The Witcher 3: Why This Decade-Old RPG Still Puts New Open-World Games to Shame
14.01.2026 - 13:11:18
You know that feeling when a huge, beautiful open world somehow ends up feeling empty? When every side quest is just another fetch errand, every character a cardboard cutout, and every choice you make secretly funnels you down the same corridor? Modern RPGs are big, but too often they aren’t alive.
That’s the frustration so many players carry today: endless content, very little soul.
This is exactly where The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt still hits like a thunderbolt, even years after release.
The Witcher 3 doesn’t just give you a map and markers. It gives you a life to live as Geralt of Rivia: monster hunter, reluctant father figure, and professional problem magnet in a war-torn, morally gray fantasy world. And that world pushes back—hard—on every decision you make.
Why The Witcher 3 Feels Like the Solution to Boring Open Worlds
Instead of more icons and bigger maps, The Witcher 3 delivers something players on Reddit, Steam, and forums still rave about in 2026: meaningful quests, consequences that show up dozens of hours later, and side stories that are better written than many games’ main plots.
Released by CD Projekt S.A. in 2015 and continually updated—with a major free next-gen update in late 2022—The Witcher 3 has quietly become the benchmark for narrative-driven open-world RPGs. Its ISIN is referenced in financial circles as PLOPTCD00011, but to gamers it’s simply the game every new RPG is compared against.
The result? A title that still dominates “Best RPG of All Time” lists, tops Steam charts in new-player reviews, and frequently resurfaces in Reddit threads with comments like “I wish I could play it again for the first time.”
Why this specific model?
There are plenty of open-world RPGs, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition (the version you’ll almost always find today) stands apart for a few key reasons uncovered across reviews, forums, and the official site:
- Story-first design: The main plot—Geralt searching for Ciri while fleeing the spectral Wild Hunt—is cinematic, emotionally resonant, and tightly paced. But the magic is in the writing of the side quests. Players routinely say side missions like the Bloody Baron arc hit harder than most games’ finales.
- Choice with teeth: Decisions aren’t color-coded good and evil. They’re messy, human, and frequently come back 10 or 20 hours later when you’ve forgotten them, reshaping the world, characters’ fates, and even entire regions.
- Two full expansions that feel like standalone RPGs: "Hearts of Stone" and "Blood and Wine" (included in the Complete Edition) add rich, self-contained stories—one a haunting Faustian bargain, the other a sprawling epilogue in a sun-drenched new region.
- Modernized for current hardware: The 2022 next-gen update brought visual upgrades (ray tracing on supported platforms, higher-resolution textures, performance modes on consoles), quality-of-life tweaks, and even optional new camera and control schemes.
- Cross-generation value: New players on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and even Nintendo Switch still get a premium single-purchase experience—no subscription, no battle pass, just a massive handcrafted RPG.
In practical terms: if you want an RPG you can disappear into for weeks that still respects your intelligence, this is the one veteran players tell newcomers to start with.
At a Glance: The Facts
| Feature | User Benefit |
|---|---|
| Open-world, story-driven RPG set in a dark fantasy universe | Gives you a huge map to explore without sacrificing deep, character-driven storytelling. |
| Play as Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster hunter (Witcher) | Grounds you in a defined character with history, relationships, and distinct combat/magic skills. |
| Multiple endings shaped by player choices | Makes your decisions feel weighty and encourages replayability to see different outcomes. |
| Includes "Hearts of Stone" and "Blood and Wine" expansions (Complete Edition) | Adds dozens of hours of premium story content and a large new region, boosting long-term value. |
| Next-gen update with enhanced visuals and performance (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S) | Lets you experience the game with sharper graphics, smoother framerates, and modern effects. |
| Rich quest design with branching narratives and morally gray choices | Prevents quest fatigue by turning even side missions into memorable, emotionally charged stories. |
| Gwent in-game card game and diverse side activities | Provides satisfying distractions and progression systems beyond combat and main quests. |
What Users Are Saying
The consensus across Reddit threads (r/witcher, r/gaming), Steam reviews, and console communities in 2026 is remarkably consistent: The Witcher 3 hasn’t just aged well—it’s aged into a classic. But it’s not perfect, and players are honest about that too.
