I am all for games having ambiguous characters and morals but for me the whole game seemed too desperate to show that everyone was flawed (and by association CD Projekt were being really mature and adult) and I found that got me down after a while. It’s not grimdark exactly, but it is so cynical, and there are so few genuinely good people, that I found the whole thing increasingly draining to play. I would say those are general points that many would agree with, even those that are fans of The Witcher 3, but as my final, more personal, point I would say there is something off about the game’s tone that I just didn’t like. I feel that goes for basically all of the action in this action role-playing game.
You don’t want to ride around because riding is entertaining in its own right, you just want to get from A to B or find a new area. Riding ‘Roach’ around works from a gameplay perspective by it’s never fun. Especially as this combines with the tracking and detective vision parts, which are probably the second worst aspect of the game. There’s far too much of it and far too much of it is very similar. But The Witcher 3 is clunky and slow, with poor feedback. There have been many great games with third person sword combat and magic so, unlike with Skyrim, there’s no question that it can be done. That may seem a bit hypocritical given that it’s not great in Skyrim either, but not only is first person melee combat largely impossible to get right but while it’s a bit hollow Skyrim’s combat works as intended and never gets too boring or in the way of what you’re doing, unlike The Witcher 3. The more obvious problem with The Witcher 3 is that the combat is really bad. I do not want to be playing as someone else, especially someone I don’t really like, for 60 hours in a game that otherwise is supposed to be all about freedom and making your own choices. I think it’s a mistake to play as a named character in an open world game, unless that character says little or nothing themselves – as in Zelda and Far Cry (except the new one, I think?). I don’t particularly like him or his voiceover and I don’t want to play as him for such a long game. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now.In thinking about why it is the game never clicked with me one of the central problems is Geralt. While minor design choices keep it from being absolutely perfect, The Witcher 3 will go down as one of the best games of this generation of consoles. There is a true sense of reward and accomplishment. The world is organic, dangerous, and fun to explore. Stories weave in and out of one another surprisingly. The consequences of every decision are far reaching and unpredictable while also making complete sense once they happen. The writing and building of the world alone should be lauded as some of the best in video games. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is truly an incredible masterpiece.
In case you’ve somehow missed out on The Witcher 3, make sure to check out Chandler Wood’s review of the game: The video (above) goes very in-depth into how the music of The Witcher 3 not only influences the narration of the game, but also showcases how beautiful, dark, and ugly the world can be at times.The two composers also discuss how they came to decide on what music to use, so any fans of both The Witcher 3 and music in games should definitely give this a listen.