While The Witcher 3 is often heralded as one of the best games of the century, if not all time, there’s one problem with the legendary 2015 RPG: The part where you have to actually play it. CD Projekt Red seems intent on addressing some of those gameplay shortcomings and adding a new layer of visual polish with the newly announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered. And the best part? It’s a free upgrade for those who already own the game.
The trailer for the remaster shows off noticeable graphical improvements that make the game look much more colorful, along with a new photo mode. Beyond the upgraded visuals, the remaster has a long list of gameplay updates. It will feature reworked combat, which was probably the weakest element of the original release. Enemies have been reworked with “enhanced monster behaviors,” and there are new finisher animations. Traversal also seems improved across the board: we see Geralt haul himself over fences and quickly scale ladders. The finicky horse riding has been updated as well, and we see the Witcher lean to the left and right in his saddle to avoid trees.
Beyond this, the skill tree has been revamped, and item management has been reworked. We see Geralt showing off some slick armor with the new transmogrification feature — for those unfamiliar with this term, it means you can choose one set of armor for Geralt’s visual appearance and another that will impact his stats.
Lastly, those who own the base version of The Witcher 3 will be able to play its acclaimed expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, for free. CD Projekt Red clearly wants to get as many players on The Witcher bandwagon as possible ahead of the studio’s big upcoming releases.
In 2027, the studio will release The Witcher 3 — Songs of the Past, a major new expansion for the game. After that, the studio plans to release The Witcher 4 in 2028. Between The Witcher 3 remaster, which is out on Sept. 29, and everything else, there will be many excuses to play Gwent in the coming days. Thank goodness for that.