Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (6): Experience and Money

 
One last time we return to the world of Geralt to discuss the 2 fundamental gameplay features of gaining experience and money. Amassing experience and advancing in level is the most important aspect of character growth. It is a strong motivation for the player to keep on going. The same holds true for money.
In essence, they are both currencies, or numbers, that need to be adjusted by the game designer to prevent 2 things from happening: giving the player not enough of them leads to frustration and repetitive grinding. Giving them too much will sooner or later make the player too powerful and trivialize the content, leading to boredom. So how does Witcher 3 fare in this regard?

Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (5): Signs

Geralt´s magic arsenal consists of 5 different signs and each one of them has its own mechanics and purpose. This creates the favorable situation that no spell is entirely worthless as there is a niche for every spell and they don´t have to compete against each other that much due to their different functionality. The Quen damage shield is surely the most useful of them but figuring out nasty tricks with the other spells is totally possible. While the balance is okay for the most part, 2 particularly nasty spells and a few underwhelming talents do stand out.

An enemy falls flat on his ass after being hit with a shockwave from the Aard sign.

Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (4): Mutagens

Mutagens are organs and body parts of all different kinds of monsters that can be used by the Witcher to enhance his abilities. While this sounds rather gory, they are shown as little spiky spheres instead of hacked off limbs and entrails. So no butchering to enjoy here.

Any monster can drop mutagens.

Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (3): Alchemy Progression and Balance

I was very surprised after discovering that in Witcher 3 potions and other alchemical products don´t really go away when used and their charges can easily be refilled. Before I realized that, I was very hesitant to rely too much on alchemy. The thought of needing to pick empty one or two flower gardens after any serious fight sounded very tiresome in my ears. But alchemy in Witcher 3 works more like an unlocking mechanic and once unlocked, you can consume potions without much restocking. While not very realistic, it made the alchemy a whole lot more fun.

Restocking potion ingredients sounded like a lot of work, but surprisingly Witcher 3 handled it completely different without the need to return to the market every other fight.

Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (2): Alchemy Skill Tree

Note: The following suggestions mainly adress the complaints about the alchemy skill tree being unattractive and full of boring passive stat increases.

The alchemy makes a really weak first impression for a player that eagerly awaits to spend his first skill point. While the first tier in the other two skill trees is fairly straightforward (improve your favorite attack or spell), the alchemy skill tree starts out with talents that are confusing at best and useless at worst.

Improving Witcher 3 would be Witchcraft (1): Introduction and Quality of Life

Coming up with constructive feedback for the Witcher 3 is a huge effort. Yes, it is a crazy good game and everything, but pessimists like me will always come up with something to complain. The intimidating part comes from how huge the game is. Spending way more than 100 hours with a game and there will be quite a lot of things swirling through your mind. So grab some food and follow me on a journey of relentless nitpicking.

Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 9

The long journey is coming to an end. The last chapter of the big wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2 will cover little details from the classic Might and Magic series that were somehow lost in the course of time. Nice little touches that I would like to see return.

Title screen from Might and Magic 6

Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 8

Lords of Xulima is far more difficult than your average RPG. Still, the difficulty fluctuations follow the most common pattern found in lengthy RPGs.
 

Selection of the oldschool-veteran difficulty setting.

Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 7

Today we will take a quick glance at different possiblities to implement difficulty levels in a game. They are a invaluable tool to approach a wider audience and give less experienced players the chance to enjoy a game. Or they give players who seek challenges a way to test their abilities.

Selection of difficulty settings.

Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 6

Character creation is an important aspect of each respectable RPG. The degree of freedom can vary greatly between the games so we will take a deep dive into Lords of Xulima´s approach today.

Class selection screen during character creation in Lords of Xulima.

Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 4

Have you already played Lords of Xulima? Even if you only played for a tiny little hour, the following chapter will cover a very familiar sting of anger that you have felt during combat.

Low chances to hit like this one are a pretty common sight.

Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 3

To offer a bit of distraction from the main plot and to offer the opportunity to earn a few extra coins and experience points, many RPGs offer secondary quests for the player to solve. They greatly vary in quality, from a simple fetch quest to an additional elaborate storyline within the game world.

Side-quests are handed out by the local instructor in Lords of Xulima. This may be a matter of taste but I found it to be super-convenient.

Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 2

After a look at the food mechanic and the non-combat skills in the first part, we will now dive deep into the available equipment in Lords of Xulima. Adventuring and finding fabled and powerful artifacts to gear up your party is an pivotal part of character progression as it is to be expected from an oldschool RPG.

Finding a huge treasure chest in a deadly dungeon is one of the most exciting things in an adventurer´s life.

Wishlist for Lords of Xulima 2, Part 1

After following the development of LoX for over a year now and having played it for many, many hours, I decided to make a final list of all the shortcomings in the gamplay that leave room for improvement. I really love the game and want to experience an even better Lords of Xulima 2, so I felt it could be useful to share some of the thoughts of a person who has approx. 10 years of experience with game design. However, this is not a game review. There are a few very detailed ones out there, like the review found in the blog of Saintus.

The 9 Lords of Xulima