The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

 PlayStation 4
User Score
9.2

Universal acclaim- based on 18653 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16,965 out of 18653
  2. Mixed: 587 out of 18653
  3. Negative: 1,101 out of 18653
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  1. Captiosus
    May 25, 2015
    7
    I WANT to LOVE Witcher 3. The story is great, graphics are great, the combat (although mildly repetitive after a while) is enjoyable, and the world is amazing. But all of these things come at a very real cost: Performance. The performance of this game is downright atrocious. There are many times where the game will drop sub-25 fps and stay there for prolonged periods. It makes the gameI WANT to LOVE Witcher 3. The story is great, graphics are great, the combat (although mildly repetitive after a while) is enjoyable, and the world is amazing. But all of these things come at a very real cost: Performance. The performance of this game is downright atrocious. There are many times where the game will drop sub-25 fps and stay there for prolonged periods. It makes the game look extremely choppy and can negatively affect combat sequences with multiple enemies on screen. Texture pop-in is also a very real issue.

    Yes, we knew this console generation was underpowered when we went into it but there is simply no excuse for this kind of performance. Any game that regularly drops into the low 20 fps range and stays there for more than a second or two deserves scrutiny for poor optimization. The game is beautiful, yes, but this is a clear example of graphics being considered over stable gameplay.

    I would LOVE nothing more than to sit behind this game for hours on end but the performance problems make this a game I can only play in short sessions. I find that most of the widespread high reviews tend to gloss over these issues. If you want to see them in action before buying the game yourself, look up the Digital Foundry side by side performance evaluations of the post-patch PS4 and Xbox One versions of the game. Then compare that to Digital Foundry's side by side evaluation of the game's performance on their budget PCs, downgrade not withstanding.

    I'm hoping CDPR can further patch the performance issues. Until then I have to knock the game down significantly for having periods of time where the frame rate and pop in renders the game utterly unenjoyable. Story, design, graphics, sound and music: All 9's; Gameplay: 7 for repetition and bad inventory UI design, but performance gets a 2.    … Expand
  2. postm
    Jun 7, 2015
    7
    Pros:
    -----
    The graphics are good. A noticable improvement on the previous game (even that looks good today). The facial animations and expressions are great and the eyes look human. Overall a beautiful game. The story is interesting and there are quite a few interesting characters. Character development is great. A completely new system. You assign points to talent trees, but to    Pros:
    -----
    The graphics are good. A noticable improvement on the previous game (even that looks good today). The facial animations and expressions are great and the eyes look human. Overall a beautiful game.

    The story is interesting and there are quite a few interesting characters.

    Character development is great. A completely new system. You assign points to talent trees, but to activate them you have to place your chosen talents into slots which you unlock as you level up.

    Voice acting is great as always. With one exception (see below)

    Cons:
    -----
    The interface have not improved much since TW2. Inventory is mostly ok, but there is no way of sorting stuff to, say, weight, value, stack size, durability or damage. The inventory screen could have been much larger and show more items at once. It has sooo much unused background space on it.

    Combat was better in TW2 in my opinion. Seems like it has been simplified further and is more button mashing than before. Still, could be worse.

    Looting can be a royal pain in the ass. Both Geralt and the camera must be aimed in the general direction of the lootable object. Doesn't sound too bad, but character movement is so incredibly imprecise that it becomes infuriating. Adding to this problem is the number of braziers and torches around that will get in the way of looting and you will accidentaly light/extinguish these instead. Gah! (This was just fixed in a recent patch apparently)

    The in-game mini game, Gwent, is really bad and arbitrary in my opinion. But that's optional, so no biggie.

    The game is, as i said before, a beautiful one. but the trees and grass look really bad in the wind. They're way too springy and reacts way too strongly to the wind.

    The camera is, like TW2, too close to Geralt. I kept wanting to zoom out while I was playing all the time.

    Voice acting of Geralt is as dull and wooden as always. Some people think he's great, but I find him a bore to listen to. Always have.

    Stuff I dislike, but others might like:
    ---------------------------------------
    The game is huge. it took a lot of effort to create this world and everything in it. But to me, that's its downfall. There are so many distractions from the main story. The amount of side quests and questionmarks on the map the game wants you to explore and complete is insane. You feel compelled to do it (and you also have to do it in order to be high enough lvl to do the main quests) and therefore spend very little time doing the main story quests. This gets me bored and I don't really feel engaged in the main plot. It also feels unnatural, story wise, to waste time doing errands for random strangers when you're on a search for a missing person close to you. I wish game developers made the effort to have sidequests expand the main plot too instead of just expanding the lore of the world. This is all very common in games like this and fans probably both expect and want it.

    The side quests are also a bit repetative. Go to the scene of the crime, use your witcher sense (which is now more like the detective mode in the Batman games) to search for clues, follow clues to the main event and kill whatever monster is bothering the NPC in question.

    Little annoyances:
    ------------------
    The game minimizes at random times. Usually after clicking the mouse so one would think it had to do with the cursor hitting outside the main monitor. But for me, once the game has minimized, the cursor is NOT outside my main monitor. Still, doesn't happen a lot and I think I could avoid it by disabling the 2nd monitor while playing.

