The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

 PC
User Score
9.1

Universal acclaim- based on 23035 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20,928 out of 23035
  2. Mixed: 473 out of 23035
  3. Negative: 1,634 out of 23035
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  1. RogerWilco2099
    Jul 28, 2015
    7
    Very solid game and really good fun. Ambitious, well executed and visually gorgeous. This game is vast and you can easily lose hundreds of hours exploring and playing this very well envision game. The positives are self evident and its an RPG done to a brilliant standard. Faults are also there, lag in areas, and most notably very poor movement controls. Which for a game like this shouldVery solid game and really good fun. Ambitious, well executed and visually gorgeous. This game is vast and you can easily lose hundreds of hours exploring and playing this very well envision game. The positives are self evident and its an RPG done to a brilliant standard. Faults are also there, lag in areas, and most notably very poor movement controls. Which for a game like this should never of happened. Patches are still inbound to fix things and has also broke things increasing lag further in areas. Not the best post game support to fix issues, which in the modern gaming world isn't good enough. Other then that a great game with a fantastic story.… Expand
  2. LD9000
    Oct 25, 2015
    7
    A good open world game with plenty of written dialogue and story. I'm sure you have seen a lot of positive reviews about these. Where the game falls flat on it's face for me is the RPG system and clunky combat.

    In an RPG with equipment, a player must desire the next piece of gear and see it's improvement over the existing gear. Here I don't feel it. The item level system kills all the    A good open world game with plenty of written dialogue and story. I'm sure you have seen a lot of positive reviews about these. Where the game falls flat on it's face for me is the RPG system and clunky combat.

    In an RPG with equipment, a player must desire the next piece of gear and see it's improvement over the existing gear. Here I don't feel it. The item level system kills all the fun. I cant wear or craft most of the items I find. The items that I find are rarely better than what I already have. The result is that I don't care about loot.

    An RPG where I don't care about loot fails, because after a while a player stops caring about world exploration or dungeons. This happened in skyrim and other TES games, and this happened here as well.

    Random loot generation is the exact opposite of a well written dialogue - I can loot diamond dust, silver and other "relic" components from a ransacked peasant hut in a war torn land... Peasants talk about darning socks and have emerald dust stashed in a loot sack.

    Which brings me to crafting - the system is unmanageable, with more than a hundred components. Sounds good on paper, but in reality I stopped caring about crafting, just grab plants when I see them and occasionally buy extra from vendors.

    The crafter levels required to make items is a HORRIBLE idea - I'm fast travelling all over the world to find a blacksmith AND armorer to make my level 11 set of witcher gear.

    Don't get me wrong, both previous witcher games had clunky combat, but here I feel like most of the time I'm button mashing, with the Witcher spinning on screen. The health numbers are incomprehensible - I have 3700 health, yet a couple of level 4 drowners can land a couple lucky hits on me for somewhere between 1000-2000 damage on "blood and broken bones" difficulty. The combat is extremely random - at one point I can slaughter 6-7 drowners without a scratch, other times I get stunlocked and even exploding quen does not help me walk out with more than 5% health remaining.

    Finally the dialogue does not really offer any choice - throughout many story and other quests, I have an option to agree or ask a question then agree to a quest. I can listen to bloody baron then help him or tell him to shove it, then help him.    … Expand
  3. MadclownJack
    Nov 7, 2015
    7
    1. Story - While some parts of the story are really worth grinding through the end, other parts will ruthlessly attempt to murder your will to play with their indescribable inanity, as most of the main story seems like an endless "bait and switch" type of deal.
    2. Battle system - Simplified, which is a plus for me, even though the battles themselves are nothing to write home about.
    3.    1. Story - While some parts of the story are really worth grinding through the end, other parts will ruthlessly attempt to murder your will to play with their indescribable inanity, as most of the main story seems like an endless "bait and switch" type of deal.
    2. Battle system - Simplified, which is a plus for me, even though the battles themselves are nothing to write home about.
    3. Quests - Absolutely NOTHING you haven't already seen. Fetch quests, hunt quests, Races, treasure hunts, they might sound different but they're not. You go somewhere, get a quest, go somewhere else, use witcher senses, kill something, get treasure, repeat. The battles are extremely boring, and i was playing on Death March difficulty. I would compare the quest variety to that of "Arkham City".
    4. Music and Graphics- These are two of the very few aspects that are so well done, they actually make the rest of the game bearable.
    5. Content - The forging system from Witcher 2 is here as well, meaning You'd have to scour the map for an armorer that is able to craft a decent pair of swords and armor. Though, you'll find, later in the game, that most of the diagrams you've amassed are inherently worthless unless they are of Witcher quality. Basically they get you chasing for an actually USEFUL diagram, only to find out you can't use the item until level 150. Which is fine and well in a free-to-play MMORPG, that uses the gimmick to get you hooked and playing, but this is a single player game. To resort to such methods in a game of this caliber is just stupidly unnecessary. I've never ridden a horse in real life, but even i can tell that the horse's animation and movement is terribly stiff. Lucky you can change Geralt's movement. The monsters are rehashes of their old designs, with an updated texture and animations. There are some new Monsters that spice things up, some mini bosses that are basically bigger versions of regular monsters meaning the battle won't be that much different. The maps are large and filled with trees and wolves. Fast travel helps, but not a lot. There is a fair amount of hidden treasure spots scattered across the map, which can help decrease the boredom, though, again, not by a lot. The Gwent mini game can be heaps of fun, but it's like a fetch-quest-driven-Hearthstone, meaning your game depends a lot on the cards you have found thus far.

    In summation, it seems to me that Witcher games are an acquired taste. They're not for everyone, but some might just get lost in the game and enjoy themselves thoroughly. Me on the other hand, I have played/liked this game for days. Didn't love it, mind you, but i thought it was well made and occasionally fun. But after completing almost 90% of the Novigrad map and the quests found in it, i got really tired with the slow pace of the main storyline, the predictable quests, the uninspiring game play, to the point where i lost the urge to keep on playing. Now, even a 10 minute run feels like a colossal waste of time. So, good game, but not for me.    … Expand
  4. CoolDadTx
    Sep 14, 2015
    7
    Starts out as a great RPG and the best of the series but after the first 30 hours it becomes dull and lifeless. By that time I just wanted it to end. Many quests simply aren't "witcher" tasks - fetch this, fix that. There are many quests to complete but they are the same basic stuff over and over again.

    I loved the fact that the DLCs were free but every time a DLC was released so did a    Starts out as a great RPG and the best of the series but after the first 30 hours it becomes dull and lifeless. By that time I just wanted it to end. Many quests simply aren't "witcher" tasks - fetch this, fix that. There are many quests to complete but they are the same basic stuff over and over again.

    I loved the fact that the DLCs were free but every time a DLC was released so did a patch. The patches took the game from solid to buggy. Graphical glitches are comical like when you teleport to a signpost while on Roach and you are floating in the air. Each patch just breaks things even more. None of the DLCs really add much though. The patches did add some useful features like pinning but even that is buggy. Every time you go into Alchemy it explains pinning again. The key binding are also messed up in the latest patches. Half the time I have to unbind, bind, unbind, bind certain keys until it works. Swimming and calling the horse are the most common.

