The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Before buying The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt I knew very little about the game series. Naturally, I read a lot of reviews and watched a whole lot of gameplay videos of the game to get an idea what it´s all about. I knew critics had praised the game for its immersive open world and engaging story and it had even won a lot of awards. As a skeptic and realist I still was a bit afraid that The Witcher was not going to be a game for me. You see, I didn't like Skyrim. I tried, but couldn't get into it. I also tried playing through Dragon Age: Origins as I´m a big fan of Bioware´s Mass Effect. And even though I liked Dragon Age more than Skyrim I didn't manage to finish it either.
Here's the thing though, before you've played a game, despite how many gameplay videos you've watched or reviews you've read, it's impossible to say whether you will like it or not. You have to play it, experience it for yourself and that is especially true when it comes to non-linear open world games like this.Where am I getting with this, you might wonder? Well no more explanations are needed, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is in my opinion, simply a masterpiece.
I finished the main story and most of the side quests last night with about 150 hours of gameplay and there are still places to explore. The game world is massive. And it's not all about size, the world never ever feels empty. You can go in any direction and you will always find something new and interesting to do or admire. The world really feels alive. There are forests to explore, cities to visit, mountains to climb and a vast ocean to sail on, swim in or dive to the bottom of to find hidden treasures and shipwrecks. There is also a night and day cycle, rain, thunder storms and beautiful sunsets. The amount of detail put in to every single place in the game is mind boggling. You quickly forget you're even playing a game and simply accept your role as the witcher Geralt and the cruel but beautiful world you inhabit.
The Witcher series is based on these fantasy books written by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski and they've been around since the early 90's though they haven't been translated in to english until recently. I've even read two of them since I started playing the Wild Hunt, which is the third installment in the game series and it's times like these I really wish I had a PC or an Xbox so I could go back and play the two first games which are unfortunately not available on playstation.
Either way, the world of the Witcher is a dark and grim place. A world inhabited not only by humans but other humanoids as well, such as elves, halflings and dwarves. On top of that there is magic and monsters, sorceresses and witchers, war and racial tensions between humans and non-humans and a prophecy about the end of the world. Even with the magic and monsters, the world feels close to our own in many ways. For me it's an immensely fascinating world filled with interesting characters and mystery.
The main character Geralt is a monster slayer for hire, a witcher who besides from killing monsters and romancing sorceresses quite unwillingly gets involved in political intrigues and end of the world prophesies. Geralt is the strong silent type. A man with a deep sense of duty who can ruthlessly kill anyone who tries to harm him or his loved ones but one who is also capable of showing mercy and compassion for even the most unexpected of people.
In the Witcher 3, Geralt is searching for his "step daughter" or protegé Cirilla who's is being hunted by the Wild Hunt. They believe she is the chosen one and they want her for the great powers she possesses. This takes him on a unbelievable journey all across the land. The father-(step)daughter theme seems to be popular in games right now e.g. The Last of Us, The Walking Dead and Bioshock Infinite, and it's probably for good reasons. Father-daughter relationships can be quite complex and there are certainly strong feelings involved. Fathers are likely to do anything, at whatever the cost for their daughters and that makes for a good story. Like Ellie from the Last of Us, Cirilla doesn't need Geralt to save her all the time and she can certainly take care of herself. She has been trained in the art of killing monsters by witchers ever since she was a little kid. Their relationship is based on mutual compassion and trust and the moments in the game with both Ciri and Geralt are one of the best parts of it.
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt sets the bar high for future open world RPG games as it is in my opinion a ground breaking masterpiece in immersive world building and storytelling. It's clearly a game made with passion and I have nothing but admiration for the people at CD Project Red for making such an amazing game and I am lucky to get to experience it.
I can go on and on about how much I loved this game but as as I pointed out in the beginning there is no way to know whether you'll enjoy the game as much before you sit down and actually play it, but be prepared that you will be spending over 100 hours in it to finish the main guests and side quests.