    The in game map is always zoomed all the way in and isn't detailed enough to justify that. You almost always want to zoom all the way out to quickly find the place you want to go to. Once zoomed out, it should stay zoomed out, but no, not here.

    I guess I recommend it, because it IS of high quality and a lot of effort have been put into it. No doubt.    … Expand
  3. Bulletnot
    Aug 17, 2020
    7
    Pros: great story and so many interesting side quests to complete.
    Cons: gameplay is a bit over simplified where I beat many enemies by spamming and dodging most of the time. Humans are most fun to fight as you can counter them and perform cool finishers. Also I experienced a lot of glitches like enemies not attacking, getting stuck, etc.
  4. premium_sauce
    May 24, 2015
    7
    *FOR SEASONED/VETERAN GAMER - READ*
    Good games these days are rare to find and TW3 lives up to its hype! I am personally not a story-type-of-gamer. My background is MOBA (no longer), FPS (no longer) and RPGs. I am a passionate soul player and recently finished Bloodborne (which I rated 10/10). I love complexity and challenges. I've played all games from MMOs (WoW to AION (and FF11)), to    *FOR SEASONED/VETERAN GAMER - READ*
    Good games these days are rare to find and TW3 lives up to its hype! I am personally not a story-type-of-gamer. My background is MOBA (no longer), FPS (no longer) and RPGs. I am a passionate soul player and recently finished Bloodborne (which I rated 10/10). I love complexity and challenges. I've played all games from MMOs (WoW to AION (and FF11)), to FPS (CS, COD and BF). Owned many consoles and loved Skyrim.

    Here is why you should buy TW3:
    - The world is HUGE - to a point that curiosity invades your soul (Skyrim fans will love it)
    - Graphics on PS4 are good!
    - The story.

    Now as I mentioned previously, I don't really dwell into the story when it comes to video games. I believe a better gameplay will always overshadow a good story line. Skyrim and Fallout are the only 2 games I really take time to read notes and story. That being said, the story line in TW3 is THAT good that it is REALLY hard not to LOVE IT. I am completely ADDICTED to side quests (not as much for the main story). The dialogue is great and really funny if you like black humor. I never hit the skip button (unless I have to talk a second time to merchants).

    The reason why I am rating this game a 7/10 is:
    -1 combat system
    -1 bugs (please fix it ASAP)
    -1 frame drop rate

    1) I personally dislike the combat system in TW3. The camera is really awful and 5 hours into the game, it really started to piss me off until I found that you can easily switch between multiple targets. Eventually I got used to it and 40 hours later, I am still loving this game.

    2) Bugs need to be fixed. I am not talking about glitches which are fine. I guess. I mean REAL bugs. Some quests don't work and I still have one pending quest in my journal (whom I already received the reward for it but still listed under treasure hunt). I crashed 3 times playing GWENT. And got stuck on several occasions. I also find sometimes crates or whatever to be hard to loot. You need a specific camera angle for it which is annoying.

    3) I am currently playing in Velen and the swamp is really laggy. Frame drop rate and bugs everywhere. Feels like the game isn't really polished. One of the quest (Baron going back to find his wife) - good luck lag and bugs feast.

    Still on v1.01 hoping to get a v1.02 soon. Need a solid 1.1.

    Should you buy this game? Yes. Will you like it? Yes if you are willing to ignore bugs (until fixed) and poor combat system (you'll get used to it and once you gain more levels then it's much more playable NOTE: I'm playing TW3 on Death to March mode - so camera and combat system really matter imo). Will you go for the plat trophy? Quite likely. I am!

    It's a good game!    … Expand
  5. Piecefighter
    May 22, 2015
    7
    This is a nicely done game. Don't listen to the people that complain about the graphics as they are done well. The writing goes the extra step of making a story behind typical fetch or similar quests. The designers have put a lot of heart in this game, it shows, and I as a gamer can appreciate that. When I first started to move my character and have combat in the game I realized itThis is a nicely done game. Don't listen to the people that complain about the graphics as they are done well. The writing goes the extra step of making a story behind typical fetch or similar quests. The designers have put a lot of heart in this game, it shows, and I as a gamer can appreciate that. When I first started to move my character and have combat in the game I realized it would take a while to get used to this movement, which seemed choppy and stilted, as if I was always overstepping what I wanted to do, so I will give the whiners that much, the controls are not fluid. I could possibly score higher but I feel a positive 7.5 from where I am at in the game is acceptable. I think I am a bit jaded via playing so many of these types of games, the first thing I did was go walk around the land looking for secrets and trying to discover things, well that as it turns out is not really what this adventure is about, it is more about the story they are trying to convey and where that will take you. I have played about 12 hours of the game and with still so much left to do in the game I feel this review is premature, but there it is.… Expand
  6. GrandScale
    May 30, 2015
    7
    Yes, the world is huge. Yes, the writing is excellent. But its shortcomings are too significant for me to thoroughly enjoy this game. First, there's the controls. It's too unresponsive making combat a clunky, unsatisfying experience. Then, there are the dialog options, which most of the time are too vague turning a lot of the decision makings a guessing game. And then, there's the loadingYes, the world is huge. Yes, the writing is excellent. But its shortcomings are too significant for me to thoroughly enjoy this game. First, there's the controls. It's too unresponsive making combat a clunky, unsatisfying experience. Then, there are the dialog options, which most of the time are too vague turning a lot of the decision makings a guessing game. And then, there's the loading time. It take 1:30 minutes to load the game after a game over. Unexceptable.

