It's been almost 7 years. Why is the Witcher 3 is still on top?

Even CDPR hasn't been able to best the greatest open world, action RPG ever created, The Witcher 3.

Every open world RPG since the Witcher is clearly inspired by it.

Breath of the Wild - An average game, at best. If it weren't for the Zelda nostalgia, it would be in the 7/10 range with its empty, boring world.

Assassins Creed Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla - All fun games with good stories, but nothing that matches the storytelling depth of the Witcher 3 and it's expansions.

Horizon Zero Dawn - A decent game, but honestly a bit boring with an uninteresting story.

Red Dead 2 - A boring horse riding simulator. Pass. No contest.

Greedfall - LOL.

Cyberpunk 2077 - Great concept with a good story, but horrible execution. A true screw up.

What else is out there?

It's been almost 7 years and nothing has managed to best the Witcher 3. Every single game in its genre has modeled itself after TW3. I have a feeling the Witcher 3 is going to go down as game of the decade.

Calm down. The new gold standard is about to come out very soon. As soon as Elden Ring is released, all open world games will be compared to it. TW3 stands no chance against ER.

@hardwenzen: +1

Elden Ring will be mighty....

Also, I enjoyed playing AC Odyssey more than Witcher 3. Sorry if that offends anyone, but odyssey was more fun... Didn't say writing was better, or acting was better or any number of other factors that I Don't personally get to control.... Playing assassins creed odyssey was more fun than Witcher 3. For me.

I haven't played Witcher 3 yet (It is bought and on the hard drive though) but I'm just glad you said Breath of the wild was average. I agree on that.

I think that game was just a product of pure gut-busting effort, the kind that would be much harder, if not impossible, with the ever-spiraling cost, in monetary, time and human terms, of AAA game development.

Most AAA developers would recoil at the mere mention of what's required to make a game like that even back then. These days, there's even less tolerance for that.

Looks like too much of a JRPG / Souls clone.

@tjandmia: yes. Elder ring is another from soft game. Spend 3 hours trying to beat a skeleton

Witcher 3 for its namesake "Witcher" started off as a book series and before that, the games were made but that's beside the point.

I really love Witcher 3 for the most part. For me, it's the atmosphere, the story, the soundtrack, and the combat. (Yes, I like the gameplay's combat when I'm using my Xbox Elite controller on PC, so come at me SW) Sounds like I just listed every trait a game can have, I know, but that's because what makes the witcher 3 as good as it is is that it does everything amazingly. I think the pacing is also a huge plus for me. The game's really slow, and I guess that's why a lot of gamers might not like it, but for me, it's perfect! I tried Witcher 1 on Steam, couldn't play more than two hours before I uninstalled it because the gameplay and graphics were just too outdated.

But if you are looking for a serious answer to why Witcher 3 is still on top, I'll just give you key points:

• Choices that puts you in dilemmas, where you have to choose what you think is the lesser evil.
• In-depth character development, and characters you fall in love with. The characters all have multiple nuances. Nothing is black/white. Some people may see a character as mad, others the same character as ambitious. (Netflix adaption fails this and it's why the games are so superior on this matter)
• Beautiful graphics...on the PC that is. (But console versions are good and all)
• You feel you have an impact on the world.
• The story puts you through an emotional roller coaster.
• Fun game mechanics.
• The game takes some investment in time to get hooked since it is big lore and game, but once you get hooked, you really get hooked!

With everything I said, I haven't come closer if ever finding a game that's on Witcher 3's level.

Breath of the Wild is overrated and this is coming from a Zelda guy.

Eh, I loved The Witcher 3 but Breath of the Wild beat it out for me. I’d probably put Red Dead Redemption 2 on par with The Witcher 3.

When you sux. And you do sux. Sux a lot.

I actually envy the people who have enjoyed TW3. I played it when it came out almost 7 years ago.

I felt that the story/characters were not particularly engaging/profound, but interesting enough for me to at least finish the game. The graphics were pretty, but soon get bored due to the lack of a strong artistic style.

I couldn't really immerse myself in the world because of the pacing issues. The combat definitely felt shallow and repetitive, but that's probably because I'm a big fan of From/Platinum/Capcom's far better action games.

