14 DAY TRIAL // The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has officially been released this week, and after spending many hours in its huge open world, I can say one thing for sure: the graphics downgrade, as compared to the initial debut gameplay video in 2013, is real. However, the title still looks quite good for a 2015 game.
The Witcher 3 was revealed to the world in spring of 2013 as a very ambitious role-playing experience. In June of that year, it got its first gameplay video, which you can admire once again below, in case you forgot, alongside our own gameplay video made with the PC version running at a High graphics setting.
The downgrade is real
As you can see, the different in visual quality is quite severe, especially in terms of foliage and textures. Such a thing isn't that surprising, considering almost two years have passed since the debut of that original video, but it does beg the question: what happened during that time?
Bear in mind that, at that time, CD Projekt Red was aiming at an early 2014 debut of the RPG, so more or less The Witcher 3 was getting ready for that debut. However, as we saw during these past few years, quite a few delays were announced, ultimately leading to The Witcher 3 to launch earlier this week, on May 19.
As I mentioned during this week's editorial, the development process can certainly bring decreases in terms of visuals or features for the sake of stability and optimization, but the downgrade is quite severe, especially when put side by side.
What's worse, CD Projekt Red dismissed the downgrade controversies many times, promising to meet the quality of the 2013 video. As you can see, those promises have been broken.
The Witcher 3 still looks good
While the downgrade is real, the graphics in The Witcher 3 still look quite good. Throw in the Nvidia GameWorks features and the RPG is going to delight your eyes. But, when you see what was possible at one point in time, it still feels a bit disappointing.