    Speaking of swimming, the sea parts are horrific. Combat is next to impossible because you balance on a tiny boat and, because of glitches, tend to simply slide into water. Combat underwater is a joke. I got to the point where I just sped past enemies. For a game where a significant chunk is water this is really bad. 2 of the worse bugs occur in water as well. In one case I had just finished fighting some sirens and suddenly I was thrown out of the boat and immediately died (I was lv 30 at full health). Another time I was standing in the boat and suddenly I "teleported" far above the water and dropped. More common is the fact that when you get close to enemies you go into combat stance and for reasons I cannot understand you cannot jump. So the logical approach of jumping out of the boat near land to fight enemies won't work.

    Overall it isn't a bad game, especially early on; but as it drags on and on it simply becomes mediocre. Better than W2 but arguably not better than W1.    … Expand
  5. AlexanderVallin
    Nov 1, 2015
    7
    I want to begin by acknowledging that this game is well-made, and that I am a fan of the studio's pro-gamer philosophy. I am happy to see them succeed and can't wait for CyberPunk.

    That said, reviews are personal and for me me this is a solid 7/10 game - solely because this game is having a hard time keeping my attention. I am about 55 hours into the game but not sure I will keep    I want to begin by acknowledging that this game is well-made, and that I am a fan of the studio's pro-gamer philosophy. I am happy to see them succeed and can't wait for CyberPunk.

    That said, reviews are personal and for me me this is a solid 7/10 game - solely because this game is having a hard time keeping my attention. I am about 55 hours into the game but not sure I will keep going. I owned the game since May so I really only play less than 10 hours a month since I would rather play other games.

    Pros:

    - Georgous graphics for an open-world game, and great character models for the main cast.
    - Some good dialogue. Geralt has a personality I enjoy - though it doesn't always work in the context of what is happening.
    - Strong female characters - I know people have claimed this series is very sexist but they have come a long way. Ciri, Yennefer, Triss, Kiera, and even some small side characters have strong moments.
    - Morally grey moments - this game does a good job of making you think at times and does not have obviously right - wrong decisions like many games.
    - game does a good job of making you play an outsider. A vast improvement over playing heroes that people fawn over
    - interesting monsters
    - love the quest journal that is narrated by Dandelion. Really more RPGs need to copy this. Yes it takes effort, but I like reading the quest journal. Also enjoy the people and monster journals which are better than games like Dragon Age.
    - Novigrad - best in-game city I've ever seen.
    - good soundtrack

    Cons
    - I eventually got used to the control scheme, but it remains awkward on keyboard/mouse.
    - combat can feel simplistic - just Quen and fast-attack, occasionally dodge.
    - a lot of copy / paste in the open world. Most towns are populated by the same people saying the same one-liners. The one-liners are sometimes odd enough that you notice them since they would not be something you would expect 20 people to all say.
    - inventory is a mess
    - a lot of ambient characters are annoying / gross. It isn't necessary to hear someone loudly snorting in your face. And several people do this in every village.
    - villager Ai is stupid. If you stand still on your horse on a road, for example, they will walk slowly into you and then scream loudly about it.
    - too many ?s. Id rather the game only mark quest objectives and let you explore. It's not realistic that Geralt would sense 100 points of interest nor would it make sense that he would spend months combing over every inch of the open world when there are supposedly more pressing things to be done. This destroys the story pacing and also just makes the map feel cluttered. Which is odd since
    - a lot of the world feels empty, which is more realistic, but can be a time sink traversing it.
    - needing to find a sign post to fast travel also feels like a time sink.

    If this was an objective review I would rate this a 9 for everything it does right - but for me this is a solid 7 since the totality of the experience doesn't draw me in or keep me interested.    … Expand
  6. captainkane
    Jan 26, 2016
    7
    I enjoy The Witcher games. They’re based on Polish stories which gained tremendous popularity after the launch of The Witcher PC game in 2007. Over the past 9 years, CD Projekt has emerged from obscurity to give bloated, entrenched developers a run for their money. Although the franchise has definitely matured, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt exhibits shortcomings that shouldn’t exist in a thirdI enjoy The Witcher games. They’re based on Polish stories which gained tremendous popularity after the launch of The Witcher PC game in 2007. Over the past 9 years, CD Projekt has emerged from obscurity to give bloated, entrenched developers a run for their money. Although the franchise has definitely matured, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt exhibits shortcomings that shouldn’t exist in a third installment.

    What makes TW3 so good? Foremost, this is the first open world Witcher game. The world is huge, beautiful, atmospheric, and treacherous. Graphically, TW3 is impressive. Environments feel alive. Observing a town from atop a snowy mountain is breathtaking, and wandering around thru the swamps at dusk is downright creepy. As the wind howls, branches and small plants sway as the sound of creaking limbs fills the air. Despite claims from ardent fans, TW3 isn’t the best looking game ever. But it runs incredibly smooth. Even my aging PC pushes out 50-60fps at Ultra settings, which is impressive given the complexity of the environs. Dragon Age: Inquisition launched 6 months before TW3, but it conjures up a less interesting world while delivering terrible performance.

    Secondly, the soundtrack is phenomenal. Several Polish composers and the folk band Percival collaborated to create distinctly Slavic tunes. The original Witcher had a remarkable soundtrack, but TW3 surpasses it. At times the score is nearly understated, and that’s why it’s so potent. No male choruses shouting chats or drums beating at full intensity. At harder difficulties, even minor battles feel epic as Lazare plays in the background.

    Thirdly, there’s a ton to do. There are dozens and dozens of missions. Plus, there are witcher contracts, horse racing, boxing, and the fabulous Gwent. Gwent is a card game vaguely similar to Hearthstone. Players spar against npc’s in order to win better cards and a bit of coin. Early on Gwent is difficult, but as players build their decks, it becomes quite fun. Players can adjust Gwent’s difficulty in the menus, which is advisable for casual gamers. Completing quests is imperative for leveling up. Enemies yield little XP, so farming for XP is futile.

    But the Witcher 3 isn’t perfect. Most noticeably, the combat sucks. The hero Geralt feels weak compared to the previous games. Spell usage is severely hampered, and potions lack lasting effects. Even at high levels, Geralt can only slot a handful of abilities. To make matters worse, players must swap needed abilities BEFORE fights because they’re locked once battle begins. If Geralt comes across bandits and arrow deflection isn’t slotted, he’s in for a rough time. The leveling system is counterintuitive and artificially difficult because it’s poorly designed. I especially hate how choosing passive abilities eliminates slots for active ones. Stats are poorly explained. Playing as Ciri is even worse.

    Overall, combat is not fun most of the time, and that’s unfortunate because 90% of TW3 is combat! People who quit playing TW3 said combat is its biggest drawback. This problem plagues every Witcher game. There’s no excuse. Lords of the Fallen was created by a former CD Projekt developer, and its combat is infinitely better.

    Next, the story is OK, but there are too many loose ends. TW3 teases at romances that never mature. Players are pitted with “difficult” choices which ultimately have zero impact. Even important choices from The Witcher 2 make little difference. Also, newcomers will be lost because the game assumes players read the novels already. Many characters have backstories, but these are never fleshed out in game. So dialogue is confusing. Other popular characters have simply vanished. These gaps lessen the emotional impact of the overall story and choices being made. Many fans have voiced the same opinions. CD Projekt has acknowledged them, but very little can be done at this point.

