The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Polish: Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon) is an action role-playing video game set in an open world environment, developed by Polish video game developer CD Projekt RED.[4] Announced in February 2013, it was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 19 May 2015.[5] 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 novelsof the same title by the Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, but all take place after them.
Played in a third-person perspective, players control protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a Witcher who sets out on a long journey through the large land of Northern Kingdoms. Players do battle against the world's many dangers using swords and magic, while interacting with non-player characters and completing side quests and main missions all to progress through the story. Players mostly travel by foot and horseback.
After being highly anticipated before release, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt received critical acclaim upon release, with some publications calling it one of the best role-playing games ever developed. Many critics applauded the game's graphics, world design, large amount of content, story, and overall gameplay.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is more than "30 times larger" than previous Witchergames,[6][7] requiring players to sail by boat to some locations and ride by horseback to others. However, fast travelling around the areas of known locations is also possible.[8] The Witcher 3 has been described as "20% bigger than Skyrim".[9] Many actions the player performs affect the world; many of the quests have a number of options on how to complete them, and the outcomes differ. CD Projekt RED anticipates approximately 100 hours for the completion of the game,[10] 50 of them belonging to side quests, and 50 belonging to the main story line.[10]
It is not necessary to have played the previous Witcher games to fully enjoy Wild Hunt.[11] While similar to the previousWitcher games, Wild Hunt has improved on several aspects from past games. Combat revolves around an action role-playing game system combined with the use of magic. The fighting system has been completely revamped.[11] Wild Huntintroduces some new mechanics, such as witcher-sense, combat on horseback and at sea, swimming underwater, and using a crossbow. Additionally, Geralt can now jump, climb, and vault over smaller obstacles. The climbing mechanics have been described as "not exactly" like Assassin's Creed, but more "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. There are 10 witcher signs, 5 original ones, each having 1 alternative form.
The game features advanced AI and responsive and dynamic environments. The day and night cycle influences some monsters and their powers, similar to how a werewolf would gain 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 travels between regions. According to the developer, the beard grows "in different states". However, this feature will no longer be available if the player has downloaded the free Beard and Hairstyle DLC.[14] Ciri, an exceptional swordfighter with mythical powers, is a playable character in the game.[15] Gwent is an in-game collectable card game.
Story
The Witcher 3 follows directly from the events of The Witcher 2. The game begins with Geralt's dream about Kaer Morhen, a demolished witcher school. Yennefer, a sorceress and his love interest, contacts him because she is afraid that Ciri, a young female witcher in training and their adopted daughter, is training without permission. Geralt finds Ciri and brings her back to Vesemir, her teacher. However, the titular Wild Hunt, a phantom army whose appearance is the beginning of the end of the world, kidnaps Ciri. While Geralt wakes up, he realizes that was a bad dream and he is still in a journey to find Yennefer.
While searching for his lost love, Geralt meets a Nilfgaardian commander Peter Saar Gwynlew who offers Yennefers's whereabouts in exchange for the death of a nearby royal griffin. After the griffin is killed, Geralt is finally reunited with Yennefer who comes from Vizima from Emperor Emhyr var Emreis's direct order. During their journey their escort is attacked by the Wild Hunt leaving only Geralt and Yennefer alive. In Vizima, Geralt finds out by the Emperor himself that Cirilla, the Emperor's biological daughter and Geralt's adopted child has been found and the Wild Hunt is after her. The witcher is given the task of finding out about a witch and baron that meet with Ciri.
Geralt visits the witch who he thought was an old friend named Keria Metz. She in turn informs him that she has not meet Ciri but pleads him to help her on a quest where they have to fight a Wild Hunt commander as well as learn about a Mysterious Elf that has set up holograms dedicated to her. The Bloody Baron on the other hand had met Ciri when she once came alone wet and exhausted from the woods where she had fought with a werewolf into the Baron's stronghold. The Baron then promised to tell him the second part of the story if Geralt found his daughter and wife.
The witcher then travels far and wide until he finds the Baron's daughter in the city of Oxenfurt. He then sets out to find the wife who turn out to be the old lady under the service of the Ladies of the Wood. After the Baron receives these information, he retells how Ciri saved him from a Basilisk, and told him that she would be going to Novigrad. With these information, Geralt goes on to Novigrad to meet his love, Triss Merigold who is now nothing but a rat killer in the city sewers. She then advises him to meet Sigismund Dijkstra, a master spy who knows almost everything that happens in the city. Dijkstra tells Geralt that he knows not where Ciri is but he also advises the witcher to find Whoreson, an underworld criminal who was said to fight with a young ashen haired lass. Geralt finally finds out where Whoreson is hiding after King Radovid of Redania reveals to him the location.
After Geralt infiltrates Whoreson's manor, he has to choice to either kill him or spare him. In the end, Geralt finds out the Dandelion has helped Ciri escape so he goes back to Novigrad where he and Zoltan, an old dwarf friend ask Dandelion's lovers about his location. None knew, so Geralt went back to Dijkstra who told him that some one broke into his vault and stole most of his treasures. After much investigating, Geralt concludes that Dandelion and Ciri stole something and Ciri escaped but Dandelion was captured by the Witch Hunters.
Geralt then goes back to Triss who tells him that he can use her as a bait to go to the Witch Hunters Captain. In the end the Witch Hunters turn against Geralt and Triss who have to fight their way out of the stronghold with only a piece of paper that says that Dandelion in locked up in a dungeon. Geralt knows that the only way for them to save Dandelion was for him to be sent to Oxenfurt in a convey that they could ambush, and the only one that could do that is an old friend named Dudu. Geralt and Dandelion's love friend Priscilla decide to make an epic play that would attract Dudu. The play turns out to be a success and Dudu comes. Tere, Geralt convinces him to order the witch hunters to send Dandelion to Oxenfurt turned into the Witch Hunter Commander.
Geralt, Zoltan, his gang, and Priscilla (your choice) ambush the convoy and kill all the guards except one who escapes with Dandelion. In the end Geralt finds this guard and saves Dandelion who reunites with them and then shortly tells Geralt that Ciri has gone to the Skellige Isles. There, Geralt meets Yennefer who is on watching King Bran's funeral. After the funeral, Yennefer tells Geralt to meet her at the Castle of Kaer Trolde where the Skelligers are celebrating the death of King Bran as a tradition. Yennefer however has a different plan, and she sneaks in with Geralt to Ermion the druid's solar where they find the Mask of Uroboros. The room then fills up with gas. Yennefer and Geralt escape the room with Yennefers magic. Geralt meets with Yennefer and Ermion at the site of the magical cataclysm. After a fued between Yennifer and Ermion regarding potential risks involving the use of the Uroboros Mask, Yennifer defies his concerns and uses the mask, causing a fierce storm. Geralt and Yennefer explore the area while Ermion calms the weather, and they conclude that the cataclysm was a result of magic used by Ciri and the mysterious elf named Avallac'h in defense against an ambush by wild hunt forces.
