Witcher 3 is the culmination of every good idea and technical advancement that has come out of the RPG genre over the last thirty years. This could previously be said about Dragon Age: Inquisition, which was released not long ago, but Witcher 3 somehow manages to top even that incredible game. As far as fantasy RPGs go, it is nearly a perfect experience.

Taking place several years after the end of Witcher 2, the final game in the Witcher trilogy revolves around a desperate search for Ciri, once the child ward and apprentice of the main character, Geralt. She has grown into a fierce young warrior in her own right and the keeper of a power that the deadly supernatural force known as the Wild Hunt will stop at nothing to possess.

Your search takes you through several enormous sandbox regions full of some of the most gorgeously rendered environments in gaming. From stony mountain peaks that act as nesting grounds for airborne harpies to toxic, bubbling swamps where witches work their wicked magic, you are free to go where you please and explore every nook and cranny, which is encouraged, as the map is teeming with secrets waiting to be discovered.

There are hundreds of side missions that all somehow manage to avoid the repetitive fetch-and-kill blandness of so many other RPGs.Each one is deep and intriguing, and usually full of surprises and difficult choices.Combat is smooth and fun, the upgrade system is intuitive and satisfying, and the game contains one of the greatest mini-games ever conceived: Gwent. It's a strategy card game not unlike Hearthstone, where you must collect cards from other characters all over the world in order to build up your in-game deck to beat increasingly more challenging opponents. It's almost more fun than the game itself.

I can't speak highly enough about Witcher 3. My only criticism is that the loot system is a bit unrewarding. At around the halfway point, I found that nearly every weapon and piece of armor I found from then on turned out to be inferior to what I already had. It made treasure hunting a bit of a bore. But there is so much else to see and do that it barely dampened my enjoyment. Just be prepared to give up your other hobbies, your social life, your family, your job, probably your health...Witcher 3 is enormously timeconsuming (not that you'll mind). I started the game months ago and still haven't finished every quest.