Honestly this game is brilliant. I'm 30 hours in and feel like I have not even started yet. The maps are huge, and quite intimidating. There are lots of things to see and places to explore. Sometimes randomly exploring places you will find a hidden letter or item that leads you on a new quest. Speaking of quests, the secondary ones tie in beautifully with the main story and feel like they have meaning and purpose behind them. The visuals are stunning, especially if you have a rig capable of using HairWorks and HBAO+ to their full potential. The day/night cycle on top of the changing weather conditions really engross you in the world. The sound, both ambient and effects, are all awe inspiring. Just listening to the wind blow the trees, the village sounds of hammer on steel and axe on wood, even the gentle noises your horse makes as you travel is just very immersing.

The story telling is one of the major positives for me personally. All the NPC’s really come alive with the texture and detail on their faces, CD Projekt RED did a great job with that. The voice acting is great, much better than Witcher 2 and feels far more professional. All of the conversation options are well thought out, and there are plenty of decisions with some severe consequences depending on the way you play it. If you import a Witcher 2 save, you will have a few surprises and reappearances as well.

Combat is solid, it takes a little practice to get to grips with the dodging, parrying, and when to use the signs effectively, but once you work it out you will love fighting some mobs. The skill tress are varied and in-depth, and you can really tailor your play style by equipping/unequipping specific skills for different scenarios. Using mutagens to further develop and buff your abilities.

There is so much more I could talk about like Gwent, the card game, bartering/intimidation mechanics, boat sailing, all the crafting and potions, but you need to play it yourself to really appreciate it. Hopefully with further updates and user mods the game will continue to improve and evolve.

There are not many negatives, mostly performance related which, as of writing, a lot of have been fixed already with v1.03.

Honestly this game is brilliant. I'm 30 hours in and feel like I have not even started yet. The maps are huge, and quite intimidating. There are lots of things to see and places to explore. Sometimes randomly exploring places you will find a hidden letter or item that leads you on a new quest. Speaking of quests, the secondary ones tie in beautifully with the main story and feel like they have meaning and purpose behind them. The visuals are stunning, especially if you have a rig capable of using HairWorks and HBAO+ to their full potential. The day/night cycle on top of the changing weather conditions really engross you in the world. The sound, both ambient and effects, are all awe inspiring. Just listening to the wind blow the trees, the village sounds of hammer on steel and axe on wood, even the gentle noises your horse makes as you travel is just very immersing. The story telling is one of the major positives for me personally. All the NPC’s really come alive with the texture and detail on their faces, CD Projekt RED did a great job with that. The voice acting is great, much better than Witcher 2 and feels far more professional. All of the conversation options are well thought out, and there are plenty of decisions with some severe consequences depending on the way you play it. If you import a Witcher 2 save, you will have a few surprises and reappearances as well. Combat is solid, it takes a little practice to get to grips with the dodging, parrying, and when to use the signs effectively, but once you work it out you will love fighting some mobs. The skill tress are varied and in-depth, and you can really tailor your play style by equipping/unequipping specific skills for different scenarios. Using mutagens to further develop and buff your abilities. There is so much more I could talk about like Gwent, the card game, bartering/intimidation mechanics, boat sailing, all the crafting and potions, but you need to play it yourself to really appreciate it. Hopefully with further updates and user mods the game will continue to improve and evolve. There are not many negatives, mostly performance related which, as of writing, a lot of have been fixed already with v1.03.