The Witcher 3’s next-generation replace has me on my fourth playthrough of the sport. I’m a little bit of a Witcher nut, as you may think about. You may suppose I’d be bored of all of it by now, however one of many beauties of this 150+ hour RPG (of which there are a lot of) is that the depth of each single quest within the recreation –fundamental, aspect, contract, and scavenger hunt– is such that even the smallest exercise looks like an epic journey.
Don’t fear, although, I’m not right here to blather on concerning the high quality of The Witcher 3’s quests. You’ve all heard that ramble many occasions over by now, I’m certain. Quite the opposite, I haven’t even been enjoying many quests for this specific playthrough — not the normal form, anyway.
As a substitute, my Geralt has put his seek for Ciri on the again burner and has as an alternative been distracted with a Gwent marathon. He and Roach have been galloping throughout The Continent, difficult each blacksmith, innkeeper, and idle guard they’ll discover for Crowns, playing cards, and glory!
![The Witcher 3 next-gen update doesn't feature Gwent](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/gwent-strategy-guide-1024x576-1.jpg?resize=1000%2C563)
Gwent must be among the finest mini-games in an RPG ever. It’s one thing I truly ignored in my first-ever playthrough of the sport and solely acquired into on my second go. Shortly after, my girlfriend performed The Witcher 3 and cherished Gwent simply as a lot; then, she purchased us precise real-life Gwent playing cards that we nonetheless play in nation pubs collectively to this present day. See, I advised you I’m a Witcher nut.
However there’s a wee downside with Gwent in its authentic kind. It kinda sucks. Properly, it doesn’t suck; it’s simply not correctly balanced in a manner that any collectible card recreation needs to be and can be if it wasn’t, effectively, a mini-game in an already huge and complex RPG.
Gwent has, in fact, since been re-imagined by CDPR with its personal fully-fledged spin-off. There’s even a single-player 20-hour standalone RPG primarily based completely round “correct” Gwent referred to as Thronebreaker, which, by the way, I reviewed again in 2018 and totally loved.
Gwent clearly has an enormous following, not simply the new-and-improved spin-off variant however the authentic recreation built-in into The Witcher 3. I do know this not solely as a result of I bear in mind the fever-pitch hype of excited gamers raving about it manner again when Wild Hunt launched in 2015 but in addition as a result of there are numerous Gwent overhaul mods accessible for the PC model of the sport. They’re extraordinarily standard.
I’ve performed a number of of them, truly, they usually rebalance Gwent in intelligent ways in which make it infinitely superior. There’s much less luck concerned; the talent ceiling is greater, and several other of them introduce new and thrilling playing cards to gather.
![The Witcher 3 next-gen update doesn't feature Gwent](https://twinfinite.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/gwentcardgame.jpg?resize=1000%2C563)
However none of that’s accessible within the latest next-generation replace I’m enjoying on PS5. The Gwent marathon I’m on this time round (which I’ve accomplished earlier than if it wasn’t already apparent) is simply the vanilla model. I may simply play it on PC utilizing mods, certain, however I don’t actually perceive why CDPR didn’t embody an overhaul with the patch.
From what I perceive, a few of the high-resolution textures within the recreation are group mods, so why not embody one thing like Gwent Redux or Gwent Plus with the replace too? It looks as if an enormous oversight to me. This might have been an enormous draw to get individuals not solely again into The Witcher 3 but in addition the Gwent standalone itself, which lately launched an enlargement referred to as Rogue Mage earlier this 12 months.
Possibly the higher-ups at CDPR thought-about such an concept, or maybe there have been points integrating such a mod into the video games formally. I’m unsure. I actually hope it not less than was thought-about, although, as a result of if it was fully ignored, that’s a crying disgrace for console gamers — particularly because the standalone Gwent console model was truly nuked a few years in the past by CDPR.
In any case, I can let you know one factor with absolute certainty: if some type of Gwent isn’t included in CDPR’s upcoming The Witcher video games, I’ll riot, and I gained’t be the one one!