    Rewards for completing quests are uneven. I completed a brief sidequest and earned 685 points. Then I completed a main story mission that was 5 levels higher, more complex, and 80 minutes longer, only to gain a mere 35 points. Most loot players earn from quests is useless. Some missions reward no points/loot at all. So the rewards for completing many missions are scant. The higher Geralt’s level, the more miniscule 25 XP points become. Scavenging and crafting are the only ways to net good gear.

    Lastly, despite 20gb+ of patches, TW3 is still buggy. Bugs affect every aspect of the game. After launch, I stopped playing because it was nearly unplayable. TW3 is playable now. Obviously CD Projekt pushed it out too soon and they’ve been patching it up ever since.

    TW3 is a solid game after patches. It’s atmospheric and epic, but that doesn’t merit a free pass. Mediocre combat, uneven pacing, bugs, weak leveling and missing backstories are a few problems that plague this venerable game. The Witcher 3 needed to cook for another year. It’s still fun, but only Witcher apologists give it 10/10.    … Expand
  7. Saratosa75
    Jul 13, 2015
    7
    Good game, but not without flaws and glitches. I'm not sure how to interpret the 10 out of 10 scores anymore. In my opinion, it should be preserved for the absolute best. I can understand, that many people got used to broken and bugged games so much, that they are willing to push out a 10 for a game, which has several problems in both technical and design.
    I'm not going into what the    Good game, but not without flaws and glitches. I'm not sure how to interpret the 10 out of 10 scores anymore. In my opinion, it should be preserved for the absolute best. I can understand, that many people got used to broken and bugged games so much, that they are willing to push out a 10 for a game, which has several problems in both technical and design.
    I'm not going into what the Witcher 3 is about, or how you progress in the game. You can read 99% of the reviewers describing of what this game is.
    Instead, I point out obvious and not so obvious issues.
    Let's start with the menu system. While it's not the worst, neither great. For example, if you enter the inventory (key: i), it takes 2 steps to get out. The Witcher's inventory is also quite disorganized. Your weapons and armor plus potions are lumped into one screen, while other items you collect are under other tabs. Looking at the items you pick up, is confusing and that little yellow star indicating the newest item is barely visible or completely invisible if the item is yellow. Most of the time it's hard to make out what exactly I picked up, especially looking at the herbs and miscellaneous items, because the icon is small and after a few hours, your inventory fills up to a point, where you loose track of what you have or what you should do with.
    Trying to pursue to make one specific sword, armor or potion could be frustrating and tedious, so best advice is to pick up everything. I mean everything, even a rotten piece of meat or a broken fishing rod. You are going to spend a good amount of time of picking up everything that is pickable. If you thought Dragon Age: I was bad with herb picking, you ain't seen nothing yet, until you play this game.
    Actually the title should have been Witcher 3 : Public Waste Management.
    Another issue has to be the money system. You are not going to have a lot of money throughout the game. You are going to spend it on repairing your sword and armor after every 10 enemy you fight. At boss fights, your equipment will brake and your potions will run out. Sound challenging - yes, but plan to visit a black smith in about every 20 minutes and spend enormous amount of money on repairs. You found a unique sword and armor? You may consider finding another one, instead of repairing it. Kinda makes the rune stones almost useless and equipment with sockets for them.
    Potions.Equipment
    I have 2 different potions i can use during traveling or combat, but I can switch them out, if I access my inventory, which as I said, involves hopping through 3 different screens.
    Why not just let me equip at least 10 of them? I got 10 numbered keys on my keyboard. Why the redundancy and the immersion braking by navigating through menus while in combat?
    Combat:
    Maybe it's only me, but blocking is almost useless. Most people will not block, because it can cause plenty of damage anyway, or stagger. I mean my level 12 witcher staggers from a level 1 bandit. So why should I even bother blocking, if I can just roll around? So they made the blocking another useless function, and with it, the whole parrying and counter attack options as well. Now, my old and experienced witcher relies on rolling around the ground left and right and its sword skills consist just a little more than whirlwind cuts and then roll. Spin around again with the sword, roll away quick.
    I'm not sure what happened, because blocking/parrying/countering worked quite well in Witcher 2. They just dumped the whole thing, or is it bugged?
    I also noticed, that even if the enemy doesn't hit towards me, the hit still counts? For example, a wolf was biting towards me, so I side stepped. It bit into the air, but apparently I lost health, like it bit me directly.
    So now, I don't side step. I only roll and stab. Stab, stab roll. Roll roll stab. Rinse and repeat, if I want to live and win.
    Bugged or a design feature?
    Bugs and glitches.
    This may be temporary, but they still exist.
    1. On shores, if I get off the horse, sometimes Geralt starts swimming in an ankle deep water. Kinda funny, but if you got enemies around, you are dead.
    2. Re-loading a quick save can have various effects. For example, you can can't open the same chest or various items missing from the ground. You use your witcher senses, but the items that were highlighted before are gone. Or the chest won't highlight anymore.
    Or you can't complete a mission, because the mission specific item is gone. I couldn't free a jailed person, because the key disappeared upon re-loading the game.
    3.
    Bugged, stucked animations, clipping issues.
    There are certain lootable boxes, that can't be looted, because it's under other items and the "loot" text doesn't appear, no matter how you turn towards it.
    Geralt puts away the sword if it fights an enemy, which can disappear and re-appear. Like a wraith or a ghost. This can be a pain in the butt, because that one second could cost your life.
    I'm out of space, there are more Collapse    … Expand
  8. Gormph
    Nov 12, 2015
    7
    This game was vastly disappointing and if not for the attachment to some of the npcs I would have given it a much lower score, to be clear this is the first witcher I have ever played and likely to be the last if these problems persist
    1. Cant skip talking cut scenes and intros
    Ok this by itself isn’t that big of a deal but this game has huge loading times even on my SSD the fact that    This game was vastly disappointing and if not for the attachment to some of the npcs I would have given it a much lower score, to be clear this is the first witcher I have ever played and likely to be the last if these problems persist
    1. Cant skip talking cut scenes and intros
    Ok this by itself isn’t that big of a deal but this game has huge loading times even on my SSD the fact that you have to sit through all the previously on witcher **** grates on the nerves
    2. No auto load
    The game has auto save but no auto load and given its load times on normal saves some kind of quick load would have been a god sent
    3. Loading times
    Loading times are terrible, making every death frustrating as it takes forever to get back to playing
    4. **** controls and combat
    Movement sucks which can make platforming a real pain and sometimes just collecting loot, combat it the worst mostly because it just doesn’t work, there are some skills to combine in order to abuse exploits in the game but until you get them are screwed and if you branched out into different trees before realizing this you may as well start over putting the skills aside the basic combat is a joke and fails on every level, block often doesn’t work at all or just won’t block attacks, and the camera will swing around most times to keep you from dodging out of the way so you get stuck in a corner while the enemy can always block and counter without trying, and even on easy quickly recovers from you counter if it works but if they counter you it lasts much longer, since they already outnumber you in literally every fight in the game this seems like a bull**** thing to do overall combat is a huge fail and the game wants you to do it a lot so combined with the loading times this ruins most of the game.
    5. Game gives no back-story about witcher games before this one but shapes the game based on quests it wants you to answer about the past, how are you supposed to answer these questions?
    At a certain point in the game someone starts asking you questions about what you did in previous games this can effect what resources you have to call on later in the game but if this was your first witcher you have no idea how to answer these questions and there’s no preset answer for new people it would have been nice to get some context on this beforehand notes in game starting group talking about it anything.
    6. The symbol for mind control random
    The symbol used for mind control in random in conversations sometimes the upgraded version works on two or three people sometimes it doesn’t and you have to fight it should always work the same way if it’s the same level and this renders it useless since you can’t chance using it because you don’t know how it will work and how people will respond to it
    7. Side quest are repetitive and boring making the large world feel like pointless padding
    Most of the side quest you do are the same thing with different level monsters and you have to ride all over the huge map to do them, instead of making me feel like the world was big and such this made the map itself feel like padding, pointless window-dressing to fill space and take up time. The map could have been ¼ the size with ¼ the questing and the game certainly wouldn’t have suffered for it, I like a big long game but this didn’t feel like a huge game it felt padded and other games have done this far better
    I could go on but this is mostly what brought the game down for me and really if the combat had been fixed or the loading times been very short it would have gotten a higher rating as it stand the only reason it didn’t get a zero is because the dialogue was good, I became attached to npc easily, the relationships between the characters felt complex and real and the good ending hit me in the feels. The good things about the mechanics I liked was the combat system has a good framework and if it had worked at all would likely have been very satisfying, and using alcohol to refill potions instead of having to find all the things to make them over and over is a good system    … Expand
  9. OnyxShadow
    Aug 29, 2015
    7
    Witcher 3 has an almost unheard of (for a triple A title) over 90% from players on Metacritic. It is indeed a very good game, but it also has numerous rather significant flaws which makes me surprised that reviews in general are so forgiving.

