The last in a line of gameplay and story expansions for the vast open-world gaming series, Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine DLC has been described by many as a “grand goodbye” to the narrative of Geralt of Rivia. Sporting new storylines, and a shiny new lineup of quests for players to delve into, Blood and Wine explores directly into the hearts of Geralt’s very characters, and what it takes to adopt the mantle, role, and occupation of a witcher.
Famously described as “20% bigger than Skyrim” on its initial release date (shockingly, considering the never-before-seen sheer scale of space put into Skyrim’s sandbox open world) Poland based, award-winning developers at CD Projekt created more land for exploring! Devs really went out of their way with to make Blood and Wine a fitting, final farewell to Witcher 3’s biggest fans, erecting a brand new “landmass” titled Toussains, offering players an all new Terran to stomp around in.
While the fundamentals of gameplay and overall story remain the same, it really appears to work for fans–because, well…Witcher 3 was so well received, who doesn’t want more of a good thing? The DLC pack is receiving generally good reviews (from lukewarm to great) with Kotaku saying it is:
…equal parts triumphant and somber, a reminder of all the great times we’ve had with Geralt and some of the shitty things we’ve done in his shoes.
IGN awarded the expansion a 9/10, stating:
Blood and Wine ends the saga of Geralt of Rivia in style, bringing with it a tale of charming vampires and troublesome friendship set in a stunning new landscape that departs from the bleakness we’ve known until now. The expansion also brings some welcome gameplay enhancements, including mutations, the ability to dye armor, and a vineyard for growing herbs.
Similarly, Eurogamer claimed the game was “a fitting end to an essential video game” and awarded it coveted “Essential” ribbon graphic (very shiny). And Gamespot weighed in with 8/10.
Meanwhile, other reviewers point out that there are still some low lulls visible in the DLC–mainly the same ones that vaguely plagued the flagship W3 game: errands. Chores are especially boring in real life. Even if we are doing all the magical and mysterious errand through the flinty, yellow, wolf-like eyes of Gerlat, we’re still biding our time until we do something more exciting.
Overall Witcher 3 Blood and Wine is not an expansion to be missed out on. not convinced? Take a peek at all the amazing new content being offered below:
- 90 new quests
- 30 hours of overall brand new gameplay
- 40 new points of interest to explore
- 30 new weapons to try
- 100 new pieces of armor to find/craft
- 20 new monster to identify and fight
Blood and Wine is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One and can be purchase/digital download now for the price of $20 alone, or $50 with the main game tacked on.
Happy exploring!