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'''''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt''''' ({{Lang-pl|Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon}}) is a [[High fantasy|high-fantasy]], [[action role-playing]] video game set in an [[open world|open-world]] environment, developed by [[CD Projekt RED]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gry-online.pl/S016.asp?ID=20436|title=Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC)|publisher=GRY-Online.pl|accessdate=5 November 2014}}</ref> Announced in February 2013, it was released worldwide for [[Microsoft Windows]], [[PlayStation 4]], and [[Xbox One]] on 19 May 2015.<ref name="ReleaseDate">{{cite web |last=Karmali |first=Luke |date=8 December 2014 |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/12/08/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-release-date-delayed-again/ |title=The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt release date delayed again |publisher=[[IGN]] |accessdate=8 December 2014}}</ref> The game is the third in the series, preceded by ''[[The Witcher (video game)|The Witcher]]'' and ''[[The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings]]'', which are based on [[The Witcher|the series of fantasy novels]] by Polish author [[Andrzej Sapkowski]].
'''''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt''''' ({{Lang-pl|Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon}}) is a [[High fantasy|high-fantasy]], [[action role-playing]] video game set in an [[open world|open-world]] environment, developed by [[CD Projekt RED]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gry-online.pl/S016.asp?ID=20436|title=Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC)|publisher=GRY-Online.pl|accessdate=5 November 2014}}</ref> Announced in February 2013, it was released worldwide for [[Microsoft Windows]], [[PlayStation 4]], and [[Xbox One]] on 19 May 2015.<ref name="ReleaseDate">{{cite web |last=Karmali |first=Luke |date=8 December 2014 |url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/12/08/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-release-date-delayed-again/ |title=The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt release date delayed again |publisher=[[IGN]] |accessdate=8 December 2014}}</ref> The game is the third in the series, preceded by ''[[The Witcher (video game)|The Witcher]]'' and ''[[The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings]]'', which are based on [[The Witcher|the series of fantasy novels]] by Polish author [[Andrzej Sapkowski]].


Played in a [[third person (video games)|third-person perspective]], players control protagonist [[Geralt of Rivia]], a monster hunter known as a witcher, who sets out on a long journey through the Northern Kingdoms. In the game, players battle against the world's many dangers using swords and magic, while interacting with [[non-player character]]s and completing side quests and main missions to progress through the story. The game was met with critical acclaim and was a financial success, selling over 6 million copies in six weeks. The game won over 160 [[List of Game of the Year awards|Game of the Year awards]] from various gaming websites, critics and game awards including [[Golden Joystick Awards]] and [[The Game Awards]].
Played in a [[third person (video games)|third-person perspective]], players control protagonist [[Geralt of Rivia]], a monster hunter known as a witcher, who sets out on a long journey through the Northern Kingdoms. In the game, players battle against the world's many dangers using swords and magic, while interacting with [[non-player character]]s and completing side quests and main missions to progress through the story. The game was met with critical acclaim and was a financial success, selling over 6 million copies in six weeks. The game won over 200 [[List of Game of the Year awards|Game of the Year awards]] from various gaming websites, critics and game awards including [[Golden Joystick Awards]] and [[The Game Awards]].


==Gameplay==
==Gameplay==

Revision as of 18:41, 11 January 2016

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Developer(s)CD Projekt RED
Publisher(s)CD Projekt[1]
Director(s)Konrad Tomaszkiewicz
Mateusz Kanik
Sebastian Stępień
Producer(s)Piotr Krzywonosiuk
Jędrzej Mróz
Artist(s)Marian Chomiak
Writer(s)Marcin Blacha
Borys Pugacz-Muraszkiewicz
Composer(s)Marcin Przybyłowicz
Mikolai Stroinski
Percival
SeriesThe Witcher
EngineREDengine 3
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
PlayStation 4[2]
Xbox One[3]
Genre(s)Action role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Polish: Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon) is a high-fantasy, action role-playing video game set in an open-world environment, developed by CD Projekt RED.[5] Announced in February 2013, it was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 19 May 2015.[6] The game is the third in the series, preceded by The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which are based on the series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

Played in a third-person perspective, players control protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter known as a witcher, who sets out on a long journey through the Northern Kingdoms. In the game, players battle against the world's many dangers using swords and magic, while interacting with non-player characters and completing side quests and main missions to progress through the story. The game was met with critical acclaim and was a financial success, selling over 6 million copies in six weeks. The game won over 200 Game of the Year awards from various gaming websites, critics and game awards including Golden Joystick Awards and The Game Awards.

