The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered boasts upgraded action and marginally better visuals

One of the hottest developers in the world right now is undoubtedly Polish based CD Projekt Red, from their humble beginnings with Witcher 1, to releasing one of the best action roleplaying games the world has seen in 2015 with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

The game not only redefined the open world genre, but also set the template and inspired a decade of excellent action RPGs such as Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey, Ghost of Tsushima and the Horizon games. With gamers still playing through the game today (many on their very first playthrough veering off the main path), making a remastered version was a more than a welcome addition, and the best way to play or replay the game. 

Before 2015, not many had heard of The Witcher, based on the Andrzej Sapkowski fantasy novels of the same name. The game not only garnered a huge following, but also roped in fans that included Superman Henry Cavill who sought out, and was eventually chosen for, the role of Geralt of Rivia in the Netflix series. Now more than a decade later, you have a new excuse to step into the shoes of Geralt, the mutant witcher who earns his living hunting monsters across the land. In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Geralt searches across a war-torn continent for his missing adopted daughter, Ciri, only to realise that she has been pursued by an ancient otherworldly evil that is about to bring the end of times. 

Built on years of rich lore, The Witcher 3 thrives on its deeply personal connections. As Geralt’s journey unfolds, it brings together a memorable ensemble of old friends and past flames — from his loyal bard buddy Dandelion, to the formidable sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, the enduring love of his life. The story weaves threads that connect them all, while a spectral army, the Wild Hunt, snaps at his heels. Yet, there is always time to help a friend, attend a masquerade ball or pick up a host of monster contracts.

The Wild Hunt boasts some of gaming’s most memorable quests, none more so than the tragic story of the Bloody Baron. In a world where monsters and humans collide, the game delivers storytelling at its absolute finest. 

Now, here is where the 2026 updates to the game come in and they are worth your time. First off, you get a fully reworked skill tree. After the extensive skill overhaul in Cyberpunk 2077 resulted in vastly improved build variety, Witcher 3 Remastered receives a similar treatment, adopting a more conventional branching skill tree in which investing points into core abilities unlocks additional perks.

Gone is the arbitrary tier-gating that forced you to dump points into unwanted skills just to reach higher levels. With most abilities now capped at three ranks instead of five, every ability point feels instantly impactful, and just like the new Cyberpunk 2077, it lets you assemble specialised builds faster and gives returning players a fresh slate with a full point reset upon launching. As of this review, other platforms were buzzing with new build guides, breathing life into the system. 

Among the mechanics, combat receives a healthy dose of changes to fluidity, animation and finishers for Geralt, but the enemies have also received updates, especially monsters, making combat far more visceral and dynamic, with not only better animation, but new counterattacks, attacks and behaviours.

The original combat was no slouch, but making it more dynamic makes Geralt more nimble. This also translates to jumping, vaulting, climbing and traversal. Cameras have also been updated to translate that dynamism in combat, and they work at giving you a better sightline into your enemies’ movements.

Signs, which are Geralt’s magic spell system, have received updates in its particle effects, impact and its own finishers, and now comes with its own skill tree enhancements. 

However, the biggest upgrades are on the graphics, and while there are many videos scrutinising the original game versus the remastered, it is important to note that over the years The Witcher has got a fair amount of polish and refreshes. What the remastered brings is a larger sense of detail, and a cleaner, more expansive look overall, with a lighter tone, and new Path-tracing lighting systems, that are quite demanding on your system but makes for excellent lighting.

The game is supported on all the latest Nvidia, AMD and Intel upscaling tech, and if you happen to own a Playstation 5 Pro, then you get native PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution), based on the latest news from Sony on the release of the lighter QSSR for the base PS5; hopefully, the remastered should get support for that as well. 

Regardless of the system you are on, Witcher 3 Remastered looks incredible, even at lower graphic fidelities, and the new animation systems and finishers are incredible. If you have the hardware to support 2K or 4K gaming at the highest levels with Path-tracing on, you are in for a treat, especially with the now free DLC’s Blood and Wine, which looks absolutely stunning with its Southern France- and Italy-inspired setting.

The new graphics updates make The Witcher 3 stand even taller than other games today, and it made me want to hit New Game for the third time in 10 years since the original, just to see how much has changed, and how much love has been put for this groundbreaking game. 

A 100 years into the future, when people look at the past through museums, they will view The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as an important work of art, something which many believe is true today too. A masterpiece in every way, from graphics, story, world-building, combat and its place in our hearts, Songs of the Past is already looking great and so is the upcoming Witcher 4 focused on Ciri’s tale.

The remastering was not a required step; people would have played Songs of the Past anyway as an important bridge between the old and the new game. However, CD Projekt RED take their craft seriously and have given us much much more than a coat of paint. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is not just an update, but a way to experience the game once more before its final song.