THE WORLD MOST OPEN TO ALL
~: HALL OF FAME :~
Also for: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox
Series
You won't often see such a flawed game make its way into my Hall of Fame,
but somehow flaws are part of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's character, just like scars are part of the protagonist Geralt of Rivia's grim
facade. Amidst all the technical glitches and tedious menu fiddling, the game keeps spellbinding me, year after year, with
chilling tales that make me long for the warm embrace of a campfire.
Based on the works of Polish author Andrzej Sypkowski, The Witcher 3
hides a wealth of obsucre folk lore behind its tapestry of open-world fantasy
tropes. Every little quest, character and location comes with a different
tale. You'll methodically scour forests caught in thunderstorms and cities
teeming with life, including their sewers crawling with undead. Prepare to fight your way through marshes infested with rotting
creatures, scavenge war-ravaged villages and explore caves full of undead
spirits.
Everything you do feels meaningful, not only on the superficial level, but also in
a more esoteric sense, as every gameplay session contributes to a grand tale
about a world sundered by war. Nations consume nations, brother fight against
brother, and monsters are quick to prey on human corruptibility. I doubt any
game can boast such a colorful and broad cast of memorable characters. But exploring the humanity inside them - however frail, depraved or good-natured - goes by way of a certain monster.
In the middle of it all is the story of Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri, an
unorthodox family trying to fight their way back to one another. You once
again control Geralt of Rivia (voiced by Doug Cockle), a.k.a. the White
Wolf, a.k.a. The Butcher of Blaviken, monster slayer extraordinaire and a
Witcher of the Wolf School. In an overarching quest, provided by the
Nilfgaardian emperor Emhyr var Emreis (Charles Dance), he must seek out
the whereabouts of the emperor's long-lost daughter, Ciri (Jo Wyatt).
It's not like Geralt needs the Emperor's juicy reward as a motivator. Ciri
also happens to be Geralt's foster daughter. In nightmares Geralt dreams about
the Wild Hunt, a congregation of powerful, masked warriors from another
dimension who are also looking for her. Alongside his on-and-off lover, the
stunning sorceress Yennefer of Vengeburg (Denise Gough), who considers
herself the stepmother of Ciri, Geralt sets out to find their wayward daughter
before the Wild Hunt can claim her.
Good luck with that. The world is immense and her location is the proverbial
needle in the haystack. As you search and explore and try to solve the
conflicts around you, the story of the land keeps growing, and the decisions
you must make have a lasting impact. They're not inherently bad nor good,
but the rippling effects might come back to haunt you later. You're left
wondering if your involvement improved the world state or made it worse.
As a Witcher, Geralt plies his trade by accepting monster-hunting contracts
in settlements. He rids villagers and city dwellers of the creatures, demons
or spectres that haunt them. This is the game's most rewarding, fun and intricate side activity. Like a detective, he interviews witnesses and
searches for clues, using his mutated Witcher-senses to determine the nature
of the beast. He tracks the monster down, and before luring it out of
hiding, he must prepare for combat by drinking potions, equipping the right
gear and oiling up his silver sword with the most effective poison.
Combat is a simplified, action-oriented dance of quick strikes,
spellcasting, dodges and parries, followed up by well-timed heavy strikes
or bombs as soon as the enemy staggers. Airborne or underwater enemies you
can bring down with your brand-new crossbow. Geralt is quick to respond to
input, or at least he is in the Playstation 5:s performance mode. I recommend
choosing a difficulty setting that feels challenging. The fighting is more
fun when it tests the limits of your skills, as it forces
you to utilize the extensive alchemy and different magical signs as support. On the
highest difficulty, called "Death march", every single fight is potentially
deadly.
The detailed bestiary reveals the weaknesses of each adversary. Based on
old Slavic folklore, it's full of grotesque, nightmarish monsters.
Attracted by the stench of decaying corpses left in the open, ghouls haunt recent battlefields. Victims of gross injustices return as wraiths, seeking
vengeance for the misdeeds they suffered in life. Ancient forest demons
sink their teeth into superstitious villagers, who misinterpret the
situation as punishment for losing their ancient ways.
From a visual standpoint, the woodland, totem-like Leshens, that would feel right at home in a
horror movie, might be my favorite monster. Or perhaps it's the Hym, a rare
dangerous spirit that bends the victim's will to its own, forcing the poor
soul to self-mutilate. Encounters like that come interspersed with fights
against regular human bandits and non-human rebels, like elves and
dwarves, that are best fought with your steel blade. That's why a Witcher
carries two swords on his back.
My own personal history with this game is a long, yet quick and straight
road to reverence. I first played The Witcher 3 soon upon its release in
2015 after rushing through the first two entries, and let me tell you, CD Projekt Red's evolution over but three games might well be the single
most impressive developer journey this industry's yet seen.
