The Witcher 3's storyline is too long according to devs

[m76]

Recently CP2077 developers have revealed that they shortened the story of Cyberpunk, because so many people didn't finish the Witcher 3.

How do you feel about that?

I say that's a load of bollocks, a campaign can't be too long if it's good. If people didn't finish it, there must be other reasons for it. If I like something the longer it is the better.

And not many people finish campaigns in any game, that's just how things always are. For example only 22% of players beat the last mission in Control according to steam. Of course that doesn't account for players who are still in progress of playing the game.  but the fact is that an 50% completion rate can be considered extremely high among story driven games.

Edited September 21, 2020 by m76

[Shagger]

I didn't finish The Witcher 3 because I just couldn't get I to it for some reason. Nothing majorly wrong the game, it just didn't click with like it did with others.

This move from CDPR is something they decided to do based on the data they have, so it's fair enough and doesn't really bother me. If the story is well paced and interesting but just doesn't fill as many hours, leave it that way. Adding filler to make it longer will only make it worse.

I know it's the same developer for both games, but Cyberpunk 2077 doesn't have to be The Witcher 3 to be good, so I don't understand why CDPR feel compelled to make these comparisons all the time.

Edited September 21, 2020 by Shagger

[m76]

7 hours ago, Shagger said:

This move from CDPR is something they decided to do based on the data they have, so it's fair enough and doesn't really bother me. If the story is well paced and interesting but just doesn't fill as many hours, leave it that way. Adding filler to make it longer will only make it worse.

That's exactly the point. The data only shows people didn't finish the game, it does not tell them why they didn't. That's why I mentioned the poor comlpetion rate of another successful game that is short. Being long has nothing to do with it.  This seems like they are making excuses for the game already which doesn't exactly reassure me.

[The Blackangel]

I'm in the same boat as @Shagger on this one. It's a beautifully designed game, but I just couldn't get into it. I tried several times, but it just couldn't get its hooks into me. So it sits in my Switch case just "collecting dust" so to speak. I would consider selling it, but when I do that I always regret it. So I'm just going to hang on to it. I may try again to play it later.

[Reality vs Adventure]

I am definitely going to try and complete the story. Been playing it for around a year now. I put it down for a couple months cause it was complicated at first with all the potions and gear wearing down. I didn't care much for Gwent and skipped a lot of that part of the game. But now I just got into it and know how to play. Been going back to places I been to collect the cards. Kind of a brilliant little card game. I don't plan on quitting Witcher 3. I'm at level 19 in the main story line. 

[Reality vs Adventure]

I'm gettin closer to the end of the main story I think. Still have tons of unexplored areas though. I had a hunch I was getting close and still had a bunch of quests to do so I looked up if I went ahead with the main story, would I lose those quests? Sure enough, if I want the whole experience I've got to finish other quests or lose them forever. Just a heads up.

Doesn't seem too long cause I'm really enjoying it. I think it's all the side quests that make the main story seem too long. Even those are all good and unique too. Even if you can't get into it, give it another chance. Glad I stuck it out. One of the top of my list in favorite games. 

Also, if you end up getting sound issues like the music not playing, there is a fast travel bug that seems to be common. So fast travel to Skellige and see if it works. If not, close the game application and start up again. WTF?

[killamch89]

I'm going to be honest and say that I would've finished the main quest already if I wasn't so busy getting sidetracked by all these...side quest! The only other reason I haven't finished the game is because it's so god damn demanding especially for PCs. I wouldn't even try playing it on my current gaming PC and it's no slouch.

[TheSteelyardDweller]

@Shagger @The Blackangel why it didn't "click" with u?

[Shagger]

16 hours ago, TheSteelyardDweller said:

@Shagger @The Blackangel why it didn't "click" with u?

 

It's difficult to explain. It just comes down the the individual. Some stories, scenarios and characters can really inspire, provoke and drive an individual to see more, some don't, and it sometimes doesn't have anything much to do with the story itself. Personal mood, current state of mind, even ones health.

 

A couple of things that may have contributed to my difficulty getting into the The Witcher is unfamiliarity with the lore as I hadn't read the books or played their previous games and the game seemed to overwhelm the the player with information in early going. There was so much think about and focus on at once it was more difficult to establish what the game was focusing in it terms of storytelling. I know that storytelling isn't as easy in an open world game, but I feel other RPG's like Skyrim and Horizon: Zero Dawn feed all the lore and active story elements in a way that was easier to digest. 

 

Well, that's the best I can do to explain, I hope that's enough. 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Shagger

[Empire]

Mixed feelings about this. I like a long main quest, but I often get tired of the main quest by the end and rush through it. A lot of my most memorable moments in games are side quest related - I'll finish the main quest once, learn where you need to be in the main quest to have the most fun in the open world, then only "main quest" as much as I have to.

