The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Producer: WB Games
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Platform: Xbox One, PS4, PC
Rating: Mature
Genre: Open World/Role Playing
Witching Hour
Written by Josh Schilling
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was one of the most highly anticipated games for the new generation of consoles, and after the customary push of the release date from the fall of last year until now, the time has finally come to turn on, tune in, and drop out. This was my favorite title coming out of E3 2014, and there has been a sore need for an eye-popping, life-sucking, open-world fantasy video game that has not been seen since Skyrim. I am okay with the current trend of delaying games, as I would rather have a polished product than a rushed, buggy mess, but with the delay of the release, my anticipation only grew. When hopes are set high, there is quite a lot of room for scrutiny and disappointment, but when you find a rare thing that actually reaches your lofty expectations, the world just seems like a better place to live in.
You can say one thing about the developer CD Projekt RED in that they are certainly ambitious. They made many promises leading up to the release of this game, including offering a massive open world some 20% larger than Skyrim, and releasing early footage that showed incredibly detailed scenery with captivating characters and brilliant beasts. You can tell that they wanted to raise the bar not only for the genre but for gaming as a whole, and what they ended up producing is right in line with some of the top games that have ever been made.
What makes this game great is the incredibly large scale of it all that is colored beautifully with loving detail in just about every aspect. This world draws you in in so many different ways from not only the stunning environment, but also within the wonderful writing and voice acting that is so often overlooked in games like these. It does adhere to some fantasy stereotypes at times (why do dwarves always have Scottish accents?) but it doesn’t feel forced or lazy. You feel transported to this world and it comes from the development team really caring about their work, and truly wanting to put out something that they could be proud of.
The main protagonist from the Witcher series, Geralt of Rivia, has returned, and his story is based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, which delve into a harsh and brutal world containing creatures from Slavic mythology. Geralt is the titular Witcher, who has superior powers and is generally shunned by the ungrateful populace. The story starts with a quest to find a lost love, but quickly evolves into a world-changing, supernatural event. Sprinkled in this game are an incredible amount of side-quests that could very easily take the time-played statistic into the triple digits. That, coupled with the variable effects of actions and dialogue choices, and the joy of merely exploring, means you might not need to purchase another video game for quite some time. There is so much to see and do that all you need is to find and set aside enough time to be able to do all that there is available to do.
These kind of games aren’t for everyone. Most people who aren’t fans of video games will turn up their nose at yet another sword-laden hack-and-slash, and even gaming veterans might make the tired excuse of not having enough time to devote to a massive game like this. But they are missing out on something special, because a game like this where you can feel the intentions of the developers, where you appreciate the attention to detail, and you can get the sense of being transported, it raises the legitimacy of gaming as a whole. When you dive into this game, even non-gamers will be able to see that this game is art.