The Feels Crit You for 1,000

(Serious The Witcher 3 spoilers ahead.  Don't read ahead if you haven't played through the story much.)

One of the cuter moments between Geralt and Ciri.

After spending over 100 hours exploring and completing sidequests I finally decided it was time to take the plunge and forge ahead with the main storyline.  I had rescued the cute, but slightly disturbing creature known as Uma, and found out he was actually an elven sage cursed by the Wild Hunt as he was attempting to protect Ciri.  Now it was time to travel back to Skellige and find the mysterious Isle of the Mists and hopefully Ciri.

There was something really minor that happened before I travelled to the island that I really appreciated and it's not even related to the story.  As Geralt was sailing in the boat toward the island a screen popped up warning me that I should:  1.) Save my game in a manual save slot because important things were going to happen and 2.) That I should complete any remaining sidequests I had because they might not be available after the next sequence.  It seems silly, but this is great!  How many times have you moved ahead on a main storyline only to find out that by doing so you couldn't go back and complete other missions?  It's one of my chief annoyances in many games.  Thanks CD Projekt Red for including this warning and saving me the headache of having to go back and re-play part of the game.

After I had completed my sidequests, I headed back to the Isle.  Once there Geralt discovers a creepy island and a creepy cabin filled with lost dwarves.  The dwarves refuse to let him in unless he tries to rescue their three lost companions.  Let's just say that things don't turn out so well for the lost dwarves--one is killed by a monster, one clumsily falls off a cliff to his death--but one dwarf does actually manage to survive.  The narcoleptic dwarf, Sleepy, asks Geralt to escort him back to the cabin.  (This part of the mission felt reminiscent of an old World of Warcraft quest where you had to escort an injured elf to camp while periodically dousing him with water to keep him awake.)

Geralt manages to get Sleepy back to the cabin and the dwarves unlock the door to let him inside.  Before he goes in they also tell him that Ciri is inside but that she is dead.  It's a soul-crushing moment and the cinematic of Geralt going in, sitting on the bed next to her, and tenderly holding her body is seriously a heartbreaker.  It's then that the small firefly that guided you to the island floats through the door and into Ciri.  The scene cuts away to a flashback of Ciri as a child at Kaer Mohren with Geralt.  They see each other and sprint together into the cutest hug in a game about killing monsters and dismembering people.  I actually got tears in my eyes during this scene....doesn't happen much in games.

This is how I know The Witcher 3 is a great game.  If it has the power to make me feel emotions that strongly....damn.  Only the best can make that happen.