I’m sorry for the huge gaps between videos. It’s really frustrating me, too, but I honestly don’t know what it is I’m doing wrong or where I can speed things up without cutting corners. I keep picking topics that really interest me, and I try (not saying I always succeed) to make the best video I possibly can with zero padding. I don’t even know if it shows in the final product, but I keep working and reworking things until I feel like there isn’t a second of my audience’s time wasted. Anyway, on a positive note I’m super happy to finally have this video out! Onto the next 👀
The videos have been sick don't worry mate. As long as the bills are getting paid, that's what's most important! If you gotta put out some lower effort sponsored content to make it by, so be it.
I don't mind the gaps between videos - the most important thing is the quality, and your videos are always Top Notch, so I don't mind if I have to wait to get them!! I do understand though, I think TH-cam and twitter and all other social media really prioritise churning out content as fast as possible, and that adds a huge level of stress onto something that really should be enjoyable, not a chore, and then that leads to exhaustion and burn out. I love watching your videos, but I wouldn't want them to become unenjoyable for to make, if that makes sense? Anyway I can't wait to watch this one!! Only ten seconds in and I'm already laughing at that witcher netflix burn 😂
If you have to choose, always pick quality over quantity. It's been my choice through life, and it's never let me down in the long run. Just be mindful of the law of diminishing returns and remember that the people who enjoy your conyent will find it and watch it. Cheers!
Thronebreaker was a masterpiece! I enjoyed the Gwent puzzles it had but the normal combat felt kind of boring towards the end. The story and the soundtrack were excellent!
I'm on my 2nd playthrough after my first in 2019 to get the 100% achievements... story is still great. i would have loved more witcher tales releases...
@@JACKXKyea i am also confused on this. No way the game sold a measly 3 copies and made back 10% of what was hoped for. That would mean the game was expected to sell a depressing 30 copies… that makes no damn sense.
Gwent artworks were so damn good, I constantly looked them up when reading all the Witcher books. I wish there was some kind of website where you could get a lineup of characters for each book, because it gets annoying to google each time I want to remember how somebody looks. Damn, maybe I should make it…
Those artworks are badass. There's only one thing I remember I didn't like - it's how they made Stephan Skellen's throwing stars the shape of the Nilfgaardinan sun :D That's some cartoony ass shit right there
Thronebreaker is one of the best games I ever played, let alone the best as a Witcher game. And seeing how nobody really cares about it really hurts my soul. I always imagine people that worked on this game, engineers, programmers, voice actors, QA, artists, designers, writers, all of them putting their heart and soul into this, and no one really cares besides few hardcore fans, despite the game being a literal masterpiece. Like imagine being a dev for Baldur's Gate 3 and imagine if no one really cared about Baldur's Gate 3 today. That's how this game makes me feel, and as a dev myself, it feels really brutal to be a part of this industry.
I once stumbled Upon a artist on twitter who wrote about how much she enjoyed working on thronebreaker, I had to make sure she knew how much some of us loves this game
I played Thronebreaker on ps4 and I loved it so much, great story but if it wasn't related to the witcher, I wouldn't have played it for its gameplay. If you have an itch for more witcher lore, I highly recommend it
23:03 "Rogue Mage had only ONE player online.... which was ME" LMAO gave me such a laugh! what a great, well-researched, gripping video as usual. edit: it's such a same, it looks so beautiful!
I remember playing Witcher: Crimson Trail when I was like 10 years old on my Sony Ericsson k510i, cause it was a well rated game on the store (and one of the only games). I have never played a Witcher game before and English is not my first language so I had no idea wtf was going on... but this video unlocked some memories. The whole KILL/SPARE mechanic, along with the font for whatever reason stuck with me; I also remember those respawning soldiers... And the thing I remembered the most to this day is that it was a game with no good endings (obviously my child brain couldn't figure out the good ending path) and thinking that the final boss was a witch, not a vampire. I am so proud of my child self for playing that game now.
Played Thronebreaker on Switch a few years ago and was blown away by it. It feels like handheld is the perfect home for that type of game. Also the optional gwent-based puzzles are really fun for anyone interested :,)
I couldn't agree more on Thronebreaker. Most underrated game ever, and highest quality one for its price tag at release. "Flawless writing, greatest soundtrack ever conceived by mankind": yes, that sums it up. If I were a billionaire, I'd contact CDPR to fund additional Witcher Tales sequels at no cost for them. It'd be the duty of a true patron of the arts, following in the footsteps of King Francis Ist of France and Pope Julius II.
yupp thronebreaker super underrated. also a standalone gwent player and its such a shame its dying but understandable as you mentioned, they really badly handled the shut down too many people thought it was shut down last year w the announcement and left - also the 2023 carddrops introduced so many issues they were arguably not positive content overall sadly
I'm always surprised by the creativity and quality of your videos.. Don't worry about the long time it takes to churn these out, it's clear you have a high standard for what goes on your channel and that's why I think its been so successful!
omg, noooooooooo. I had no idea there were plans for more 'Witcher Tales' games, and the next one being about Iorveth?!?!?! dang it Thronebreaker is a damn masterpiece and I played it to death. Such a shame...
On the topic of Gwent- it was so goddamn good at the beginning. I think it was still in beta stage back then? It was like a great mix of Witcher 3 Gwent and some deeper stuff with nice visual glow up. I remember spending tens of hours on it, and then the overhaul happened. I reluctantly tried the new version and I honestly had no goddamn clue what was going on. I feel there was no chance any new player would get into it because of how convoluted and confusing it was. Thronebreakers was such a hidden gem. The plot twist in that game was genuinely one of the few video game plot twists that got me
If you don't mind me asking, which plot twist in Thronebreaker are you referring to? Is it the one at the end of chapter 1, the one near the end of chapter 4, or a different one?
