The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Reflections
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With the end of the year upon us, both Eurogamer and Pixel Gate are reflecting upon the games that we played throughout 2015. Since any such list wouldn't be complete without mentioning The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I'll send you over to Eurogamer for their article regarding CD Projekt RED's title first:
The Witcher 3 isn't perfect. How could it realistically fulfil all of those dreams - how can any game, any thing? I thought the combat was repetitive; I thought I'd use more magic, more potions, but really I just dodged and hit. I thought there were too many supplementary activities, and as good as they were, the novelty wore off. By the time I hit Skellige about half-way through the game, those hard grey knuckles of islands, I was fatigued - so I started ignoring things and following the main story blinkered. A burden of riches.
But I loved its characters' ugliness, its world's dirtiness, its equipment's realness. I loved the incidental voices in villages, the farts, the odd things people would say - and the mish-mash of Welsh/Irish/Scottish/Cornish accents in which they said it. And I loved the swearing.
And then we'll pay a visit to Pixel Gate for their article, as well:
Franchise protagonist Geralt, at this point in the franchise, carries the scars of his journey. His characteristics are in tone with his situation and past experiences, resulting in a believable character. The player's ability to still impose their will onto the character remains. It's a subtle touch that opens up role playing possibilities, while maintaining a sense of direction. Witcher 3'²s story may be about Geralt, but it's what the player makes of it. Contradictions and forced choices are rejected in favour of more organic options. CD Projekt created the near perfect mix of story driven action RPG, while maintaining player choice and impact.
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's core plot is a decent climax to the franchise, but not the best tale told. The side quests steal the spotlight, mostly in a brilliant fashion . Most of the top notch side quests take The Witcher's darker story elements, building upon them to craft oddly human stories. It's the surrounding stories that elevate Wild Hunt onto a whole new level. The Bloody Baron side quest contains so much quality that it makes most other game's core plots blush. Numerous amounts of quests supply glimpses of the world and it's characters, often casting shades of moral doubt upon the player's actions.
