The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

If you haven’t played The Witcher 3 yet, then this RPG work of art needs to be immediately next on your list. Don’t worry about the first two games if you haven’t played them (but if you’ve got the appetite for a trilogy that culminates in one of the best RPGs of the 21st century, by all means play the first two to get ready).

The Witcher 3 is set in a dark medieval fantasy world, much like Final Fantasy XVI. And while protagonist Geralt isn’t as directly invested in a quest for liberty as Clive, he does similarly find himself faced with many philosophical predicaments that evolve naturally out of the state of the world and the game’s various quests, which are often much more well-written and engaging than those in Final Fantasy XVI (and most other games, for that matter).

Combat in The Witcher 3 is also real time, but it’s a bit more grounded in RPG concepts like stats, status buffs and debuffs, than FFXVI’s is. There are more weapons and items to consider here, and specs are far more important. Also, if you enjoyed FFXVI’s monster hunts, then The Witcher 3 is here with an even better monster hunting experience. As Geralt’s day job is literally hunting monsters, you’ll pick up jobs, hunt out monsters, and often deal with the complicated narrative situations that unfold—you’re doing much more than just finding a monster and beating it to death.

The Witcher 3 is simply too good to sleep on. Go play it now (after bookmarking this page, of course, to come back for the others).

Buy Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop | Target