    Ultimately, I'm having fun with this game, despite several flaws. It's just not a perfect experience SO MANY POEPLE claim it is.    … Expand
  7. Redman_07
    Oct 25, 2022
    7
    Story, graphics, characters, great. Truly amazing.

    But, gameplay is horrible. Is no rpg at all (+1% crossbow damage is no talent tree). No AI existing, enemies are bad and stupid. You can literally beat the last boss in hardest mode without any equipment by light attack, Barrel roll, barrel roll light attack, forever. The 2nd Tavern i visited was a copy paste already. Bugs, a lot of bugs.    Story, graphics, characters, great. Truly amazing.

    But, gameplay is horrible. Is no rpg at all (+1% crossbow damage is no talent tree). No AI existing, enemies are bad and stupid. You can literally beat the last boss in hardest mode without any equipment by light attack, Barrel roll, barrel roll light attack, forever.
    The 2nd Tavern i visited was a copy paste already.
    Bugs, a lot of bugs. Spells are, bad and useless. No progress in terms of your character.
    If you have no expectations on a game, it's perfect.potions are useless. And yes. Probably the perfect game for someone' playing 1-2 games a year . Hype train made it a 90+, which it isn't even close    … Expand
  8. PaleNielsen
    Mar 25, 2022
    7
    I've traded this game for my Fallout 4 and played it a few times but never really got into it after the 1st and the 2nd time I tried playing it, I've shelved it for 5 years before trying it again. After giving it a 3rd chance, and this time I got to experience most of it, I can say that it's really a good game and the lore behind it is really good and I've read a lot of the story onlineI've traded this game for my Fallout 4 and played it a few times but never really got into it after the 1st and the 2nd time I tried playing it, I've shelved it for 5 years before trying it again. After giving it a 3rd chance, and this time I got to experience most of it, I can say that it's really a good game and the lore behind it is really good and I've read a lot of the story online but it's just too repetitive for me and there is a lot of things to do and to explore, I wish I should've just focus on the main story before losing interest and got tired in it rather than going to every question mark on the map before moving on. Despite all that GWENT is the best thing I really love about the game which made me bought Thronebreaker. After i've beaten every Gwent opponent, got all the rare cards and be the best Gwent player after the expensive tournament I joined, that's the moment I start losing interest playing it. Also Skellige is so effin huge man. I still recommend it.… Expand
  9. Sully20000
    Sep 28, 2015
    7
    I'm a massive RPG fan and after seeing the reviews, I was extremely excited for this.

    Why I was let down after 40 hours of gameplay

    Unlikeable main character
    No atmosphere
    Poor battle system
    Too much to do = overload
    Story line not so great

    Good points

    Good graphics
    good voice acting
    Decent weapons
  10. sbxmmr
    May 20, 2015
    7
    The Witcher 3 is a good game but it isn't perfect. Minor things take away from the experience but it still better than most other open world games out there.

    Pros: Characters are very interesting Level of exploration is amazing Skill Tree is very intriguing Monster battles awesome Lore is engaging The Card mini game is by far the most fun mini game in a video game. I don't know if    The Witcher 3 is a good game but it isn't perfect. Minor things take away from the experience but it still better than most other open world games out there.

    Pros:
    Characters are very interesting
    Level of exploration is amazing
    Skill Tree is very intriguing
    Monster battles awesome
    Lore is engaging
    The Card mini game is by far the most fun mini game in a video game. I don't know if it is a good thing or bad thing but I'd rather play the card mini game than the actual game.

    Cons
    Control Scheme takes some getting used to. It feels clunky but after you realize that you actually have to walk instead of run in certain spots and time your attacks more it will feel more natural.
    Frame rate issues. Not as bad as Assassin's Creed Unity but still there
    The story gets boring the only thing keeping it interesting are the character themselves NOT the overall story.
    The combat doesn't really feel that fun sometimes. After a while you will realize that the enemies do the exact same moves over and over again. (I just came from playing Bloodborne which has near flawless combat so that could be influencing my opinion of the combat in the Witcher)
    Open world Curse: This game keeps the same mechanics of other open world games. You go to a point on your map then you go to another point kills enemies then talk to someone and repeat all over again. I would have preferred you stumble across a very interesting building you go inside and see someone dead on the floor then you have to figure out who did it, find them and then take it from there. There are to many dead bodies and NPC's that after a while you don't care about any of them at all. Instead of going point to point let the player do something fun at every place instead of just talking to characters.

