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Brutal and beautiful - this is one game that will stand the test of time.
Have you ever felt like something you loved has passed you by? Like the hopes and dreams you had as a kid evaporated into thin air? As if something you have spent your whole life doing is no longer meant for you to engage with?
I felt that way in 2015.
Up to that point, I had gone through most of my life with playing video games (plus writing about and reading about them, in some capacity) as my primary hobby. As a child, I dreamt of making games. Developing, directing, working in the art department - it didn’t matter where I landed, only that I was involved in some way. Personal failures and unforeseen circumstances led me away from that path, but even after college, I still felt like games were a home for me. In 2014, that feeling changed. After years of progressively worsening monetization in games and the Ubisoft-style approach to open-world games becoming industry standard, I had enough. Ironically, the breaking point for me was a game I ultimately liked, Dragon Age: Inquisition, winning game of the year. It signaled to me that this is where games were going, and where they would be for a long time. So, I quit. I quit playing games, I quit reading about them, I quit watching YouTube videos on them, and I quit going to gaming events.
And then I remembered The Witcher 3 was coming out. So, I booted up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings again, just a few short weeks before the third game’s release. I really liked The Witcher 2. It was a comfort for me during hard times in my life, where I could escape and just enjoy something on my combination TV/suitcase monstrosity and Xbox 360, but I wouldn’t have said it was my favorite game, or even close. I had basically gone dark on gaming news or updates about the third game, so I didn’t know what to expect. Nothing could have prepared me for The Witcher 3.
I was drawn in immediately – from the opening cinematic to the dream sequence that follows, and even further still to Velen and beyond. I was hooked. I was more than hooked. I spent all night playing and ended up calling into work. It was as if something buried deep within my soul had been revived – a true and deep love for what I was experiencing blooming instantaneously and intensely as I rode Roach across the fields of White Orchard. The Witcher 3 is more than a game for me - it represents a moment in time where I regained my passion for the artform.
It just so happens that there’s a damn good game here, too.
Publisher: CD Projekt Developer:CD Project Red Platform: Played on PC Availability: Released on May 19, 2015 for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows, October 15, 2019 for Nintendo Switch, and December 14, 2022 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. |
For the uninitiated, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is an action-adventure RPG with a heavy emphasis on choice and consequence. Developed by Polish gaming company CD Projekt Red as the third game in their Witcher series, the third entry released to enormous critical and commercial success. The series, based upon and inspired by the series of fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapkowski, follows Geralt, a Witcher (a sort of monster hunter/spirit detective combined with a bounty hunter), as he navigates a world full of magic, monsters, and political intrigue.
The broad strokes of the plot revolve around Geralt initially on the search for his former lover, Yennifer, and then again looking for his adoptive daughter, Ciri. Along the path, Geralt crosses swords and words with old friends, rivals, and everything in between. If you have a save file from previous entries, decisions you made can carry over into your new game. You can also opt to answer several questions at the beginning that alter the world state you are coming into, but not every carry-over decision is affected this way. While most choices from previous entries do not make major changes to this game, having some quest lines or lines of dialogue altered based on those choices is a welcome bonus.
Those previous world choices help make each playthrough feel like your unique world - a world shaped by your journeys with Geralt just as much as it is shaped by the scenario in front of you - despite the fact that, realistically, not much changes because of them. And I think that’s quite fine, as the depth and breadth of choices available to you within this game is staggering. Outside of the main quest, how each quest plays out or ends is often based on your decisions throughout the journey, and there aren't always clear-cut right answers. Who lives, who dies, and even who rules hinges upon Geralt's choices and actions – sometimes in unforeseen ways.
While the main story is quite good, especially in the more emotional moments with Geralt and Ciri, the real standouts are the side quests you encounter off the beaten path. Excellent voice acting and writing even on the smaller missions give a lovely depth of character to the people you encounter, and Geralt is quite brilliant on his own. There are so many interesting and moving moments tucked away in the side stories of this game, it would be a grave mistake to skip any of the missions. Whether it’s a classic story with a unique twist, a story about abuse and revenge, or a reunion with an old friend, there’s so much to engage in and fall in love with.
