Once we have analyzed enough of the beast’s tracks with witcher sense, we pull-up the bestiary in the main menu and identify the beast. The bestiary contains information on the dozens of beasts Geralt encounters in the world, and explains their fighting strategy and weaknesses. In our research we find that the forest spirit is actually an ancient beast known as a Lechen. What began as a simple hunt-and-kill quest suddenly becomes layered with moral complexity, as we learn that the Lechen can only be permanently defeated if the person it chooses as its “link” is banished or killed as well. After investigating the village using witcher sense, we identify the link to the Lechen as Hilda, Sven’s girlfriend. Obviously, this proves to be problematic; however, after talking with Sven we learn that he is willing to do anything to kill the beast, even kill the woman he loves. We are given the option to advise against killing Hilda, but Geralt decides that the drama of the town is none of his business. As the villagers prepare to kill Hilda, Geralt returns to the wilds to hunt the Lechen.
At this point in time the storms have passed and the moonlight shimmers through the tree limbs, giving the forest an eerie glow. After destroying the Lechen’s shielding totems, we are finally able to face the Lechen itself. A hauntingly beautiful beast with a deer skull as a head and tree-like limbs, it towers over Geralt, attacking with roots from the earth and transforming into a flock of ravens to dodge attacks. Geralt eventually bests the foe and takes the beast’s head back to Fairland as proof of the deed. However, rather than finding gracious villagers, he stumbles upon a massacre. Sven and his men not only killed Hilda, but also all of the village elders as well. It turns out he didn’t want to save the village, he wanted to have complete power over it. The screen then flashes to a cut-scene that, in the finished game, will actually occur later on in the main story. In the scene, we learn that under Sven’s leadership, the village was eventually destroyed by poor politics and incessant bandit raids; all of this the result of a single side-quest. On that gloomy note but awe-inspiring note, the hands-off demo was over — what was a 45 minute presentation ended up feeling like five seconds, leaving me craving more content.
After watching the hands-off demo for The Witcher 3, it becomes obvious as to why it is such a highly anticipated title. Side-quests and fantastic writing merge flawlessly into the main narrative of the game, displaying the stress behind decisions, uncertainty, and consequences. Reactive and organic combat keep the player on their toes. The dynamic environment and open world create a visually stunning and living world in which NPCs live and interact with or without the interactions of Geralt. CD Projekt Red is not joking around then they say The Witcher 3 is an open world game, and it is a world they created with little to no sacrifices in terms of staying true to their roots.
To get a grasp of the overall scope of the game, the island we were exploring during the demo is larger than the entirety of The Witcher 2. It is also important to note that The Witcher 3 relies on a new technology known as the Red Engine 3, which allows the game to have a completely open and dynamic world free of any loading time.
