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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
PlayStation 4
Let The Wild Hunt Take You Away
4.5/5 stars
CD Pojekt Red, the Polish studio, has managed to one-up Dragon Age Inquisition and provided the best game I have played yet for this generation. The Witcher is their baby and The Witcher 3 is all grown up. The game one-ups the open-world RPG genre in just about every way - providing a much more robust experience than any game out there. As long as you're not opposed to spending a lot of time on this game, it's hard to think of a better game out there I would recommend.
Presentation: Does the game look good? Yes. But I don't think the presentation was the most important prospect for the game. It doesn't look bad, but I think it could have looked better. The main issue is that the game (even after several patches) still had bugs. People walking with crates look ridiculous. Characters still clip into clothing and sometimes enemies will hover when you kill them. It would probably look better on PC but on the PS4 is simply looks OK. The Witcher also doesn't have the most exciting dialogue. Geralt is pretty boring when it comes down to it - not that emotional and always growling his words out. Compared to other big-name games, they really didn't try to get very big names - in fact Charles Dance (aka Tywin Lannister from Game of Thrones) is the biggest name and he doesn't even have that many lines. The game is made up by voice-over artists - some you may recognize - but most have long careers. In some ways, it's a good thing - often actors don't make the best voice-over artists (sorry Mr. Dinklage) but that also means there really isn't that distinctive quality to anyone.
Better is the music and sound - both with suit the game very well. The wind and weather, growling and snarling of beasts and monsters - even just your footsteps - all very well done. The music is pretty typical fantasy but I liked it well enough. It's too bad the random peasants and guards and the like repeat so much - that gets a bit annoying as well. But the main reason I can't give the game a full five stars is that the game would just crash. More often than any other game this generation, the game would just shut down for no reason. Luckily it has a good auto-save system so I never lost that much - but still, one or two crashes is expected - but this was verging on about ten. Not a good track record.
Story: The main story is good - the small stories in between are sometime just as good. Geralt of Rivia, having regained his memory, is on the train of Yennifer of Vengenberg in the beginning of the game. However, finding his long-lost sorceress love is just the first small step to a much bigger story. You see, Yennifer is after Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon or Ciri - a girl Geralt helped train before she was taken by The Wild Hunt. Ciri is not only the biological daughter of Emperor Emhyr var Emreis but a source - the last child of the Elder Blood - who, if legend is true, will either bring about or prevent the end of the world. Having managed to escape the Wild Hunt for several years, Ciri, along with a mysterious elf companion, are just barely able to keep ahead of them. Geralt must now track down Ciri and figure out how to protect her from this other-worldly force - and along the way he will have to make several friends (and a few enemies) if he is to find enough support to weather this storm.
Beside's Geralts task, the story takes place in the war-torn nation of Velen. The people are starving while bandits and monsters roam the roads. Emperor Emhyr var Emreis has launched a campaign to take the north - successfully conquering most of the lands (including Temeria) with only the Free City of Novigrad as well as the Redanian army (led by the mad Redovid V the Stern) along with a few straggling members of the Temerian guerrillas standing in his way of complete conquest. This is the backdrop of the main land you will play in - the game does have a quite dense story, so for those who want things short and sweet - look elseware. Although it will help, one does not to have knowledge of the first two games to enjoy The Witcher III.
However, the place where the game really shines is not in the main story (which is good compared to say the rather bland Elder Scrolls series), but in the secondary stories. The Bloody Baron, The Crones of Crookback Bog, the former royal court sorceress Keira Metz, fone-time enemy the Witcher Letho, fellow Witcher Lambert, Sigismund Dijkstra - head of Redanian Intelligence - these aren't the main characters, but each has a story to tell and they are all fascinating. The Bloody Baron story, by far, is one of the most compelling stories I have found in any game - and it's not even the main story! Heck, even random encounters are well done - find a woman on the side of the road who wants you to return a ring to her husbands grave turns into an eerie ghost story while examining a mysterious tower that suddenly appears helps you to stop the impenetrable DRM by taking advantage of the useful GOG. Some quests are fun, some are devastating - but it astounds me just how much they were able to pack into this one game. Sure, there are plenty of standard quests - taking out monster nests, bandit camps and finding treasure - but the amount of good vs. the amount of standard quests is balanced out well. Add in the free DLC along with the paid add-ons and this is a game that provides easily over 100 hours of content. Much more if you are willing to see how the game branches out by choosing a different path.
Final verdict - the story is amazing - one of the best I have seen out of any video game and a gold standard for any open-world RPG to aspire to.
Gameplay: The game is third-person sandbox - combat is fluid, you have light and strong attacks, you can block or dodge as needed. Attacking enemies from behind (or being attacked from behind) results in greater damage. You have two swords - steel for humans and non-monsters, silver for undead and monsters (the game automatically selects them for you). You also have your fists for when killing is not the best option. Geralt also has a few spells at his command - Igni to light enemies on fire, Quen to shield himself, Axii to influence minds, Aard to push down foes and break down walls and Yrden to cast a magic circle, invaluable against certain enemies.
Geralt can also be equipped with a crossbow (useful in shooting down flying enemies and the only weapon that works underwater) and bombs that add various effects from blinding enemies to simply blowing them up In addition to signs, Geralt can also brew potions and monster decoctions that give him various abilities (like immunity to poison or increased stamina or several other useful effects) but imbibing these brews results in increased toxicity - too much, and Geralt will begin to lose life. Bombs and potions can be upgraded by buying or finding recipes during the game. Finally, leveling up give Geralt the ability to use Mutagens and increase his skills - physical and magic alike.
The game has a lot to offer - question marks are all over the map - some may lead to a bandit camp that need wiped out, others to hidden treasure and yet others to people in need of rescuing or areas overrun by monsters you can liberate. Towns and villages hold message boards - usually with monster contracts you can take on for money. But be careful - exploring is an option but (especially early on in the game) you will run into much higher-level monsters and such. It's also a bit hard to get gold early on (not so much later) - so you will have to choose your fights carefully. Experience is given based on the level - if you are level 20 and take on a level 15 quest, you won't get much. But if you are level 18 and tackles a level 20 quest, you'll come out much better. Don't push it - I was OK within about three levels or so but anything too much higher means certain death (or at least using a lot of health items). The game isn't stingy about giving those out - just search everything you can - water, bread, dumplings, ham - people leave the darndest things in boxes and barrels.
There are a few boss battles, horse races, fights, an in-game card game (Gwent), a robust crafting system and an awful lot to explore. The game does pretty good about giving you a lot of fast-travel points but I would very much say that saving often is still a good rule of thumb. You never know when you're going to run into something that can kill you or a bunch of little somethings that can gang up and take you down even when yoiu're confident. Bottom line - there's a lot going on and a lot to do - don't rush things.
Replayability: Considering the game added a new game+ mode and several quests can result in different outcomes - this is a game you could easily go back to - if only to see how your decisions affect the overall story (or just how they affect certain people or communities). I have to say, this is the rare game it would actually benefit to go back and play a few times.
Overall: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt gets just about everything right. If you don't mind spending a lot of time in this world, I can hardly think of a better game to play (unless you wait for the inevitable "Ultimate and/or Game of the Year Edition).
Presentation: 4/5
Story: 5/5
Gameplay: 4/5
Replayability: 5/5
Overall (not an average): 4.5/5
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