The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt is an incredible game, according to pretty much everyone on the Internet. I wouldn’t know; I haven’t played it, but I have played Skyrim and I want you to let me know which game is better.
Gamespresso’s Chandler gave CD Projekt’s latest outing a respectable 9/10 in his recent review, pointing out that his only qualms with the game were its inconsistent story and an occurrence at the end of the game whereby if certain side quests haven’t been completed, they will disappear altogether.
Overall, it’s fair to say that the response has been extremely positive across the board with the majority of critics rating the game particularly highly, with many stating that it has knocked Bloodborne off the perch for the biggest/best game of 2015 so far.
But is it better than the massively popular fifth instalment to the Elder Scrolls series – Skyrim? According to Metacritic, the answer is no. Skyrim proudly sits on an average rating 96/100 (based on 89 verdicts) whilst The Witcher 3 falls a few digits below at 93/100 (but this is only based on 13 reviews). Since Skyrim was released in 2011, many gaming publications have removed review scores from their articles entirely, so there is that to take into account, but nevertheless the figures are overwhelmingly in favor of Bethesda’s beauty.
The next question is of course, should we even be comparing the two? Ok, so Skyrim might have a better rating on Metacritic, but that game came out four years ago. Nowadays if you go back and play Skyrim you will notice some of its flaws as gaming has moved on. In 2015, The Witcher 3 is probably the better game. Danny O’ Dwyer pointed out in a recent episode of The Point that The Witcher 3’s characters are so much more believable than Skyrim’s NPC’s whom merely offer hints at quest information whilst posed as statues as opposed to actually being believable human beings.
Ultimately, what it all boils down to is simple; if you have played both games, which have you had more fun with? Both Skyrim and The Witcher 3 are sprawling open world RPG’s with tons to see and do, but despite my thorough enjoyment with the fifth Elder Scrolls game, it all too often felt grey and lifeless, whereas the Witcher 3 looks to me like it has more vibrancy and atmosphere.
Alas, as I previously pointed out, I’m not the best person to judge since I am yet to play The Witcher 3. You folks are the experts so let me know what you think; is The Witcher 3 better than Skyrim?