Reviews// The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Good and evil aren't really options in The Witcher. You’ll never know if what you’re doing is the right thing to do and the game doesn’t show its hand straight away. The Witcher 3 revels in grey areas, forcing you to think things over. That is, if it gives you any time at all, what with some of the most important decisions being on the clock.

It’s organic and although it sometimes has the Walking Dead effect of making you think “Well whatever I do here everyone is screwed anyway…” it also has some of the most difficult moments I’ve experienced in plot-based gaming.

The writing helps matters. A well-written character with realistic voice acting can make you connect with the people you meet and care for their cause, and The Witcher 3 nails that. Early on you’ll meet the Bloody Barron. A drunk, fat and jolly man who is missing his wife and daughter.

His quest line at first seems straightforward, but the further you go the more realistic his issues become and the more you find out about the man behind the drink. Without good writing and acting his whole story would have been appalling and you’d have no motivation to find a robot's dull family. Instead you’re gripped and genuinely intrigued to see where it wants to take you next and with the conclusion I had you’ll be greatly rewarded, not through loot but through conclusion.

The Witcher 3 does manage to drop the ball here and there though. The RPG elements are deep and rewarding but overly complicating at times, especially when compared to the rather basic and unsatisfying combat.

Traversal is a pain too. My horse would constantly wander directly into trees and streams on long journeys and halt my progression instantly.

Trying to interact with the game can also feel cumbersome. Press A to do X seems simple enough, but soon enough you’ll be hammering that poor button while your character, the monster slayer, looks at the door for a few minutes with a sense of confusion, as though the voices in his head are screaming to open it but his hands can't quite build up the energy to comply.

I also had a lot of problems with the camera. The right stick is pretty twitchy and locking on seems to just stop working every now and then, as does the navigation system making you wish that in a world of magic someone would have taken the time out to spellcast a Tom Tom.

Along with the occasional frame rate issue The Witcher 3 does what it can to sour your enjoyment but fails miserably in trying to make you fall out of love with it because once these moments of frustration fade, you’re back to exploring, discovering new locations, talking to the locals and sinking gently into the incredible world on offer.

It’s the sort of game that you think about when you’re not playing. Usually that happens to me when I’m facing a challenge. In Destiny it’s about how I’m going to take on a raid that night, in Dark Souls it’s about what I’m going to try to defeat an enemy that’s been bugging me for a while.

In The Witcher 3, it’s about the characters I’ve met. My mind would often drift to past conversations and how people acted towards me. Whether I trusted them or not. For a game to impose itself on my life like that is pretty damn incredible.

Pros:
+ Plot
+ Environment
+ Writing

Cons:
- Combat
- Traversal
- Occasion frame rate issues

SPOnG Score: 9/10