    Overall this is an OK game. If you love open world RPG's then you will probably love this game. I dislike open world rpg's I found skyrim, dragaon age, fallout, etc. very very boring but yet I can still play this game so I'm guessing it is one of the better RPG's made.    … Expand
  11. Shiftian_Be
    May 25, 2015
    7
    Really intresting, beautiful game but SERIOUS issues with controls, camera.. Dull combat system and as of now really buggy.. Audio cuts in and out, autosave not working, being hit and being able to hit while not even near target.. The soundtrack when roaming is fit for a funeral..
    Lots and lots of pop-up.. Serious framerate problems.. And longer loading screens than Bloodborne.. Which is    Really intresting, beautiful game but SERIOUS issues with controls, camera.. Dull combat system and as of now really buggy.. Audio cuts in and out, autosave not working, being hit and being able to hit while not even near target.. The soundtrack when roaming is fit for a funeral..
    Lots and lots of pop-up.. Serious framerate problems.. And longer loading screens than Bloodborne.. Which is saying something.
    Hope, by patching this game, a lot of these issues will be a thing of the past soon.
    Don't they test this **** before releasing anymore?
    Still .. As a lover of Skyrim and general RPG's, you'll love this.    … Expand
  12. Arthainius
    May 19, 2015
    7
    There are some crazy people here who review games that is for sure. First off let me say I have not got this excited over a game in a very long time. I even did the early release at gamestop pickup party which I never go to. Got this baby home ready to rock that gryphons face from the review video we all watched. This is where it goes down hill fast. I can immediately see that graphics areThere are some crazy people here who review games that is for sure. First off let me say I have not got this excited over a game in a very long time. I even did the early release at gamestop pickup party which I never go to. Got this baby home ready to rock that gryphons face from the review video we all watched. This is where it goes down hill fast. I can immediately see that graphics are not the same as in the review video even though it was suppose to be Ps4. The foliage in this game is horrid from more then two feet away. Many forums have already sprouted up making claims that they for sure downgraded the graphics from what we saw in the review videos. Oh and clipping.... yea this game has a ton of that. All armor doesn't interact right. The shirts are constantly clipping through the pants. Its some serious Ps2 stuff going on. Oh also all these positive comments about the wind looking amazing. What????? The physics are sooo off how can anyone say that. Every single blade of grass up to giant tree looks like its being blown in different direction then the one right next to it. Also ive noticed alot of hanging plants when I walk into them just disappear until you adjust camera angle rather then moving. Now about the controls. How on earth did they manage to get the horrid laggy type controls from odd world abes odyssey. Seriously its that bad. I had to spend many minutes adjusting my sensitivity and it still feels off. The game on hardest difficulty has been a breeze through what I have seen so far. There are just so many things wrong with this it isn't really possible to list them all. There are many youtube video already showing up that verify everything I am speaking about and more. They did not give us the game they showed us that is for sure.… Expand
  13. lilant135
    May 19, 2015
    7
    The game is good but its not as good as skyrim.or fallout 3 not even close it is a must play though especially on this current gen, pick it up you'll be glad you did
  14. Lamoi
    Jun 26, 2015
    7
    Firstly I would like to say this game has many fantastic qualities. And it's one of the few games that I can safely recommend as being a quality product and it's clear a lot of love went into making it.
    It's plays relatively smoothly. The atmosphere is amazing, and the details the game has is very impressive.
    However, anyone thinking about buying this game I would simply suggest    Firstly I would like to say this game has many fantastic qualities. And it's one of the few games that I can safely recommend as being a quality product and it's clear a lot of love went into making it.
    It's plays relatively smoothly. The atmosphere is amazing, and the details the game has is very impressive.

    However, anyone thinking about buying this game I would simply suggest considering a few things.
    I have found this game to have a really plodding pace. And it's been difficult to get over it. I would say so far my experience has been, travelling the world, talking to folks +++ (there's ALOT of talking!), looting items which there value and usefulness is not clearly explained. The menu system and crafting system are not clearly explained at all... I spend my time walking around, looking at stuff, trying to read books and notes (quest items) so as not to miss stuff.. But the thing is - this is 70% of my time spent with the Witcher 3. All this is then bookended with action about 30% of the time. Now the action is straight combat. There's no stealth, no bow and arrow, so no long range combat really. And it gets a little repetitive especially against humans. But the combat is good, but considering apart from talking a lot, and exploring, this is the only thing there is to do. However, the boss battles mostly are absolutely epic!

    I'm just saying this for anyone who gets a bit inpatient with cutscenes and a lot of talking in games, I would be hesitant to recommend this game. And I've played the heck out of games like Skyrim. So I was ready for a lot of talking in this game but was not prepared for how much talking and the slow pace that cannot be deviated from. And dare I say, at risk of being fire bombed by fans, a good portion of the content isn't terribly interesting.

    I'm simply saying this game often requires of you hours in a single sitting to get to something worthwhile. And in between there's alot of walking about and gassing to the locals and not doing much that's interesting.    … Expand
  15. Kashik
    May 20, 2015
    7
    A Fantastic story with interesting characters you care about is mixed together with poor gameplay controls and a significant frame rate issue that is ever present.

