The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Review (mohdd)
Overall: 9.5/10
Standard
Score
Graphics
9.5/10
Gameplay
8.5/10
Soundtracks
10/10
Main Story
9/10
Side Stories
9.5/10
Hearts Of Stones DLC
9.5/10
Blood And Wine DLC
10/10
NOTE: There will be mistakes in my english below, sorry for that but I will try my best to describe my experience while I was playing this game. Spoilers will be hidden in black, don't view them until you finish the game.
Introduction:
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an open world RPG game, you might have played a lot of RPGs in the past but trust me this one will be different, you will play as Geralt Of Rivia, your actions and choices will be the factor for every quest's ending. I'll be short and say: buy it, it's worth it and don't forget the dlcs they are so important and you will miss a lot if you don't try them.
Should you play the previous games before this?
The first question that comes to mind to every player who want to try this game is whether you should play Witcher 1&2 before this or no, the answer is it depends on you, sure Witcher 3 is a sequel and you might get confused if you don't play the first games (you will ask who is that and what is this place and what am i doing) but for me I didn't have to play them, I just watched recap of the previous games to understand whats going on and I recommend you to do as well before playing this game unless you wanna play the previous games, Witcher 1 has an old engine and graphics and most of you will not like the old gameplay system so you might skip it but for Witcher 2 its more modern than the first one and a lot of people recommend it, it explains even the storyline of the first game so It's all depend on your choice. And for the books you don't have to worry about them, the books and the games are different story not completely different but the books ended on a specific point of the storyline and the games made a sequel to that point and continued, characters, the world, the history is all imported from the books but you don't really have to read them to understand.
The best plan I recommend is:
- Watch Witcher 1 recap on youtube or read it on the internet.
- Play Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings or just recap it.
- Start your adventure in Witcher 3!
NOTE: Witcher 3 has a special section for characters that describe a lot of things about them, there are also "Books" as an in game item you loot and gain additional information about the world.
Difficulty:
There are 4 Difficulties you can choose from at the beginning of the game, you can also switch it during the gameplay in the settings menu, I started my first playthrough with Blood and Broken Bones! (Hard) and I can say it's perfect, it doesn't make the game too easy or too hard, sure you might die sometimes but there is no fun in completing the game easily (in my opinion), Death March! (Very Hard) is the hardest one and I only recommend it for NG+ (New Game plus is basically a new game with the same character and level you were using in the first playthrough including gears, swords, items...etc).
So, i can say If you want to be challenged in your first playthrough go for Blood and Broken Bones! (Hard) but If you only want to finish the game and care only about the story go for Just the Story! (Easy) or Story and Sword! (Normal).
Gameplay:
The gameplay is a little complicated for new players, I had some difficult time learning it but you will get used to it by time, It relies on Level system, Skill Tree, Looting items and Gaining materials, and crafting weapons and gear. As long as you level up, you will upgrade your gear, obtain new skills and become stronger!
The combat system isn't too hard, I didn't find any issue playing with mouse & keyboard, I find many people complaining about the combat system but I can't see any problem with it. each enemy has a specific level that tells you if you are ready to fight it or not.
Story & Quests:
In this game you play as Geralt of Rivia, a witcher which is a super-human (they have strong immune system and strong senses not like normal humans, they also live longer) made to kill monsters and get paid for that , I'll not go in details because you will learn more about them in the game.
The game is Quest based, there are Main Quests (Campaign), Side Quests, Witcher Contracts, Treasure Hunt Quests, each quest has a level that tells you if you are ready for it or not, I recommend you to do all of the quests in level order. (If your level is 10 and the quest level is 15 don't do it until you reach 15)
There are even Side Quests that affects the Main Story so don't skip them, Also Side Quests in this game are different than the other games, each has a different story and a different ending you will not feel at all like you are doing the same quest over and over again, and thats what I love about this game, skipping the Side Quests is totally a sin and you should never do that because you will play half of the game or even 1/4 of it, I even can say I enjoyed doing Side Quests more than the main ones.
Buying this game without the DLCs is a sin too, Witcher 3 is known for it's unique DLCs some people even call B&W expansion The Witcher 4, they are full of content (new locations, new soundtracks, new stories...etc) So never buy this game without them.
There is also a mini-game called Gwent, it's a card game, to be honest I wasn't interested in it, it's an optional feature and it's quests are optional too and they don't affect the story but If you are a hardcore gamer who wants all the achievements go for it, it's not hard at all and they say it's easy to learn.
Choices & Consequences:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0i88t0Kacs
The hardest part in the game is not beating some boss or finishing some hard contract, but it's "Picking Choices", the game makes you feel like you are a witcher, almost all the aspects of the game are choices based, be wise and neutral and choose what you think is best for you and for Geralt, accept your fate that you draw with your own hands, don't look in the internet for the best choices to get the best results out of every quest, thats not how the game meant to be played.
The problems with this game:
"There is no perfect game in the world" - random guy on the internet.
I run into some glitches in this game during gameplay and cutscenes they are not a big problem but you notice them (just wanna say its not rare to run into one of them).
The game lacks some physics like falling alone or while riding a horse (the horse will just disappear if you try to jump from a high area or in water).
The npcs faces are similar and you might run into the same face a lot of times there is just few changes like the hair color or the clothes, sure I know that making unique faces take a lot of work and cdpr didn't have the budget for that so I hope the next-gen version will work on that part more.
There is a quest that broke the RPG rule which is "Reasons of State" a very important quest that decide part of the ending, In the end of that quest you will have two choices but because of the bad writing of that quest, the game indirectly force you and make you choose only one even If you don't want that choice because Geralt would never pick the other one.
Conclusion:
The positives of this game make you forget that the game has issues, It's a good game and a masterpiece and I hope the next-gen version will improve it.