Thank you for the shout-out to Hearts of Stone. The story and build in that DLC are excellent, and often overlooked when compared to Blood and Wine (which is longer and very pretty but, IMHO isn't quite as good a story.)
As a huge fan of you and stand alone Gwent I would love a video on it. Your analysis here is great and I agree with most of it. But more and some gameplay would be awesome in my book. Probably not a big enough audience though
Thronebreaker rundown was spot on, I enjoyed every bit of the game but I straight up skipped every battle (thank god there was an option for that, otherwise I would have uninstalled after an hour).
Fun fact, you are automatically the best video of my week because I've been waiting on someone being sponsorised by Displate for my christmas gift. Thank you ! Great video too !
i've never even heard about any of these but i will definitely check out thronebreaker!! thanks for another great video, you make the best witcher content out there imo. keep up the good work! and dont worry so much about your uploading schedule :)
thronebreaker is really so underappreciated, making any choice that resulted in "you chose one evil in favour of another" had me howling, bawling, and crying on the floor but I loved every second of it. i also played it in the polish dub, which was a great experience ngl
i am glad you do not cut corners..i like your content for what it is..straight forward..no BS blaring disco music, or chest thumping..been with you from the start..one of my fav content makers..and you spotlight my fav game..thx
Thronebreaker was such a hunch-buy for me, but once I started I didn't regret it one bit. I even recommended it to a friend who usually doesn't play pc games (but read the books) and she loved it (she skipped over the combat)! It's such a gem and also has good replayability. Maybe not immediately but after a year or so when you remember that game and want to feel the experience again, you can make other choices and see how those turn out. Such a gem!
About Gwent related games. I might be the weird outlier but the standalone version of Gwent was so much more entertaining than the version in W3. In W3 Gwent felt like last minute addition what was a slog for me to get through just so I don't miss anything because who knows if there's something cool locked behind it. But the standalone version's complexity and depth was what made me change my mind about Gwent as a whole. Thronebreaker is obviously a masterpiece that should be given more spotlight at release cuz more "witcher tales" slowly being pumped out when we wait for next big game in the series would do wonders. And Rogue Mage wasted so much potential, Slay the Spire type game with Gwent mechanics would be amazing, throwing into it a roguelite progression allowing you to each time get further and further in the game when showcasing some of the more obscure Witcher stories would be great!
I first played the Monster Slayer before the pay to win update but I can say that there was a quest at the beggining I was just unable to get past with the great curse that blinded my ability to spot monsters before i clicked on them only increasing the pain beyond bearable. It had however, a lot of potential. At the very beginning there were some pretty interesting quests that I played in the countryside whilst I was visiting grandparents and I can truly say that for a moment I really felt like a witcher, which made me really interested in the game before it quickly all fell apart as my enjoyment was ruined.
Battle Arena at least knew their lore except it was mainly Witcher 2 lore lol. I love how they had a character from an extremely obscure side quest. I know who that character was, but I beat all the Witchers & did everything in them. While most people wouldn’t know tho since Witcher 3 is when most people got introduced
Wow, I'm rather shocked to hear about Monster Slayer's disgraceful end! I quite liked playing it for a few months but ended up deleting it because of storage issues on my old phone and completely forgot about it until now...
Glad to have been the only person who ever played Thronebreaker :D that game was amazing, even if the gwent gameplay was far too easy, making the "risky" choices never really risky at all
The reality is that the Witcher as a concept is kind of tame. By that a mean, it's not so gimmicky that any writer can pick it up and do something super exciting with it. The Witcher requires very intimate writing styles. Devs approach Witcher games like it's Lord of the Rings, when they're really more like detective style narratives. It's film noir. The traditional RPG beat-em-up approach to games is not going to work for the Witcher.
Ohh the gwent convo hit me hard! As someone who used to play the beta A LOT , and then when the game was launched and they changed everything, i still played a LOT in the first year (i mean, at one point i got top 50 worldwide), every time i spent months away from the game it seemed more complicated and more pile up of cards and mechanics that just make me tired.
Finally someone else gives the hearts of stone writing the credit it deserves, its the best piece of witcher content for me other than a few single page moments from the books. Ice skating in tower of the swallow, geralt getting close to murdered in time of contempt and the attack on styga castle
Thank you for explaining thronebreaker. I did indeed skip it because I did not like to play gwent in the main game. I wishlisted it immediately and looking forward to it.
I've been to CDPR in 2019 while they were working on Cyberpunk. I walked around like Geralt in the HQ and now I am the proud owner of two physcial copies of Thronebreaker. It comes with a bunch of awesome goodies
I just recently discovered your channel , and i must say i enjoy it very much. Love your content! I was hoping you could do some “how to” videos on different part of the game. I know other TH-camrs may have done similar videos like that, but I really would like your spin on one. Like how to easiest get the griffin armor for example.
