The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is not a bad game. Bethesda Game Studios created a wonderful open-world game focused on exploration and imagination. Skyrim embodies some of the greatest qualities of video games: without cuts♉cenes and initial boundaries, Skyrim is one of the most interactive games in the world.
Four years after Skyrim’s release, CD Projekt released their third Witcher game. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is great in so many ways — both small and big — that it’s a better overall game than Skyrim. Of course, this doesn’t apply to all gamers. Though similar, Skyrim and The Witcher 3 are very different experiences, and players will feel differently about the games depending on their preferences and playstyles. However, The Witcher 3 has enough superior mechanics that the game is a smoother and more rewarding experience for most players.
Updated May 31, 2022, by Gabrielle Huston: Despite the fact that it's been years since both of these games came out, die-hard fans are still debating which is better. These are our best arguments for why The Witcher 3 should come out on top.
15 You Don't See The Dragonborn During Conversations
Skyrim is well-known as one of the most open-ended games in the world, but Witcher 3 actually offers a similar number of choices. Players can choos🎐e to be good, evil, or anywhere in between in both games. Every conversation includes multiple dialogue branches, allowing players to shape tꦺheir character’s personality through words and actions.
The big difference between Skyrim and Witcher 3 is that gamers see their character’s reactions in Witcher 3. This produces much more dynamic, authentic interactions in which two characters react to each other. The player character never moves in Skyrim, and NPCs act li❀ke they’re talking to a wall that expresses itself through emojis. In Witcher 3, characters build conversations together, creating realistic scenarios and powerful relationships.
14 Skyrim's Torches Are Basically Useless
Companions often use torches in Skyrim, but there’s no reason for players to use any sort of light. Even on cloud-covered nights and in dark dungeons, Skyrim is always bright enough for pla🌳yers to see where they’re going.
Since Skyrim has torches and bright spells, Bethesda should have included areas of complete darkness. Beautiful areas would have been harder to see, but darkness would have made exp🦩loration and combat much more exciting. Plus, torc🌜hes wouldn’t look as ridiculous and useless as they currently do.
Witcher 3, on the other hand, fully incorporates darkness. Players can’t see far in dark landscapes, and they can’t see anything in unlit buildings. The lighting is not only realistic but immersive, makꦇing creepy places like haunted houses and de𝔍ep caves even creepier.
13 ✨ Your Health Always Regenerates 🌺
While health always regenerates in Skyrim, players have options in Witcher 3.
- If gamers play the game on Easy or Normal mode, their health regenerates over time.
- If played on Hard or Very Hard, players can only regain health through food and potions.
Hard and Very Hard provides a great challenge for players who want it. It’s also realistic: after all, one wouldn’t expect someone to regenerate health after taking a sword to the face. If you want to play on Easy o𓄧r Normal, though, we won't judge - the Witcher 3's advantage over Skyrim is simply that it gives you the choice.
12 The Ending Doesn't Reflect Who Your Character Is
Skyrim’s ending is fine, but the endings in Witcher 3 are so much better. A player's actions throughout Witcher 3 affect the game’s conclusion. Three major endings determine what happens to Geralt and Ciri, while multiple epilogues are available🐽 that reveal the fate of character🐠s and nations.
Gamers can affect characters and nations in Skyrim too, but few of these relationships reach true conclusions, and none are present in the game’s ending. Players 🎀save the world from Alduin — that’s it. None🅷 of their friends are present at the game’s end, and almost nobody recognizes the Dragonborn's heroic deeds.
The Witcher 3 concludes a personal story in a battle to protect the people players come to love. Skyrim ends with an impersonal battle that fe💞els like a chore.
11 Its “Realistic” Graphics Just Don't Hold Up
Skyrim’s graphics look great in many ways, but they are quickly becoming outdated. The game tries to look realistic, particularly with the playable races. The humanoid characters looked spectacular when the game first came out in 2011; since then, the characters have looked less and less realistic. While the fantastical monsters and settings still look amazing, the more realistic aspects of the game suffer from outdated character models. Modders have done the hard work of keeping up ꦦfor Bethesda.
