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Regardless of its initial reception, the ultimate success of Cyberpunk 2077 provided CD Projekt Red (CDPR) with the momentum to develop multiple projects simultaneously. Yet what built CDPR into what it is today was 'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' (hereafter 'The Witcher 3'), which achieved global acclaim well before Cyberpunk 2077. Needs little introduction: The Witcher 3 was beloved for its deep cinematic presentation and quest design, which served as a benchmark for countless open-world action-adventure games.

And now 10 years have passed. Originally released during the PS4 and Xbox One generation, the game underwent an upgrade in 2022 with a next-gen update that introduced improved graphics and modern technology. Having been discounted countless times, it is a game almost everyone who wanted to play has played. Even so, CDPR is taking another step forward: a full remaster.

CDPR will release The Witcher 3 Remastered on September 29, marking the 10th anniversary of The Witcher 3. True to the term "remaster"—rather than a remake or an entirely new title—this version does not fundamentally alter the core experience of The Witcher 3. The scope of changes is somewhat limited, and certain aspects may be hard to notice unless compared side-by-side with the pre-remaster version. However, it combines timeless game design with refinements that ensure it feels right at home today.

While The Witcher 3 Remastered does not feel radically new, it effortlessly delivers the experience of playing a modern current-gen title.

The biggest change in The Witcher 3 Remastered lies in its visual enhancements. At the same time, these improvements can be the hardest for players to immediately notice. As mentioned earlier, The Witcher 3 received a next-gen upgrade in 2022 for the PS5 and XSX era, and that update—which also included PC—already brought major visual overhauls.

By today's standards, that next-gen upgrade is effectively a current-gen upgrade. The difficulty of noticing graphical improvements within the same generation speaks to how high the visual fidelity was back then. Detailed ray tracing options were already present, meaning CDPR couldn't simply differentiate the graphics by adding RT features either.

However, when comparing the pre-remaster version side-by-side with the remaster at max settings, clear differences emerge.

The most noticeable aspect is lighting and detail. The remastered graphics do not simply make dark areas darker and bright areas brighter. Centered around light sources, the engine more accurately delineates object contours and reflective surfaces, making lit areas slightly brighter and unlit areas deeper, enhancing light contrast. While this could be seen as simply expanding dynamic range, in practice it renders finely divided object shadows and reflected light.

This also ties into improvements in fundamental object quality. Whereas the original The Witcher 3 used heavy depth of field that gave background scenery a blurry feel, the remaster focuses on bringing out individual details. From stones on the ground to distant trees and wrinkles on characters' faces, objects are rendered with greater detail and accompanied by corresponding lighting effects.

The Witcher 3 originally relied heavily on shallow depth of field focused on characters to blur the background. The remaster maintains this directorial framework. What has changed is the amount of visual information preserved within those blurred regions. Even with the same shallow depth of field, silhouettes and objects remain distinct, conveying spatial details more completely without compromising the game's iconic presentation.

In certain sequences or Photo Mode, rendering the background sharply emphasizes both the subject and the environment, creating a more realistic image. However, the somewhat overly saturated color palette gives the impression of dampening the original game's distinctive somber atmosphere—though there is no denying the graphical improvements themselves.

While widely beloved, The Witcher 3's dance-like combat differed from modern action RPGs and was often seen as a polarizing element. Compared to action-centric games, it drew criticism for lacking impact and responsiveness, along with inconsistent level-based balancing. The remaster leaves this combat framework—the core mechanics—untouched.

Geralt's swordsmanship in the game is not merely an action mechanic, but the result of deliberate efforts to realistically translate his fighting style from the original novels. Since the goal was to preserve the grace of a sword dance while adapting the books into a game, altering the combat system entirely would have required a fundamental shift in how the source material was interpreted.

Instead of changing combat mechanics, the remaster focuses on giving players greater flexibility during combat. The most noticeable adjustment is the camera framing. Previously zoomed in tightly on Geralt centered in the player's view, the camera now pulls back several steps to frame combat encounters.

While The Witcher 3 does feature a lock-on target system, it lacks smooth, magnet-like freeflow combat, and players frequently face multiple foes at once. While the original camera setup was dynamic, it often left players vulnerable to enemies attacking from close flanks. The new angle provides a wider field of view, making it easier to track and strike enemies.

