The Witcher 3's Next-Gen Changes Signal Good Things for Series’ Future

ign.com:

CD Projekt Red is back to over-delivering. Though its player trust took a hit following the turbulent launch of Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s free next-gen update is a return to form, with the effort put into improving an already amazing game signalling good things for the series’ future.

What could’ve been a simple PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series port with spruced up graphics and a $20 price tag instead became a self-reflective mission for CD Projekt Red, as the developer went back to the drawing board to truly try and improve The Witcher 3. Anyone who bought the physical editions of The Witcher 2 or 3 in the past will remember the bundle of extra goodies they came with (such as soundtrack CDs and maps), and CD Projekt Red has essentially created a digital version of that with the next-gen update.

Whether it’s one of the new armour sets based on beloved book locations such as Dol Blathanna, snippets of new lore, the brand new mission, or even the new Gwent card, the development team is really trying to show that it cares. What truly bodes well for the future isn’t just the effort behind these new additions, however, but instead the changes that CD Projekt Red has made to previous mechanics.

For fans returning to The Witcher 3, the most noticeable of these changes is in the combat system. It’s something a lot of people had gripes with in the original, as it could sometimes be slow and somewhat repetitive, but CD Projekt Red has made several small changes that bring real intensity and dynamism to every fight.

The new close-quarters camera angle thrusts players into the centre of the battlefield, sprint being attached to L3 essentially adds a new mechanic to combat, and the quick-casting sign system keeps you locked