Hey kid, want a free remaster? This is absolutely not a scam! No, really. While everyone knew that The Witcher 3’s surprise new expansion, Songs of the Past, would be available in Geoff: German Edition, CD Projekt Red had another surprise up its sleeve in the form of a full remaster of The Witcher 3, which will be available as a free update next month.
Specifically, it arrives on September 29 and brings a host of changes. For starters, there’s this thing we see in every remaster, “enhanced visuals”, which in this case honestly translates to lighting that looks like today’s standards (the original game already looked pretty good). There are also improvements to other aspects, like combat (including some new finishers), movement, and mount handling. Geralt’s Witcher signs also seem a bit flashier, and monster behaviors have been “enhanced”, whatever that means.
The buck doesn’t stop there either. You can expect an overhaul of the skill tree and the addition of transmog, meaning you can apply stats and such from pieces of armor you find ugly onto items more to your liking. The RPG’s photo mode is also expanded, and a long list of additional under-the-hood improvements can be seen in the trailer, including ray tracing improvements, new accessibility features, UI improvements, new quest tracking, improved menu navigation, and much more.
Oh, and did I mention that the game’s two previous expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wide, are also included in the freebies? No? Well, it’s true! I haven’t played the game since release and never touched the expansions, so considering there’s already a free upgrade from PS4 to PS5 (don’t own it on PC, leave me alone), I have to admit it’s a tempting deal.
This is the second upgrade the game has received over the years, with the latest releasing in 2022. I guess CD Projekt Red must have found something to do to help everyone out until The Witcher 4 (which is supposedly aiming for a 2028 release year (when pigs fly)). Still, a free remaster and new DLC isn’t a bad way to do it.
