'Witcher 3' mod news: Mod breathes new life into the game

Official image for the "Enhanced Edition" mod for "The Witcher 3"Nexus Mods

"The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt" may be getting old, but its players seem to be just getting started, as a new modification (mod) for the game has been introduced, and it completely overhauls the gameplay of the roleplaying game (RPG).

The mod, a third-party gameplay overhaul which can be found on Nexus Mods, is titled "The Witcher 3 Enhanced Edition." The mod not only changes the combat in-game but also a lot of other systems such as Vigor, Talents, Signs, Poise, Speed, Dodging, Equipment, Durability, head-up display (HUD), Loot, Meditation, Alchemy, Inventory, Enemies, Injuries, Special Attacks, Animations, Runewords, Finishers, and Night Sight.

These all work together now in-game in order to provide a noticeable amount of depth to the RPG. The combat, one of the most important mechanics of the game, might also now be significantly more challenging as players will have a lot more stats to balance out and optimize compared to the unmodded game's rather simpler system.

The Enhanced Edition mod came from a group of modders and fans of "The Witcher 3" who could not stand the game's combat and other simple RPG mechanics. A lot of things which made the base game's combat easier have also been scrapped such as the auto-targeting system, as well as how overpowered some of the Witcher Signs are. In its place, players will now be able to fully control the Witcher's movements during combat, particularly the distance of their swing, as well as what injuries they inflict on enemies using this.

A word of warning for the players, however, as the mod will completely change the game's progression. It will no longer give emphasis on levels. The modders have now removed the level of items and enemies in the game, so Geralt, the in-game protagonist, will now become more powerful "organically," as the authors have put it. This means Geralt will now level-up by using his innate abilities and not through stat-allocation like in the unmodded game.

Whether this is a welcome change or not, players will have to try first and see for themselves. Luckily, the mod is free for anyone who owns "The Witcher 3," and can be downloaded here.