Gameplay

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is more than 30 times larger than previous Witcher games,[7][8] requiring players to sail by boat to some locations and ride on horseback to others. However, fast traveling around the areas of known locations is also possible.[9] The Witcher 3 was described as "20% bigger than Skyrim".[10] Many actions the player performs affect the world, with many of the quests having a number of options on how to complete them, and differing outcomes. CD Projekt RED anticipated approximately 100 hours for the completion of the game,[11] 50 of them belonging to side quests, and 50 belonging to the main story.[11]

While similar to the previous Witcher games, Wild Hunt improved on several aspects from past games. Combat revolves around an action role-playing game system alongside the use of magic. The fighting system from previous games was significantly revamped. Wild Hunt introduces some new mechanics, such as the ability to sense nearby objectives, people and resources ("witcher sense"), combat on horseback and at sea, swimming underwater and the use of a crossbow. Additionally, Geralt can jump, climb, and vault over smaller obstacles. The climbing mechanics were described as "not exactly" like Assassin's Creed, but "similar to what we have in Uncharted".[12] Item creation and potion brewing still remain as in previous games, but have been modified from The Witcher 2 to be less unforgiving. Traps from The Witcher 2 have been entirely omitted. The same five Witcher signs returned but slightly modified, with each one having an alternative form that can be used.

The game features responsive, advanced artificial intelligence and dynamic environments. The day and night cycle influences some monsters and their powers, similar to the common mythological motif of a werewolf gaining powers during the night of a full moon.[13] The game also features a dynamic beard growth system, in which the beard of the playable character Geralt grows as he spends time in the world. Ciri, an exceptional sword fighter with mythical powers from the Witcher novels, is a playable character in the game.[14] Gwent is an in-game collectible card game, which replaces the dice games from the previous two Witcher titles.[15]

Plot

Setting

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt concludes the story of the witcher Geralt of Rivia, the series' protagonist, whose story to date has been covered in the previous versions.[9] Continuing from The Witcher 2, the ones who sought to use Geralt are now gone. Geralt seeks to move on with his own life, embarking on a new and personal mission while the world order itself is coming to a change.[16]

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features a massive open world which the player can roam mostly freely, depending on which part of the story is being played. The game features several locations such as the Free City of Novigrad, the swamps of Velen, huge Skellige Isles, and two Nilfgaardian Empire's territories: the village of White Orchard and the Royal Castle in Vizima. The witcher school Kaer Morhen, known in the books and the first The Witcher game, also appears.

Every location has a large number of villages, each with their own economic and social conditions. Nilfgaardians, for instance, appear to be aristocratic and condescending to the more common nords such as Geralt. The open world is very interactive compared to even the best open world games, featuring abandoned villages, caves and haunted forests. Further detail is added to the game with each location and village having different monsters, some which come out at specified time of the day..

Story

The game begins with Geralt of Rivia searching for his lover, the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, with Vesemir, a senior witcher. Yennefer had previously tried to get in contact with Geralt, but had been forced to flee in order to avoid the fighting between the warring powers of Nilfgaard and Redania.

