
Update (June 9):
In addition to confirming that update 1.04 is now live on Xbox One, CD Projekt Red posted full patch notes for 1.04 on both PS4 and Xbox:
- Fixes a possible exploit by preventing certain drowners from respawning infinitely.
- Improves the distribution of experience points gained by completing quests with recommended levels lower than the player character level.
- Fixes an exploit whereby players could buy sea shells and sell the pearls inside them at a higher price.
- Deploys the Bovine Defense Force Initiative.
- Rebalances the prices of maps that can be purchased from merchants.
- Improves camera behavior when the player executes finishing blows.
- Fixes an issue where the player could loot mutagens from Nightwraith clones.
- Fixes an issue whereby interaction with Fiend decoction was incorrect when Geralt was overburdened.
- Fixes a rare issue whereby Geralt could not mount Roach after fast travelling between points.
- Introduces a number of fixes in in-game communities.
- Introduces a number of fixes related to combat.
- Fixes an issue where the player could not deflect arrows/bolts at longer distances.
- Fixes a crash that could occur on the transition to the Isle of Mists location during the quest of the same title.
- Fixes a number of issues related to horseback riding.
- Improves Geralt’s movement, especially when he swims.
- Improves the smoothness of camera movement.
- The player can no longer target foes positioned on different building floors than Geralt.
- Fixes a number of issues related to Vitality regeneration.
- Fixes an issue whereby certain actions could be randomly blocked during gameplay.
- Autosaves will no longer be created when Geralt dies.
- Unequipping saddle bags now correctly affects Geralt’s capacity.
- Fixes an issue whereby Geralt could be attached to a sinking boat while aiming his crossbow.
- Vitality begins to drop if Toxicity exceeds 80%, as originally intended.
- Roach no longer levitates after being summoned while Geralt is on a slope.
- Fixes a rare issue where Geralt could become invincible after executing some finishing blows.
- Introduces a number of general stability and performance improvements.
- Introduces a fix for occasional game freezes or infinite loading screens that occurred upon exiting the Main Menu.
- Improves performance in selected scenes and cutscenes.
- Adds a series of color-blind friendly features. Improves visibility of tracks, marks, footprints and scent clues. Color-blind friendly features can be enabled in the Options\Gameplay submenu.
- Ciri can no longer unlock fast travel points.
- Fixes incorrectly named female travelers in some localized versions.
- Fixes an issue where Geralt could pass through walls in the fish market in Novigrad.
- Fixes an issue where in certain situations the game could crash while a save was being loaded.
- Adds a collision near Kaer Gelen that could cause the player to be blocked inside the building.
- Improves the scale of selected elements of the GUI and HUD.
- Reward messages are no longer displayed over black screens.
- Disables “Input device changed” messages and adds options to disable on-screen combat feedback and floating tags above NPCs.
- Introduces a number of improvements in the tutorial messages for gwent.
- Introduces a number of bug fixes and user experience improvements in the GUI panels.
- Adds an information prompt and Journal entries related to new DLC packages.
- Fixes an issue where the player could not talk or otherwise interact with certain NPCs.
- The player can no longer venture beyond the game world boundaries during the Through Time and Space quest.
- Fixes an issue where some players could not make Geralt run after the Wandering in the Dark quest.
- Fixes an issue where Keira could sometimes fall beneath the terrain during the Wandering in the Dark quest.
- Fixes an issue where players could not talk to Octo after the Lord of Undvik quest.
- Reduces the number of Wild Hunt minions spawned during the Ciri’s Story: Fleeing the Bog quest.
- Fixes an issue where certain actions were blocked during the Blindingly Obvious quest.
- The bookmaker at the races held at the Vegelbud Estate now spawns correctly.
- The Forefathers’ Eve quest can no longer interrupt the quest titled A Favor for a Friend.
- Fixes an infinite black screen that could occur during the Now or Never quest.
- Fixes an issue whereby some witch hunters would disappear during the Now or Never quest.
- Fixes a number of errors in dialogue during the Of Dairy and Darkness quest.
- The monster in the Contract: Dragon quest now spawns correctly, and the relevant Journal entries update properly.
- Fixes an issue where player character inebriation and the related effect could become permanent when invoked during the No Place Like Home quest.
- Fixes an issue where the player could get trapped in the ruins of Tuirseach Castle.
- Geralt can now always play gwent with Madame Serenity.
- Fixes an issue where Vernon Roche would not appear at the Hanged Man’s Tree during the Eye for an Eye quest.
- Fixes an issue where the player could not activate a portal during the Wandering in the Dark quest.
- Fixes an issue where the sirens in the Lord of Undvik quest could be invincible.
- Fixes an issue where the player could not perform certain actions after the Carnal Sins quest.
- Fixes an infinite loading screen that could occur during the King’s Gambit quest.
- Fixes an issue where Ermion could not leave Lugos’ area during the Sunstone quest.
- Fixes an issue whereby Triss could get stuck on a set of stairs after a scene during the Now or Never quest.
