The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Reviews

Author's Note: Cross-posted from my Gamefaqs account; originally published 2-6-18. I have made minor edits in order to adapt for TrueSteam. Enjoy

Geralt of Rivia: Witcher P.I.

Where to begin? Witcher 3, released in 2015, is the latest (and possibly last) installment in the Witcher video game franchise (not to be confused with the original novels written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski). As a sequel to 2011’s Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and it’s 2007 predecessor The Witcher, W3 effectively concludes the tale of Geralt of Rivia, along with his friends, enemies, and lovers. Often times, video games are nothing more than distractions. Witcher 3: Wild Hunt proves some games, with their portrayal of drama and human emotion, are more than distractions, but art.

1. Story

Set just a short time after the events of Witcher 2, W3 begins with Geralt and his elder Witcher mentor Vesemir tracking down Geralt’s lost love, Yennefer. Beginning in the region of White Orchard, the player is introduced to the dark fantasy world of Continent, caught in a major war between the empire of Nilfgaard under Emperor Emhyr and the Kingdom of Redania under King Radovid V. Soon enough, Geralt tracks down his old flame Yennefer (who he’d been searching for in the prior titles), but the adventure doesn’t end there. Yennefer takes Geralt (whilst escaping from the riders of the wild hunt) to the Imperial court of Emperor Emhyr, where the Emperor hires Geralt to track down his daughter, the young swashbuckling Witcher Ciri. Ciri, despite being the Emperor’s daughter, was also the adopted daughter of Geralt and Yennefer years before, and shares a special place in Geralt’s heart. His assignment from the Emperor therefore becomes a very personal one, as he not only cares for Ciri, but she is also being hunted by the spectral demons of the Wild Hunt.

From there, Geralt and Yennefer split up, working in different regions of Continent to track down Ciri. Geralt is free to explore various regions of Continent, including the war torn lands of Velen, the metropolitan cities of Novigrad and Oxenfurt, and finally the Norse/Scottish themed Skellige islands.

Along the way, Geralt meets up with old friends (and lovers) from the Witcher franchise, including the aforementioned Yennefer, his other lover the sorceress Triss, the Dwarf Zoltan, Dandelion the Bard, along with fellow witchers Lambert and Eskel. It’s up to the player-character to manage relationships, friendships, international politics and crime of Continent, face the ever looming threat of the Wild Hunt, all while on the search for the long lost Ciri.

DLC was included by Cd Projekt Red for FREE (I say again: FREE), and adds immense amounts of content to the main game, which is already quite large. Besides the two main expansion packs (which are not free but still worth the purchase) listed below, free DLC packs adds armor sets, NPC optional attire, small side quests, extra blood/finisher animations, Gwent cards, an elite crossbow and new game +.

- Hearts of Stone: Played out in the eastern reaches of the Novigrad/Oxenfurt regions, Geralt is hired by a cavalier playboy named Olgiert von Everec to slay a monster in the Oxenfurt sewers. What starts out as a simple witcher contract turns into a deeper, personal adventure, as Geralt is captured by slavers, escapes, learns of Everec’s dark history, parties with a ghost of von Everec’s relative, all while dealing with Olgiert’s personal demons caused by the loss of his family. In addition to a new romance option, this expansion also adds runes/glyphs that can be inserted into socketed weapons and armor.

- Blood and Wine: Set in it’s own region, B&W takes Geralt to the medieval fairytale like land of Toussaint. Toussaint is a duchy like out of kid’s story books, with princesses, jousting knights, chivalry, the whole lot. But underneath the veneer of picture book fairy tale castles and kings lies a dark evil: vampires. B&W takes well over 30 hours to complete, a whole game in and of itself, yet plays as an expansion pack. In addition to an amazing story, B&W adds old acquaintances, a winery villa for Geralt to kick back in, new weapons and armor, combat abilities (hex signs can be upgraded to score critical hits), and a charming locale not seen since the novels.

When it comes to the matter of importing saves, it’s a relatively simple process. Long time players can import a save file from Witcher 2, OR simply answer a few in-universe questions. Once the player reaches the Imperial Court, Geralt will be questioned by a court official about previous events. The player’s answers determine various aspects of the game’s story, and that’s that.

