The game once again stars Geralt, his memory now restored, who is done fighting for others. His new missions include everything from solving mysteries to slaying monsters. And there will be no chapters, acts, or artificial break-points to slow him down.

Wild Hunt is set in a world 20 percent bigger than that of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and 40 times larger than that of The Witcher 2—one so large that it takes 30 to 40 minutes to cross on horseback. (Boat, foot, and fast-travel for previously visited locations are also travel options.)

According to the mag, Geralt can ‘seamlessley’ cross the game world with no loading screens to disturb him. This is because the team felt it missed the freedom of open-world games such as Skyrim.

When traveling, points of interest will always be in sight. Players will explore dark caves, embattled villages, decaying ruins, and other areas. Based on where you are in the world, you’ll come across certain mini-games, too. Skellige, for example, has a knife toss mini-game through which you can earn exclusive rewards.

The game’s narrative is said to offer three forms:

Lowest Level: Free-form activities such as crafting, monster slaying (which seems to be more extensive in the third iteration), and going on quests. (There are over 100 hours of hand-scripted quests. These include helping villages and engineering the succession of the Skellige kings. Though, I think the latter would apply to the Next Level.)
Next Level: The political situation of the Nilfgaardian invasion is resolved through a core plot line for each area, including Skellige, Novigrad, and No Man’s Land.
Final Level: Geralt’s main storyline, his search for his loved ones, and the chase of the Wild Hunt.
Players will be tasked with making choices, and naturally, can skip things if they’d like, but will face whatever consequences if they choose to do so.

Each land in The Witcher 3 will have its own storyline. Major events in the main storyline are said to be “gates” for the state of the world. For example, a village threatened by bandits might be abandoned after certain events if the player doesn’t step in with a helping hand.

Weather effects are also a big part of the game. This time, they’re dynamically generated and fully modeled as real, volumetric clouds. They’re not a simple paint on the skybox anymore.

On the field, monsters, bandits, traders, animals, and others will attack anyone they determine to be hostile. But enemies won’t scale to your level. Enemy AI has been completely rebuit, and scripted boss sequences are a no-go.

When monster hunting, players can gather clues to build up information. Books hold information on monsters and townsfolk can also provide insight. Potions and similar items are important when going into battle. Depending on the time of day and other conditions, monsters may appear in different areas and boast different abilities.

In combat, you’ll be able to perform critical strikes on a monster’s weak point depending on how much you’ve learned about it. When fighting a vampire, for example, you can negate its poison attack by hitting its venom gland. Or, you can strike at both its hearts with a thrust attack for an instant kill.

After they’ve been defeated, monsters will drop loot such as normally unobtainable chemical and crafting materials required for unique potions, mutagens, and other forms of item crafting. These allow Geralt to gain special abilities and upgrades in the new mutation development tree. Monster kills provide income as well (orens drop?).

Crafting is a critical part of maximizing Geralt’s potential, but weapons and armor can be found in many other ways, as well. Players will be able to customize their crafted weapons with additional components like monster scales for leather in armor. Each armor piece will have a unique appearance through the game’s new cloth simulation tech. Also in line with customization, players will have access to a barber to change Geralt’s hairstyle. But you won’t be able to dye his hair.

The “flow of combat” and “backward difficulty curve” of previous games is being reworked. In comparison to The Witcher 2, which had 20 combat animations, The Witcher 3 will have 96. When fighting enemies, a new “weighting” system will make sure the most threatening of enemies are always in the frame. These changes were made to make sure players wouldn’t get locked into animations.

Players can strike enemies with a single button press, and each move takes “roughly equivalent time to execute.” You can always interrupt your attack in order to dodge or block, even when you’re out of stamina, but you will be staggered. Your attacks are very fast, though, as are your opponents. In place of the former dodge roll, Geralt has a new pivot move “that retains its defensive utility without game-breaking mobility.”

Proper mounted combat is still in the testing stages, but at this point is not a definite part of the game. Horses are, however, as mentioned earlier, as they’re an important tool for navigation. It’s merely on-horse combat that’s unconfirmed. Outside of combat, one idea is that players can access their long-term stash from their horse and at inns.

