💎 PREMIUM: Id/NucularS - Complete Album!

To say Witcher 3 is disappointing is the understatement of the century. It is by far the weakest game in the series and quite frankly an insult as a conclusion to the trilogy. The high point of the game are the opening cinematics which create a sense of urgency and a world hanging precariously on the brink, but it's all downhill from there and the atmosphere quickly fizzles out to nothing. The mystery around the Wild Hunt and Ithlene's Prophecy carefully built up in previous games is carelessly squandered, and while I liked the bittersweet ending, the majority of the almost 300 hours spent playing were completely forgettable and filled mostly with irritation.

Performance is horrendous. Character design and animations are terrible, and Geralt consistently interacts with what feels like the same five NPCs. The combat and general navigation have seen no improvement and Geralt is still a clumsy oaf. Character development is non-existent and there is literally nothing to spend experience points on since most game mechanics, like bombs, crossbows, potions, repair kits, etc. are still unnecessary gimmicks. Writing is boring, generic, and purely utilitarian, serving only to push the next quest, rather than to expand the lore or entice emotion. I swear, if I never hear the word "Fine" again, it'll be too soon.

And it is a shame because one or two times that Geralt responds with an actual sentence, that is sarcastic or ironic, it is absolutely hilarious and shows what the game could have been if the developers invested into story and writing instead of larger maps and more cookie-cutter quests. The only remotely interesting dialog in the entire game is the night spent at Kaer Morhen where Geralt actually learns something about his friends, and the only interesting characters in the entire game are the godlings who appear for all of ten minutes in a 250+ hour game. Blood and Wine DLC addresses some of the above problems and if it was the entirety of the game, this review would have been very different, but as it stands, Witcher 3 is but a pale shadow of the original game. It is disappointing in every regard and comes to a sudden and abrupt end with no closure or resolution.