    The Good LOTS of content. The main game is fairly lengthy in itself, but there's a mountain of extra quests, treasure hunts, and exploration.    Witcher 3 has an almost unheard of (for a triple A title) over 90% from players on Metacritic. It is indeed a very good game, but it also has numerous rather significant flaws which makes me surprised that reviews in general are so forgiving.

    The Good

    LOTS of content. The main game is fairly lengthy in itself, but there's a mountain of extra quests, treasure hunts, and exploration. Most of this feels fairly rewarding, too.

    Interesting characters. Also, the dialogue is better than most games. In most RPGs I am frequently tempted to simply skip most conversations and get right back to the action. In Witcher 3 dialogue is interesting enough that I didn't mind listening to most of it, and the majority of the time I even listened to most of the optional conversations.

    It looks great. Unfortunately I have to play the game at low settings because my 4 year old gaming machine has seen better days. However, even at low settings it still looks terrific.

    The Bad

    Levels are just horrible. Monsters a few levels lower are trivial. Monsters a bit higher are nearly impervious to damage. In some games this might be logical, but Geralt is an overwhelmingly experienced monster slayer and has "progressed" about all he ever will. I understand the general idea behind this mechanic, but the outcome mostly just results in bad gameplay. Coming upon a monster and having to save it for later feels bad. Banging your head against a dragon that's 8 levels above you because its annoying to have to make the trip back later is worse. Witcher 3 shouldn't have had levels on the player, monsters, or gear (or find a way to make it not suck).

    Load times are very long. In most games quick loading takes moments. In this game its about 30 seconds. Even more aggravating is being forced to listen to derp-lord Dandelion every time you die or load into the game.

    Movement is often sluggish. For instance, Geralt turns very awkwardly. Its hard to get him to face the direction you want. This issue is magnified while on horseback. It can take 3-5 seconds just to negotiate your mount in another direction.    … Expand
  10. curzon_dax
    Jul 19, 2015
    7
    I've played a lot of games in my time. W3 appears to be something that is "well done" but to be honest it misses something or rather it misses something on a lot of departments. Its characters are very common (the usual "big guy" to impress kids, the good looking women to arouse teens etc.), the gameplay is cumbersome and simplistic and the story/dialogues while not that bad, they are notI've played a lot of games in my time. W3 appears to be something that is "well done" but to be honest it misses something or rather it misses something on a lot of departments. Its characters are very common (the usual "big guy" to impress kids, the good looking women to arouse teens etc.), the gameplay is cumbersome and simplistic and the story/dialogues while not that bad, they are not that fun.

    tl;dr if you are new to gaming you're going to be impressed, it's not a bad game, but if you have HIGH standards, it's something not entirely bad but prepare to not find it a 10/10.

    For me it's something like 7/10 or slightly better, say 7.1 or 7.2. 7.15.    … Expand
  11. Korgarath
    Jun 1, 2015
    7
    As someone who is a fan of the previous games and also a graphics connoisseur with a powerful computer, I will attempt to give my true honest opinion on the good and bad points of this game for the PC platform.

    First of all the much contested topic of the graphics. I play in 4K resolution with everything maxed except for Anti-aliasing and NVIDIA Hairworks, which are switched off. The    As someone who is a fan of the previous games and also a graphics connoisseur with a powerful computer, I will attempt to give my true honest opinion on the good and bad points of this game for the PC platform.

    First of all the much contested topic of the graphics. I play in 4K resolution with everything maxed except for Anti-aliasing and NVIDIA Hairworks, which are switched off.

    The good:

    - Character and NPC models along with clothing textures are the best I've ever seen in a PC game hands down, no contest. Even the best Skyrim mods don't come close.

    - Foliage detail/variety/amount and the physics of it is excellent.

    - The visual style generally, the amount of clutter and placement in the world and the way the cities are full of character is top notch.

    The bad:

    - Texture quality seems to vary to the point you actually get quite stark contrasts and it detracts from immersion. It's clear not every texture is to a quality we should expect for a PC game and this is especially apparent at 4K. I'm not saying they're all bad, but they definitely could have a done a better job here.

    - Particle effects are quite limited, with poor smoke effects and fire spells simply looking like sparks shooting out of Geralt's hands.

    - Poor looking "goopy" water with not much going on.

    - Lack of tessellation in some areas resulting in some flat looking textures.

    - No FOV slider! The games camera is irritatingly close to Geralt.

    - Seems poorly optimized in general, given that I hover on around 35-40FPS with an overclocked GTX 980 at 4K and anti-aliasing + hairworks turned off. GTA V has no such problem and is a smooth 60fps throughout, whilst managing to look better for the most part.

    Graphics score: 6/10. It is clear that the downgrade is real and the fact CDPR tried to deny it for so long is also a bad point. It's by no means horrible, and most average people will be wondering WTF I'm on about here. But hardcore PC gamers with an eye for detail who have tried the best titles and modded games will be disappointed. There is much room for improvement in future patches and mods here.

    On to the gameplay...

    The good:

    - It's an open world version of the Witcher series, and it maintains the same gripping story as the first two games had. For non-Witcher fans, you could easily draw comparison to Game of Thrones here - and that's hardly a bad thing.

    - The side quests are worthwhile, varied and have proper stories to them. None of this "collect me 100 spider brains for no good reason" malarkey. And there are absolutely loads of them.