I really respect the opinions of those who love this game. However, as far as I'm concerned, it's an 8/10 game at best, and probably I won't play it again.

Witcher... is not on top.

@davillain-: I bought the switch mainly just to play that game. I would consider myself a huge Zelda fan too. I just hope the future of Zelda has more things to do in that big empty world next time. As the game is now, I felt very let down but that's not to say the game is bad. just left much to be desired

Witcher 3 has story, characters, lore everything good except playing part which suck. gameplay always suck in witcher series.

and this is why Witcher work better as TV series rather han video game.

Henry cavill is best geralt of rivia.

Witcher 3 is great for its writing. Exploration isn't as rewarding as Skyrim, the world is much less reactive than BotW, lacks the minute detail of RDR2 and combat is just ok and of course it will soon be completely obliterated by Elden Ring.

So yeah it's a great game that I really enjoyed but in some aspects it lacks when compared to other titles.

Witcher problem was, the combat was awful.

Then when u where finally done chopping air, u would have to sit through endless cutscenes that just bore you out to the point u want to have some combat.

Then the combat starts again and u just want the combat to end.

U do this for 3-4 hours and quit.

Atleast the character in the game are likable and not full of your standard american SJW garbo cast that doesn't convince.

Breath of the wild is good because its pure gameplay, practically no story. Exactly what games should be. Also no SJW cast.

Ubisoft open world games work well, becuase there is loads of gameplay and small story parts that are well belanced. Also the gameplay of odyssey for example was absolutely excellent valhalla a bit less, and origin was great. it plays well.

Red dead redemption 2 is to much cutscenes, and controls like a tank has the same problem the witcher has.

Horizon zero dawn has a lackbusting looking overworld, to much cutscenes the same problem as the witcher 3 and red dead redemption 2. Atleast the combat isn't complete trash.

Cyberpunk, well the game follows the concept of witcher 3, endless cutscenes, terrible combat, but now with tons of problems and a lackbusting world of characters.

U want a open world game to succeed.

1) 95% gameplay

2) good combat

3) interesting world

4) no sjw cast / lectures

5) good exploration

Sadly not much games are up for it.

So much wrong in one post.

The Witcher 3 wasn't even the best game of 2015, that was Metal Gear Solid 5.

RDR2's open world was vastly superior, more alive and immersive than TW3 could ever dream of being. Much better game too.

Then there's Zelda: BOTW.

And of course Elden Ring... (a game to surpass Metal Gear?)

@tjandmia:

Yes the Witcher 3 is the best game I have ever played.witcher 2 is in my top 10.

It may not be everybody's cup of tea and that's fine,but the awards and reviews speak louder than your opinion

MGS5 suck. and Im MGS1 huge fan.

It just sounds like, you're stuck on a platform with a non-existent AAA game selection.

Most PC fans have the same opinion as you, it only takes looking through the PC AAA game options to understand why.

Ignornace is bliss as they say.

BTW: Horizon Zero Dawn was/is a much better open world game than TW3

I could never even put more than 3hrs at a time in on TW3 after 5 attempts of trying to see what other people saw. Nope, the game was just mediocre. You get rewarded long bouts of soap opera cutscense melodrama (what everyone, specifically PC fans, claim to hate on this board) after struggling thru some of the worst gameplay of any AAA title not named fallout/Skyrim.

Just say you love The Witcher 3's story and be done with it. It's not a very good "game" compared to any of it's open world alternatives.

Idk I quit after I reaches Skellige. Very engaging game I just couldn't continue I reached like 50 hours and felt its just enough for me.

I certainly don’t see what some do in the witcher, I feel the gameplay mechanics are lacking especially compared to BotW. I just found it hard to get into the witcher

TW3 is so absurdly overrated, and I know how overused that word is, but seriously, this game is not half as good as people make it out to be.

Still on top of the worst combat in RPGs list? Well, it's hard to beat.

Horizon Forbidden West (February 18th) is going up against Elden Ring (February 25th) for sales.

This is probably unwise for HFW.

