Years after its original release, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is still routinely cited as one of the best RPGs ever made, and revisiting it—especially with the free next-gen update—makes it obvious why. Few open-world games have matched its density of genuinely great writing.
Side Quests That Don’t Feel Like Side Quests
The defining achievement of The Witcher 3 is how it treats optional content. Where most open-world games pad their maps with fetch quests, CD Projekt Red built dozens of side stories with real moral complexity, memorable characters, and endings that stick with players long after the credits roll. The Bloody Baron questline alone is frequently held up as one of the best pieces of writing in any RPG, handling addiction, grief, and family trauma with a nuance that few games attempt, let alone achieve.
Geralt, Monster Hunter and Reluctant Father Figure
Geralt of Rivia works as a protagonist because he’s neither a blank slate nor an overwritten hero—he’s a professional with a code, dry wit, and a complicated found-family history with Ciri and Yennefer that gives the main story genuine emotional stakes. The dialogue system, while more limited than a full branching RPG, allows enough personality to shine through that Geralt feels consistent without feeling static across dozens of hours.
A World Steeped in Folklore
Velen, Novigrad, and Skellige each have distinct visual identities and cultural texture drawn from Slavic and Norse folklore, and the game’s monster design consistently ties into that mythology rather than existing as generic loot piñatas. Combat itself is serviceable rather than exceptional—sign magic, oils, bombs, and sword stances give it reasonable depth, but it has never been the reason the game is beloved.
Where It Stumbles
Inventory management is notoriously clunky, with an overwhelming amount of junk loot to sort through, and the crafting and alchemy systems, while deep, are not well explained by the game’s tutorials. Combat difficulty can swing unpredictably between trivial and punishing depending on preparation, which can feel more like a system quirk than intentional challenge. The base game’s character models and animations, even after the next-gen update, show their age next to newer releases.
Verdict
The Witcher 3 endures not because of any single standout system, but because of the sheer consistency of its writing across an enormous amount of content. Few RPGs have matched what it does with side quests, and that alone secures its place among the genre’s all-time greats.
Score: 9.6/10
- Pros: Exceptional, consistently high-quality side quest writing; rich, folklore-inspired world; strong protagonist and central cast
- Cons: Clunky inventory and itemization; combat difficulty can feel inconsistent; visuals show their age in places
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