- Fixes an issue that prevented a character spawning for a random encounter.
- The player can now always leave the crypt during the Scavenger Hunt: Viper School Gear quest.
- Fixes an issue where Simun did not spawn properly during the Unpaid Debt quest.
- Fixes an issue where the player could experience a progression break after choosing a certain dialogue option when talking to Dijkstra in the Count Reuven’s Treasure quest.
- Fixes an issue where some players could not interact with an object during the Pyres of Novigrad quest.
- Fixes an issue in the Contract: The Oxenfurt Drunk quest where the katakan was not hostile after being lured.
- Fixes an issue where certain actions were blocked during the Blindingly Obvious quest.
- Fixes an issue in the Contract: Shrieker quest where the shrieker was not hostile in certain situations.
- Fixes an issue where the player could not perform certain actions in the Master of the Arena quest.
- Fixes an issue where the player could not interact with Hattori during the Swords and Dumplings quest.
- Fixes an issue where the player could not fast travel under certain rare circumstances.
- Fixes an issue where the player could not perform certain actions after the Carnal Sins quest.
- The player can no longer take on the Apiarian Phantom contract multiple times.
- Fixes an issue where some players could not progress during the Broken Flowers quest.
- Fixes an issue whereby the “Novigrad, Closed City” entry might have remained in the Journal indefinitely.
- The player can now use the activator received from Triss during the quest titled The Battle of Kaer Morhen.
- Players can no longer prematurely obtain a key from a halfling, thus blocking the Contract: The Apiarian Phantom quest.
- Fixes an issue in the Return to Crookback Bog quest where monsters were spawned inside a building.
- Fixes an issue in the Greedy God quest where the player could kill a monster twice.
- Adds fail-safes for players being unable to obtain gwent cards after Dijkstra or Lambert can no longer be found in the game.
- Fixes an issue where Vernon Roche failed to proceed to Oxenfurt Bridge after a scene during the Get Junior quest.
- Fixes an issue where Geralt could not interact with a torch in the Get Junior quest.
Original Story:
Arriving a little ahead of schedule, The Witcher 3 update 1.04 on PlayStation 4 is now live, taking up 505MB.
According to CD Projekt Red’s Marcin Momot, “Patch 1.05 LIVE for PC. 1.04 for PS4 out now in Europe/US. Rest of the world & XBOX next week.”
Here’s the full list of patch notes found in the Update History section on PS4, which includes a fix to the Pyres of Novigrad quest and improved XP distribution:
- Introduces a number of general stability and performance improvements
- Improves the scale of selected elements of the GUI and HUD
- Adds a series of color-blind friendly features. Improves visibility of tracks, marks, footprints and scent clues. Color-blind friendly features can be enabled in the Options/Gamplay submenu
- Adds an information prompt and Journal entries related to new DLC packages
- Improves the distribution of experience points gained by completing quests with recommended levels lower than the player character level
- Fixes a rare issue whereby Geralt could not mount Roach after fast travelling between points
- Fixes an issue where some players could not interact with an object during the Pyres of Novigrad quest
- Introduces a number of fixes in in-game communities
- Introduces a number of fixes related to combat
- Fixes a number of issues related to horseback riding
- Disables “Input device changed” messages and adds options to disable on-screen combat feedback and floating tags above NPCs
- Improves Geralt’s movement, especially when he swims.
- Rebalances the prices of maps that can be purchased from merchants
- Improves the smoothness of camera movement
- Fixes an issue where in certain situations the game could crash while a save was being loaded
- Introduces a number of bug fixes and user experience improvements in the GUI panels
Have you noticed any other changes after installing today’s update? Did you download this week’s free DLC yet?
[Source: Reddit, NeoGAF, Erroneous (Twitter), Marcin Momot (Twitter)]
Essential Reading:
- E3 2015 – Weighing Up Sony’s Competition Ahead of the Event
- Now Loading…Uncharted PS4 Collection – Do You Want to Play It All Again?
- Versus – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt vs. Dragon Age: Inquisition
The Witcher 3 Info
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
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No Re-Releases in the Pipeline
Level Designer Miles Tost told us in an interview last year that while he's bummed it took CD Projekt RED this long to bring The Witcher to PlayStation, the company has no plans for any re-releases to make up for it. You can read our full interview with Tost here, in which he also talks about sexuality in the franchise, developing for PlayStation, and more.
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All Welcome
CD Projekt RED has said that The Witcher 3 will be accessible for new players, but that the experience won't be compromised for existing players. Those who don't know anything about The Witcher universe shouldn't worry as the game will introduce them to the world and will bring them up to speed with the story through a prologue.
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Recap
PlayStation owners who aren't familiar with The Witcher franchise should check out these videos. Reddit user falconbox has kindly put them together for us to bring us up to speed with the story. Do note, though, that the videos may contain potential spoilers.