In the beginning, with the original The Witcher (2007), they
demonstrated great ambitions with its big, labyrinthine settings and branching
narrative, but the execution was riddled with glitches and compromises. That
entry has aged very poorly, but I'm overjoyed to hear that a remake is due in
the upcoming years. The second game,
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (2011), was a more focused, technical
marvel that rectified most of the flaws at the cost of size, length and
freedom of exploration.
Four years later, in 2015, The Witcher 3 was released, and outclassed both its
predecessors on almost every front. It became my all-time favorite game in an
instant. The storytelling ambitions were blown out of proportion, as was the
presentation and the size of the brand-new open world. Inspired by the
immersive freedom of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and the narrative
depth and intimacy of a Bioware game like Dragon Age: Origins,
CD Projekt Red combined both these visions into a singular fantasy action
role-playing adventure. Cramming all they had out of their RED Engine, they made
the world come alive with its dynamic weather, evocative soundtrack and detailed environments.
The Witcher 3 gave me exactly what I wished for; storytelling, gameplay and
world-building in equal measure. As a holistic experience, few games have
surpassed it. Consequently, the open world genre reached new heights that
other studios still struggle to reach. We might have The Witcher 3 to "blame"
for the current climate of almost decade-long development cycles for triple-A
titles, as other studios have attempted to top it by stuffing more content into their open worlds. But I refuse to hold that against it. After all, The Witcher 3 was released "only" four years after its predecessor.
The main story is long, complex and winding, and when coupled with the
elaborate sidequests and optional monster contracts, mini-games and treasure
hunts, the game can last well over 100 hours. Add to that a couple of equally
fantastic DLC:s (I'll review them separately) and you might go well past the
200-hour mark.
I wouldn't call The Witcher 3 flawless by any means, but that's to be expected
from such an ambitious project. My complaints touch upon lacklustre leveling
mechanics, annoying horse mechanics, cumbersome menu delving, and other trivialities that fade when compared to the grandeur of everything that surrounds it. Even if the story is stellar, the middle part concerning the Free City of Novigrad meanders a bit,
taking its toll on the overall pacing. Some bossfights reveal that Geralt's hitbox feels a
bit off under certain circumstances.
These flaws still remain in the Playstation 5-upgrade, but many others that
plagued the original release are no longer around. Most of the standard side
activities - primarily horse racing and fist fighting - are also dull, with
one shining exception; the full-fledged collectible card game called
Gwent, where you and your opponent lay out a combination of cards,
one-by-one, from your hand to amass points. The player with the most points
wins the round. The first player to win two rounds wins the game. Easy-peasy.
Inspired by real-life counterparts like Magic: The Gathering, Gwent is
both surprisingly fun and advanced, yet simple enough that I took the time to
master it. CD Projekt Red themselves were so proud of their achievement that
they made a couple of shady sidequests devoted to Novigrad's in-game Gwent-craze. It turns out to be quite popular among the city's different gangster factions.
Its
popularity among real-life gamers also led to the release a couple of Witcher spin-offs, namely Gwent: The Witcher Card Game and Thronebreaker, both dedicated
to the same mechanics. I'd also bet Gwent is one of the major influences - beside Hearthstone - behind
the resurgence in popularity of the entire card-combat genre of video games. Titles like Slay the Spire, Inscryption and Monster Train come to mind. Not a bad outcome for a side-activity.
None of The Witcher 3:s insignificant flaws can tarnish the utter quality of
the entire package. At its best, the writing goes far above anything you'd
expect from a video game. It certainly outclasses the awful
Netflix-show based on the same universe.
For instance, the entire "Bloody
baron"-questline, including its branching chain of side quests, is among the
most enthralling I've come across in games. The respectful and nuanced way it
approaches themes of domestic violence, infidelity and alcoholism is brave and
unique in these times. Its trio of villains have some of the most disturbing visual designs I've seen, and the marshes surrounding them perfectly capture the hopeless, inescapable toxicity of the entire situation.
Even today, I remain struck by how alive and animate every character model feels in cinematics and dialogue scenes. This adds subtext and body language
to the converstions. For instance, a silent, quick glance shared between
Geralt and Yennefer as they speak with the Nilfgaardian emperor reveals how
close they are, and how they perceive the pompuous but cunning
quest-provider. After all, silence shared between lovers or close friends
can hide a thousand words. Since the original release, the execution has
aged a bit, but the effects nonetheless remain.