Man i played Thronebreaker like a year ago, i love the game so much. Such a good story with so many different hard choices. You really feel the weight of the crown in this one
Thronebreaker is an awesome game, shame that it didn't do well. But you are right about the marketing, I had never heard of it until just seeing it randomly when scrolling through the PS store one day
You can skip a combat in Thronebreaker? How? Why I haven't heard about that? (probably I was told in some sort of tutorial or something. Maybe I even read this... but I definitly take too big breaks between playing most of games I have... so when I'm coming back I didn't remember anything)
nah, the scrap of marketing it got never mentioned the easiest difficulty allows for skipping battles. cdpr massively undersold the entire game and then went pikachuface at the sales :D
I bought Thronebreaker like 3 years ago in 2021. Never managed to finish it though because as a an adult I don't really have the time latly to finish a game.
I played thronebreaker like 8 months ago and its so sad how little love it gets. I have never had a story moment in a game hit me as hard as a moment later in the game. Through off my game too because the card I lost was a major part of my deck.
sounds like CDPR's greatest issue is marketing, I never even heard of Thronebreaker until this video, but now I'm dying to play it, even if the trailer promoted as just some Gwent spin off, I probably would've still bought it if I ever heard it existed just because The Witcher 3 is my favorite game ever
Thronebreaker should have been a party based Strategy RPG (Might & Magic style) instead imo. Also, Gwent Rogue(lite) Mage was released little too late & rather missed the mark to its proper audiences when it should have been marketed towards rogue-like card building fans & make it much more simple yet addictive like Slay The Spire. Witcher Monster Slayer & Battle Arena should have never happened imo. Chasing the copy paste popular gimmick pure for profits. They were better off making collab work guest appearance on other games like SCVI & MHW. CDPR were too afraid to make a more budgeted original & spin off games & they suffered heavily from it. I at least applaud CAPCOM & SEGA & especially Fromsoft, by staying consistent with main platform game releases with consistent good quality for every 1-3 years or so.
While Thronebreaker sales where worse than expected I saw a news that it break even some time ago. It's a shame that they did not continue with more Witcher Tales, at least for making universe richer. It would be much better way than some events in Gwent (I did play a lot of Gwent, but droped out soon after Midwinter Update). BTW Another reason while it did not sale well was the fact on PC for some time it was exclusive for GOG.
the problem with Thronebreaker is basically the same problem Cyberpunk had way too overhyped, delayed so many times the original hyped died, they promoted again as this new standalone game but it was still made from and tied to gwent which ended not pleasing both gwent lovers and haters at the same time. Not only that but thronebreaker released with the official release of gwent but that official release was more of a gwent 2.0 because the game got completely reworked (for the 6th time in a spam of 7 months mind you) they even removed one of the game's role (from 3 lanes to 2) changed 80% of the card's abilities and made almost everything beta gwent archetype nonexistent. All that made the combo of gwent players hating thronebreaker for it + people who hate card games not getting into thronebreaker because it was tied to a card game. It is unfortunate because thronebreaker is amazing and I would do unspeakable things to a human being just to get more the witcher universe short stories in that style of game
Great video! Man, it still makes me sad Thronebreaker didn't do well. It's such an amazing game! It makes me even more sad knowing about the Iorveth game cancelation now :( P.S. I've played all the games mentioned except for The Witcher VS. I had no idea that even existed lol
I wish the Gwent games actually felt like the witcher 3 gwent. You're so limited with cards, but the system enables weak cards to be useful, scorch, spies and weather effects were such powerful and fun mechanics.. It just were never fully replicated sadly
I was one of the two people that played thronebreaker. Bought it on sale and just didn't play it for ages and ages only to be really disappointed when I did play it. You pretty much hit the nail on the head with your description... Amazing artwork, great story, fantastic voice cast, very chill time on the overworld map but jesus the battles... it just wore me down to the point that I was skipping every battle in the last area unless it was related to a trophy. A terrible shame.
I actually bought Thronebreaker, but just couldn't really get into it. Played it for about an hour and sort of forgot about it. TWMS on the other hand, ooh boy. I played it from the launch and it was fun going out and do the quests. Even grinding was somewhat enjoyable. But then the promised story expansions never came and the disastrous patch appeared...
I got Thronebreaker years ago and ADORED it! I was so hyped for The Witcher Tales, but never actively looked for news about it. So I'm just learning through this video that there won't be more. It absolutely kills me that there will never be a sequel. It was so, so good. TT^TT
Great video! I have only played Witcher 3 so this was interesting. Your videos are really well thought out and edited. I always watch them with full attention and never glance at the clock. Looking forward to whichever Witcher related content you plan to cover next!
I never tried Thronebreaker, mostly because the story is told to you in text form, it's the same reason why I don't find Nintendo games all that appealing. When I play a game I want a story to be told to me, I don't want to be the narrator, I love reading books but there's a weird limbo when it comes to games that have a lot of text in them where they are neither? I may not be the majority here but I would've jumped on it day 1 if it was narrated like the Witcher 3.
I didn't know Thronebreaker had flopped so badly. Such a shame, it's such a fun game and so unique. Seeing footage of it here actually made me want to go and play it again, and I think I might just do that right now.
It's heartbreaking to find out there was a planned Iorveth Witcher Tales because as I was playing Thronebreaker and maybe even before I was thinking how sick one starring Iorveth would be. It'd be perfect for him, playing a sort of Guerilla fighter, recruiting allies anywhere he can get, being the leader of a Scoi'atael band after all. Going from a Queen to a fugitive Freedom fighter is just so great. And with the plus of bringing back a fan favourite we didn't get to see return in the Witcher 3.
Looking forward to picking up thronebreaker and the video pipeline. Keep up the good stuff. Supposedly Joseph Anderson’s witcher 3 critique is coming out this year. Not sure if neon knight is a fan or familiar but its bit of a meme at this point.
