The Witcher 3

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

Like Tim, I also sunk about 100 hours into this game but... let's just say I didn't start last year.

My gripes were numerous, and I feel pretty significant. The movement is straight up awful outside of combat, and riding your horse is a nightmare. It felt ridiculous, but most of the time I just sprinted on foot across massive landscapes to avoid riding my horse. Visually, I thought this game was pretty dated for a game that's only 5 years old, cuz it kinda looks like a PS3 game. Also, I played on hard, but even still I never really felt challenged, and while the game gives you a million little things to incorporate into a fight, I never felt the need to explore doing anything more than dodge and hack. I wish the game would have forced me to diversify the way I fight a little bit. There were also a few bugs, but I really can't judge a game this big for not sorting all those out.

With all that said, this game is incredible. For me, the best aspect was the writing, particularly with dialogue. Every single interaction with the hundreds of characters you can talk to had a little added intrigue and cleverness and I was always finding myself exhausting all the dialogue options simply because I was interested in what everyone had to say. Geralt is a terrific protagonist, both badass yet righteous, and I thought the voice actor got it just right. The story itself is pretty basic, and you know from the opening chapter essentially what's going to happen, but the characters really make it work. I felt a little disconnected with the story because of the wealth of side content - because your quest is one of urgency yet you find time to become the card-game champ of Novigrad - but I'll also give that a pass because I, like Geralt, could never turn down a game of Gwent.

Indeed, the good qualities here definitely outweigh the bad. I cannot begin to fathom the work that went into a game on this scale. It exhausts me to think about the fact that thousands of NPCs have daily schedules programmed in, many of which a player will never see. The music is amazing, the RPG elements are solid, the combat, although repetitive, is far more dynamic then something like Skyrim. It truly is one of those great, escapist fantasies in a terrific, detailed and fleshed-out universe, but one where you are amazing at everything and the chicks dig you. It's not a perfect game, but it definitely did enough for me to go 100 hours. Although I feel I need a break before playing the DLC, I still eagerly await the next gen remaster so I can hop back in.