    Let this be a warning to those of you who are on the fence about purchasing this game. While there is an intriguing game in the Witcher 3, it is a constant struggle with both character movement controls and frame rate issues.    A Fantastic story with interesting characters you care about is mixed together with poor gameplay controls and a significant frame rate issue that is ever present.

    Let this be a warning to those of you who are on the fence about purchasing this game. While there is an intriguing game in the Witcher 3, it is a constant struggle with both character movement controls and frame rate issues.

    I'm annoyed to see so many 9 and 10 ratings from both user and critic's alike as the issues in this game are unlikely to be "fixed" and ones that certainly affect enjoyment. You will find the poor movement controls rarely mentioned by critics, and the frame rate issue glossed over as if it doesn't affect the game or is a rarity.

    ** Movement controls ** are a fundamental design choice that the devs have obviously committed to; if it were thought to be poor, or could be improved upon, I'm sure it would have been done long ago. Some reviewers may say you will get used to the movement, but poor gameplay will always be poor whether you invest 10, 20, or 100 hours. From the start of the game until the end, it will be a struggle to control Geralt leaving you frustrated in a game that demands exploration.

    ** Frame rate ** issues are very evident and leave me wondering just how often the game even hits 30FPS. Fights with two or more enemies bog down and absolutely affects how you move and react. Exploration of towns and cities are similarly affected by poor frame rates, leaving animations jerky and lagged. Cut scenes can require loading screens, and often have frame rate and texture loading/pop-in issues.With frame rate issues affecting nearly every aspect of the game, it is unlikely that CD Projekt will be able to improve upon it substantially. It is more likely that we will be told a fix is in the works, aimed largely at getting potential buyers off the fence, but have to wait months for something that will only provide very modest improvements.

    It is concerning that games such as the Witcher 3 can be released in this state. If the game can be optimized, the delays to launch should have allowed it. If the game cannot be optimized further, it is a wonder why the devs decided such poor performance was acceptable. While I enjoy very much the story, I feel burned by CD Projekt and all the review sites that failed to mention just how significant some of the gameplay and performance issues are.

    Have a search for these issues (CD Projekt forum) before buying.

    Be careful of the hype.    … Expand
  16. Jimmy_Rinser
    May 21, 2015
    7
    A solid 7 - Have read some funny reviews on here so let me say what I think. Game is genuinely good, thought it was better when I first started playing but after the hour or so hype of a new game some things started to annoy me. The combat isn't terrible but its not great and can be a bit awkward. The graphics are not tip top and don't expect to be blown away by them, but saying that theyA solid 7 - Have read some funny reviews on here so let me say what I think. Game is genuinely good, thought it was better when I first started playing but after the hour or so hype of a new game some things started to annoy me. The combat isn't terrible but its not great and can be a bit awkward. The graphics are not tip top and don't expect to be blown away by them, but saying that they are good enough to get fully involved in the game. Graphic whores will be disappointed. There are a few bugs which have been more funny than ruined my gameplay experience. It is very similar to Dragon Age in the way you move from area to area but feel with this concept it helps the game run smoother whilst exploring. Yes its not the full open world of skyrim but (for the console players) don't have to wait 30/60 secs every time you enter a building. Try not to get stuck on a bit for too long though (talking of loading times) because the reload back into your game when you die is a painful and have made refreshments, in another room and come back to find it still loading.
    I would advise not to listen to people who wont enjoy the game due to the graphics not being as good as they though or there being a few bugs. I played around 35 in the first 48hrs of release (Don't say it I know) But my point being I'm at work now and still can't wait to get back home and continue my quest.    … Expand
  17. Dogon
    May 21, 2015
    7
    He de decir que, aun habiendo downgrade, es un juego gigantesco y muy bueno. Si te molesta esto pues espera a que lo reparen, pero ya te digo que los graficos no miden el juego.
  18. chayshirin
    Jun 25, 2016
    7
    +
    Very good story
    Good atmosphere
    Good graphics
    -
    Boring combat
    heavy character movement
    filler missions

