The Witcher 3 Is The Greatest Open World Game Of All Time

So... open world. The Witcher 3 has one, but so does almost every game released these days. It's a trend, and not a very good one at that, either, as more and more developers are throwing out actual good game design, and replacing it with vast open worlds and bullshit padding checklists and filler quests instead.

What made The Witcher 3's open world different? Why was it so great? Well, time for another bullet list.

• The size. Seriously, the size of The Witcher 3's world is seriously impressive. It's a continent sized world that can overwhelm you with its size and scope. If size is all you want with your open worlds, then The Witcher 3's open world should be it.

• The variety: The variety that The Witcher 3's world exhibits can be almost shocking- apart from a desert area, we have everything here. A densely populated urban area, like Novigrad and Oxenfurt. Tropical swamplands, like Velen. Nordic, Skyrim-esque settings with Skellige. Mountainous landscapes with Kaer Morhen. The Witcher 3's world is vast, and more importantly, it's always changing, so you are always excited to explore it.
• Content. An open world is nothing without content- it's just vast tracts of land you must cross, adding needlessly to game time. The Witcher 3's open world is not like that- it is full of meaningful things to do. New areas to explore, monsters and beasts to take on, dungeons to discover, emergent quests that show up as you play, points of discovery and areas of interest, scripted quests, and more- and the best part is just how high quality it all is.
• Quality of content. The quality of content matters almost more than the quantity. Having a game full of Ubisoft-esque checklists isn't fun, it's a chore. The Witcher sidesteps this by filling up its massive world with actual, meaningful content that all feels like it amounts to something. This cannot be overstated- CD Projekt RED have gone out of their way to ensure that the world of The Witcher 3 feels believable. They have pulled out all stops. The writing and structure of a single quest in Witcher 3 is probably better than the standard of writing for the main quest in an average video game. Compared to the competition in the genre, which is Bethesda, Witcher's writing can come as such an enormous step up, you may find Bethesda games ruined for you forever.
• World building. As I said before, CD Projekt RED have gone all out to make their world believable. This is down to the quality of writing and structure of quests, but it also comes down to the little details- the weather, the distinct climate of each location, the NPC chatter and behavior that exists independently of you and is persistent, the emergent events in the game world, such as monster attacks and spontaneous fights that break out, the deeply culturally and politically tense story that is always pervasive in the background, little details (such as seeing a place called the Hanged Man's Tree on your map, and actually seeing men hanged from a tree when you go there), or how the time of sunrise and sunset seems to vary depending on how far up north you go. More than even Bethesda and Rockstar, CD Projekt RED make their world believable- this is because they're not making a theme park here. The world in The Witcher does not exist for your amusement. It just exists, independently of you ever having been there- you just happen to find yourself inside it.
• No compromises. Usually, you get one or the other with a video game- a deeply directed experience that manages to tell a tight story, but impinges upon your agency, such as with games like Uncharted or God of War. Or a game that manages to go open world, but manages to lose a focus in its storytelling, such as with The Phantom Pain or The Elder Scrolls. You never actually get a game that does both. Except for with The Witcher 3, because somehow, this game manages to deliver a tightly told, highly engaging story that is written better than most of the other drivel that characterizes video game writing, and it does so while being open world (and an incredible open world at that). This only serves to make the framing open world that much more meaningful, and makes everything in the story have that much more impact.

I can go on and on, but really, I think I will give you a nice, short TL;DR that sums it up.

TL;DR: The Witcher 3 is the greatest open world game of all time- this is because it doesn't make the open world its central point, like all other open world games do. Instead, it just happens to be a thoroughly excellent game set in an open world.

Agreed. That's why I made a hype thread. I knew it's going to be awesome.

I agree. Stunning what CDPR achieved, i guess that's what happens when you put in actual work into the project you should love.

It's actually one of the worst ones ever.

I've written a 7.5-page review (using Word as a format) on it here:

http://polskilive.pl/recenzja/wiedzmin-3-dziki-gon/

It's in Polish, sadly, but I cannot be bothered to type anything now since I'm outdoors and on the phone. You can google translate it and hope for best which will probably be far from enough but there's so much wrong with this game I don't even know where to begin. Oh wait, I had already done that in the review.

Nah, Skyrim is still a better open world. Witcher 3's side quests get predictable. There isn't much running into random things in the open world, pretty much every side quest can be found on a notice board first. The treasure hunting becomes super useless really fast unless you're looking for Witcher gear. There isn't nearly as much to interact with like with skyrim.

Also, the npc chatter and actions are fucking horrible. Its not really any different than what the older asscreed games did. There are tons of nameless npc clones wandering the streets doing nothing and the "sound" of the city is just as bad as previous Witcher games where there is a noticeable loop.

