The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is already 10 years old, but much of its dedicated community would argue that there aren't many other RPGs that even come close to its greatness. This game took the world by storm when it was released, and even a decade later, it remains one of the most popular and decorated RPGs on the market.

Warning: The following article includes major spoilers for The Witcher 3.How it's been out for ten years is beyond me, but a decade is certainly a long time in the gaming industry. Even as graphical leaps start to feel less transformative and more iterative, the opportunities presented by technology in games are constantly evolving. The Witcher 3 might eventually show its age more and more, but comparing it to more recent RPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 or Baldur's Gate 3 proves that it's holding its own.

The Story Immersion Is Difficult To Compete With

Not Many Other Games Hit Home Like This One

Heart-wrenching is the perfect word to describe The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Then again, I'm a sucker for immersion and tend to feel everything the characters feel. The story revolves around Geralt searching for Ciri, his adopted daughter. There are three possible endings you can receive based on your choices throughout the game. In one of them, Ciri dies. After he has the medallion at the end, you see Geralt succumb to his grief while monsters close in on him, and the camera fades to black.

This ending, while not guaranteed, drips with heartache, as you feel like you have just lost your own daughter. While The Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt Red's follow-up, Cyberpunk 2077, presents an interesting story, it lacks the emotional depth needed to compare to the internal turmoil you experience with this particular RPG. A lot of RPGs exist in a similar space — while their stories might be good and well-thought-out, if you put them side by side with this particular one, they won't stand a chance.

It's difficult to top the immersion in The Witcher 3's story

Most RPGs incorporate emotional elements into their story, but they're often playing second fiddle to the major set pieces. It can often be difficult to truly connect to the characters, making for a less immersive experience. The Witcher 3 sures other games because you gain such an attachment to the characters. CD Projekt Red excelled at showing everyone's personalities and dynamics with one another, so you feel connected from the beginning.

Other than Ciri's potential death, there are other scenes throughout the game that could bring you to tears, which is why it's difficult to top the immersion in The Witcher 3's story. Moments like attending Vesemir's funeral and seeing the reaction of the Baron's daughter to her mother's death drive home the weight of mortality. Receiving or rejecting Iris's purple rose hits hard either way, as she'll either cease to exist or be trapped in torment. Even if Ciri lives throughout the game, Ciri holding her apparently lifeless body in the dwarf cabin is a touching scene.

Replayability Compared To Recent Releases

It May Be Shorter, But It's Worth Coming Back To

Truly 100%ing games like Oblivion Remastered can sometimes take even longer than The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but Geralt's story is worth coming back to. The replayability factor isn't necessarily about how long the game can consume you — which can also vary depending on the DLCs —but about what you get out of it.

Not only do you get three different endings for Ciri, as mentioned, but other outcomes can potentially change with each playthrough, such as the Baron and his wife dying. Other outcomes involve the base romance, the ruler of the North, Skellige's ruler, and the Hearts of Stone ending— and that's not even including all the DLC.

You can play the game with completely different eyes several times before you've discovered every outcome in the game. While other games feature a choice-based narrative, most still don't grasp your emotions like The Witcher 3. One fun possibility is to play it multiple times and see if you can increase the heartbreak with each playthrough. You can aim to have the most heartbreaking story simply by making sure everyone who can die does.

Plus, there are 78 achievements to work towards if you've already played through the story a few times and want something new to accomplish. One of the most difficult achievements is Walked the Path, requiring you to complete the game on the game difficulty, Death March. It's very time-consuming and intense as each enemy's health and damage increases. Needless to say, even after 10 years, it is still a go-to when you want an adventure and your heart ripped out.

Looking At It From A Graphics Standpoint

So Far It Stands The Test Of Time

If there's one thing that's easy to notice in any timeline of video game evolution, it's that graphics are constantly being pushed to their limits. Realism has always been the calling card for many major releases, and RPGs with detailed worlds and compellingly animated characters tend to attract fans. While The Witcher 3 may seem a bit dated, as it was released in 2015, its graphics outstripped most games of its time.

As for how The Witcher 3 holds up against newer releases in of graphics, so far, so good. Strong performances, animations, and detailed character models make it easy to connect with the emotions in soul-stirring scenes, like when Geralt realizes Ciri is not dead. In this instance, the emotion in both of their eyes is incredible.

Another scene that stands out is the Baron's wife dying. Maybe it's because you see a bit of their relationship dynamic when he dances with her while she's sweeping, but the emotion that drips from their daughter when her mom collapses drips with pain. Facial deformities like scars and wounds are phenomenal. In many of these key areas, The Witcher 3 can still sur even some of today's releases.

Obviously, the graphics are going to be more detailed and intricate in newer games, like Baldur's Gate 3 or even Oblivion Remastered's remix of an older title, two games that give a whole new meaning to realistic textures. However, if you put The Witcher 3 up next to them, unless you have a professionally trained eye, you might not be able to tell the game is 10 years old. Even considering how long The Witcher 3 has been out, it still doesn't look too dated.

In fact, if I had nothing to compare it to, I think it could for coming out just recently. The next game that will probably overtake this RPG will be its sequel, The Witcher 4. Within the span of another 10 years, other games could continue to surprise in areas like graphics. When combining that technical benchmark with other aspects of the game like replayability and immersion, however, I'd still consider The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to be currently untouchable.