Cover artwork I generate from the game data. I do not use publisher artwork.
Game profile
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Geralt of Rivia searches a dark fantasy world for his adopted daughter Ciri. The side quests often tell better stories than entire other games manage in their main campaigns.
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What kind of game this is
At its core this is RPG / Adventure, set in a fantasy world. Visually it is going for realism, and the overall tone stays dark throughout. The world is open, so wandering off and ignoring the main path is part of the deal. It rewards long uninterrupted stretches more than quick check-ins.
The difficulty is moderate and fair, demanding attention without punishing you for it. The narrative carries the whole thing, and the mechanics serve it. It is a single player experience from start to finish. It is available broadly, on 4 platforms. It sits in the budget bracket.
What stands out
- Vast fantasy world
- Outstanding side quests
- Two major expansions
This fits you if
- you want to live through a story, not just play a system
- exploring for its own sake is the point for you
- you can sit down for a proper long stretch without interruptions
- you like getting lost and ignoring the main objective for hours
- the writing matters more to you than the mechanics
- you play alone and want a complete experience without other people
Look elsewhere if
- you skip cutscenes and want to get to the gameplay
- you do not have 100 hours to give a single game
- you only ever get short bursts of play time
- you want something light and easy going
What it costs you in time
About 100 hours in total. At three evenings a week and two hours each, you will be busy for roughly 17 weeks, or 50 sessions.
How the rating ranks
Critics settled on 92 out of 100, which puts it above 93 percent of the 1206 games here and at rank 88 overall. That is a strong score, comfortably above what most releases manage.
For comparison, RPG averages 82 points across the database, so this one sits 10 points above its own genre. The figure rests on 5402 collected ratings.
Released in 2015, which makes it 11 years old. A genuine classic, and worth checking how the version you buy holds up today.
The facts
- Release year
- 2015
- Genres
- RPG, Adventure
- Playtime
- approx. 100 hrs.
- Difficulty
- Moderate, fair
- Story weight
- Carries the whole game
- Play with
- Solo
- Setting
- Fantasy
- Visual style
- Realistic
- Price bracket
- Budget
- Platforms
- PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch
- Critic rating
- 92 / 100
Direct comparison
| Genres | Release year | Playtime | Critic rating | Price bracket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | 2015 | approx. 100 hrs. | 92 | Budget |
| Crimson Desert | 2026 | approx. 45 hrs. | 86 | Full price |
| Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 | 2025 | approx. 30 hrs. | 73 | Full price |
| Echoes of the End | 2025 | approx. 25 hrs. | 73 | Full price |
If you liked this, try these
- Crimson Desert Shared: RPG, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Shared: RPG, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- Echoes of the End Shared: RPG, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Shared: RPG, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- Hogwarts Legacy Shared: RPG, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter
- Cassette Beasts Shared: RPG, Adventure, Fantasy, shorter