It may have taken a while to get going, but this current generation of gaming has really come into its own over the past two to three years. From Bloodborne to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, from Overwatch to Metal Gear Solid V, from Horizon: Zero Dawn to Super Mario Odyssey, we’ve been treated to one instant classic after another. And, of course, there’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
What a special game The Witcher 3 is. It is a game that delivers on multiple fronts, and delivers strongly, and perhaps rightly so, it’s been called by many not only among the best games of this generation, but one of the greatest video games to have been ever made. And we certainly agree with that notion. In this feature, we’re going to take a look at what made The Witcher 3 as great as it was- it’s greatest strengths, the things that stand out the most, the things that it could do that so many other big budget AAA RPGs these days simply fail to do.
Of course, we’re not claiming that The Witcher 3 is the greatest RPG of all time – well, it’s certainly up there – but there are just so many things that it does so well that other games in the same genre fail to recreate. Which is what we’re going to be talking about in this feature. With all that out of the way, let’s jump right in.
BALANCING NARRATIVE AND OPEN WORLD
The problem with most open world games you play is that in order to provide players with a sandbox to mess about it and give them complete freedom to go wherever they want and do whatever they want, they have to sacrifice in the narrative in storytelling department. The Witcher 3 is one of the few exceptions to that rule, because not only does it provide players with a large, beautiful open world to explore to their heart’s content, it also tells a riveting tale. Granted it’s main story doesn’t have the best pacing, but even when you’re taking on side quests or dabbling in random activities around the game world, mostly everything you do somehow contributes to the game’s larger narrative. The Witcher 3 manages to expertly tell a driven and cohesive narrative inside of a massive open world, and it does it all wonderfully.