It has no emergent game play. You'll never travel to a major city or town and see it getting attacked by a dragon while some npcs fight it and others run for cover. I never even saw monsters fight each other in the open world like they do in skyrim.

Bethesda games have so many more systems and their games are so much more ambitious than any other open world games. Yea, Witcher 3 did it's best to imitate Skyrim but it failed in a lot not ways.

One of my favorites but I do not think I could choose a best one ever...

Yes, it is!

If your idea of an open world is a world in which enemies are placed in a hermetic way as if they were on a grid as opposed to random organic placement, and full of boring predictable side-events a'la Assassin's Creed as well as side quests that are rarely fascinating (some are, though) and most importantly they don't give any incentive and grant you very little XP...plus if you love RPG games with most uninspired skill trees that only give you passive stats buff and combined with limited importance of equipment they create an impression that stats hardly matter...plus the world which fails to rekindle the desire to revisit old places upon getting certain artifacts in the way Metroid, Batman and even Tomb Raider do...if you believe that getting one sidequest after another with level cap 20 lvls higher than yours so that they artificially ensure you have something to do by the end of the game WHEN YOU MOST LIKELY WILL IGNORE THIS TORPOR KNOWING HOW MEANINGLESS IT IS because of no incentive to it...same for equipment - gettint dozens of pieces of gear that you can equip 20 levels later with hardly any gear you can equip after levelling up 3 levels IS NOT A GOOD SENSE OF PROGRESSION.

So if you LOVE all that, I guess that's the idea of the best world for you...

Gosh, even writing all about it and I was really laconic, still - made me sick.

On a technical level the open world is a marvel. No loading screens except when you travel between continents is impressive considering how large the maps are and how incredible the visuals are. But the open world isn't well-designed if you value exploration; it doesn't feel like you can just set out and do random shit and have fun doing random shit. Your goal here isn't to live out whatever fantasy you want--it's to roleplay as Geralt and complete quests. So like you said, The Witcher 3 is just an RPG set in a large open-world rather than a true open-world game with RPG mechanics. It's not Skyrim with decent gameplay and a good story. Bethesda and Rockstar do open-worlds better because their games allow you to do almost anything you want and create the stories you want to create. There is emergent gameplay in Skyrim and GTA V; there isn't in The Witcher 3.

Of course, that doesn't mean The Witcher 3 is a bad game, or that it plays second-fiddle to Skyrim as an RPG; it's undoubtedly one of the best RPGs ever made. But it's not a shining example of what open worlds should be unless you somehow think player freedom isn't important.

lol ummm N O.

Cutscene simulator

Tree simulator

Duplicate NPC like 2 of them playing together

Horrid battle system

Horrid controls

The only people alive are the ones in cutscenes, during gameplay every single character and NPC is a 2D robot

Not even the best open world game I played this year.

@princeofshapeir: well said. Witcher 3 is a great game but that world isn't as authentic as gtav nor does it give you the freedom of skyrim. Also, it never felt like the cities had much of a personality. In skyrim, every city had character and a distinct style based on the cultures that influenced it. I never got that from Witcher 3. Its cities were big but mostly just generic fantasy setting.

Doubt it. Elder Scrolls is a damn solid open world series. Still have to try Witcher 3, though..

And just when you thought CDPR couldn’t get any better, your standard physical copy is the equivalent of what eidos/square enix would sell to you as a limited edition yet you get Witcher 3 for the price of a standard edition. To be even more perfect then they already are they also include a wholehearted note thanking fans. In addition they also release DLC which is worthwhile. Hearts of Stone for $9 alone has more content than all Destiny and all of its shitty DLC. Man I really hope Bioware can learn from CDPR, make a good game. There are thousands of reasons why The Witcher 3 is the best but let me summarise it below.

• Everything OP has mentioned, though he doesn’t even scratch the surface for the sheer joy you’ll experience from the game
• The physical edition is actually worth it
• Devs are humble and respect their fans
• No DRM
• Romance options are actually good. Bioware needs to take a page from CDPR, make female characters hot and stop forcing the gay romance crap down our throats. I haven’t played Fallout 4 but I heard from all my friends that are playing it there are gay romance and you can even get with a robot. WTF?!?
• This is one of the most important points, they were criticized for not having enough Triss content, instead of making a DLC and making you pay for it (I’m looking right at Bioware), they just put it in a patch. HAS ANY OTHER DEVELOPER BEEN THIS GOOD? I DIDN’T THINK SO…

Can The Witcher 3 be better than it already is? Sure, they could start by delivering the initial E3 graphics for the PC version, making the ending a cinematic ending like MGS4 instead of slideshows but that’s about it. The thing is Witcher 3 has proven that good graphics is nice but it isn’t everything and the ending is nonetheless satisfying. The depression you suffer at the end of Witcher 3 because you don’t want to ever leave the universe doesn’t count ;-)

If you haven’t played The Witcher 3, boy you are missing out…I didn’t have a gaming desktop until end of last year, I knew I needed one because I wanted to enjoy The Witcher 3 to the fullest. I bought a PS3 just for Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us, a PS4 just for Uncharted 4 and I’m not ashamed even if The Witcher 3 is the only game I play on my desktop.

