Just more Witcher 3

CDProjekt Red finally launched the first true Expansion pack for the much lauded Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt titled Hearts of Stone, and you could say it’s more of the same.

Hearts of Stone starts by you accepting a seemingly routine and innocuous contract in Velen from one Olgierd von Everec. Soon you find yourself fighting your way through swarms of level 30 drowners to get yourself out of someone else’s mess. Geralt soon realises that he is being used merely as a pawn in a grand plan that involves a cursed prince, failed wishes and of course, a new love interest in Shanni.

This is just more Witcher 3 for people looking for extra end game content. Like the main story, the expansion felt unnecessarily protracted with Geralt having to do menial tasks to inch forward in the story. The movement system and combat are clunky on the keyboard and mouse, but the story telling, voice acting and the visuals remain top notch.

Credit where credit is due though, the new characters, especially Gaunter O’Dimm (The Merchant of Mirrors) and Shanni are two of the best written characters you can find in a video game. Moreover, while the story is protracted, it is good. CDProjekt Red managed to stuff a lot of the action-adventure game tropes into one DLC with their own twist.

While it doesn’t add new areas to the Norther Realms, a few new locations have been added and it makes for some good endgame content for those looking for more.