Some writers from Gamestar.de have shared fresh impressions on a recent preview build of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
There are 4 difficulty levels; easy, medium, hard, and dark. Hitpoints stay the same, but monsters differ in skill level.
There is a reward bargaining minigame when you collect a monster contract.
You’ll need potions at higher levels. Thankfully, you need only craft them once, and refill with alcohol. You can also upgrade potions, but watch out as this increases their toxicity.
Skellige is the biggest part of the game world, with 5 to 6 separate locations. Novigrad and No Man’s Land are in one map.
Novigrad joins Oxenfurt as the two biggest cities. No Man’s Land itself has 25 smaller towns, some as big as Flotsam in The Witcher 2.
You will have to craft the game’s best items. You can also craft horse saddle bags to increase your storage.
Dialogue options are not clearly good or bad. Considering Geralt is a questionable character in the first place, this seems fitting.
The Gwent card minigame within the game is apparently good.
Geralt can rob people, although the system isn’t particularly interesting.
Ciri’s sequences last 5 to 10 hours, and will play more like an action adventure than RPG.
You will be able to see every item you equip on Geralt in-game.
Fist fighting returns, and this time it’s not QTE based.
The HUD is completely customizable.
Interestingly, the game seems to have been built for a controller, instead of mouse and keyboard. You will be able to switch between them seamlessly if you want to.
Doors open automatically with no loading time or button pressing.
Yes, it’s true. Geralt’s beard grows over time.
The build seems very well made, with few bugs and no crashes or freezes.
No slider for LOD, but Ultra increases detail on character models and vegetation in a big way.
Lastly, Xbox One will stay at 900p, and yes, there will be a Day One Patch.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is releasing on May 19 on Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.