You gotta hand it to CD Projekt RED (CDPR), they made a title that is a solid contender for Game of the Decade (not just a Game of the Year winner), The Witcher III: Wild Hunt. As proof of their impressive art, we are here still talking about the game, even if the buzz surrounding the said game studio right now is mostly about their new upcoming title Cyberpunk 2077. It can't be helped, The Witcher III is such a great game.
Even though it doesn't really give players the same level of customization as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, it more than makes up for that with an arguably better world and a solidly better presentation. Hence, it is understandable that you want more to do in The Witcher III even after finishing the main story. That's why we've compiled a list of stuff activities to prepare your for that long wait until Cyberpunk 2077 arrives to take The Witcher III's place as the roleplaying game (RPG) of the decade (fight me!).
Last updated: January 10th, 2019 to include even more activities for after you beat the game.
15 GWENT
So, you saved (or killed) Ciri, stopped a winter apocalypse, killed some evil Elves, and lived happily ever after with a red-head or a brunette. It appears you have nothing left to win in this game... but have you won Gwent? If you've ignored it up to this point, please, do yourself a favor and try out the digital card game within The Witcher III. It's CDPR's answer to the monotonous and repetitive mini-games from the past Witcher titles.
Basically, you look for opponents in the game world who know how to play. Merchants are always game and even blacksmiths sometimes. There is a quest in one of Novigrad's premium brothels, the Passiflora, regarding Gwent championship if you're confident enough with your decks and your cards. It's bound to keep you busy, as your Gwent conquest can span multiple kingdoms and locales.
14 TRY OUT THRONEBREAKER: THE WITCHER TALES
You're aching for more Gwent...ing, then you can either go back to the Witcher and replay all the Gwent minigames or head on over to another of CD Projekt RED's projects, called Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. It's an overhaul of Gwent made into a fully-fledged game that also involves plenty of The Witcher lore.
It's a highly-rated game with animated 2D cutscenes involving characters that are familiar to the fans of all three Witcher games and even the books. Just as Gwent exceeded player and developer expectations, you jump right into Thronebreaker and expect to be blown away at the prospect of a mere minigame rivaling AAA titles. Besides, it's more witcher lore, can't say no to that.
13 TRY OUT OTHER SIMILAR OPEN-WORLD RPGS
The open-world genre was already a booming buzzword in the gaming industry prior to 2015; it's just that The Witcher III: Wild Hunt raised the bar significantly higher. As such, plenty of open-world games releasing after The Witcher III are likely of exceptional quality, particularly AAA titles.
Red Dead Redemption 2, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and even Assassin's Creed: Odyssey can fill you in on the wait and might even dethrone The Witcher 3 long enough until Cyberpunk 2077 comes along and shows everyone how it's done.
12 SEE WHAT GERALT'S UP TO IN OTHER GAMES
Geralt is basically a household name in the gaming industry right now (thanks in part to Netflix). As you can imagine, his name transcends beyond The Witcher games and even shows. Geralt has had a couple of notable cameos outside his own gaming franchise, most notably in Soul Calibur VI and in Monster Hunter: World.
While those two games are by no means similar to The Witcher III in terms of formula or setting, they are still quite enjoyable in their own right, meaning you ought to try them anyway. More than that, Geralt's promised presence in those games ought to keep you interested as well.
11 FINISH THE EXPANSIONS
Of course, the most obvious choice of content to pursue once the main game is finished are the expansions. Thankfully, The Witcher III has two of them. Note the word "expansion" instead of "downloadable content (DLC)" as CDPR worded it. That's because these expansions are so vast and deep, they can be standalone games themselves and even put other games' expansions or DLCs to shame.
The price you pay for them is more than worth it. Each of the two expansions' (Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine) main quests can take you dozens of hours to finish. That only means more Witcher adventures. Also, each of these expansions has its own host of numerous side-quests and activities to keep you occupied for weeks or even months.
10 DO SOME WITCHERING
The funny thing about Geralt, his life isn't even supposed to be exhilarating. He's simply a Witcher - a monster slayer - and sometimes his job can be as exciting as removing an old tree stump. To us, however, that's good enough since its not every day we get to kill monsters. So, stick to some roleplaying and do some Witcher work.
By that, we mean taking as many Witcher contracts as possible, like you are the hungriest Witcher ever. Solve problems, haggle and rip off some poor peasants or nobles, and collect trophies from the monsters you've slain. The beauty here is that each and every one of these contracts is unique and can lead to extended encounters and storylines. There's no shortage of them either even after finishing the main quest.
9 FINISH SOME LENGTHY SIDEQUESTS
Side-quests are similar to Witcher contracts except they are more fleshed-out and have a better story to them than some random monster terrorizing a village or encampment. In that regard, some of the most atmospheric and thematic moments in The Witcher III come from the side-quests. These are the adventures where your moral compass and sense of responsibility will be tested.
Some of them are even more interesting or heavier than parts of the main quest. For sure, you will have skipped or missed plenty of side-quests if you pursue the main story most of the time. So again, feel free to complete all of these side-quests to make your Witcher III experience more spellbinding.