2. Gameplay

W3, like previous titles in the series, plays out as a 3rd person action adventure RPG. Combat, despite looking like hack-n-slash, is far from it. Rather it’s a complex formula, requiring blocking, dodging, strategy and tactics. Players have at their disposal silver swords (for dealing with monsters and non-humans) and steel swords (along with other non-silver weapons for fighting humans). To increase combat efficacy, Geralt can coat his weapons in various oils that add extra damage to specific opponents. In addition, Geralt’s witcher abilities allows him access to hex signs (yrden, aard, etc etc) that have various effects, such as fire, stun, shielding, etc. New to the series is the crossbow. Geralt can now also ride horses, swim, and climb, features absent in previous titles. Across Continent, Geralt will find new weapons and armor, with varying attributes. Also new is the addition of Witcher armor sets. Each set (from various Witcher schools, including Griffin, Viper, Wolf, etc) offers set and attribute bonuses.

As a massive open world RPG, Geralt can freely travel about, taking up side quests and main quests at the player’s leisure. Despite W3 being billed as a much larger game than 2011’s The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, W3 can be completed in a much shorter time than a full length Skyrim playthrough. The numerous quests are listed by region and type, helping to keep players focused rather than lost in a massive open world. In any case, the world of Continent isn’t static. Decisions have consequences with long lasting effects, while the overarching story and sub-plots keep you pulled in.

The series has always had mini-games, such as boxing. New to W3 is the card game Gwent, an in-universe collectible card game that plays out like Magic: The Gathering. Having become so popular with fans, Cd Projekt Red began developing Gwent as a standalone game. It will be released sometime this year.

Questing is a relatively simple affair. Quests (side quests, monster bounties, etc) are listed not only by region and type, but also by recommended level. Perhaps the most intriguing quests are those for monsters – griffins, phantoms, etc. By accepting monster quests, negotiating prices, and using his witcher senses to track various monsters, Geralt becomes something of a private investigator reminiscent of old P.I. Noir films. Playing through witcher contracts, I was reminded often of Humphrey Bogart, or any old Noir actor who one might see sitting at his desk in a dimly lit office, window blinds half open, a bottle of bourbon on the desk and a lit cigarette in his mouth. Most notable of all is that Geralt by taking those quests actually fulfills his duty as a witcher. Throughout the series, each title played out more as a violent dark medieval soap opera, focusing more on politics and intrigue of the land than true monster hunting. Here in W3, the player is finally able to take real in-universe witcher contracts.

Assisting the player is an in-game bestiary, an encyclopedia of sorts detailing monsters, creatures, friends and foes. In addition to providing the player with biographical data about characters, it also lists strengths and weaknesses of Geralt’s enemies. For example, certain signs and weapon-applied oils can be used to devastating effect against specific monsters and creatures, while other techniques may only apply base damage. Throughout the regions Geralt visits, he will gain access to various herbs and resources that he can use to create alchemical potions and oils. While oils can be applied to Geralt’s weapons to increase damage, potions can be used to cure Geralt of ailments or supplement his abilities (such as dark vision or expanded lung capacity while underwater).

Traversing the various regions is made easy, as Geralt is able to ride horseback throughout the land. Road signs throughout the regions allow for quick-travel as well. As was mentioned before, Geralt can now climb and swim. Well, there are also boats too, so Geralt can reach far flung islands or travel down rivers, creeks, and swamps with ease. Geralt’s horse, Roach, also adds extra combat abilities too, as he can charge at an enemy in slow-motion, increasing damage. Mounted combat is an interesting concept too. In addition to slow-motion charges, Roach can be outfitted with extra gear, as well as decapitated monster heads that add extra bonuses. The silver lining to mounted combat is fairly realistic, though. If Roach becomes too scared, he will buck, throwing Geralt off his back. Fortunately, there are items Roach can be equipped with that will increase his overall tenacity, so he won’t be as easily frightened.

Finally, leveling up. No RPG would be complete without special abilities. As a witcher, Geralt is a master at melee combat, magic and survival skills. As he gains in level, the player can drop points into distinct ability tiers – combat, hex signs, alchemy, and general skills. The game allows several skills to be active at once, while selected mutagens enhance certain abilities. Just as skills can be upgraded, so too can collected mutagens. Lesser mutagens that provide only basic bonuses can be combined into stronger, more powerful mutagens, that will provide even greater bonuses to active skills.

3. Cons

And, unfortunately, the bad.

