The PlayStation faithful might not be familiar with The Witcher, developer CD Projekt RED’s RPG take on several Polish fantasy novels. The first two games, 2007’s The Witcher and 2011’s The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, never landed on PlayStation platforms, despite hopeful rumors and a general “never say never” attitude from the devs. That all changes with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which will both conclude Geralt of Rivia’s tale and mark his first appearance on a Sony console.
Geralt, the eponymous Witcher, is a monster hunter by trade, bred for combat and survival excellence, and a capable alchemist who amplifies his abilities with potions and mutagens. This puts strategy at the forefront of The Witcher’s action-RPG combat, which is known for its realistic difficulty. Sure, Geralt can take more hits than your average medieval so-and-so, but he’s far from invincible—a cocky attitude and ignoring his defensive abilities will be met with swift death. Sitting down with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s opening hours—nearly four hours of play, to be exact—I could tell this particular series tradition was in full effect. Rest assured, if you haven’t played a Witcher game before, you’re getting the real-deal, authentic experience with Wild Hunt.
You’ll also be OK as far as plot is concerned. Having only dabbled in previous entries myself (the first game, in particular, hasn’t aged well), I knew only passing facts about The Witcher’s universe. Geralt of Rivia is a grizzled veteran, incredibly cool, and about as close to a sex symbol as you’re like to find in this land. He has an on-and-off love interest in the beautiful sorceress Yennefer, has played various roles in political machinations and wars, and generally stays removed from any mission that isn’t his own. This foundation was perfectly fine for The Witcher 3’s opening quests. From subtle hints in dialogue to side storylines sprouting from the background lore, it was easy to catch up with The Witcher 2’s biggest revelation: the kingdom of Nilfgaard has forcibly conquered Temeria, and Temeria’s residents are dealing with the aftermath in different ways.
If you’d like to enter The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt completely fresh-faced, with no narrative knowledge whatsoever, I would stop reading here. My detailed impressions of the game’s combat, structure, and world all follow.
Despite the series’s trademark difficulty, you won’t be at a huge disadvantage coming in fresh to The Witcher’s fast-paced combat. The gameplay on-boarding is just as effective as the narrative welcome. Geralt and Vesemir, the most experience and grizzled of all Witchers, are teaching their Witcher ways to Ciri, a young, silver-haired girl. With compelling dialogue and sparring under the guise of tutelage, the introduction effectively conveys the basic controls—switching weapons, using magic Signs, dodging and rolling—without feeling much like a tutorial. I expected this segment of the game to be a flashback, or the precursor to a leap in time, given all the ado about Ciri being a playable character. I was close. As the titular Wild Hunt—a ghostly force of skeletal kings and warriors on horseback—soared through the skies to assault this Witcher school, Geralt suddenly awoke from his nightmare to the present day, near a campfire in the Temerian countryside.
Geralt and Vesemir, his traveling companion, discuss the good old days and how much Ciri has grown before setting off in search of Yennefer. Along the way, they encounter a flying monstrosity: a griffin, larger and more ferocious than just about any prior fantasy incarnation, has the merchant cowering under his overturned cart in fear. After fending off the griffin, Geralt hears from the merchant that a woman matching Yennefer’s description has been in the area, passing through the hamlet of White Orchard. Geralt and Vesemir set off for the town; along the way, I get my first sense of this world’s impressive scale.
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