Not only is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a massive and epic dark fantasy role-playing video game but it also comes with two equally amazing DLCs. Most DLC content only composes a few extra hours of gameplay at most, but The Witcher adds on a whopping 40-50 extra hours if you buy both DLCs. It's like getting new games in addition to the main one!
The two DLCs, Hearts of Stone and Blood of Wine, are both immersive and add new story components in addition to romance. It's hard to decide which one is superior. Here are a few reasons we have to love each one.
10 Blood and Wine is much bigger
If you're looking to extend your time in the world of The Witcher, then you're going to prefer playing Blood and Wine. It has an additional 30-40 hours of gameplay, it allows you to explore a brand new region in Touissant, and it features almost 100 brand new quests including all the question marks, main quests, and additional side quests.
Heart of Stones is an excellent DLC too, but it will only keep you occupied for about half the time of Blood and Wine which is something to keep in mind if you're trying to choose between the two games.
9 Hearts of Stone has a better storyline
The storyline of Hearts of Stone is incredible. There are some fans that argue it's even better, or at least on par, with the main story of The Witcher 3. That's high praise for a game that is already declared as one of the best RPGs in history.
While Hearts of Stone may be much shorter than Blood and Wine, it introduces a formidable opponent in bandit captain, Olgierd von Everec, a man who has discovered immortality. The adventure you embark on will lead you to encounter new monsters, a unique romance, and more.
8 Blood and Wine features famous fairytale characters
You read that right! In one of the locations you'll travel to in Blood and Wine, you'll encounter the Land of a Thousand Fables. A master illusionist created the realm, but eventually, his spell broke, and the realm took on a dark tone.
If you've ever researched dark fairytales, then you'll love seeing this part of the game that introduces twisted versions of Goldilocks, the Big Bad Wolf, the Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina, the Wicked Witch, and more. It's an immersive experience, and it's incredible to see the game bring in characters we're all familiar with.
7 Hearts of Stone has Shani
Shani is one of Geralt's oldest friends in the franchise. If you played the other games or read the books, then you'll have heard quite a bit about her. She is easily one of the most popular girls in the game outside of Yennefer, Triss, and Ciri.
In fact, some fans even like her better than Geralt's other main romantic options. She appears in Hearts of Stone and is a potential romantic conquest in the game. You meet up with her again after a wedding, and from there you can decide if you would like to romance her.
6 Blood and Wine introduces lots of new monsters
Hearts of Stone introduces some amazing new content too, but Blood and Wine takes additional content to a brand new level when it implements 20 brand new monsters into the game. Among some of the new monsters, you'll go up against includes Banshees, Barghests, Pixies, Protofleders, Bruxa, Scurvers, Spriggans, and more.
Plus they also reintroduce familiar monsters from the main game but with new upgrades and variations such as Daphne's Wraith and Silver Basilisks. The game developers really did their best to make Blood and Wine feel like more than just an extension of the game but a whole new journey in itself.
5 Hearts of Stone had an incredible antagonist in Gaunter O'Dimm
You might think the bandit captain in Hearts of Stone is going to be your main adversary, but once you get farther into the story, you learn the true antagonist is the insidious Gaunter O'Dimm, the Man of Glass.
O'Dimm had a nasty habit of creating pacts with people for their soul, not unlike the Devil. But once he was in control of them, he could force them to do anything he wanted. Many fans consider Gaunter O'Dimm to be the best antagonist in the entire Witcher franchise and one of the best in video games in general.
4 Blood and Wine offers 12 new mutations
Some players take gathering mutations very seriously and therefore were immensely pleased with the upgrade they received in Blood and Wine. Twelve new mutagens were introduced into the world during the course of this DLC. First, you have to complete the secondary quest, Turn and Face the Strange, after which you'll notice a change in the panel that allows you to alter active abilities.
The new mutations will let you decrease the damage you receive and increase the damage you inflict on your enemies. They also increase the damage inflicted by specific weapons and more.
3 Hearts of Stone introduced enchantments
If you ever wanted the opportunity to upgrade your weapons in a different capacity, then the new ability to add runewords or glyphwords to your weapons and armor would come in handy. Glyphwords and runewords give significant bonuses to your equipment.
In order to unlock enchantments, you'll first have to help the runewright at Upper Mill during a side quest. There are many different kinds of enchantments for different levels, but they can boost your vitality, help your chances of delivering fatal blows, restore your stamina, make cast signs last longer, deflect arrows, and much more.
2 Blood and Wine offers a much brighter world to explore
The main game in The Witcher 3 is incredible and expansive, but a majority of the places you explore are pretty dour. Even Novigrad, which is the most "city-like" area you go to, is somber and dirty.
Then Skelliege is a gloomy island area. When you get to explore the new region of Toussaint and especially the Land of a Thousand Fables, it's a bright new area to look around. Of course, dark and terrible things still happen there as this is a dark fantasy, but it's a nice change of pace.
1 Hearts of Stone is more linear
We've already mentioned that Blood and Wine offers an expansive new region to explore. However, you've just done something similar in the main game and Hearts of Stone is slightly more unique. There are still exploration aspects and side quests in the DLC, but it's more focused on the main story and moves along at a faster and more linear pace.
It might be just what you need if you're not after something as dense as the main game or the alternative DLC. Not to say there's anything wrong with those but sometimes it's nice to play a game that's short and to the point.