Our Verdict
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is the best the game has ever been, with excellent quality-of-life upgrades and exclusive Nintendo Switch 2 features that make it the best platform to enjoy the game on.
One of my favorite ever videogames is The Witcher 3, with The Witcher also being among my top franchises - I'm a lover of not just the games, but the books and comics as well. To say I was squealing with delight at the reveal of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is an understatement, and I'm especially thrilled that CD Projekt Red is releasing it on Nintendo Switch 2.
Being the lucky ducky I am, CDPR gave me a code for the Switch 2 version, and I've spent a lot of time with Geralt over the past couple of days. I easily have more than 1,000 hours clocked in this game across all the platforms I own it on, so it took me no time at all to get into the swing of things. From the get-go, even in the opening cutscene, I could tell the game looks better than ever, with CDPR giving it a nice makeover.
While I could gush about what makes The Witcher 3 one of the best RPGs of all time for hours, I'm aware that you probably already know plenty about it, given it's more than a decade old at this point. As such, I'm going to keep my thoughts on the main game and DLC to a minimum, instead focusing on the quality-of-life changes present in the remaster and the Switch 2-exclusive features.
Let me start with the combat, as while I'm a big fan of the original game, the combat does feel somewhat clunky. CD Projekt Red revamped it in the remaster, giving it a much cleaner feel, with each battle running smoothly and ditching the jagged feel of the 2015 game. Oh, and the new finishers are a lot of fun; I'm a big fan of those brutal finishes - I feel like a complete badass. To go along with this, the skill tree underwent a complete revamp, now firmly looking like a tree, giving a proper hierarchy to the abilities and asking you to unlock specific ones before being able to move down each branch, as opposed to needing to spend a certain amount of points in a category before being able to get certain skills. Mind you, you still need to assign your ability to an empty slot to get the benefits.
There are smaller changes I really appreciate too; the rewards you get for mission completion are even clearer, popping up in a box on the left side of the screen, and riding Roach has never felt so good. I also need to give props to the new accessibility features, with CDPR letting you enable things like infinite breath, unlimited item durability, and ignoring item weight. Things like this allow you to enjoy the adventure to the fullest, without worrying about aspects such as being overencumbered.
When it comes to controls, the Switch 2 has a couple of exclusive options, the first of which is gyroscope controls. In my Cyberpunk 2077 Switch 2 review, I mentioned that CDPR did an excellent job with the motion controls, so it's unsurprising that it continues to be the case in Wild Hunt Remastered. You can fully control the camera by moving the right Joy-Con 2, which helps you feel even more immersed, and it runs very smoothly; there's no delay, and it's fast, though you can adjust the camera speed to suit you if you struggle to keep up. To put this feature through its paces, I used it while battling the griffon in White Orchard, a beast that likes to move around, and I managed to follow it perfectly.
Beyond the motion controls, the Switch 2 also allows you to use mouse controls. As I always say when reviewing this feature, regardless of the game, I'm not a massive fan, just because it's not my preferred style. Still, it works very well in The Witcher 3 and is sure to please those of you who get a kick out of the Joy-Con 2's mouse mechanic.
So, it's clear that I can't fault the Switch 2 exclusive features, and the quality-of-life changes make a big difference, but is the performance where it needs to be? In short, yes. Not only does the game look fantastic, but it runs as smoothly as butter - I've not encountered a single drop in frame rate, nor any bugs. I often find myself marveling at just how gorgeous everything is and how well the game runs; I could never go back to the standard Switch version after this.
Before I go, I do need to gush over the world and its characters - to this day, I have an immense love for not just Geralt, but Yennefer, Triss, Ciri, Dandelion, and plenty more people who live on the Continent. The writing in Wild Hunt is second to none, being a world-class showcase in storytelling. If you've somehow never played WH, I implore you to give it a try, especially when the remaster comes with Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, too, ensuring you'll be ready for when the third expansion, Songs of the Past, releases.
All in all, not only is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered clearly the optimum way to enjoy Geralt's adventure, but the Switch 2 is officially my favorite platform to play the game on. It looks incredible, features both expansions (with Blood and Wine remaining the single best DLC in gaming history, in my opinion), and has control features that you can't use on other platforms. Do yourself a favor and pick it up. Oh, and I have to give CDPR props for allowing existing owners of the original to get the remaster for free on select platforms, even if that doesn't apply to the Switch 2 copy.