    - The world is seriously massive. I mean seriously, think GTAV and Skyrim put together massive. Not to mention there's plenty of stuff to explore. You will find it very, very difficult to get bored playing this game and even the card game is a time sink in itself.

    - The combat is fluid and easy to control in contrast with the previous games.

    The bad:

    - The game clearly wasn't designed for Keyboard & Mouse input. Movement feels clunky and awkward and will definitely take some getting used to, especially on the horse. Resolve by plugging in an Xbox controller.

    - While open-world, people expecting it to be Skyrim 2 will be disappointed. There's no extras such as player housing, interacting with NPC companions to the same level, marriage/adoption, joining a guild etc. This is to fit with the story of Geralt being a lone wolf slayer-for-hire and a nomad though, but as I said don't expect Skyrim - this isn't really a criticism just something to be aware of.

    Gameplay score: 9/10. There is literally hundreds of hours of fun to be had here, and at the end of the day that's what games are about isn't it?

    Music/Voice acting/effects:

    The Good: - Sound effects help to create a truly absorbing and realistic atmosphere. - The music can't be faulted either. - Every character has a voice-over, there must have been thousands of hours going in to the voice acting in this game alone. The main characters all sound great, obviously Geralt's gravelly voice is probably an acquired taste but I like it. Can I just say Charles Dance for Emperor Emhyr var Emreis was the best voice casting decision ever, for those who miss the presence of Tywin from GoT he's basically playing a very similar character here. The Bad: Nothing. Sound score: 10/10. In conclusion, if you love RPG's and love the Witcher series then get this game RIGHT NOW no questions asked. If you're not a fan of the previous games, or are expecting a Skyrim clone then you may be disappointed but I'd say give it a try anyway. If you're a finicky graphics connoisseur like myself then you may want to hold out purchasing until future patches and mods have made it look more like the old screenshots than it does now - that is if you have the patience. I don't. And now - back to playing!    … Expand
  12. everin
    Oct 1, 2015
    7
    Tier 2
    + Expansive open world with incredible attention to detail
    + Some engaging and dynamic characters and stories, with interesting twists and turns + Admirable attempt to make side-quests that have weight and narrative substance ? Fairly fun combat that feels fluid and visceral, but can become highly repetitive with dozens of hours of play time ? Very shallow progression system    Tier 2
    + Expansive open world with incredible attention to detail
    + Some engaging and dynamic characters and stories, with interesting twists and turns
    + Admirable attempt to make side-quests that have weight and narrative substance
    ? Fairly fun combat that feels fluid and visceral, but can become highly repetitive with dozens of hours of play time
    ? Very shallow progression system for an RPG, offering mostly bland items (aside from Witcher gear) and ability upgrades; this also leads to very little freedom in play style
    ? For some, the "morally gray" storytelling can become tedious, as it offers less substance than it may appear to on the surface
    ? Suffers from pacing issues due to the amount of side content that interrupts the main quest
    - A considerable amount of padding of the open world, with much of the optional content leading to loot that feels progressively more useless as the game goes on    … Expand
  13. Umadbro
    Dec 7, 2020
    7
    The story and sidequests are great, amazing even. Graphics are spot on too, where the game falls flat is the unrewarding exploration and boring combat along with essentially no rpg mechanics. Perhaps it tried to do too much at the cost of quality.
  14. braindamage
    Sep 22, 2015
    7
    over rated game with a bad main story great music some interesting characters , some of of the best graphics in the world , just not to thrilled with the main plot , not a bad game but I could careless about traveling the world to hunt down some chick , a story only for die hard romantics , Id rather chase money
  15. Chomag7
    May 19, 2015
    7
    Just a friendly warning for PC users. Don't even think you can play the game with kb+mouse. The controls are heavily consolized and, while technically possible to play with kb&mouse, it will be very difficult to play in serious combat encounters.

    This is no Skyrim, it has a truckload of keys to use in combat and simultaneous, and it's advisable to grow a 3rd arm if you do not intend to    Just a friendly warning for PC users. Don't even think you can play the game with kb+mouse. The controls are heavily consolized and, while technically possible to play with kb&mouse, it will be very difficult to play in serious combat encounters.

    This is no Skyrim, it has a truckload of keys to use in combat and simultaneous, and it's advisable to grow a 3rd arm if you do not intend to use a controller. If you can't grow a 3rd arm, nor intend to use a controller, it may be wise to skip on this game or maybe play on the easiest difficulty    … Expand
  16. StidIsram
    Jun 16, 2015
    7
    Нет: обещанного графония, атмосферы, открытого мира, динамики, интереса к игре после очередного нудного квеста.
    Есть: большая, но пустая карта, куча бесполезного мусора в инвентаре, лаги, баги, много квестов, в который основное время тратится на выслушивание НПЦ.
    Как Итог: было бы неплохим продолжением серии Ведьмака, если бы не пустые обещания поляков про супермегаигру..    Нет: обещанного графония, атмосферы, открытого мира, динамики, интереса к игре после очередного нудного квеста.
    Есть: большая, но пустая карта, куча бесполезного мусора в инвентаре, лаги, баги, много квестов, в который основное время тратится на выслушивание НПЦ.
    Как Итог: было бы неплохим продолжением серии Ведьмака, если бы не пустые обещания поляков про супермегаигру..
  17. sisho
    May 23, 2015
    7
    As hard as it is to believe, the veterans at CDProjekt were betrayed by their own ambition, and I'm not talking about money (bioware wise), I'm talking about the game itself.
    Witcher 3 tries to draw from a huge amount of gameplay styles but fails miserably at bringing they all together. Once a carefully crafted gem amongst the pc RPGs, now an "open worldesque" pseudo-action fuelled by    As hard as it is to believe, the veterans at CDProjekt were betrayed by their own ambition, and I'm not talking about money (bioware wise), I'm talking about the game itself.
    Witcher 3 tries to draw from a huge amount of gameplay styles but fails miserably at bringing they all together. Once a carefully crafted gem amongst the pc RPGs, now an "open worldesque" pseudo-action fuelled by nonsense fillers and immersion breaker design.
    The game is not utter shaite though. The amazing story is there, the amazing characters are there, the complex settling and all, but these core elements from previous games are presented in such a rushed and questionable "open worlded" design that it is hard to get a grip and finish the game without felling a deep disappointment.
    For me, it's a bold 7.    … Expand
  18. worksa7
    May 25, 2015
    7
    There is a great game here, I don't doubt it. However the system requirements are just too high, it's not going to run well for many people. Using a MSI GTX 760 2GB, i5-4570, 8GB Ram 30-40 FPS on the lowest possible settings was the best performance achievable, or a whopping 7 - 12 FPS maxed, 22 FPS with Hair works turned off.

    The game is also rather buggy, and was crashing quite    There is a great game here, I don't doubt it. However the system requirements are just too high, it's not going to run well for many people. Using a MSI GTX 760 2GB, i5-4570, 8GB Ram 30-40 FPS on the lowest possible settings was the best performance achievable, or a whopping 7 - 12 FPS maxed, 22 FPS with Hair works turned off.

    The game is also rather buggy, and was crashing quite often.

