 BG3 is ready to go on my pc. Just need to be prepared to sink 100 hours into a video game.

[@fwc2047]

I'm also re-playing the Witcher 3 now... On PS4 I had 580 hours on this game. The thing that blows my mind is that my current playthrough is way different from the ones from the earlier gen. And the graphic overhaul and the new finishers nicely spice things up. 10/10