The Witcher 3 - Wild Hunt

Gameplay

The Witcher III is a TPP action role-playing game. The player controls the character of Geralt, the titular witcher. Geralt has various types of movement at his disposal, including walking, running, rolling and dodging. He can also, for the first time in the series, jump, swim and climb over obstacles. Geralt’s arsenal includes two swords – steel (for human enemies) and silver (for monsters and other creatures), crossbow and bombs. The swords have two modes of attack. Light attacks are fast but deal little damage, whereas heavy attacks are strong but take a while to perform. A player can also block attacks and counter them. The witcher’s swords have limited durability and after a while will require repair.

In addition to conventional weapons, Geralt can use magic sings. Each of them has different effect including telekinesis, confusion of enemies, burning or deploying force field around the character. Like swords, magic signs cannot be used all the time. They require stamina, and when that is spent, a player can’t perform magic. A player can use consumables, such as potions and food to restore health lost in battle. Meditation is another way of restoring HP. To reduce health loss, Geralt can also be equipped with armor.

The adversaries in the game are both humans and monsters. Monsters can be influenced by the day-night cycle implemented in the game, changing their statistics and making them harder or easier to defeat. A gamer can learn about monsters and their strong and weak points in the in-game bestiary and prepare accordingly. Upon being killed, enemies can be looted for valuable items, which can be stored in the inventory or sold to the vendors. Geralt possesses a witcher sense, which aids the player in locating valuables.

As with similar action-RPG, The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt focuses on narrative, making choices and interacting with NPCs. There is a total of 36 endings in the game, each of them affecting the NPCs that the player encounters. Geralt can also indulge in a romance with several of the female characters by completing specific side quests. Speaking of side quests, completing these as well as other missions gain player experience points. After meeting a certain threshold, Geralt’s level increases and is rewarded with ability points. These can be spent on upgrading one of four skill trees: combat, signs, alchemy (necessary for crafting potions) and general (increased vitality or crossbow damage, etc.).

The game is set on the Continent, which is divided into several regions. Geralt can travel between them freely using modes of transportation, such as boat or Roach, his horse. The witcher’s mount can be summoned at will, and be used in combat. However, encountering monster can spook it and cause Geralt to fall off the horse’s back. The game includes many side activities ranging from searching the map for points of interest, to horse racing, boxing and playing Gwent, a popular card game in the world of The Witcher.

Story

The Story begins when Geralt finds out that his adoptive daughter Ciri is being targeted by the Wild Hunt, a company of spectral warriors from another dimension. They plan to use the girl's magical powers to their own goals. Together with his lover, sorceress Yennefer, and other allies, Geralt embarks on a quest to save Ciri and the Continent from the threat of the Wild Hunt.

Characters in the game

The Witcher III features many familiar faces known from previous installments as well as the pages of the books. Aside from Geralt, Yennefer and Ciri, characters such as Dandelion, a bard and Geralt’s friend, Triss Merigold, Geralt’s former lover and Vesemir, the witcher’s mentor, make their appearance in the game.

Players reception

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for PC gained nearly universal acclaim from both players and game critics alike. They praised the open game world, combat mechanics and attention to details. The game received plenty of awards and accolades in various categories such as Most Anticipated Game, Game of the Year, Best Narrative, Best Technology and a lot more.

Key features:

• A gigantic and limitless open world to explore - Sail through open seas, dive in search of long lost artifacts or gallop your mount into combat—the world of the Witcher beckons to be explored. Visit the luxurious and corrupt city of Novigrad, face the frigid cold of the wind-swept Skellige islands, and challenge the dark forces roaming the forlorn, war-ravaged No Man’s Land. While on the road, use your special witcher senses to hunt down ferocious monsters and earn gold. Do anything you want, anytime you want! 
• Unparalleled novel-like story, spanning over 100 hours of gameplay - With over 100 hours of core and side-quest gameplay, The Witcher combines the intense, plot-driven pull of traditional RPGs with the freedom of choice only open world games can offer. Develop Geralt’s skills to create your unique gameplay experience, make choices and face their consequences that will stay with you throughout the entire game. 
• Tactical, responsive, multi-layered combat - Brutal, tactical and highly responsive, the combat system of The Witcher elevates skirmish mechanics to an entirely different level.
• Fight foes intimately, one on one, or seamlessly switch from one enemy to another as you devise your own strategies to beat the countless opponents in the game. Use the crossbow to bring down monsters just out of reach, and employ real world physics as your weapon—smash foes into walls and use the environment to your advantage. 
• Genre-defining, truly next generation audio-visual fidelity - Built exclusively for next-generation hardware: PlayStation4, Xbox One and PC, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt marks a new era in RPG visual quality. Raising the bar for the entire genre, with its deeply integrated 7.1 audio and jaw-dropping graphics powered by CD Projekt RED’s proprietary REDengine 3, The Wicher 3: Wild Hunt promises an entirely new kind of experience.