Regarding inventory management, the team understands it was frustrating in The Witcher 2 and are aiming to improve it in The Witcher 3.

The Witcher 3, which is being developed by a team double the size of the previous game, uses CD Projekt RED’s new REDengine 3 technology and will launch for PC and “all high-end platforms available” in 2014. A next-gen hint it is, then.

“This is the conclusion of the trilogy.”

Ok wow, the text is small. I don't want to miss anything good. Here's a small few things I got that I loved.

World supposedly 20% bigger than Skyrim's, says development team. [Tentative, obviously]
30-40 minutes to cross world on Horseback
New streaming technology (CDRED Engine 3)
Geralt's Memory is restored
No chapters/acts
Dude is f***ing DONE fighting for everyone else
Everything from solving MYSTERIES to slaying monsters
Coming out on "all top-of-the-line" consoles - I'd say that confirms next-gen is in.

I'll be back with more.

Next big update:

So it's saying that they had to change up their design philosophy when developing TW3, due to the open world structure. So NARRATIVE comes in three forms:

Lowest level = free form activities like crafting, monster slaying (seems to be much more extensive this time around) and questing.

Next level = Political situation of Nilfgaardian invastion is resolved through a core plotline for each area. These areas? -> Skellige, Novigrad and No Mans Land!

Final level = Geralt's main plot line, his search for his loved ones, and the chase of the Wild Hunt.

Sounds like a lot of interwoven plotlines, decision making. You can skip things if you really want, but there will be consequences to your actions if you do so.

So more about the monster hunting:

Clues build up information (like a Bestiary perhaps?)
Books garner information about monsters
Townsfolk provide information
Potions and such are important
Time of day and other conditions affect where monsters appear, and their abilities

[Some combat info]

Critical strikes in areas that matter depending on how much you learn about said monster
You can disable a vampires poisoning attack by hitting its venom gland (Vampires are poisonous?) or skewer BOTH ITS HEARTS with a thrust attack (instant kill)
Monsters drop loot like unobtainable alchemical and crafting ingredients for unique potion, mutagen and item crafting.
Provides income as well

Enemy AI completely rebuilt, scripted bosses out
Environmental combat 'contributions' (a dozen types of interactive objects)
---> Wasp hive irritated using Aard

Magical signs retooled
Igni = new flamethrower effect
The magic tree advancement allows secondary sign forms = ie. Igni and a 360-degree blast
Yrden = small trap can be modified into a larger field that slows any enemy

Other trees, Swordsmanship and Alchemy
New strikes under Swordsmanship, boosts like improved stamina and parrying
Mutation mechanic under a different development path
Not much information given about Alchemy path, other than it being based on potions

Horse could be used to access long term stash, as well as Inns
Team aware of frustrations of inventory management in The Witcher
Committed to a less tedious process

Crafting critical to maximize Geralts potential, but weapons and armor can be found in many ways
Players can customize their crafted weapons with some components, ie, monster scales for leather in armor

Each armor piece has unique appearance, new cloth simulation tech.
Barber is in from the get go. Dyeing hair is OUT OF QUESTION, White Wolf.

This team is humble and know how to review their own game positively. With this they deserve all of us buying ori to support them. OMG can't wait!

(And yes, me too think that witcher 2 is not that 'freedom' compare to other open world game. A 20% larger than Skyrim world with setting like TW2 will be... erm.... .turn off "rolleyes:

The game will be 30 times the size of The Witcher 2, with an open world larger than Skyrim

DO WANT. So far I already made 3 playthroughs each on both the first and second installments already.
One question though, is the person behind Geralt Ciri from the books? Sure looks like her.

30% more bigger than Skyrim? LOL.. very ambitious.. But i'm not gonna fall to their trick anymore. Won't wanna pre-order or anything till the game reviews and gamer reviews are very positive.

What was their previous trick? And were the reviews bad for TW2?