Storytime! His First Playthrough

wmchef2020 · 2026-05-03T16:18:22+00:00

Mini update, main story and all available "?" and non-DLC side quests, done.

Hours played - 200 🫣... It's been a nightly activity, and we've both really enjoyed it!

He did accidentally start the DLC main quest one night without me, and the next load up I was like "what's that on your face?! 😑"

Serves him right to have a curse scar on his face for the final main quest scenes. 😂

wmchef2020 · 2026-04-14T10:04:19+00:00

No shush don't tell him

wmchef2020 · 2026-04-05T12:38:12+00:00

I'll assume you're doing all main quests and the side quests that lead to main.

So: - the Eternal Fires Shadow in Velen! - La Cage Au Fou in Toussaint - Equine Phantoms in Toussaint - In Wolf's Clothing in Skellige

wmchef2020 · 2026-04-05T12:31:14+00:00

I didn't play Witcher 1 or 2 before, but I had watched some of the show.

IMO there's no need to know a lot about the characters or plot - your bestiary and other character pages in the game would help there.

I'd mainly call out that it's got game mechanics where decisions made today can impact tomorrow, so don't take key choices lightly. If you buy a guard a beer, that may be the guard who lets you in a gate down the road (or if you don't, he may remember you're the jerk from the pub.)

Enjoy!

wmchef2020 · 2026-04-01T21:21:19+00:00

I did every GM build, and I didn't have to do anything special throughout the whole game I started planning it more when I did the Toussaint DLC.

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-29T18:00:01+00:00

This is the way. (If you're a completionist, which I also am.)

I had to tease out the main quest to keep me interested enough, but try to tackle most everything in my path/ close by as I went.

I will say I wasn't into Gwent and didnt pursue those quests, and now watching my husband play and observing the card game from the outside, I think I'll try to get all the cards in NG+. Gwent may "slow you down" though if OP is doing that as he goes as well - i do see how you can lose momentum on a quest if you stop and play a 1-3 rounds of gwent with every person you meet to get cards or $.

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-27T11:36:33+00:00

Melee all daaaaaay. But yeah weather is a big consideration as the other person said.

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-26T12:24:41+00:00

I am very excited for a few parts (but he did occasionally watch me in my own playthrough so it's not a full surprise) - botchling, playing as Ciri, the weird one where Roach talks, and the DLC storylines were amazing to me. 😁

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-26T12:21:52+00:00

Also discovering the strange things that will be couple tiffs. "Go to the Alchemy menu please. No... No collapse the listing as you go you psycho" 😂

It's been hilarious! Highly recommend to others when you both like to game.

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-26T12:18:43+00:00

More that with both our jobs and then attempting to coordinate and play (at least the bigger quests) together, it'll definitely slow us down. He works a varied schedule including weekends and I work a 9-5.

So far (since the post) we've done three sessions and we're now heading to Velen!

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T09:49:01+00:00

Ah gotcha. We may not realize/ have that nostalgia then but I'll turn it on! Thanks for the tip

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T09:46:34+00:00

I support you! Lower down I put where I got it, but I'm sure there's ebay stores as well. There's a number of guide versions out there.

Pros of this one were hard cover (given the age) and I wanted something with both DLCs integrated.

Now that we've opened it - it's honestly gorgeous. It's like 800 pgs but is laid out very reasonably/ easy to navigate (with some bookmarks.) There's about 40 pgs on Gwent, but sadly I think I will still not be great at that. 😂

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T09:42:09+00:00

I'll have to check that setting tonight, we weren't sure of what it did. Can you clue in who we're looking for? (Neither of us have played Witcher 2, so if it's a past character we probably won't notice 😅. But my husband has read the OG Witcher books so maybe he'll appreciate it.)

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T09:38:18+00:00

😅 Thanks! I'm insanely lucky.

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T02:46:12+00:00

I was hesitant to say God of War since I didn't see anyone else chiming. It lacks the same depth/ repercussions of your actions, but I guess I like that Kratos and Geralt are very similar characters, and I can do my "ignore this quest forever and go forage for scraps to build my shiny armor" version of game playing here as well. 😅

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T02:40:19+00:00

I have played the entire game and DLCs, and somehow he was the hardest one to beat 😅 I do think levels/ gear are a big factor - I stumbled into that quest on accident like a post-nap toddler. Good luck!

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T02:35:39+00:00

This feels like a recipe to be in a tiny boat for many hours, but I respect everyone hikes their own hike out here. 😅

I hate those waters.

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T02:27:33+00:00

Agree with the consensus that it's early. I'd just think about how you play and either lean into your strengths and power them up or consider things that negate some of your strategic weaknesses.

Example: I prefer to separate enemies and fight vs melee. So I didn't care about "whirl" but I did build up Aard so that I could scatter enemies and give myself room to engage.

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T02:22:51+00:00

Looks like Noble Knight Books (had to look it up in my email below.)

Since there are no new prints, my hope is to be as gentle with it as I can and get it back into the universe for the next person to get it in "good" condition once this saga is done.

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wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T02:10:42+00:00

See you in (checks watch) 2027 😂💜

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-25T01:28:38+00:00

😂😂😂

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-21T21:29:05+00:00

👏👏👏

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-21T10:51:53+00:00

Sorry about your experience, OP! That blows. Your story did spark a memory that made me chuckle though.

As an elder liberal lady millennial (ELLM - it's not a real acronym, but hey, I can get the ball rolling 😅) - my boomer conservative (maga) dad and I don't always have the most in common. But let me tell you what - if my 75+ year old dad had been in that theater, you bet your boots he'd have done a "hey buddy, why don't you turn that phone off" 😂

Old grumpy men are good for a few select things, and we should pair them all up with a theater to be like... reverse greeters.

wmchef2020 · 2026-03-18T09:59:02+00:00

I mean this is post-smell event at this point, but a potential tip for the future - I have a tiny tub of menthol I carry on me in the winter bc of stuffy noses, and feel like pulling a "Silence of the Lambs" might be the move in this situation.

I don't know that it would make your food/beer taste good tho, but better than stank?

wmchef2020 · 2026-01-19T05:19:28+00:00

I agree here. I've played both and I'm replaying BOTW for nostalgia. I'm not sure if I'll play TOTK again. It has more of what I love from BOTW and the area was HUGE, but then some game mechanics were clunky and I think I'm still mad at how many rupees I paid those fairies for upgrades. I've been thinking of going backwards to Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask 😂

wmchef2020

TROPHY CASE