However, it is Yennefer who ultimately finds Geralt. Accompanied by a Nilfgaardian honor guard, Yennefer informs Geralt that Emhyr var Emreis, the emperor of Nilfgaard, has summoned Geralt for an imperial audience in Vizima, the nation's capital. In Vizima, Emhyr tasks Geralt with finding Ciri, the emperor's biological daughter and Geralt's adoptive ward. Ciri is a Child of the Elder Blood, the last heir to an ancient Elven bloodline that bestows her with the power to manipulate space and time. Emhyr believes that she is on the run from the Wild Hunt, a retinue of spectral elves determined to capture Ciri and use her abilities for their own malicious purposes. Geralt agrees to search for her, but for her benefit, not Emhyr's. Yennefer instructs him to begin his search by getting in contact with a Nilfgaardian spy in Velen.

Unfortunately, the Wild Hunt reaches the spy before Geralt, torturing him to death. Geralt manages to recover the spy's notes, which indicates that Ciri sought refuge in Crow's Perch, the castle of Velen's self-appointed ruler known as the Bloody Baron. The Baron refuses to help Geralt find Ciri until the witcher locates and returns the Baron's own missing wife and daughter. Geralt quickly discovers that the Baron's wife and daughter are missing of their own volition, driven away by the Baron's abuse and alcoholism. Geralt learns that the Baron's daughter fled to the city of Oxenfurt, but her mother's trail goes cold.

Without further clues, Geralt turns to the second lead from the spy's notes, which leads him to an old acquaintance, the sorceress Keira Metz. Keira informs Geralt that a mysterious Elven mage had been searching for Ciri as well, and after guiding him through the mage's laboratory, Keira directs Geralt to the Crones of Crookback Bog, ancient spirits that assert dominion over Velen. The Crones order Geralt to destroy the Whispering Hillock, a rival spirit in the area, in exchange for information about Ciri. After dealing with the Hillock, the Crones reveal that they had tried to kill Ciri and deliver her corpse to the Wild Hunt. Geralt vows to return and kill the Crones, but not before realizing that they have imprisoned and enslaved Anna Strenger, the Baron's missing wife. Returning to Crow's Perch, the Baron reveals that following her stay with him, Ciri made for the Free City of Novigrad. The Baron then sets off to rescue Anna. If Geralt killed the Whispering Hillock, as the Crones commanded, the Baron manages to save Anna and vows to find a healer to restore her devastated mind. If Geralt released the Whispering Hillock, the Crones grow angry with him for disobeying them, and curse Anna, eventually killing her. The Baron subsequently hangs himself out of grief.

Arriving in Novigrad, Geralt discovers that the Church of the Eternal Fire, a militant religious organization patronized by Redanian King Radovid, is carrying out a pogrom against mages and non-humans in the city. Rendezvousing with Triss Merigold, his former love interest, Geralt learns that finding Ciri hinges on finding Dandelion, a bard and old friend with whom she had made contact. This leads Geralt to navigate a complicated web of entangling alliances within Novigrad's criminal underworld, chiefly between Sigismund Dijkstra, former head of Redania's spy network, and Whoreson Junior, a sadistic casino operator. After a complicated series of crosses and double-crosses, Geralt finally finds and rescues Dandelion, only to discover that Ciri teleported to the windswept archipelago of Skellige. While in Novigrad, Geralt also assists Triss in spiriting away fugitive mages (which can lead to a romance with her), and begins plotting the assassination of King Radovid with Dijkstra, along with former associates and Temerian loyalists Vernon Roche, Ves, and Thaler.

After being shipwrecked on the shores of Skellige, Geralt meets with Yennefer, who has been investigating a magical explosion in the region which she believes is linked to Ciri. The two attend the funeral of King Bran, Skellige's ruler, to discover that the island nation is caught up in a conflict of succession as Bran's son Svanrige is in conflict with Cerys and Hjalmar, the children of a powerful nobleman, for the throne. At the wake, Geralt and Yennefer steal The Mask of Uroboros from the druid Ermion, which can be used to see visions of the past. Yennefer has Geralt use the mask in the forest decimated by the explosion, leading them to discover Ciri traveled to the island of Lofoten. The pair travel to Lofoten only to discover that the Wild Hunt attacked the village; Ciri was only able to escape with the aid of a man named Skjall, who was subsequently renamed "Craven", banished from the village for cowardice, and later died trying to redeem himself. Finding his body, Yennefer uses necromancy to get information from him about Ciri--after saving her from the Hunt, Skjall witnessed a deformed, baby-like creature wandering Skellige's shores. Summing up the clues, Geralt determines that the creature Skjall witnessed was Uma, a cursed being he had previously seen wandering the halls of Crow's Perch. Returning from Lofoten, Yennefer attempts to sever the connection she shares with Geralt (as per the magic of a djinn), but realizes she cannot. Geralt can then affirm his love for her, or sever their relationship altogether. Before leaving Skellige, Geralt also intercedes in the crisis of succession, determining whether Hjalmar, Cerys, or Svanrige ascend to Skellige's throne.