Not sure. I still keep going back to the Far Cry 3, Far Cry 4, and GTA V worlds. At least I can reset the outposts in both Far Cry 3 and Far Cry 4.

As for a relaxing exploration, I find it soothing to fly around Far Cry 4's world with the Buzzer. For GTA V, it's getting aboard the train and causing mayhem.

I don't see the same desire to re-explore TW3's world.

Bethesda games also have shit writing, shit characters, and shit mechanics. These things are also vital at building worlds.

If any Bethesda game had good emergent gameplay, its Fallout New Vegas....oh wait, that's Obsidian.

Monsters and men fight eachother in TW3. What are you smoking? There are also many quests picked up running around the open world. You can bag like 10 quests roaming Novigrad. there is even quests that are found on small isles in Skellige.

Witcher 3 quests are known for their unpredictability...more so than Bethesda.

not even close

Arma.

Hell yeah.

Majority of those who disagree just like to do random shit , spend their time killing ppl on the streets and walk through a shallow and hollow world like Skyrim , what's the point?! TW3 gives you purpose and story , CDPR is not a lazy dev like Bethesda.

........

NO.

Imitate ?

Skyrim has lore.... that's the only thing that puts it above The Witcher 3. And it absolutely smashes The Witcher 3's face in when it comes to Lore.

Yeah agreed.

Wrong

The Witcher is a novel series and its lore more than puts Skyrim to shame.

DO you think I don't know ??

Go check the TES lore.

Then be quiet afterwards.

Shame on you. Can't believe you said The Witcher 3 has more lore than TES.

agree and can only think of how spectacular this game would've been if CDPR took their time and completely rebuilt their shitty combat system. Like seriously, that was the only flaw of the game, everything else is amazing. If the writing of Fallout 4 was on par with NV, Fallout 4 would be what i'd consider the best open world game, though.

It's too big and that's why I couldn't get into it. Most open world games have a hard time sucking me in immediately and if I'm not immersed/invested in the world they created within the first 5-7 hours, then I'm pretty much done with the game. With Witcher 3 it was a combination of being overwhelmed by how much different shit there is to do, boring characters/dialog, a story that starts off way too slow, a combat system that isn't all that satisfying, and worst of all the main protagonist you are forced to play as seems so disinterested in everything that is going on almost like he hates himself for existing in the world.

The Witcher has BETTER lore, lets put it that way.

Its not random setting shit, it builds the thematic nature of its universe. TES does not do that.

As someone who has played Elder Scrolls and Witcher, and who has Skyrim as one of their all time favorite games, believe me: Witcher puts Elder Scrolls to shame.

What the ever loving shit

And here we have someone who didn't actually play the damn game

The combat isn't bad, it's just not as good as the rest of the game is

What a compelling argument. I live for ones like this.

What are you saying?

Better lore. How?

Lore is a thematic build up of any universe.

TES lore has been building up since the late 90s. It's extremely interconnected.

It's so much richer than The Witcher 3. Simply because it has more. There is no such thing as better lore. And it's not random setting.....This proves that you don't know at all....

Skyrim held artifacts, daedric princes, aedric gods and so much more..... that you can read about in the previous games and that have recorded lore that date ages back in the TES history. It's ridiculously rich...too the point where it's funny to read your comment.

Whenever you explore the dwemer ruins you are busy with a part of the lore that already played out in one of the first games of the series. You are left with an entire race's ruins that vanished off the face of Tamriel...and if you read the lore...exploring those ruins will have more actual meaning and impact.

This isn't a competition here. Go read some of the lore. I'd recommend you read it if you like lore aspects of gaming. It's probably one of the best you'll get in gaming.

The Witcher 3 is a brilliant game don't get me wrong. It's story is so much more intriguing than Skyrim's without a doubt. I play The Witcher 3 for it's story. I play Skyrim for it's lore and how it stacks a bunch of more stories on to that foundation making it richer.

Very different focuses here.

what about forza horizon? and burnout paradise?

@charizard1605: I mean that it's not as believable as GTAV. Gtav feels like a real world. There is a wide variety of Npcs with different dialogue and animations. Its not just filled with "shady person #37473788838" who just walks around novigrad all day like every other shady person that looks just like him. Even the radio station that's playing when you Jack someone is often fitting to that type of person. There is a stupid amount of detail in every inch of gtav that most people won't ever even notice. Something the witcher lacks. Witchers world feels like a video game world, it doesn't feel real or lived in like gtav and skyrim

Be quiet. You're doing this wrong.