Commonly praised:
- Writing and characters: Players repeatedly highlight how attached they become to characters like Ciri, Yennefer, Triss, and even minor NPCs. The phrase “best side quests ever” comes up again and again.
- World-building: From the war-torn swamps of Velen to the gothic sprawl of Novigrad and the windswept Skellige isles, the world feels politically and culturally layered.
- Expansions: Many users say "Blood and Wine" alone is better than full-priced RPGs, and frequently call it one of the best DLCs ever made.
- Value: Players talk about 80–150 hour playthroughs without feeling like they’re grinding filler.
- Next-gen update: PC and current-gen console owners praise improved graphics and performance, noting it feels surprisingly modern for a 2015 release.
Common criticisms:
- Combat feel: Some players still find swordplay a bit floaty or less precise compared to more recent action RPGs, even after updates.
- Early-game pacing: New players sometimes report that it takes a few hours—essentially until after the opening area of White Orchard—to really "click."
- UI and inventory management: While improved over the years, menus can feel cluttered on first contact, especially for those new to complex RPG systems.
- Time commitment: For gamers with limited free time, the sheer scale can be intimidating.
Still, the overall sentiment is overwhelmingly positive. On discussion boards, whenever someone asks "Is The Witcher 3 worth playing in 2026?", the top replies are some variation of: "Yes. Especially now."
Alternatives vs. The Witcher 3
How does The Witcher 3 stack up against other heavyweights in the RPG space?
- Elden Ring: FromSoftware’s masterpiece delivers superior combat and environmental storytelling, but it’s sparse on traditional dialogue-driven narrative. If you want a rich, voiced story with defined characters, The Witcher 3 is the better fit.
- Skyrim: Bethesda’s classic offers unmatched freedom in character creation and role-play style. However, many players find The Witcher 3’s writing, quest quality, and consequences significantly deeper and more cohesive.
- Cyberpunk 2077: Also from CD Projekt S.A., Cyberpunk has evolved into a strong narrative RPG, but it’s more focused on a single dense city and a different tone. The Witcher 3 offers a broader, more varied fantasy world and arguably more memorable side stories.
- Dragon Age: Inquisition: BioWare’s title has strong party dynamics, but its open world leans more toward checklist design. Players who bounce off Inquisition’s repetitive zones often find The Witcher 3 a refreshing contrast.
If your priority is combat-first action, some newer titles may edge out The Witcher 3. But if you want an emotion-first story inside an open world that reacts to you, this is still the gold standard.
Final Verdict
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is not just another open-world RPG—it’s the game that quietly rewired what players expect from the genre. In an era obsessed with seasonal content and microtransactions, it feels almost radical in its simplicity: buy once, get a fully realized, sprawling adventure that respects your time, your choices, and your intelligence.
It takes a couple of hours to settle in. You’ll fumble some fights. You’ll get lost in a forest chasing a contract that spirals into something far more human than you expected. But then it happens: a conversation, a choice, a quiet moment on a windswept cliff with Geralt and Ciri—and you realize you’re not just playing a game, you’re living through a story you’ll remember years from now.
If you’re tired of shallow open worlds and forgettable quests, The Witcher 3 is still the antidote. Whether you’re on PC, a current-gen console, or even picking it up on the go with the Switch version, it’s one of the few games that truly earns the word "epic" without drowning you in empty activities.
Is it perfect? No. But it doesn’t have to be. It just has to make you care—and that’s where it leaves most of its competition in the dust.
If you’ve never played it, now is the best time. If you have, you probably don’t need this review to convince you—you’re already thinking about starting a New Game Plus.
For more official information, editions, and platform details, you can visit the game’s site at thewitcher.com and the developer’s page at cdprojekt.com.
