The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)

The game is a beatifully crafted world that truly feels alive and where your decisions do make a difference.

However, I found the combat very boring and not exciting. After the first hour of the game you have seen all the game has to offer in terms of combat. Bosses were dissapointing and combat became a chore and I would avoid when possible.

The story is...okay? Act 1 drags way too long, the whole game could have been act 2 and 3 and that would have been a more tight experience. if act1 were to be included it should have been a fraction of what it is.

There is a lot of side quests, some are great, some are run of the mill boring stuff. there is way too much content to swift through the good stuff unfortantely.

Keep in mind I am not an open world fan, i like my experiences more tight and linear. The game is brimmed with content, but ultimately the content is not for me. But the game is without a doubt a work of epic proportions by the devs.

I see the appeal of this game.

There's a lot of good writing, the mod community is strong, it's pretty to look at.... there's a lot going for it, but I'm going to nope out of this, as it feels more like a chore to play instead of a joy.

Combat is clunky at best and the movement and camera control in general is lacking. it's just not worth fighting with the game when there's so many other games to dive in on.

~David.

The Witcher 3 is the first introduction of non-Nintendo AAA games to me. And it has opened my eyes so much that I decided to buy a PS5 so that I can play more awesome games like it that are not available on the Switch.

Compared to Zelda BOTW, TW3 has a lot of explanations and tutorials at the start. It is a lot more story focus with many many more cut scenes to the degree that sometimes it feels like I am watching a TV series. In theory, you can explore the world freely in TW3 similar to BOTW, but in practice you would (as least I did) probably follow the orders that is intended because of the game is strongly story driven. Within an individual quest, the step-by-step instructions are too clear that it doesn’t encourage players to experiment.

Some reviews here mention that the TW3 game is a series of chores that needs to be done by Geralt in exchange for information about Ciri, which I agree. But I thoroughly enjoy the plot of the main quests and closely related side quests. The Bloody Baron as many have pointed out is a masterpiece of plot twisting. It arguably has the biggest impact on me. The side quests are brilliant! I think this is the only game I have played that I genuinely enjoy the side quests and want to do all of them.

The two DLCs as many people said are the best DLCs in history. Both have enough content to be sold as standalone games before the 2010s. (Maybe even after, because Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is only 7.5 hours long according to HLTB, shorter than both TW3 DLCs). Contrary to the general consensus though, I personally prefer Hearts of Stone to Blood and Wine. Gaunter O'Dimm is a much more intriguing antagonist than Dettlaff. The boss fights are also more interesting in Hearts of Stones.

In terms of performance, the game runs pretty smoothly on Switch. On handheld the visuals are decent though showing on a TV in dock mode it looks disastrous.

All in all, I love The Witcher 3. It is my favorite game of all time. I spent 130 hours playing the main story and two DLCs and STILL didn’t want to put down. I am looking forward to the next-gen update to come to Switch so that I can sync my save and continue playing on my new PS5.

Brilliant game. Beautiful scenery to ride around in and plenty to explore and do. Mostly interesting quests with a large variety in plot lines and hooks. Lots of things to play around with in terms of character customization if one's inclined, and lots of fiddly bits like potion making and crafting.

The main plot is well written for the most part with excellent characters and plot twists. the "side-jobs" of monster killing do get to be a bit repetitive and there is a finite number of character models, which becomes very obvious after a while, but it's understandable with the sheer number of characters (fully-voiced!) that appear.

Combat gets a bit repetitive after a while, especially if one doesn't make a conscious effort to change one's habits and the background music tends to repeat. That wolf medallion does behave as if physics are for other, lesser, medallions.

Bottom line: So good I will be playing the expansions soon.

It took me a long time to get around to this game after struggling to get into the Witcher 2. I wish I had given it a chance sooner. The Witcher 3 is one of the best action-RPGs I have ever played. While the combat and potion system was difficult for me to engage with at first, by the time I was a few hours in I had learned to fight properly, and thought that the oils and potions actually added a nice layer of depth to the game's combat (which will become very easy and stale by the end of the game if you are playing on normal difficulty).

