Personal Rating: 10 of 10

Let's get the basics out of the way first. This takes place immediately after Witcher 2 so its highly recommended to play the game according to the sequence as will missed out many lore, characters's story and development. Certain key decisions in Witcher 2 is carried forward to Witcher 3 that mkes certain impact to the game and you can simulate the key choices if missing the saves.

If you have played both previous titles, you will know that the developers takes quality in all aspect of the games to the highest standard and pushes the expectation level to the max. For the third installment, they know the expectation level from players and fans would only be higher. So the developers pushes their ambition over the boundary and they nailed every inch of it. This is Witcher 3!

Witcher 3 is a third-person action adventure RPG game and it plays very similar to the previous titles. There are minor mechanics changes to game to allow players have a smoother and natural gameplay instead of straining them with repetitive gameplay. Example, potions and bombs crafting are one time. You only need to craft once and it will be replenished automatically with certain alcohol when meditating. Traps are removed from the game entirely as it doesn't really see an impactful play in combat. The actions and usefulness of traps can actually be overwritten by signs. Weapon system also sees a change where they are a certain types of weapons with fixed properties determined by levels and rarity. Set and unique relic are still around and sets are now upgradable. Witcher 3 also introduces ranged weapon but sees limited usage.

The world of Witcher 3 is colourful, vibrant, clear, vivid, lively and huge. Its populated with flora and faunas, mysteries, villages and towns, people of different races and stories. What more, it is detailed in every nook and cranny and really delightful to explore or simply stop to admire the breathtaking view. Every exploration is an adventure as you track the howling snowy mountains, swim the deep blue and lonely sea, gallop through the dark woods, traverse and uncover the ambiguity of the deep dark caverns, wander the bogs of unforgiving harshness or simply prancing through flower beds or lush riverside, soaking the bright sunlight or perhaps shower in the reflection light of the moon under the cower of the dark night. Almost every exploration have a story or surprises. Strolling through the busy cities while admiring its art, architecture and inhabitants can give you a perspective of the background and its chronicles. It is just unbelievably an alluring world the developers has created. As the story unfolds, you will have access to more locations and you can not only fast travel within but also across regions.

The story is straight forward and a short one, but, it is embodied into several acts and is served with a story and plots on its own. Sub quests are a plenty and the game is designed for you take on side quests to level as enemy levels are persistent. Meaning, enemies have a fixed level in different location and progress to certain quests is limit by your current level. Quest levels is shown on the quest journal. Every quests, main, side or even unmarked has its story and they are unique while each can be called an adventure on their own. So throughout the game, you will be taken to an emotional roller coaster ride. The dialog, acting and script are well written and acted out. Each region mimics a different country and thus, you have an entirely different culture, environment, people and even slang which gives you an entirely new experience. The soundtrack also also goes well to melt into the areas or regions you are visiting. It is really a joy seeing the activities NPCs carry out, giving you a feeling that you are really in a foreign land like a traveler. The level of immersive-ness is crazy as the developers and designers put in a great deal of effort to the smallest detail to create a world in such precision. You don't get the feeling of re-used props, dialogue or model much. This includes the gameplay and quests mechanics. The game is crafted to each story, event and quests, not the other way around. The mechanics and features are designed to complement the game and you are free to explore and play as you like.

While your eyes indulge the beautiful graphics of the game, let your hearing senses to the creaking of windmill, peaceful flowing river, rustling of the trees and grass, murky waters in the bog or even wind flapping the sail on the boat. Yes, the details are not only limit to the graphics and landscape design. The sound effect in game will further enhance the immersive-ness.

Players may need to take note on the quests, as, although decisions does not branch out to many ending possibilities, it does affect the game somehow, sometimes. Some, comes effect immediately while others much later. This is one of the point which makes the game great as, apart from immersing the player just to the game, it also puts the player to the character itself. Your actions also results in persistent changes to the NPCs attitude towards you. Again, some could be impactful while mostly you can hear that they will sing a different tune when meeting you.

There are a great variety of enemy types in Witcher 3 with each has a unique trait, story and behaviour while all can be of equal threat. As mentioned, enemies have levels (even the same type) and higher level enemies are tougher to handle and dishes really heavy damage usually the character cannot handle. The game is not designed for you to handle enemy such a way and killing them does not offer better reward or experience apart from your sense of accomplishment. To combat enemies, you need to study their behavior, characteristics and weaknesses. You can learn more about the enemies easily from the bestiary where additional information to give you additional edge over the battle. The other 75% will rely on your skill and ability to adapt and react. Control is fluid and responsive so you can almost expect every battle is satisfying.

Witcher 3 also takes mini game to a whole new level with Gwent. The card game has great A.I. and it actually requires you build and play your deck strategically. Plus, Gwent is introduced in such a way that it feels like its part of the world's custom. It even has its history and quest related to it (not just playing "the" gwent kind of quest). It made the collectible card game feels like it has meaning to play and collect. There are other mini games in the game but most of them are tied to quests which I did hope it can be accessed anytime even after completing them.

A game this scale, there will definitely be bugs. There are a handful of them but mostly minor ones. There are a couple of annoying ones such as boat navigation where movement does not register when you press a movement key and sometimes (when you open steam overlay or tab out) when the quest titles appear it will not go away for a while. Other minor bugs can be easily overcome with some imagination such as roach spawning in unaccessible location. You can just move further away and whistle for him again.

Overall, Witcher 3 is great story-centric, fun and wide variety of non-repetitive quests, deep character story and lore, beautiful and detailed world with much to explore. Performance is dinely tuned as well. I'll leave other surprises to be discovered. The game's direction is many but its design will never leave you lost so feel free to embark in a journey you will never forget!

There are only 2 payable DLCs. I strongly recommend both as it adds on additional story arc together new locations, mechanics, enemies and many more. Heart of Stone is smaller package with a story arc that is added to an existing region while Blood and Wine gives you access to an entire new region and pack more surprises while both gives player a whole new direction of story and play experience.