The Witcher 3 Remastered has been one of the biggest announcements of the year, showing just how much love players have for this game even over a decade later. It has been 11 years since the original Witcher 3 was introduced to the world, and in that time, CD Projekt Red has added two DLCs, and Netflix even crafted a live-action TV series. The Witcher 3 Remastered brings the series back in the spotlight, revamping its most popular game entry with a fresh coat of paint. This remaster isn’t just a facelift, though; it’s an opportunity for CD Projekt Red to fix key features in order for the devs to finally create the game that they always wanted to.
After 11 years of thriving, it’s clear that The Witcher 3 resonates with a lot of people. That doesn’t mean it’s a perfect experience, though. The controls can be clunky, Roach can be a real pain to handle, and a lot of players even think the combat gets repetitive over time. There is no such thing as a perfect game, but CD Projekt Red hopes that The Witcher 3 Remastered‘s changes at least get the game closer to meeting perfection.
The Witcher 3 Remastered Is a Promising Rewrite of an Already-Great Game
On most lists found on the internet that go over the best open-world RPGs ever, The Witcher 3 is consistently featured among those lineups. Granted, taste is subjectivity, but The Witcher 3‘s longevity speaks for itself. The first and second games were popular, but CD Projekt Red’s third entry grew into an entirely different beast. It’s incredibly hard to create a game that endures 11 years later, and The Witcher 3 Remastered and its upcoming DLC, Songs of the Past, are giving the open-world RPG even more time in the limelight.
The Witcher 3‘s lead writer, Marcin Blacha, recently talked with PC Gamer about The Witcher 3‘s legacy and how, just because the game has continued to be beloved, doesn’t mean that it can’t benefit from tweaks to improve the experience. The upgrades in The Witcher 3 Remastered are mostly things that CD Projekt Red has wanted to fix for a while now, and the remaster makes that possible.
For me, The Witcher 3 is not a monument and is not untouchable. It is still vivid in my memory, and it is still something that is not maybe a point of reference, but something that still may be improved… When I’m playing The Witcher 3, I still find some places that I think maybe, nowadays, I would do it differently.
Hindsight is 20/20, so it’s not surprising that Blacha has a few doubts about some of the base game’s final features. Blacha now has far more experience than he did when first crafting The Witcher 3, and those added years of experience usually mean that one is stronger at their craft. Now that Blacha has extra wisdom to bring to the table, he and the other devs at CD Projekt Red are using this opportunity to craft a Witcher 3 2.0 moment. The developer did this once already with Cyberpunk 2077, so that makes the prospect of The Witcher 3 Remastered that much more intriguing.
These Are the Features Getting an Upgrade in The Witcher 3 Remastered
- Upgraded visuals
- Smoother combat controls
- New combat finisher animations
- Movement animation and motion blur improvements
- New visual effects for Witcher Signs
- Upgraded monster behavior
- Another update to Roach’s handling
- Traversal and movement overhaul
- Redesigned skill tree
- Added transmogrification
- Reworked looting system and quest tracking
- Miscellaneous upgrades, like updated UI, changes to meditation, modernized tutorial, upgraded photo mode, added accessibility features, and cross-platform mod support.
These upgrades to The Witcher 3‘s gameplay and overall visuals are significant. The visual upgrades were impressive enough, but CD Projekt Red is going the extra mile and addressing a lot of concerns that fans have had for years. Since certain features, like combat, have been so divisive, I’m eager to find out just how much of a difference the upgrades make to fighting. The Witcher 3‘s controls have deterred some gamers over the years, and this remaster could be the fix that finally brings them into the fold.
The Witcher 3 Remastered Marks the Beginning of a New Era
CD Projekt Red’s fantasy RPG has maintained its footing in the industry for this long, so it’s going to be interesting to see how much longer the remaster keeps The Witcher 3‘s popularity up. Beyond the remaster, there is even more on the horizon for fans to look forward to. Even before The Witcher 3 Remastered announcement made waves, CD Projekt Red had confirmed a new DLC.
The Witcher 3‘s Songs of the Past DLC is set to expand the game just as much as the remaster aims to. In the same interview with PC Gamer, Blacha expressed how creatively rewarding getting to work on the expansion has been and how it’s reassuring to know that the team was able to get back into the groove of The Witcher 3 after so many years.
Adding a new expansion is not such a huge deal. In fact, discovering we still have it, you know, we have this thing, and we are still able to create a story that fits not only vanilla Witcher 3 but also Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. It is still a very uplifting feeling – a time machine that brings me 10 years back, when I was younger and maybe more passionate and more enthusiastic.
Blacha’s admitted passion and enthusiasm felt throughout the process bodes well for the DLC. Not everything about the expansion has been revealed yet, but there are already hints that there might be a new romance option in Songs of the Past. In the same way that the remaster allows for long-desired changes to be made, the Songs of the Past DLC gets to expand and improve the game in a similar way; most obviously through the new chain weapon that has been confirmed for Geralt. This chain weapon is a feature from The Witcher books that CD Projekt Red has wanted to include from the beginning, but couldn’t achieve it in a satisfying way until now.
Between The Witcher 3 Remastered, Songs of the Past, and The Witcher 4 release looming in the future, the franchise is back in full swing. Of course, it’s too early to say whether The Witcher 3 Remastered nails its upgraded features or not, but Blacha’s words have definitely painted a promising picture.
- Released
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September 29, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
