The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Few open worlds feel as lived-in as the Northern Kingdoms. Based on Andrzej Sapkowski's novels, The Witcher 3 casts you as Geralt of Rivia, a mutated monster hunter for hire, searching for his adopted daughter Ciri while the spectral riders of the Wild Hunt close in on her.

Side quests that are not side content

The game's reputation rests on its writing. The Bloody Baron questline in Velen starts as a simple missing-person job and turns into one of the most uncomfortable, human stories in the medium — and it is technically optional. Almost every contract follows the same pattern: a monster is rarely just a monster, and the people who hire you are rarely innocent.

A world in three moods

Velen is a muddy, starving no man's land devastated by war. Novigrad is a sprawling free city full of spies, witch hunters and cabaret stages. The Skellige Isles are windswept and Nordic, best explored by boat. Each region has its own music, its own politics and its own problems for Geralt to stick his silver sword into.

Expansions worth the price

Hearts of Stone (2015) is a tight, eerie tale about a deal with an immortal stranger. Blood and Wine (2016) sends Geralt to Toussaint, a sun-drenched fairy-tale duchy that many players consider the best expansion ever made — essentially a whole new game.

Why it still matters

A free next-gen update in 2022 added ray tracing and quality-of-life fixes, and the game has sold more than 50 million copies. It won Game of the Year at The Game Awards in 2015, and a decade later it is still the benchmark every narrative RPG is compared to. Also: play Gwent. Everyone plays Gwent.