Games of the Decade: The refreshingly unfiltered Witcher 3 Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Games of the Decade: The refreshingly unfiltered Witcher 3 "You're grey like my grandma!" Feature by Robert Purchese Senior Staff Writer Updated on 30 Nov 2019 102 comments I'd forgotten how funny The Witcher 3 is. I laughed a lot while playing this game. I feel like an idiot telling you what amused me because it makes me look simple - but it's the random things people would say. Things like a boy running past me and declaring, "You're grey like my grandma," or the plague cart guy suddenly realising, "Fucking hell that stinks!" I snorted when the guy I took a dive for, in a boxing match, called me a prick afterwards, and I'm still laughing remembering the person who passed me and farted. I don't want to paint the game as a crude comedy - it's nothing like that - but what I want to get at is how refreshingly unfiltered it all is. The Witcher 3 isn't the fantasy costume party you've been to so many times before. It's a world, like our own, where hard work makes hard people who ain't got no time for pleasantries, and it feels so real because of it. If it weren't real, and weren't unfiltered, it wouldn't have been able to deliver something like the Bloody Baron. His is a story of domestic and parental abuse, a place so dark other games would flinch at the prospect of it. But not only did The Witcher 3 go there, it took time to try to change our minds about what we think we ought to believe. The Baron wasn't simply slung in as another monster for us to fight, but rather a real, flawed human to try and understand. The Bloody Baron features heavily in this. What's great about his beautifully crude language is you can't help but laugh at it, which softens him up, endears him to you, and makes the situation he's embroiled in - and the final blow it deals - more powerful as a result. It's a great use of light and shade. By lightening the mood it creates room for hefty moments to breathe underneath. Hit everything one note and you'll send people to sleep, and stories will be forgotten, but keep the mood rising and falling, and you give everything a chance at standing out. And so much in The Witcher 3 does stand out. Every day there's another surprise, every day another delight, in a world of stories, not just one. There are many more layers which come together to make The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a classic, but it's the world which sparkles for me. No other fantasy I've played has felt so mucky and rich, so real. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 14 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Sennheiser's legendary HD 599 open-back headphones are just £70 at Amazon in the Prime Early Access Sale Comfortable with neutral sound and a wide sound stage. Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. 1 Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 61 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store