    The core game underneath the technical issues, is actually a really solid one though. If you have a monstrous PC it is a MUST have game, but for the average bloke I would just pass for a game you can actually run.    … Expand
  19. TsukasaHiiragi
    May 25, 2015
    7
    Witcher III is a great game no doubt, but it isn't without its issues and bugs. The game is highly demanding on your system, my system runs very hot when playing at medium settings - something GTA V at Very High settings doesn't even do - this is how demanding Witcher 3 is on your system.

    The story and quests are carefully crafted and over many interesting twists along its very long    Witcher III is a great game no doubt, but it isn't without its issues and bugs. The game is highly demanding on your system, my system runs very hot when playing at medium settings - something GTA V at Very High settings doesn't even do - this is how demanding Witcher 3 is on your system.

    The story and quests are carefully crafted and over many interesting twists along its very long path, often leading the player into finding new side quests or contracts. Each town has a board which uncovers many explorable areas, these are the time consuming part of Witcher 3, of course you don' t have to do these but you'll be missing out on plenty of loot and gold.

    The major issues with Witcher 3, besides the high system demands are fairly easy to describe, the swimming controls are fairly poor, the crossbow is fairly useless on land, but instantly kills monsters underwater.. and gwent is a major mess.

    Gwent needs plenty of rebalancing and patches to be really a viable source of fun, I'm sure other people could argue that but lets face facts, the developers messed up the Gwent mini-game - Its a source of major frustration, many AI players blatantly cheat and the outcome of the game more or less is decided before you even play, far too many peasants or basic gwent players have overpowered decks with multiple hero cards, which 'always' appear - where as, your best cards hardly ever appear. A gwent card seller mod needs to be created to bypass this terrible system.

    The biggest concern is that the developers are going to sell Gwent DLC packs, because getting better gwent cards is nearly impossible, you get a few quests to face seasoned players which will award you with some better cards, but some of these matches again - are a frustrating mess when the AI throws out some nearly perfect card combinations, forcing the player to retry the match over and over again. Unfortunately, little strategy can be used because the AI uses far too many cheap tricks, making the whole mini-game far less fun, and more of an exercise in patience.

    Pro

    Highly immersive gameplay
    Great Graphics
    Many quests
    Exploration is rewarded
    Fun combat
    good crafting system

    Con

    Swimming controls are awkward
    Highly flawed gwent system
    Heavy system resource demands
    Buggy quests    … Expand
  20. dp77777
    May 21, 2015
    7
    This game is actually MUCH better on a higher end computer than console. I bought it for PS4 first and HOLY F%ck was it choppy. Like 15-20 frame rates a second. It looked and played horribly and load times took FOREVER for every little screen.

    Fast forward to 970 gtx i7 computer with an xbox 360 controller and hey, it plays much much better. Still has a lot of flaws but 1000 times    This game is actually MUCH better on a higher end computer than console. I bought it for PS4 first and HOLY F%ck was it choppy. Like 15-20 frame rates a second. It looked and played horribly and load times took FOREVER for every little screen.

    Fast forward to 970 gtx i7 computer with an xbox 360 controller and hey, it plays much much better. Still has a lot of flaws but 1000 times better than dragon age inquisition... and a cool story.

    witcher 2 is still much better / more innovative.    … Expand
  21. Jetpil0t
    Jun 1, 2015
    7
    An impressive game with a probably too many technical issues and design problems to really surpass The Witcher 2 as far as overall quality, especially from a gameplay standpoint. Still worth playing, but probably only if you are coming for the story, the combat and game systems here just aren't up to the task.

    Starting off with the game's strong points: The environment detail both in    An impressive game with a probably too many technical issues and design problems to really surpass The Witcher 2 as far as overall quality, especially from a gameplay standpoint. Still worth playing, but probably only if you are coming for the story, the combat and game systems here just aren't up to the task.

    Starting off with the game's strong points:
    The environment detail both in visual fidelity, effects, size and density is impressive to say the least.
    The voice acting is generally top notch and there is quite a lot of it.
    The side quests tend to be pretty compelling and avoid the usual traps of simplistic "fetch this" and "kill that" design.
    The character skills and build options are a nice new addition, although arguably unnecessary due to the pretty shallow difficulty.
    Enemy design and abilities can be interesting.

    Unfortunately the core mechanics of the gameplay really let down the game overall:
    Combat animations, timing, interrupts, collision detection and hit detection are all really loose and inaccurate, this is not a tightly wound combat system.
    The controls in general aren't great moving around the environment, collision detection and button assignments and universally awful.
    The horse is awful, it gets stuck, glitches, animates poorly and has horrible controls and collision detection. Combat on horse back is a total farce.
    The loot system scales loot, but not enemy levels, so this leaves you with a very unrewarding loot system and gear progression that heavily favors crafting and leaves you with very little, or in fact no found gear that is really very compelling.
    Enemies don't scale levels at all, so doing low level quests later in the game leaves all your foes falling in a single hit, on the other than it really just serves to limit you from taking on higher level quests at your discretion, for no particular reason.
    Enemy AI is generally quite poor, they get stuck on objects, fail to be able to hit you when you stand next to them in certain positions, fail to move at all on occasion, attack and block at random intervals, regardless of difficulty.
    Difficulty scales only enemy health and damage, not skills, timing, attack patters, dodging or aggressiveness.
    It's a level based game, so having difficulty that only scales health and damage just level caps your questing, which actually makes the game less enjoyable.
    Not to mention and inordinately long list of technical issues from crashing, animation issues, visual rendering issues and so on.

    Most of these issues actually were not present in Witcher 2 and likely a bi product of being an open world adventure this time around. Here, you are clearly sacrificing the tight controls, combat and leveling structure for the sake of having an open world experience, albeit a very nice looking one. I feel as though the game would probably have been better served in a more linear format, as that wasn't a particular problem in the previous title, and the trade-offs here really undermine the game overall.

    It's not a bad game, if they balanced some of the underlying leveling and loot systems by scaling enemies and not scaling gear, tighten up the controls, contact animations and collision detection it would really be a 9/10 or better game. In it's current state, you really are just playing this one for the story.

    I would wait for the Enhanced Edition, much as you should have done for The Witcher 2. The hype train is real with this one, although the story is great and the visuals are compelling, there are so many mechanical pitfalls and technical problems here it really is a bummer.

    7/10, Enchanced Edition, probably an easy 9/10.    … Expand
  22. Rushrush2meyayo
    Jun 20, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. What I liked:
    - Quests except for a few are very interesting and fun. That's fetch quests made right.
    - Whether it be the world or it's characters, it's simply the most beautifully crafted game I've played to date.
    - Branching paths for replay value.
    - Engaging story from start to finish.
    - Superb voice acting.
    - Ciri knows how to fight with a sword better than Geralt
    - There's a bit of comedy and lots of easter eggs to make you smile every once in a while
    - Free DLC's!!!

