60 something hours ago I finished the main story of TW3, clocking 130 hours. I failed some quests, left a lot of question marks unanswerd, completely missed a lot of side quests. I was utterly emotionally drained even though the ending I reached was by no means sad (I'd dare say it was the second happiest ending I could get). I was also rather annoyed with the numerous bugs that inexplicably started to occur only towards the end of the game. That gave me two reasons to stop playing then and there and leave a full second playthrough for much later, when I'd shaken off all the feelings and CDPR released an Enchanced Edition (or at least got most of the bugs fixed through smaller patches). Not even 24 hours later I could no longer take it and just had to start a second playthrough. I already missed the game that much.

I think it speaks volumes to the overall value and quality of a videogame when it does this to you. When it pushes you to a mental state where bugs (some severe, mind you) don't really trouble you at all. When it ends on a surprisingly uplifting note and yet you're emotionally as dry as a pair of socks after 2 days under the sun. When you shed multiple tears while playing the game and each one is more bittersweet than anything. When you beat the game after playing it for over three weeks and you can't even go for 24 hours without it.

Thank you, CDPR. You truly have outdone yourselves and created an absolute gem of a game which outshines its competition in just about every regard. You managed to take the immense detail and top-notch writing of Assassins of Kings and apply them to an open-world format, creating a massive game which never once feels truly repetitive. No matter how many contracts are already behind me, the umpteenth one still feels fresh. There are no two identical caves. I didn't think this was possible in such a big game until now. And you managed to get it all done in only a few years, with a fairly limited amount of people. Yes, I'm a shameless fanboy of your work and you'll also always have my eternal gratitude for introducing me to The Witcher franchise as it was TW1 that got me interested in the books in the first place. So I may not have the most credibility when saying this, but I'll say it anyway: You absolutely rock and deserve all the praise you receive, and then some.

I'm not sure I've ever played such a flawless brew of audiovisual excellence (seriously, the OST...), impeccable atmosphere, unmatched writing and horrifically addictive gameplay before. So, in a way, I also hate you, CDPR. Thanks to you I may not enjoy many other games all that much again.