At its core, The Witcher 3 is shaping up to be a gaming experience in which players may find it impossible to stop playing.
The Witcher 1 story and gameplay were arguably hindered by the game's mechanics. Its sequel improved combat and hid the invisible walls better than the first game did, and that progression appears to be carrying over into developer CD Projekt Red's incoming Witcher 3.
What propelled the Witcher 2 to critical acclaim was that it built on top of the promising foundation of the first and made it much easier for a player to hand over more than 40 hours to the game.
The Witcher 3, unless CD Projekt Red is pulling the greatest bait and switch ever, gives players more of the lore and more ways to digest it.
The gritty and grounded characters are still there, along with a transporting score composed with traditional Slavic instruments and the occasional downright cheesy moment to coax a smile out of everyone expect monster hunter Geralt. But it's The Witcher 3's open world that comes as the largest deviation from the series' formula and the wide-open sandbox, for good or bad, is one of the most contentious elements of the game.
The open world in Witcher 3 appears to be laid out much more like an Arkham City than a futuristic Chicago or a Kyrat. It's the type of open world were skill guides a player's progression, rather than the formulaic liberation of output and the mapping of regions from vantage points.
In games from collections like Egosoft's X series or Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto, the traditional RPG structure remained, as players could tackle any area of the game anytime they wanted to do so.
Venturing too deep without advancing far enough through the character's skill tree, would set the player up for a mauling, but gamers could choose from a number of ways to shore up specific skills to tackle far-off quests. It's that ability to take the shortcuts to desirable areas that will make everyone's Witcher 3 experience unique.
It unclear how tight or loose it'll be, but there of course has to be chronology in order to tie the Witcher 3 story into something cohesive. But, as CD Projekt Red has stated, the Witcher 3's side quests will be plentiful and fleshed out enough to draw players well off the beaten path and onto a fork of another story thread.
The Witcher 3 releases on May 19 for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. CD Projekt Red says it isn't necessary to play The Witcher 2 to fully enjoy the third installment, but those looking for a taste of the series should check out our primer here before jumping into the second game.
