The Witcher 3

Have you ever wanted to get drunk with a vampire? The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion gives you that opportunity, and lets you ask all the important questions. What's it like to die and come back? What's it like to live for centuries in a world that mostly wants you dead? How does the bat thing work? The brooding, complicated undead are just one aspect of an excellent add-on that every Witcher fan should play. Though you ostensibly play a monster hunter for hire, Geralt has a habit of getting sucked into local politics. Such is the case in Toussaint, the huge, gorgeous new region added by The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion. You arrive on an invitation from the Duchess, who wants you to slay 'The Beast', a vicious creature that's targeting elite knights in her retinue. A twisting detective story follows as Geralt investigates the murder scenes, and begins to hack his way through a series of interlocking plots that, naturally, come to threaten the entire realm. The Witcher 3 is at its best when dealing with small dramas—a haunted house, a local curse, a baron's broken marriage. Blood and Wine's central story weaves a series of local short stories into an escalating threat. The plot has superb pace and variety throughout. Geralt awkwardly picks his way through an artists' soiree, storms a castle or two and has a creepy, memorable encounter with a spotted wight. Vivid characterisation and some great voice work—particularly from Geralt's main ally—sells the world beautifully. The story takes roughly ten hours to finish if you slavishly blast through the missions in order, but sidequests are an essential part of The Witcher 3 experience, and there are many to enjoy in Toussaint. You can seek out grandmaster gear for multiple witcher schools, collect armour dyes, take on a number of monster hunts, join a tourney and compete in Gwent competitions to take on the expansion's new Skellige deck. Pursue these and you'll easily reach the advertised 30 hour play time.