The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt review: Hunting fiends for fun and forever

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the slowest of slow burns. Developer CD Projekt Red has stated that it would take something like 200 hours to play through absolutely everything the unprecedentedly dense open world has to offer. After spending about 50 hours with the game since its release last week, I easily believe that.

Even ignoring the massive number of side quests, though, the primary story line demands a commitment on par with an earlier era of role-playing games, when AAA development wasn't nearly so cost-prohibitive. Wild Hunt definitely leaves its big budget on the screen with gorgeous characters and environments that impress even in their grim greyness.

The Witcher universe was already dark and politically charged in the novels that inspired the games, which date back long before Game of Thrones made the jump to HBO. Still, The Witcher 3 reflects evident influence from that TV series. The crackling, fiery bombast that kicked off The Witcher 2 has been muted significantly this time around. High fantasy concepts that have been pillars of the previous two games—mages turning each other into statues, elves and dwarfs fighting for equality, spectral battlefields—are held far, far back now.

That's not to say those elements aren't present. In some respects, Wild Hunt's conglomeration of the sci-fi and fantasy genres is handled more deftly than ever. In the game's early hours (which feel like they drag on a bit), events are very much focused on the more personal story of Geralt of Rivia, the monster slaying witcher of the title. Geralt is searching for his adopted daughter/protégé from the novels: Ciri.

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