I must sadly say, as a witcher 3 gwint veteran(i also downloaded the mods to make it more interesting and it got much better, totally recommend the gwent redux mod) i also was very excited to play the standalone gwent when i found out it exists but i didnt manage to get into it as it was already too complicated when i tried it for the first time and in my opinion the tutorial was sadly also not good enough to explain how the game works so i didnt get into it. That also meant i didnt get into thronebreaker even though i tried(i didnt realise you can skip the gwent altogether, so i might give it a go again as i heard a lot of people praise the story). Nevertheless thank you for the great video and it is a shame that cdpr didnt market the gwent tales better.
The stand-alone gwent game is the best online card game overall imo. The art, the mechanics, the lore, the gameplay itself... It's just soo much fun! I think most fans of TW3 gwent would love it too. You just need to watch videos about it beforehand so you know what's going on xD
I first learned of Thronebreaker through marketing, believe it or not, but gave up at first because I sucked at card games and, as you said, trailer was confusing. Years later, I just casually remembered it, and holy hell I had a hard time turning off the game during the playthrough. I really liked how the matches told its own story via special events (the bridge comes to mind, iykyk). Story held up the whole way, spectacular ending, but gameplay definitely got repetitive in the last act with all standard battles and no special rule.
Standalone Gwent is objectively so much better. I think it's sad that so many people immediately dismiss it just because it's not the game design joke that is W3 Gwent. Also, to anyone who reads this: Play Thronebreaker, now. It's great.
I had no idea you can speak Thronebreaker gwent sections. I made horrible decisions to avoit fights I couldnt beat. Why on Earth would they allow you to skip ......
DuelMail was originally meant as a game for Witcher online forum where players would duel over email. The name was changed to Versus since there was already a game called DuelMail and the devs of that game complained. Michal Madej who was the mastermind behind DM / Versus changed the name. The game evolved into a flash-based game with the idea being to provide a quick, fun battle game for the witcher forum members. The development was mostly handled by a separate dev one2tribe and attempt was made to make it more standalone. The game was still developed partially within CDP Red team, especially in the art department. The reason you have the 3 characters is to represent the 3 archetypes - sword, magic and monster.
The bad marketing of thronebreaker can be further expanded by the fact that I seek out new releases regularly and had idea this was even a game until the first time it went on sale.
I also never played standalone gwent because it was gwent. I expected the same as witcher 3 gwent and thou mentioned my thoughts on that even. I never knew it was even different... wish I had tried it now.
For anyone interested in that Witcher Board game, like I was because of this vid: it's called "The Witcher Adventure Game" and it's 80% off on Steam right now until December 12th.
I’m sorry for the huge gaps between videos. It’s really frustrating me, too, but I honestly don’t know what it is I’m doing wrong or where I can speed things up without cutting corners.
I keep picking topics that really interest me, and I try (not saying I always succeed) to make the best video I possibly can with zero padding. I don’t even know if it shows in the final product, but I keep working and reworking things until I feel like there isn’t a second of my audience’s time wasted.
Anyway, on a positive note I’m super happy to finally have this video out! Onto the next 👀
The videos have been sick don't worry mate. As long as the bills are getting paid, that's what's most important! If you gotta put out some lower effort sponsored content to make it by, so be it.
I don't mind the gaps between videos - the most important thing is the quality, and your videos are always Top Notch, so I don't mind if I have to wait to get them!!
I do understand though, I think TH-cam and twitter and all other social media really prioritise churning out content as fast as possible, and that adds a huge level of stress onto something that really should be enjoyable, not a chore, and then that leads to exhaustion and burn out. I love watching your videos, but I wouldn't want them to become unenjoyable for to make, if that makes sense?
Anyway I can't wait to watch this one!! Only ten seconds in and I'm already laughing at that witcher netflix burn 😂
If you have to choose, always pick quality over quantity. It's been my choice through life, and it's never let me down in the long run. Just be mindful of the law of diminishing returns and remember that the people who enjoy your conyent will find it and watch it.
Cheers!
So uh, do you think you'll do the videos about analysing the witcher 3 dlc
Amazing content uncovered a lot of Witcher products I didn't know of.
Thronebreaker sold just 10%: 13:47
Thronebreaker sold 3 copies: 14:36
Thronebreaker sold 2 copies: 17:14
Thronebreaker sold 1 copy: 17:56
😂
0 copies. It wasn't released. It wasn't even made. Wait, what are we talking about?
I was gunna say, my man's making me feel like I was the only person to buy it😂😂
That's Steam's refund system for you!
i am the proud owner of the -1 copy that was sold worldwide (i sold it to them)
Thronebreaker was a masterpiece! I enjoyed the Gwent puzzles it had but the normal combat felt kind of boring towards the end. The story and the soundtrack were excellent!
Never thought I'd read the words "masterpiece" and "kind of boring" at the same time.
@@targor9649 yeah I should have made it more clear that im refering to the story with the word "masterpiece"
totally agree the actual puzzle encounters worked so well but the combat wasn't the best. I really wish they'd make more
I didn't even know I could finish it without playing gwent.
I'm on my 2nd playthrough after my first in 2019 to get the 100% achievements... story is still great. i would have loved more witcher tales releases...
thronebreaker is a 10/10 for me man. it was such a great story filled with unexpected twists and turns throughout
How weird that all 3 people who bought this game is here in the comments for this vidya.
I couldn’t get over the play style 🥲
@@JACKXK Does everything need to be tripple A tier or what?
