47) The Withcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)

Released in 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is, obviously, a continuation of The Witcher video game series, which is based upon the fantasy novel series of the same name. It's heavily inspired by Slavic mythology, and while based upon an existing work, author Andrzej Sapkowski had no involvement in the writing, giving the development team license to create their own completely new story. Still, the video games often reference and allude to events in the books while also expanding greatly upon the world. Being both a critical and commercial success at launch, winning hundreds of game of the year awards, it has been a glaring omission in my game history for far too long despite the fact that I have tried playing it multiple times, only to find myself bouncing off of it. It may have taken me a little over a decade, but that streak has finally ended.

We begin with our protagonist, Geralt of Rivia, searching for a woman named Yennefer, which ultimately leads us on a quest to find our surrogate daughter, Ciri, who is being hunted because of her powers. One of the things that had turned me away from the game before is how serious and monotone Geralt is portrayed especially in the early sections of the game. While I want to chalk this up to him being a Witcher, a sort of paranormal bounty hunter who takes on aspects of the monsters they hunt, it stands in stark contrast to his companion and mentor, Vesemir. I also found myself, initially, being put off by the combat in the game, which takes inspiration from the Dark Souls series without the same level of pattern memorization.

Giving the game my full attention and allowing myself to be immersed in the world, I found the game really caught my attention when I did the first few side missions, which I discovered at the local notice board. These showed more of what being a Witcher is like in the day to day, being feared and hated by townspeople until such time that they need you. Once accepting a contract, the game became, of all things, a detective simulation, forcing the player to investigate, track people and creatures, and use the players knowledge to plan for and battle monsters. These became a favorite of mine, and Witcher contracts were almost always a treat. While they do throw some fun curve balls at the player, they do highlight another aspect of the game that I have mixed feelings on, which is how often the outcome of any quest, regardless of player choice, ends in tragedy. I can get behind a sense of gritty realism, and I understand and appreciate the underlying message that humans are often the real monsters in the world, but when it happens almost every damn time, it gets a bit old. That said, the few times where a happy ending is achievable feels all the better for it.

As I eventually proceeded through the main story, I found myself appreciating Geralt more and more. Where he is introduced as a stoic, monotone, almost grimdark figure, he's quickly shown to be a far more expressive and fun character than I had thought. Whether it be with his feigned deference to authority or his quick witted responses to those he knows well, his sense of humor mixes well with his no nonsense attitude, allowing him to be far funnier than I had imagined. Of particular highlight are his missions involving his bardic friend Dandelion, which often finds Geralt displaying his acting abilities, or lack there of, while also showing that he's up for silliness from time to time.

Being based on a book series, and with my initial impressions of Geralt, I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of player agency the development team allowed. Extending beyond choice of armor and hairstyles, but including how you choose to interact with and complete quests, as well as a fairly extensive skill system. More than in most games, by the end I felt a deep connection with my version of Geralt. The choices he made and the way he carried himself made him feel like my version of an established character, which is an incredibly impressive achievement.

I was also pleasantly surprised at just how good the writing was overall. Rarely did I find characters who were evil for the sake of being evil. Instead, even characters who had done horrific things generally had their reasons, and gave pretty good cause as to debate what course of action to take. This is exemplified best in the Bloody Baron, one of the first major characters we meet, and who's story drives a lot of the first act. If the game had ended with the resolution of just his storyline, I'd have been satisfied and still talking about the writing. The story continues, however, and it rarely fails to disappoint.

The base game alone took me roughly 70 hours to complete, and it would have been easy for the developers to have phoned in DLC to make a quick buck. However, the two major expansions actually push the game even higher. The first, Heart of Stone, tells a tragic tale of a man gifted with eternal life by a truly haunting entity that refuses to explain itself. While it doesn't add a ton of new areas, it does add new enemies and bosses that truly test the player's combat prowess. The story is great, full of twists and a surprising melancholy which is accentuated by the powerful antagonists omnipresence. It's truly masterful stuff.

Blood and Wine, the second expansion, is even more impressive with its ambition. We travel to a large new land, clearly based on France, for a fun new story that has plenty of twists and reveals, along with chances to prove out mettle against monsters and in a chivalric tournament. The new area is colorful and fun to explore, a nice contrast to the muted color palettes of the base game, and the new characters are fun and diverse. It does a great job of showing how well Geralt can adapt to high society, again a stark contrast from the base game. It also gives us a pretty nice sendoff with a well earned fourth wall break.

The game is not without a few bugs and glitches, but the ones I encountered were mostly humorous. The DLC shows the developers tongue in cheek attitude by making several allusions to now infamous bugs, such as horses on rooftops, and an exploit found in the game early after release was given a humorous encounter meant to discourage it. All of this is to say that a lot of care and love went into the game, and it shows. The developers know not to take things too seriously, and it helps make the game feel more like a joke that the player gets to be in on. I admit, I wasn't expecting a sidequest making fun of DRM, an issue the team had with the previous game, but I'll be damned if it doesn't work.

I'm more than a little late to the party, but after finally taking the plunge and spending well over a hundred hours in the game, I see what all the fuss was about. The Witcher 3 is an amazing experience that holds up incredibly well, visually and mechanically. I look forward to playing through it again at some point, trying new builds and choosing different options, but my first playthrough will hold a special place to me. I'm interested in playing the earlier games in the series, and can say with certainty that when a sequel is made, it won't take me a decade to get around to it.