The pair retrieve Uma from Crow's Perch, and present him to Emhyr in Vizima. Discovering that lifting the curse on Uma may hold the key to finding Ciri, the trio decide to take him to Kaer Morhen, an abandoned witcher school. There Yennefer and the other witchers lift the curse on Uma, who reveals himself to be Avallac'h, Ciri's elven companion. Avallac'h reveals that following the attack on Lofoten, he teleported Ciri to the abandoned Isle of Mists for her own safety. Geralt resolves to rescue Ciri and return her to Kaer Morhen, but realizes doing this would attract the Wild Hunt. After assembling a small army of companions at Kaer Morhen in preparation for the coming battle, he travels to the Isle of Mists. Although he finds Ciri in a deathlike state, Avallac'h's magic awakens her in his arms. Ciri reveals why the Wild Hunt wants her power: Eredin, the King of the Wild Hunt, is afraid of his own world being destroyed by a mythical power known as the White Frost, and is determined to use Ciri's power to conquer new worlds, regardless of the human cost. Ciri teleports Geralt to Kaer Morhen while the Hunt chases after the duo. After a brief reunion with Yennefer, Triss, and Vesemir, the Hunt attacks. During the battle, Vesemir is killed by Imlerith, a Wild Hunt general, trying to protect Ciri. Distraught, she releases all her uncontrollable powers, causing Eredin and the Hunt to retreat; Avallac'h then casts a spell rendering Ciri docile. Geralt, Yennefer, Triss, Ciri, and the other allies then hold a funeral for Vesemir.

Seething for revenge, Ciri and Geralt travel to Velen and kill both Imlerith and two of the three Crones of Crookback Bog. Emboldened by these victories, Geralt and Ciri travel to Novigrad and help Triss and Yennefer reform the Lodge of Sorceresses to aid in their fight against the Wild Hunt. They also learn about the Sunstone, found on Skellige, that can lure Eredin out and trap him into a location. Geralt also follows through with the assassination plot against King Radovid; afterwards he must side with Vernon Roche or Djikstra on future plans, resulting in the death of whoever he does not side with. In Skellige, Geralt finds the Sunstone with the help of Phillipa Eilhart, the sorceress who struck the killing blow on Radovid.

Making their last stand on the Skelliger isle of Undvik, Avallac'h uses the Sunstone, which draws the Hunt and their fleet out. Geralt and his allies, along with the Nilfgaardian fleet, attempt to defeat them. Geralt defeats Caranthir, the Hunt's navigator, and moves on to face off against Eredin in a brutal fight and emerges victorious. However, the White Frost begins to descend on Skellige. Ciri insists that only her Elder Blood can stop the White Frost before it consumes all life on every world, and after a heated discussion, Ciri goes through a portal and confronts the White Frost, ending the threat by destroying its source.

The epilogue of the game varies according to the choices the player made in the game. Concerning Ciri specifically, there are three possible outcomes: if Geralt presented her to Emperor Emhyr, the assassination of Radovid is carried out, and subsequently sided with Roche, then Ciri will reluctantly accept the throne of Nilfgaard, reasoning that she could do more good for the world as an empress than as a vagrant monster-hunter; if Geralt did not present her, then Geralt and Ciri fake her death, and Ciri becomes a wandering monster-hunter like Geralt; if Ciri died stopping the White Frost, then Geralt hunts down the last Crone to recover Vesemir's medallion, his only memento of Ciri. This ending ends with monsters swarming the house Geralt finds the amulet in, with his fate left ambiguous.

