10 Greatest Western RPGs Of All Time
8. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt RED were, for a time, absolutely untouchable, and it all had to do with a single game - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The studio had been making Witcher games for years before this, but Witchers 1 and 2, while great in their own right, also had their own jank to deal with that held them back from the mainstream appeal 3 has been enjoying. Shoddy controls, user-unfriendly interface, and just plain archaic game design, got in the way of the excellent world-building and storytelling that the series has always had.
3 succeeded by tightening up the gameplay and polishing the UI, while still keeping the narrative and gameplay complexity the series was known for. Still a complex game, but things like, for instance, taking a single health potion, didn't take all damn day. But that wasn't all that drew folks to the game, as it expanded on what made the previous 2 games so fun: leaning into The Witcher as a sort of fantasy blue-collar job.
The Witcher 3 really makes you feel like being a Witcher is a full-time gig, rather than being some hero of destiny or whatever. This adds a layer of professionalism to Geralt's interactions with his clients, which gives the world its unique flavor.