If there’s one thing that the current generation has proven, it’s that yesteryear’s hits can still pack a punch. It was true with The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild on the Nintendo Switch 2 last year, and like clockwork, The Witcher 3 has become one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2026, at least according to Metacritic, thanks to its free remaster.
But even if you’re not one for critical scores and opinions, there’s no denying the enthusiasm around the Remastered edition, which is propelling the original to its highest Steam concurrent user count ever. You could chalk it up to the fact that it’s free, or the sheer number of changes, or CD Projekt RED finally pushing to improve the gameplay – the one real criticism against the classic (besides the frying pan quest, though that was more Witcher 1 reference than anything else).
Now that it’s been out for several days, one thing has become abundantly clear, even with all the bugs: The Witcher 3 is really hard to put down. You would think a few playthroughs would make that abundantly clear already. But no. In 2026, it still hits differently and makes me appreciate its design.
Keep in mind, this is after years of other incredible open-world titles, some using CD Projekt RED’s philosophy to deliver their own detailed settings and stories. It’s arguably the reason why the Horizon series and Assassin’s Creed’s action RPG titles came to be, and yet, even with other titles raising the bar in their own ways – see Red Dead Redemption 2 – life on The Path is still as endearing as it was more than a decade ago.
I think it begins with the world itself. When you’re traveling White Orchard for the first time on horseback, taking in the forestry and streams, listening to that one child mocking Emperor Emhyr with his rhyme, or getting into fights, there’s this ever-present feeling that the world is alive. That it exists irrespective of Geralt, but that doesn’t necessarily reduce him to a bystander. As monstrous as humans can be, some beings are beyond their capabilities. The real “monsters,” such as they are.
Geralt isn’t all-powerful or the kind of force that can eradicate them with a flick of the wrist (or crossbow). But he is one of the few who is specifically trained and chemically altered to hunt them. So while the world carries its own flow, he stands out, whether he moves with or against it.
Which brings us to another brilliant aspect of The Witcher 3’s world design: The organic exploration. Some may scoff because interacting with notice boards and other NPCs could quickly fill up your map with “question marks.” The potential dread of fetch quests set in for some players, guided by these seemingly innumerable signs of punctuation. This is what CD Projekt RED hyped for so long? But that’s where it subverted expectations.
Travelling to these points could reveal the odd treasure hunt, or even a nest of monsters that needed to be emulated, but none of this felt like busywork. The former could lead to other pieces of gear from other Witcher schools. The latter could lend to world-building or tie into another side quest. Littering the map with question marks did nothing to take away from the fully realised, immaculately detailed world.
Even the simplest monster elimination quest could lead to a moral quandary or something completely unexpected. I still remember taking the contract to eliminate an archgriffin in Velen. Knowing little about the different species – and only that it had the material required to progress another quest – I waltzed right in, without a care…to see it rise out of nowhere, extremely high-levelled and aggressive.
And that’s the beauty of it all. Even with the potential threat of high-level enemies and creatures, the overall activities stand out so much for their quality that you’re always willing to go off the beaten path. There’s this anticipation – this sense of discovering something unique and interesting (which happens pretty often, since it’s about more than just combat). One reason the main quest became so difficult for many players. You weren’t stuck juggling innumerable tasks so much as discovering all these incredible stories. It never felt tedious or like you were being dragged into something tedious.
Of course, that applies to the side quests as well – not just because of the twists and turns they can take, but because of the quality of writing. In a period where other games felt like they were getting by well enough with their conversations and quest dialogue, The Witcher 3 made each one feel special.
But if you think back, all those diversions and distractions didn’t necessarily feel like busywork. If anything, it felt very much in line with Geralt’s life in Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels. Geralt’s life with Ciri and his subsequent pursuit of her is well-developed, and forms the narrative through-line for many of the books. However, there are also plenty of “standalone” tales, if you want to call them that, that emphasise his life on The Path, taking on requests to hunt monsters and sometimes resolving situations without wanton slaughter. The Witcher 3 is no different, and the fact that you’re progressing in some fashion makes for a constantly rewarding experience.
Sure, you’re probably no closer to finding Ciri, but at least you’re stronger or better prepared to tackle what’s next, even if you really wished that one Unique sword wasn’t worse than what you’re currently rocking. The fact that so many of these pursuits can overlap, whether it’s leveling up enough to improve your skills or earning enough money and materials to upgrade your armor, means you’ll dive deeper into the world. And hope that curiosity doesn’t kill you in the process.
But hey, many of us already know all this, right? You were probably there for the Wolf School Gear bug. You saw Roach defying the laws of physics like no other. You may have finished the main quest, earning an ending that can be either heartbreaking or downright cathartic depending on the seemingly innocuous decisions made. You also returned in the expansions and saw Geralt to the happy retirement that he so deserved.
The fact that all of this is still present, and resonates as much as ever, is one reason why the remaster keeps me coming back. The sheer scale of the experience means I’ve forgotten so much, but the overall feel and atmosphere – that pull to explore, hearing “Wind’s howling” before the inevitable rains follow, and meeting these beloved characters once again – is undeniable. Of course, the gameplay improvements certainly don’t hurt, whether it’s the combat animations, new finishers, transmog or the dozens of other quality-of-life features.
Which is why I hope CD Projekt RED addresses the many bugs and performance concerns as quickly as possible. I didn’t really need the remaster in my life – even without the deluge of critically-acclaimed titles lately, my backlog is enough to keep me busy for the next year. But if there’s ever a time to return to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, especially with Songs of the Past coming up, it’s now. And a fairly well-polished welcome mat certainly wouldn’t hurt.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
