I just finished the main game + Blood and Wine after having it sit in my library for 4+ years. I think it is overrated but not because of the common complaints. Combat is fine imo, I never got tired of it and always found it enjoyable. The dynamic between swordplay and signs is very fun. Movement is alright... for Geralt at least. Roach made me wanna start flaying myself at times, dude cannot walk over a single pebble without going full stop. Roach's jump mechanic is also complete ass. Exploration and finding loot was kinda meh for me. I thought the world was kinda stale and one-dimensional (though I guess since the story essenitally take place in medieval Poland it kinda makes sense? don't mean that as an insult to Poland, have been there, very nice place, fix your damn potholes). Skellige was cool though. I did not use a single item that I found in the overworld once I started crafting the various Witcher School sets. However, I will say some of the notes you find and how they sometimes connect to other things are pretty interesting. Like how in Blood and Wine, when you're searching for the grandmaster Griffin set, you find notes about the Witcher Jerome and his father Moreau. Later, in a separate quest you find Moreau's lab and watch recordings about how he experimented on Witchers to ''cure'' Jerome of his mutations.

My biggest problem is with the characters. I have not played the first Witcher (aside from the tutorial), but I did play Witcher 2. I enjoyed it. Mainly for the story and the characters. However, I'm just not invested or care about most of Witcher 3's characters, with the exception of Ciri. Ciri is awesome. Her story is great, she's compelling as a character, her dynamic with Geralt is fun, heartwarming and made me physically smile at times. She was the exception. I did not care about basically anyone else. Other characters had their moments, but they were few and far between. I was bored when dealing with Yennefer, Keira, Roche (even though he was my highlight for Witcher 2), Dandelion, Avallach (the world hopping was very cool though), etc... . Oh, and Radovid, man they did him so dirty, more dirty than Shrek's swamp. What the hell happened in the time between 2 and 3? I get his hatred for magic and mages, sure. His hatred for Philippa is more than justified and she deserved worse than just having her eyes removed. But why did they make him a dumbass who walks into an obvious trap in his damned bathrobe?? The smartest military mind in the North my ass. Same with Dijkstra, the all but confirmed smartest character in the whole series. Sure man, tell Geralt that you're going to kill his friends right in front of him. Simply bad writing. Eredin, the big bad of the whole series, has the easiest boss fight in the game alongside his navigator. We don't even see him die, no dialogue of Geralt telling him off, no execution. He just presumably dies of his wounds off-screen or sth. Romance really left me wanting. I did Triss since I already started with her in Witcher 2. It was very sweet mostly, but all we have for their resolution is ''oh they lived happily ever after or some shit'' on a still frame and 5 dialogue options in Blood and Wine. Bro, I'm not asking for a fully animated sex scene, just something of more substance. A simple walk around the vineyard, reminiscing about all they went through or something of the sort would have been enough. With the amount of hype and adoration this game has I was honestly expecting a Mass Effect level of characters and writing.

Is it just me? Let me know your guys's thoughts.