STACK #140 Jun 2016

GAMES FEATURE

visit stack.net.au

Do you want more from TheWitcher 3 ? How about over 20 hours of additional content? Blood andWine is what you need. By VaatiVidya F or all the doom and gloom of the Northern Realms, you’d be forgiven for Expanding Universe the

Four things you need to know about Blood and Wine ... Study up You may be an experienced witcher, but that doesn’t mean you know everything. Toussaint has around 30 new monsters troubling its countryside, and many of these fights have a “right” way to approach them. So listen to what the locals say, consult the documentation in your menus, and bring the right tools to the fight. Toussaint isn’t a rehash Toussaint is roughly Skellige- sized and even more dense with activity. It’s bright and prosperous compared to the grim greys of the Northern Realms - and its people are equally alien. Instead of taking animations from the main game, thousands of new ones were recorded so citizens would have their own walking and fighting styles. Your house isn’t just to look at You’ll eventually be given an estate to call your own, which you can upgrade – and it’s more than just cosmetics. Upgrading your bed gives you a stamina bonus, and building a bigger stable gives a stamina bonus to your horse. There are armour tables, sharpening stones, alchemy stations, and some friends might even drop in… Early on in your new adventure, an old friend will contact you about a discovery relating to witcher mutations, and where to find more information. By the end of the expansion, you will have unlocked an arsenal of evolutions with much bigger benefits than usual. These include taking up to 45 per cent less damage, or being revived after losing all your health – nothing to sneeze at! Your Mutations Have Evolved

thinking the imagination of Andrzej Sapkowski is incapable of peace. But in Blood andWine we learn there are nations untouched by war and allowed to prosper. Your latest adventure takes you toToussaint, a romantic imagining of medieval France, both fantastical and chivalrous, to investigate a series of murders by a mysterious Beast. The land, of course, is not without its supernatural scandals. While citizens of Toussaint will mostly contend with boredom, there does seem to be a healthy (unhealthy?) number of vampires around, with a queen desperate to keep these murders quiet while the nobles focus on their entertainment. Blood andWine continues theWitcher’s formula of throwing Geralt into the bleakest of fairy tales, such as the familiar, Arthur-esque Lady of the Lake. And while the setting is bright and flowery, don’t expect the quests to be. In my time hunting the Beast, I was presented with several opportunities to test Geralt’s tracking skills. At times, it played out like a “whodunit” murder mystery, with the player answering riddles, detecting lies, and guessing at motivations right alongside Geralt. You might even produce the answer before him – clever you! For those who prefer the more direct route, there are more than 30 new monsters plaguing the extensive countryside of Toussaint for Geralt to sink his silver sword into. But witchers who do their homework before battle will be duly rewarded – more than ever, these

GAMES

feel like players are too dumb for dialogue that says more than one thing at once. The consequences of your words and actions will now be more visible, adding landmarks to the horizon and allowing farms to flourish. These are in-game changes, rather than just narrated comic pages. This may be the WhiteWolf’s last hunt, so it’s fitting he sees the fruits of his labour. But while the citizens of Toussaint are divided between those who drink blood and wine, how much you spill of both is ultimately up to you.

There are more than 30 new monsters plaguing Toussaint

monsters have a “right” answer. A particular example only requires one crossbolt in the right spot. Writing is undoubtedly the series’ main strength, though, and that’s on

full display here. You’ll find yourself

genuinely caring about characters because of their words and actions, whereas most games simply say “You should

care about this person now.” Conversation is nuanced, and developer CD Projekt Red doesn’t

• The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine is out now

JUNE 2016

54

jbhifi.com.au