8 EXPLORE
It's a well-known fact that the game world of The Witcher III is a lot bigger than Skyrim's or even Boston in Fallout 4. Even though it's bigger, it's still more jam-packed than those games with quests, activities, and random encounters. There are also plenty of caves, monster dens, mountains, and forests to explore in The Witcher III. In fact, the main quest won't even have you exploring the majority of the map.
That means there's plenty of uncharted regions for you to discover in the many places of Novigrad, No Man's Land, the Skellige Isles, Kaer Morhen, and even Toussaint for those who have Blood and Wine. We assure you, it will be worth your time, after all, the developers didn't craft a massive game world just for show or statistics.
7 NEW GAME+
Ever since RPG developers have introduced branching choices in video game storylines and the repercussions of choice, RPGs have always had that feature. The Witcher III is no exception and it has utilized that trope even in the very first game. As such, there are multiple dimensions of choices to be made throughout the campaign and some of them you are bound to miss on a single playthrough (unless you watch or read walkthroughs and spoilers).
That only serves to increase the replay value of an already lengthy game. Hence, by all means, start a game again to try out different choices or even better, start a New Game+ so you can retain all your awesome weapons and armor. This won't make New Game+ a breeze, though, as the enemies' levels will scale higher to match yours, adding a bit more vertical progression for Geralt even with all his shiny Witcher gear.
6 TRY OUT SOME OVERPOWERED BUILDS
This one's only possible in New Game+ but it may well be a good reason alone to delve into that game mode. Overpowered and broken Witcher builds are a joy to play despite the fact that most enemies die in only a few hits even on the hardest difficulty level, Death March. It's often amusing to see some of the most dangerous enemies in the game who would normally make you cry die in a few seconds after an encounter.
There are many "god" builds which let you be overpowered without cheating and just by abusing the game mechanics, some of them were made by YouTubers Apex of War or Phoenix237. They give pretty thorough instructions on how to achieve their builds and make your very own peak Witcher in-game who can take on whole over-leveled armies without dying.
5 INSTALL SOME MODS
Sadly, this activity might be limited for PC players only at the moment. However, it's quite invaluable in giving the game infinite replay value. After all, mods can breathe a new life into any game as long as they are moddable. In that regard, The Witcher III developers deserve praise for making their game as moddable as possible.
You can install everything from graphical overhauls, character appearance overhauls, quality of life improvements (automatic oils, slower weapon degradation, etc.), to the more insane character model swaps and combat overhauls. Modding The Witcher III is quite simple too, no need for complex code changes or tweaks since the community has made it quite a breeze.
4 TRY OUT THE FIRST OR SECOND GAME
It's understandable for people to avoid the first or even second Witcher games, they're not exactly for everyone, unlike the third game. The first Witcher is simply too clunky and disjointed, while the second one, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, is convoluted and somewhat too linear in terms of gameplay. However, after having finished the main story of the first game, you are most likely left with a newfound appreciation for Witcher tales.
For that matter, revisiting the first or second game can't hurt, especially since The Witcher 2 is well-connected to the third game. Meanwhile, the first Witcher is a different breed of RPG on its own and is a hybrid point-and-click/action RPG that immediately continues the books' storyline and also features familiar faces. Speaking of which...
3 READ THE BOOKS
Most players who never got the chance to read the books would get confused with The Witcher III's storyline. Certain characters' backstories simply couldn't be crammed into the game without the risk of poor exposition. That's why the developers had to make do with what they could. Thankfully, the books are more available than ever now thanks to the games' popularity. They have been translated into English well enough for most readers.
Some of them are even available online as eBooks. Simply put, there are no more excuses to be out of the loop (other than time, maybe). Anyway, Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher saga is a compelling read, especially since Netflix's show adaptation will follow the books. The best book to start with is The Last Wish, a compilation of short stories that ought to be enough as an introduction to Geralt's universe.
2 WATCH THE NETFLIX SHOW
Now that the Netflix show is out, it's time to see how well it holds up to Andrej Sapkowski's vision, the popularity of the games, and the juggernaut called Game of Thrones. At the moment, the show is not that great among the critics but it's still a fun adventure for most of the fans anyway.
It's worth noting that the show takes after the books instead of the games so some of your expectations might get disappointed. Nevertheless, it's more Witcher and certainly more Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer along with the monsters and many of the side characters we all came to love in the video games.
1 PETITION CD PROJEKT RED FOR WITCHER 4
We're not suggesting that you do this one... just recommending it. Because now that the sustained popularity of The Witcher games is undeniable thanks to the Netflix show, it's only a matter of time before CD Projekt RED gives in to the franchise's appeal once again and make another Witcher game. As it is, they even renewed their contract with Sapkowski, the book's author.
Where do you fit in in all of this? Why you are to serve as the catalyst or the fuse which will ignite CD Projekt RED's work fervor for The Witcher 4... and what better way to produce sparks than to incessantly petition for The Witcher 4 like you need to see it before the world ends (which might come sooner than later). There's just no other way to go about it, beside's they're practically done with Cyberpunk 2077 at this point and are just waiting to release it in April.