Now that the game is finished, after some 140 hours I must confess I was skeptical throughout the development process, thinking that CDPR could not deliver what they promised. After the credits rolled, I knew I was right to that scepticism, but still CDPR managed to delivered where mattered the most.

People may come to this believing this is the next Skyrim or Dark Souls and they might be disappointed when they realise the wild hunt is the next Witcher game and this is a beast on its own.

The "Open World" claim is kind of misleading the game features some huge areas to roam but still there are borders and forced transitions between them. Still, the world feels lived in and is beautiful. The vistas are breathtaking, the villages and cities feel alive and I was literally holding my breath when I saw my first sunset outside White Orchad, as well as some otherworldly places during act 3.
The monster and character design is also great and the graphics are awesome, even on a so-so rig (mine was able to run the game at high settings with 24-32 fps but the end result was worth it - even though it took quite a toll on my PC towards the end)

The Witcher games are first and foremost story-based games and this one is no exception. The story starts really slow, with a gentle whimper as you get accustomed to the world and the gameplay. It really starts to pick up though after you get to the main area story quests (especially the Red Baron one) and hold until Act 3. There, I felt as if the open world structure failed to convey the urgency and momentum of the story (as it was done in the final acts of the first Witcher for instance) or perhaps they were rushed to get to the shipping date. Still though there are plenty of chills and thrills and some nice twists to the story. The writing is, once more, superb and there are moments you will laugh and moments you will cry, moments you will love the characters and moments you will hate them. The dialogues are top notch and the characters greatly written.
What really sets apart The Wild Hunt from most contemporary WRPGs and sets a high bar for the next wave of similar titles is the quest structure. It is really impressive how the relatively short side-quests are so rich in story, ambience, details and are, in themselves, self-contained stories. Often I would return from work and turn on the game to play a couple of them to unwind, as if I was watching episodes from a tv series. And, most impressive, few of them feel like fodder to pad up the game, but they feel organic and tie quite well to the themes of the game. That is quite the feat.

Choices. Choices. This is what the witcher games are reknowned for, the choices and their concequences. We were promised that all our choices mattered and, in the end, they do not that much: No matter what you did last two game the world is the same and only some events reflect them. I don't think there is a choice that will change the way you play the quest, just some quests are altered based on your choices. It may be CDPR ditching some of their most ambitious plans for practical reasons or as a statement that Geralt, even though a skilled individual thrown in the thick of things, he cannot affect any real change... Or, when watching how different choices lead to some very narrow consequence branches (or no branches at all) at the powerlessness of a man or the power of destiny (or CDPR not going towards a fully every-choice-really-matters path)
Still, some of the consequences come to haunt you hours latter, good deeds are rewarded or punished. What really stands out though is that many choices have little affect on chats and/or rewards and how irrational/emotionally invested some of the choices can be. There were times I had to read all the answers many times, wondering what I should do and times I would intentionally do something non-heroic when considering my past actions as Geralt. It might sound as a criticism but truth is I am more than happy with the way the choice system works and, in the end, it is years ahead from competition.


Combat is initially nothing to write home about. It is more streamlined compared to W2 and there are difficulty levels to keep anyone but the most hardcore soul fans happy. It is obviously a game meant to be played by everybody (as it should). Then, as you get your hands on new skills, better equipment and more potions it really hits home how great is the battle. Geralt is supposed to be a genetically engineered killing machine and he is the butcher of Blavitken (those familiar with the source material remember he offed a band of notorious mercenaries within seconds) and plays exactly like that. The controlls are fluid and the battle really feels great when you get the hang of it. True, you can spam quen and fast attack and even slog through the Death March difficulty, but what makes the combat really stand out is finding that one tactic that turns that dreaded boss battle into a literal cakewalk.
Which brings me to my main criticism towards all three Witcher games: as soon as you explore, get good equipment and level up the difficulty goes out of the window. Still, the story and the feel of the game will hold you some more.

I've mentioned the source material and, during the last two games there was criticism about the disparity between Geralt in the game and Geralt from the books. I think this one is much more respectful to Sapowski's novels, right down to some post-modern ideas used in the plot (for instance, Ciri, the damsel in distress can, in fact hold on her own and leaves Geralt do some of her dirty work). There has also been quite some criticism about sexism in the previous games and I felt that, this time, CDPR addressed much of those criticism by adding some really quests about strong women trying to find their place in a man's world.
What really stands out to me though, is the grimness of the world. This is not a dark world, far from it. It is colourfull and full of life and joy as it is full with horrors and attrocity. What really makes the Witcher such a dark game is the fact that nobody moans and ♥♥♥♥♥es about injustices. There are no montages of soldiers and dramatic music scores or characters telling their sob stories (yes, DA, I am talking about you). Instead everyone is treating war, death, pestilence, racism and prejudice as if it is the norm, a very Eastern European mentallity that gives the game a unique feel to it and makes small acts of kindness feel like epic feats. Geralt may concert with Kings and witches, but at the end of the day he is protecting the simple man from monsters with both steel and silver swords and the game never loses sight of this.

Major props to the excelent sound design and the great and atmospheric music.

Overall, an RPG worth playing, my personal game of the ploughing year

Ploughing 10/10