The Witcher 3 review in 2026 — after the Remastered update: is it worth renting for a month

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt came out in May 2015, and eleven years later it is still the game people point to when they talk about story-driven RPGs. CD PROJEKT RED has now gone back to it twice: a free "next-gen" version arrived in December 2022, and an even bigger Remastered update followed on 29 September 2026. On Steam the game is now called The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered.

Below is a spoiler-free review: what changed, how the game is being received now, how long it takes, and whether renting it for a month makes sense.

Account rental · SteamThe Witcher 3: Wild Huntfrom 70 грнRent

What the game is

You play Geralt of Rivia, a witcher — a monster hunter for hire. The main goal is to find his adopted daughter Ciri, who is being hunted by the Wild Hunt. The open world is large: the swamps and villages of Velen, the trading city of Novigrad, the islands of Skellige. Combat is third-person: swords, Signs (simple spells such as fire or a shield), potions and oils tailored to a specific monster. Side quests often have their own stories and consequences, and they are what the game is praised for most.

You don't need to play the earlier games first: the story makes sense without them.

What the updates changed

• 4.0, "next-gen" (14 December 2022, free). Ray tracing, DLSS 3 and FSR 2.1, photo mode, a closer over-the-shoulder camera, a new quest tied to the Netflix series, ideas built in from popular mods, and cross-platform saves.
• Mod support (May 2024). Steam Workshop and the official REDkit editor.
• Remastered (29 September 2026, free for owners). According to dev.ua, it brings DLSS 4.5, FSR 4 and XeSS 2.0, path tracing, reworked combat animations and new finishers, better horse controls, changed monster behaviour, rebuilt skill trees with new abilities, transmogrification (changing how armour looks) and new accessibility options. Official Ukrainian arrived with it as well.

The studio has also announced a third paid expansion, Songs of the Past, for 2027 — it is not part of the free update.

Scores and reviews

Remastered scores on OpenCritic include 10/10 from Push Square and CBR, 9/10 from Nintendo Life and Metro GameCentral, and 8/10 from Cubed3. Some of these reviews cover console versions. We didn't find major IGN, GameSpot or PC Gamer reviews of the Remastered version itself.

Interest in the game is up again: according to SteamDB figures cited by wnhub, 137,724 people were playing it at the same time on 5 October 2026.

What it is criticised for now

• Path tracing is heavy on the CPU. In TechSpot and PC Guide testing, the new path tracing is limited by the processor rather than the graphics card: even an RTX 5090 gets around 60 fps at 1080p. Hardware Unboxed called the effect underwhelming. Without it, the game runs noticeably lighter.
• The Ukrainian localisation is new. After launch, Ukrainian players criticised the translation heavily, and a studio representative asked them not to judge it too harshly on day one (dev.ua). CD PROJEKT RED has publicly listed five fixes it is working on after the Remastered release.
• Recent reviews are lower than the overall score. 81% for the last month versus 96% across all years — some players dislike the changes.

How long it takes and whether a month is enough

HowLongToBeat figures for the base game:

The Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions are not included in these numbers.

Whether the expansions are on your rental account, check with support before paying.

Ukrainian language, DRM and multiplayer

• Ukrainian is available as text: interface and subtitles, officially since the Remastered update. There is no official Ukrainian voice-over; voices are in English, Polish and several other languages. For voice-over there is our free fan dub — see The Witcher 3 in Ukrainian.
• The game is single-player, with no multiplayer, so an offline rental doesn't limit anything.
• The Steam page lists no third-party DRM, and we found no information about Denuvo. Still, do the first launch online, then switch Steam to offline mode (see how it works).

PC requirements

The OS listed on Steam is Windows 11 64-bit.

Who it's for and who it isn't

It's for you if you love big story RPGs where the side quests are as good as the main ones, and you're happy to read and listen a lot. And if you once put the game aside, now is the best time to come back: it got better-looking for free, and combat and skills have been reworked.

It's not for you if you want fast combat like modern action games — combat is still not the reason people play The Witcher. Or if you need a professional Ukrainian voice-over: there is no official one.

Verdict: is it worth renting for a month

Yes, if you aim for the main story plus a fair share of side quests: a month is enough at a moderate pace. You won't get through everything including both expansions in a month — for that, take a longer rental.

Sources

• Steam store page — languages, requirements, reviews
• Steam reviews (API)
• Metacritic: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
• OpenCritic: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered
• dev.ua: the updated Witcher with Ukrainian
• dev.ua: CD PROJEKT RED on the Ukrainian localisation
• Xbox Wire: Remastered and Songs of the Past
• VGC: what update 4.0 changed
• Siliconera: REDkit and Steam Workshop
• TechSpot: Remastered performance benchmarks
• PC Guide: path tracing and the CPU
• Gamewave: post-launch fixes for Remastered
• wnhub: Steam concurrent player peak
• HowLongToBeat: The Witcher 3