How the Witcher 3 silently became a benchmark for new games

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Every few years we get a good captivating video game and every now and then there is are game of the decade candidates. Up till now Skyrim was considered probably the best role playing game but we reckon we might have to change our mind after playing the Witcher 3 over and over. So what makes the Witcher 3 so good?

Let's start off with the fact that I never thought that Witcher 3 would convince me enough to write about it. When it got released, initially, I didn't even download it or had any desire to do so. Just munching away hours playing Fifa 15 and Skyrim (yup, taking care of my two virtual daughters), I had already played The Witcher 1 and 2 but neither of them kept me interested in the story or the sandbox open world. One thing to note is that I absolutely hated the controls in The Witcher 2: The Assassin's of kings, Ie know some of you might find them similar to The Witcher 3 but in my opinion though Witcher 3's controls are generations ahead of its predecessor, not just one, but many generations. Maybe it's just my new controller at the end of the day it didn't took hours to jump in the wall.

The Witcher 3 not only improves upon The Witcher 2, oh no definitely not, The Witcher 3 is almost an entire overhaul of the way you play a game to how you interact with side mission, changing every aspect of The Witcher series and for the better. For instance every decision you make in it affects the final outcome, (which resulted in me getting a sad ending and staying depressed for 2 days until I found out it has multiple endings). One such is when we beat up the men at the cross roads in the beginning and it has effects till the end. For example not being able to meet The Baron straight through the door, having to find an alternative route and having to fight the men outside the Pellar's home. You can choose which characters to side with? Who to fall in love with? and Who to make love with? (Triss Merigold ftw!). The ability to play the game the way you want and make the choices you like really makes the experience stand out. Its not just a linear path that leads to a static ending. No. Rather it's your game and your choices will decide what ending you deserve.

Moreover The Witcher 3 also focuses meticulously on every ounce of detail. For instance every side mission has its own different cut scenes, how cool is that? I have played Skyrim and honestly I have never done any of the side quests. Unlike The Witcher 3, in Skyrim almost every side quest challenges you to go into some cave, all of which look pretty much the same, and kill a thief or some monster waiting inside. The Witcher 3 on the other hand puts you in different scenarios. Either you'll be doing a basic task for someone, as simple as having dinner with them (oh Keira Metz :'] ), maybe killing some witches or free an entire island from a deadly spirit. On top of that even your decisions in the side quests will effect their endings. As in Keira Metz's side quest you can either kill Keira or have her join you in battle against the Wild hunt at Kaher Morhen. How awesomely awesome is that? It's this liberty to do what you want and choose what you like that alone makes the game one of our  top favorites.

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A great game play can suck because of a bad storyline, and an awful game play can be awesome with a good story. And oh my god I have honestly got no words to describe the story of The Witcher 3. Forgive me for my words might not be able to do justice to the game and it's story, but our love for it certainly does. From the start, at Kaher Morhen with Yenn, and training my daughter Ciri (yes I will always call her Geralt's daughter) to the point I go to Novigrad and have some good moments with Triss, while reliving the old memories. The best part could be meeting Ciri again after many years, protecting her from every small or big danger without caring about the health bar. The game had perfect starting, the perfect climax (and anti-climax) and the ending, well, they obviously depend on your decisions but they were all good. The story had perfect execution and told us about the life of Geralt in a way that we will surly miss him if he won't be in the next game. A very emotional part is during the battle at Kaher Morhen when Vassemir dies. I tried all kind of choice combinations but maybe it was meant to be (still sad about it though). I have absolutely no complaints with the story it was so intuitive that I felt I was Geralt of Rivia and Ciri was my daughter in real life.

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Now comes the part where most of the companies let us down, but the Witcher 3 absolutely won our hearts. What's that? Well to start with great customer support, regular updates and patches but wait the best part is free DLC every week!! Yes CdProjekts absolutely owned its competitors with such after sale services. In particular EA. Oh and did I mention the game had no DRM? Just goes to show what a waste DRMs are. If you make a good game with great game play and great story you most definitely will earn a high profit DRM or no DRM and CdProjekts proved it.

A great game play experience, a great story mode, a true open world with the ability to make decisions that effect the whole game, good after sales service and free DLCs. The Witcher 3 checks all the boxes on our list for a great game. In the days of games with in app purchases and repetitive game play it was great to live an experience that brought our interest back into hardcore gaming. CdProjekts set a high standard and have become a benchmark for future RPGs. We have a worthy competitor for Skyrim's throne.

Let us know what you think about the Witcher 3 and what was your favorite part about it.