    A good game that could have been much shorter without losing much.
  19. THECucho
    Feb 17, 2016
    7
    The game looks amazing, the technical job is the best, but the combat mechanics and controls are not at the same level of quality. :( is sad because the gameplay should be outstanding too.
  20. bveracka
    Oct 6, 2015
    7
    Note: I haven't played the game since the recent patches, and I've put about 20 hours into it (haven't finished the story), so this my take on it thus far; this is more of an opinion essay than a review.
    The Witcher 3 is a mixed bag of awesome-sauce & mediocre swordplay. The graphics and overall presentation of the game is excellent; The Witcher 3 is possibly one of the best-looking games    Note: I haven't played the game since the recent patches, and I've put about 20 hours into it (haven't finished the story), so this my take on it thus far; this is more of an opinion essay than a review.
    The Witcher 3 is a mixed bag of awesome-sauce & mediocre swordplay. The graphics and overall presentation of the game is excellent; The Witcher 3 is possibly one of the best-looking games of the new generation, and definitely the best-looking medieval-era, sword-combat RPG-action type of game on PS4. In comparison, it makes Dragon Age Inquisition look awful! However, there is an overwhelming focus on cut-scenes, lore, talking with NPC's & making decisions, and so the core gameplay--the combat--often feels..well..not good. It seems that the combat took a back-seat to the rest of the game's elements. TW3 excels in story-telling and in its world's design. The "world" of TW3 is absolutely stunning; there is so much to explore and there is so much variance in the world's design, from the different landscapes, the countless and colorful personalities of the NPC's, right down to the weather and lighting effects; it all makes for a stunning visual experience.
    The main thing--and one of the only things--that I don't like about TW3 is that the combat just doesn't feel satisfying at all. For example, only a half-hour after I had just slayed a huge Griffon monster, I'm in White Orchard getting my arse kicked by little blue swamp creatures! While it looks good, the overall balance of the combat mechanics and the enemies' movements & health in this game are a confusing mess. Many people say it's best to play on a harder difficulty setting, but I've found problems with that as well.
    There are four difficulty settings available at the start; many fans have said that in order to get the best experience, one should play on "Blood & Broken Bones" difficulty, which is the second hardest. I've tried playing through the first quarter of the game on both "Sword & Story" and "Blood & Broken Bones" settings and I found there's a huge difference between the two. On the latter/harder setting, even the enemies early in the game--such as the blue swamp monsters--will totally kick your ass, whereas on the "Sword & Story" setting, you can slice through ten of them without taking any damage! For me, it was very hard to find a sweet-spot in the difficulty settings where I could enjoy a challenge and not be dying "cheap" deaths constantly. Hopefully the balance of the game has improved since last played it. Again, please note I haven't played it since the big patch, which added some things (like loot chests) and other tweaks.
    Aside from having some pretty lackluster combat, The Witcher 3 is a good game overall, and I especially love all the references to Eastern European monsters & folklore. Also, you know hundreds of thousands of gamers (who love this game) can't be wrong when they say it's a great game, or even a GOTY. There is so much to do in TW3, it could possibly keep you busy for a hundred hours or more. It's definitely a game worth a try, but if you prefer combat over lore and stories, you'll probably get bored fast. However, if you love a good lore-heavy RPG with lots of deep and interesting stuff to explore, loot, and learn about the world--which is incredibly large--then this is your game!    … Expand
  21. Mannar
    Mar 26, 2017
    7
    111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 7/10
  22. Assassin67
    May 25, 2015
    7
    The open world is unbelievable. There's so many things to do in the game that you may feel overwhelmed. The game looks fantastic even with the frame rate issues that occur from time to time. The biggest problem I have with the game is the combat. It does feel a bit dated and at times unresponsive. Definitely a game worth checking out. You will no doubt get your money's worth.
  23. tsakiym
    Jul 27, 2016
    7
    the style, the atmosphere, the quests is just perfect but on the other hand we have the gameplay... for 2015-16 this is a joke. no combat mechanics, a stupid horse that u cant ride, Gerald's walk-swim style was so unstable that u cant loot in front of you,laggy menu (when you have many items), and much more. but the worst of all is the freaking loading's.

    many times wile i played it i    the style, the atmosphere, the quests is just perfect but on the other hand we have the gameplay... for 2015-16 this is a joke. no combat mechanics, a stupid horse that u cant ride, Gerald's walk-swim style was so unstable that u cant loot in front of you,laggy menu (when you have many items), and much more. but the worst of all is the freaking loading's.

    many times wile i played it i sed "f**k it i quit, this is awful".i finished it, i want to play it again (new game +) but i dont    … Expand
  24. Obijones
    May 29, 2015
    7
    At the time of writing I have only played for a few hours, but in these few hours my longstanding fears for this game have been realised. It's as buggy as hell. I know that this type of game is well known for being buggy at launch (I'm thinking of you Bethesda). But I'm getting pretty sick of being continually asked to become a games tester and also being asked to hand over 50 notes forAt the time of writing I have only played for a few hours, but in these few hours my longstanding fears for this game have been realised. It's as buggy as hell. I know that this type of game is well known for being buggy at launch (I'm thinking of you Bethesda). But I'm getting pretty sick of being continually asked to become a games tester and also being asked to hand over 50 notes for the privilege. If you can't finish the game, don't start making it. The design of the game is brilliant, it's just a shame that the skill levels of the team that made it is not (not on a PS4 anyway). Unfortunately this is a common theme within gaming these days. Ultra polished turds or bug ridden gems seem to be the only two production values available. Hope they fix it so that I can experience this game as it was meant to be. I'm giving it a break for a while though.… Expand
  25. prince_warhero
    Apr 7, 2017
    7
    The game is great in following things
    - Amazing graphics, with very detailed environment , day night cycle . Nice character models overall very impressive visually
    - The story is amazing and characters are great. A true fantasy world that deals with all sorts of political, racist etc other issues that few games dare to. Thats all thats the only thing i like about the game.. now for    The game is great in following things
    - Amazing graphics, with very detailed environment , day night cycle . Nice character models overall very impressive visually
    - The story is amazing and characters are great. A true fantasy world that deals with all sorts of political, racist etc other issues that few games dare to.

