I fully recommend buying HoS if you own a copy of W3. It is an amazing, vivid, both exciting and at other times deeply emotional, adventure, which is worth every single cent (and, in fact, much more) of its price. Some elaborations, which may contain minor spoilers: I started playing W3 shortly after HoS was released. Therefore, from White Orchard onwards, I always had at least two main quests open: those connected to the Wild Hunt, and "Evil's Soft First Touches". The more I progressed in the base game, the more I was intrigued by a line in that quest's story text: "Little did he know this was to be the beginning of a great adventure, one filled with both delightful diversions and deadly dangers…" Yeah right, I thought to myself, how could any adventure be referred to like this, how could it possible compare to the grandeur, epicness, the vastness and the immersion the main and all the side quests of W3 let you dive into? Well, some time later, I was indeed delighted to learn that my skepticism had been undue: The quest's story text was indeed absolutely appropriate. HoS offers a completely new adventure, especially through its main quest, which is nonetheless connected to the main game (after all, it is in the same region, and you get to revisit Oxenfurt, which is now a very lively city indeed), or earlier games in the series (and Shani is not only adorable and pretty, but the whole interactions with her are so touching :’)). The content is fresh, diverse, exciting and highly immersive. You get not only challenging new fights, but also new, tough choices to make, and dialogues and cutscenes (of course influenced by you, the player), which are often heart-warming, and frequently highly affecting, to say the least. As I am writing this review, I have a certain feeling that I almost finished the expansion's main quest. And that makes me sad. But the adventure I experienced stays with me, and I can only empathically recommend everybody to not miss out on it.
The title says it all. And let me assure you, I do not propagate such claims with levity. I'm an oldschool RPG and RTS gamer. Since 2002, WarCraft III had been my favourite game, and neither the earlier Witcher games, nor Skyrim, nor any other game I have played since back then had been able to shove the king of its pedestal. Then came announcements of The Witcher 3. The first details. The teasers (and t-shirts!) at Gamescom 2012 and 2013. The first in-game footage and the longer gameplay video. The trailers and the intro cinematic. In October 2015, I bought a new PC solely for the purpose of being able to play W3. I do not regret a thing. Never have I awaited playing a game more eagerly, and never have I enjoyed playing any game more. The graphics, the vibrant world, the countless unique quests...amazing. The emotions the characters convey which, I am sure that I am not the only one to say so, and sorry for how cliché this sounds, but it's true - which can even make grown men shed some tears. I am a keen multiplayer gamer, loving both the competition, and playing together with friends (ever since the earliest days of WC3). Indeed, many of the RPGs, such as Skyrim, I have ultimately considered slightly less awesome than WC3 because I sometimes had a subtle feeling that something was missing - because of playing alone. In Witcher 3, I never felt any remorse for playing alone, or, to put it another way, I never felt that I was missing out on something. I believe that is because, like in so many other things, the game is superb at telling a story, at letting you indulge in an adventure - one which you will frequently wish to never end. You do not merely play a game, but get immersed in a wonderful tale where you do not merely control, but truly feel like you ARE the witcher. And as icing on that cake, all of this is an incredible amount of fun, too. Witcher 3 is the best game I have ever played. It deserves every single spike of the five stars I'm assigning to it.
