For the last few weeks I’ve been busy playing the next-gen update of The Witcher III on Playstation 5. At first I just wanted to play only the second expansion Blood & Wine, which I haven’t played yet, but before I knew it, I was having fun replaying the whole game. It’s been a few years since my first playthrough and I have been looking forward to playing it again ever since the update was announced.

My first playthrough took me 140 hours. That was including the first expansion Hearts of Stone. I’m usually not big on expansions on open world games. I’m not a completionist and most of the time I’m a bit burned out after I finish the main quest or the bulk of the game. I didn’t play the expansion for Horizon Zero Dawn for instance. That was different back in the day when I was young and had more time. I loved the expansions for Morrowind, Fallout 3 and Oblivion for example. The expansions for Fallout 4 and Skyrim were okay, but nothing I couldn’t have missed. Expansions can be a great way to blow new life into a game I haven’t played for a long time. I’m looking forward to playing the expansions to Dragon Age Inquisition for example. And recently I also tried the expansion for Dragon Age Origins, but I couldn’t get into it at that time. I also haven’t played the expansions for the first two Baldur’s Gate games.

After finishing Hearts of Stone I was burned out on The Witcher III. And I think that also had to do with the long loading times of the original game on the original Playstation 4. That really started to grate on me. But now, on the PS5, loading times are much shorter. And that has a big effect on my enjoyment of the game. It reminds me a little bit of the experience that I remember from upgrading my PC while playing Might & Magic VII and also of replaying Morrowind years later on a much faster PC. When I exited a building, I was instantly outside and didn’t have to wait what felt like minutes at the time.

The next gen update looks absolutely stunning also, and I’m looking forward to seeing the next-gen version of Toussaint. What I saw from it in the original game, it was already quite striking.

This playthrough has taken me 70 hours up until now. And I’m at the beginning of Hearts of Stone. I’m really loving the story of this expansion anew. From what I read, most people seem to prefer Blood & Wine. I’m curious what my verdict will be.

I really love the Playstation has decided to show the hours played on the 5. That was one of the things I missed on the 4.