The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered Review

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered Review

The accolades speak for themselves with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Eleven years later, CD Projekt Red’s action RPG tour de force still earns praise on nearly every level: the epic story centered on monster-slaying mercenary Geralt of Rivia, the intricate worldbuilding, and, not least, the sprawling, Slavic folklore-inspired world that invites hundreds of hours of adventuring.

As ubiquitous as the game has felt since 2015, CD Projekt Red has made an effort to keep The Witcher 3 in the zeitgeist lately. In 2022, the studio released a major update that spruced things up for next-gen hardware, and next year it plans to release a new expansion, Songs of the Past, following up Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, which were released more than a decade ago. And, of course, The Witcher 4 looms on the horizon.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered builds on the 2022 update, promising further enhancements to graphics and gameplay and introducing new features. If you already own The Witcher 3, the remaster should be available on modern platforms as a free patch; if you didn’t have the two aforementioned expansions before, well, you do now!

So what’s new, and does everything work as it says on the tin? Let’s find out.

Bright as Day

As someone whose last experience with The Witcher 3 was the original release back in 2015, I felt flashbanged by my first 30 minutes or so with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered. I was totally dazzled by the more vivid colors and sharper image that are a small but noticeable step up from the 2022 next-gen update, which I played alongside this latest version for comparison’s sake. Even now, I occasionally stop in my tracks and take in the sights. Velen has never looked this good.

Lighting and shading are improved across the board in the remaster, adding depth to our outdoor and indoor views. I suspect the improved technology has helped us do away with the plasticky sheen characters used to have in prior versions of the game — though I’m sure the texture work helped there as well. By the way, the visuals are stunning regardless of whether you’re playing with ray tracing on.

Ray tracing was actually the inferior mode in my experience, as it seems to produce a more washed-out picture for what I presume are technical reasons that are beyond my ken. It also runs at 30fps on base PlayStation 5, which isn’t ideal, but the motion blur helps smooth it out. By contrast, Performance mode offers a stable, responsive 60fps, though menus and some HUD elements — the minimap most noticeably — remain juddery.

Little issues like this illustrate my one sticking point with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered. I have no qualms saying that what’s been added here are substantial enhancements — not to mention that the update is free, so I have little room to complain — but CD Projekt Red seems content to merely skim around the edges, never fully solving the longstanding problems this game has.

Case in point: the combat. From day one, The Witcher 3’s swordplay suffers from tedious repetition — cast sign, attack, and parry/dodge, repeat ad nauseam — aggravated by a floaty feel to strikes and the occasional jank. Battling the human and not-so-human denizens of the Continent has its moments for sure, but I regard most encounters as inconveniences best avoided unless I’m grinding for specific drops. Unfortunately, the more “dynamic, fluid, and kinetic” action promised in this remaster has not panned out; nothing has changed, in my experience. 

Specifically, enemy behaviors haven’t felt perceptibly better or worse, and while some combat animations may have been redone, the differences are either too subtle for my eyes or too few and far between. What I have noticed, though, is the new adaptive camera, which zooms in and out depending on the number of enemies, and it is indeed helpful when I need to do some crowd control. I’m playing on the “Blood and Broken Bones” difficulty, so choosing the even harder “Death March” might make a difference.

Problems with the combat notwithstanding, I would say the changes in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered range only from good to great. Regarding movement, I’m happy to report that our old Roach problem is solved in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered. Geralt’s steed has progressed from notoriously finicky in 2015 to largely maneuverable by the 2022 update, culminating in this remaster, where he has reached peak form. Roach can now gallop freely without risk of collision, navigate roads with superior (if only slightly imperfect) pathfinding, and come to a proper stop when running into a ledge. Traveling on horseback and on foot is pretty frictionless throughout the remaster.

We also get a wealth of quality-of-life improvements in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, like the ability to change the tracked quest on the map screen. By default, a feed on the left-hand side of the HUD shows your loot pickups, which I find very useful as someone prone to zoning out. You can also collect loot without dismounting from Roach.

The new accessibility options have also helped me a ton. Ever wish you could hide the herb and corpse icons cluttering the minimap? Well now you can! Want to loot bodies without dealing with that pesky menu? CD Projekt Red’s got you. And of course we can now completely eliminate the annoying mechanics of our choosing, like item durability and item weight.

Less practical but still cool is the revamped meditation feature. It’s neat to see Geralt kneel down and let time pass where you left him, even if there isn’t much else to it. Speaking of formerly barebones features, the photo mode introduced in the 2022 update is far more substantial in the remaster. This time, we have a true suite of customization tools at our fingertips, from new filters to the option to add props and various characters to the shot. 

As far as major changes, the biggest overhaul is undoubtedly the skill system. Each Witcher sign (barring Yrden) still has its own set of skills to learn, but now these sets are structured more like trees, with abilities branching off from one another. There are more of them too, and each ability can still be upgraded two or three levels. This change helps players feel like they’re always working toward something, as I remember maxing out Geralt in my original run long before the end of my playthrough.

One straight-up new addition is Transmog, which began as a mod but has now been integrated into the game. Rejoice, Fashion Souls enthusiasts, because this system lets you reskin swords and armor, so you can keep combat perks while rocking your preferred looks. The one con is that unlocking this feature requires you to complete quests that are a fair ways into the game.

Another notable new feature in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is mod support on consoles, which is always nice to have even if I don’t see myself using it much – I’m too much of a trophy sicko. There are around 50 as of this writing, most of which are cosmetic. I started a new game with a handful, and so far they just work out of the box.

Verdict: Buy it!

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is a testament to just how enduring CD Projekt Red’s masterpiece remains. More than a decade after its original release, Geralt’s journey still captivates thanks to its exceptional storytelling, richly realized world, and unforgettable cast of characters. The remaster’s visual enhancements breathe new life into the Continent, with improved lighting, sharper textures, and more vibrant environments making familiar locations feel fresh again. It also brings a wealth of quality-of-life improvements, overhauled skill trees, and long-requested features that collectively make this the most polished and feature-complete version of the game to date.

That said, not every promise lands perfectly. The core combat in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered remains largely unchanged, retaining many of the same repetitive and occasionally clunky characteristics that have followed the game since 2015, and some technical quirks still persist despite the extensive update. Yet these shortcomings do little to diminish the overall package. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered offers the definitive way to experience one of gaming’s greatest RPGs. It may not completely reinvent a classic, but it meaningfully refines it, ensuring this legendary adventure remains as compelling today as it was all those years ago.

*The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered was reviewed on a PS5 with a review copy provided by the publisher.