I liked the story in Witcher 3, but got bogged down in the infinite point of interests that didn't add any value to the game. Side quests fine, random spots on maps = waste. I wish I could have ignored them and kept playing. Maybe someday.
A suggestion for those with a little Skyrim experience: After my initial attempt (that I didn't get through it) a few years later I read a great article about creating a character with a proper backstory and personality traits, and then trying to play that specific character in Skyrim. Add in a few mods, most importantly there is one that sort of cuts off the main story line, or at least makes it completely optional. So you can create a character in this world completely without the whole dragon shouting thing. Wow, I had so much more fun. I limited what my characters did based on their backstory, both in terms of quests and content in the game but also mechanics like the crafting that if you combine them usually break the balance. It really was so fun. I went through a few different characters to cover all the content of the game and loved every minute of it.
I really want to do something similar for BG3's release. It might not be as much of a sandbox of choices, but it'd be great to actually roleplay a character and have the support to do so.
I am still amazed that people DON’T play RPGs this way. In Skyrim my character started off as a thief. Not as assassin or a swashbuckler, literally a petty pickpocket and burglar. I even used the console to decrease his size to make him more diminutive and less heroic looking. He had no weapons, no armor, just sneaking. Eventually he became a wizard and an assassin, but only used illusion and enchantment magic and still carried no weapons or wore any armor. He would assassinate targets by casting frenzy on them and having them attack city watchmen or their own bodyguards. By the end of the game he became a necromancer (using a mod for infinite undead summons) and a vampire, so by then was completely OP, but it was such a fun journey to get there. Only after I did all of that did I decide “well, let’s look into this Dragonborn business. . . . I can kill people with my voice? Well, that’s cute.”
A game with that level of character customization and freedom with Witcher 3 production values would be great.
