The Witcher 3 is a 3rd person action role-playing video game and a sequel to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The Witcher 3 is based on The Witcher series of fantasy novels.

 

Overview -
The Witcher 3 excels in every aspect, from story, to visuals, to characters, to gameplay. It has a 40 hour long campaign and a ton of extra stuff for players to do, providing a very magical experience for well over 80 hours depending on your playstyle.

Players are not expected to play the first two games in the series in order to understand and enjoy the game as intended.

 

Gameplay -
The Witcher 3 is a systems heavy game, with every system complementing the story and gameplay, in order to provide an extraordinary experience.

 

The game features a branching dialogue system, with every dialogue option having a consequence and these consequences often lead to interesting encounters. While many of the decisions may seem small, the impact they have on the world play out in huge ways. These decisions, no matter how big or small, can change the world around the players including their relationships with characters. But this however doesn’t change the outcome of the story.

 

Leveling System and Abilities:
The Witcher 3 features a leveling system, where players level up upon gaining experience points. Experience points are gained by completing quests, defeating enemies, slaying monsters and more. Geralt's health and damage are increased every time he levels up and ability points are awarded to unlock and upgrade skills that help Geralt gain an upper hand in battle. This also means that players have to level up before they fight higher level enemies.

 

Players can use their acquired ability points to upgrade their signs, alchemy and combat skills. Upgrading these abilities helps increase Geralt’s damage, resistance, sign strength and various characteristics of the above mentioned categories.

These abilities and Alchemy are to be assigned to the slots (as shown in the diagram). Assigning the right Alchemy for the equipped abilities can help boost their properties. These help players gain an upper hand in battle. The ability slots are unlocked as players level up and progress through the story.

The sources of the ability points are as follows - Leveling up, Place of Power, Golden Egg and Magic Acorn.

 

Inventory:
The Witcher 3 features an Inventory menu where players can equip armors/outfits, weapons, craft items, potions and look through the story items.

A total of 6 pieces of Witcher Gear are available for players to collect and upgrade. These gears consist of armor, a sleet sword and a silver sword and are upgradable. These gears are more powerful than any piece of armor or weapons that can be found in the game.

 

Combat:
The game’s brutal real-time combat makes it so much fun to just wander around hoping to find bandits to fight. Players can switch between a Silver sword a Steel sword in battle, with each of the swords dealing varying damage. Players are also equipped with 5 distinct spells that have specific characteristics and have different effects depending on the enemy type. The combat feels so fluid and satisfying compared to the previous games in the series.

 

 

The Witcher 3 derives some of its best story structures from the detective genre. Geralt is required to find clues and solve puzzles in many parts of the game, using his deduction skills and Witcher Senses. Witcher Senses are an important gameplay mechanic that helps Geralt see clues and tracks that nobody else can and they also highlight interactive objects in red.

 

The Witcher 3 is just as dense as the other 2 games in terms of role-playing mechanics and the incredibly beautiful massive open-world adds more depth to the game. The world is divided into 6 regions of varying size. These are Kaer Morhen, Novigrad, Velen, White Orchard, Royal Palace in Vizima and The Skellige Isles. Each of these regions are so diverse and are distinct from each other in every way, while also fitting the theme and age the game takes place in. Players can travel between the regions by riding their horse (Roach) or by fast travelling to already discovered signposts.

 

There are tons of stuff for players to do in the game, from doing the main quests, to taking up side quests, to defeating monsters, to bandit camps, to monster-hunting contracts to just exploring its vast world. More often than not, these side activities and hunts provide interesting and compelling insights into a world devastated by war.

 

Verdict -
Are you ready to invest over 80 hours of your time in a game that provides an experience like no other? Then this game is for you.

The Witcher 3, with a story so engaging,  world so beautiful, gameplay so unique and interesting and lore that further contextualizes the world, is truly a masterpiece in every sense that is well deserving of all the acclaim.

 

Console players are now entitled to a free upgrade to the next-gen version.