I felt an impact playing The Witcher series. The attention to the setting and characters, weaving the lore of the books and the world feels alive. Nothing feels 'cheap'. I don't feel tricked by 'gamey' stuff for the most part, I feel immersed. I want to interact with the world and those who live in it, be them friend, foe or unknown. Witcher 3 will always be a benchmark of what should be aimed for by a games studio. If in the future Witcher 1 remake, Witcher 2 remake and (yes, by then) Witcher 3 remake exist as a completed saga, connected together in glorious gameplay, visuals and story... I can die happy. But even if it does not come to pass - I am not ashamed to say that I shed a tear at the close of Witcher 3s final act, Blood & Wine. It HURT completing my time with Geralt. As sweet as life itself coming to a close after a lifetime spent well. Play this 'game' if you want. It will hurt when it ends and you will wish to somehow wipe your mind so you can experience it for the first time all over again. 10/10 would wipe my tears (and mind) to play again.
The title says it all. If you enjoy RPGs, of any permutation, then you are probably already sold. If you enjoy story driven games, strap in for a choose your own path through a grand adventure worthy of the Dungeons & Dragons name. Anyone who has a passing interest in mature themed, complex characters will enjoy this. The art direction, to put it mildly, nailed every facet of the world and over times, mods will only allow it to continue to grow and grow. Do yourself a favor and load up your first of what I promise will become many playthroughs, either solo or with friends.
I enjoyed the Gwent in Witicher 3. I enjoyed the Beta. It was fresh, felt like Witcher 3 Gwent but with more polish, some more depth. The Beta Gwent had new cards, interesting and functional mechanics that worked and worked reliably. I thought the full released would simply be more polish on what the Beta was. It wasn't. To be honest, Gwent is boring. Slow. Combinations are slow or easily broken for some factions, other factions just build very easily (Monsters) and, honestly, the 'neutral cards' don't even make sense. (Witchers usable in Monster decks?). Every win or loss feels random. Each game becomes a 'play every card until someone wins by a smidge' fest. And it is a smidge. A win or loss comes down to the final card played, which boils down to a lot of effort for absolutely no reward for skill, tactics or any strategy. Just final card luck. On top of final card draw winning matches 99% of the time, the game itself is tedious. Want to pull off a card comination? Good luck, it'll take you three turns and nothing happens fast because, one interruption basically ends your combo. Many players forfeit out of frustration the instant you break their combination in round 1. You can 'win' by a mile one round and lose the next two by a fraction... and because you lost 2 by a fraction, you lose overall. Why not just play 1 round then and do away with '2 out of 3' nonsense? Oh, and if you do well in one round and are on the way to win the 2nd, your opponent will just forfeit rather than play out the game anyway. Why waste time, right? Thronebreaker felt great, it felt alive. It had story, interactions, unlockables, and I have to say, the actual Gwent side of it was much, much, MUCH better. Thronebreaker was fast and fun and played with the format by challenging you to 1 round takes the win, strategy changes etc. Gwent just isn't fun. Wait for a patch, an update, or an overhaul.
From the opening theme music as the intro rolls in... I was hooked. Honestly, the best of the series. The best tone. The best style. The most wonderful gags, lines, tests of wit AND two levels of challenge that I thoroughly enjoyed. I still hum, 'A pirate I was meant to be'... and my girlfriend loves it so much she's buying it again, despite the fact I own the original release on CD. If you have ever enjoyed an adventure game, this is my personal pick of THE ultimate adventure game. Use it. Stare at it. Combine it with your face and wear it like a highly-sophisticated-beard-weave made from the chest and back hairs of real pirates. Hope it will take root if you don't wash it for a while... It took root for me... and after all this time, I find myself playing it again. Truly the greatest of the series and, if they ever re-master the future installments into this same beautiful animation style, I will happily repurchase those. For me, the 3D graphics that came after this really killed the series... it lost it's charm and soul. Grab your nearest demon skull to have a great time and fight like a cow!