Hearts of Stone

Geralt takes up a contract sent out by Olgierd von Everec, who tasks him with eliminating a giant toad monster in the sewers of Oxenfurt. While hunting the monster, Geralt runs into Shani, a Redanian medic and an old acquaintance of his, whom he has the option of romancing. Geralt then kills the toad monster, only to find it was actually a cursed Ofieri prince. The prince's guards capture Geralt with the intention of executing him. While awaiting his execution en route to Ofier, Geralt is approached by the mysterious Gaunter O'Dimm. Gaunter helps Geralt escape, but in return Geralt must help Gaunter recover a debt from Olgierd, who had set up Geralt knowing the toad monster was an Ofieri prince. Gaunter tells Geralt that according to terms of his contract with Olgierd, he must fulfill three of Olgierd's wishes. Geralt confronts Olgierd and discovers that Olgierd had obtained immortality at the cost of his emotions, giving him a "Heart of Stone". He admits to cursing the Ofieri prince since he was arranged to marry his true love Iris, and that he wished for immortality in order to be with her. He then tells Geralt his three wishes: to entertain his brother Vlodomir for one night, to get revenge on the Borsodi family by obtaining Maximillian Borsodi's house, and to obtain the violet rose he had given to Iris. Gaunter tells Geralt that the three tasks are meant to be impossible, as Maximillian Borsodi's house is kept in a highly secure vault and both Vlodomir and Iris have been dead for years, but he agrees to assist Geralt.

With Gaunter's help, Geralt allows Vlodimir's spirit to possess his body for one night, allowing him to attend a wedding party and fulfilling the first wish. Geralt then participates in a heist to steal Maximillian Borsodi's house from its vault, and finds that it contains a will that would grant the entire Borsodi fortune to charity, fulfilling Olgierd's revenge and second wish. To obtain Iris' rose, Geralt enlists the help of demonic entities to gain access to a supernatural realm where he witnesses Olgierd and Iris' past. There, he learns that due to his "Heart of Stone", Olgierd could not truly love Iris and she died neglected and unhappy. Geralt, on player's choice can either obtain the rose from Iris' spirit in order to free her from "pinned" into the world or let the rose be with her. Either way, Geralt fulfills Olgierd's last wish and goes to meet with him. Along the way, he learns that Gaunter is in fact an ancient entity of pure evil that thrives off tricking people into trading away their souls in return for wishes. When Geralt meets with Olgierd, the three wishes are fulfilled and Gaunter arrives to collect Olgierd's soul.

At this point, Geralt has the option of allowing Gaunter to take Olgierd's soul or intervening to save Olgierd. If Geralt does nothing, Gaunter kills Olgierd, takes his soul, and rewards Geralt with one wish. If Geralt intervenes, he challenges Gaunter by wagering his own soul to save Olgierd. After Geralt solves Gaunter's riddle, Gaunter is forced to release both Geralt and Olgierd from their pacts. Olgierd, now mortal again, regains his emotions and immediately feels regret for his past actions and mistakes. He gives Geralt his family sword, and promises to start a new life free from Gaunter's control.


Development

The game was officially announced on 4 February 2013 via Game Informer, with a 2014 release on PC and "all high-end platforms available".[17] The latter was then clarified to mean the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One on 21 February 2013[18] and 10 June 2013[19] respectively. According to the official information from Microsoft, The Witcher 3 was originally not going to be available on the Xbox One in Poland, the country where the game's development process took place. However, this has changed as regional restrictions have been entirely removed from the Xbox One.[20]

On 11 March 2014, it was announced that the game's release date was delayed from Autumn 2014 to February 2015. According to an official statement released by the development team, they had successfully created "a story that flows naturally, cinematically, rendered it in amazing sound and visuals, while preserving full freedom of choice" - suggesting that the core game and its main story were practically finished. However, the statement then goes on to cite the main reason for the delay was manual fine-tuning of many details and thorough testing of the final product to bring it up to the desired standard of quality.[21] On 8 December 2014, the developer officially informed about postponing the release date to 19 May 2015.[22]

