The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered Was Necessary

I have a weird history with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This was a game that when it came out in 2015, many gamers were shouting their praise from the rooftops saying that this game was one of the best video games ever made. However, I never had that “game-of-the-year” experience that many gamers had.

I bought the original game and its DLC years ago on Steam on a sale, and I tried starting play-throughs of this game on multiple occasions, but I always ended up quitting in the beginning area of the game because the combat and overall gameplay felt extremely clunky. I had issues with the sometimes-confusing controls. The game suffered from many bugs and glitches that harmed my gameplay experience. At the end of it all, the combat was so frustrating in its lack of flow that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was unplayable for me. If there was a game that sorely needed a remaster, it was this one.

Fast forward to 2026, and there is a new, remastered version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which was a free upgrade to my original copy, and it was time for me to jump back in and give this game another go. If I played this remastered version and I still did not like the game, then I know that this game is not for me.

I have some good news to report. There are improvements across the board from the original to the remaster, including upgraded visuals (including ray tracing, which I turned off because my computer cannot handle it), a completely overhauled combat system, and a re-worked skill tree. I welcome all these changes, but the combat finally feels fluid and faster-paced with my attacks, blocking, and dodging. The combat still has a few hiccups, but the combat alone made The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from an unplayable game, to a playable game where I can finally appreciate the game’s strengths.

Outside of maybe Red Dead Redemption 2, this is one of the best written action-adventure titles in video games, and maybe in all of video games. The writing, the characters, the dialogue, the voice-acting, the overall Middle-Ages atmosphere is fantastic. You do not have to even play the game and simply just enjoy the story for what it is, and it would still be great. Also, I think Gwent is one of the best “games within a game” I have ever played in a video game.

However, there are still some issues with the remastered version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This game still suffers from quite a few bugs and glitches. There is nothing that I would consider “game-breaking” but there are enough things like invisible walls, Geralt and monsters walking around on thin air, and not being able to talk to certain shopkeepers and NPCs that negatively harm the gameplay experience to a meaningful degree. I also find the overall general mission loop to be repetitive. Many of the missions in the Witcher 3 are to use your Witcher Sense to find clues, then find tracks, then follow these tracks to a monster or group of enemies that you must slay.

Overall, I think the remastered version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a very good game. The story and atmosphere drew me into this game, but the overall gameplay experience is still far from perfect, even with the improvements. I still do not quite see the argument of this game being one of the best action-adventure games ever made. I think Red Dead Redemption 2 has a slightly stronger story, while The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has a vastly better gameplay experience. With that said, I still recommend playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered if the story even remotely interests you, as I think this version is going to be the best this game is ever going to be.