Witcher 3 is 50 hours long: new previews offer fresh details
The Witcher 3 has been given the preview treatment in Germany, offering up a new batch of interesting details on CD Projekt RED's open world RPG.
Previews appeared in German magazines PC Games and Gamestar, Google translated here for your pleasure by OXM.
Top of the pile is that an average play-through will take you 50 hours, ending up on one of 36 world states, leading to one of three hour-long epilogue chapters at the end.
Save games will dictate which character return from previous Witcher titles, but Geralt's backstory willstay the same regardless of what you did before. It's not yet clear what the true canon ending of Witcher 2 is.
Geralt's Axii spell returns but this time it tames horses in the wild, or if you can't be arsed you can just buy one. There's also new fire spell called Ignii that lets Geralt burn things in the environment using a constant stream of flame.
You can also hunt animals for fur and other resources by tracking their colour-coded markings in the wild. The day-night and weather cycles dictate when areas can be accessed and what beasts appear in the wild.
Away from the wild plains, towns are said to be denser, and citizens will rat you out to city guards if they see you stealing or generally being a dick. You can waste time in cities by playing card and axe-throwing minigames.
Geralt can now level up to 60 by earning experience through finishing quests. Hunting doesn't dish out XP as it only gives you resources and money. Speaking of which the world's economy is dynamic and is affected by what you sell, and how much.
Geralt can even jump now - praise gravity! He also has a new combat mechanic that lets him target body parts, which is a bit like VATS in Fallout 3. QTEs have also been scrapped.
Known areas are the world's capital Novigrad, the Skellige Islands, and the wasteland wilds. You can travel the islands via boat.
Phew. So, what do you think. Excited?
Remember The Witcher 3 is coming to PS4 as well. Check out our coverage here.