Heavily agree. Meve is such a great character. I wouldve loved to have seen her in the main title games
@@JACKXKyea i am also confused on this. No way the game sold a measly 3 copies and made back 10% of what was hoped for. That would mean the game was expected to sell a depressing 30 copies… that makes no damn sense.
Thronebreaker is AMAZING and it's such a shame that it does not get properly recognized.
Gwent artworks were so damn good, I constantly looked them up when reading all the Witcher books. I wish there was some kind of website where you could get a lineup of characters for each book, because it gets annoying to google each time I want to remember how somebody looks. Damn, maybe I should make it…
You should because i don't think CDProjekt will and it would be such a shame to lose all that.
Imagination is the solution
Seems like you're one for light novels, and you don't even know it
go for it lad
Those artworks are badass. There's only one thing I remember I didn't like - it's how they made Stephan Skellen's throwing stars the shape of the Nilfgaardinan sun :D That's some cartoony ass shit right there
Thronebreaker is one of my favourites!!! The soundtrack is also easily the best in the witcher franchise imo, which Is saying a lot
Thronebreaker is one of the best games I ever played, let alone the best as a Witcher game. And seeing how nobody really cares about it really hurts my soul. I always imagine people that worked on this game, engineers, programmers, voice actors, QA, artists, designers, writers, all of them putting their heart and soul into this, and no one really cares besides few hardcore fans, despite the game being a literal masterpiece. Like imagine being a dev for Baldur's Gate 3 and imagine if no one really cared about Baldur's Gate 3 today. That's how this game makes me feel, and as a dev myself, it feels really brutal to be a part of this industry.
I once stumbled Upon a artist on twitter who wrote about how much she enjoyed working on thronebreaker, I had to make sure she knew how much some of us loves this game
I love Thronebreaker
CDPR got out the creative shotgun with these games, and proceeded to aim at their foot and pull the trigger.
I played Thronebreaker on ps4 and I loved it so much, great story but if it wasn't related to the witcher, I wouldn't have played it for its gameplay. If you have an itch for more witcher lore, I highly recommend it
I just started playing Thronebreaker a few days ago and it's fantastic!
Does the goat reply
@@Zz0Z79your so obsessed with TH-cam creators that you have to point it out that you watch them
@@manwithballsonarm6775 nah idk who this mf is i just want him to reply
23:03 "Rogue Mage had only ONE player online.... which was ME" LMAO gave me such a laugh! what a great, well-researched, gripping video as usual. edit: it's such a same, it looks so beautiful!
I remember playing Witcher: Crimson Trail when I was like 10 years old on my Sony Ericsson k510i, cause it was a well rated game on the store (and one of the only games). I have never played a Witcher game before and English is not my first language so I had no idea wtf was going on... but this video unlocked some memories. The whole KILL/SPARE mechanic, along with the font for whatever reason stuck with me; I also remember those respawning soldiers... And the thing I remembered the most to this day is that it was a game with no good endings (obviously my child brain couldn't figure out the good ending path) and thinking that the final boss was a witch, not a vampire. I am so proud of my child self for playing that game now.
Played Thronebreaker on Switch a few years ago and was blown away by it. It feels like handheld is the perfect home for that type of game. Also the optional gwent-based puzzles are really fun for anyone interested :,)
*Nice You played that Witcher Crimson Trail. Mindblowing it has multiple endings too*
th-cam.com/video/GJoM7V54T-c/w-d-xo.html this is the live action version of the bad ending
I couldn't agree more on Thronebreaker. Most underrated game ever, and highest quality one for its price tag at release. "Flawless writing, greatest soundtrack ever conceived by mankind": yes, that sums it up. If I were a billionaire, I'd contact CDPR to fund additional Witcher Tales sequels at no cost for them. It'd be the duty of a true patron of the arts, following in the footsteps of King Francis Ist of France and Pope Julius II.
yupp thronebreaker super underrated. also a standalone gwent player and its such a shame its dying but understandable as you mentioned, they really badly handled the shut down too many people thought it was shut down last year w the announcement and left - also the 2023 carddrops introduced so many issues they were arguably not positive content overall sadly
I'm always surprised by the creativity and quality of your videos.. Don't worry about the long time it takes to churn these out, it's clear you have a high standard for what goes on your channel and that's why I think its been so successful!
omg, noooooooooo. I had no idea there were plans for more 'Witcher Tales' games, and the next one being about Iorveth?!?!?! dang it
Thronebreaker is a damn masterpiece and I played it to death. Such a shame...
There was actually dialogue about Iorveth commando at the end of Thronebreaker
On the topic of Gwent- it was so goddamn good at the beginning. I think it was still in beta stage back then? It was like a great mix of Witcher 3 Gwent and some deeper stuff with nice visual glow up. I remember spending tens of hours on it, and then the overhaul happened. I reluctantly tried the new version and I honestly had no goddamn clue what was going on. I feel there was no chance any new player would get into it because of how convoluted and confusing it was.
Thronebreakers was such a hidden gem. The plot twist in that game was genuinely one of the few video game plot twists that got me
If you don't mind me asking, which plot twist in Thronebreaker are you referring to? Is it the one at the end of chapter 1, the one near the end of chapter 4, or a different one?
@@benl2140 Ah sorry, my fault for not explaining :) it was who was the traitor
You sound like boring loser nerds tho who is also extremely weird
Thank you for the shout-out to Hearts of Stone. The story and build in that DLC are excellent, and often overlooked when compared to Blood and Wine (which is longer and very pretty but, IMHO isn't quite as good a story.)
