After it’s initial announcement, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt hasn’t revealed all that much about the world that players would be exploring other than just how much bigger it would be than Witcher 2. Luckily however, CD Projekt RED has talked more about this huge world for their players as well as a set of screenshots to show it off.
Detailing the story it was stated that inside of the living-open world players would be free to complete missions in any order, but their decisions would have a deep impact on everything from the locations, to the creatures, to the NPCs. Better for those that missed out on the first 2 games, the story has also been designed as a standalone adventure to allow those new players to not have to worry about details in the games they didn’t play.
As for the world that the story will take place in, only three locations have been confirmed so far: the archipelago of Skellige, the City of Novigrad in the delta of the Pontar river, and No Man’s Land. In addition, these locations are set to differ drastically in terms of cultural and adventure, as well as being filled with “living” props that will change under Geralt’s influence throughout the Northern Kingdoms. As such, the world will have predators hunting prey and monsters attacking villages organically through the games AI.
Combat in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has come further since it predecessor as well, with more abilities and skills as well as more animations for Geralt as he fights, a total of 96 almost 5 times that of Witcher 2. A greater variety of tactical options through the use of equipment like traps and bombs means players will have more than just basic combat sequences to engage in during fights. Players will also be able to use the environment to their advantage, such as using bee hives to get their inhabitants to attack enemies.
Lastly, the RPG elements in the game have also bee expanded upon from an expanded Witcher Sense that will aid players in more than just combat, to a broader sign casting with each of the 5 signs having 2 different modes of use, an intuitive alchemy system that allows players to make things from pyrotechnics to elixirs, and a crafting system that can impact gameplay. Even though that seems like a lot to learn and handle, Witcher 3 will feature a tutorial system a feature sorely missed in Witcher 2.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt looks to include a whole lot of expansion in many of it’s different areas, which is great to see for the final installment in the trilogy story of Geralt. Interested players can check out the new full-size screenshots in the gallery below to see some of the locations Geralt will be visiting when the game releases next year, 2014, for PC, PS4, and all high-end platforms.
