10 Subtle Ways The Witcher 3's Story Is One Of The Very Best

6. Monstrous Reflections

They say the scariest monsters are those that reflect our true selves, and The Witcher 3 is the poster-boy video game for ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. Many of the monsters you meet turn out to be non-sentient creatures simply following their nature, trying to survive, or are some poor sod the wrong side of a horrific curse.

Meanwhile, almost every ‘normal’ person you meet, be them human, elf, dwarf or some other conscious, talking entity, no matter how outwardly innocent, almost inevitably wants to kill you or trick you into killing someone else.

What’s so captivating about this, is how easy it is to relate to the real world. Maybe not the killing part; but the richest, cleanest and prettiest of us aren’t necessarily the loveliest, whilst those that sacrifice for others are so often overlooked.

Storytelling is at its best when it makes us challenge our preconceived judgements, forcing us to look deeper. Like Blood and Wine DLC’s Dettlaff. Hideous, rampaging, murderous higher vampire? Or jilted lover and misunderstood…

…Okay. Maybe a bit of both.