As a huge fan of you and stand alone Gwent I would love a video on it. Your analysis here is great and I agree with most of it. But more and some gameplay would be awesome in my book. Probably not a big enough audience though
Well done guy. On top of the displate sponsor I got another ad for them both before and during this video.
I recommend Thronebreaker whenever possible, such a shame we won't ever get another story like that, it is a wonderful game.
Thronebreaker rundown was spot on, I enjoyed every bit of the game but I straight up skipped every battle (thank god there was an option for that, otherwise I would have uninstalled after an hour).
Fun fact, you are automatically the best video of my week because I've been waiting on someone being sponsorised by Displate for my christmas gift. Thank you ! Great video too !
i've never even heard about any of these but i will definitely check out thronebreaker!! thanks for another great video, you make the best witcher content out there imo. keep up the good work! and dont worry so much about your uploading schedule :)
thronebreaker is really so underappreciated, making any choice that resulted in "you chose one evil in favour of another" had me howling, bawling, and crying on the floor but I loved every second of it. i also played it in the polish dub, which was a great experience ngl
i am glad you do not cut corners..i like your content for what it is..straight forward..no BS blaring disco music, or chest thumping..been with you from the start..one of my fav content makers..and you spotlight my fav game..thx
Thronebreaker was such a hunch-buy for me, but once I started I didn't regret it one bit.
I even recommended it to a friend who usually doesn't play pc games (but read the books) and she loved it (she skipped over the combat)! It's such a gem and also has good replayability. Maybe not immediately but after a year or so when you remember that game and want to feel the experience again, you can make other choices and see how those turn out. Such a gem!
oh my god the way your footage of crimson trail just unlocked the memories of me playing this game when i was in school. insane.
AND versus too omg
About Gwent related games. I might be the weird outlier but the standalone version of Gwent was so much more entertaining than the version in W3. In W3 Gwent felt like last minute addition what was a slog for me to get through just so I don't miss anything because who knows if there's something cool locked behind it. But the standalone version's complexity and depth was what made me change my mind about Gwent as a whole.
Thronebreaker is obviously a masterpiece that should be given more spotlight at release cuz more "witcher tales" slowly being pumped out when we wait for next big game in the series would do wonders.
And Rogue Mage wasted so much potential, Slay the Spire type game with Gwent mechanics would be amazing, throwing into it a roguelite progression allowing you to each time get further and further in the game when showcasing some of the more obscure Witcher stories would be great!
I got Thronebreaker the other day and I'm so excited to play it. It was probably you're videos that made me aware of it and want to buy it at all.
Good job bro. Loved your take away, I feel the pains man. Can't wait to watch you and your channel grow.
I first played the Monster Slayer before the pay to win update but I can say that there was a quest at the beggining I was just unable to get past with the great curse that blinded my ability to spot monsters before i clicked on them only increasing the pain beyond bearable. It had however, a lot of potential. At the very beginning there were some pretty interesting quests that I played in the countryside whilst I was visiting grandparents and I can truly say that for a moment I really felt like a witcher, which made me really interested in the game before it quickly all fell apart as my enjoyment was ruined.
Battle Arena at least knew their lore except it was mainly Witcher 2 lore lol. I love how they had a character from an extremely obscure side quest. I know who that character was, but I beat all the Witchers & did everything in them. While most people wouldn’t know tho since Witcher 3 is when most people got introduced
Wow, I'm rather shocked to hear about Monster Slayer's disgraceful end! I quite liked playing it for a few months but ended up deleting it because of storage issues on my old phone and completely forgot about it until now...
Damn, I'd never even heard of Thronebreaker until now and I'm still mad about it.
Glad to have been the only person who ever played Thronebreaker :D that game was amazing, even if the gwent gameplay was far too easy, making the "risky" choices never really risky at all
The reality is that the Witcher as a concept is kind of tame. By that a mean, it's not so gimmicky that any writer can pick it up and do something super exciting with it. The Witcher requires very intimate writing styles. Devs approach Witcher games like it's Lord of the Rings, when they're really more like detective style narratives. It's film noir. The traditional RPG beat-em-up approach to games is not going to work for the Witcher.
Ohh the gwent convo hit me hard! As someone who used to play the beta A LOT , and then when the game was launched and they changed everything, i still played a LOT in the first year (i mean, at one point i got top 50 worldwide), every time i spent months away from the game it seemed more complicated and more pile up of cards and mechanics that just make me tired.
Finally someone else gives the hearts of stone writing the credit it deserves, its the best piece of witcher content for me other than a few single page moments from the books. Ice skating in tower of the swallow, geralt getting close to murdered in time of contempt and the attack on styga castle
Thank you for explaining thronebreaker. I did indeed skip it because I did not like to play gwent in the main game. I wishlisted it immediately and looking forward to it.
I've been to CDPR in 2019 while they were working on Cyberpunk. I walked around like Geralt in the HQ and now I am the proud owner of two physcial copies of Thronebreaker. It comes with a bunch of awesome goodies
I had zero idea there was a physical version, what platform is it for? Just curious.
@7:10 There was a browser game I remember playing a long time ago called BiteFight that was sort of like this but without the animations and stuff.
I just recently discovered your channel , and i must say i enjoy it very much. Love your content! I was hoping you could do some “how to” videos on different part of the game. I know other TH-camrs may have done similar videos like that, but I really would like your spin on one. Like how to easiest get the griffin armor for example.
massive fan of Thronebreaker. Meve just might be one of my favourite The Witcher characters.