Certain animation tweaks are also noticeable. Previously, Geralt's attacks had an awkward animation feel where strikes passed through enemies and hit reactions followed slightly decoupled. Now, enemies react definitively according to the direction of attack, enhancing the sense of impact—specifically the feeling of slicing through foes.

Another adjustment within the existing framework is the skill system. The game retains signature character progression in which players select up to four mutagen slots (combat, signs, etc.) and assign perks to boost stats. Equipping up to 12 perks—three per slot—to activate them remains unchanged.

However, acquiring perks is now clearer via a visual skill tree. Previously, players had to invest a certain number of perks per tier to advance, forcing points into unnecessary perks. Now, investing in a single preceding perk is enough to unlock the next. With fewer wasted points, players can freely pick desired perks across Combat, Signs, and Alchemy, broadening build diversity.

In this way, the remaster was built around graphical enhancements while delivering overall quality-of-life improvements. That same direction applies directly to the Nintendo Switch 2 version.

Given the hardware limits of the Switch 2, the look of The Witcher 3 Remastered differs significantly from the PC version. While PC matches current-gen consoles like PS5 and XSX, the Switch 2 version looks closer to last-gen consoles at a glance. In particular, real-time ray tracing support is heavily stripped down, meaning lighting changes in dark interiors are barely noticeable.

Examining fine detail reveals a different story, however. Object and landscape rendering are crisp in still images. The original Nintendo Switch port pulled off an almost impossible open world on limited hardware, but paid the price by drastically lowering resolution and object sizes—and still failed to secure stable frame rates. The Switch 2 remaster chose visual fidelity over raw frame rate targeting.

Since the launch of Switch 2, accumulated development experience and DLSS have allowed a growing number of titles to deliver visual presentation rivaling handheld gaming PCs like Steam Deck at lower power consumption. Games like Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Star Wars Outlaws, and Elden Ring fit this description. The Witcher 3 stands out among them for object rendering and detail. However, due to the lightweight DLSS implementation on Switch 2, motion blur remains noticeable during movement despite crisp still images, and occasional frame drops persist. Even so, maintaining stable frames in crowded city areas demonstrates thoughtful optimization.

Several Switch 2-exclusive console features are also supported. These include gyro aiming, motion controls, Joy-Con mouse controls, and touchscreen functionality. Using gyro sensors for camera adjustments and motion controls to call Roach or cast Signs can be handy features depending on play style.

However, these features feel more like a proof-of-concept demonstration—similar to Cyberpunk 2077—rather than controls tailor-made for The Witcher 3. On the other hand, given the game's multi-pane menu structure, mouse-style controls and touchscreen input prove genuinely useful in practice.

Another notable highlight on Switch 2 is mod support. Historically, many games—including Bethesda titles that possess official mod features elsewhere—lacked Switch mod support, giving rise to the view that Nintendo's strict internal requirements made mods impossible. Yet The Witcher 3 Remastered offers mod support with 3GB of dedicated storage. While the selection of mods was limited prior to official release, the ability to easily subscribe to and apply mods raises expectations for an expanded, freer content experience on Switch 2.

The Witcher 3 Remastered is, quite literally, a remaster. Outstanding visual enhancements and various system refinements make gameplay smoother, but the underlying foundation remains identical. Put another way, that core foundation holds up remarkably well on its own, and selective visual and systemic polish is all it needs to feel like a current-gen game.

Moreover, this release goes beyond a simple remaster. The upcoming expansion, 'Songs of the Past,' scheduled for release next year, comes 11 years after Blood and Wine. Viewed as a launchpad for that expansion, the remaster takes on a different significance.

Provided as a free update for existing owners of a game that has already achieved massive sales and undergone countless discounts, it holds value beyond a standalone commercial release. Furthermore, for those who have yet to play The Witcher or wish to revisit Geralt's journey ahead of 'Songs of the Past,' it offers a chance to experience The Witcher 3 in true modern form.

In the end, The Witcher 3 Remastered is both an honest remaster and a welcome gift.