The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was originally released way back in 2015. But like Skyrim and Minecraft, it’s as strong as ever now thanks to a a million updates and ports. This week, a highly-anticipated Remastered Edition was released that brings the 14-year-old game to the next level. The best part is that the update is completely free if you already own the original game, and it gets even better for the Nintendo Switch version.
Let’s say you already owned the physical Nintendo Switch edition that released back in 2019. That was already a behemoth that included the base game and both story expansions on a single cartridge. All you have to do is insert the physical cartridge and update the game to the newest version. Then start the game, and in the main menu you’ll see an option to upgrade to the remastered version. This will open a special eShop page that let’s you download the update for free.
But instead of downloading a separate update, it will download a standalone edition of the Switch 2 remaster. This means you won’t even need the original cartridge anymore, and the 50 GB game will simply be on your console. Other versions of the game update in a similar fashion, if you own the original game, you get the update for free. If you never owned the game and you’re getting it for the first time, the remastered edition will cost you $60. It’s worth it either way.
The remastered edition modernizes the original game with a bunch of improvements. There are countless enhancements to visuals, performance, and gameplay. Combat is updated with a new skill system and altered combat mechanics. You can see a complete list of more than 50 updates, changes, and fixes here. You can also expect a complete review later on.