The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Game Info

I’ve openly made it known throughout the course of my career covering videos games that I am not a fan of the Elder Scrolls series.  I’ve caught plenty of flak for this over the years, but I’ll stand behind my opinion that the Elder Scrolls world feel barren and heartless with no soul and that the combat is more of a burden then it is enjoyable.  Being that I’ve never played a Witcher game and that I have a distaste for everything Elder Scrolls this review will be a completely objective non-bias opinion.

As you start The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt  you are met by a storyboard cut scene which tells you the backdrop of the main story.  I loved the use of comic and cel-shaded graphics with the well narrated intro.  The beginning feels a little Game of Thrones but comes into it’s own as well.  A warning to animal lovers, the cut-scene may be tough to stomach.  Once out of the introduction you enter a dream sequence and are taught the basics of the game.  You will have your average use the left stick to walk moments but one of the most valuable abilities that you will use right away is the Witcher sense.  This is similar to Batman’s detective vision in the popular Arkham series of games.  Holding the left trigger to enter the Witcher sense mode, you can then look throughout an environment for items or areas of interest.  For example, in the dream sequence you are searching for a key in the room.  In Witcher Sense mode, you can see the flames of a candle, wine, the perfume that your love Yennifer is wearing and other key items of interest.

After you discover the key and leave the room, you head down stairs to start training a young Witcher named Ciri.  It is here that you will learn the ins and outs of running, using ladders and hurdling obstacles.  Slightly later in this portion of the tutorial you will learn your combat skills which feels like a good mix of Batman and The Legend of Zelda.  Using the L2 to hold up your guard is a strategy that you can use as a novice but in order to take down the toughest of foes later on your will need to learn the arts of counterattacks, parrying and diving.  You can also use different spells that will protect you or attack and enemy as well as use bombs as a side item.  All these skills will come in handy as you progress through the game and eventually get out in the open world on your own.  The attacks you will use most often are the light attack and the heavy attack with a mix of countering and  diving.

Geralt also has an array of magic and ranged attacks at his disposal.  Your magic will vary between a Jedi-like “force push” to a wave of fire.  There are also protection spells like a shield a mind control spell.  The 5th spell is a magic trap to help keep spirits in a form where you can attack them.  Some of the ranged attacks you will get to use are bombs and also a crossbow.  You will receive the crossbow early and it is very helpful against not only flying enemies but also groups of enemies that are at a distance.  Later on you will earn certain equipment such as a magic lamp that will allow you to see conversations and actions of spirits.

After waking from the tutorial sequence your character Geralt of Rivia explains to Vesemir about his dream and at this point you learn that Yennifer and Ciri might be in danger and you start your first quest and that is figuring out where Yennifer could be.  At this point you get your first taste of real blood as you fight these little troll goblin characters.  After defeating them quickly you will learn to loot corpses and then gather material from the gorgeous vegetation that CD Projekt has masterfully crafted.  Just in these very few early areas, there were multiple times that the lighting and textures just made my jaw drop with the insane beauty, as it looks like it could be me actual walking through these woods and fields in real life.

From here you are taught the basics of horseback riding on your trusty steed, Roach.  It feels as if the developers have taken a page out of Rockstar Games’ critically acclaimed title Red Dead Redemption but have also kicked it up a notch.  You can quick call Roach by clicking in the left stick.  You can also travel along any road by just holding X and not using the left stick to steer manually.  This comes in handy when trying to reach a destination swiftly.  Drawing your sword and fighting on horseback is just as simple as doing it from the ground, but be careful as Roach becomes difficult to control if his fear level rises.  Also you are given quick travel points rather quickly in this title which is a blessing being how ridiculously large the map of the world is.

Just like other games in the genre you can go strictly through the story missions to progress your game and move you along to open new areas.  If this is your style of playing though you will find that your time in this huge world will be rather difficult.  I highly recommend hitting up the message boards in each settlement and picking up some of the side quests to get your character some much needed experience which will help you level up and obtain equipment to aid you in your fight against the tougher enemies.  The side quests will vary from your standard fetch quests to more extensive quests such as having to clear a spirit from a haunted well.  Some of these missions will reward you with more then just experience and equipment,  earning you stones that help enhance your abilities even further.

