The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine (DLC) Review

One more story Geralt.

Witcher 3 is a gem of a game. I spent hours and hours in the world with Geralt, and loved almost every second of it. He is a Witcher, tasked with killing plenty of monsters, exploring the lands, meeting colorful, odd, evil, and often eccentric characters, and that theme is prevalent throughout the original game and its expansions. It’s a beautiful world, even with its typical open world issues, that should be considered a crowning achievement in open world role playing games. Blood and Wine brings an entire new region and quest for one last adventure with Geralt, and I can simply sum up in one sentence. Folks reading, are you a fan of the franchise? If so, it’s a no brainer, buy this new expansion as soon as possible.

Refined, enhanced, and super pretty.

Blood and Wine starts much like any other job, via a posting on a wooden board. Some of the finest stories have come from random quests taken from these very planks. Yet here is a whole new chapter, one that will bring joy, horror, and ultimately fun to players looking for more time with Geralt. Some of the fine people of Toussaint have the need for Geralt, and they know of his professional ways. Upon arriving in the land, one thing is very clear, a gorgeous world filled with pastel colors and beautiful vistas from as far as the eye can see. A completely different feel to the dark, dank world we spent many hours in prior.

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MSRP: $19.99
Price I’d Pay:$19.99
Multiplayer: N/A
How long to beat: 15+ hours

Though like a good book, judging things by the cover is never a great idea. That’s not in relation to the quality of the content in Blood and Wine, but that the themes here are just as dark as the original release, color and enchantment be damned, and this is one mature themed vampire tale. Frankly, the content here rivals that of Witcher 3’s main campaign, and the sense of pacing is extremely well done, with interesting story beats developing at break neck speed, keeping me wanting to progress in the story, even if I’m dying to get back to the side quests.

That’s not to say that everything is depressing or mature. With the new world comes lots of new quests, enhancements to the UI, armor, and mutations. Side quests are plentiful, and new creatures are some of the highlights. While the UI improvements come with an updated overall game patch, not just suited for those with the expansion, it still absolutely must be mentioned as it simply makes the interface much easier to read, removes the fish eye lens in Witcher sense mode, and other little changes. It once again proves that CD Projekt Red knows how to support their games, and Witcher 3 runs fairly great on consoles now even with the new improvements and alterations.

A journey ends.

For those following the Witcher over the years in the gaming world, it’s a bit of a sad note to see that Geralt will no longer be the focus in future games set in the universe. Who even knows when or if we get another Witcher game, but at the same time it’s fitting to see just how well Witcher 3 and it’s expansions come together to not only offer great improvements and new adventures, but to really put a great and final end cap to a great character and an amazing world.

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If we never get to step foot in Geralt’s shoes again, I’m fine with that. The time spent in his boots, the adventures had, the memories created, will stay with me forever. I’d like to imagine after the battles of Witcher 3, Geralt retires to his winery, sipping from his cup and telling stories to companions that travel and pass by. An era of peace across the land as he enjoys his new found retirement. Gone but not forgotten, like a good book, Geralt adventures will live on through his games, time and again.

My favorite moment: The showcase of beauty and color upon entering Toussaint was breathtaking and had me in awe. It wasn’t long before I was fighting a woman, naked, covered in blood, and reminding myself that this in indeed a Witcher game, dark and mature as always.

Review copy of game provided by publisher. Primary play on PlayStation 4.

Good
  • New, colorful location
  • Great pacing and missions
  • New creatures
  • Your own vineyard
Bad
  • An end to Geralt’s story
9
Excellent
Written by
Justin is a long time passionate fan of games, not gaming drama. He loves anything horror related, archaeology inspired adventures, RPG goodness, Dr Pepper, and of course his family. When it comes to crunch time, he is a beast, yet rabies free we promise.