Pretty good! Has a really well-realized open world and pretty solid writing. Weirdly enough, it reminds me a lot of Fallout: New Vegas, of all things--the way that a lot of sidequests will have a genuinely interesting twist or conundrum, the political backdrop of the plot, and so on. The overarching story is very much a 'dad game' kind of thing, and is overall pretty trope-y (one part of the game is basically just a crime movie), but it's not embarrassed about its subject matter in the slightest and thus sells it very well. It does an excellent job really putting you into Geralt's shoes and getting you into a role-playing mindset in that regard.
The combat is pretty fun even if it's really simple, and the overall experience of exploring the world is very immersive. I wasn't hugely into the looter-shooter style weapon and armor pickups, but that stops being annoying once you get your hands on some decent witcher gear since it so hugely outstrips normal stuff, so it didn't bother me too much.
Aesthetically I really like the game; it didn't exactly run perfectly on my ancient PS4, but the overall world design is very enjoyable; I appreciated the early-autumn forests and relatively flat topography of Velen especially, which, by stopping me from being able to see what lay ahead of me too easily, helped to preserve a sense of mystery and adventure about the world that I think very pretty-vista-focused games sometimes lose out on.
I liked the character design for the most part; the relatively grounded armor and male costuming was a highlight for me in particular, as I've had more than my fill of fantasy garb so overwrought and impractical as to break suspension of disbelief, which I think is a particular issue with video games. There's some odd design choices in the female costuming, but that's par for the genre, I suppose.
I've got some minor problems with it aside from the ones mentioned above; there were some kind of janky quests ("The Lord of Undvik" is probably like a quarter of a star off by itself,) and the leveling curve is way too generous if you do a lot of sidequests, as I did. Overall, though, it's an excellent game, and one I'd strongly recommend if you like RPGs.
The combat is pretty fun even if it's really simple, and the overall experience of exploring the world is very immersive. I wasn't hugely into the looter-shooter style weapon and armor pickups, but that stops being annoying once you get your hands on some decent witcher gear since it so hugely outstrips normal stuff, so it didn't bother me too much.
Aesthetically I really like the game; it didn't exactly run perfectly on my ancient PS4, but the overall world design is very enjoyable; I appreciated the early-autumn forests and relatively flat topography of Velen especially, which, by stopping me from being able to see what lay ahead of me too easily, helped to preserve a sense of mystery and adventure about the world that I think very pretty-vista-focused games sometimes lose out on.
I liked the character design for the most part; the relatively grounded armor and male costuming was a highlight for me in particular, as I've had more than my fill of fantasy garb so overwrought and impractical as to break suspension of disbelief, which I think is a particular issue with video games. There's some odd design choices in the female costuming, but that's par for the genre, I suppose.
I've got some minor problems with it aside from the ones mentioned above; there were some kind of janky quests ("The Lord of Undvik" is probably like a quarter of a star off by itself,) and the leveling curve is way too generous if you do a lot of sidequests, as I did. Overall, though, it's an excellent game, and one I'd strongly recommend if you like RPGs.