Storyline
Geralt of Rivia is back, one last time. In this story, all he cares about is looking for his adopted daughter, Ciri, and he will do whatever it takes to find her, and to protect her from the mystical and immensely powerful Wild Hunt. The story entails on witcher, Geralt as he goes to great lengths to find Ciri, and then to protect her as the Wild Hunt closes in. Sacrifices after sacrifices will be made, and hard battles will be fought. Yet Geralt doesn't hesitate to uphold his heroic actions when it comes to making sure Ciri knows that she is loved and cared for, thus, knows that he will do anything to keep her from being captured by the Wild Hunt, who plan to use her unique powers to invade this world - killing her in the process, most likely.

Speaking about the main story, it connects to the events of the second Witcher game 'Assassins of Kings‘ and brings the overall story started from the first part to an end. Witchers are infamous monster hunters, magically improved mutants that are simultaneously feared and needed in a world threatened by dark creatures, evil spirits and living nightmares. Geralt of Rivia is a famous specimen of this kind and thought for a long time that his former friend and lover, the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, would be dead since (assumption from the Witcher 2). However, during the recent events in Loc Muinne he learned that this was not the entire truth and so he decides to start a new journey to finally find answers to his questions, thus, dealing with a side of complicated romantic plots between his former flame, Triss Merigold and Yennefer of Vengerberg.

Setting/Atmosphere
The setting is truly a fantasy-living world of monsters and magic. It is absolutely an astonishing tenacious world out there and at the same time, a mixture of thousands of memes from European and Slavic culture. The environment, characters, textures and attention to graphic details are simply truly amazing. The weather and day/night effects are also top notch. Environments range from plains to swamp and mountains. On the other hand, this is a world where witches fatten children up with sweets, trolls tell riddles and salt is sprinkled on doorsteps and etc. In addition to it, the stunning visuals there are accompanied with brilliant music and fantastic voice acting that will amaze you during dialogues or pumps you up during the fights. Together with the exquisite characters, the superb dialogues and all the deep little stories the game succeeds even more in creating a credible fantasy world.

Gameplay Options
Besides that, instead of going through the main missions, there are a lot of side quests that can be done which will reward Geralt either with swords, crafting components or diagrams. Wildlife is full with bandits, animals, monsters and dragons. Swords can be crafted, dismantled or repaired. Combat is richer and fluid, as for now, you can enjoy a whole new experience of sword fighting like never before, using Signs (magic powers) to eventually complement your style, thus, not forgetting an additional weapon being added which is the crossbow to take down enemies from far. Geralt's ability in skills can also be upgraded by levelling up or drawing from Places of Power that can be found all over the map. Five type of magic signs (Aard, Axii, Igni, Quen and Yrden) can be used during attacks that can make enemies vulnerable and weak during combat. Alchemy can be applied to swords or consumed (drinking) that can make additional damage to human and non-human enemies when in a battle.

GWENT
In other contexts, The Witcher 3 did include a new game activity or pastime which is called ‘Gwent’, a mini-game of cards involving two armies meeting on the battlefield and battling it out until the last one stands. This is probably a personal taste as players could actually go around the map and enter taverns after taverns battling out with NPCs (Non-Playable Character) with a game of Gwent or continuing their journey on the story or those side quests. Players could also seek shop owners if they were to purchase Gwent cards or keeping them as a collection.

Decision-Making and The Open-World
Furthermore, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is about choices and consequences. That is why the choices you make during the game has so much impact on both the immediate and the long future of the game. Countless choices you make during the game, from the attitude you treat your daughter Ciri (which may lead to three different major final endings), to a small witcher contract pay that might not have appeased you or certain side quests that requires you to decide fate of certain characters (portrayal of certain characters during early stages of story and appearing later on) in which all these will construct a strong sense of identification between the player (you) and the protagonist of the game.

One could also stray away from the main storyline as there are various types of side quests, witcher contracts and secret locations to be discovered. These contents may very well fulfil and get rid the boredom of the players if they were to find something new to do as to navigate and explore the whole map. By doing all these, players could also level up or improve their abilities along the way to overcome enemies which are much stronger later on in the game. In addition to it, the map is also created in a way that allows Geralt to ‘Fast Travel’ to designated areas all over the map instead of taking the long route accompanied by his horse, Roach or taking boats to get across small islands or swamps.

There is a looting system in the game as well where players could actually loot and scavenge items out of humans, dead creatures, treasures, boxes and many more that are hidden all over the map. You will be notified and alerted once there are items to be looted or one could use their ‘Witcher senses’ (superhuman senses that highlight objects or see clues and tracks that no ordinary human can) to spot the loot out. This comes to my next point, where after looting items, players could actually exchange these loot for coins with NPCs that are doing business. As you loot for items, Geralt’s inventory would also be stocked and as Geralt, your one major concern is to balance up the weight of your inventory or else you will be overburdened and unable to perform certain tasks. In contrast, there is a weight limit on your inventory and one should know how to manage the items kept in it or purchase a bigger compartment for inventory from selected shop owners on the map.

Truly of course, I felt that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a masterpiece in every possible aspect: story, visuals, music, gameplay mechanics and specifications, developer support etc. Likewise, everything fits perfectly together as probably this might just be the game of the century in terms of a RPG-styled genre with an amazing amount of content, exquisite characters, dialogues and interesting stories, so I’d recommend it for everyone who has even the slightest positive attitude towards RPGs or the fantasy-genre in general. However, at the same time I wouldn’t recommend the game for anyone who has only a little time to spare, do not want want to be immersed in a massive world full of lore and myths or just wants to rush the story as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt needs tons of time and patience. Nevertheless, the game pays off by providing a brilliant experience that will take you on a journey that you’ll never regret or forget. CD Projekt RED did absolutely an amazing job creating this piece of art as one will not regret their decision as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will bring you chunks of fun, excitement and thrills throughout your whole journey in the game.