Witcher 3 looks amazing and has high system requirements because of it (the game is still unplayable for many computer players), but it, fortunately, avoids absolute realism. Landscapes look fairly realistic but not entirely, using oversaturated colors to create an artistic aesthetic. Cha🅰racters share these colors and posꦆsess a few other unrealistic qualities, such as perfectly smooth skin.
While Skyrim’s visuals are declining, Witcher 3’s graphics won’t become outdated anytime soon.
10 It's Hard To Distinguish Friend From Foe
Enemies and friendly NPCs are clearly distinct in Witcher 3. Red dots on the mini-map show player exactly where hostile monsters and ch♉aracters are located. Enemies’ names and health bars —both of which are red— hover above NPCs, allowing players to instantly identify enemies.
Skyrim’s enemy system is much more confusing. The game only labels NPCs as enemies when they target the Drago🥂nborn. Red dots appear on the compass but only show the general direction of foes. Since the red dots don’t hover over specific NPCs, players can easily mistake an ally for an enemy. If gamers accidentally strike a non-hostile NPC, the NPC will turn into༒ an enemy.
Skyrim’s enemy system may be more realistic, but it’s infuriating when players accidentally lose quests because they mistook a friendly NPC for an enemy. Since Skyrim alread🧸y includes red dots on the compass, Bethesda should have expanded its enemy system aᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚnd made enemies instantly recognizable.
9 Players Ca🐟n Hurt Invincible Characters 🥀
An unclear enemy system supports Skyrim’s realism, since players can’t distinguish enemies and allies based on appearances. If gamers accidentally attack a friendly NPC, they must battle that NPC. This would be a great mechanic if there weren’t invincible NPCs.
Most NPCs ca🧜n be killed, but a large number of charact☂ers are invincible because they are central to certain quests. If players battle that NPC, they’ll only find out they’re invincible right before they would normally die. The only way to “win” such a battle is by running away; if players stay near the NPC, they will continuously attack them. Multiple hours can be wasted trying to fight characters that players don’t🍒 realize are invincible.
Witcher 3 lacks this problem because players can’t harm invincible characters. If they do hit an invincible NPC, ♐they, fortunately, won’t fight back.
8 Undeveloped, Unfeeling Romances 🥀
Any successful, mutual romance feels rewarding, but affection in Skyrim is an uncomfortable reward. In order to marry certain NPCs, players have to complete quests connected to those NPCs. After a single quest, players are rewarded with an NPC’s love — but only if they have an amulet equipped that shows they're looking for love. The system feels clunky and objectifying: characters marry because of mechanical requirements instead of chemistry and genuine romance. Players can imagine romantic relationships, but it’s hard to imagine romance when NPCs ca🐻n only say a few lines.
Witcher 3 uses cutscenes and dialogue trees to develop more authentic romances. ꦜIf players want to live happily with an NPC, they have to act faithfully (for the major characters, at least) and say the right things — just like relationships in real life. Although romance is more difficult to obtain in Witcher 3, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the resulting relationships are much more rewarding and believable.
7 Long-Lasting Projectiles 🐎
Archery is thrilling in Skyrim until players are close enough to see the results. Arrows stick in characters for quite a while, which would be perfectly alright if Skyrim’s combat wasn’t so clunky and unrealistic. Arrow-filled corpses look fine, but a living NPC with three arrows in their head is ridiculous and somewhat terrifying. The🥃 same thing happens with magical projectiles like ice shards.
Witcher 3, on the other hand, rarely keeps arrows in sight. When arrows do stick in NPCs, they almost immediately disappear. Geralt walks away from fights without arrows dotting his body, which is much more immersive than the long-lasting projไectiles in Skyrim.
6 Overpowered Stealth ♈
While stealth is realistic and tense at the start of Skyrim, players with a high Sneak level are unrealistically overpowered. Enemies walk into the Dragonborn without seeing them, and players can “disappear”൲ by crouching in front of enemies — even if they’re staring right at them.
One ridiculous aspect of stealth is how it interrupts battles. When players attack an NPC, they initially search ꦬfor their attacker. If gamers wait long enough while sneaking, the enemy will forget they ever existed. Most players will cringe as NPCs walk away with arrows in their head saying “I must♐ have just been hearing things” or “Is someone there?”
Witcher 3 has no sneaking mechanic. Sneaking could have been fun, but we’re grateful CD Projekt avoided the overpowered stealth found in Skyrim.