I haven't heard of a lot of these. This a cool video thanks!
This video kept me thoroughly entertained while i completed the mind-numbing task of preparing veggies for a roast. Thanks mate
Man i played Thronebreaker like a year ago, i love the game so much. Such a good story with so many different hard choices. You really feel the weight of the crown in this one
Great video as always!
Love Thronebreaker. Played through it more times than I care to admit. It's really a shame it didn't sell well.
Now im mad i want more games like thronebreaker, i loved every single part of it
Thronebreaker is an awesome game, shame that it didn't do well. But you are right about the marketing, I had never heard of it until just seeing it randomly when scrolling through the PS store one day
Love your channel man, just getting back into tw3 again after a long absence and then onto thronebreaker!
You can skip a combat in Thronebreaker? How? Why I haven't heard about that?
(probably I was told in some sort of tutorial or something. Maybe I even read this... but I definitly take too big breaks between playing most of games I have... so when I'm coming back I didn't remember anything)
nah, the scrap of marketing it got never mentioned the easiest difficulty allows for skipping battles. cdpr massively undersold the entire game and then went pikachuface at the sales :D
I bought Thronebreaker like 3 years ago in 2021. Never managed to finish it though because as a an adult I don't really have the time latly to finish a game.
I played thronebreaker like 8 months ago and its so sad how little love it gets. I have never had a story moment in a game hit me as hard as a moment later in the game. Through off my game too because the card I lost was a major part of my deck.
I loved Thronebreaker so much, I would love for more like it. Standalonew Gwent was also fun for a while, amazing art and flavour as you said.
sounds like CDPR's greatest issue is marketing, I never even heard of Thronebreaker until this video, but now I'm dying to play it, even if the trailer promoted as just some Gwent spin off, I probably would've still bought it if I ever heard it existed just because The Witcher 3 is my favorite game ever
Thronebreaker's flop on sales is truly a shame
An unexpected upload, awesome. I really have to give Thronebreaker a try, maybe when I finish my whatever number I'm on Witcher playthrough.
Thronebreaker should have been a party based Strategy RPG (Might & Magic style) instead imo. Also, Gwent Rogue(lite) Mage was released little too late & rather missed the mark to its proper audiences when it should have been marketed towards rogue-like card building fans & make it much more simple yet addictive like Slay The Spire.
Witcher Monster Slayer & Battle Arena should have never happened imo. Chasing the copy paste popular gimmick pure for profits. They were better off making collab work guest appearance on other games like SCVI & MHW.
CDPR were too afraid to make a more budgeted original & spin off games & they suffered heavily from it. I at least applaud CAPCOM & SEGA & especially Fromsoft, by staying consistent with main platform game releases with consistent good quality for every 1-3 years or so.
While Thronebreaker sales where worse than expected I saw a news that it break even some time ago. It's a shame that they did not continue with more Witcher Tales, at least for making universe richer. It would be much better way than some events in Gwent (I did play a lot of Gwent, but droped out soon after Midwinter Update).
BTW Another reason while it did not sale well was the fact on PC for some time it was exclusive for GOG.
Dude
This video is such a deep dive into a world that I wasn't even aware about.
Nice job 👍
the problem with Thronebreaker is basically the same problem Cyberpunk had
way too overhyped, delayed so many times the original hyped died, they promoted again as this new standalone game but it was still made from and tied to gwent which ended not pleasing both gwent lovers and haters at the same time.
Not only that but thronebreaker released with the official release of gwent but that official release was more of a gwent 2.0 because the game got completely reworked (for the 6th time in a spam of 7 months mind you) they even removed one of the game's role (from 3 lanes to 2) changed 80% of the card's abilities and made almost everything beta gwent archetype nonexistent.
All that made the combo of gwent players hating thronebreaker for it + people who hate card games not getting into thronebreaker because it was tied to a card game. It is unfortunate because thronebreaker is amazing and I would do unspeakable things to a human being just to get more the witcher universe short stories in that style of game
"Gwent was meant for mindless fun against stupid opponents"
Me who can't beat the AI
I loved Thronebreaker! The storytelling was amazing!
Thanks for the commentary!
Great video! Man, it still makes me sad Thronebreaker didn't do well. It's such an amazing game! It makes me even more sad knowing about the Iorveth game cancelation now :(
P.S. I've played all the games mentioned except for The Witcher VS. I had no idea that even existed lol
Iorveth yet again getting snubbed D:
Thronebreaker is indeed a great game. You gave me the idea to replay it again.
I replay it before any TW2->TW3 run. So many choices to make!
Thronebreaker was a game most similar to The Banner Saga trilogy, yet somehow it is impossible to tell from the marketing.
Dam it I just forgot that the Witcher show existed and then he mentions it within the first minute
I wish the Gwent games actually felt like the witcher 3 gwent. You're so limited with cards, but the system enables weak cards to be useful, scorch, spies and weather effects were such powerful and fun mechanics.. It just were never fully replicated sadly
really enjoy your video's! thanks
I was one of the two people that played thronebreaker. Bought it on sale and just didn't play it for ages and ages only to be really disappointed when I did play it. You pretty much hit the nail on the head with your description... Amazing artwork, great story, fantastic voice cast, very chill time on the overworld map but jesus the battles... it just wore me down to the point that I was skipping every battle in the last area unless it was related to a trophy. A terrible shame.
I actually bought Thronebreaker, but just couldn't really get into it. Played it for about an hour and sort of forgot about it.
