There have been good open-world games with good stories, and there have been open-world games with terrific side quests - random stories and such - but not with quality main story lines. I've yet to play an open-world game with the branching narrative style that CDPR uses, one with huge impact on the game. How will they pull that off in open world?

I think you're getting a bit too stuck on that open-world thing. Open-world doesn't necessarily mean a Skyrim style RPG, especially since what's been said about the game so far is mostly PR hype that doesn't really reflect what the game will really be like.

Plus, you can definitely do a branching storyline in an open-world, if you link the branches to different factions, like Fallout:New Vegas does.

Yeah I share your concern. I would still give CDProject the benefit of the doubt (unless of course their logic went "derp Skyrim sold a gazillion copies!" "whoa lets copy that game as much as we can!")

Yeah, I've had similar thoughts because originally the witchers were just people wandering around and making a living out of killing monsters (although all the books take place in a time where that profession is already pretty much dying out). They could create a game that takes expands that "mythology" of the Witcher universe and provides a lot of free roaming but to be honest I don't want Witcher 3 to be it. The games are telling a story just like the later books are and it's IMO good this way, it also provides a perfect excuse for why Geralt has the time and is willing to do all those sidequests - after all, that's what he's been doing for a living until he got sucked into "more important" things. I hope they won't make the mistake of making Witcher 3 too open (like say the TES games) to such a degree that you easily forget about the main plot.

if its done right, there is nothing i would love more than an open world witcher. personally i kinda hate the "tube levels" of bioware rpgs. witcher 1 had some nice open areas, if they take it a step further it'll be even sweeter. again, it has to be done right though, but i have all the confidence in the world in this company. :)

I don't know what else they said so I can't make a lot out of it but that statement alone sounds more like they have technologically gotten past the need to divide the game into small areas which kills the immersion (I always hated that entering the smallest hut in Witcher 1 would result in a loading screen), as far as I can tell it doesn't necessarily mean that Witcher 3 will be turned into a sandbox like the TES games with the main plot being just a tiny portion of the experience.

Probably should wait until the reveal on Feb. 5th to see if it is a mistake or not. :)

It depends on how they've implemented the open-world, what they actually mean by that, what the structure is. Even then, one can be surprised by the quality of something (in either direction) once the game is actually released. We know so little about it now. Trust the devs, they've earned it so far. :) Angst now is wasted!

I'd like to believe that but they said over and over TW3 will be sand box. TW3 will be open world. Time to put links in OP I guess.

...fuck it I don't want to spend time looking for links.

I prefer a strong, personalized narrative with a more linear structure (but non-linear story progression and character development) rather than open world and cut corners to achieve it. Nevertheless I think CDProject RED will deliver a balanced game so I'm not worried. As for player experience I would prefer loading screens and higher performance than the other way around.

Rather it wasn't open world.I like to explore in certain types of games (not enough of them to be honest), but please no open world rpgs like Skyrim :/.