The Witcher 3 is full of emotional moments that are expertly presented.
All of this is within the greater context of The Witcher 3 being an open-world style game. As such, many missions can be easily missed, whether you never go to the area or you advance too far into the main plot, so much of this wonderous game can be left overlooked. That might be the game’s greatest flaw, truth be told; that anything here could go unseen despite its brilliance is a true tragedy. Several world-altering events can be overlooked if you rush too far forward.
Luckily (or unluckily, to some) nearly every major point of interest or quest is explicitly marked on your map. This can feel overwhelming if you’re trying to do everything the game has to offer, as there are so many map markers. Each monster nest, quest line, treasure chest, or other notable object in the world leaves a little question mark on your map until you get close enough to see what it is, exactly. On the first playthrough, seeing so much available to you at once can be a bit disorienting. Personally, I enjoyed going to each of those markers and seeing what was there, because it was almost always interesting (with the exception of the sailing chests in Skellige).
There is just so much care put into the way this world is built. Even minor encounters can tell a story. What appears as a simple chest icon on the map can tell a story about betrayal, murder, or even disease through the excellent environmental design. You will also frequently find notes or letters in an area that explain or allude to the events that have transpired. There’s so much that you can piece together throughout your travels. Of course, not everything is that way. There are times when what you find really is just a barrel or chest with randomized loot and no story to tell. I tend to think there are fewer of those than detractors would have you believe, but they do exist.
Speaking of world-building – it is immaculate here. While much of the groundwork is laid out via the Sapkowski stories, even more is CD Projekt’s own design. Events of the games (which did not happen in the books) have shaped the world into a complex wonder. Seemingly endless journal and bestiary entries expound upon events past and present, or even detail the inner workings and stories surrounding the monsters you’ve taken on as contracts. You could spend hours just reading about the characters, nations, and races of people in this world – and learn about all the complex ways those things meld together. While this is not necessary to do in order to follow the plot of the adventure, I find it makes the events of the game much more interesting when you have an understanding of the world at large.
The vistas and locales are absolutely teeming with life and character.
From a gameplay perspective, The Witcher 3 is a third-person adventure game with RPG mechanics. The basic loop sees you taking on a quest or contract and trying to find the person or monster in question. Geralt has a “Witcher sense” that helps him see footprints or follow smells, allowing him to track his targets through the world. Your horse Roach can help expedite your long travels, as well.
In combat, you have swords for slashing, signs (spells) for casting, and a crossbow for shooting. The signs are probably the most interesting aspect of this, as they each have alternate versions that change how they function or upgrades that are better at doing one thing versus another. For example, the spell Quen can either be a barrier that can absorb a single instance of damage or be a held barrier that heals your health when attacked but leaves you stationary. From here, upgrades can change how much damage is absorbed, how much health is recovered, or even if breaking the shield causes an explosion. Your melee has many pathways available to you, as well – build for heavy strikes or quick ones, special abilities with different use cases, etc.
Your gear and equipment are a vital part of the experience, as well. The large variety of potions and oils available to you allow you to prepare for upcoming fights and fine-tune the way you fight. That said, your gear is probably the most impactful aspect of your build. Each piece and set comes with innate bonuses, and upgrading them makes a massive difference in the damage you do to others and take yourself. Gear sets largely determine the way you fight, even if you don’t use your swords a lot and opt for your signs instead, as the weapons and armor you have can shape the signs or abilities you use and their effectiveness.
All of this blends together in the battles as more of a dance than a hack-and-slash affair. You move around the battlefield, waiting for the right time to strike. Dodging and parrying are integral to the flow of combat, and when your opening arrives – you strike. It’s a lot of fun, but not particularly complex in action. There’s no sequencing of buttons to press for combos, and nothing particularly deep about the movesets your enemies have, which can lead to a feeling of repetitiveness as you fight Drowners for the 700th time. In my most recent playthrough, I built myself around a devastating, overhead strike – setting it up by lighting my enemies on fire to lock them in place while I charged my move. Other times I’ve built around quick attacks or signs. There’s a good variety of what you, the player, have available, but that doesn’t extend to the enemies you fight. Most really only have 2-4 different moves they can use.
