14 DAY TRIAL // The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the third and final chapter in the long-running role-playing game franchise will change quite a few things as opposed to its predecessor.
Quick-time events have been eliminated, and the combat roll of protagonist Geralt has been replaced with a more graceful pirouette.
The Witcher 2 impressed millions of gamers on the PC and Xbox 360 platforms, and now a sequel is set to appear in 2014 for the PC but also for next-generation consoles like the PlayStation 4 or the oft-rumored Xbox 720.
We have already heard quite a few details about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, including how it won't have a multiplayer mode because developer CD Projekt Red couldn't find a way to implement a meaningful online experience.
Now, the studio has told Forbes that Quick-Time Events (QTEs) have been eliminated from the game, as they served only to distract or annoy players.
"QTEs didn’t fit this type of gaming experience and usually frustrated players," the studio's Project lead, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, said. "There is a small number of games where it is fun, like, for example, in the Uncharted series, where you don’t even realize that you’ve just finished a QTE sequence. And I think that only this way of using QTE has any kind of future in games."
What's more, in order to make the fighting a bit more graceful, the combat roll that could be used as a dodge in The Witcher 2 by protagonist Geralt has now been turned into a pirouette.
"First of all, pirouettes look a lot cooler than barrel-rolling and they are consistent with the witcher fighting style described by Andrzej Sapkowski in his novels," Tomaszkiewicz said.
"Second, we changed the whole combat system and we don’t want to push players to dodge all the time. Now you will have the Witcher Sense system which will allow you to hit weak spots of enemies and disable their special abilities."
During certain moments and pirouettes, Geralt will be able to strike weak spots and eliminate certain attacks from the pattern of an enemy.
The parry system has also been upgraded, as players can now make ripostes against their foes.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is out next year for PC and next-gen consoles.