r/Witcher3 • u/BasicInformer • 22h ago
Discussion Witcher 3 made me realise that narrative is one of the most important pillars in gaming.
Dialogue, writing, voice acting, and story, are the incentives — the carrot and stick. It’s what keeps me going regardless of whether the rest of the game’s working for me or not. I used to obsess over visuals or gameplay systems, but at the end of the day, the carrot is what makes the experience feel whole. Even just books and lore bits throughout the world, they make the world feel more alive comparatively to games with more complex world simulations.
It’s why even though Crimson Desert offers 100s of systems and more content than Witcher 3, I got bored and petered out in CD and why W3 is still able to hook me in. Even just the ? activities have sometimes roped me into a story I didn’t expect.
While obviously there’s games where story doesn’t matter, like Minecraft, where the gameplay itself is the incentive, the difference being the sandbox creative approach vs. a curated experience. Oftentimes curated experiences are as good as their stories. It’s why The Last of Us gets talked about over a game like Days Gone, even if they have similar zombie gameplay.
Now maybe that’s just me, obviously everyone plays games for different reasons, but I genuinely think if Witcher 3s writing and story wasn’t as good, I’d probably get bored fast like I have all AC open world games, Crimson Desert, etc.
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u/Catsplayingguitars 22h ago
The game is best if you rp a Witcher and all the systems and the world work towards that goal. Upping the difficulty a bit makes it even better, where you need read up on the monsters and use the right oils etc.
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u/gazzawhizz-990 21h ago
Deathmarch is the only way I can play since I experienced it. It incentivises engaging with all the gameplay systems and it plays out beautifully.
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u/BasicInformer 18h ago
Higher difficulty definitely made me appreciate the game systems more like potions, oils, food, etc. having little to not accessibility options also helps this as you’re doing quest and contracts to get money to repair, buy food, craft equipment, buying alchemy ingredients etc.
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u/Giotto6X 21h ago
Absolutely not, gameplay always has to come first in a videogame.
But the fact that the mediocre combat of this game is overlooked and/or tolerated because of how good the narrative is, is a testament to how influential the narrative can be for the enjoyment of a game and counterbalance its flaws.
But no narrative can save a truly dogshit gameplay, TW3 is serviceable for lots of people, but if it was extremely worse, annoying, broken, etc etc no one would play it even if it had the best narrative, but in turn playthroughs on YT wojld have lots of views
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u/BasicInformer 18h ago
I mean sure. If something is completely broken as a fundamental element it makes it not fun. I’d argue a bad story and questing can hurt a game a lot. Crimson Desert arguably has great combat and I cannot be bothered to play it. You kind of need both to be serviceable but a great story can make a game super memorable and important to you.
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u/TheYoungProdigy 21h ago
The combat is really not that bad once you get the hang of it, like I’m actually parrying and counter attacking instead of just hacking,slashing and slinging spells
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u/BasicInformer 18h ago
Don’t get me wrong, the combat is fun, but it’s no Elden Ring or DMCV or Path of Exile 2 or Dragons Dogma or Monster Hunter or Dark Souls or Bloodborne or Sekiro. Even in its genre of combat games like Ghost of Tsushima are much better.
Something to do with hurtboxes and hitboxes and how enemies behave just makes it feel clunky. Like a lot of the time, attacks that should hit you don’t, and attacks that shouldn’t hit you do. It’s very inconsistent.
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u/TheYoungProdigy 18h ago
Oh I agree, especially coming from Onimusha and Wolverine, combat is nowhere near that but it’s not that bad if you actually use all the tools it gives you
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u/Breckin30 6h ago
The combat is honestly only “mediocre” when all you do is spam. It’s crazy how enjoyable the combat is when you actually use the systems that were meant to be used
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u/BasicInformer 2h ago
I do use the systems. doesn’t fix the hitboxes and hurtboxes and lacklustre amount of enemy behaviour and predictable repetitive AI attacks.
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u/addbiy3852 22h ago
I think it's not so much a pillar, but it's the walls and the roofing, you can still build a house without it, but it's so much better if you invest time and money into to make it great
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u/Toadforpresident 21h ago
Yeah playing through it again, I really noticed just how good the writing is from the get go. The political intrigue and the way in which the game shows that impacting every day people is fantastic. It reminds me of the best of Game of Thrones in that way.
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u/bestanonever 20h ago
Same here. I wasn't in love with the actual gameplay of the game, even when it was the very best of the whole series, at that point, but the story and characters kept me going for 170+ hours. It contextualizes everything you do, even Gwent, lol.
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u/xyZora 19h ago
It depends whom you ask. Tetris is one of the best selling games in existence and doesn't (usually) have a story.
What I personally believe is that certain genres absolutely need a story as a fundamental and RPGs are one of them.
RPGs that put their story on the back burner tend to falter more than ones that don't.
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u/Strygger 11h ago
Witcher and KCD are the only two games that I could play over and over again because of this reason. For me combat is just a vehicle to get into more of the storytelling bits.
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u/Domination1799 3h ago
Gameplay is king, as I get older, I find it that I’m starting to dislike games that want to be movies instead of games. While CDPR has good writing, there’s too much dialogue/walking and talking in their games that it drags the pacing down.
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u/sillylittlesheep 22h ago
For an RPG maybe
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u/BasicInformer 22h ago
I think it really depends on genre yeah. Like a roguelike or sandbox or multiplayer vs. or driving sim game will always have its core systems or multiplayer or co-op aspects be the main drive over story. Maybe it's because RPGs regardless of how deep the systems are just feel shallow if the questing sucks? Linear narrative games or RPGs often have stories as a pillar, and if it's the one element that sucks, it's not something you can kind of work through because the entire incentive to progress through the game is gone unless you really just enjoy fighting things, which honestly regardless of how good combat is will get old in most games.
Like I played Dragon's Dogma 2, and while my incentive was systems and combat, it didn't take long for that to run dry, and then I didn't really care for the questing so I just dropped it immediately. As soon as the newness factor of a game is gone, the story is really there to keep you going -- gives a finality to it as well since they have endings usually.
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u/RacketandClunk 22h ago
Yeah they kind made the rpg systems a little to simple for it to be a great rpg and the action combat a little to clunky to be a great action game but the moment to moment writing and also the atmosphere and vibe of the world are what make me always come back. That being said, im hopeful 4 will make some improvements on the gameplay side.
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u/Odd_Mongoose_9218 22h ago
Absolutely. Its what really sets it apart from almost every other game, maybe matched by rdr2 and baldur's gate 3. Usually studios don't prioritize writing quality and I really hope the industry realizes that good writing is absolutely necessary if you have a narrative.
Your average gamer now is not a kid or a teenager in the 90s. Modern audiences always resonate with mature and emotionally gripping storytelling. Something that the witcher 3 nailed. Expedition 33 also.
Hire and pay writers well, and prioritize writing quality, you will sell, it's a guarantee.