AN RPG THAT’LL MESMERISE YOU
WITH BEAUTIFUL WORLDS AND STUNNING SIDEQUESTS, THE WITCHER 3 IS ONE OF THE BEST RPGS OUT THIS YEAR
Racing down the slopes surrounding Kaer Mohren, when suddenly dawn breaks, swallowing the world in a golden hue, and you forget everything you’re doing, stop atop a ledge and stare at the sheer beauty that is The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. Yes, one of the most anticipated games of the year has been released and I am pleased to say that this game has one of the most breathtakingly beautiful gaming worlds.
From the very first frame, one thing is clear: CD Projekt Red spared no detail when it came to building the world. For a game that is 100- 150 hours long, it becomes crucial that the world the game is set in manages to keep the players interested, all the while keeping them invested in their actions. What is most impressive is that not once during the entire play through will you find yourself complaining about the writing or the voice acting in the game. Yet another masterpiece is the game’s soundtrack. All throughout, not one note was out of place and that managed to elevate the game’s immersion levels.
One thing that seldom gets acknowledged in RPGs of this scale are the quests themselves.
The Witcher 3 contains some of the most amazing quests and though some run several hours long, you won’t be bored even for a second. It is one of those games that makes you go off the beaten path and actively seek out sidequests instead of the main storyline.
Even so, The Witcher 3 isn’t a perfect game. While the game delivers on graphics, sound and story, where it falls short is the pacing of the main story line. When in the guise of “Character Development” a game makes you spend close to 40 hours doing inconsequential tasks, just for the sake of “levelling up”, frustration is bound to creep in. But most bothersome about the game is the combat. You feel sluggish and unresponsive most times and throw in clunky camera angles and a poor Keyboard+ Mouse optimisation on the PC. The Witcher 3 is undoubtedly a masterpiece in story- telling and atmosphere building, however, a poor control system and abysmal pacing in the main questline keep it from becoming a true trendsetter in the RPG genre.