Witcher's open world is perfectly fine. GTA V shouldn't have been mentioned here. Witcher has a history as a foundation. Does Los Santos have a history foundation ? NO. In that case The Witcher 3 felt way more real. The Witcher 3 has novels. The Witcher 3 beats the crap out of both Skyrim and GTA V when it comes to open worlds.

Talking about "feeling more real".

I must be one of the few that didn't like TW3.

I want to throw two things into the discussion as response:

a) The Witcher 3 does have emergent gameplay. As an example, I am on horseback between towns or whatever, and I am attacked by a griffin or a basilisk. Unscripted moment, and I take it down without any preparation that goes with a quest or a monster contract. The point here is, The Witcher 3 does have emergent gameplay, and it is great- it is just not the central attraction like it would be in Skyrim.

b) Emergent gameplay itself is not necessary for a good open world game- that would be a sandbox. An open world is just that, an open world, and while it can have some possibilities for emergent gameplay, the two do not always go together. For instance, consider, well, the vast majority of open world games on the market- Assassin's Creed, Mad Max, Batman, Shadow of Mordor, Watch Dogs- and notice how they are not about emergent gameplay, but undoubtedly open world.

Emergent gameplay is more of a sandbox trend (and Bethesda games tend towards being sandboxes more than anything else). The Witcher 3 does have emergent gameplay, and I would argue it has enough to be a good open world game- I will also gladly concede it does not rival a true sandbox in that regard.

Just because it has more doesn't mean its better. In fact TES lore is quite broad. TW lore is focused. That's the difference.

TW lore serves its story much better than TES's does.

I disagree. TES has a much broader story to begin with, while The Witcher's is more focused. Both series have lore that serve their stories equally well.

Anyone that tries to put Skyrim's combat, "emergent" gameplay, storytelling etc...against The Witcher 3 will lose. There's absolutely no way Skyrim is better in any of those. The only thing that Skyrim beats The Witcher 3 at is lore.

Bethesda is lazy. CD Project Red is not. Or if you want to say Bethesda isn't lazy then CD project will always put in more effort than Bethesda.

@acp_45: I disagree. Id put the witcher's open world a step above the 2nd assassins creed game and brotherhood. Sure, it's big and there lots of people moving around but it's a video game world. Oh here's the quest board, here are the obvious spots for treasure, etc...

Gtav fails as a video game. Outside of the main mission and side missions there isn't much to do but the world rock star built is incredible and that's what this thread is about.

Its the randomness that makes these worlds great and believable. You can wander skyrim and see a giant randomly fighting a dragon or Suddenly you get attacked and find a note saying you've been marked for death for killing a dude.

If we're just talking about the worlds these devs created and not the video game then Witcher 3 is nowhere near the top.

@acp_45: Bethesda isn't lazy, their games are just more ambitious

Skyrim with mods is better. After years marinating in an amazing modding community, the ridiculous volume of possibilities and quality content introduced by modding is simply unbeatable.

I do admit that Witcher 3 is a lot better than vanilla Skyrim, but I don't see how Witcher 3's modding scene can ever catch up to Skyrim's.

I think Skyrim does win in three areas against Witcher 3:

1. The sandbox- it is simply far better a sandbox than The Witcher provides
2. Emergent gameplay- this is a thing that Skyrim is better at. Witcher has emergent gameplay, sure, but having random dragons show up, giants intervene, and then escaping with mammoths hot on your trail is an experience that The Witcher simply cannot hope to provide
3. The music- Skyrim's music runs circles around The Witcher's soundtrack.

TES lore is broad as it is focused. Look I don't want to argue with you about why TES's lore beats TW's. Just go read the damn stuff. You're just spouting a bunch of nonsense now.

TW lore doesn't serve it's story well at all. The Witcher 3's story is self maintained and would do absolutely fine without any lore at all.

The Witcher 3 never had a focus on it's lore. You're comparing a some pretty ridiculously outscaled things here. Go read TES lore to an idea.

@charizard1605: lol so skyrim isn't an open world game? Wut? Like sure, if we just compare Witcher to shit open worlds like mad Max and asscreed then it's one of the best.

Eh, Witcher 3 does have the Wild Hunt and the Conjunction of Spheres as its central plot point. That's lore, and it is directly tied to the main story.

Did I say it is not open world? I said it is a sandbox, that requires being open world by definition. It's a freer, less defined, more open world than a regular open world.

You really have a knack for misunderstanding, misconstruing, misrepresenting, and misinterpreting.