Our test of The Witcher 3 Next Gen Update is promoted from every point of view: the right conclusion of an extraordinary cycle.
Over the last REDStream we have learned the main news of The Witcher 3 Next gen, an update that promises not only to collect the best of what has been produced in these long years by modders from all over the world, but also to propose a renewed experience on several fronts. The White Wolf returns the absolute protagonist in this rich upgrade, which effectively improves some aspects that deserved to be modernized, renews its aesthetics with a multimodal approach drawing both from the community and from the know-how of the Polish software house and grafts new features ready to make us lose our heads again for the epic adventure of Geralt of Rivia.
Graphics: a total overhaul!
The goods placed on the plate by CD Project Red it is great and well turned out. The aesthetic face has been rejuvenated with high resolution textures while the lighting system is now managed, albeit partially, by Ray Tracing algorithms.
At the same time, work was done on the so-called “Quality of life”, with practical tricks that could make the difference to make the proposal of the CDPR guys more pleasant and modern. Under the hood, we have also worked to add interesting technical grafts, all strictly free of charge for game owners and for those who decide to buy it after discovering what’s new.This update was packaged both for next gen platforms and for those who decide to relive the third installment of the series on PC. The material borrowed directly from years of community work is little but congenial to the final result: in a similar way to what Bethesda proposed with its Anniversary Edition of Skyrimthis reissue of The Witcher 3 also integrates the best mods published over time.
Those chosen by the team and drawn directly from NexusMods are five, namely The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project by HalkHoganHD Monsters Reworked by denrothImmersive Real-time Cutscenes by teiji25Nitpicker’s Patch by chuckcash and World Map Fixes by Terg500. Added to these are the various mods created for the occasion directly by the team, mainly aimed at the gameplay but also at the aesthetic aspect.
The HD Reworked Project and HDRR they are the community projects that most of all stand out on large screens and in UltraHD, thanks to high-resolution models and textures with excellent rendering without ever being excessively artifacts, while paying due respect to the original artistic direction. Only some cases, such as the chain mail of the original outfit, are perhaps a little flat, but nonetheless no less credible in the context in which they are found. The HD package itself comes with a LOD improvement with elements now visible at greater distances that give the panoramas greater visual richness, certainly much more impacting from a scenic point of view.
The day-night cycle is perhaps the aspect where the tweaks developed by the software house become more evident, especially at the extremes of the day, with effects present in all the graphic modes to give majestic sunsets and breathtaking sunrises with rays of light that infiltrate in an extraordinarily natural way between trees and fog in an even more alive and believable world.
On Playstation 5 you can choose between modes Performance And Ray tracing, at 60 and 30 FPS, respectively. Both presets prove to be pretty solid, and the real-time lighting mode stands out in particular responsiveness despite the halved framerate (A similar approach has been taken for Xbox Series X, while Xbox Series S will receive a Performance mode at 60 FPS and a High Visual Quality mode at 30 with improved textures but no Ray Tracing). Although both methods are very valid, in Ray Tracing it is possible to obtain a very balanced effect but not comparable to the Performance mode on a purely playful level, even if the smaller amount of frames produced gives a cinematic cut that could meet the approval of a certain type of user. It should be noted that, unlike the preset with RT, the one aiming at 60 sometimes shows some drops (even significant ones) which however do not significantly affect the overall enjoyment.
The massive aesthetic upgrade has its price and it was only possible to achieve this on consoles thanks to the implementation of upsampling technology AMD Fidelity FX Super Resolution, whose role in the framework of the current gen is finally starting to prove decisive. However, it must be said that the massive use of FSR reveals its presence in some artifacts and sporadic shimmering of distant objects (flashes) both in Ray Tracing and in the high framerate preset.
Ray Tracing mode adds real-time global illumination and RT ambient occlusion but not PC-exclusive reflections and shadows; however, water and liquid surfaces have however been reworked in a sensitive way, not regretting the absence of reflections in real time with an intelligent use of screen-space reflections.
Between Performance and Ray Tracing the difference is quite evident, especially in candlelit interiors where the lights in real time are able to give greater depth to the environments thanks to a more realistic propagation of the light sources, the reflection of the colored surfaces and a more nuanced gradation of the shadows, which effectively contributes to the atmosphere of the title.
The Performance preset shows heavier but overly flat global shadows, nice in cutscenes but not as effective overall.