There is not much negative I can say about the game other than that there are some bugs and glitches which I guess, are inevitable in a game in such size and scope. And as the studio behind the game CD Project Red cleverly pointed out in the April Fools video below, the bugs are intentionally put there to remind us that we are still just playing game. For a game though this is a 10/10 in my book.
Here's the thing though, before you've played a game, despite how many gameplay videos you've watched or reviews you've read, it's impossible to say whether you will like it or not. You have to play it, experience it for yourself and that is especially true when it comes to non-linear open world games like this.Where am I getting with this, you might wonder? Well no more explanations are needed, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is in my opinion, simply a masterpiece.
I finished the main story and most of the side quests last night with about 150 hours of gameplay and there are still places to explore. The game world is massive. And it's not all about size, the world never ever feels empty. You can go in any direction and you will always find something new and interesting to do or admire. The world really feels alive. There are forests to explore, cities to visit, mountains to climb and a vast ocean to sail on, swim in or dive to the bottom of to find hidden treasures and shipwrecks. There is also a night and day cycle, rain, thunder storms and beautiful sunsets. The amount of detail put in to every single place in the game is mind boggling. You quickly forget you're even playing a game and simply accept your role as the witcher Geralt and the cruel but beautiful world you inhabit.
The Witcher series is based on these fantasy books written by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski and they've been around since the early 90's though they haven't been translated in to english until recently. I've even read two of them since I started playing the Wild Hunt, which is the third installment in the game series and it's times like these I really wish I had a PC or an Xbox so I could go back and play the two first games which are unfortunately not available on playstation.
Either way, the world of the Witcher is a dark and grim place. A world inhabited not only by humans but other humanoids as well, such as elves, halflings and dwarves. On top of that there is magic and monsters, sorceresses and witchers, war and racial tensions between humans and non-humans and a prophecy about the end of the world. Even with the magic and monsters, the world feels close to our own in many ways. For me it's an immensely fascinating world filled with interesting characters and mystery.
The main character Geralt is a monster slayer for hire, a witcher who besides from killing monsters and romancing sorceresses quite unwillingly gets involved in political intrigues and end of the world prophesies. Geralt is the strong silent type. A man with a deep sense of duty who can ruthlessly kill anyone who tries to harm him or his loved ones but one who is also capable of showing mercy and compassion for even the most unexpected of people.
In the Witcher 3, Geralt is searching for his "step daughter" or protegé Cirilla who's is being hunted by the Wild Hunt. They believe she is the chosen one and they want her for the great powers she possesses. This takes him on a unbelievable journey all across the land. The father-(step)daughter theme seems to be popular in games right now e.g. The Last of Us, The Walking Dead and Bioshock Infinite, and it's probably for good reasons. Father-daughter relationships can be quite complex and there are certainly strong feelings involved. Fathers are likely to do anything, at whatever the cost for their daughters and that makes for a good story. Like Ellie from the Last of Us, Cirilla doesn't need Geralt to save her all the time and she can certainly take care of herself. She has been trained in the art of killing monsters by witchers ever since she was a little kid. Their relationship is based on mutual compassion and trust and the moments in the game with both Ciri and Geralt are one of the best parts of it.
The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt sets the bar high for future open world RPG games as it is in my opinion a ground breaking masterpiece in immersive world building and storytelling. It's clearly a game made with passion and I have nothing but admiration for the people at CD Project Red for making such an amazing game and I am lucky to get to experience it.
I can go on and on about how much I loved this game but as as I pointed out in the beginning there is no way to know whether you'll enjoy the game as much before you sit down and actually play it, but be prepared that you will be spending over 100 hours in it to finish the main guests and side quests.
There is not much negative I can say about the game other than that there are some bugs and glitches which I guess, are inevitable in a game in such size and scope. And as the studio behind the game CD Project Red cleverly pointed out in the April Fools video below, the bugs are intentionally put there to remind us that we are still just playing game. For a game though this is a 10/10 in my book.
Comments
Post a Comment