Yup, I'm emotionally scarred and going to bed now. I'll decide if I want to replay the last 2-3 missions to get a proper ending (I can still salvage it with 2 "good" decisions). But man, the damage has been done >_>

Yeah, that would be my preference as well, but I'm guessing for devs at the end it comes down to what your intended audience is - obviously, CDPR decided they want to implement POIs and minimap as standard way of playing, and their landscape/quest design pretty much reflects this.

Not that they are the only offenders - even Rockstar changed that to be more 'friendly', so that feel from GTA: San Andreas where you knew most of the city without looking at the map is gone from newer games.

I am proud to say this is my favorite game this gen so far. Currently level 8 on hard difficulty.

The story quests give a lot of xp, I went from level 8 to level 10 on the first part of the baron quest. I'm lvl 15 now.
It's just a bit weird that clicking 2 dialogue options gives you 150 xp, while clearing out a high lvl monster nest gives you 20 xp. Risk vs reward is completely upside down in this game. I understand they try to pace the content so you don't get over powered too fast in the main story. Yet on the other hand it also says, just do a few story missions then you can steamroll the side quests with little challenge.

Your level difference influencing how tough monsters are feels very archaic after the Souls series showed a much better way how to handle improving your character. It's a crutch I would like to see disappear from rpgs.

I want to level up in the witcher 3 to unlock more ability slots and ability points and wear better armor. Not to make the opposition artificially weak.

Unless the witcher 3 is a complete overhaul of gameplay, and actually has an interesting plat, I couldn't ever buy it. I was bored to tears within 2 hours of the witcher 2, and I think it's my most regretted game purchase.

Witcher 3 gameplay has ben overhauled completely from witcher 2. its alot of fluid and in depth.  there are so many optiosn to use in battle and its very satisfying when you win as you have to do whats you havebeen given to win. The story is beautiful and very engaging. keps you pulled in . Its faster paced to that of witcher 2 . What rpg do you prefer playing if witcher 2 was boring for you?

So a question, has anyone finished the game yet? If so, how long was the story and how was it quality wise?

I want to add something that a lot people doesn't seem to know around the internet. If you do low level quests you will not get Xp for it. Does not mean you have the XP bug.

I am far in the game but getting little tired of it. That's also because I want to collect Gwen cards but can't at the moment because one card I can get in a story quest at the moment but want to do the side quests first.

i think there has been a few who have so far. from the developer themselves, if you just for story and skip cutscenes it will take 25 hours. However if you  are perfectionist and do everything , then it can take 200+. I would imagine its anything between 100 - 200+ hours

Lol i notice that. They give you the most experience points.  Also if you do the optional  objectives , you gain even more exp. For example the kaer mortz quest. If you the do the optional objectives, you get shit load of exp on top of the exp you get from finishing the quest lol. 

Souls games  may be different but if you have  good equiomen and you are high level then its easy. Souls games back on last gen consoles, were only remote challenging due to FPS slow down coupled with enemies having a much longer reach. For a precision combat, the framerate needs to be flawless imo. Bloodbourne is the same but that game is much easier then the souls games.  Still the only challenge there , is mainly due to the frame pacing issues.  I actually do the quite opposite. i play all the sidequests first and do all the question mark in that area, before  tackling the main quest. That way , it provides a good amount of challenge, as you be lower level when tackling the side quests.

I guess if they made all the monster super strong, no one would finish the game as the game  itself is huge and didn't want to put people off.   The system in The witcher is no different to any JRPGs. Eventually you get OP as you reach max level. Dont forget  , it is their first attempt at making an open world. For a first attempt, they did a phenomenal job. At the end  of the day, its the story that captures your interest more then anything else in the game. Well for me , thats what keeps me coming back . The rest is just an icing on the cake really.