The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the more celebrated RPGs in recent memory, but playing the entirety of its story - especially with all the DLC - could take players a huge number of hours. The explorable area is massive, and the already lengthy main quest is supported by a plethora of side quests, most of which are narratively interesting and worth undertaking. The addition of the game's two DLC expansions made the task of completion even more difficult, with a single playthrough now an even larger time commitment than it used to be.
New and old players alike will have the chance to step into Geralt's revamped boots when the next gen upgrade releases, expected later this year, renewing interest in the game even though The Witcher 3 originally released over six years ago. The Witcher 3 sees protagonist and infamous Witcher Geralt of Rivia reuniting with his lover Yennefer before setting out to find his adopted daughter and former protégé, Ciri. The reunion with Yennefer happens relatively early in the game, but even that can take upwards of a dozen hours if players are determined to see all that the game's first area has to offer, and what follows is a sprawling, intricately woven tale involving many different characters, locations, and monsters.
The play time for a run through of The Witcher 3 has the potential to vary wildly. Outside of the main quest, there are side quests, Witcher contracts, and treasure hunts - with dozens of each across many different areas of the Continent. This doesn't even take into account the many side activities in the game, such as the time-consuming Gwent, which spawned its very own card game. A good source for judging how much time The Witcher 3 will take to finish is HowLongToBeat, which polls different players and their play styles.
The Witcher 3 Has The Potential To Be A Massive Time Commitment
HowLongToBeat conveniently breaks its player-sourced data up into different sections, one of which is for those who almost exclusively played through the main story. Out of the players who made a submission for a main story playthrough, the average completion time was over 52 hours. Those looking to dabble in The Witcher 3's side content can safely double that number, with an average play through clocking in at over 105 hours. Completionists - those dedicated to playing through everything the game has to offer - recorded an average time of nearly 180 hours.
These numbers don't even include the expansions. Hearts of Stone can add another 10-20 hours, while the longer Blood and Wine will extend a play through by 15-40 hours. The Witcher 3 is truly massive, and not just in detailed cities like The Witcher 3's Novigrad, or varied wildernesses from the swamps of Velen to the islands of Skellige. A staggering cast of characters with an abundance of quests makes The Witcher 3 a robust package, and anyone looking to play it for the first time should be prepared to spend a large amount of time on the Continent.
Source: HowLongToBeat