5/5 ★ – Callum_Bampton's review of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

I’m a Witcher, or at least that’s how I feel after playing this game for so long. Playing the Witcher 3 was fantastic it’s rich world, setting and history not only serve up one of the greatest RPG’s in gaming it also made me intensely learn and discover so much more about the previous games, books and shows. The game looks beautiful drenched in scenery which shows off the beauty and horror of the world in which Geralt journeys across in search of Ciri. There are several locations each with there own style and qualities that are separate from the others, Palace of Vizima is small but hides secrets within the stone walls and sets a rather distinctive difference from all of the other locations via the appearance and by that who inhabit the location. Kaer Morhen is a beautiful mountain pass which has a quiet and pleasant atmosphere. White Orchard is small but inviting area that shows the player in a tutorial style manner what sort of activities and story like quest you’ll receive throughout the game, whilst providing beautiful views. Then we get to the big three, Velen the war-torn body ridden wasteland forests, swamps, and grassy planes of the north, filled with corpses and monsters perfectly represented by the bleakness of the destroyed villages and sick people plagued across this area of the map and roaming monsters without need of shelter as the wilderness itself has become so destroyed it has all become there nesting ground, every part of Velen is surrounded by the war across the realms and its drowning in rich detailed imagery of life for those savaged by war. Then Novigrad a giant city, the largest in the north, poverty, racism all types of vice and scandal all of which can be found in heaps right here, it’s over crowded and overpopulated and completely opposite to the open war-torn countryside of Velen, no Novigrad is a packed metropolis with lots of roads leading in different directions and stories for Geralt to get involved in. The war between gangs, guards people vs non-humans and especially witch hunters vs the magically inclined overcasts the city in prejudice. It’s such a unique location and such a lively and fun one to reach in the game. Lastly you have Skellige a dangerous assortment of isle which are off the mainland (continent) which is seeing its own fair share of political struggle, however between the bad weather and monsters around every corner each island includes a unique design, and layout which separates it from the rest of the map, and it can be perhaps the best looking environment and location in the game. Cold unstructured untamed wild isle and castles destroyed or holding feasts are plentiful including end of the world monuments and large shipwreck coastlines can be quite haunting. The combat I believe to be fun and rewarding, it’s fun to challenge enemies and monsters above your own level it can be challenging but is certainly doable especially if it’s only one monster as most have telegraphed moves that can be dodged to create close fought and cinematic looking fights, the hard challenge is when fighting multiple enemies, what I like as well is the combat has brutal finishers as you’ll be cutting people in half spinning around in a blaze of glory, using magic signs to shield yourself slow down, burn, knock over, mind control enemies with various abilities and buffs that add uniqueness to the combat with varying degree which can really improve the flow and creativity of the combat gameplay, I also must mentioned a lot of chances to talk your way out of or into situations which is something I love about these games. A few issues arise once you’ve played for a while including and not limited too silly stuff like Geralt dying by falling off the last step of a bunch of stairs as if fallen from a great height? Traversing the world is hardly seamless on horseback as roach gets caught on invisible objects or the smallest bit of shrubbery breaks all momentum, the music in white orchard and Velen of which is where I spent most of my time grinding means I no longer enjoy the beautiful music as I have heard it way to much and now it brings me sadness hearing there chimes, a few technical glitches and mishaps but nothing game breaking. The characters are brilliant in this game so so many to think of with lots of perspective, growth and filled with personality bringing about joy sadness and even laughter at times. Geralt himself being the star of the game, but along side him are a massive array of characters both friend and foe who contribute so perfectly to the feel and narrative the game is portraying. The story is a grand tale that spans across the northern realms enriching the player in character driven emotional personal woven stories that force the player to expose there morality as they combat selfishness with selflessness and much more. The side stories having so much weight to the main story and how it builds on the narrative in a fantastic story driven way is beautiful, and helps to create a larger history of the world. The main quest is enjoyable and it feels like an epic tale spoken by Dandelion himself, but it’s the contribution of smaller and just as intriguing personal stories that build and make the larger narrative even better. One issue comes at the cost of being long and overbearing in terms of levelling up which is required to continue the story smoothly can be disheartening on repeat playtimes as it takes ages to level up and access certain abilities or be able to content with certain mission intended level cap annoyances. And to top it all off it has Qwent! A card game that captured the hearts of mine and many others and is the real hero of this story book tale, a game so good I made my own version during lockdown. Every replay of this game includes a very eager me throwing down the gauntlet trying to collect all the cards. A wonderful and fun addition and it’s a fun and not so problematic collectible for the most part. This game has not only been fun for me but has been such a pleasant game to play along side others. I have played it with my Girlfriend and we both really enjoy seeing what would happen next, laughing and messing around and challenging ourselves with the combat in the game and getting Gerald stuck in the world of the Witcher 3. Finally I would like to talk once more about how this game creates and impressively shows off the world and character history, the way that events are brought up about the books and games before it brings to life the lives and world in a way that most other games don’t and that is truly astonishing. This game is an experience, certainly not one to miss. So when monsters are at your door, toss a coin to your Witcher! To a professional.