The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt[is a 2015 action role-playing game developed and published by CD Projekt. Based on The Witcher series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, it is the sequel to the 2011 game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Played in an open world with a third-person perspective, players control protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter known as a witcher, who is looking for his missing adopted daughter on the run from the Wild Hunt: an otherworldly force determined to capture and use her powers. Players battle the game’s many dangers with weapons and magic, interact with non-player characters, and complete main-story and side quests to acquire experience points and gold, which are used to increase Geralt’s abilities and purchase equipment. Its central story has several endings, determined by the player’s choices at certain points in the game.
Development began in 2011 and lasted for three and a half years. Voice recording took over two and a half years. The writing was infused with realistic aspects such as moral ambiguity in a deliberate attempt to avoid simplification, impart authenticity, and reflect Sapkowski’s novels. Europe was the basis of the game’s open world, with Poland, Amsterdam, and Scandinavia as its primary inspirations. REDengine 3 enabled the developer to create a complex story without compromising the game world. The music was composed by Marcin Przybyłowicz and performed by the Brandenburg State Orchestra.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 19 May 2015. The game received critical acclaim, with praise of its gameplay, narrative, world design, combat, and visuals, although it received minor criticism due to technical issues, most of which were later patched. It received numerous Game of the Yearawards, and has been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. The game was also a commercial success, shipping nearly ten million copies by March 2016. Two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, were also released to critical acclaim. A Game of the Year edition, with the base game, expansions and all downloadable content, was released in August 2016.
Plot
Geralt rejoins his long-lost lover, Yennefer, in the town of White Orchard. Yennefer tells him that Emperor Emhyr has summoned him to the city of Vizima. Emhyr tasks Geralt with finding Ciri, who has recently been seen in several places. Ciri is a Child of the Elder Blood, the last heir to an ancient elfish bloodline with the power to manipulate space and time. Geralt first hears that Ciri was in Velen at Crow’s Perch, the Bloody Baron’s fort.[ The baron refuses to help, but Geralt’s acquaintance, the sorceress Keira Metz, tells him that an elfish mage was looking for Ciri. Keira directs Geralt to the Crones of Crookback Bog: malicious, ancient spirits living near Velen. The Crones say that they captured Ciri for the Wild Hunt before she escaped and have enslaved Anna, the baron’s missing wife. Geralt returns to the baron, who tells him that Ciri went to Novigrad.
He discovers that the Church of the Eternal Fire, a militant religious organization, is purging mages in Novigrad. Meeting his former lover, Triss Merigold, Geralt learns that Ciri had contacted his friend Dandelion. Geralt navigates Novigrad’s criminal underworld to rescue Dandelion, and learns that Ciri teleported to the Skellige archipelago. In Novigrad, Geralt may help Triss to free fugitive mages. He sails to Skellige and rejoins Yennefer, who has been investigating a magical explosion linked to Ciri. They track Ciri to the island of Lofoten, which has been attacked by the Wild Hunt. Geralt and Yennefer realise that Uma, a deformed, cursed creature at Crow’s Perch, was present after Ciri’s escape. Before leaving Skellige, Geralt can help determine who will rule Skellige after the king’s death. Yennefer severs the magical bond between her and Geralt, giving him the option of affirming his love for her or ending their relationship.
They bring Uma to the witcher school of Kaer Morhen, where Yennefer removes his curse and transforms him into Avallac’h. He reveals that he teleported Ciri to the Isle of Mists to save her from the Lofoten attack. Geralt travels to the island and finds Ciri in a deathlike state, until she is awakened by Avallac’h’s magic. She says that Eredin’s (the King of the Wild Hunt) homeworld is being destroyed by the White Frost, and he wants Ciri’s power to conquer the Continent. Ciri and Geralt teleport to Kaer Morhen, pursued by the Wild Hunt. After a brief reunion with Yennefer, Triss and Vesemir (their witcher mentor), the Hunt attacks. Vesemir is killed protecting Ciri; her distress unleashes her Elder power, and Eredin and the Hunt retreat. Geralt, Yennefer, Triss, Ciri, and their allies conduct a funeral for Vesemir. Ciri and Geralt travel to Novigrad and help Triss and Yennefer reform the Lodge of Sorceresses to aid their fight.
They learn about the Sunstone, a relic which can lure Eredin out and bind him to a location. On the Skelligan island of Undvik, Avallac’h uses the Sunstone to draw out the Hunt and their fleet. Geralt, Ciri, their allies and the Nilfgaardian fleet battle the Hunt, and Geralt defeats Eredin in combat. As the White Frost descends on Skellige, Ciri insists that she must confront it with her Elder Blood before it consumes all life on every world. She enters a portal and defeats the White Frost, ending the threat. The game ending varies, depending on previous choices. If Ciri is alive, Geralt can retire with Yennefer or Triss or remain a lone witcher. If Geralt helps Nilfgaard win the war and brings Ciri to meet the emperor, she will become empress; if Ciri does not meet the emperor, Geralt fakes her death and she becomes a witcher. If Ciri dies fighting the White Frost, Geralt hunts down her stolen medallion as a keepsake; surrounded by monsters when he finds it, his fate is unknown.
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