    Thats all thats the only thing i like about the game.. now for the things i dislike
    - 75% of game is go from point A -> B then see a cutscene, rinse and repeat
    - Combat and movement is clunky and its just a two button mash combat, where is rpg combat like skyrim, the inventory system is very tedious to use
    - There is no exploration aspect in the game , every little thing is marked on map. So it again makes me feel like i am just walking from point to point seeing the mini map and then triggering cutscenes thats all..

    Its better if this game is a movie because a game should offer good and variety gameplay and this game fails to do that.. but since the story is great with multiple choices,endings and because of graphics i give a 7/10. Will give a 6.5 but cant score like that in metacritic i guess.    … Expand
  26. Sky-Line___
    Sep 19, 2016
    7
    Beautiful story and environment, but really bad fighting system IMO. Also, I noticed a lot of framerate drops which is unacceptable when you know that it's running at a poor 30 fps on PS4.

    I quickly got bored of TW3 because of those problems I mentioned. However I watched my brother playing it entirely (2 DLCs included) and I must admit that the story is a real masterpiece, almost every    Beautiful story and environment, but really bad fighting system IMO. Also, I noticed a lot of framerate drops which is unacceptable when you know that it's running at a poor 30 fps on PS4.

    I quickly got bored of TW3 because of those problems I mentioned. However I watched my brother playing it entirely (2 DLCs included) and I must admit that the story is a real masterpiece, almost every quest is fascinating.    … Expand
  27. Gatchaman49
    Sep 3, 2015
    7
    How to describe the Witcher 3. I like to play games on the hardest difficulty. So I did just that. The first 10 hours were hell, but as soon as I got the handle on all the controls and spells the game got really interesting. the next two hundred hours I had equal emotions of joy and hate. I hated the how you cant skip dialogues. It takes forever and I dont care about stories. The fightingHow to describe the Witcher 3. I like to play games on the hardest difficulty. So I did just that. The first 10 hours were hell, but as soon as I got the handle on all the controls and spells the game got really interesting. the next two hundred hours I had equal emotions of joy and hate. I hated the how you cant skip dialogues. It takes forever and I dont care about stories. The fighting is good, the spells I had to start over twice so I can get a decent build. Graphics are great. Loading times are a mess. It was a great game but when youre 90% done with the story they stop telling you where to go. I rarely dont finish games but the witcher 3 struck a cord and I purposely did not finish it, returned it, and spent my time doing better things with my life. Like burning ants with a magnifying glass.… Expand
  28. Ranatoro
    May 20, 2015
    7
    7, yeap thats it, love the story, love all the things you can do....love the graphics and the massive world... but...men the way he moves ....the camera precision...WHY?? The camera and controls in general, are just unbelievably bad. It is clumsy and unprecisly, makes it a little difficult to loot sometimes, is just anoying that you run into things and people like a frightened animal or7, yeap thats it, love the story, love all the things you can do....love the graphics and the massive world... but...men the way he moves ....the camera precision...WHY?? The camera and controls in general, are just unbelievably bad. It is clumsy and unprecisly, makes it a little difficult to loot sometimes, is just anoying that you run into things and people like a frightened animal or something.... If U have played bloodborne this is something you CANT deny it... Hope they can fix it... eitherway the game IS very good, they gave you more than 100hrs of fun (something rare this days)... is interesting and it transports you to an amazing fantasy world... somethig RPG gamers we love
    ENJOY    … Expand
  29. blackdogpt
    May 20, 2015
    7
    First I must say I had really high expectations for this one, maybe because the hype was huge, but well.. that's what CDPR wanted us to feel so I let myself go with it. Day 1 buy.
    Graphics are very good, but not something we've never seen before.
    Story and role-playing is amazing, the true value is here!! Soundtrack is not fascinating, sometimes it is even annoying, but don't mind this    First I must say I had really high expectations for this one, maybe because the hype was huge, but well.. that's what CDPR wanted us to feel so I let myself go with it. Day 1 buy.
    Graphics are very good, but not something we've never seen before.
    Story and role-playing is amazing, the true value is here!!
    Soundtrack is not fascinating, sometimes it is even annoying, but don't mind this too much.
    Now what really prevents it from being a 9 or a 10 is..
    The controls and mechanics... It feels like the we're back to gta 3 or something.
    The movement is poorly calibrated for sensitivity (you can only change camera sensitivity, not movement). You find yourself constantly struggling not to hit random people. Taking stairs and ladders is one hell of a nightmare. Mounting the horse is hard as well, you have to aim at the horse, figure out how not to run into it, make a full stop and press X (X won't work if your'e moving. same applies when looting).
    Combat mechanics are less bad.
    Fix this and you have GOTY.    … Expand
  30. Jumpernot
    Jun 4, 2015
    7
    Honest review here, I wanted to give a balanced and fair opinion of the game as this page is littered with fan boys, and it's nice to read something that's fair.

