The Witcher 3, Wild Hunt — Blood and Wine video game review: A fine farewell

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Blood and Wine marks the end of Geralt’s storyline. Though he may be a brutal, emotionless, monster-slaying machine, he’s also one of the most interesting characters ever featured in a video game.

In the Blood and Wine expansion, Geralt finds work in a strange land of love and wine, where a beast is on the loose and its newest victim has just been found on the bank of a nearby river.

Geralt’s Witcher Sense is still an essential tool that you’ll be making use of quite a lot, and it works as well as could be expected. Alongside the main questline of trying to stop the beast, there are plenty of optional quests to complete, including several new scavenger hunts that feature some new Witcher armor pieces. Many of these adventures are intriguing, spilling out their own little stories as they did in the base game and Hearts of Stone expansion.

One of Blood and Wine’s biggest draws is the addition of more than 20 new enemies who offer unique challenges for the Witcher to face. Also great is the newly designed user interface. Items are now broken up by categories, and the equipment section is more clearly defined than it was in previous versions of the game. The expanded New Game+ level, which now goes to a maximum of 100, gives players plenty of room to continue improving their character. There are also twelve new Mutations, which can be fully explored through the New Game+ mode.

Blood and Wine is an excellent addition to the Witcher 3 universe. The new enemies, redesigned interface and exceptionally well-crafted new land make Geralt’s final adventure one of his most intriguing and exciting.