Here is what’s new in The Witcher 3 Complete Edition. This free next-gen upgrade includes many changes to the game along with some new additions as well.
As of now, the PC version of this upgrade performs less than ideal. Even on the most powerful PCs, the game struggles to play smoothly with Ray-tracing on. Hopefully, these problems will get addressed in the near future. On other platforms, however, the game performs well.
Improved Visuals
Other than Ray-tracing, The Witcher 3 Complete Edition features higher draw distance to vegetation, clutter, and shadows. Its lighting is also vastly improved, with darker shadows and more details ambient occlusion effects.
Another substantial improvement in the game’s visuals department is the high fidelity and sharp texture detailing. Unlike the last-gen version, now even the tiniest details on armor and objects are visible. While the last-gen version looks amazing, this new update adds even higher texture quality and fidelity. Many textures and meshes that were low resolution or blurry have been made into sharp and crisp textures.
On PC, you can crank up the graphics settings to the newly introduced “Ultra +” Level. As the name implies, this allows you to enjoy the game in more visual quality than the “Ultra” preset.
The developers worked together with modders that improved the last-gen version of the game and included some of the best mods to this version. Those include:
- The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project by HalkHogan
- HD Monsters Reworked by Denroth
- Immersive Real-time Cutscenes by teiji25
- Nitpicker’s Patch by chuckcash
- World Map Fixes by Terg500
The last two mods are not graphical improvements. Instead, they’re mods that fix a multitude of issues with the game, and that includes visual bugs. Kudos to the community for developing these mods.
Alterations and improvements to the gameplay and accessibility
There are a lot of improvements to this section. Ones that are really worth noting are the reduction of fall damage, the quick sign casting options and improved radial menus, and improvements to the loot systems which allow for faster looting. Plus, many issues and bugs with quests, the game world, and combat have also been fixed.
A mod named Full Combat Rebalance 3 by Flash_in_the_flesh has been included. That balances many aspects of the game’s combat.
The new camera angle is also very noticeable. It’s now closer to Geralt; it’s a nice addition that makes you appreciate the game’s environments more. It can also be adjusted in the settings.
New Additions
There are new additions to the game that are inspired by the Netflix series.
- In the Eternal Fire’s Shadow is a new quest that rewards the player with items inspired by the Netflix series.
- Alternative Nilfgaardian Armour set for Geralt which was inspired by the Netflix series. The alterations can be enabled or disabled from Settings.
- A new look for Dandelion, inspired by the Netflix series.
These are the most notable additions and improvements to the game. There are a lot of other things that are not included in the patch notes, and you’ll encounter them as you play the game.
