The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Switch - Review

When CD Projekt Red shipped The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, back in 2015, many people were instantly captured by the world and story, the scale was unlike anything that not attached to an MMO, but no-one was wondering if it would come to the then Wii U. Forward to 4 years later and the game has arrived on Switch and while there were some sceptics, the game that we have received on Nintendo’s latest is actually a very impressive port, even with the rough edges it has.

The story of The Witcher 3 picks up after the events of Witcher 2 and while on the other platforms, you could import your save data, that option is not present here, but it does off the chance to simulate a playthrough, giving you a random collection of moments, which help give the characters you meet, some form of pre-existing relationship with Geralt. The basic story though is one in which you are tasked by Ciri’s father and ruler of Nilfgaard, Emhyr var Emreis, who Geralt has had dealings with in the past, so while Geralt accepts the contract, he does so for his own reasons, not for the kings.

Throughout the main storyline, it will spin off into many tangents, some will be small, and others will feel like epic quests all on their own, but the game still manages to make things work, for every new character, place or creature the game adds, nothing is lost or forgotten. Even the times when you get to take charge of Ciri and learn parts of her story, the interactions between her and other characters is still strong. Of course, in addition to the original quest, both expansions are included, which offer a lot more story, you can read the reviews for them here and here.

In terms of gameplay, there is very little that is different from the other releases, at least on the surface, you still have two swords, Witcher senses and such, to help you on your quests. Getting around is done either on foot, fast travelling via signposts, or riding Roach, but it is on foot where things are different, if only slightly. When the game first released, having control of Geralt, meant having to understand two distinct movement types, one for in combat and one for when exploring the world, the problem was that in exploring, Geralt moved like he was attempting to skate with concrete shoes, now though it is more refined, there are still some issues with tight turns, but for the most part it is immeasurably better.

The gameplay is broken up into a few little parts, there is the tracking things down, which is where the aforementioned Witcher senses come into play, the combat where you defeat both man and monster and just discovering the world. Each on their own stands up, with many games since attempting a similar formula, and even now, over four years later the game has done a wonderful job in keeping that feeling fresh. In combat, you have the choice of two swords, a steel one for human enemies and a silver one for monsters, knowing which one you need makes a world of difference and while you can deal out damage with the wrong sword, the right one makes things easier.

While you can just wander the world, there are quests to be discovered, some are done by using a notice board, but others tend to happen organically. One of the side quests I really liked was simple enough, a man was looking for his wife, who went out into the woods one morning and never returned. After some sleuthing around town, it was time to head out into the woods, where after a time the missing woman’s sister came to find me and told me to stop, lie to the grieving husband and leave it alone, her approaching me made me curious, so I kept looking. I won’t tell you what happens, but it was nothing like I expected. Which highlights just how good the side quests are, they are not filler, created by a program within the game, they are each hand crafted by a member of the dev team and it shows.

Of course, one does not talk about The Witcher 3 on Switch, without talking about the visuals, the first thing you will notice, is that the game looks quite a bit different from the other versions, but not in a bad way. The games main trade off is portability, and while that is excellent, the visuals are downgraded to make it happen, but they are not horrible, in fact there are times when the game still shines, thanks to that wonderful art direction. There are times when the visuals still managed to surprise me, moments when the sun would set, or a storm would rage, they looked amazing. Characters too, also stood out as looking a treat, there was a lot of detail left on their faces, which helped sell some of the more complicated emotions, in all honestly, the only real issue with the visuals is with the world at ground level. Trees, grass and such all pop in and the draw distance is quite narrow, which again, makes sense given the scale of the world, creatures can also appear quite suddenly, if the game is having issues loading up the terrain.

On the audio side, things sound quite good, especially on the Switch’s smaller speakers, the character voices stand out from the rest of the world mix, but the world does not feel muted in comparison. When there is no-one speaking, the games world audio, does seem a little loud, but that was the same in the original release, even the music can feel loud at times. When you step into the expansions, especially in the Blood and Wine expansion, the games musical landscape still sounds as much of a treat now, as when I first heard it, especially with a nice pair of headphones on. There are some technical issues with the game, the load times can be extraordinarily long, which is a shame and occasionally some characters will be out of place in cutscenes, but that last one can be overlooked.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition on Switch is an easily sell to anyone who owns a Switch and has never played the game, the main story line will set you back 100 plus hours alone. Including the expansions makes it an experience that is perfect for the pickup and go action of the Switch. The visual downgrades are very prominent, but somehow the game does not look horrible, in fact on the little screen of the Switch, it still looks amazing. As I had been thinking for a while to replay the Witcher on Xbox, this gave me the chance to enjoy the title, no matter where I am and that selling point alone makes this a wonderful addition to the Switch library.

Review code provided by CD Projekt Red