The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is nearly upon us, and there are a few things you’d probably like us to divulge: like Collector’s Editions, PC requirements, resolutions, gameplay expectations and more. Here is everything you should know about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt concludes the story of Geralt of Rivia, as well as the trilogy in general. Following the events of The Witcher 2, Geralt has embarked on a new personal mission, and all while maintaining his day job: hunting beasts, fulfilling contracts and keeping the world order from changing too drastically. And would you look at that, an army from another world, known as the ‘Wild Hunt’, has invaded the Northern Kingdoms, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. It falls to Geralt to stop this cataclysm, and ultimately bring the world back to a more agreeable state.

As the Collector’s Edition has been completely sold out worldwide, when you pick up your Standard Edition of the game you will get the following.

Standard Edition – R799.00

• Game copy with sleeve box
• Game manual
• Stickers
• Game map
• Soundtrack

The Standard Edition, like with every other edition of the game, will also feature 16 free DLC packs set to release later this year.

PC Requirements

For all of you PC gamers, with your 4K screens and rotating mechanical chairs, here’s what you’ll need to run The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Minimum System Requirements

• CPU: Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz or AMD CPU Phenom II X4 940
• GPU: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660 or AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870
• RAM: 6GB
• OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
• DirectX: DirectX 11
• HDD Space: 40 GB

Recommended System Requirements

• CPU: Intel CPU Core i7 3770 3,4 GHz or AMD CPU AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
• GPU: Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 770 or AMD GPU Radeon R9 290
• RAM: 8GB
• OS: 64-bit Windows 7 or 64-bit Windows 8 (8.1)
• DirectX: DirectX 11
• HDD Space: 40 GB

Resolutions

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a beautiful game, but it’s overall sheen will depend on the platform you’re playing it on.

• Xbox One – 900p, 30fps
• PS4 – 1080p, 30fps
• PC – 4K, a lot more than 30fps.

Expansions

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will continue on via two expansion packs post-launch. The first, Hearts of Stone, will release in October of this year, and the other, Blood and Wine, will release in early 2016. Combined, the expansions promise to add an additional 30 hours of gameplay to the already lengthy campaign.

Hearts of Stone: This 10-hour campaign will take Geralt on an adventure into No Man’s Land and the alleys of Oxenfurt, where he will be instructed to complete a contract for the mysterious Man of Glass. That’s the plot at least. You can expect a whole lot more than that.

Blood and Wine: This 20-hour campaign will introduce the wholly new region of Toussaint, a land untainted by war, to The Witcher 3. In spite of its currently carefree atmosphere, there’s a much more insidious, bloody underbelly to discover.

The expansion pass will set you back $24.99 (R299.00) and is available on Steam right now, and will be available for consoles prior to launch day.

As for the 16 free DLC packs, expect to receive new costumes, sets of armour, weapons, locations to visit, beard styles and horse skins. I mean, who doesn’t want to grow a beard in today’s hipster era?

The developers have made it clear that the 16 DLC packs are a thank you present, to say thanks for believing in them and their vision.

Monsters

The monsters you face on your journey will vary from your average ghost to a mighty griffin. Monsters come in various shapes and sizes, some of them providing a significant challenge for Geralt.

While bosses are primarily found during story and side-quests, they are not only relegated to said missions and quests. These monsters are tough and you may very well encounter one completely at random.

Monsters are placed according to habitat, meaning many are restricted to particular areas and times of the day. The developers wanted players to learn what lurks in the forest and what swims through the swamps, and all by identifying the creature’s habitat.

Difficulty

The developers have made a few adjustments since the last title. This time around, the game’s difficulty has been brought up a notch. According to the developers, the game can feel very punishing at times, but you will learn from your mistakes and hopefully improve as a result. The point is to blame yourself for each death, rather than the game.

Hardcore gamers that really want to get the most out of the RPG elements of The Witcher 3 can up the difficulty and have it affect character progression. This will change the way you approach crafting and character equipment as well.

Gameplay

We recently got a glimpse at the massive open-world map and it really demonstrated how huge the game’s world was. There is so much to uncover as you explore the swamps, mountain trails and dense forests of The Witcher 3.

Exploring the world will keep you busy and has been designed in such a way that there is always something to see or investigate.

Combat provides a fast hack-and-slash feel with added spells and a point system that works by chaining attacks together to execute special attacks, similar to the Arkham series. Switching between magic and combat is quick and easy to execute, making battles feel natural and entertaining.

Your horse will also serve as your trusty companion and will assist you in battle as you take the fight to the enemy while mounted on your trusty steed.

There’s more too:

• PC gamers who have played the original titles will be able to carry over a very specific tattoo by importing their saves.
• The game is 35 times bigger than The Witcher 2
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will not feature any quicktime events
• The Dark Souls series was a huge influence during the combat design elements of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
• Geralt’s beard will constantly grow throughout the game, getting longer until you cut it. There will also be beard packs and hairstyles added as part of new free DLC.
• Travelling in a boat will put you in danger as storms and rocks will destroy your boat, leaving you vulnerable to enemies that lurk in the waters.
• The second playable character, Ciri, will be faster and more agile in combat than Geralt. She will be weaker, but can cast magic unique to her.
• At certain times in the game, you will be able to switch between her and Geralt in combat, but only during very particular events.
• Newcomers to the series will not feel left in the dark as the developers have assured that the past two game’s stories will be well told beforehand.
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will last over 200 hours, if you try and complete everything that is.
• Weather effects NPC’s as well as the environment. When there is a storm at night, best not go outside.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt releases on PS4, Xbox One and PC on May 19th, 2015

Source: DualShockers, IGN

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