    What I disliked:
    - Combat albeit capable of the getting the job done is just infuriatingly CLUNKY and unsatisfying. A downgrade from the Witcher 2 where Geralt's sword skills were far superior in every way. Before, Geralt would execute a lunging thrust or a spinning slash that EFFECTIVELY closes the gap and would actually connect. Now his regular attacks will make him spin around 90% of time regardless of how near or far the target is and end up missing 50% of the time, much like the UNSKILLED hero wannabe from Risen 3... Also geralt's recovery from a stun is just too long, must be his age...
    - Geralt's controls out of combat is very clunky as well. While it feels like he is stuck in mud during combat, it is very loose and slippery during exploration.
    - The horse much like Geralt feels out of control.
    - Boat exploration, combat and water activities are mind-numbingly cumbersome and unrewarding. You mainly find junk from underwater chests. Underwater combat is just a matter of pressing a button when an enemy is nearby for a 1 hit kill. Now imagine that clunky combat in the narrow confines of a boat...
    - With clunky unsatisfying combat and extremely low exp gain from killing monsters, you're better off ignoring them if you are not short on crafting materials
    - Very few monster variations. Although the bestiary wants you to believe that there are lots of unique monsters in the game, they're nothing more than RESKINS......... and how many of these monsters are capable of back jumping to swiftly avoid your slow inaccurate but flashy spinning attacks....
    - It takes too long before you can actually make an effective build since exp gain is very low, skill slots are very limited and gaining them between level ups is far apart.... Requiring you to put a set number of skill points before the next tier of a specific skill is unlocked also results in wasting points to skills you don't want... By the time you get all the skill slots and the skills you want, there's very little thing left to do in it's massive world. Pretty much the time to stop playing the game when you get your end game build... Would have been nice to have a NEW GAME PLUS...
    - The massive world becomes barren once you have completed all points of interest.
    - Almost all of Ciri's quests is about running away from fights with infinite spawning enemies.
    - Missing characters that were supposedly affected by decisions you made in the witcher 2.
    - Ignite/extinguish candles.....

    Despite the game being subpar in essential areas like controls and combat, it is playable. If you have followed Geralt's adventure from the first or even the 2nd title, it'd be a shame to pass up on his last one...    … Expand
  23. billay
    May 19, 2015
    7
    Haven't played too much but it is def a good game. The graphics seem to be downgraded though from previous demos. I don't like the way the camera pans so quick when you use controller with pc port. It is nice that day one patch is only 250mb or so instead of 8 gig or something. Also nice that there isn't much drm. i wish the gameplay looked as good as the in engine cut scenes. Maybe inHaven't played too much but it is def a good game. The graphics seem to be downgraded though from previous demos. I don't like the way the camera pans so quick when you use controller with pc port. It is nice that day one patch is only 250mb or so instead of 8 gig or something. Also nice that there isn't much drm. i wish the gameplay looked as good as the in engine cut scenes. Maybe in five years or so. Performs really well, I get good frame rate on ultra with r9 290… Expand
  24. ErobererZim
    May 21, 2015
    7
    Yet another ultra hyped game that turned out to be just average.

    I'm mid 20 and I played a lot of videogames. I count Baldurs Gate, Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Oblivion and maybe even Skyrim to my most favourite RPG games. I want to have interesting characters as well as a deep and dark stroyline in my RPGs. Also a good character development/progression and a entertaining combat system that    Yet another ultra hyped game that turned out to be just average.

    I'm mid 20 and I played a lot of videogames. I count Baldurs Gate, Mass Effect, Fallout 3, Oblivion and maybe even Skyrim to my most favourite RPG games. I want to have interesting characters as well as a deep and dark stroyline in my RPGs. Also a good character development/progression and a entertaining combat system that doesn't get repetetive too fast is important for the immersion as well. Bloody hell, I don't know why I dislike almost every new game nowadays.

    "Maybe I'm getting to old for this ****

    However, I created this pro and contra list for those of you in my age and with the same liking of videogames:

    The good stuff:
    -overall good artdesign
    -impressive Voiceacting (english)
    -deep, dark and brutal Fantasy Universe
    -can't tell anything about the story yet, but I guess it will be okey

    The bad stuff:
    -downgraded graphics
    -therefore only sligtly above average graphics
    -PC performance is not the best (50-60 fps on hight with gtx780, 16gb, i7)
    -I heard PC contolls are pretty bad, can't tell you about that though, for I'm playing with a XBox Controller
    -horrible german voiceacting, again :(

    -not so good controlls over the character, feels "slippery"
    -combatsystem is very repetetive, you litteraly only use fast attack (when not blocking), dodge for punish enemys attacks and the shield cast for backup, the rest is quite useless
    -boring talentsystem, most of the talents are like: (1/5) do +5% more damage, +1%Staminareg. etc.
    -horrible lootsystem, kinda feels like Dragon Age 2, where you just pick up **** the WHOLE FREAKING TIME and sell it, there is SO MUCH to LOOT and it's so damn boring. It's like they tried to stretch the game time with it.
    -Sidequests are horrible, it's like go to X, kill 5 of Y - done. Rinse a repeat.
    -jumping is annyoing and ansolutely not needed in the game

    Tiny little things that are annoying:
    -craftig and repair system is boring and unnecessary
    -you can go to a grindstone/anvil to get a 15min buff for your weapons/armor (there is not even a animation for it and you have to fast travel to those locations every time)
    -I had a siedequests where I killed yet some other ghouls and when they all died the night truned suddenly into day for no reason in a tiny little ingame machinima
    -on a other sidequest I litterally had to help an old lady to get her fry pan out of her little house, because she locked herself out or something (yeah, await more quests like that)
    -minimap needs quite long to load (like 2 secs or something), and everytime you zoom out, you could unmeant turn to the world map, so you have to load the normal map again
    -Peseant dialogues couldn't be more underwhelming, it's like "Huh? Yeah? Go away, Freak!, Don't look at me!" or, my most favourite, "Talk to our Leader." or something like that

    Well I guess that's good enough for now. Is this game worth 50-60€, I think not, better wait for a sale, dont be impatient and save your money. You know I'm right :-)    … Expand
  25. DrSiko
    Nov 12, 2018
    7
    Let me first say, I spent 100 hours on The Witcher 3 and I still didn't finish the main plot, not started with the DLCs yet, so while I still have much play hours to go, I think my past hours allows me to review the game.

    The environment is beautful to being with. It is the best game to show the medieval ages which is gloomy, dangerous, stink everywhere and peasants are struggling hard    Let me first say, I spent 100 hours on The Witcher 3 and I still didn't finish the main plot, not started with the DLCs yet, so while I still have much play hours to go, I think my past hours allows me to review the game.

    The environment is beautful to being with. It is the best game to show the medieval ages which is gloomy, dangerous, stink everywhere and peasants are struggling hard to survive the consequences of wars, unlike other medieval RPG games which shows you people dress well, streets are clean and buildings are like built yesterday. Every city, town and village shows a bit of unique looks, while NPCs will eventually repeat the same one-liners and sentences which can be disappointing.

    Much side quests to indulge with, and they're all written well, not those burdensome fetch quests you find in Skyrim often. Cutscenes are likable and characters are fun when they talk and argue.

    The combat system is very basic. It's like designed for people who are playing RPG for the first time. There are not much moves to do which makes the combat boring. The signs are fun to use for some hours until they feel repetitive.

    Leveling is really bad in this game. You don't feel you have "leveled up" like other RPG games. They stealthly improve your attack and defense points without knowing it. You don't know what was exactly improved. In my 100 hours, I didn't have to use spells because I simply didn't need them. Oils, not really. Some oils sometimes are very hard to make because some ingredient is hard to find and I won't waste hours to find it and better try my chance without it.