@HalcyonScarlet: it's a multiplat vs. Exclusive (well, Sony exlucive - it's on two platforms) elden ring will have the benefit of several platforms on release.

That said, I wouldn't count horizon out yet. There's a lot of people out thwre who never crack into the brilliance of a souls like game because they don't have the spine. Horizon by comparison sounds much safer for the ego.

Witcher 3 must be the most overrated game last gen. RDR2 is the best open world game imo. The amount of realism on that game is top notch.

@TheEroica: I find Souls games to be cheese difficult and annoying. The only reason I play is the excellent level design. Otherwise I wouldn't bother.

But TW3 isn’t even good...

The game was damn near unplayable when it launched. The character movement and control was awful. I’ve never played a game that felt that bad to control. Ever. I came back to it after they fixed some stuff, but still couldn’t get into it.

TW3 is easily the most overrated game of all time.

I plan to finally get around to the Witcher when the next-gen patch drops. But to say Zelda BoTW, objectively one of the greatest games off all time by all measure, is average?

People nowadays can't separate their own perception of reality from actual reality.

Top of what?

I played it twice, and while the setting is fantastic and there are some very well-written story arcs, I don't consider it top of anything. The general gameplay and combat are pretty lousy. As an open world game it suffers from mini-map syndrome. The Witcher games got worse about this as new entries were released.

Even in it's launch state on PC, CP2077 was more fun than any of the Witcher games.

It's not that good really outside of the quests and writing. The open world has been done better in many games since W3.

If you think BOTW with it's empty, boring open world and mediocre side quests and overly annoying shrines was one of the greatest games of all time, you are in for a real treat with the Witcher 3. I actually envy you, because you are about to experience what a really great open world RPG really is. The game is so good that I wish I could completely forget my playthrough so I could do it all over again for the first time.

@above_average: HZD has a pretty empty open world with mediocre side quests and nothing much else to do except from well, kill robot dinos. It definitely looks pretty though.

@TheEroica: But from a publisher point of view, just saying, it could be worth a small delay. Why compete with something you don't have to compete with.

Many times certain games didn't get the launch they should have because the other games that release at the same time.

Already Horizon will be £70, and Sony has a reputation of releasing products and letting them fend for themselves.

So it's a little unfair on the developer that put their hard work into Horizon to needlessly compete it imho.

Its really tough to pull off a game of that scale and have it not be a mess. Even the people who made the W3 weren't able to repeat it.

its not just a matter of having a big budget and a lot of talented people. needs cohesive leadership and the right balance of ambition and realistic goals.

I thought RDR2 was on the same level as Witcher 3 but both CDPR and R* have seen some turnover since those games came out so its hard to know when another of that caliber might arrive

(and as much as i'm looking forwards to Elden Ring its a bit of a different beast and tough to compare to W3)

Man, peoples' opinions are mixed on just about everything in here.

Witcher 3 was ok - but I don't think it was anything special. The game is a side quest simulator. The side quests and the question marks on the map provide way too much padding and divvy up the main story way too much. It is very much a Law and Order of RPGs rather than a good tv show like Lost.

I much preferred Witcher 1 and 2 to 3. They had a better overall story and didn't waste your time with padding.

So no I don't think Witcher 3 is the singular almighty god of rpgs. It is far from perfect and has many flaws - perhaps more than some of the other open world games listed here.

A great game can't wait to play the updated version next year on PS5.

Is there a game that the people in System Wars have a consensus that is good?

Wasn’t even one of the 3 best games of its year.

The gameplay in Witcher 3 is cheeks

@onesiphorus: Tetris?

I mean, who hates Tetris?

Eh, I just never got into it. By all benchmarks, it's a great game, so cool for fans.

@HalcyonScarlet: I don't see how they will be competing TBH - doubt many people will be like "oh, I was gonna chill with Aloy and kill robot dinosaurs, but instead I'm going to do Dark Souls IV". Most will probably either get both at some point regardless, or prefer one game style over the other and therefore wouldn't have bought one or the other regardless of how close their release date is

I know they don't scratch even remotely the same gaming itch for me at least

It won like 250 GOTY awards.