Also Geralt has been improved: in addition to textures, the protagonist’s model now benefits from self-produced shadows in high resolution. Those projected towards the outside world are sometimes too clear in the outlines, falling into the opposite excess and evidently not reflecting what was the initial intent. Instead, what is noticeable at a glance is the total remodeling of the ground vegetationnow more dense, realistic and able to interact believably with the character.
A gameplay (almost) in step with the times
If the eye wants its part, the plate of technical improvements is just as rich. Let’s start with the much talk quick-launch mode of Signs, the implementation of which turned out to be a real breakthrough in fighting. Using it requires its activation via the relative toggle in the menu Game Settingsafter which the Signs can be cast directly without going through the dedicated carousel: during combat, just press the trigger that was previously used to cast the selected Sign and now designed to activate a momentary mapping of the action keys each of which corresponds to a different sign.
Another macroscopic aspect that significantly changes the gameplay is the close up camera, which can be set or disabled for each context, so exploration, combat and mount. Who will want to return to the experience “vanilla” will be able to do this with the default setting, but we recommend giving the new view a try at least in regards to it combat and exploration. For the view on horseback we believe that the original camera remains better, the distance of which allows you to have a better overview, especially at speed.
The simplified map is a foresight both banal and incisiveeven more so if you find yourself among those users who can’t stand the excess of information deriving from the growing number of markers and POIs in the open worlds.
Just like the other practical changes, this one is completely reversible at the player’s discretion. These three “icebergs” are followed by a host of minor changes, such as the ability to shoot directly with L3 (in addition to the presence of three walking levels managed via analog tilt) and collecting herbs without going through the loot mini-inventorywhich put together lead to a redesigned game approach in some of its main signs of the time, making it overall less cumbersome but at times still wooden in some situations such as running exploration, in which collision with random assets is more of a rule what an exception.
A discreet DualSense
Directly from Cyberpunk 2077 comes an essential but pleasant Photo Mode, just in time to capture the breathtaking scenery of this version of the game with a lot of options. You can act on the field of view, aperture and focus, but also on color correction and brightness.
In terms of content, new quests have been added that allow you to unlock equipment and outfits inspired by the Netflix series with Henry Cavill for both Geralt and Dandelion, as well as several bugfixes for pre-existing quests still affected by issues.
Between exclusive features for PlayStation 5 the tabs relating to the Activities and at Recent Storiesbut what the owners of Sony’s next gen jewel were surely waiting for is the implementation of haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, actually present in a conservative way but no less effective than other solutions: environmental vibrations are added to the resistance on the right trigger to launch the Signs, whose usefulness in favoring game immersion comes partially dissipated by Quick Launch mode.
Performance
In this case R2 remains adaptive, but will only serve to access the temporary mapping to cast the Signs using the action keys; since the signs are five, this mode will also activate the resistance on the L2 keybut exclusively for throwing igni.
As pleasant as the rendering of the proposal is, the feeling of an incompletely expressed potential remains, which could have further enhanced the sensory range of one of the most successful titles of the last generation. Summing up, this full-bodied, completely free update adds an almost infinite series of improvements on all fronts in which the game could be reworked. What doesn’t upset it makes it better, but some of The Witcher 3’s limitations remainin line with the characteristics of an upgrade that arrives seven years after the publication of the work, and which therefore remains bound to the features of a production anchored to the canons of the last generation.
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt
PlayStation 5 Analyzed Version: The current gen update of The Witcher 3 has allowed us to dive again into the turmoil of a world full of charm, mystery and overflowing with sensory nuances. Albeit with a high-calibre facelift, the third installment of the series remains the son of its generation, for better or for worse. The impact of the new textures and a revised lighting system in almost every part allows you to appreciate the adventures of the witcher par excellence like never before, with a cinematic cut made even more effective by the addition of Ray Tracing and with unprecedented fluidity choosing to opt for the performance mode. Wisely selected the mods produced by the community, and equally effective those created from scratch to rejuvenate the most obsolete mechanics of the original game, which now benefits from a fresher and more dynamic interaction system and a close-up view that favors immersion in the exploration and combat. Ultimately, we would like to promote the current gen package developed by CDPR in no uncertain terms, even more so considering that the upgrade will be completely free for owners of the title starting from December 14, 2022.