    The inventory and quest UIs are horrendous. Looking for a quest? Go through 3-4 tabs with 50+ rows each. Worst is, they're not sorted by name, level or anything. Inventory can be messy and everything is in one place. While they break into food, weapons and armor, etc, but try looking for a particular item in the spells inventory, and you'll be lost among other 150+ items.

    What's more disappointing is, it's not worthy to work hard to get that fine sword or armor, because you'll simply find better 1-2 levels later. I worked for 3 hours on a side quest to build me an armor, just to replace it with a better armor 2 HOURS LATER.

    Killing monsters while exploring is useless. Who in the world thought that players shouldn't be given experience points for slaying monsters or bandits?? The landscape while huge, it's "too real" it gets boring to explore. The question marks thrown all over the map is just either a monster nest, a treasure guarded by some monster, or a bandit camp. That's it. There is no dungeons to discover or landmarks to explore.

    The music is astonishing and makes a great background.

    Currently, I'm playing it to finish it rather than enjoying it. Having a game which the first hour is the same as 100th hour is really boring. Oh, and the first 10 hours of the game? The most boring I had. I had to stop playing the game twice until a friend convinced me to play it and pass the tedious first hours to get to the meat, which I really enjoyed later, but now it's becoming boring again, maybe until I start the DLCs.    … Expand
  26. sukho204
    Jul 12, 2015
    7
    the game itself is fantastic. the graphics look wonderful and the story goes well. but the combat system feels floaty and sometimes it pisses me off. it's almost impossible to counter non human enemies and even if you push the dodge button sometimes the enemies will hit you anyway. especially those teleporting dudes.
  27. inkblowout
    Mar 11, 2017
    7
    Game is meh at best for me. I don't see how it's the best RPG of all time.

    Story is probably the only thing The Witcher 3 excels on, although I'm not a huge fan of the story (I stopped playing after 10 hours.) it seems to be reasonably paced similar with Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. Side missions are pretty cool too. Nice to do different things except for once and each side mission has    Game is meh at best for me. I don't see how it's the best RPG of all time.

    Story is probably the only thing The Witcher 3 excels on, although I'm not a huge fan of the story (I stopped playing after 10 hours.) it seems to be reasonably paced similar with Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. Side missions are pretty cool too. Nice to do different things except for once and each side mission has different outcomes which is neat.

    But why a 7/10. Because the gameplay is dreadful. This is where The Witcher 3 really loses it's points because the combat system is just bland. Like sure the first couple of encounters I loved killing enemies left and right but then it gets old quick. People have told me to increase the difficulty.... but that doesn't change anything. You are limited to a formula styled combat system which is the BIGGEST reason that makes it bland. It isn't tactic as people say it is... it just feels like I'm playing a easier version of Dark Souls, but dark souls you need to adapt, with The Witcher 3, all you really have to do is put some oils, use the proper sword and witcher signs.To some the combat could be interesting but to me it got old really quick. And you are limited to Geralt, a witcher... you know what that means, you cannot play a character you want to play. They gave you a template and said "Here now you shape your character with what you get." In RPGs you actually get to choose different classes and races and with all these choices available for you to role play off from. You hardly get much to progress in this game, and the game is a role playing game... you get to role play yes but you are really limited compared when playing other roleplaying games.

    Overall Gameplay > Story

    People don't seem to understand nowadays that good stories doesn't make a game good. It's a good gameplay that will prosper overall. If I wanted a good story, I would rather read a book. So I don't see how Witcher 3 can be the best RPG even when classics like Ultima, Planescape Tourment, Baldur's Gate, Early TES exist. Witcher 3 is a good story driven game, easily comparable to current Bioware titles such as Mass Effect and Dragon Age.

    Also to all you hardcore fanboys out there... stop comparing The Witcher 3 with ever damn game that releases. I swear one dude compared The Witcher 3 to Forza Horizon 3. I'm not joking.    … Expand
  28. jpeter38
    May 19, 2015
    7
    Playing the witcher 2 and knowing that that game was poorly optimized i kinda figured this would be too. I was right. Medium high and ultra settings literally show no difference. Except you get about 10 more fps on medium settings. The controls and turning are clunky at best, the climbing system is atrocious. I never know where i can climb because half the time it doesnt work on terrainPlaying the witcher 2 and knowing that that game was poorly optimized i kinda figured this would be too. I was right. Medium high and ultra settings literally show no difference. Except you get about 10 more fps on medium settings. The controls and turning are clunky at best, the climbing system is atrocious. I never know where i can climb because half the time it doesnt work on terrain youd think would work. The game is still good to look at but the moving is just weird. You cant do quick turn arounds , instead you are forced to make an arcing U to turn.… Expand
  29. sswilson
    May 19, 2015
    7
    Graphics look amazing in spite of the downgrades to make it fit on consoles. Early on, but top marks for creating an adult story. Having an NPC tell me to F' Off is brilliant and sets the tone for an immersive story and environment.

    So why 7/10 you ask? The KB/M controls are obviously not how this game was designed to be played, and IMO that's just inexcusable for a PC title that isn't    Graphics look amazing in spite of the downgrades to make it fit on consoles. Early on, but top marks for creating an adult story. Having an NPC tell me to F' Off is brilliant and sets the tone for an immersive story and environment.

    So why 7/10 you ask? The KB/M controls are obviously not how this game was designed to be played, and IMO that's just inexcusable for a PC title that isn't supposed to be a console port. Not only are the controls clunky and convoluted, left handed players have discovered that not all keys can be remapped. If I wanted to play a game like this with a controller, I'd buy a bloody console. Since the control function of any game is critical I can't see how any unbiased PC reviewer wouldn't automatically dock it 3 points for the clunky KB/M controls, and any professional PC reviewer who reviews the game based on Controller play should immediately turn in their press passes and pick up their paid shill badges.    … Expand
  30. HandsomeHank
    May 24, 2015
    7
    The Witcher series has always told great stories. Likewise, the combat has always been terrible. The Witcher 3 is a great story and an even a better game than the first two. But the combat feels as sluggish, as unresponsive and as clunky as the first two games. Do yourself a favor and play the story mode. Or just accept that you are going to fight harder to beat the game's terribleThe Witcher series has always told great stories. Likewise, the combat has always been terrible. The Witcher 3 is a great story and an even a better game than the first two. But the combat feels as sluggish, as unresponsive and as clunky as the first two games. Do yourself a favor and play the story mode. Or just accept that you are going to fight harder to beat the game's terrible controls than you are to beat the actual enemies.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

2
#2 Best PC Game of 2015
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2015
11
#11 Most Shared PC Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
93

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. RPGamer
    Jan 28, 2016
    90
    The Witcher 3 says no to all of this - it's a great game with a fully realized setting, it's a joy to play, the business model behind it treats its customers like human beings, and it delivers a story that finally hits the tone of the books.
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  2. PCWorld
    Jan 20, 2016
    100
    Probably the best open-world RPG ever made, but it still falls prey to some of the genre's worst traps.
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  3. PC Invasion
    Nov 4, 2015
    80
    I've made it pretty clear that it's hardly a flawless game, but that doesn't change the fact that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is something pretty bloody special and you should absolutely play it.
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