– This review contains minor spoilers –
After months of absence, I excitedly returned to The Witcher 3 with the first of it’s two expansions, Hearts of Stone, awaiting me. It wasn’t until I was back in the sturdy golden greaves of Geralt that I realized just how much I’d missed this world, and due, perhaps to numerous updates, or just my failing memory, it seemed smoother and more beautiful than ever. Hastily getting back to grips with the controls, I embarked on Hearts of Stone’s first mission, which, on the surface, appears to be just another run-of-the-mill monster contract.
I was soon introduced to the contract giver, Olgried von Everec, who paints a sad self-portrait with his opening actions. Once a lover of life, a man who found joy and beauty in revelry and art, is now a stoney, husk of a man. There is reason for his waned passion, however, as I was later to learn. Venturing into the dark, dank sewers of Oxenfurt, in search of the contract’s beast, I soon came across a familiar face. Shani, the red-haired medic, who had last made an appearance in the first Witcher game, was tending to her fallen allies, who had been ambushed by the beast.
As we ventured further into the sewers, her in search of her fellow comrades and me, my contract, Shani and I reminisced on the past. We eventually arrived at a large opening at the end of a tunnel, and departing to safety to meet up with me later, Shani fled. I entered the swampy arena, and laying out bait for the beast, I hesitantly awaited it’s emergence. A hulking, pustule covered toad leapt forth from the shadows, and it’s long, probing tongue whipped forth to drag the bait into it’s contorted mouth. It’s monstrous amber eyes then found me. CDProjektRED has obviously taken on board the criticism they received regarding the main game’s relatively easy bosses battles, because the Toad “Prince” presents quite a challenge. He proved a formidable foe who forced me to make full use of my potions, agility and combat prowess.
Once slain, it became apparent that this was no normal monster contract, I had been set up. The toad was an Ofieri prince, and I now found myself kidnapped and in the hull of a ship, headed for the distant land of Ofier, to be executed. This is when another somewhat familiar face, and Hearts of Stone’s second key player shows himself. Gaunter O’Dimm, whom had previously helped Geralt find Yennefer, offers to free you, in exchange, of course, for a favor. As he departs, he brands Geralt’s face with an odd glyph, one that will only be removed once the debt is fulfilled.
It’s this debt that you spend the entirety of Hearts of Stone paying off, but thankfully this doesn’t turn out to be a tiresome chore. Geralt’s journey to achieve the seemingly impossible, and sever his bond to the deceptive Man of Glass, provides some of the most inventive, engaging and evocative storytelling that The Witcher has offered so far. It transpires that Olgried and Gaunter have a pact, Gaunter previously helped Olgried in a time of need, and so Olgried must repay the debt, but their pact states that Gaunter may only collect his due once he has granted Olgired three wishes. This is where Geralt comes in. To fulfill his debt to Gaunter he must complete any three tasks that Olgried wishes. These opening hours establish the plot fantastically, and fascinated me with it’s gripping intrigue.
Each of these three tasks seem, much like the monster contract that sparked all this, to be relatively simple, but they all turn out to be thoroughly in-depth tales in their own right. The first, in which Geralt must show Olgried’s deceased brother Vlodimir a good time, lends a good deal of humour to the story, and displays sides of Geralt that we haven’t seen before. Once Vlodimir’s ghost has been summoned, he takes control of Geralt and attends a wedding where he makes the most of his limited mortality by flirting with women, Shani included, and engages in all manner of debauchery. The schizophrenic nature of Geralt’s body being shared by both him, and Vlodimir, makes for some genuinely funny situations, from involuntary dancing to split-personality bickering.
The second task has you pulling off a heist to retrieve an item from the Borsodi family’s vault. After failing to get your required information during one of the Borsodi’s auctions (an auction where you can buy some pretty baller spectacles for Geralt to wear), you must assemble a team of thieves to break into the vault. This crime thriller makes for another good change of pace. For the third task you must retrieve a violet rose from the Von Everec estate, but again this is no simple fetch quest. The quest, which delves deeper into the Von Everec’s dark past, is the best of the three, and entails a great blend of horror and mystery, as well as some clever puzzles, touching moments of poignancy, and challenging boss fights.
Each task has a distinct flavour, from the light-hearted comedy of the first, to the criminal thrill of the second, and the dark, mystery of the third. Despite this variety, the story as a whole works together perfectly to create a cohesive tale that evokes a plethora of emotions, and offers a huge range of tones, themes, and experiences. The story wraps up brilliantly with cunning twists, and a satisfying resolution that left me once again in awe of what video games can accomplish. Additionally, there’s more on offer beyond the 10 hour main story, with a good deal of worthwhile side content to get stuck into, as well as new gear, and Runewords to invest in (although I found Runewords to be of little use during my playthrough).
Hearts of Stone is exactly what I wanted from The Witcher 3’s first expansion, another fascinating tale rife with multi-dimensional characters, and rich story telling that keeps you enthralled from start to finish. This is supposedly the shorter of the two expansions, so I’m eager to explore the bountiful delights on offer in The Witcher 3’s second, and final expansion, Blood and Wine. CDProjektRED has kept to their promise of offering only the highest quality content for their paid expansions, and they have delivered exactly that, with the exceptional Hearts of Stone.
Final Score: 9/10