What gets me about a lot of supposedly open world games with main quests is that they gate tons of mechanics behind the main quest - so some critical item or skill or whatever won't appear until you get exactly 63.2% through the main quest, or alternatively disappear forever if you get too far. A lot of the time open-world exploration becomes this weird calculation where you're trying to guess the game design ("am I getting too powerful for the main quest?", "are all these places with perma-locked doors going to be open later?", "will I be able to come back to this bit of open-world content if I push the main quest a bit?").

I'm still cringing about my first Fallout 3 playthrough where I accidentally made a beeline to a location that skipped like the first quarter of the MQ.

[The Blackangel]

3 hours ago, Shagger said:

 

It's difficult to explain. It just comes down the the individual. Some stories, scenarios and characters can really inspire, provoke and drive an individual to see more, some don't, and it sometimes doesn't have anything much to do with the story itself. Personal mood, current state of mind, even ones health.

 

A couple of things that may have contributed to my difficulty getting into the The Witcher is unfamiliarity with the lore as I hadn't read the books or played their previous games and the game seemed to overwhelm the the player with information in early going. There was so much think about and focus on at once it was more difficult to establish what the game was focusing in it terms of storytelling. I know that storytelling isn't as easy in an open world game, but I feel other RPG's like Skyrim and Horizon: Zero Dawn feed all the lore and active story elements in a way that was easier to digest. 

 

Well, that's the best I can do to explain, I hope that's enough. 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^That^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[killamch89]

On 12/3/2020 at 6:51 AM, Shagger said:

 

It's difficult to explain. It just comes down the the individual. Some stories, scenarios and characters can really inspire, provoke and drive an individual to see more, some don't, and it sometimes doesn't have anything much to do with the story itself. Personal mood, current state of mind, even ones health.

 

A couple of things that may have contributed to my difficulty getting into the The Witcher is unfamiliarity with the lore as I hadn't read the books or played their previous games and the game seemed to overwhelm the the player with information in early going. There was so much think about and focus on at once it was more difficult to establish what the game was focusing in it terms of storytelling. I know that storytelling isn't as easy in an open world game, but I feel other RPG's like Skyrim and Horizon: Zero Dawn feed all the lore and active story elements in a way that was easier to digest. 

 

Well, that's the best I can do to explain, I hope that's enough. 

I've player the prior Witcher games and I'm going to say I do agree with you that it's a hard story to digest because there's so much going on but most people haven't read the books (the lore is extremely complicated and somewhat contradictory in some aspects). I've read a couple of chapters of the book and the amount of information feels...overwhelming but at least I learnt where some of the monsters originated. We also learn that Geralt sucks at using signs and only knows the basics...

[Kane99]

My big issue with the witcher 3, was how many menus the game had. I felt extremely overwhelmed by the amount of stuff you could do, and I kind of just gave up because of it. Cyberpunk 2077 is a whole different story, as it feels a lot more laid out and understandable. But the witcher 3, for me, felt too overwhelming. Like it was just too much. I want to give it another chance though. 

[Reality vs Adventure]

On 12/5/2020 at 7:27 PM, killamch89 said:

I've player the prior Witcher games and I'm going to say I do agree with you that it's a hard story to digest because there's so much going on but most people haven't read the books (the lore is extremely complicated and somewhat contradictory in some aspects). I've read a couple of chapters of the book and the amount of information feels...overwhelming but at least I learnt where some of the monsters originated. We also learn that Geralt sucks at using signs and only knows the basics...

I'm thinking about getting the book series. Is it different from the game? I've been reading The Witcher comic series and enjoy it. The entire comic is free here for anyone interested:

https://comiconlinefree.net/comic/the-witcher-omnibus

 

[Withywarlock]

I voted for the story being too long, but I really should've gone for "Other" because it's both that and the game didn't ground me well enough. Even after the deciding moment of whether I should stay or go with the famous Bloody Baron questline I still didn't cling to it.

The thing is no dev can say when their story is too long or short for me personally. Spiders' games are consistently too long - Of Orcs & Men is only 12 hours long including its side content, which is 9 hours too much. A similar story with Mars: War Logs. GreedFall is 65 hours long, which is 30 too many. I'd said in another thread that I was loathe to play God of War (2018) because it needed to be condensed so much. And I've gone on to say frequently that Pathfinder: Kingmaker is "the best game I'll never play again". All of these games have great tales to tell, but they way they're told is what turns me off.

In reference to Cyberpunk 2077 I'll probably find it too long with how much the side content ties in to the main story (one of GreedFall's pros and contras). The devs can't win, which is why they should try to make the story they want to, rather than what people like me want them to.

Edited December 25, 2020 by Withywarlock