The varied builds and combat tools keep the battles engaging.
Combat isn’t the only aspect of gameplay, however, and many of the side activities are just as engaging (or more so) than the fights. Gwent is a major standout here, becoming popular enough to spin off into its own standalone title following the release of The Witcher 3. For a quick explainer, Gwent is a card game where the cards you play give you points, and the person with the most points in a round wins the round. The first person to win two rounds is the victor of the match. In the base game, there are four decks (factions) to choose from, with a fifth added in the Blood and Wine Expansion, and each has its own strategies and synergies. There are a large number of cards to collect, people to play against, and even some nice quests revolving around the activity. It is a lot of fun, and definitely a worthwhile break from the violence, politics, and drama that unfolds throughout the rest of the adventure.
Perhaps the most underrated aspect of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the music. This soundtrack is absolutely incredible. With a heavy Slavic influence, the OST is brimming with personality and a unique flavor rarely seen in mainstream games. From exciting battle themes like “Hunt or Be Hunted” or “You’re Immortal,” to more somber tunes like “The Wolf and The Swallow,” composer Marcin Przybyłowicz has crafted a beautiful song for every moment. It has led me to appreciate the varied sounds of Slavic, or even more specifically Polish, music. Since playing this game I have developed an appreciation for instruments I never even knew existed prior to the experience, such as the Gadoulka, Gusli, Suka, and Rebec
That music accentuates and enlivens the most dramatic moments in the game in ways that are hard to overstate. Frankly, nothing could have prepared me for the ways in which this game would move me. From beginning to end, and through the expansions that came later, I was so enraptured by every scene and moment, that I felt as if I was experiencing something truly transformative. Those feelings extended beyond the specific cutscenes or events, as well. I often found myself wandering the hillside or woods through a storm awestruck by both the visual beauty on display and the soundscape I was experiencing. Many of the sounds in the game are diegetic, meaning they occur within the context of the story and are able to be heard by the characters, which lends itself to more immersive sounds. Tavern songs, trees creaking, the clanging of armor – all of it was captured so well; it was a truly immersive experience.
There's always something to do in a bar or inn.
The most positive aspects of the game are elevated even further in the expansions that came out after release. Hearts of Stone is a heart-wrenching tale that adds new gear, crafting systems, and content in the northern Novigrad area, while Blood and Wine is a massive send-off for many of the series’ most prominent characters, including Geralt. Blood and Wine opens up a massive new area, new combat enhancements, and a long, engaging story. Both would deserve their own reviews under normal circumstances upon release - many outlets did just that - but what stands out to me is how cohesive they are to the game as a whole. Everything fits in so well, and their inclusion in the entire package makes this one of the most impressive games you’ll ever play from just about every perspective.
There’s just something so special about this world that CDProjekt has crafted. From the way each village tells its own story, to the way notes and journal entries have their own voice, everything feels so alive. Characters have bespoke facial animations or tics, NPCs go about their daily lives and react to the world changing around them - every aspect of this game enraptures me. Next summer, we’ll be coming up on 10 years since this game was released, and I’m not sure I’ll ever quite get over how much I love it.
In my most recent playthrough, as I sat down at the fire with an old friend at the end of a long journey, I couldn’t help but tear up a little. I will be putting The Witcher 3 down for the last time, I think, having done 6 full completionist runs of the game. After spending hundreds of hours with Geralt, Dandelion, Triss, and Ciri, it feels like a chapter of my life is coming to a close. Because this is the game that reopened the book on video games for me, and because I cherished every moment I spent playing, I can leave it happy. So, when Geralt smiled at me as the game came to a close, I couldn’t help but smile, too.
Verdict Bold and breathtaking, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an exemplar of storytelling and narrative design. With a great blend of serious, tense moments and stretches of levity, each quest will keep you engaged and enthralled. Boasting an excellent and varied soundtrack, beautiful visuals, and deep roleplaying opportunities, this game offers a more complete experience than nearly any other game in history. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a revelation – a true work of art – and if you have not yet played it, do so immediately.  |
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