DECEMBER 2020 PCWorld 111
- WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT
Last but certainly not least, The Witcher 3:
Wild Hunt (go.pcworld.com/w3hn) is
arguably the game of this generation. I’m not
(officially) putting that label on it, nor would I
even say it’s my favorite game of this
generation. But the impact it had is
immeasurable, both in terms of elevating
big-budget storytelling and in rethinking how
open-world games should work.
At the start of this generation, Ubisoft’s
“formula” dominated the genre. Epitomized
by Assassin’s Creed Unity (go.pcworld.com/
unty) and Syndicate (go.pcworld.com/acsy),
games were packed full of meaningless
collectibles and side activities. Maps got
more and more crowded with hundreds of
tiny icons. There was a lot to do, but very little
of it mattered.
The Witcher 3 made its side content—
well, most of it—matter. Some of its side
missions are even more
popular than the main
storyline, with Geralt settling
local disputes, attending a
masquerade, or simply
enjoying a drink with old
friends. It blurred the line
between “essential” and
“extraneous” like no game
before, with the
consequences from seemingly
insignificant side missions
popping up in the main story
hours later.
And then there was Geralt. Video games
are fond of a blank slate, but The Witcher 3 is
proof that a strongly-defined character can be
a boon to roleplaying (go.pcworld.com/
boon). Defining “your” version of Geralt,
whether compassionate or callous (or both),
was a large part of The Witcher 3’s appeal,
and CD Projekt did it without resorting to
artificial meters or a more traditional video
game solution. They wrote a complex
character with conflicting motivations for the
player to prioritize.
The Witcher 3 had other ripple effects, of
course. The “?” map icon has become
pervasive, a hallmark of games that want to
imitate The Witcher 3, from Assassin’s Creed
to Ghost of Tsushima. But it’s the adventure
itself that I remember, nearly five years since I
left Geralt looking out over Corvo Bianco (go.
pcworld.com/crvo).
20.