On 7 April 2015, CD Projekt RED announced two expansion packs for the game titled Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Hearts of Stone was released on October 13, 2015, and Blood and Wine is expected to release in early 2016.[23] On 16 April 2015, CD Projekt RED confirmed that the game had been declared gold, indicating it was being prepared for duplication and release.[24]

The development budget for the game was 306 million Polish złoty.[25]

Game engine

See also: REDengine

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features the REDengine 3 game engine, developed by CD Projekt RED and designed specifically for nonlinear role-playing video games set in vast open world environments.[26] It is supposed to help eliminate many of the game development trade-offs previous developers faced, allowing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt developers to create "an open environment with a complex, multi-thread story".[26] CD Projekt RED has integrated the Umbra 3 Visibility Solution into its engine to handle occlusion culling. Engineers from Umbra and CDP demonstrated the use of the technology at the Game Developers Conference 2014.[27] As in the previous two Witcher games, players are presented with a complex story featuring multiple choices bearing associated consequences. But REDengine 3 allows for a complex story line without sacrificing the design of the virtual world.[26]

Release

On 21 May 2015, CD Projekt RED released patch 1.03 for the PC, bringing a number of changes including new graphics options and general stability and performance improvements.[28]

Expansion packs

On 7 April 2015, CD Projekt RED announced two expansion packs for the game titled Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Hearts of Stone was released on October 13, 2015, and Blood and Wine is expected to be released in early 2016.[23] The first expansion, Hearts of Stone, follows Geralt coming in contact with a mysterious entity known as the Man of Glass and an immortal man named Olgierd. The expansion was met with critical acclaim, scoring a 9/10 across media outlets GameSpot and IGN.

Reception

Pre-release

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt won several awards at E3 in both 2013 and 2014. The title was voted as 'best role-playing game' at the Best of E3 Awards conducted by IGN consecutively in 2013 and 2014.[29][30] Furthermore, it won IGN's E3 People's Choice Award in 2013 and 2014, and won GameSpot's E3 People's Choice Award in 2014,[31][32] as well as the Most Wanted Award in the 31st and 32nd Golden Joystick Award.[33][34] It also won the Most Anticipated Game during The Game Awards 2014 in Las Vegas.[35]

Post-release

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt received critical acclaim. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic ranked the Microsoft Windows version 93% based on 20 reviews and 93/100 based on 28 reviews,[36][39] the PlayStation 4 version 92% based on 51 reviews and 92/100 based on 79 reviews,[37][40] and the Xbox One version 91% based on 9 reviews and 91/100 based on 12 reviews.[38][41]

GameSpot's Kevin VanOrd awarded it a score of 10 out of 10, making Witcher 3 the ninth game ever to have received a perfect score from GameSpot. He described the exploration, enemy-design, and the character progression as "excellent". He also praised the rich content featured, the extensive armor and weapon customization and potions system, and the game for making gameplay choices meaningful and intriguing. He also praised the well-crafted open-world, which he stated "finds a nigh-perfect sense of balance between giving you things to do and allowing its spaces to breathe", as well as the combat for being satisfying and easier than The Witcher 2. He summarized the review by calling the game "one of the best role-playing games ever crafted".[46] Erik Kain of Forbes had similar praise, with him calling it "one of the greatest open-world games" he had ever played.[59]

Daniel Bloodworth from GameTrailers gave the game a near-perfect score of 9.8/10. While he shared similar thoughts on the design of enemies, he praised the game's extensive and mature story, and he stated that it "intertwined with the original books" the most among all the entries. The rewarding combat, as well as the stunning environments, meaningful consequences and missions, along with the sense of discovery and connection delivered and the distant characters were also strongly praised. In addition, he praised the details featured in the game, such as the gestures, the volume of speaking, and the facial animation of characters. He summarized the game by calling it "a thoughtful, diverse, and frequently awe-inspiring adventure".[48]

