Review: The Witcher III: Wild Hunt – Remastered (Switch 2) – A Huge Upgrade For An All-Time Great

Getting The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to run on the original Nintendo Switch was an achievement in itself. Some obvious concessions had to be made, especially surrounding the visuals. Character models looked rather murky and the foliage around our protagonist Geralt had to be drastically toned down.

With The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered, that issue has mostly been resolved. Thanks to the increased power of the Switch 2, this adventure has never looked better. Although some performance inconsistencies remain and a few combat overhauls not having as much of an impact as hoped, this is the definitive version of one of the best RPGs of all time.

We’ve already reviewed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition on the first Switch, so definitely go check it out if you want a more comprehensive analysis on aspects like its story and characters. I started a brand new save file for The Witcher 3 Remastered to get a fresh feel on new changes and improvements.

For starters, Geralt’s movements are less jittery and controls feel more responsive. On previous versions of the game, simply walking through a door felt laborious. Improvements to animations really helped to alleviate much of the frustrating moment-to-moment gameplay. Riding Geralt’s horse, Roach, is noticeably better too. He doesn’t get stuck on the terrain nearly as much as I remember.

The increased graphical fidelity also results in better-looking cutscenes, and in turn makes the story more immersive. What’s really impressive are the environments. In the original Switch version, some landscapes were teetering on the verge of barren deserts given how much flora had to be scaled back. On Switch 2, though, you can now see the forestry in its full glory. Everything just looks so much more lifelike.

A common problem with Switch 2 versions of modern AAA games, as fantastic as they look, are the hair visuals. Yes, the hair looks weird here too because of the fuzziness and aliasing from DLSS. It’s definitely noticeable in handheld mode, and the issue persists even in docked mode. But in the grand scheme of things, this is a very minor problem.

The game runs well on Switch 2, and you shouldn’t go in expecting 60fps. CD Projekt Red has already confirmed that it runs between 30-40fps, and that’s been my experience. It’s worth mentioning that there’s about a one second lag between opening up the map or pulling out the save menu. Over time, this can be pretty obnoxious given how much time you spend having to look at the map.

Additionally, you’ll have to deal with some long loading times, especially in handheld mode. With an adventure this massive, though, it’s not worth squabbling over every little imperfection, and it’s still leagues better than the load times on Switch 1.

While a Pro controller is still my preferred way to play games, I was impressed by how far CD Projekt Red went with the Switch 2-specific control features. The Joy-Con (R) can be used for gyroscopic aiming, as well as mouse. You can wave gestures to use signs and other weapons in battle. You can also swipe and pinch through different menus in handheld and tabletop mode too, giving the touchscreen some extra functionality. These controls are gimmicky, but if you’ve got the setup and curiosity to try them, you can squeeze a bit of extra fun.

The new accessibility options are surprisingly thorough too. These include a dial for health regeneration, as well as toggles for things like infinite breath underwater and unlimited item durability. They’re meant to accommodate other players, and are completely optional if you don’t want to play with them on.

There’s one particular accessibility feature that’s very helpful for all players, though: quick corpse looting. This automatically adds items to your inventory without having to manually go through the actual inventory pop up screen. It’s such a small change, but one that profoundly improves quality-of-life and flow that I highly recommend toggling it on.

The biggest criticism The Witcher 3 had was its clunky combat. It’s remedied a bit here in the remaster thanks to improved animations across the board, but there are still some woes. Enemy targeting feels awkward and dodging continues to be a slog. If the combat turned you away before, the remaster is not going to convince you to come back. It’s a bit disappointing that there wasn’t more done, but it’s hard to build on what was already a shaky foundation.

Still, there are enhancements. Enemy AI is considerably better, leading to more engaging fights. There are far fewer instances of random actions like monsters running off into the sunset for no reason or circling around doing nothing. Updated visual effects for skills and signs make it easier to tell when they’ve been applied or activated, eliminating any confusing guesswork.

The skill tree has been revamped too. The old system had gated different tiers of skills away by the number of total points you spend in a specific tree. The new system is much more linear. You unlock more powerful skills by following a predetermined path, unlocking the prerequisite ones to eventually get the stronger skills. You can now upgrade each skill up to level 3 to boost their effects.

Buildcrafting is much more intentional this time around, as you need to commit to skill trees in order to unlock the stronger ones instead of haphazardly spreading your points around. This change is certainly polarising but one for the better. It’s more focused and streamlined, leading to a more satisfying sense of progression.