Arguably one of the best games, let alone RPGs released in the past few years, The Witcher video game series is looking to come back if recent rumors about the third installment are to be believed. Honestly, a third game in the series is certainly in the works given CD Projekt Red’s various hints at the game. Given how The Witcher 2 ended too, there should be no doubt that CDPR have had plans for a third game for some time now.
With that in mind, here are a few things we as gamers want to see in the third installment (and perhaps the last).
5) Returning Characters
This may seem rather obvious, as the whole point of sequels is to return to the same world with the same characters and explore a new adventure. The Witcher series is a huge game though, and while we saw many returning faces in The Witcher 2, there were plenty more who were absent too. Princess Adda and Shani just to name a couple of people who didn’t appear in The Witcher 2 even though they had a major role in The Witcher 1. There are a few others too, especially the initial characters who were guarding the fortress at the beginning of The Witcher 1.
4)Â More Fighting Companions
While The Witcher series is a solo-RPG, and should primarily remain so, some of the best parts of the game come from undertaking quests with a companion at your side. From the running banter with said companion to the added bonus of having someone distract enemies, an accompanying companion adds a lot of color to the otherwise lonely solo adventuring. A balance needs to be struck of course, as at times The Witcher 1 and 2 were much easier with fighting companions by your side, so that needs to be addressed better. It’s a good mechanic and just needs to be implemented better, not stripped out.
3) Improved Leveling-Up
The Witcher 2 had a slightly less involved leveling-up system compared to The Witcher 1. Personally, I think both were a bit too far at the opposite end of the spectrum. I’d like to see a bigger choice in leveling-up, but not to the extent that The Witcher 1 had. A lot of the abilities in The Witcher 1 felt repetitive as you gained similar abilities for different stances/weapons. It didn’t feel fun leveling-up in that game. The Witcher 2 was better, but it was too much of a shortcut for me personally. I would prefer more flexibility to choose what I want to upgrade rather than be forced to upgrade a spell I rarely use to obtain a spell I use all the time for instance. And while not directly related to leveling, I also hope the game provides more means to allow magic and alchemy to become central to fighting rather than it being more secondary to swordsmanship.
2) Resolution To The Wild Hunt and Finding Yennefer
This seems like a rather straight-forward request. Essentially an end to the personal story of Geralt the Witcher. The concept behind the Wild Hunt as established in The Witcher 2 seems like it would be a major game-changer to the world of The Witcher games, so it might not get a resolution in The Witcher 3. Even so, it needs to be expanded upon well enough and provide some closure. It was a bit frustrating learning about Geralt’s past and then not getting a conclusion to that in The Witcher 2. Another reason why I want a resolution to this issue, is because the personal issue behind The Wild Hunt and indeed finding Yennefer are issues that happened before the games took place. Therefore it is much harder for the gamer to be emphatic with Geralt in his quest to learn his past, as these are things we never personally got to experience. Sure, it must be great for him to recollect his memories, but for the gamer, they don’t really mean much. I’d like this plot to be resolved quickly so that quests/plots that you, the gamer, have actually been involved with can be fleshed out more.
1) Bigger Impact Of Choices From Earlier Games
The Witcher series of games do a very good job of ‘choice and consequences’ in their stories. However, this applies only within the games itself, as the choices that transfer over to the sequels don’t carry as much weight. Granted, it is still better than the Mass Effect series, but that isn’t saying much. What I’d like is for the choices you made in The Witcher 1 and 2 to have more impact in The Witcher 3. I want true consequences, not just shallow results that simply change slightly to accommodate different choices. This, of course, is very hard to do as it requires a lot of work on the developers end however, that is the price you pay for creating an open-world story. You can’t create an open-world and then hide behind shallow choices, it diminishes the game’s overall quality as the gamer feels like their choices don’t make any real difference, merely a different colored icing to the developers planned out cake.
Do you have any wishes you’d like to see in The Witcher 3?
Princess Adda died which is why the King was trying to get his bastard children back from the Baroness in the beginning. The ending also explains why the children were kidnapped