It's a bit late for a review 9 years later but I have very fond memories of this game.
Yup, I said it : The Witcher 3 is one of the best games ever, especially amongst the AAA category. It couples the fine graphics of a high budget game, high polishing (few bugs, runs extremely well in full details, and that could be said from the day of release) and awesome design overall, with the great writing of some of the genre's legends like Planescape Torment. The characters are plentiful, deep and complex, very well written ; the side quests have received as much attention to details as any part of the main quest ; the quest flow is really good ; and the crafting, potions and character development systems are very well thought. Sure, one can criticize the ergonomy of the menus, this and that choice in terms of game design or balance, but the choices that were made are very much defendable and there's such an obvious amount of work on Sapkowski's universe, on writing it all, making each detail count, each character count, that in the end, all that remains is the unique experience of playing The Witcher 3. Oh and all of that evidently applies to that first "Heart of Stone" extension. It's going to be a high climb for other game designers to reach the new heights set by CDProjekt Red with TW3, as much in terms of writing as in terms of technical and graphical design.
