Here are the moments that made me really appreciate this game.
Playing through The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been an experience. Like many players I have made choices which have shaped my game-world, and I’m fairly happy with how my story unfolded.
A Tale of a Witcher
To keep things condensed I ended up ridding Redania of Radovid which ultimately allowed Emhyr var Emreis to conquer the North, however Temeria was spared. I allowed Ciri to make her own decision about her future, and instead of running or joining the Lodge, she became the Empress of Nilfgaard. Skellige prospered under the rule of Cerys, though they lost some of their aggression. I also tried to maintain a friendship with Triss, and would’ve like to see more of her in the game, whilst I choose to settle down with Yennefer.
There were a few stand-out moments in the game, and these really make me want to go back and play through it again, however The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is currently receiving free DLC to keep players interested, has a big new patch on the way, and also has season pass content, so I might wait before I do.
Choices
These moments include in-game choices which define Geralt’s character; making your own decisions depending on how you feel about a situation is a real strength of the game, but if you’re like me and are new to the series then backstory is always nice.
One such moment was with Yen during a side quest with would determine if the pair were meant to be. She breaks a binding spell, yet feels the same about Geralt, and its here you can either have a heartfelt moment or break her heart and sit through an awkward silence (this will affect the ending). The game is full of these choices and I find this kind of freedom to be a major positive about the rpg.
Contracts
Another top feature is hunting monsters that have contacts on them. Specifically ones which require tracking, potions and have a bit of story to them; and one that sticks out is the Oxenfurt Drunk, though there were a few really good ones.
Here a notice read that a creature had been killing people, leaving their bodies in the gutter and presumably causing all kinds of sanitation problems. Upon further investigation you find out how the people died, and that the monster attacks drunk victims. So to slay it Geralt has to get wasted…
The Game World
Speaking of getting merry, the conversations at Kaer Morhen before you fight The Wild Hunt are quite entertaining. Lambert and Eskel even seem like fun guys to be around when they’ve had a drink.
Also the fact that you an just get lost in the Northern Kingdoms, not just from doing side missions is great. Random encounters with fearsome beasts, searching for guarded treasure and liberating abandoned villages add to the feeling of The Witcher 3 being a true open world game, one which feels alive. Two changes that I would like however is that the glitching, while it can be hilarious, needs fixing and that contracts could be randomly generated to give the player something more to do upon completion.
The game does a ton of things right and not much wrong overall, and is among the best rpg’s out at the moment.
