The title basically says it all: After many years of everyone in the universe telling me to give it a try, I am finally moving The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to the top of my list. I said that 2019 would be the year I finally tackle this veritable behemoth of a game, and I believe it’s time to stop putting it off and just dive in. While I have high expectations, I’m trying to keep them in check because I doubt any game could live up to the amount of hype that this particular RPG has surrounding it. As a huge Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls fan, it really feels like I should finish this title so I can have some experience with all three of gaming’s major fantasy RPG franchises.
Since this is a huge game and it will likely take me weeks, if not months, to get through all of the content, I plan on writing periodic check-ins with my progress and general impressions so far. If I do succeed in making it all the way through, I will certainly be posting a massive review at the end, as well. Still, I’m trying to think one step at a time, so let’s talk a bit about my first impressions. For the record, this specific entry will not contain any spoilers because I’m not far enough in to spoil much anyway, but future posts might, depending on what I want to say. I promise I will warn everyone before I write about specific events, though!
Well, this is the furthest I have ever made it in an attempt at playing this game. Several times, I have started this game and not even made it out of White Orchard because I got really bored. Now that I have my bearings a little more and made it into the first full area of the game, I’m enjoying it far more than I have previously. Given that one of my favorite games last year was Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, I’m definitely having a lot of fun slowly clearing the map of objective markers. The story, on the other hand, is a bit confusing, likely because I have no real knowledge of either the books or previous games, but I suspect I’ll catch on just fine as I go.
The only gripe I really have so far is that I’m not a huge fan of the learning curve. I’m no stranger to RPGs, but there’s just a lot of systems in Witcher 3 and I’m having trouble wrapping my head around all of them. Since I’m playing on the story difficulty to just relax and enjoy the plotline, I can afford to make a lot of mistakes and it isn’t a huge deal, but there’s just so much going on and I’m struggling to keep it all straight. I also did something that I have never done before and accidentally went into a quest at far below the recommended level. Somehow, I didn’t notice this was the case until I was halfway through a massive cave system and the enemies were destroying me, even with my low difficulty level. While I did manage to trudge through, I have now learned my lesson and will be doing quite a bit of side quest grinding before I head back into the main story.
Well, that’s it for this small update! I just wanted to let people know that I am, in fact, playing this game and to expect plenty more content about it in the future! Have you played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt before? Let me know in the comments below!
The Hannie Corner 
I know there’s a lot of love for the Witcher 3, but my completionism won’t let me until I finish the first two. I’ve played a chunk of Witcher 1, but the combat is definitely a little jenky. There’s a lot to love, but I also have the problem of sometimes going a few weeks between playing, and then I spend half an hour trying to remember what I was doing and….well, I haven’t finished the Witcher 1 lol.
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I tried so hard to start by playing the first game, but I just find it unbearably dated and boring. If I absolutely fall in love with Witcher 3, it may push me to go back to the other titles for backstory, though, so I’ll never say never on the older titles!
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Glad you made it through the high-level quest! I saw your Twitter post about it lol Good luck, and enjoy! 🙂 And don’t be hesitant about reaching out online for help! It’s a monster of a game to take in.
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On the whole, if I need to figure out a specific location or something, I’m not going to hesitate to find a wiki. Life is too short to run endlessly in circles in video games.
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I think I know the cave system. I attempted it on my second playthrough – NG+ on Death March – and had to go right back and respec. Witcher 3 has a steep learning curve, but taking your time and not rushing pays off. Are you playing Gwent? That was one of my loves in the game – maybe, obsession.
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I’ve played a little Gwent and enjoyed it, but I definitely need to get my bearings on what I’m actually doing. The learning curve on the whole has been rough with this title, which is probably what put me off of it for so long, but I’m slowly wading in and figuring out what I’m doing.
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I look forward to your updates! I played the Witcher on PC a loooong time a go and loved it!
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I can’t wait to keep playing. I’m really enjoying what I’ve seen so far!
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Great game! Glad you’re enjoying it so far!
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It’s so great! In particular, I love the side quests. Still waiting to see when the main quest is going to fully hook me, but I’m sure it will eventually.
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I just recently got into the Witcher universe. I’m a big Dragon Age fan too and I played the first two Witcher games before picking up the third. For some of us, exploring around is fun and a way to take it slow like you mentioned about the White Orchard. Only now have I started to grasp basic gameplay. But I guess if you didn’t play the previous two games, which have similar features that’s why it might be overwhelming but also because TW3 is open world compared to the other two! I also play on lower difficulties because I care more about the story so nice to know it isn’t just me.
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I tried to play the first Witcher about a million times, but I couldn’t stand how dated it was. Maybe if I love Witcher 3, I’ll attempt to go back, but I decided that at some point, if I keep insisting that I need to play the first two first, I’ll never get to this game!
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The first one you can skip if you like. The gameplay is crap but I highly recommend you at least play the second game. It’s way better than the first.
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TW3 is a pretty solid game. Pretty sure it’s the only overwhelmingly positive game of its type & size on steam. Looking forward to reading future updates!
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I’m really enjoying it so far, my first update will be going up in the next day or two!
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This game was so hard to put down. Most of lot of the side quests have more to them than meets the eye. Don’t stop until you get to Blood and Wind content! Toussant is mind blowing.
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I can’t wait to play more, this is really an amazing game.
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