The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Enter a world that has been scarred from abuse, megalomania, and thievery, yet also retains attributes of simplicity and lush landscape. Flora and fauna exquisitely coexist in harmony, joined together against the unwritten war of beings. Emotional tales of absolution and personal triumph leak through its sea of content. In the midst of an overarching struggle, a lone monster hunter seeks for a reunion of a girl he sees like a daughter. This is the world containing several provinces such as Novigrad, Redania and Nilfgaard. This is the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Gone are the roaming restrictions from past games in the franchise, and now in is an enhanced and fully accessible open-world. Have no fear, the level of precise detail from past entries are still apparent in The Witcher 3, and those kinds of locations are now connected with the occasional village in between. Certain settlements subtly contain their own self-contained stories to them; originating from aspects of aristocracy, abandonment, and economic struggle. NPCs within these locations are extremely well animated, and the ways they react to the game's environmental effects is commendable. The actual open-world may not be quite as impressive as what developer Rockstar has achieved with recent Grand Theft Auto iterations, but it's still a marvel to experience. Don't come to this setting expecting a player-focused sandbox experience like Skyrim; you are in fact role-playing as Geralt of Rivia. Come here to see for yourself the level of polish CD Projekt Red has been able to craft themselves.

Geralt of Rivia once returns to the series to act as the main protagonist, however his intentions have changed. Time is growing short, and Geralt is looking to move on with his own life. In contrast to its predecessors, The Witcher 3 slightly departs from the overarching political tension and grand story elements of its predecessor in favor of a more personal embarkment. When Assassins of Kings began with an explosive start with a bang, Wild Hunt starts with a quiet and subtle whimper. With the possible exception the game's denouement, The Witcher 3 never really reaches those heights. At its most basic level, the game's story is just Geralt's search for his daughter figure Ciri, all while preparing for the impending battle with the Wild Hunt, a set of winter specters strangely similar to the White Walkers from A Song of Ice and Fire. It's not the general narrative that makes it so great, it's everything in between. Nearly every named NPC has their own struggle to overcome, and seeing those individual stories play out to the end is always intriguing and equally satisfying.

I would never necessarily deem The Witcher 3 a game with a great story, partially due to it's simplistic nature, but rather a masterclass in story-telling. So many interactions between characters subtlety affect later areas of the game. Not to mention that certain quest-lines will ultimately determine who marches with you at the gates against the Wild Hunt, somewhat akin the loyalty missions from Mass Effect 2. The game advances the medium's use of choice, utilizing the feature in a fashion that prevents the player from knowing when a choice has been made, but ensures they know what the repercussion is when it rolls around. If you consider the "story" of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to include all the web-connected narratives from seemingly insignificant NPCs and the adjacent charater studies it presents, then yes: The Witcher 3 has one of the most incredible stories I've ever experienced in a game.

From top to bottom, all gameplay components have been further streamlined from The Witcher 2. Its difficulty is considerably easier, the controls are more intuitive, the progression system has been refined, and the UI has become much more manageable. Due to past criticism, a much-needed tutorial to explain its systems has been included as well in the starting areas. Combat is largely the same as what was incorporated into Assassins of Kings. It retains the somewhat hybrid RPG form of hack-and-slash and strategic battle, splitting sword duties between creatures and beings respectively but also instantiating magical signs on occasions. Returning is the emphasis on play-style, whether you want to focus on upgrading the powers of your signs, brewing better potions, or learning additional sword tactics. Exploration has not transitioned as gracefully. While I admire the addition of fast-travel and your horse Roach, Geralt himself frankly controls like a truck. From the time of pressing forward, there is about a full second until you actually move onward. It can get a fair bit irritating, especially when picking up loot in a tight space, but literally every other aspect makes up for this simple rough patch.

While hunting monsters and acting like a detective in this 60+ hour RPG, there is an ongoing card-collecting game to engross yourself in place of the dice mini-games from previous titles. Named Gwent, this in-game card mechanic is somewhat akin to the incorporated Triple Triad found in Final Fantasy VIII. Cards can be won and generally attained in similar ways, but actual games inarguably take longer to complete. While I got deep into Triple Triad in its respective RPG game, I personally didn't spent too much time in the decks of Gwent. It's certainly well made, and I already know many people find it intriguing, but I personally found its pace a tad too slow.

Despite a nerfed outlook from what was previously shown before release, The Witcher 3 looks fantastic, particularly on PC. My personal favorite aspect of the visual design was the way flora elements were designed, especially in regards to the supposed wind and other weather effects. Creature designs are simultaneously memorable and intimidating, thus exemplifying its effectiveness. Character models look great, especially with its coinciding facial animation, but of course the game isn't without its technical hiccups. NPCs and Geralt himself will occasionally clip through objects in the world and once or twice my audio got cut off completely. Granted, I didn't have as many issues as I've read PS4 and Xbox One users have had, but from what I've witnessed, all glitches were very minimal and overall perfectly acceptable.

Games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt are rare occurrences in this industry. While there are no doubt overarching technical flaws found in each version, the core game here is absolutely superb. Not since The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim have I seen the general gaming community literally drooling over a title like this. And rightly so - this is nothing less than an achievement. Ultimately, The Witcher 3 is an unforgettable trek and an instant classic.