There are also areas on the map that designated with question marks that are areas of interest.  You will run into certain events at each zone such as a bandit camp, monster’s nest or a guarded treasure.  You may also come across power stones which grant you a magic buff for a particular sign and also grant you one ability to add to your character.  Speaking of abilities, the character leveling screen is rather unique compared to other RPG’s that I have played.   You have a total of 12 slots that you can equip abilities through and most abilities can be leveled multiple times.  You have to go through and unlock the equip slots by leveling your character via experience points.  You can also get mutagens which unlock certain bonuses as long as you are equipping similar abilities. The abilities range from your standard sword attack buffs, to alchemy buffs, and even magic buffs.  There are also one time abilities such as the regenerating vitality more during the day or at night if you are in combat.

As you progress through the story most of the tale takes place through cut-scenes and conversations.  While the game doesn’t ever feel like your decisions make a difference as comparable to Mass Effect or Star Wars: The Knights of the Old Republic, they will make minor differences early on and will also change the course of the game depending on if you are evil or a little nicer.  I never really got the idea of being an a-hole in a game so I went through the game trying to help everyone I could.  I mean if you aren’t helping why not just join the Wild Hunt, right?  Some of the conversations seem a little long winded but for the most part they keep on topic and the story gets very intriguing after you leave the starting area and start delving more and more into the world of The Witcher 3.  There are multiple endings depending on how you decide to play the title and also probably a good 200 hours if you complete all of the side quests.  CD Projekt Red has also promised two expansion packs would should pack in at least 30 more hours of story quests later this year and early next.

Looting and grabbing equipment from corpses or chests is something you will find yourself doing often along your journey.  Some eqiupment you find will be an upgrade and some you will want to take in to either sell or dismantle.  Dismantling equipment will give you crafting items that can be used at the blacksmith to help make items such as better crafting items, bombs, bolts, swords or armor.  You will find manuscripts all over that will give you the instructions on what it takes to craft these items.  Luckily your witcher is more talented in the art of Alchemy and you can make potions or even bombs at a moments notice.  Most of the alchemy is used from loot from monster corpses such as brains and tongues and also flowers or plants that grow all over the world.  These are marked on your mini-map with a green leaf.

Now as much as I loved my time in the Witcher universe there are also a few issues that I am hoping that they smooth out with a patch or two. The swimming underwater feels off and will have you struggling to surface for air after you’ve been trying to submerge for loot and quest items.  Also speaking of collecting loot, a variety of collecting or other action button tasks like mounting roach or climbing a later must be done precisely.  Sometimes you will need to back up or line up just right to get these actions off.  I feel like it should be such a task to get on a ladder where I’ve doe it with easy in countless other titles.

All of what I have previously talked about throughout the review is the real meat and potatoes of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt but there are also many side games that can be played as well. The biggest game with the most depth is called Gwent, this could be compared to Blizzard’s Hearthstone.  If you honestly wanted to, you could spend countless hours playing Gwent and collecting all of the cards through means of treasure or from the world’s vendors.  Some of the other mini-games are a fight club game where you bare knuckle box your opponents and horse racing which is exactly what it sounds like and helps you net some gear for Roach.

As I eluded to earlier the graphics and word that CD Projekt Red has made is just beyond gorgeous.  This is the first time I felt that my PlayStation 4 was using it’s horsepower to it’s potential.  The beautiful grass, woods and vegetation all looks amazing.  Even the dull, foggy swamp areas a rich with touch of realism that makes you feel like you are in the game.  The weather effects will go from a nice calm breeze to a ridiculous wind storm that has trees bending to the point where you think they will snap.  I even had a spectator who was watching me play comment on how the wind effects were pretty neat and that Geralt must live in the windiest place on Earth.  The soundtrack and voice acting are also top notch.  I love the symphonic score to go with the Dark Age world that the developer has put together.  The voice acted cut scenes help add a cinematic experience that rivals some of the other titles if not surpass them in the genre.

The Recommendation

Fans of RPG’s and Adventure titles look no further.  The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the most complete and must-play experiences this generation.  It is the first game that I’ve played on the PS4 that captured my attention and then blew me away.  From the very detailed landscapes to the well crafted story and dungeons, CD Projekt Red has managed to put together a masterpiece in the 3rd game of their beloved franchise.  If you need something to play on your PlayStation 4, Xbox One or PC then look no further, your game has arrived.