The Witcher III is messing with its own combat system and becomes “more hack & slash” – at least that’s the accusation regarding the latest patch.
The Witcher III is still one of the best RPGs of all time even nearly 7 years after the original release and continues to be celebrated by fans. So it’s hardly surprising that the game still receives occasional small patches with bug fixes or new features. However, the latest update, patch 4.03, introduces a change that has sparked significant discussions. Because Geralt will soon be able to do automatically what he actually shouldn’t be able to do.
What has changed in the patch? The patch is primarily full of bug fixes but also brought a small change to gameplay. A new option can be found in the menu:
Weapon oils can now be automatically applied to the sword during combat.
An apparently small detail, but it really frustrates some Witcher fans.
The Witcher trailers still captivate after all these years:
Why is the change a problem? Applying oils to the weapon is actually not possible during a fight – this was previously only doable by exploiting a bug or using mods. For many players, this restriction has also been important. Because The Witcher III often depicts the search for a monster. While searching for the creature, one is supposed to draw conclusions about which monster it is and then use the corresponding oil as preparation for the fight.
The idea behind it was: You find out which creature you are fighting against and are “rewarded” if you have already applied the correct oil to the weapon at the start of the fight.
However, the fact that weapon oil can now be applied automatically during combat is seen by many as a step towards “hack & slay”. Rensin2 writes in the Witcher Subreddit:
I understand that this is something people have been asking for, but it goes against the philosophy of how the game was actually intended to be.
The idea was that you actually examine the monster before fighting it and come prepared to the battle. But there was a bug on PC where you could simply click the oil and drag it onto the weapon and it would still be applied. Instead of fixing that bug on the PC, CD Projekt Red simply removed the restriction for applying oils during combat and thereby pushed the philosophy of the combat system even further towards a generic hack & slash game.
And with this latest change, it has only been pushed further into that territory.
But at least: In another change, The Witcher III has become “more logical”: Geralt can no longer consume food or drinks underwater. Only potions are still possible.
Fans are meanwhile waiting for Witcher 4 – which is already in development.