TWMS on the other hand, ooh boy. I played it from the launch and it was fun going out and do the quests. Even grinding was somewhat enjoyable. But then the promised story expansions never came and the disastrous patch appeared...
Thronebreaker is so amazing. One of the best experiences I have ever played
I got Thronebreaker years ago and ADORED it! I was so hyped for The Witcher Tales, but never actively looked for news about it. So I'm just learning through this video that there won't be more.
It absolutely kills me that there will never be a sequel. It was so, so good. TT^TT
Seeing this kind of dedication and commitment for Witcher world, I wouldn't be surpriced if Neon is going to learn polish for additional content.
Great video! I have only played Witcher 3 so this was interesting. Your videos are really well thought out and edited. I always watch them with full attention and never glance at the clock. Looking forward to whichever Witcher related content you plan to cover next!
bro, I thought Thronebreaker was a gwent expansion
Funny thing is, I remember clearly playing VS back in the day for a bit, found out it exists, tried it and that was that :D
I never tried Thronebreaker, mostly because the story is told to you in text form, it's the same reason why I don't find Nintendo games all that appealing. When I play a game I want a story to be told to me, I don't want to be the narrator, I love reading books but there's a weird limbo when it comes to games that have a lot of text in them where they are neither? I may not be the majority here but I would've jumped on it day 1 if it was narrated like the Witcher 3.
I didn't know Thronebreaker had flopped so badly. Such a shame, it's such a fun game and so unique. Seeing footage of it here actually made me want to go and play it again, and I think I might just do that right now.
HOLY FUCK WHO DID THRONEBREAKER THIS DIRTY IM SO FUCKING ANGRY
It's heartbreaking to find out there was a planned Iorveth Witcher Tales because as I was playing Thronebreaker and maybe even before I was thinking how sick one starring Iorveth would be. It'd be perfect for him, playing a sort of Guerilla fighter, recruiting allies anywhere he can get, being the leader of a Scoi'atael band after all. Going from a Queen to a fugitive Freedom fighter is just so great. And with the plus of bringing back a fan favourite we didn't get to see return in the Witcher 3.
Looking forward to picking up thronebreaker and the video pipeline. Keep up the good stuff. Supposedly Joseph Anderson’s witcher 3 critique is coming out this year. Not sure if neon knight is a fan or familiar but its bit of a meme at this point.
I must sadly say, as a witcher 3 gwint veteran(i also downloaded the mods to make it more interesting and it got much better, totally recommend the gwent redux mod) i also was very excited to play the standalone gwent when i found out it exists but i didnt manage to get into it as it was already too complicated when i tried it for the first time and in my opinion the tutorial was sadly also not good enough to explain how the game works so i didnt get into it. That also meant i didnt get into thronebreaker even though i tried(i didnt realise you can skip the gwent altogether, so i might give it a go again as i heard a lot of people praise the story). Nevertheless thank you for the great video and it is a shame that cdpr didnt market the gwent tales better.
The stand-alone gwent game is the best online card game overall imo. The art, the mechanics, the lore, the gameplay itself... It's just soo much fun!
I think most fans of TW3 gwent would love it too. You just need to watch videos about it beforehand so you know what's going on xD
You have really interesting insight, thx for the vid
I first learned of Thronebreaker through marketing, believe it or not, but gave up at first because I sucked at card games and, as you said, trailer was confusing.
Years later, I just casually remembered it, and holy hell I had a hard time turning off the game during the playthrough. I really liked how the matches told its own story via special events (the bridge comes to mind, iykyk).
Story held up the whole way, spectacular ending, but gameplay definitely got repetitive in the last act with all standard battles and no special rule.
i did not know the Gwent aspect of Thronebreaker is skippable until now, thank you for telling us that, im definitely gonna finish it now
I can affirm that Thronebreaker is absolutely amazing
Standalone Gwent is objectively so much better. I think it's sad that so many people immediately dismiss it just because it's not the game design joke that is W3 Gwent.
Also, to anyone who reads this: Play Thronebreaker, now. It's great.
No need to rush the work. This is well done and I am glad to have found this channel. Subbed!
Thanks Michael 🫡
I had no idea you can speak Thronebreaker gwent sections. I made horrible decisions to avoit fights I couldnt beat. Why on Earth would they allow you to skip ......
DuelMail was originally meant as a game for Witcher online forum where players would duel over email. The name was changed to Versus since there was already a game called DuelMail and the devs of that game complained. Michal Madej who was the mastermind behind DM / Versus changed the name. The game evolved into a flash-based game with the idea being to provide a quick, fun battle game for the witcher forum members. The development was mostly handled by a separate dev one2tribe and attempt
was made to make it more standalone. The game was still developed partially within CDP Red team, especially in the art department. The reason you have the 3 characters is to represent the 3 archetypes - sword, magic and monster.
The bad marketing of thronebreaker can be further expanded by the fact that I seek out new releases regularly and had idea this was even a game until the first time it went on sale.
I also never played standalone gwent because it was gwent. I expected the same as witcher 3 gwent and thou mentioned my thoughts on that even. I never knew it was even different... wish I had tried it now.
hate to ask but is there gonna be a WWGD Witcher 1 edition??
gonna finish Witcher 3 first, and at that point I think it'll be better to just wait for the remake
@@NeonKnight sad 😔 but i understand
I thought Thronebreaker was an exclusively Gwent game and unlike Geralt, I am not a fan of Gwent.
For anyone interested in that Witcher Board game, like I was because of this vid: it's called "The Witcher Adventure Game" and it's 80% off on Steam right now until December 12th.