The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s big PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC update has been a long time coming. CD Projekt Red has now finally showed off this upgrade in action through a new trailer and went further into detail in a recent stream.
As expected, The Witcher 3 on PS5 and Xbox Series X will support a performance and quality mode while the Xbox Series S will only have a 30 frames per second mode and a 60 frames per second mode. Quality mode will have global illumination ray tracing, better screen space reflections, and dynamic resolution scaling to ensure players get a solid 30 frames. Performance mode will aim for 60 frames per second and also have dynamic resolution scaling to more consistently hit 60 frames. PC users will get all of that and more, which includes new ultra plus settings that let players go above and beyond if their hardware is strong enough.
Visuals will generally be of a higher quality when compared to the last generation, so players will have a more detailed game no matter what mode they pick. Foliage and textures have been improved, mods have been integrated, and many other small changes like tall smoke plumes from distant fires are just some of the tiny changes the team added to make for a more striking game.
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Those on PS5 will also get adaptive trigger and haptic feedback support. Since the vibration in the controller channels the actual audio from the game, the rumbles will more accurately reflect what is happening on-screen.
And like Cyberpunk 2077, all systems will have access to cloud saves. This lets players transfer their progress from one platform to another.
This new update will also include a host of quality-of-life changes. There will be a new Photo Mode that lets players pause the action and frame their own pictures. The game now has a new closer camera and players can even go into the settings and choose whether or not to have the classic camera or this new one. It’s even possible to independently pick different camera settings for combat, exploration, or when riding Roach.
Combat has gotten some tweaks, too. Instead of slowing down time to cast magic, players can just hold the trigger and use the other buttons as shortcuts for five different spells, which makes the action a little faster. It’s possible to do this on a keyboard, but it wasn’t specifically shown.
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It will be possible to customize and put filters on the map so it won’t be as cluttered. Geralt’s sprint button can now be activated when pushing in the left analog stick. Subtitles size options give players more control over how big the subtitles are. It’s possible to now pause cutscenes. The mini-map and and objectives can now fade away during exploration. Just about every new feature is on a toggle, so players can choose whether or not to implement them. The team noted that there are many quality-of-life changes in this update and these are only some of the ones players can expect.
The previously announced cosmetics from the Netflix series weren’t entirely shown off in the stream (but make a brief appearance in the trailer), but they will be part of a new questline so they feel like they are naturally part of the experience. Geralt’s armor and swords from the first two seasons will be in the game as well as an alternative outfit for Jaskier and the Nilfgaardian armor. Jaskier’s outfit can be seen at around the 25:40 mark of the above stream.