IGN's Vince Ingenito awarded the game a score of 9.3 out of 10, praising its authentic environment, dynamic weather and day/night cycle, decent voice-acting, well-crafted dialogue, interesting characters, complex character progression, diverse equipment and flexible skill system. However, he criticized the game's over-emphasis on fetch quest, and the story for being too long and for not being as fulfilling as the other aspects of the game. However, he summarized the review by saying that "The Witcher 3 ends Geralt's story on a high note."[49]

Writing for Game Informer, Kimberley Wallace considered the game the most ambitious and accessible entry in the series. She praised the immersive game-world, intriguing narrative, varied landscape and environments, improved user interface, as well as the side-missions for delivering unexpected content, and the responsive and challenging combat, which requires players to employ strategy. However, she criticized some minor issues, such as the game's long loading times, weapon degradation, and the disappointing fast-travel options.[44]

In contrast, Chris Carter from Destructoid, despite calling the combat "action-packed", stated that it discourages strategy. Furthermore, he criticized the repetitive witcher sense and the occasional frame-rate issues and bugs.[42] Tom Senior from GamesRadar also criticized the bugs included in the review build of the game, as he thought that such issues had significantly hindered the combat and the cut-scenes of the game. In addition, he called the combat "inconsistent" and "frustrating".[47]

Sales

Prior to release, over 1.5 million people pre-ordered the game.[60] The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt debuted at No. 1 in the UK software sales chart in its first launch week and the income grossed by the game is 600% higher than predecessor The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. It was also the best-selling video game in the UK in 2015 as of 26 May 2015, breaking the record previously held by Battlefield Hardline.[61] It debuted at #1 on the Japan video game sales charts, selling 67,385 copies during its first week.[62] Four million copies of the game were sold two weeks after its launch.[63] As of 11 June 2015, over 690,000 players activated copies of the game through GOG Galaxy.[64][65] The game sold over 6 million copies in the six weeks following its launch.[25] Those sales drove the studio to make a profit of 236 million Polish złoty ($62.5 million USD) in the first half of 2015.[66]

Awards

Award Category Result
Golden Joystick Awards
Ultimate Game of the Year Won
Best Storytelling Won
Best Visual Design Won
Best Gaming Moment Won
Most Wanted (2014) Won
Most Wanted (2013) Won
Global Game Awards
Game of the Year Won
Best Open World Won
Best Story Won
Best Audio Won
Best RPG Nominated
Best Graphics Nominated
The Game Awards 2015[67]
Game of the Year Won
Best Narrative Nominated
Best Score/Soundtrack Nominated
Best Performance (Doug Cockle as Geralt) Nominated
Best Role-Playing Game Won
Best Art Direction Nominated
GameSpot
Game of the Year Won
Best PS4 Game of the Year Won
Best Xbox One Game of the Year Won
Best PC Game of the Year Won
Giant Bomb
Best Looking Game Won
Best New Character Won
Best Moment or Sequence Nominated
Best Story Nominated
Best Game Nominated
IGN
Game of the Year Won
People's Choice Game of the Year Won
Metacritic
Readers' Choice Won
Best PC Game of the Year Won

References

  1. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (19 May 2015). "CD Projekt Red: Selling The Witcher 3". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  2. ^ Yin-Poole, Wesley (21 February 2013). "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt confirmed for PlayStation 4 in 2014". Eurogamer. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  3. ^ Purchese, Robert (10 June 2013). "The Witcher 3 confirmed for Xbox One, has optional Kinect commands, SmartGlass stuff". Eurogamer. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  4. ^ a b "NAMCO BANDAI to promote The Witcher 3 in Australia and New Zealand". CD Projekt. 16 January 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  5. ^ "Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC)". GRY-Online.pl. Retrieved 5 November 2014.
  6. ^ Karmali, Luke (8 December 2014). "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt release date delayed again". IGN. Retrieved 8 December 2014.
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