This careful eye for detail also extends into the visual storytelling. Every village and campsite in Velen has a story much like the Bloody baron's. Many of them would benefit from a Witcher's work. It's just that the baron has the wherewithal to hire Geralt, whereas most of the peasants working indirectly for him do not. When you come across them, it might already be too late. They might have moved on, or might not even be alive.
Some quests that you stumble upon whilst exploring might fail if you wait too long before starting them. If you, for instance, see someone trapped inside a burning hut with a lynch mob right outside, don't expect it to burn forever, waiting for you to interfere. Upon returning, you'll find it in shambles, with the resident burnt to death inside. One particular quest, requiring me to keep a pillager safe from ghouls as he searches a battleground for a family heirloom, I've not managed to beat across three full playthroughs. The greedy bastard always falls at the hands (and claws) of the ghouls.
Another cool feature is the visual storytelling, adding wordless tales of recent events. Different points of interest in the same region share a common history. One
document found in a bandit camp might mention a treasure in a ransacked
village full of deceased farmers, and the spyglass rigged on the nearby hill points to a specific
house in that village, that might be worth closer inspection. Like that, the stories behind the powerful Witcher-gear you'll come across in different shops are all connected. Nothing you find is meaningless, as even items labeled "junk" can be dismanteled into hard-to-find crafting components.
The Witcher 3 might be a role-playing game, but as a character, Geralt is already
set in stone. His personality, character class and appearance are all mostly
predetermined. By investing in different combat skills and equipping specialized gear, you can slightly alter the way
you fight. You can change his hairstyle and trim his beard at a barber's, and
the abundance of armor sets can dramatically improve your elegance.
Your primary role-playing decision is what aspect of Geralt you want
to emphasize - his mutated, animalistic ruthlessness or more humane origins.
The dialogue trees aren't complex, often limited to two or three options, but
the effect some choices have can alter the fate of individual characters,
villages or even entire regions. The invading Emperor might seem like a bad ally but
consider the alternative; the downright tyrannical Radovid. He might be the
last remaining protector of your homeland, but he's also a persecutor of
sorcerers and sorceresses. Both of your main romance interests, Yennefer and
Triss Merigold (Anna Schaffer), are sorceresses.
No matter the outcome, I urge you to stick to your decision. In other words, please don't save-scum
your playthrough to perfection. Learn to live with your mistakes. You
made every choice in good faith, and the world you leave behind is your
creation. Don't just count your losses, also count your successes.
This is probably one of the most important reasons behind the
intimate bond between The Witcher 3 and its fans - the feeling of ownership
over the playthrough. If religious persecution and famine still haunt the lands when the
end credits roll, know that the butterfly effect is impossible to predict
or prevent. The loss of a loved one might be hard to bear, but tragedy can
elevate the ending even higher.
After the end credits, I find the world hard to leave behind, and I instantly jump on another playthrough. The opening area, White Orchard, is a relatively small tutorial setup that
makes you discover most of what the game offers, but as soon as you tread into
war-torn Velen "the world becomes your oyster", as the saying goes. That's
before you discover that the world holds even more maps, not much smaller in
scale, all equally brimming with content of the same quality.
As a reviewer I only have one complaint: Describing this game, I find no words powerful enough to encapsulate exactly what makes The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
so unique and so great. It's difficult to avoid the clichés that make it sound like every
other title of its ilk.
It just radiates personality all the time. Every map
has its own flavor, reflected in the amazing, atmospheric yet melodious
soundtrack; be it the decay of the war-torn Velen countryside, the more
subdued dangers and political intrigues of the city of Novigrad, or the chilly Scandinavian ruggedness of the Skellige isles. The Witcher 3 just wallows in world building - it exists on a scale no other medium could replicate. And so, if people still doubt the significance of games, point to The Witcher 3, say: "World building" and nothing more.
It even has a place to call home. The stronghold of Kaer Morhen and its Witcher school certainly feels like one. When you
finally return there, at long last, it's with tearful nostalgia. The castle
grounds look exactly how you remember them from the first game. The other
Witchers still alive await you there - Vesemir, Lambert and Eskel - as are some other
friends, ready to hole up for the upcoming winter. The scene of drunken
camaraderie where you recall old memories, and play a prank on the arrogant sorceresses, remains as hilarious as ever.
And that's the true accomplishment right there. CD Projekt Red combines the
intimate and the grandiose into one singular masterpiece, whereas most
developers only succeed at one thing or the other.
With unforgettable
characters, strong dialogue, an entire continent full of landmarks, marvellous
presentation and macabre tales that keep hounding you even after they end, you'll want for
nothing. This universe has openings for almost every type of gamer, and once you're inside
you're in for the big haul - even indulging in activities you usually don't enjoy feels appealing. Nothing is flawed, nothing is perfect, nothing is wasted,
everything just... is.
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