Every so often, there comes a video game that is so good that it is talked about years after its initial release. When I think of such games, being an ardent Legend of Zelda fan, my mind instantly takes me to Ocarina of Time, which, in 1998, was a literal ‘game changer’ and influenced almost every single adventure game that came after it. However, there’s no denying that in the modern era of gaming, it seems that these games are becoming more and more commonplace. Therefore, it makes it even more noteworthy when a game achieves such a status, which is something The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt can say it has with absolute certainty.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt celebrated its 3rd anniversary just 3 days ago, and I thought it would be fitting to look back at the game and the impact that it created within the gaming community. The sequel to Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings released after a three and half years in development, with around 2 and a half of those dedicated to voice recording. The game takes place in a fictional world called the Continent, a place surrounded by parallel dimensions and worlds in other dimensions. Several races such as humans, elves, dwarves, and monsters live together in this world, which is currently caught up in a war between the empires of Nilfgaard and Redania. You control Geralt of Rivia (known as ‘The Witcher’), who is a monster hunter trained since childhood in combat, tracking, and magic. He is aided by several of his comrades in a journey that spans several unique locations as the game embraces you and immerses you into its larger than life story.
Like the other games in the series, the game is laden with choices and consequences for them, making sure that no single decision made by the player is made with reckless abandon. This, of course, means that the game has multiple storylines depending on the player’s choices. Its no wonder then, that the game missed its release date twice before finally being revealed in 2015. However, when the game came out, it wasn’t just its interesting story that took the gaming world by storm. Several reviews have said that the game was an easy contender for the best role-playing game of all time while praising its graphics, quality of storytelling and its voice acting. It received a 10/10 from Gamespot and an average of 92/100 from Metacritic, as well as several other top-notch scores from other magazines.
In fact, the official Twitter account made for the game posted this tweet to mark the anniversary of the game:
Today marks the third anniversary of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt release! On this occasion we’ve managed to gather the gang for celebrations.Â
Thanks to Count Beledal’s parestisomach we captured this magical moment. Join us and show the world your favourite shots from the game! pic.twitter.com/UNMZc7Lcoj
— The Witcher (@witchergame) May 19, 2018
However, more than the technical marvel of a video game, what really makes it stand out is how people remember it. While its great that the numbers speak for themselves, I think that the bigger picture is how well the game stands the test of time. Coming back to Ocarina of Time, I still see it close to the number one spot on several video game lists, because that’s how influential it was to the gaming community. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has achieved a smilier status, with a massive fan following that has spanned 3 years, which, in the grand scheme of things, isn’t all that much, but for an RPG, which is constantly under strain of new games being compared against it, it can be a turbulent period, and no number given in a rating or no praise that I can give this game is higher than me saying that people still remember this game, and for a good reason too.
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