Witcher 3 : Not a game but an experience
“You don’t make choices, your choices make you”.
Maybe you have heard this lousy two-liner many times, just like I had, but it became a reality for me once I played Witcher 3. This game makes you take so many decisions you’ll think “damn real life was easy”. And that’s not a bad thing at all, never felt my choices have so much weighage in a fictional world. Choices like from saving a man from a demon by putting your life at risk or standing by and watch him slither in pain to buying bullies drink at a bar or kicking their butt, you always feel invested as the game makes sure of that. And its all this is just icing over the cake which is made up of breathtaking gameplay, narrative-driven side quests, and last but not the lease an awesome main story quest.
The combat system is although 5 years old is some of the best you’ll ever come across. Within my first hour, I encountered my first monster a griffin and had to fight tooth and nails to get the better of it but 50 hours in I was running in circles around griffins chopping them down one slash at a time with a smirk on my face. This game rewards your time as you get better the more time you spend in this world. Combat is a mixture of swords, spells, and potions which you’ll have to blend carefully if want to be a witcher. Every enemy is a puzzle in itself and needs careful analysis to bring down. The skill tree allows so many variations that it’s almost a miracle if two players have same fighting style, your Witcher will surely be different than mine.
“Lord of the rings of gaming”.
Generally games only make you realize its story when you are watching a cut scene, but that’s not the case here you’ll see the world change to tell the story. From increased security on gates after an attack to elves burning on pikes in dispute ridden towns. Story revolves around our hero Geralt of Rivia trying to find his ward Ciri who’s been chased by a rouge group “The Wild Hunt”, hence the name. On your quest, you meet a bunch of interesting characters, which are well written and can change your story and experience in significant ways. Choosing to take part in side missions on ignoring them can affect your main quest. Some times conversations can feel a bit dragged on and to add to the misery the skipping of cut scenes is also not very polished.
The world may not look as good or real as in games such as Red dead redemption 2 but has got a different kind of beauty to it, which is hard to explain (kind of like difference between a photo and a painting). I spent a lot of time gazing at the enchanting landscapes especially during dusk and dawns. Traveling in this world on a horseback is in itself an enjoyment (but you can fast travel too). The open world is huge and divided into a few what can be called mini-open worlds, some of these are even bigger than your standard open-world maps. Game rewards exploration, as it has a lot of interesting places to discover, which you would never come across in your main or side quests. What you find in these places are like monster nests, bandit camp, hidden treasures, etc and sometimes even whole new quests. It puts me to aw thinking that so much effort was put into things that a casual player might not even see.
“That’s not it”.
And just when after spending upwards of 100 to 200 hours, you feel that you’ve seen it call. Witcher 3 hits you with two DLCs which not only expand the lore but introduces, new enemy types and a total of 50 hours worth of content. To keep you coming back, when I say DLC it not just some lousy way to churn your money and time, they also had a very well-directed story and new gameplay elements that make them a must-play for the complete witcher experience. If you are planning to buy it now “Game of the year edition” is the way to go for it.
The above paragraphs don’t do justice to this game as there’s so much that it’s impossible to put it in words, but still, I tried the best I can. If you are a gamer and have not played this game, you are like an artist who has never seen Monalisa. To summarize all in one line “Fucking play this game”, as life is too short to beat Witcher 3.