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Freebies for Everyone
The Witcher 3 players will be entitled to 16 pieces of DLC for free. Yes, free! The DLC bundles will be available to download on a weekly basis after launch. All you need to do is own the game. No need for pre-orders or anything special. Click here for more details on the release schedule.
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Expansions
Those who still want more than 16 pieces of free DLCs can buy two "massive" paid expansions: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. The former is scheduled to release in October this year, and the latter is scheduled to release in Q1 2016.
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No Platform-Exclusive Content
CD Projekt RED's Co-Founder Marcin Iwinski told Eurogamer last year that it's against the company's values to sacrifice the quality of a game on one platform for another. In other words, there won't be any platform-exclusive content.
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Better Late Than Never
The Witcher 3 has been delayed several times so we did ourselves a little happy dance when the game actually went gold. But why was it delayed in the first place? According to a statement by the developer, the team wanted to fine-tune the game as much as possible and given its size and scope, the developers needed more time to bring players an experience that they deserve.
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Meet Ciri
In The Witcher 3, Geralt won't be the only playable character as the ashen-haired girl from an ancient prophecy, Ciri, will be joining him. In this video, CD Projekt RED gives us a look at how Ciri performs in combat (action begins at :30). She is only playable in certain parts of the game.
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In-Game World Detailed
Can't get enough of the in-game world and don't want to read any more descriptions? Check out this five-minute video, which details the world, its characters, the monsters, sailing, and much more.
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Enemies Detailed
In this video, CD Projekt RED shows how we’ll be able to kill all the different enemies in The Witcher 3. When asked about the size of the biggest monsters that players will get to slay, Senior Game Designer Damien Monnier said that the game has monsters that are “bigger than the griffin.”
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Horse Combat Explained
The Witcher 3 will allow players to kill enemies in slow-mo while riding a horse. CD Projekt RED explained that the slow motion effect will allow players to better “line up” their attacks since “the horse movement is quite fast.” Slow-mo can be turned off as well.
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Explore Giant Regions
At PAX East 2015, CD Projekt RED displayed a 7-minute gameplay video of the The Witcher 3, showing Geralt exploring parts of No Man's Land. CD Projekt RED said that No Man's Land is just one of the giant regions available to explore in the game.
In a later interview, Writer Jakub Szamałek said that there will be around ten islands to explore, and that players will also be able to swim or sail.
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Hundreds of Hours of Gameplay
When a speedrun takes 25 hours, you're potentially looking at a massive game. Senior Game Designer Damien Monnier said in response to a question on Twitter that The Witcher 3 could take players over 200 hours to do everything. Just to get you started, here are the first 15 minutes of the game.
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Make Your Own Ending
As part of our interview with CD Projekt RED in January this year, we asked Level Designer Miles Tost about The Witcher 3's multiple endings and branching dialogs. He told us that there will be "plenty of endings" which are "deeply unique" to what a player does. It's our story, our ending.
We also quizzed Tost about the DLC, the game's design, and numerous delays. You can read our interview in full here.
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PS4 Gameplay
We can never get enough of gameplays, but if you want to see what the game looks like on the PS4, here's a PlayStation access video showing combat against people and monsters, magic, horse riding, and much more. If you've got 45 minutes to spare and aren't worried about spoilers, here's a more detailed video showing PS4 gameplay.
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Loading Times
CD Projekt RED has said that players will hardly experience any loading times in The Witcher 3 unless they die, load a game, or choose to fast-travel. Loading time experienced when fast-travelling depends on how much distance a player covers.
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Frame Rate & Resolution
CD Projekt RED confirmed earlier this year that The Witcher 3 will run at 1080p and 30 frames-per-second (fps) on the PlayStation 4.
Responding to concerns about a potential downgrade, Art Producer Michal Stec clarified that the company had not downgraded the game.
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Day-One Update
Level Designer Miles Tost revealed that there will be a day-one update for The Witcher 3. CD Projekt RED's Marcin Momot also said that the update will address frame rate, bugs and performance issues on the PlayStation 4.
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Install Size
The Witcher 3 will require 50GB of install space on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
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Digital Copies
Those who purchased digital copies of The Witcher 3 will be able to play the game a few hours earlier than those who opted for the physical version. CD Projekt RED has confirmed that the game will unlock at 1AM CET on May 19.
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Collector's Editions
The Witcher 3 will have two Collector's Editions, each of which comes with its own exclusive content. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt box includes a soundtrack CD and a beautiful, detailed map of the in-game world. The Collector's Edition box includes a one-of-a-kind steelbook and a 200-page artbook. For a full list of content, click here.
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Achievements
A full list of The Witcher 3's achievements was made public in April. Although these are for the Xbox One version of the game, it's safe to assume that PlayStation trophies will be the same. Click here for an idea of what to expect.
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One Million Strong
CD Projekt RED's Co-Founder, Marcin Iwiński, recently revealed that The Witcher 3's pre-orders stood at over one million worldwide. That quells any doubt about the popularity of the franchise. Grab your copy, and jump in!
