The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt [Game Review]
Game: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Genre: Open-world Action RPG
Developer: CD PROJEKT RED
Publisher: CD PROJEKT RED
Copy bought for review purpose
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the final instalment in The Witcher franchise and is developed and published by CD PROJEKT RED. This is not a biased review, because I love the books and played to completion the previous two games.
STORY
After the invasion of the Northern Realms by Nilfgaard, the witcher Geralt of Rivia sets out on a quest to find his lost love Yennefer of Vengerberg and their protege Ciri, the Child of Destiny. Saying more of this will spoil the entire game. But compared to the previous entries, the strongest point of the game are the side quests.
GRAPHICS
Even though the graphics have been "downgraded", the game looks really beautiful, with great weather effects, fluid animations, gorgeous hair physics, growing beard and incredibly detailed and varied environments. The game is beautiful, especially if your gaming rig can run it at Ultra settings.
GAMEPLAY
COMBAT
The combat is an improved version of the first game: the control are responsive, it is really satisfying to cut a drowner in half or to burn a soldier alive. This time around you also have a crossbow with unlimited bolts, and each time that you meditate items like bombs and potions restore. Now that's amazing.
HORSE RIDING
Probably my favourite addition to the game. The horse Roach controls really well, his stamina recovers really fast and you deal extra damage when attacking enemies while riding it. Enemies also tend to miss you while riding, but I don't know if it's a bug or just skills.
CUSTOMIZATION
You can fully upgrade Geralt, his weapons and Roach by buying new armours, saddlebags, blinders and swords. This time around the Inventory is easier to navigate through, and the Skill Tree has been heavily changed: you can buy skills to then equip them as you go along, and you can add a mutagen to improve said skills if it matches the colour.
SIDE ACTIVITIES
Plenty of things to do: fist fights, horse races, playing the card game Gwent, saving villagers, destroying monster nests, finding shrines, eliminating monsters from settlements... You will spend a lot of time doing everything but the main quest.
CHALLENGE
As usual, the game is challenging, but the improved controls and targeting system make things less frustrating when battling normal foes. But the real deal is killing big monsters like Griffins, Shriekers, Werewolfs and many more. The game is more accessible than the previous two, and if you have beaten TW2 I recommend starting on Hard difficulty, otherwise yoi will breeze through the game without problems.
SOUND
The voice acting is phenomenal, as always. The score is one of the best ones I've ever heard, and it makes slaying monsters really satisfying and fulfilling. The sound effects are also really nice, even though sometimes the sound from a sword slash doesn't play.
REPLAYABILITY
Over 200 hours of gameplay, plus free DLC, plus two expansions that will add more places to explore and quests to complete, as well as different choices that change the outcome of many parts of the game make this a game that will last for many years to come.
I love this game. It is one of my favourite games of all time. I love the story, the side quests, the combat, the depth and the horse riding. If you like RPGs, The Elder Scrolls, fantasy games, open world games or simply video games in general, you will fall in love with it.
Story: 10
Graphics: 9
Gameplay: 10
Challenge: 9
Sound: 9.5
Replayability: 10
ENJOYMENT: 10
FRUSTRATION: 6
