The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone

At 10 hours for the main story, Hearts of Stone is rather brief given the sprawling scale of Wild Hunt, but with that brevity, it never overstays its welcome. It melds well with the overall themes of the core adventure even if it feels wholly detached from it, but sometimes all you need is more Witcher-based antics.

Hearts of Stone is a full-fledged add-on for a game that probably didn't need to be any longer. Thankfully, Hearts of Stone is a total blast for Witcher fans and packs more into its 10-15 hour campaign than most AAA games on the market. With its wonderfully paced story, mesmerizing characters, and gorgeous world to explore, Hearts of Stone demands to be played. It also raises the bar for what fans can expect from DLC for their favourite games. If you're itchin' for more witchin', then picking up Hearts of Stone is a no brainer.

Hearts of Stone is a fantastic addition to the Witcher 3 world that feels as if it was always a part of the game. It keeps up with the quality that one would expect. It’s refreshing in dialog, hilarious at times, inventive in its quests, and even after 70 plus hours in the core story, coming back to this world was extremely easy and welcomed. The expansion could have just dialed it in, adding some basic quests and minute story elements.

As the main story itself, it was far from the best quests in the game, playing out more like some act 2 missions as you try to find Ciri and everyone jerks you around and makes you jump through hoops to give up the simplest tidbit of info. Not to say the missions weren’t good, for they surely were, it’s just that they weren’t armrest gripping or anything. Again though, they did say I could do everything in 10 hours and I absolutely poured more time into it than that, so I have no real complaints here.

If you’re looking for an example of how to create meaningful downloadable content that doesn’t feel exploitative, you’d be hard pressed to find a better example than Hearts of Stone. From its love letters to longtime fans of the series to the outstanding character moments in its main quest, The Witcher 3‘s first piece of paid DLC adds yet another layer to what might be the most robust open world in gaming history.

All in all, Hearts of Stone is exactly what we should have expected from CD Projekt RED after Wild Hunt, and it makes me incredibly excited for the next expansion, Blood and Wine, next year, which promises to be near 20 hours worth of content. To reiterate, if you liked Wild Hunt, you will certainly enjoy your time with Hearts of Stone.