Looking
at in-game statistics, I spent just shy of 100 hours completing
Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. Yes, almost 100 hours--months of time. I don’t
know what the average length of a video game is these days, but such
a length is rare. It’s the equivalent of sitting in a chair for
four straight days, no food, no sleep, only gaming—err, witching.
Developers having built a massive world, told a major story (as well
as several quality side stories), and enriched it with a plethora of
details, it is a veritable feast of a game. It was thus a big shock
that CD Projekt Red came out with an expansion to Witcher 3 in
2016 called “Hearts of Stone”. I’ve since entirely broken the
century mark …
Best
played once the player has reached level 30-32 of the base game,
“Hearts of Stone” is, in its most fundamental form, a major side
quest to Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. Responding to a note on
one of the village’s notice boards, Geralt heads into the northern
regions to talk with a man who wants a monster killed. Upon arrival,
Geralt encounters a band of merry-makers one step shy of madness.
Nevertheless he agrees with their leader, the drastically scarred
Olgierd von Everec, to go to Oxenfurt and kill the monster hiding in
its sewers. Everything going to plan (even getting some assistance
from a medic named Shani) in the fight, the story spins sideways.
Geralt’s trajectory going in an unexpected direction, he has to use
his strength and wits (and dancing shoes) to get to the bottom of who
cheated whom, and straighten what is otherwise a crooked situation.
Perhaps
it’s just the honeymoon of completing “Hearts of Stone”, but
there is something inside me that wants to say its storyline is
actually better than The Wild Hunt’s. Deeper inside I know
it’s comparing apples to oranges (it is, after all, impossible to
compare one major storyline broken up over 100 hours versus one
compact storyline played over roughly 14-15 hours). Nevertheless,
my guess is that years from now I will remember “Hearts of Stone”
more readily than The Wild Hunt. CD Projekt Red telling the
life of Olgierd von Everec in mythical yet human fashion, I daresay
it’s impossible not to finish “Hearts of Stone” without the
full scope, good to evil, of his character etched in mind. Ciri’s
plight in the main game is engaging, but it’s somehow less
relatably human than Olgierd’s. The last few decisions the player
makes (no spoilers!) feel truly involved. Given that these decisions
likewise have irreversible repercussions makes for an experience that
feels meaningful, and indeed makes the player ponder the wider of
areas of ambition, despair, redemption, forgiveness, and justice.
Olgierd’s story reminiscent of the Baron’s in scope yet entirely
fresh in detail, it’s more great storytelling from CD Projekt Red.
In
addition to Olgierd’s tale, the other major thing “Hearts of
Stone” brings to Witcher 3 is more diverse gameplay.
The Wild Hunt features Gwent, horse races, boxing matches,
treasure hunts, romances, and other ‘games-within-games’ as
options for the player to experience the setting in different ways.
The “Hearts of Stone” expansion only adds to this. On top
of adding more of the aforementioned ‘games within games’, there
are additional scenes, bosses, puzzles, even aesthetics (yes,
aesthetics—impressionist aesthetics!) for the player to interact
with and play through. For example, at one point in the new
storyline a wedding occurs, during which there are numerous
activities for Geralt to participate in that go far beyond what has
been available thus far. At another point, Geralt must puzzle his
way through something like a haunted mansion—a mansion whose boss
fights throw twists at the player they’ve yet to encounter. (One
in particular seems a clear tribute to Dark Souls.)
And
yet there is more. “Hearts of Stone” also offers new crafting
abilities (including a Runemaster), a new culture (the Ofieri, who
loosely resemble Arabians), new armor and weapons (including one
entire new Witcher school called Viper), new NPCs, new collectibles,
new locations, new enemies, new potions, new side quests, and new
treasure hunts. Where The Wild Hunt can be peeled back and
back and back, and each time a new layer of detail found, “Hearts
of Stone” offers the same, and more.
Before
closing the review, it might be important to mention one thing in
terms of integration with the base game. Regardless whether you buy
The Wild Hunt stand-alone and then buy “Hearts of Stone”,
or buy the Witcher 3 GOTY edition (which contains the base
game and all DLC), CD Projekt Red have given players the option of
immediately jumping into “Hearts of Stone” without having to
start from the beginning. “Hearts of Stone” is selectable from
the main menu, and the game immediately cuts to a levelled up Geralt.
After assigning ability points, players can seek out Olgierd von
Eserec to start the storyline. For those like me, who traded in the
base game to buy the GOTY edition, it’s not necessary to invest
dozens and dozens of hours before being able to dig into the
expansion. The downside to the auto-levelled start is that the
player has a small inventory of goods that will require a bit of
exploring to build up to a desired level, not to mention some of the
important side quests (like master swordsmith and master armorer)
need to be done again in order to unlock the ability of crafting high
level items. And there are other disadvantages to jumping right into
the expansion, but overall it’s fair to say CD Project Red have
given players the bare bones of what they’ll need to succeed, not
to mention bare bones beats replaying 60-70 hours of the base game to
arrive at the same level. Thus, kudos to CD Projekt Red for having
the players in mind while designing the expansions.
I
finished my runthrough of Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt extremely
satisfied. It is a rich, complete experience that must be considered
one of, if not the top rpg made in the history of video games. The
icing on the cake, cherry on top, mustard on the hotdog—however you
want to quantify it, the “Hearts of Stone” expansion only takes a
great experience and makes it better. From the well-developed
storyline (that perhaps bests the main game’s?) to new weapons and
armor, new abilities to new characters, any player looking for more,
has it. In terms of major DLC in gaming these days, it’s
impossible to ask for more for $20.
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