Outside of that, every thing worked for me. I loved the crafting systems. I loved hunting down monsters and figuring out their weaknesses. I loved completing sidequests, because most of them had a meaningful story to tell that was rewarding to experience in and of itself, regardless of any rewards that came along with it. I found myself going back to very low level sidequests - level 15 or 16, when I was in the 30s just because I wanted to make sure I did not miss out on the stories before completing the game.

On a technical level, the game is outstanding and still holds up as one of the best looking games I have ever played.

This is a once in a generation masterpiece that all RPG fans should give a try.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I just finished the Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, 3 days after I finished reading the first Witcher book: The Last Wish. These, along with the Netflix series (which is basically the Last Wish) were my first dive into the Witcher world. So a disclaimer, even though I have The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, in my library, I have played neither.

So, The Witcher 3 follows Geralt of Rivia’s (the titular witcher, duh) quest to find his “daughter” Cirilla, or Ciri for friends. A witcher is basically a monster killer for hire, a breed of artificially mutated men, taught from a young age to kill monsters in exchange for money (toss a coin to your witcher).

Ciri’s a descendant of a big deal elf, so she has a gift that grants her the power to travel between worlds, they call her the Elder Blood, which is a badass name. But it also means that everyone is trying to get ahold of that Elderly Juice, this time, a bunch of elves, known as The Wild Hunt, are after her, they freeze shit, they’re big and have badass armor, and are relentless.

Therefore Geralt needs to get to Ciri before the Hunt, in a race against time… Or he could spend his time doing contracts, picking plants, searching for armor, raiding tombs, romancing sorceresses and playing Gwent, which is the Witcher equivalent of Magic: The Gathering.

Just a bit of an aside: The story between Ciri and Geralt goes back to the first book, that, luckily, I just finished reading, so I’ll take this opportunity to showcase my knowledge, so... clears throat: Geralt basically was entitled to Ciri since before she was born, as her father was indebted to him, and because of something called the Law Of Surprise™, which basically says, when someone owes a debt and can’t pay it, if the owed person invokes the Law Of Surprise™, they’re entitled to something that person owns but does not know so yet, so imagine, this person finds a dog, that dog becomes the payment for the debt and must be given to the owed person, well, Ciri’s father got the shit end of the stick and instead of a dog of anything else, he found out his wife was pregnant, which is pretty tragic and funny af.

Ok, finished that, back to the Witcher 3.

Although you can just spend time doing random stuff, which is a bit harmful for the urgency of the narrative, it does get to a point where you just focus on the story and all that urgency is returned. And let me tell you, when this game gets intense, it gets intense.

From The Battle of Kaer Morhen to the end, the story just picks up a beautiful, rhythmic pace, it really feels like you have to get things done, and shit will go down in a monumental way. And it does.

The only real complaints I have are the occasional glitches that many times force you to reload, and the horse riding is… well… horseshit.

Another aside (I earned it): The world of the Witcher is based on folklore, many well known stories and characters appear, genies that grant wishes, 7 dwarves with defining characteristics that guard a sleeping woman, a trail of sweets that children follow into a house with a dark secret and other monsters and creatures, some rational, others just aggressive. But all these monsters and nonhumans were in this world before the humans. Yes, humans came from another world that they destroyed, and proceeded to conquer and steal the land from all the other races that already existed in this one: elves, dwarves, halflings, etc. The monsters were already there too, hence the need for Witchers. Giving the lore of the world, and by proxy, all the decisions you make, a moral edge that I think is pretty interesting.

Back to the Witcher 3, the world is beautiful and full of opportunities, the swamps of Crookback Bog are creepy and dirty, and a place that I hate to have to go, in the sense that it makes things more tense, you never know when a drowner, of a water hag or some other monster will appear, the storyline in Velen with the Bloody Baron is one of the best in the game, it is really heartbreaking and opens you to the fact that in this game there are consequences for your actions, short and long term. The politics in Novigrad are compelling, playing the political game while trying to stay true to the Witcher’s unwritten code, and trying to be a good person and protect the ones you love is walking a thin line. And Skellige is just… astonishing, a mixture of real life cultures like Norse Vikings and Scottish Highlanders and is something every gamer, and every person interested in fantasy stories needs to experience.