    I've been playing the game for about 10-15 hours so far. I have never played the other Witcher games before this was my first. I started the game on what would appear is the hard setting (thought this would be fair considering    Honest review here, I wanted to give a balanced and fair opinion of the game as this page is littered with fan boys, and it's nice to read something that's fair.

    I've been playing the game for about 10-15 hours so far. I have never played the other Witcher games before this was my first. I started the game on what would appear is the hard setting (thought this would be fair considering I enjoy my souls games and like a challenge)

    Story: 7.5/10
    It's hard to tell at this stage as I have only just scratched the surface but the main quest sort of has my attention, but I often find myself getting sidetracked by the secondary quests. There are a lot of different names, places, characters mentioned of which you have no clue how they tie in with each other or even their importance, which I suppose could be awesome, but I often atm feel like it's just information overload, and a bit unnecessary.

    Combat: 4/10
    Ok this is one of my biggest gripes with this game, the combat in this game is tragic. Some of my fanboy friends have put it down to me playing on hard, whereas they breezed through the first boss fight playing on easy. You cannot restore your health through meditation (leaving the character stationary) on higher difficulties, so after battles I find myself having to grind enemies and wildlife to gain meat to heal myself. This I do not mind, but I normally get hurt in battles due to the clunky movement and getting stuck in scenery, poor sprite detection. Fights can be won by standing at a distance and firing numerous bolts (which you have unlimited of, followed by dirty tactics of charging up yours skills, use it, run around til it charges, repeat, again and again.) You can attack on your horse which is also kind of clunky as sometimes your weapon will go straight through an enemy, and you'll be hit by an attack that didn't connect. I feel battles would be ridiculously on a lower setting, and with the ability to change the difficulty at any point I really think this cheapens the games approach. Battles tend to feel more like a grind chore than a skill. I've been so annoyed with it that I considered stop playing it altogether, but I will persevere

    Graphics / Visuals: 9/10
    Very impressive, although i'm not a graphics freak the visuals on this game are amazing the creatures and landscapes are beautiful to look at.

    Movement 7/10
    I haven't come across boats yet so cannot comment on that, I have been using the horse, but I think in the early game your lack of control of the horse all depends on the type of gear you have for it, the steering isn't very fluent and I keep getting stuck on fences, and everything seems to feel like it has slight lag. I try to "loot" something next to a candle flame and I end up lighting the candle instead of picking the item I wanted up, too many buttons do the same thing and you end up having to attempt about 3-4 times to do something before it actually works. Try talking to a villager and you end up getting on your horse which is annoying, your character turns like a bus, and sometimes when you're running from a battle your character will turn and face the enemy automatically which stops you running which lets them gain ground on you, and kill you or taking out a lot of health leading back to the whole grind for meat cycle mentioned in combat.

    Characters/Creatures 9/10
    I really like the amount of different types of creatures in this game and the attention to their weaknesses at certain times of the day and the tactics you'll have to use to defeat them. I still have to come across many but it looks like they've taken a lot of time to put the effort in there.
    The characters and voice acting in this game is second to none I feel like everyone has an interesting tale to tell, and feel like every quest I begin can lead to something worthwhile. I do enjoy the exploring, but only wish I could loot a bit quicker.
    I am very excited for the characters i'll meet along the way as again you can tell they've put alot of time and effort into this and it has paid off so far.

    Extras:

    Card Game 1/10
    I think the card game is awful, i read the rules played my first game and won, it was terrible. Far more interesting things to do than this bag of s**t.

    Leveling up 8/10
    Still a bit confused by it all atm, but looks like you can specify exactly how you want your character to be so you can build yourself the perfect class with mutagens, points bonuses, something about potions and crafting that I haven't even got around to yet.

    Verdict:
    Seems like a very good game hampered down by the clunky movement and combat system. I'd say if that was improved this game would be a 8/9.5. I would recommend playing this on a harder difficulty as it seems far too easy on the lower difficulties. I feel like this game was made to cater for people who struggle with hard games, which has cheapened it slightly. Worth giving it a shot though.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

4
#4 Best PS4 Game of 2015
2
#2 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2015
8
#8 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2015

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
92

Universal acclaim - based on 79 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 78 out of 79
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 79
  3. Negative: 0 out of 79
  1. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Jul 8, 2015
    100
    The conclusion of Geralt’s game saga couldn’t be better. The large open world, great storytelling and dozens of hours of pure fun – this game is an absolute must for every RPG fan. [Issue#253]
  2. CD-Action
    Jul 4, 2015
    95
    This truly outstanding game raises the bar to new heights that will be extremely hard to reach for BioWare, Bethesda and any other developer. [07/2015, p.38]
  3. Polygon
    Jun 23, 2015
    80
    The Witcher 3's subject matter, its almost defiant doubling down on its treatment of women as titillating props for Geralt and the player, even as it tries to flesh out more female leads, is its most disappointing aspect. This constant presence weighs down what would otherwise be an excellent bit of closure for Geralt's video game saga — which isn't helped by the control issues that often detract from sequences meant to break up open-world monotony.
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