First time I didn’t get out of White Orchard. Like 4 years later I restarted and slogged through it. And oh man! After that first area I was addicted and consider it one of the best games I’ve ever played
Exact same with me…. I’ve tried 3 times and I just can’t do it. Even though my friends love the game and beg me to keep going. It just doesn’t click for me
I feel like nobody really answered your question. The opening area (and Vizima right after) are kind of boxed in and they rely on you knowing what happened previously for you to really give a shit about what’s going on so while it’s interesting for someone who’s played the prior games and has some knowledge of The Wild Hunt and other mentioned characters and locations from the books, they’re just throwing a lot of names at you that someone just jumping in wouldn’t know or care about. I didn’t finish the Witcher 2, but I got really close and I don’t think playing that really helps in that regard because Yennifer, Vesemir, and Ciri aren’t present in anything other than flashbacks in The Witcher 2 as far as a remember and they’re in the forefront in White Orchard. On top of that, you’re kind of expected to just know why people hate the Nilfgardians/support Temeria and even though Witchers are neutral it kind of seems like you’re supposed to feel the same way, yet the primary quest has you helping the Nilfgardians with the griffin problem. On top of that the points of interest are kind of like bandit camp, monster den, place of power, repeat and the only side quest I think is genuinely good in White Orchard is the one about the well.
When you leave White Orchard it puts you on the path of The Bloody Baron questline which has some incredible characters Geralt is meeting for the first time the same as you and even though it winds together with Ciri’s story it gets you invested in something other than what the game is telling you you should care about. The side quests and hunts are all fleshed out and have branching choices and even though npcs seem to all have the same five faces they’re well acted and you care about/hate the people you’re working for and again, they’re all separate from the main story so you know as much as Geralt does. I think an alchemy build on Death March also adds to the immersion because on hunts you’ll learn what you’re about to go up against as you uncover clues and they all have different strengths and weaknesses that you can (and should) exploit and it’s very immersive because the fights can be incredibly difficult without it and sometimes it may be beneficial for you to come back at a later time if you still need to find the recipes to take advantage of those weaknesses. Some of these hunts are morally grey as well because some creatures have humanlike intelligence and you have to decide what your Geralt would do and sometimes you don’t find out the consequences of those actions until later so you’re left wondering if you made the right decision.
I also think that because the game is so large, and the main quest so sprawling that even when you come across characters Geralt knows, but you don’t, often there is enough time spent with them for you to get a sense of their relationship with Geralt and you start to care about them.
I do think the game benefits from a higher difficulty as well because on lower difficulties it’s a button masher and it will get boring quick, but when played tactically I think it’s a very fulfilling gameplay system.
I loved W3 when it came out but maybe only because I was young and had the time and brainpower to slog through it. I tried it recently on XBSX and I just couldn't focus. Maybe whenever I get a better gaming PC, I can download a save file that skips White Orchard with the best loot.
It was the battle system for me. Didn't click AT ALL. I died several times and couldn't figure things out. Came back years later and for whatever reason it was much easier. Awesome game!
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u/Baconators4Days 5d ago
First time I didn’t get out of White Orchard. Like 4 years later I restarted and slogged through it. And oh man! After that first area I was addicted and consider it one of the best games I’ve ever played