Then there’s Yen and Triss, and their love triangle, two sorceress who are great friends, but in love with the same man, Triss being a caring, emotional person, but with a dark side hidden, and Yen, a cold, calculating, extremely efficient woman that tries to hide her feelings, for she sees them as weaknesses.

There’s so much stuff in this game, I can’t cover everything, I wish, maybe someday. All I know is that I keep thinking about my next playthrough, gonna go for the DLC’s, and New Game +, and all the things I’m gonna make differently.

(Last warning for endgame spoilers).

In the end, in my playthrough, from a political standpoint, everything was ok. Despite Nilfgaard managing to conquer the North, they allowed them to keep their country as long as they gave vassalage to Nilfgaard, so they got to stay an independent country, under a fair ruler, that ended the literal witch hunt started by King Radovid. Ciri was made empress of Nilfgaard, being the heiress to Emperor Emhyr, and ruled as a just leader, having learned from both her father figures, the political acumen from Emhyr, and the empathy from Geralt. Cerys an Craite ruled Skellige, the first woman to do so, a very smart and kindhearted person that focused her politics on the land and worked on uniting the isles, leading to a new era in Skellige. So from a political standpoint, everything was the best that it could be.

Geralt, was not… Triss and Yen both left him, due to the fact that he led them both on, telling both that he loved them. Philippa Eilheart has a great conversation with Geralt about this when she just lays the truth to his face, saying - “Couldn’t help but notice the tension between you and Yennefer and Triss. It’s very hard on Ciri, I think. There are times I doubt you three realize how it looks. Triss plays the big sister to Ciri, but eagerly awaits a chance to hop in bed with you. You and Yennefer play the parents…” - even though Geralt retorts with a witty punchline - “Yeah, so if you’re angling to make a fivesome, there’s clearly no room.” - this is very much the basis for their relationship, and he knows it, and yet he led them on, maybe hoping that the choice would be made for him eventually, and in a way it was. When they found out they decided to humiliate him, telling him they were willing to have a threeway and ultimately tying them to a bed and leaving him until morning. It lead to a very frustrating moment for Geralt, not the threeway humiliation part, but after that, when you remember that the game treats its main characters like real people, very faithful to Sapkowski writing btw, and when he wouldn’t make a choice, they moved on, and what happened was completely deserved, Yen put the final nail in the coffin when she said: “Me and Triss talked, about a lot of things, except about you, we decided that Geralt of Rivia was not our concern anymore”. Ciri left him to fulfill her role as Empress of Nilfgaard, not knowing when they would see each other again. Geralt was alone, left to his life as a Witcher, the only life he can live, as it is the only life he’s ever known, he talked of retiring to Kovir with Triss, or living the rest of his life with Yen or even finishing Ciri’s training, but he got none of it, he was alone, him and the few monsters left to slay.

I love the Witcher world and I appreciate what they're trying to do here, but the controls are so wonky and the combat doesn't feel as deep as it aspires to be. I think I'll content myself with the show and the books for now and just let this one go.

Might pick it back up if I start traveling a lot as being on Switch is nice.

My two star ranking seems weird when i think about having spent 197 hours finishing the game. But overall there was much i personally didn't enjoy with the game and really a little bit that i very much enjoyed.

Let's start with the boring part about what i didn't personally enjoy.

• I did not enjoy the main story line of the game. Maybe it's because Witcher 3 is the only Witcher game i've played and haven't grown to know and care for Yennefer or Ciri. But the Wild Hunt didn't interest me very much, even less since i spent most of the time interacting with the hounds.
• Yennefer annoyed me so alot, she really didn't respect anyone else, and despite my choices it seemed like the game kept pushing us together, which took me out of it.
• As usual with these types of games, not all of the choices reflected the outcome. Apparently "shove forcefully" meant punch to the stomache, uppecut, then break leg. Which is not what i was going for.
• Story-related fights were a real hassle for me as a potion-user. Because when cutscenes happened, sometimes all my buffs was gone afterwards, and the potions hadn't refreshed so in some fights i just had to drink stuff to keep something up.

