Thankfully the developers of The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt enable me to write a review that can convince you of this game's grandeur without falling back on Spoilers. Why is that? The Game simply has enough positive points even if you ignore the story, which, by itself, would justify a purchase. So let's get it out of the way: The story as I'd define it includes the main quest plus the sidequests for Keira, Yennefer, Triss, Dandelion, Roche, Dijkstra and the Skellige politics. These quests left me breathlessly demanding for more. It is basically the same sensation you feel when you are reading an excellent book and ignore any time limits in order to finish one more chapter. Pacing, Voice Acting, Animation and Quest design are on spot throughout the game for these and other secondary quests. The only negative point I found regarding quests were the Witcher Contracts, which follow the same scheme for most of the time. 1. Go to the crime scene. 2. Use Witcher senses. 3. Find trail. 4. Follow trail. 5. Find & kill monster. It is still considerably better quest design than "Gather 10 wolf pelts", but got quite repetitive after about 60h of gameplay. (Yes, the game is so good that this point is my major negative one.) So besides that: What's to say about this game? + The graphics are stunning. + Gwent is a welcome addition and is a joyful experience once you acquire more cards. + The characters are really well written. (Well there're the books so...) + The world is mature and a real pleasure to dive into. + The way equipment is handled, as in you can upgrade sets of armor, is a welcome change that strengthens immersion. + Exploration is actually fun and the love for details is showing. + The combat and skill system is fun and worthy of experimentation. - As long as you don't go lazy mode and just spam the 2-3 overpowered attacks. - The controls can be real neckbreakers sometimes. I played on my keyboard and mouse only to have a quicksave button ready, when I go diving.