Like previous games in the series, combat can be quite a pain to get used to at first. Steep learning curve, simply put. Suffice to say, rolling and dodging are the player’s best friends when it comes to fighting powerful opponents. Players immediately coming in from a playthrough of W2 (like I did) will get a rude awakening when they discover blocking is now only effective against humans, and not creatures or monsters. Add to that the game’s auto-sheathing. If the player is in combat, then runs away quickly to heal up or perform hit-and-run attacks, Geralt will automatically sheathe his sword when just a short distance away from enemies or a combat zone. Yet, when not in combat, Geralt will keep his sword out and the game will forget to auto-sheathe. Simply backwards. One of the features associated with this is that Geralt will automatically pull a sword out when entering combat (the player too can manually order Geralt to pull out a weapon); however this often fails, and the player, expecting the game to automatically arm Geralt with the correct sword, will instead find themselves in a large melee in “fighting Irish” mode, all fist and no sword.

Skills. It’s been a mixed bag since at least W2. As I noted in my review of Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, the leveling process was not made in favor of the player. In W2, the level cap is 35, there were only four branches of skills to drop points into, combat branch was the most favored as most of the game is melee combat, so it would have been prudent to allow the player multiple skill points per level. In W3, while the level cap has been raised, only a select number of skills can actually be active at one time. In W2, sure you only had pithy number of skill points, but at least they were all in-play throughout the game. In W3, despite all the skills you can acquire, you can only activate so many at a time. Fortunately there is a handy player-made mod that grants gajillions more skill activation slots, but the principle idea is still lost.

Travel. While I love the addition of horseback riding into the series, even that feature is wonky. Initially, the game instructs the player that Geralt’s horse Roach will automatically stick to roads, so long as the player keeps pressing forward. But even that feature is wonky, as at random times Roach will simply go off trail into the wilderness and the player will be forced to manually direct Roach. The horse, too, is sometimes a real stinker. When directing Geralt to approach Roach and mount the steed, that four legged SOB will just run away, spooked. So annoying! Similarly, I have to critique the game's 'physical context interaction.' That is, for Geralt to interact with doors, walls, his horse, boats, etc, he has to be in just. The. Right. Spot...otherwise, the player will faff about trying to align Geralt in just the right spot so he can open a stupid door. Once again...annoying.

Finally, characters. W3 is a massive game, that much is true. Like a Witcherpalooza, with this that and the other bunch of characters. It’s impressive how much the developers fit in. Still though, one wonders where certain characters from W2 are. For example, Vernon Roche and his gang make an appearance, but where’s Saskia the Dragon Slayer and the infamous Iorveth? Additionally, no matter how your imported save from W2 ends (Roche’s or Iorveth’s path, whether Saskia is slain, etc) Continent is simply divided between Nilfgaard and Redania. King Radovid V, returning from W2, is apparently a homicidal paranoid monarch, a far cry from his portrayal in the previous title. Suffice to say, it’s a little peeving to know that for all the politicking Geralt found himself in throughout the prior titles, no matter what it comes down to just Nilfgaard and Redania remain. Moving on.

4. Conclusion

What to say as a whole? W3 provides a fitting end to the Witcher series. The games anyway, the novels will continue to be written. W3 brings the whole gang back – Triss, Yennefer, Dandelion, Vesemir, Zoltan, and a whole slew of characters from across the franchise into one massive open world game. The size, scale, complexity of W3 has often been compared to Skyrim but anyone who’s dropped over 200 hours into the latter knows there are major differences between the two. W3’s sidequests are straightforward and keep you focused, despite the complexity of it all. I’ve been playing my lone Skyrim wood elf since early 2014, over 240 hours, and I still haven’t beaten it.

Despite Witcher 3 being a western RPG alongside RPG developer titans such as Bioware or Bethesda, there are distinct differences. Bioware sold it’s soul; Cd Projekt Red kept their integrity. As a Polish development team, CDPR stands out amongst it’s rivals as a developer that won’t compromise it’s titles with fads, immaturity, poor writing, or lack of continuity. Actions have consequences, and the trilogy’s ending (of which there are quite a few variations) isn’t just decided in the last 15 minutes of play *coughMassEffect3cough*.

W3 has it’s faults, true, but the endgame result is a title that encapsulates the entire franchise. Returning fan favorite characters? Check. Unique weapons and armor? Check. Witcher contracts on unique monsters? Check. International politics and intrigue that pulls Geralt in and forces him to be the deciding factor? Check. Romances, friendships, and mature/adult themes? Check. Mini-games, including boxing and card playing? Check. Witcher 3 has it all, and is a benchmark title that other WRPG developers should strive to compare their titles to.