Winner: The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine could have been a game all its own, starring not just Geralt, but the intoxicating world of Touissant. The region is massive and its haughty residents are perpetually inebriated, but most strikingly, Touissant is untouched by war.
Conflict ravages the rest of Geralt’s world in a million depressing ways; the base Wild Hunt game is a subtly powerful exploration of war, but in Blood and Wine, hung corpses are replaced by jewel-colored vineyards, and orphaned children with jousting tournaments. The smiling substitutions are startling and flippant, mirroring the Touissant citizens dancing among their secrets, and our witcher, hoping for a happy end despite all else he’s seen in the world.
You could spend hours of Blood and Wine trapezing around with artists, sommeliers, and lavish parties. There are over 90 quests, a new Gwent deck, an armor dying system, new powers through the mutation feature, and a mission starring Roach that is both disturbing and touching. Players that eventually drift into the rich main quest meet settings and characters both wildly vivid and violent. Creatures are bolder, boss fights have evolved into challenging spectacles, and an old friend returns with a charming darkness so fitting for the setting.
Each of these pieces – mechanically, visually, and narratively – rapidly rise to the sky high standards of The Witcher 3, one of last year’s most lauded games. Its fluid combat is a joy, its narrative steps are gratifying, and no minor quest is without a purpose — many are just as engrossing as the starring story line. Without a doubt, Blood and Wine enraptures at every turn.
But as much as this is a fresh adventure for players, another dose of a beloved story for those who have invested dozens of hours into The Witcher, it is a finale — the last expansion for Geralt’s video game saga. More than mounds of content, Blood and Wine masterfully travels through a bold new setting, a wild romp through its beautiful hills, a story of concealed danger, and, in its last breaths, a fulfilling end to a phenomenal title.
