The Witcher 3 Set a New Standard for RPGs That's Yet to Be Topped

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt represented a massive step forward for developer CD Projekt Red. Its predecessor, The Witcher 2, was a great role-playing game in its own right, but the Polish studio's ambition had not been sated. In the years that followed the release of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in 2011, there was a gap in the market for another huge fantasy RPG, especially when current-gen consoles arrived in 2013. And, with genre veteran BioWare unable to fully capitalise on this opportunity with the somewhat divisive Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014, the stage was well and truly set for the return of the White Wolf.

[MadLad]

Witcher 3, Planescape:Torment, Kingdom Come:Deliverance, Morrowind, and New Vegas are my top rpgs of all time.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Do you have some favorite JRPGs?

[naruga]

Monster Hunter World +Iceborne ...destroy the bland Witcher 3 ...while MHW is a bit more action focused and not so open world ....the main gameplay principle (->hunt and battle big boss monsters) is the same ...and in MHW is perfectly actualised far beyond any competition

[King_Noctis]

“ Monster Hunter World +Iceborne ...destroy the bland Witcher 3”

Kindda ironic isn’t it? The only story that MHW has is go here, kill that, rinse and repeat. Don’t get me wrong, I find MHW great, but to say the Witcher 3 is bland comparing to that game? You’re delusional bro.

[ShinRon]

the witcher 3 has bland gameplay but a robust story and monster Hunter has robust gameplay and a bland story... its preference beyond that

[MadLad]

I'm not huge on JRPGs, but there's a few series I really enjoy. I love Persona 3 - 5 were fantastic. Final Fantasy 5, 7, 9, and 12. Dragon Quest 8, 3, and the original Dragon Warrior back on the gameboy (childhood favorite). Not sure if it counts or not, but Bloodborne was one of my favorite games of this decade. There's a number I really enjoy, but they aren't games I actively play.

My favorite genre is the western style rpg, being I like the character building affecting your agency within the world; things like multiple story paths, varying dialogue choices, skill checks and so on.

@naruga

It's fine to say you prefer the combat in MH to Witcher 3. Witcher 3's is average by comparison. That doesn't make the game inherently better though. It depends what you want out of your game. MH is basically all combat and crafting. All other potential elements fall by the wayside, and the game features very little in the writing department. Witcher 3 has a lot of classical western rpg mechanics thrown into the mix, so the whole of the product doesn't come down to any singular mechanic. Personally, I really enjoy the combat in Witcher 3 all the same.

[Nacho_Z]

@naruga

Think of it this way, if The Witcher and Monster Hunter were tv shows (not just theoretical as it happens) the former would be dark, violent and thought provoking and the latter would be a horribly written cheese fest.

[robtion]

I am hoping Cyberpunk is about to do it again.

[Morganl]

The Witcher 3 Set a New Standard for RPGs That's Yet to Be Topped. The Witcher three: Wild Hunt represented an enormous step ahead for developer CD Projekt Pink. Its predecessor, The Witcher 2, was once a super role-playing sport in its personal proper, however the Polish studio's ambition had no longer been sated.

[Morganl]

Any other suggestion? https://www.dgcustomerfirst...

[KillZallthebeast]

witcher was great, The top has yet to be reached.

[KillZallthebeast]

What's your top

[Fraggle1987]

I liked witcher 3 but theres quite a few that i say top it. The elder scrolls games for one. Final fantasy is another.

[Hungryalpaca]

None of the elder scrolls games top it. Maybe daggerfall for its size but that’s it. WITCHER best it in every category aside from customization.

[TheKingKratos]

And gameplay sucks tbh

[TK-66]

Definitely not in the core gameplay. The witcher 3 had some very sloppy mechanics and that view was vindicated following them confirming they had no gameplay designers.

[lucian229]

Combat is pretty crappy. Too easy even on hard. No need for strategy, no combos or interesting mechanics to make signs useful. Honestly just shield the whole game, hit twice, roll till cool down of shield, and repeat.

[RedDevils]

Which Final Fantasy? The one that haven't been release or 15? Cause if it 15 that one is pretty meh

[MadLad]

Lumsum

That just means you prefer jrpgs. It's apples to oranges. The mechanics of the series are so entirely different from one another.

[MadLad]

Witcher, Elder Scrolls, and FF are all such different experiences from each other. The closest ES release to what Witcher series does would be Morrowind. Oblivion and after all focused on loot, and simplifying the rpg elements. FF is just your typical JRPG, offering almost none of the classical crpg elements that the Witcher does; but that's the difference between western rpgs and eastern rpgs.

[smolinsk]

Don't even see the game as a rpg game, beautiful game for sure and atmosphere, great side missions. But without real customization and a shallow world without any depth..that's not a RPG..... Not even close to elder scrolls games, way more depth and much customization...

[Italiano1234567]

I totally agree and its right up there for me for game of the generation. GOW is still tops on my list this gen.

[gamesR4fun]

Pools of Radiance was the first real epic pc rpg nvm bards tail lol

[Masterchief_thegoat]

The Witcher 3 is one of the greatest rpg of all time

[MrVux000]

A game that is more like an Action-adventure with some rpg elements...to each their own.

I'm yet to see any true RPG game top TES; Morrowind, still the king baby.

[King_Noctis]

The Witcher 3 is truly game of the generation for me. No game this gen could bring out the emotions like this game, at least for me. The characters, the world, the story, all melted together so perfectly that I don’t know how CDPR could ever top it, even with Cyberpunk.

Now that The Witcher Netflix is out, time to replay the game.

[AWBrawler]

So we gone act like Xenoblade series doesn’t exist now?

[PhantomTommy]

Incredible writing and world building, but the actual gameplay part is very poor. Level up that shield sign until you regain health when enemies attack and never lose a fight again, even on the harder difficulties. Do people actually enjoy that or do they just play on easy to breeze past the fights and get to the good stuff?

[alb1899]

The Best Game this Generation.

[lucian229]

Witcher 3 was great except for the combat.... That was not so great.

[JEECE]

No, Witcher 3 is not the best. I prefer "early 2000s game that hasn't aged well" and "obscure game that forces you to use top down perspective." "JRPG that is not nearly as fun to play but establishes my hardcore gamer credibility" is much better as well.

[ifrit_caress]

The Witcher 3 is an absolute masterpiece.

[SyntheticForm]

It is, and I think it's going to stay my game of gen even when faced by TLOU2, God of War, Bloodborne, and other great games. I don't see anything topping its storytelling power.

[Antifan]

Best RPGS of the decade 2010 - 2020
#1 The Witcher 3
#2 Skyrim
#3 Shadow of Mordor
#4 Original Sin 2
#5 Mass Effect 3

[Germaximus]

Kingdoms of Amalur is the best RPG I've ever played.

[esherwood]

First game since Mario 64 where I really felt like the game was way ahead of the competition