The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine

Did You Know?

• A third expansion, Songs of the Past, is scheduled to release in 2027.
• The expansion was announced on 7 April 2015 alongside Hearts of Stone.
• Blood and Wine was released alongside Hearts of Stone in a complete edition for the Nintendo Switch on 15 October 2019.

Plot

Geralt accepts a contract from Duchess Anna Henrietta to slay a monster that killed two knights. Upon arriving in Toussaint, he learns of a third victim and that the knights may have been ritually murdered for violating oaths. Geralt catches the culprit, Dettlaff van der Eretein, a vampire, but their fight is interrupted by Regis, a vampire who was supposedly dead. Regis explains that Dettlaff revived him with his own blood and doubts Dettlaff is acting willingly. Geralt and Regis find Dettlaff's hideout and discover someone abducted his human ex-lover, Rhenawedd, to force the murders. The blackmailer stole ducal family possessions, leading Geralt and Henrietta to suspect her exiled sister Syanna. They locate the blackmailer's headquarters and assault it, but Rhenawedd is revealed to be Syanna, who faked her kidnapping and orchestrated the murders as revenge for abuse during her exile. Betrayed, Dettlaff attacks Toussaint's capital with a vampire horde unless Syanna surrenders. Henrietta confines Syanna and orders Geralt to kill Dettlaff. Geralt can free Syanna or find the Unseen Elder to force an audience. If Geralt frees Syanna, Dettlaff kills her; Geralt may fight or let Dettlaff go. Geralt is arrested for ducicide but released by Dandelion's intervention. He may uncover that Henrietta was Syanna's last target, devastating the duchess.

Reception

Blood and Wine received universal acclaim from critics according to Metacritic. Reviewers praised the conclusion of Geralt's storyline and the expansion's size, with some suggesting it could be a new project. Tom Senior of PC Gamer commended the farewell to the series and said he would still be playing The Witcher in 2020 if such expansions continued. Steven Bogos of The Escapist called it a good expansion but noted it lacked the adventurous save-the-world storyline of previous Witcher titles. Richard Cobbett of Rock, Paper, Shotgun felt it was not CD Projekt Red's best work, with a good story but inferior to Hearts of Stone. Chris Carter of Destructoid considered Blood and Wine better than Hearts of Stone, finding the latter a polished elongated quest. Kevin VanOrd of GameSpot observed that the expansion was sometimes as thematically dark as its predecessors but less grim overall. Leif Johnson of IGN had initial doubts due to a slow start but grew to love it. Josh Hawkins of Shacknews reported some bugs but deemed it a good addition.