The Witcher 3 Completed!

After 129 hours of play I finally finished The Witcher 3 (it could have been closer to 200 hours if I hadn't gotten bored with exploring the numerous hidden caches in Skellige).  I was a fan of the series before this game but I am completely blown away by how great this game really is.  If you aren't a fan of the series and simply picked up this game because it's a triple-A title, now is the perfect time to pick up the first two games on the cheap during the Steam Sale.

I'm going to try to hit the highlights of what I really enjoyed about The Witcher 3.  I'm not really into all the technical jargon like framerates and overclocking and whatnot so if you're looking for that type of thing, sorry.

The graphics are so great that simple moments stand out.

The first thing that really blew me away was the graphics.  I essentially bought a brand new PC knowing that more graphically demanding titles were on the way and boy was that a good decision.  As I explored the huge world I found myself marvelling at how beautiful it was--a sunset among the trees or a mountain vista with a wide view or a group of peasants working in a wheat field--it's really amazing.  The world itself is huge, as promised, and has enough variety to remain engaging.  The city streets of Novigrad bustle with life at any time of the day or night.  The characters themselves also featured so many gorgeous details--the sorceresses with their expensive tastes dressed in plush velvets, the witchers in their battle scarred leather, the soldiers in their heavy armor--all of it looked extremely realistic.  And one thing that might seem silly, but that I really appreciated, the hair.  It looked real!  Geralt's white ponytail (I prefer the ponytail) fluttered in the breeze--even indoors!

As a reader of the short stories/novels I was also impressed with a number of the details and characters that showed up in the game.  Dudu Biberveldt, the plethora of sorceresses (not just Triss and Yennefer but a huge chunk of the Lodge of Sorceresses--Margarita Laux-Antille, Phillipa Eilhart, Fringilla Vigo, Keira Metz, Sile de Tansarville--all but the few who decide to stay out), Djikstra, Dandelion, Zoltan Chivay and so many more that I can't even remember.  There were also smaller things from the stories like what Ciri was wearing--if you haven't read the stories you should--the turquoise belt which is somewhat of a trophy she steals (in the stories she's not all sweetness and runs around with a group of bandits with questionable moral values).  One thing I didn't like about the novel to game translation was making Ciri the daughter of Emhyr, the emperor of Nilfgaard.  It felt wrong but I can understand how it was necessary to make the story in the game work.

The addition of the extremely enjoyable card game, Gwent, was also a really fun choice.  I enjoyed taking a break and playing cards and trying to get as many cards as I could.  The gwent cards also featured a number of characters from the stories who don't appear in the game--Eithne, the queen of the dryads of Brokilon, Milva, the human archer who aids the Scoia'tel, Regis, the higher vampire and herbalist who Geralt lets live because he saves Dandelion.  Gwent blows dice poker out of the water in terms of fun and challenge.

Geralt and Ciri share a quiet moment.

The story itself was engaging and featured an adequate number of twists and turns to not make it totally predictable.  The relationship between Geralt and Ciri was heartwarming and I enjoyed how it played out--it was easy to feel the father/daughter relationship that exists between them.  The many choices that you are able to make also adds greatly to replayability value.  The story I chose for Geralt turned out to be happy, if not completely unrealistic (Spoilers!  I don't think Geralt would choose to settle down with Triss and I sort of regret that choice even though Triss is my favorite).

I decided that my first playthrough should be at default difficulty and found the combat occasionally challenging.  Dodging and parrying is fun and adds a dash of timing into simply mashing the attack button.  On my next playthrough I plan to ratchet up the difficulty a notch or two and try to really get a feel for it rather than just blundering through.

When I think about the major triple-A RPG's from this year-ish I really think of two--Dragon Age:  Inquisition and The Witcher 3.  I am a big BioWare fan and have always really loved their games but I gotta say that The Witcher 3 was the superior of the two.  I don't think I've ever sunk 120+ hours into a game and immediately wanted to pick it up again.

Thanks CD Projekt Red for bringing us such a great game and making the world of The Witcher so engaging.  The next game should definitely follow Ciri.  Make it so!  Oh and if we could get the rest of the novels/short stories translated into English that would be soooo great.