The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt took the stage today at EGX in London, showing off the open world of the game. They began by reintroducing us to the concept of a Witcher, the game’s titular adventurer’s and monster slayers. Another key theme in the beginning of the presentation was the idea of landmarks, as well as the fact that everything you see in the distance can be travelled to. This point was quickly followed with the fact that while the game will let you go where you want, it might slaughter you mercilessly if you do. The flip side of this is that the game will also reward you for skill, meaning that if you can survive an encounter that is nominally above your level, the game will reward you for that skilled play.

Moving on, the developers talked a bit about the organic nature of the world. If you defeat a group of bandits that have taken over a village, the villagers will come back. But, the rotting bodies of the bandits may also attract monsters. This could lead to a situation where the villagers are killed by the monsters as a direct result of your actions. This type of cause and effect is indicated to be a significant factor in the world of Witcher 3. This even carries to the interactions between enemies later down the line. Actions that might effect characters early on will also have repercussions further into the game. This could determine when and where enemies spawn, boss encounters, etc. If you’ve helped a leader of this group, they might be neutral or friendly to you. Branching is a main theme of the game, and it seems to have more wide reaching implications than many previous games that have experimented with the idea.

Moving a bit further, it was revealed that what we had seen was only a tiny portion of a much larger map, which was then revealed to be only half of the full map in the game. The effects you have on one area of the game will affect other areas around the wider world. The game also has more armors than the previous games, including ones which can be crafted. When asked about the idea of good and bad in the game, the developer also responded with the idea that actions are more shades of gray in Witcher 3.

Also, the presenter was HILARIOUS. Watch this space, once the presentation is up, I’ll add it to this article