The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt


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Developer(s)	CD Projekt RED
Publisher(s)	Bandai Namco Games
Engine	RED Engine 3
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One
Release date(s)	19th May 2015 (announced)^[1]
Genre(s)	RPG
Mode(s)	Single-player
Media/distribution	Optical disc, Download, Cloud computing
System requirements
See System Requirements section.

A crowning achievement of the RPG genre. Combining a mature, non-linear story with a vast open world.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the third and final installment in the series of games by CD Projekt RED featuring witcher Geralt of Rivia. The game was originally scheduled appear in late 2014, then pushed back to February, 24th 2015, and finally released on May, 19th 2015 ^[1]. During first 2 weeks upon the release it was sold 4 million copies worldwide ^[2], more than doubling the total sales of The Witcher 2 ^[3]. Unlike the previous games, it is set in a multi-region open world. The game will also be built using the new REDengine3 and was designed with player feedback from fans of previous Witcher games in mind ^[4].

Several early articles have mentioned that the developers of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt plan to have an open world similar to that in Skyrim but 20% larger ^[5]^[6]. However, the devs are quick to point out that while there is much to appreciate in Bethesda's open world concept, they are also making an effort to not repeat what they perceive as the flaws in game. As will earlier games, the consequences of Geralt's actions will impact how the narrative progresses.

For fans of the game there was also "Killing Monsters", a weekly giveaway of wallpapers and audio files which ran from June 10th, 2013 to August 14th, 2013, culminating in the Killing Monsters Cinematic trailer.

On May 14, 2015 CD Projekt Red and Digic Pictures released a pre-launch short story trailer - "A Night to Remember".

New and returning characters

Returning

New

Ciri, Geralt's adopted daughter.
Emhyr var Emreis, the Imperator of Nilfgaard.
Eredin Bréacc Glas, the King of the Wild Hunt.
Johnny
The Ladies of the Wood
Sigismund Dijkstra, former head of the Redanian Secret Service.
Yennefer, the sorceress of Vengerberg.

Features

A mature, non-linear story based on player decisions, full of unexpected events and believable, memorable characters, with their motivations and ambitions.

Multi-region open world

Sail through the wind-swept and rugged islands of off the coast of the Northern Kingdoms.
Explore multiple human settlements and villages including the thriving port city of Novigrad, the Skellige archepelago, and Velen, also known as "No Man's Land" ^[7].
Uncover mysteries that lurk behind each tree and corner in the territories still soaked with blood from the recent war.

Living economy

The new in-game economy system varies the price of goods based on surrounding conditions or their place of origin relative to Geralt's current whereabouts in the world: the price of fish might differ depending on distance from water, and a village lying on a trade route for trappers and hunters might have many tanneries and leather workers, affecting the price of crafting components and armor.

Dynamic and Tactical Combat

Unique, intuitive combat system blending a wide range of tactical elements with the most spectacular and dynamic combat sequences ever seen in a computer role-playing game. Including:
- A dynamic, tactical combat system rooted in traditional RPG systems
- Combat complexity based on a variety of actions at the player’s disposal, not on correct attack sequencing
- A Witcher Senses system bringing new tactical depth to combat
- Monsters, each with their own lore, posing unique hunting challenges and responding to changes in the environment

Living Ecosystems

Communities behave with realism, the flora and fauna form a living ecosystem, and they all react to in-game events.

Stunning visuals

The best-looking RPG to date, competing with games in other genres in which the standard of visuals has traditionally been superior.

Other

Geralt will be able to steer boats and ride horses to reach his destination. He'll be able to tame wild horses with his Axii sign, and also purchase mounts from various stables.
Geralt will also be able to climb and jump.
Three primary areas will make up The Witcher 3′s explorable land, and their entirety will be available from the very start.
Geralt's actions and choices will trigger 36 ^[8] different potential states for the world along with three possible endings. Some choices made during The Witcher 2 will also affect the story, though it isn't clear at this time which of the second game's endings will constitute canon lore.
Geralt will be able to hunt various critters and sell their fur and meat for gold. Inventory management has yet to be described.
The main story missions should take around 50 hours to complete, and side-quests taking an equal amount of time. For completionists, means over 100 hours of Witchering.
Geralt will not be able to attack innocent civilians.
Area transitions will all be seamless.
Geralt's beard will dynamically grow as time passes or players fast travel.

DLC and expansions

The Free DLC program for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt consists of 16 DLCs, that will be available for every gamer owning a copy of Wild Hunt, for Xbox One, the all-in-one games and entertainment system from Microsoft, PC, and PlayStation 4. It is applicable to all versions (digital or physical, standard or Collector’s).

On May 20th, 2015 the first bundle of DLCs (2 of the planned 16) will be released. They include: the Temerian Armor Set (horse armor included) and a Beard and Hairstyle Set for Geralt. The second bundle will contain an additional quest and an alternative look for Yennefer. After this date, a DLC bundle consisting of two DLCs will be published every week, entirely for free to gamers regardless of their type of purchase and platform.

Expansions

There will be two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, and those will be independent of the 16 free DLCs and they will have to be purchased separately. Hearts of Stone will premiere in October 2015, while Blood and Wine is slated for release in the first quarter of 2016. Both expansions will be available on all three platforms: Xbox One, PC, PlayStation 4.

System Requirements

Minimum requirements

Processor: Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3,3 GHz or AMD CPU Phenom II X4 940
Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660 or AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870
RAM: 6 GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
HDD Space: 40 GB ^[9]

Recommended requirements

Processor: Intel CPU Core i7-3770 3,4 GHz or AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
Graphics: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770 or AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
RAM: 8 GB
OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
HDD Space: 40 GB ^[9]

Languages

Full voiceover and subtitles: English, Polish, German, French, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Japanese.
Subtitles only: Arabic, Italian, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Czech, Hungarian, Latin America Spanish, Korean.

Music

Although the composers for the two previous games Adam Skorupa and Krzysztof Wierzynkiewicz created some of the music for the few first trailers (up to "Killing Monsters"), they are not making the soundtrack for this game. The music of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be composed by Marcin Przybyłowicz featuring the Polish folk music band, Percival, Gene Rozenberg and Mikołaj Stroiński.