The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Before I write this review, I must state that I have not played any of the previous games, nor have I read any of the Witcher books, or even seen the Netflix show starring Henry Cavil. If you love the Witcher series, its world and various ancillary markets, then you don’t need me to tell you that you must play this game, if you haven’t already. But for those of you, like me, that have had minimal contact with The Witcher, but have an interest in it and this game, then this review should be for you. The Witcher 3, like the two games that precede it, follows Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter for hire who embarks on a quest to find his apprentice, Ciri and protect her against the evil wraith army known as the Wild Hunt. Now, I love role play games, especially those in a medieval fantasy setting such as Skyrim, which was my favourite ever game for years. I say was, because ladies, gentlemen and everyone else in between, I believe I have found its successor.

The Witcher 3 features everything you could possibly want out of a video game and more. The game features multiple accessible locations, whilst boasting three expansive maps in Velen, Novigrad and Skellige. You can freely explore this world known as “The Continent” or you can embark on the main quest to find Ciri, DLC missions (if you’ve bought the game of the year addition like I did) or three other categories of side quests, including Witcher contracts and treasure hunts. For those who don’t know, Witcher contracts are job opportunities you can respond to, which often means that a monster is causing havoc to a village and is in need of killing. This may very well be the most thrilling part of the game as you encounter a wide variety of monsters and do battle with them, however if you’re more of a hoarding goblin as I am, you may also enjoy the various treasure hunts scattered throughout the game. My personal favourite treasure hunts are the Witcher gear diagrams, which when found allow you to craft, yes there is crafting in this game also, enhanced, superior and master crafted weapons and armour from the Witcher schools of the Wolf, Bear, Griffin and Cat. You can craft armour, weapons and potions using the thousands of components you’ve looted on your travels across the Continent. But wait! There’s more! Not only do you have a wide variety of missions to complete, but you can also decide the direction some of them take, through the order of which you decide to play them and the speech options that the game’s cut scenes provide. Oh and did I mention you can bet and take part in bare knuckle fist fights and horse races… Seriously, what more do you need?

As you can see, The Witcher is a deeply immersive and highly addictive game. However, I must admit that by no means is it a 100% perfect game in which I love everything it has to offer. Perhaps the biggest aspect of the game that I didn’t care for was the mini card game known as Gwent. If you’re able to understand the game I can imagine you’d lose many an hour playing merchants and companions across the continent and may even enjoy the spin off game it spawned, but I just couldn’t get my head around it. The story is very much a continuation from previous games or books (I can’t be sure which) and events that took place before this game are continuously brought up and talked about, so it can be hard to follow at times if you’re new to the franchise like I was. This being said, the game’s specific story is easy enough to follow and, after a while, you do adjust and become endeared to Geralt and his various friends, foes and those somewhere in the middle. From there my criticisms quickly turn into nit-picks such as the long load screens, the fact that you can’t pause during cut scenes and, at a stretch, the camera angles during the fist-fighting challenges being occasionally awkward.

Overall, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a more streamlined Skyrim, thus overthrowing it as my favourite ever video game. Although I myself am not a fan of every single asset of the game and some aspects can frustrate, the game’s endearing characters, abundance of activities and beautiful landscapes and cities, make it easy to see why thousands hail The Witcher 3 as the greatest game of all time, myself amongst them. With the developer’s next game, Cyberpunk 2077, marking the first non-Witcher game they have ever made, I find myself cautiously optimistic and excited to see what CD Projekt Red can bring to the first-person shooter, as well as, a dystopian futuristic world. Nonetheless, I’ll eagerly await the next Witcher game and when it does arrive, I shall be one of the first to toss a coin to your Witcher, O’ Valley of Plenty.