What i did love on the other hand, that kept me going for so long, was the smaller amount of side-quests that wasn't just "go here, slay this" but had human or monster story-lines attatched to it. Seeing some of the pay off in some way at a later date was also very nice. Some of these side-quests were so good that it had me searching for them for 197 hours and still come out of the game with some joy.

So if you have the time, i recommend go hunting for side quests, if you don't have the time i can't personally recommend this.

Poor Bloody Baron. Both a quest that made me hate him immensely but also sympathize hard with him. I'm not looking forward to the conclusion of this. Also Ciri is immensely fun to play as in the short time I got, whipping around the place with a flashy as fuck dodge. Please lemme play her more, Witcher feels so much more.... strained by comparison, that's hard to put in words atm since I'm still level 7 equivalently.

Gwent still rules. Always great to trounce so hard on merchants with 40 strength vs a passed 12. And the more cards I get, the more powerful I grow. Also was satisfying to beat the Baron in particular lol

Ok, lets give this another try. My gaming podcast voted, and wants to hear me and my friends playing thru the game, so here we go.

Out of White Orchard, explored the entirety of that region, tonight, The Bloody Baron :D.

Having friends to pop in and give commentary has helped me get more invested then I was in the past. I still find the crafting system annoying, adding minute details and a hoarder mentality to an already sort of overwhelming game, BUT, hopefully as I play I can either A ignore it or B wrap my head around it.

Let it be on record that CD Projekt Red is a master at worldbuilding and narrative prose, which oozes out of every nook and cranny from White Orchard to Toussaint. That said they are probably too tied to the craft of making a genuine true-to-Geralt game that they intentionally cut down design decisions that would actually make the gameplay good.

Narratively, Witcher 3 stands atop very well if not completely amazing. The first Act of the story is decently well paced although the bits before Velen were uninteresting save for some bits of the fanservice to bookreaders that wasn't really enough to tide me over, but overall it's remarkably well written from the quest-tied sidequests to the entire arcs relegated to Novigrad and Skellige. The second Act is phenomenal, with one particular quest that is probably my favorite of the game because it also ties in the gameplay decently too. The third act however is a crock of utter shit and it's clear that the finale was a rushed first draft which is a real shame. But despite this, the cavalcade of great well fleshed out characters and remarkably well done prose left me more than satisfied upon finishing.

Gameplay wise, other than the strong world and map design it falls completely on its face. Combat ranges from Quen to win to potion knowledge tests that are not interesting to concoct or plan around. There are a few exceptions but generally the combat is so restrictive and asinine to pull off and especially with how often you do it that it brings the whole game down terribly. A major sticking point I'll throw as evidence against it is that you have no freedom over which animation Geralt uses when attacking any enemy. It's a clear attempt to make Geralt play out his movements in the book but because you're so restricted to any random particular animation you get near enemies, combat on higher difficulties requires you to play so utterly safe and in such an uninteresting way and on lower difficulties is not satisfying at all as it becomes pure mashing. There's no sweet spot to be had here.

A couple bullet points of the DLC to add onto this before concluding:

• Hearts of Stone has the best narrative storytelling especially with the quest within the world of the painting. It also has combat encounters that require a bit more thinking and leaves this DLC particularly in a fantastic corner.
• Blood and Wine is 2 parts fantastic characterization and worldbuilding and one part a garbage final act that ends up actually worse than TW3 base's final act. It's still phenomenal overall due to the highs it gets to but what an absolute disappointment in the end.

Overall I find Witcher 3 to be a very good game, and I hope CD Projekt Red learns from their mistakes with Cyberpunk to actually make the gameplay part good instead of just their writing team. (7.5/10)