Summary: A good game with superb writing and a huge world to explore how you see fit. I loved the Witcher when I played the enchanced version many moons ago. It had a raw dark energy. I liked some aspects of Witcher 2, but the gameplay did not feel good to me, I hated the quciktime events and the game felt too linear and it didn't hook me. It took me a while to get into Witcher 3. I was skeptical of the gameplay and I didn't really get into it on my first pass. I put it aside for a long time, but meanwhile I read most of the short stories and got quite interested in Geralt as a character and his history and relationship. I returned to the game with new eyes and discovered the amazing, adult and well developed stories being told. The fantastic dialogue, interesting plotlines and well developed characters. I also turned the difficulty up to Blood and Broken bones so that herbalism and crafting starts to matter and monsters feel dangerous. I have now played almost all the main game has to offer and most of the expansions and I have really enjoyed it. The mix of freedom and superb writing makes this game lots of fun to play and there is a ton of world to explore with monsters, characters and stories all smartly presented without too much explaining or sugar coating. My wife has now also started playing and she has quickly become obsessed with it despite not playing the previous two games or reading the books. PS! I posted this first for the base version of the game, but since I played the GOTY edition this is where the review belongs.
Summary: A good game with superb writing and a huge world to explore how you see fit. I loved the Witcher when I played the enchanced version many moons ago. It had a raw dark energy. I liked some aspects of Witcher 2, but the gameplay did not feel good to me, I hated the quciktime events and the game felt too linear and it didn't hook me. It took me a while to get into Witcher 3. I was skeptical of the gameplay and I didn't really get into it on my first pass. I put it aside for a long time, but meanwhile I read most of the short stories and got quite interested in Geralt as a character and his history and relationship. I returned to the game with new eyes and discovered the amazing, adult and well developed stories being told. The fantastic dialogue, interesting plotlines and well developed characters. I also turned the difficulty up to Blood and Broken bones so that herbalism and crafting starts to matter and monsters feel dangerous. I have now played almost all the main game has to offer and most of the expansions and I have really enjoyed it. The mix of freedom and superb writing makes this game lots of fun to play and there is a ton of world to explore with monsters, characters and stories all smartly presented without too much explaining or sugar coating. My wife has now also started playing and she has quickly become obsessed with it despite not playing the previous two games or reading the books.
